This week, I present another game played by Jonathan Yu at the Gibraltar tournament last month. It is an instructive game because Jonathan was able to win a position that looked completely equal just by continuing to make logical moves.
[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015 "]
[Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"]
[Date "2015.01.26"]
[Round "1.33"]
[White "Yu, Jonathan"]
[Black "Brown, David E"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2081"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2015.01.26"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {The italian Opening.} Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 {
Personally, I'd probably castle here first. It is not necessary to commit your
Knight to d2 already. While it may go there in the next few moves, it is
better to keep options of d4, and Bg5 in the air.} 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. h3 d5 8. exd5
Nxd5 9. O-O Nb6 $15 10. Re1 Nxc4 11. Nxc4 f6 {Black is very comfortable with
the two bishops. He is able to weaken his king because White has lost his
light square bishop.} 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Be6 14. d4 (14. Qc2 f5 15. Rad1 Qf6
16. Nc4 Bxc4 17. dxc4 $15) 14... exd4 15. cxd4 Bd5 16. b3 {With the isolate
d-pawn, Black has a stable advantage.} Rf7 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Rc1 Rd8 19. Rc5
Qd6 20. Qc2 g6 $2 (20... Nb4 21. Qe4 Nd5 {It is best to blockade isolated
pawns with a knight. This way, it is impossible to attack the Knight.}) 21. Qc4
{Now White has moves like Re6, and d4 in the air, so Black decides to
liquidate.} Nxd4 22. Nxd4 Qxd4 23. Rxc7 Qxc4 24. Rxc4 $11 {While this position
is equal, White is on the better side of equality. Having slightly weakened
his king with pawns at g6, and f6, he may eventually run into problems if he
is not careful.} Rd2 (24... Rfd7) 25. a4 Rd3 26. Rb4 Rc7 27. Re8+ Kf7 28. Rb8
Rdd7 29. g4 Ke6 30. Kg2 {Black has misplayed the past few moves, and now is
forced to defend passively, which is really unpleasant to do.} f5 31. g5 Kd5
32. Kg3 Rc3+ 33. f3 Kc6 (33... Rcc7 {was the way to go and it is unclear if
White can break the passive defences.} 34. a5 {White should try to fix the
queenside with the move a5, and create a second weakness with h4 and h5.} Re7
35. h4 Kc5 36. Rb6 Kd4) 34. Rc8+ Rc7 35. Rxc7+ Kxc7 36. Rh4 Rxb3 37. Rxh7+ Kd6
38. Rg7 Ke5 39. Rxg6 Rb4 {As I mentioned earlier, the kingside weaknesses of
g6 and f6 proved costly.} 40. a5 $18 Rb5 41. Rg7 Rxa5 42. Rxb7 Ra1 43. Re7+ Kd6
44. Ra7 Ke6 45. h4 Ke5 46. Re7+ Kd6 47. Rf7 Ke5 48. Re7+ Kd6 49. Rb7 Ke5 50.
Rb6 a5 51. Ra6 f4+ 52. Kg4 Rg1+ 53. Kh5 Ra1 54. g6 a4 55. g7 Rg1 56. Rg6 1-0
