The winner of this year's Mauricie Open in Trois Rivieres is Olivier Kenta Chiku-Ratte. His crucial win came in the fourth round against IM Jean Hebert, the highest rated player in the event. While it wasn't exactly a clean win, Olivier managed to put the game away and subsequently tie for first by drawing his last round game. Regarding his game with Jean, it was the opening that I found intriguing, but there is something for everyone here, as endgame aficionados will appreciate the rare piece imbalance of two rooks against three minor pieces.
[Event "Mauricie op"]
[Site "Trois-Rivieres CAN"]
[Date "2015.03.22"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Chiku-Ratte, Olivier-Kenta"]
[Black "Hebert, Jean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2278"]
[BlackElo "2450"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2015.03.20"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 $5 {elevating the level of risk Black
is taking} ({the most common move} 4... d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5
8. dxc5 {is the start of some very long theoretical lines}) 5. d5 b5 {Not
being a d4 player, I've never actually come across this move, but I'm a fan!
The point is that he undermines d5 by taking advantage of the pin on White's
c3 Knight. Black plays enterprising chess} (5... d6 6. e4 O-O 7. Bd3 {would be
a more common approach}) 6. e4 bxc4 7. Bxc4 Bb7 (7... Nxd5 $5 8. Bxd5 (8. exd5
$2 Qh4+ 9. g3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qxc4 $17) 8... exd5 9. Qxd5 Nc6 10. Nge2 {and an
unclear position arises in which White has the d5 square for himself, but
Black has the two Bishops}) (7... exd5 8. Bxd5 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 Nc6 {transposes to
our previous note}) 8. Nge2 exd5 $6 (8... Nxd5 $1 9. Bxd5 ({again, if} 9. exd5
Qh4+) 9... exd5 10. exd5 O-O {For example. Black should have full equality -
it is actually White who should be looking for equality here (probably with a3
next, trading off Black's active Bishop)}) 9. exd5 h6 {I'm sure Jean
understands the Black position here better than I do, but this move seems
strange to me. I'm not sure whether it's necessary to prevent White from
playing Bg5 in the future} (9... O-O 10. O-O d6) 10. O-O d6 $2 {Seemingly safe
and normal, but it could have caused Black major headaches had Olivier found
Qb3} 11. Qa4+ (11. Qb3 $1 {threatening a3} Nbd7 (11... Bc8 12. Ne4 O-O 13. Bf4
Ne8 14. Nd4 $1 $16 {heading for b5 making d6 undefendable}) 12. Ne4 Qb6 13. a3
Nxe4 14. fxe4 Ba5 15. Qg3 {The Black Bishop on a5 is offside, and Black's King
position is suspect} Ne5 16. b4 $3 {even without finding this spectacular move,
the White position is dominant} (16. b3 $16) 16... cxb4+ (16... Bxb4 17. axb4
Nxc4 18. bxc5 Qxc5+ 19. Kh1 g6 20. Qb3 Bc8 21. Bf4 $16 {with Qc3 and Nd4
potentially next}) 17. Be3 Qc7 18. Bb5+ Kf8 19. Rac1) 11... Nbd7 12. Nb5 O-O
13. Nxd6 Nb6 (13... Bxd5 {simple and good}) 14. Nxb7 Nxa4 15. Nxd8 Rfxd8 16. a3
Ba5 17. Bb5 Nb6 18. Be3 (18. d6 $5 {setting a little trap for Black (if he
takes the pawn)} Nc8 (18... Rxd6 $2 19. Bf4 Re6 20. b4 cxb4 21. Nd4 {and,
surprisingly, Black will lose the exchange}) 19. d7 Nd6 $11) 18... Rxd5 {
Judging by the next couple moves, it seems Jean missed something} (18... a6 $1
19. Bc6 Nbxd5 20. Bxc5 Rac8 21. Bxd5 Rxc5 22. Bb7 Rc2 23. Bxa6 Rd6 24. Bb5 Rd5
25. Ba6 (25. a4 Rxb5 26. axb5 Bb6+ 27. Kh1 Rxe2 28. Rfe1 Rxb2 29. Rab1 $11)
25... Rd6 26. Bb5 Rd5 $11) 19. Bc6 (19. b4 cxb4 20. Bc6 Rb8 21. Bxd5 Nfxd5 22.
axb4 Bxb4 23. Bf2 a5 $14) 19... Re5 20. Bxa8 Rxe3 21. Kf2 Rxe2+ $2 {Probably
the losing move} (21... Re6 22. Bb7 Nc4 $44) 22. Kxe2 Nxa8 23. Rac1 {It's very
difficult for the three minor pieces to deal with two rooks.} Nc7 24. Rxc5 Bb6
25. Rc6 Kf8 26. b4 {not best} (26. Rd1 Ne6 27. Kf1 Ke7 28. g3) 26... Nfd5 27.
Rd1 Ke7 (27... Nf4+ $1 28. Kf1 Ncd5 29. Rd2 Ne3+ 30. Kf2 Nc4+ 31. Rxb6 Nxb6 {
and now the position should probably (objectively) be a draw, but White still
retains solid winning chances} 32. Rd8+) 28. Rc4 {I expect time trouble was
becoming a factor. The rest of the game isn't particularly well-played, but
nothing too out of the ordinary occurred} a5 29. b5 Ke6 30. Rc6+ Ke7 31. g3 a4
32. Rd3 h5 33. Rc4 (33. h4 {It was better to improve the Kingside since Black
is nearly paralyzed}) 33... Kd6 34. Rxa4 $2 {Complicating his task
significantly} Nxb5 35. Ra6 Kc7 36. a4 Nd4+ 37. Kd2 Bc5 38. Ra8 Ne7 (38... Nb4
39. Rc3 Nbc6 {cute. Of course} 40. Rxc5 $2 Nb3+ $11) 39. Rf8 f6 40. Rc3 (40.
Rf7) 40... Ne6 41. Rh8 g6 42. Rh7 Kd6 43. Rd3+ Nd5 44. Rf7 Bb4+ 45. Ke2 Bc3 46.
a5 Nc5 47. Rd1 Kc6 48. Rf8 $2 f5 $4 (48... Bxa5 {...not sure why Jean didn't
take the a-pawn here. It seems like his only chance} 49. Rxd5 Kxd5 50. Rxf6 Ne6
51. Rxg6 h4 {The computer tells me Black has decent chances to hold here. Of
course it will be very painful, however}) 49. Rc8+ Nc7 50. a6 N5xa6 51. Rc1 Kd7
52. Rxc7+ Nxc7 53. Rxc3 Kd6 54. Kd3 f4 55. gxf4 Nd5 56. Rc4 Ke6 57. Ke4 Nf6+
58. Ke3 Nd5+ 59. Kf2 h4 60. Re4+ Kf6 61. Kg2 Ne7 62. Rxe7 1-0
