This week, I present to you a game played at the Carnaval Winter Open played in Quebec City. This game features a master playing White against an IM playing Black. In this game, at certain points, Black does not play the objectively best move, and instead tries to keep winning chances.
[Event "CArnaval2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.02.20"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Caire, François"]
[Black "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2243"]
[BlackElo "2486"]
[Annotator "Kleinman"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[TimeControl "900+2"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 {This is a standard way to try and
disrupt White's development. White has multiple ways to defend the c4 (pretty
much any Queen move, Nbd2, and the game continuation.} 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 c5 7.
Bg2 (7. Bxb4 {For your reference, I've included a nice recent game where White
opted to take the Black bishop.} cxb4 8. Bg2 Bb7 9. Qd3 O-O 10. Nbd2 a5 11. O-O
d6 12. e4 e5 13. Ne1 Nc6 14. Nc2 Nd7 15. d5 Ne7 16. a3 Nc5 17. Qe2 bxa3 18.
Rxa3 f5 19. Rfa1 Qc7 20. b4 axb4 21. Rxa8 Bxa8 22. Nxb4 Bb7 23. Rb1 h6 24. Nd3
Nxe4 25. Nxe4 fxe4 26. Qxe4 Bc8 27. g4 Bd7 28. h3 h5 29. Re1 hxg4 30. hxg4 Qa7
31. Re3 Be8 32. Rf3 Rxf3 33. Qxf3 Qa4 34. Bf1 Bg6 35. Ne1 Qb4 36. Ng2 b5 37.
cxb5 Be4 38. Qe2 Bxd5 39. Ne3 Qc5 40. b6 Bb7 41. Qc4+ Kf8 42. Qxc5 dxc5 43. Nc4
Bd5 44. Na5 Nc6 45. Nxc6 Bxc6 46. Ba6 {1-0 (46) Jakovenko,D (2724)-Bologan,V
(2712) Poikovsky RUS 2012}) 7... Bb7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bc3 Na6 10. a3 Bxc3 11. Nxc3
cxd4 12. Qxd4 (12. Nxd4 {Was played in Wang Hao - Carlsen in 2012. White
seemed to have a space advantage out of the opening, but Black's position was
extremely solid.}) 12... Nc5 13. Rab1 d5 (13... Nce4 14. Rbc1 Nxc3 15. Rxc3 Qe7
$11) 14. cxd5 Nxd5 15. b4 Nxc3 16. Qxc3 Ne4 17. Qe3 Rc8 18. Rbc1 Qe7 ({This
position is fairly equal. However, Black has to be somewhat precise. Accurate
was:} 18... Nf6 19. Ne5 (19. Rfd1 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Qa8 $1) 19... Bxg2 20. Kxg2
Qd5+ 21. Kg1 $11) 19. Rfd1 {White has a slight pull here.} Nf6 20. Ne5 Nd5 21.
Qb3 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qg5 23. Qb2 Qe7 24. Nc6 ({Instead of going directly for
bishop with Nc6, possible was:} 24. b5 Rd8 25. Bf3 Nf6 26. Bc6 $14) 24... Bxc6
25. Rxc6 Nf6 26. Qc2 Rd8 27. Rc7 Rd1+ 28. Bf1 Rd7 29. Rc8+ Ne8 30. e4 (30. Qa4
$1 {Paralyzing Black.} g6 31. Bg2 Kf8 32. Bc6 Rd8 33. Rxd8 Qxd8 34. Qxa7 $16)
30... Rd8 31. Qc6 Rxc8 32. Qxc8 f6 33. e5 Kf7 34. exf6 gxf6 35. Bc4 Nd6 36. Qc6
Kg7 (36... Nxc4 $11 {I suspect Black opted to not trade in order to keep some
potential winning chances.}) 37. Bb3 e5 38. Qd5 f5 39. Qg8+ Kh6 40. Qd5 Qf6 41.
Kg2 f4 {While Black is pushing hard for a win, he is opening up a lot of light
squares.} 42. g4 Kg5 43. f3 h5 (43... Kh4 {is an option! But White is still
signifcantly better.}) 44. Qg8+ Kh6 45. h4 $3 Qxh4 46. Qf8+ Kh7 47. Bg8+ Kg6
48. Qxd6+ Kg7 49. Bd5 Qg3+ {The checks will run out.} 50. Kf1 Qh3+ 51. Ke2 Qg2+
52. Kd3 Qf1+ 53. Ke4 Qb1+ 54. Kxe5 Qb2+ 55. Kf5 1-0
