This week's game is from the Pere Noel tournament. The young FM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux played an interesting pawn sacrifice against NM Valentin Prahov, which led to an unclear game in which both players had their chances.
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Valentin Prahov"]
[Black "Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.c3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.Qxb7 ( { White is of course not forced to take the pawn. } 11.O-O O-O 12.Rae1 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 Rab8 14.Ne5 { is about equal. } ) 11...O-O 12.Qb3 Rab8 13.Qc2 Rfc8 14.a3 e5 { Black is better developped than White and correctly decides to open up the position before White is able to castle. } 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 ( 16.O-O Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Rxb2 { would leave Black with pressure on c3 and more active pieces, so White chooses to keep the pawn and hope to contain the attack. } ) 16...Qxe5+ 17.Kf1 d4 18.c4 Nd5?! ( 18...Re8 { would have been a natural way to increase the pressure. Black is threatening to play ...Be2+ followed by ...Bxd3 and ...Rxb2, so } 19.b4 Be2+ 20.Kg1 Bxd3 21.Qxd3 Qe2 22.Qxe2 Rxe2 23.Nb3 d3 { and Black has more than enough compensation for the pawn. } ) 19.Bxh7+ Kh8 20.Qe4 Qxe4 21.Bxe4 Nf6 22.b4 Nxe4 23.Nxe4 Rxc4 24.f3 Bh5 25.Kf2 f5 26.Nc5 Rc2+ 27.Kg3 g5 28.h4 f4+ 29.Kh3 g4+! ( { Black finds a nice way to keep the white king boxed in. Clearly the b8-rook belongs on the e file, but the immediate } 29...Re8 30.hxg5 Ree2 { would allow the king to escape: } 31.Kh4 Bg6 32.Kg4+ Kg7 33.Kxf4 { and White is better } ) 30.fxg4 Rg8 31.g5 ( { Of course } 31.gxh5 { loses to } 31...Rg3+ 32.Kh2 Rcxg2# ) 31...Re8 32.Rhe1 Re3+ 33.Rxe3 fxe3 34.g4 Bf7 35.Kg3 Bd5 36.Kf4 Rf2+ ( 36...e2 37.Re1 Rd2 38.Kg3 d3 39.Kf2 Rd1 40.Nxd3 Rxd3 41.Rxe2 Rxa3 { is equal. } ) 37.Ke5 Bc4 38.Ne4?? ( { The decisive mistake. Much better was } 38.Kxd4 e2 39.Kxc4 Rf1 40.Kd3 Rxa1 41.Kxe2 Rxa3 42.Nd3 ) 38...Rf1 39.Rxf1 Bxf1 40.Ng3 d3 41.Nxf1 e2
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