This year's Montreal Open drew out a number of inactive players, including FM Goran Milicevic. I chose to annotate his last round game against a strong expert of the Montreal chess scene, Louis Robichaud. The game is interesting in that it shows FM Milicevic going for the quick kill with an early Kingside pawn storm but having his attack parried and then almost getting into trouble late in the game. There is a lot to learn - especially from the psychological side (due to the rating difference between players) - from the following game.
[Event "Montreal op"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2015.09.13"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Milicevic, Goran"]
[Black "Robichaud, Louis"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2390"]
[BlackElo "2117"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "128"]
[EventDate "2015.09.12"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
{In a final round game where the White player has a significant rating
advantage, you know he's playing for the win. It's interesting to see how
Louis neutralizes White's advantage and then has his own chances to win.} 1. d4
Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 b6 (6... c5 7. Ne5 (7. dxc5
Qa5 8. Nd2 Qxc5 9. Nb3 Qb6) 7... Nc6 8. O-O) 7. h4 $5 {The standard plan. It
looks very aggressive at first sight, however.} (7. Ne5 Bb7 8. h4) 7... h6 {
typically not necessary} 8. Ne5 Bb7 9. f3 {I'm not so sure about this move. I
don't think that White needs to prevent the Black Knight from jumping to e4.} (
{I might prefer} 9. g4 Nfd7) (9. h5 g5 10. Bxg5 $5 (10. Bg3) 10... hxg5 11. h6
Bh8 12. h7+ Kg7 13. Bd3) 9... Nbd7 10. Qd2 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 Nd7 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13.
h5 (13. O-O-O Nf6 14. Kb1) 13... g5 14. f4 $5 {White is playing aggressively,
as he should, with the Black King somewhat open} e6 (14... gxf4 15. exf4 Nf6
16. O-O-O Rg8 17. g4 Ne4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Rhg1 $14) 15. O-O-O Nf6 $2 {heading
for e4} 16. Bd3 $6 {This move does not eliminate ...Ne4. There were several
better options.} (16. fxg5 $1 hxg5 17. h6+ {leads to a sizeable advantage for
the White player.} Kh8 18. Qe1 (18. Kb1 $16)) (16. Rdf1 $16 {not as good as
fxg5 but still active and good}) 16... Ne4 {Black's gamble pays off. He gets
his Knight to e4 without shattering his Kingside} 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. Rhf1 f6 19.
f5 $2 {Likely the start of a bad plan} (19. fxg5 hxg5 (19... fxg5 $2 20. d5 $1
{would be major trouble for the Black player})) (19. g4 {giving the Queen
options on the second rank}) 19... Qe7 20. fxe6 Qxe6 21. d5 {Black gets to
place his Queen on its ideal square, and any miniscule advantage White held
fizzles out over the next few moves.} (21. Kb1 {may well be the best move. He
needs to slow play this position to hope for something down the line}) 21...
Qe5 22. g4 $1 {Prevents Black from gaining space and supporting his e4 pawn
with ...f5} Rad8 23. Qg2 Bc8 (23... Bxd5 $4 24. Rf5) (23... c6 $1 $11 24. dxc6
Bxc6 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. a3) 24. Rd4 f5 25. Rfd1 (25. gxf5 Bxf5 26. Rc4 $14 Rf6 {
and Black should be holding this position}) 25... fxg4 26. Rxe4 Qf6 27. Qg3 Rf7
28. Rc4 Qd6 $11 29. Qxd6 cxd6 30. Ne4 Bf5 31. Ng3 Bc8 32. Rg1 {White reveals
he is playing for the win (as opposed to the move repetition which could have
occurred had he gone back to e4 with his Knight)} Bb7 33. e4 Bc8 34. a4 Kf8 35.
b4 Bd7 36. b5 (36. Rc7 {leads to a draw if Black finds the following line} Rc8
(36... Bxa4 37. Rxf7+ Kxf7 38. Nf5 $11) 37. Rxa7 Rf2 38. Rxd7 Rcxc2+ 39. Kd1
Rfd2+ 40. Ke1 Rh2 41. Kd1 Rhd2+) 36... Rc8 37. Rxc8+ (37. Rc6 $1 {a risky plan
but probably the best way to play for the win} Bxc6 38. bxc6 Rf6 39. Nf5 Re8
40. Rxg4 Re5 {Black will need to sack his rook for the Knight}) 37... Bxc8 {
Black is now in the driver's seat} 38. Kd2 Ke7 39. Ke3 Rf3+ 40. Kd4 Ra3 41. c4
Rxa4 (41... Kf6 42. Rf1+ Kg7 43. Rg1 Kf6 44. Rf1+ $11) 42. e5 dxe5+ 43. Kxe5
Rxc4 44. Ra1 {A neat trick} Rf4 (44... Rc7 $4 45. d6+) 45. Rxa7+ Bd7 46. d6+
Kd8 47. Ra8+ Bc8 48. Ra7 Rf3 49. Rh7 $2 (49. Rg7 Bd7 50. Rg8+ Be8 51. Nf5 g3
52. Nxh6) 49... Rxg3 $2 (49... Bd7 $1 {This was Black's chance to play for the
win. Here's a sample line} 50. Ne4 g3 51. Nxg3 Rxg3 52. Rxh6 Bxb5 53. Rh8+ Be8
54. h6 g4 55. Kf4 Rg1 56. Rh7 g3 57. Rb7 g2 58. Rb8+ Kd7 59. Kf3 Bg6 60. Kf2
Rb1 61. Kxg2 Kxd6 62. Kg3) 50. Rh8+ Kd7 51. Rh7+ Ke8 52. Rh8+ Kf7 53. Rxc8 Rd3
54. Rc7+ Ke8 55. Ke6 Re3+ 56. Kf5 g3 57. Rc2 Kd7 58. Kg4 (58. Kg6) 58... Kxd6 (
58... Rb3 $1) 59. Rc6+ Kd5 60. Kh3 Re6 61. Rc8 Re3 62. Rc6 Re6 63. Rc8 Re3 64.
Rc6 Re6 {There are a couple of lessons to take from this game. The first is
that one should not panic when under a major attack on his or her king. I
would have likely been quite afraid of the position after the first 10 moves,
but Mr. Robichaud kept his cool and didn't succumb to the opening pressure.
The second lesson is that the higher-rated player must be careful about
playing for the win at all cost. Here, FM Milicevic could have been in big
trouble had Mr. Robichaud found 49...Bd7.} (64... g2+ 65. Kxg2 Re6 66. Rc2 $11)
1/2-1/2
