Game of the Week - Shebetah vs. Orlova

[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.01.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Shebetah, Wajdy"]
[Black "Orlova, Yelizaveta"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2144"]
[BlackElo "2071"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 g6 {Already on the second move, we reach a slightly unusual
position. The main responses to the c3 Sicilian are ...Nf6 and ...d5} 3. f4 $5
{objectively, perhaps not the best.. but very interesting in a practical game}
(3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 d5 (4... Bg7 5. Nf3 d5 6. e5 {and white likely wanted
something different hence his third move})) 3... Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. Be2 Nf6 6.
O-O O-O (6... Nxe4 {black is of course unable to take the pawn} 7. Qa4+ $18) 7.
d3 Nc6 8. Na3 a6 {The right idea: black needs to expand on the queenside} ({I
would have preferred} 8... Rb8 {because it will allow a future ...b5 and ...b4.
black's rook will be active on the half open b-file.}) 9. Kh1 b5 10. Qe1 {A
classic idea in these positions. White needs to bring his queen to the attack,
and the natural route is via e1-h4} b4 11. Nc2 bxc3 12. bxc3 c4 $5 {I imagine
this was the point behind 11...bxc3. Otherwise, I would have preferred to
maintain the tension with 11...Rb8} 13. d4 (13. Rb1 {It was better to allow
weak pawns as will occur after} cxd3 14. Bxd3 Qa5 $11) 13... Nxe4 14. Bxc4 d5
15. Bd3 Bf5 $15 {An odd-looking move, but perhaps best. The alternative was} (
15... Qa5 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. fxe5 Be6 $15) 16. Ne3 Nf2+ (16... Ng3+
{was probably better} 17. Qxg3 Bxd3 {because here black essentially gains a
tempo over the game by threatening white's rook}) 17. Rxf2 Bxd3 18. Ne5 $6 {I
think this was an error in judgment.} (18. Ba3 {he really needs to activate
all his pieces!}) 18... Nxe5 19. fxe5 f5 (19... f6 {leads to the same thing in
this instance, but this move makes 20.exf6 almost necessary. After 19...f5,
white had other choices. It's possible, however, that Liza hoped white would
not take on f6 to allow her to get in ...f4}) 20. exf6 (20. Ba3 f4 21. Nf1 Rc8
{and black is better, but the position is very unclear}) 20... exf6 21. Ng4 $2
Qd7 ({Black missed her chance to take a big advantage here with} 21... h5 22.
Ne3 Re8 $17) 22. h3 (22. Qd1 Be4 23. Rb2) 22... Rae8 (22... h5 $1) 23. Qd2 Bf5
$6 {Black remains better, but less-so than before} (23... Be4 24. Ba3 h5 $1 {
A hard move to find} 25. Nh2 (25. Bxf8 $2 hxg4 26. Bxg7 g3 $3 $19) 25... Rf7 {
and black is in the driver's seat. Her two bishops are very strong}) 24. Ba3 $1
Rf7 25. Nh6+ Bxh6 26. Qxh6 {and white has survived} Be4 27. Raf1 f5 28. Rb2 $6
(28. Qf4 {White needs to be weary of c3}) 28... Qc7 29. Bc5 Qg3 (29... f4 $1)
30. Rc1 $4 {Liza mentioned to me that time was a large factor at this point in
the game.} (30. Qf4 $1 {A very difficult move to play. How many players would
willingly give up the pawn on h3?} Qxh3+ 31. Kg1 {It so happens that black's
attack is now over} Qg4 (31... Qh5 32. Rb8 Rxb8 33. Qxb8+ Kg7 34. Bd6 Qg4 35.
Rf2 {and I find it hard to believe that black has anything}) 32. Qxg4 fxg4 33.
Rxf7 Kxf7 34. Rb7+ Kg8 $15 {Black has winning chances, but white should be
able to hold}) 30... f4 (30... Rf6 $1 {Prophylaxis! Black can't be prevented
from playing ...f4, and this move disallows any annoying Bd6 by white. The
immediate plan for black is ...f4-f3} 31. Rf1 f4) 31. Bd6 Qe3 32. Rf1 $2 {Can
you spot the winning tactic for black here?} Qxc3 {Oftentimes, after missed
wins like this, the game starts to go awry. The same thing happened here.} (
32... f3 $1 33. Qxe3 fxg2+ 34. Rxg2 Rxf1+ 35. Kh2 Rh1+ 36. Kxh1 (36. Kg3 Rxh3+
37. Kxh3 Bxg2+ 38. Kxg2 Rxe3) 36... Bxg2+ 37. Kxg2 Rxe3 {and white can resign})
33. Rbf2 f3 34. gxf3 Rxf3 (34... Qxd4 $17) 35. Kh2 {Psychologically, the game
has swung in white's favour. He has survived the onslaught which looked
imminent...} Qe3 36. Qxe3 Rxe3 37. Rc1 Bf5 38. Be5 Rxh3+ 39. Kg2 Re3 (39... Rc8
) 40. Rc7 R3xe5 (40... Rc8 41. Rg7+ Kf8 42. Rxh7 Ke8 $11) 41. dxe5 d4 {Still
harbouring winning ambitions, Liza goes for gold with ...d4. She should have
settled for a draw with ...Rxe5} 42. Rb2 d3 43. Kf2 g5 44. Rb6 h5 45. Rxa6 {
and black resigned in a few more moves. The computer tells me that this
position can be saved, but it looks very difficult - especially with little
time. A hard-fought game that shows how tough it is to recover from letting a
big advantage slip. Liza did recover and finished the tournament with 3.5/5
and a new high rating, however!} 1-0