From the third round of the BC Open comes an opening trick to remember... and it leads to Jason Kenney's defeat of FM Cao in a 22-move miniature. I know what you're thinking - not another game from the BC Open - but this one should not be missed. d4 players and all Queen's Indian players should definitely have a look at this one!
[Event "BC op"]
[Site "Richmond"]
[Date "2016.02.07"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Kenney, Jason"]
[Black "Cao, Jason"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E14"]
[WhiteElo "2190"]
[BlackElo "2386"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2016.02.06"]
[EventRounds "6"]
{The battle of the Jasons...} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 {The
Classical Variation of the Queen's Indian} 5. O-O c5 6. c4 Be7 7. Nc3 cxd4 8.
exd4 d5 {challenging White's center at the cost of creating a bit of a hole on
e5} 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Ne5 {There is some venom here. Black needs to play
cautiously} (10. Bb5+ Bc6 11. Bc4 O-O 12. Ne5 Bb7) ({White can also play more
slowly with} 10. Re1) 10... O-O {pretty much the only move. I had a very bad
experience against GM Sambuev a couple years ago when I blundered with 10...
Nc6 here. That game ended fairly quickly after 11.Bb5 and Qa4} 11. Qg4 (11. Qh5
Nf6 (11... g6 {another very reasonable move. The complications are high here}
12. Qh3 Nc6) 12. Qh4 {transposes to the game}) 11... Nf6 (11... f5 $5 {could
be an interesting try as well} 12. Qe2) 12. Qh4 Nc6 (12... Ne4 $5 {the
critical test of White's provocative play} 13. Qh3 (13. Qh5 Nf6 14. Qh4 {is
one way a number of games have ended in draws by repetion. As Jason Cao
outrates his opponent by nearly 200 points here, I can imagine he would not
have gone for this.}) 13... Qxd4 14. Bf4 (14. Nxf7 {Certainly a shocking move
to encounter but not objectively great} Rxf7 15. Bxe4 Bxe4 16. Qg4 Nc6 $15)
14... Nf6 15. Ne2 Qa4 16. Rac1 $44) 13. Bg5 g6 $2 {Surprisingly, the most
common move - even though it is a major blunder!} (13... Nxe5 14. Bxf6 Nxd3 15.
Bxe7 Qc7 16. Bxf8 Rxf8 17. Qg3 $16) 14. Ba6 $1 {This looks like some home
preparation which went exactly according to plan.} h6 {the best try} 15. Bxb7
$6 {There were better ways to finish black off, however} (15. Bxh6 Nxe5 16.
Bxb7 (16. Bxf8 Bxa6 17. Bxe7 Nf3+ 18. gxf3 Qxe7 19. Rfc1 $18 {with Ne4 to
follow and trading into a winning endgame}) 16... Nfg4 17. Qh3 Qxd4 18. Rad1
Qb4 19. Bxa8 Nxh6 20. Qxh6 Rxa8 $18) (15. Qxh6 Ng4 16. Qh3 $146 Ngxe5 17. Bxb7
Nxd4 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Bxa8 Rxa8 20. Rad1 $18) 15... hxg5 16. Qh3 (16. Qxg5
Nxe5 17. Bxa8 Qxd4 18. Bb7 $16) 16... Nxd4 17. Bxa8 Qxa8 18. Rad1 Bc5 $2 {a
strange blunder and pretty uncommon for a player of FM Cao's class} (18... Nf5
{would have certainly lengthened the game.} 19. Nd7 Rc8 20. Nxf6+ Bxf6 21. Rd7
$16) 19. b4 $1 Bd6 $2 (19... Nd5 20. Nxd5 Qxd5 21. Qe3 Nf5 22. Rxd5 Bxe3 23.
Rd7 $18) 20. Nxg6 fxg6 21. Rxd4 g4 22. Qd3 {A commanding win by Jason Kenney.
At the same time, Jason Cao can take solace in knowing that great players such
as Judit Polgar, Jeroen Piket, and Vlastimil Babula (all over 2600) have lost
quickly to this trick with 14.Ba6} 1-0
