A rising player on the Canadian chess scene is Elias Oussedik from New Brunswick. Even as a medical student, his chess is improving, and he's been showing chess at a strong FM level all summer. However, in the following game, he took a hard knock against IM Aman Hambleton. Below, chess coaches can find a game which demonstrates to their students why it is sometimes better to avoid castling!
[Event "Quebec op 3e RIDEF"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2015.07.19"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Oussedik, Elias"]
[Black "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A09"]
[WhiteElo "2109"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2015.07.17"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. Nf3 {Elias and Aman are good friends, and I believe he was targeting on of
Aman's typical setups. Unfortunately for him, he ended up getting tricked and
had to play a position with which he was not too familiar} d5 $1 {Of course
the move doesn't merit an exclamation mark objectively, but subjectively,
definitely!} 2. c4 d4 {Not a pleasant move to face if you're unprepared} 3. b4
{we're entering reversed Benko territory. It's funny that these positions
occurred in a number of games at this year's Quebec Open (e.g.
Sprumont-Maisuradze and Hansen-MacKinnon). There are many other third moves,
but you'll notice that b4 is a thematic idea early on} (3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 e5 5.
d3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7) (3. e3 c5 (3... Nc6 4. exd4 Nxd4 5. Nxd4 Qxd4 6. Nc3) 4. b4)
3... a5 4. Bb2 (4. b5 {looks like a better move. I'm having trouble finding a
good position for White after 4.Bb2} c5) 4... axb4 5. Nxd4 (5. Bxd4 {prevents
5...e5 - I'd probably prefer it slightly to Nxd4} Bg4) 5... e5 6. Nc2 Nc6 {
It's tough not to like Black in this position. His pawn structure is better,
and he has more space} 7. g3 Be6 8. d3 Qd7 9. Bg2 (9. a3 {Elias should have
tried to get this move in at some point - after all, when Black plays the
Benko, he always plays ....a6} b3 10. Ne3 Nf6 11. Nd2 $11 {I feel like White
is OK here}) 9... Bh3 10. O-O $2 {A positional mistake. White walks in to a
very quick attack} ({The computer-looking move} 10. Bxh3 {should be best} Qxh3
11. a3 Qg2 (11... Nf6 12. axb4 Rxa1 13. Bxa1 $13 {And White should be OK since
his Knight can go to e3 covering the critical g2 square}) 12. Rf1) 10... h5 $1
11. Nd2 (11. a3 h4 12. g4 {The computer's attempt to stay alive has some merit
as is shown in the following line} Qxg4 13. Ne3 Qg5 14. Kh1 Bxg2+ 15. Nxg2 Nf6
16. axb4 Rxa1 17. Bxa1 Bxb4 18. f4 {and White at least makes Black work for it}
) 11... h4 12. Nf3 ({When the top computer line is} 12. Bxh3 Qxh3 13. g4 $17 {
you know you're in trouble}) 12... hxg3 13. fxg3 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Qh3+ 15. Kg1 Nf6
(15... O-O-O {is another idea that I noticed while watching the post-mortem,
but it's not as good as the game continuation if White can find} 16. Rf2 Nh6
17. Qf1) 16. e3 e4 {Maybe Aman's first inaccuracy of the game} (16... Ng4 17.
Qe2 O-O-O {looks very convincing} (17... Be7)) 17. dxe4 (17. Bxf6 $4 exf3 $19)
17... Nxe4 18. Qe2 Bd6 19. Ncd4 $2 (19. Qg2 {I imagine Elias considered this
move but deemed the endgame losing. However, the game continuation loses
almost immediately} f6 $17) 19... Bxg3 $1 20. Qc2 O-O-O (20... Ne5 $1 {is the
more immediate win} 21. Qxe4 Bxh2+ 22. Kf2 Bg3+ 23. Ke2 Qg2+ 24. Kd1 Qxf1+ 25.
Kc2 Qxc4+) 21. Qxe4 Bxh2+ 22. Kf2 Bg3+ 23. Ke2 Qg2+ 24. Kd3 Qxb2 25. Qg4+ Kb8
26. Qxg3 Qc3+ (26... Nxd4 27. exd4 Rxd4+ 28. Nxd4 Qc3+) 27. Ke2 Rxd4 28. exd4
Nxd4+ 29. Kf2 Qc2+ {and White resigned due to Kg1 Ne2+} 0-1
