Olivier-Kenta has made big gains in his chess recently, and he tied for second at this year's Montreal Open this past weekend behind GM Sambuev. A key game on his way to 4/5 was his nice third round win again GM Roussel-Rouzmon. After an offbeat opening that resembled a Queen's Indian, he sacrificed a pawn for positional compensation and managed to take home the full point. Have a look!
[Event "Montreal op"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2015.09.12"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Chiku-Ratte, Olivier-Kenta"]
[Black "Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2369"]
[BlackElo "2466"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon, Keith"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.09.12"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.19"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. g3 Bb4+ (4... Nf6 {leads us back to the main
lines of the Queen's Indian}) 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ (5... Bxf3 6. exf3 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 (7.
Nxd2 Ne7) 7... d5 {The position is imbalanced but Black should be doing well})
6. Qxd2 f5 $5 (6... Nf6 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O) 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. Nc3 Ne4 (
9... Qe7 {GM Roozmon probably wanted to avoid complications after} 10. d5) 10.
Qc2 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 Be4 (11... d6 12. Rfd1 Nd7 {heading for f6 to control e4 but
White has other plans} 13. Ng5 Qxg5 14. Bxb7 Rad8 $11) 12. Rfd1 Qf6 (12... d6
13. Ne1 Bxg2 14. Nxg2 $11) 13. Rac1 d6 14. c5 Qe7 ({White ends up slightly
better in the following} 14... dxc5 15. dxc5 Qxc3 16. Rxc3 Na6 17. Ne5 Bxg2 18.
Kxg2 Rad8 19. Rxd8 Rxd8 20. cxb6 (20. Ra3 Nxc5 21. Rxa7 $14) 20... axb6 21. Rc6
) 15. cxd6 cxd6 16. d5 $5 (16. Nd2 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 {because of White's dominance
on the c-file, he has a clear advantage}) 16... exd5 (16... e5 {It was
probably better to decline the pawn sac} 17. Bh3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 e4 19. Qc3 Na6)
17. Nd4 {The next few moves were well played by both sides} (17. Bh3 $16 {
maybe even better to be able to keep the Bishops on board with the idea of
putting the Knight on d4 quickly. The Black Bishop could even get into trouble
as f3 will become a threat} f4 18. Nd4 fxg3 19. hxg3 Na6 20. f3 Bg6 21. Be6+
Kh8 (21... Bf7 $2 22. Nf5 $18) 22. Bxd5) 17... Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Nd7 19. Qc7 f4 20.
Qb7 fxg3 21. Qxd5+ Qf7 22. Qxf7+ Rxf7 23. hxg3 Nf6 (23... Re8 {and Black has a
long road ahead of him to get a draw, but it should be possible}) 24. Rc6 $6 (
24. f3 {keeping the Knight out of g4 and e4. The hole on e3 won't be so serious
} Nd5 25. Rd3) 24... d5 (24... Ng4 $1 25. Nf3 Re8 26. Rc2 Rfe7 {Black is
fighting on}) 25. Rdc1 Rd7 26. f3 h5 27. a4 Kf7 28. f4 $2 (28. b4 {looks like
a good alternative. f4 was very committal}) 28... Re8 29. Kf3 g6 (29... Re4 $11
) 30. Rc7 Rde7 $2 {The reason this is a mistake is because White gets an extra
tempo in getting his Knight to e5} (30... Ree7 31. Rxd7 Rxd7 32. Rc8 $14 {and
White has ideas like Nc6-e5}) 31. Rxe7+ Rxe7 32. Nc6 Re4 33. Ne5+ Kg8 (33...
Ke8 34. Rc8+ Ke7 35. Rc7+ Ke8 36. Rxa7 Ng4 37. Nxg4 hxg4+ 38. Kf2 $1 $16 (38.
Kxg4 Rxe2 39. Rb7 Re6 {Black should be able to draw with best play in this
rook endgame}) 38... Rb4 39. Rg7 Rxb2 40. Rxg6 d4 41. Ke1) 34. Rc8+ Kg7 35.
Rc7+ Kg8 36. Nxg6 (36. Rxa7 $16 Rb4 37. Rb7) 36... Rxa4 37. f5 Rb4 (37... a5
38. Rc6 Ng4 39. Rxb6 $16) 38. Rxa7 Rxb2 $2 {There weren't many good choices,
but this looks like it loses by force} 39. Kf4 Rxe2 (39... Ne4 40. Ne7+ (40. e3
) 40... Kf8 41. e3 $18) 40. Kg5 Ng4 41. f6 Nxf6 42. Kxf6 Rf2+ 43. Kg5 Rf7 (
43... Re2 44. Kh6 {mate next}) 44. Rxf7 Kxf7 45. Kxh5 1-0
