One Maritime chess player making large strides in his chess is my good friend, Elias Oussedik. Here is a game he won in the penultimate round at the recently concluded Maritime Open, in which he tied for first with another rising player, Adam Dorrance. All Open Sicilian players will definitely want to have a look at this one!
[Event "2015 Maritime Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.10.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Oussedik, Elias"]
[Black "Saunders, Stephen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2135"]
[Annotator "User,Windows"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 {one of the
critical tests of the Najdorf} e6 7. f4 {The correct follow-up. There are some
other moves (Qd2 or Qf3) played less successfully} Nc6 8. Nxc6 (8. Qd2 Qb6 9.
O-O-O Qxd4 {allows Black to trade a lot of pieces - certainly not something Mr.
Oussedik wanted to do} 10. Qxd4 Nxd4 11. Rxd4 Be7) 8... bxc6 9. Qf3 (9. e5 {
leads to forced play. When playing weaker opponents, it is often to avoid
those types of moves. The main line continues} h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. fxg5 Nd5 12.
Ne4 Qb6 $13 {It's hard to tell what's going on here, but I can say that this
is the type of position to enter only with strong preparation}) 9... Qb6 (9...
Be7 10. O-O-O {scores very well for White - and for good reason. White's
pieces are on excellent squares} Qc7 11. e5 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nd5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14.
Ne4 {and Black has some lasting weaknesses (a6, c6) as well as more immediate
problems on d6 and a weak King-side after ...0-0 c4}) 10. Bc4 $5 {A good
practical choice which dares Black to take on b2} (10. O-O-O Rb8 11. b3 d5 {is
theory, but White's dark squares around his King start to look a bit shaky.} ({
There was a nice White win in the following game, however.} 11... Nd7 12. Kb1
h6 13. Bh4 g5 14. Bg3 Qa5 15. Be1 Qa3 16. g3 a5 17. Bd2 Bg7 18. Bc1 Qc5 19. Bb2
O-O 20. h4 Nf6 21. hxg5 hxg5 22. e5 g4 23. exf6 {1-0 Solodovnichenko,Y (2558)
-Lagarde,M (2414)/Paris 2010/CBM 137 Extra})) 10... Be7 (10... Qxb2 {a sample
line runs} 11. O-O Qb6+ 12. Kh1 Nd7 $1 $11 {White has full compensation for
the pawn, and he clearly has the initiative. Perhaps} 13. Qh3 Nc5 14. f5) ({I
feel like} 10... d5 {plays into White's hands by opening lines} 11. Bb3) 11.
O-O-O Rb8 (11... O-O) 12. Bb3 {Here we see the big difference between 10.0-0-0
versus 11.0-0-0 after 10.Bc4} h6 13. Bh4 (13. Bxf6 $6 {Looks tempting since
Black may need to double his pawns, but on closer inspection, we see that he
can actually sacrifice his d6 pawn for strong compensation} Bxf6 (13... gxf6
14. f5 $14 {thematic}) 14. Rxd6 Be7 15. Rd2 O-O {and ...c5 with the threat of .
..c4 comes quickly. Black also has the two bishops, so he has nothing to worry
about here}) 13... Bd7 $2 {First real mistake of the game} (13... g5 $2 {A
thematic idea, but it doesn't work here (due to tactical and positional
reasons)} 14. fxg5 Nd7 {controlling the e5 square but fails tactically to} 15.
g6 $18 (15. Bg3 {even this would be good enough for a large advantage}) 15...
Bxh4 16. Qxf7+ Kd8 17. g7) 14. Rhe1 {A natural move but gives Black some
resources} (14. e5 $16 dxe5 15. fxe5 Nd5 16. Bxe7 Kxe7 17. Kb1 {To avoid ...
Qe3+ and preparing Rhf1}) 14... Qb7 $2 {From this point on, Black has no real
chance} (14... c5 $1 15. e5 Bc6 16. Qh3 dxe5 17. fxe5 Ng8 $1 {and Black is
holding on} (17... Nd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 19. Bxe7 Kxe7 20. c4 $16) 18. Bf2) 15. e5
$1 {breaking through} Nd5 16. Bxe7 Kxe7 17. Ne4 Qb4 18. Nxd6 f5 ({notice that}
18... Qxf4+ {loses to} 19. Qxf4 Nxf4 20. Rf1 g5 21. g3 $18) (18... Kf8 {
perhaps the best move, but it should make no difference.} 19. Re4) 19. c4 Nxf4
(19... Nc7) 20. Qxf4 a5 21. Qd2 (21. Nxf5+ exf5 22. e6 {is a pretty finish,
but there was no need to be fancy}) 21... a4 $2 22. Nxf5+ exf5 23. Qxd7+ Kf8
24. Qxf5+ {with mate in 4} 1-0
