This week, I have chosen a game played at the Reykjavik Open played by Alberta's Dale Haessel against GM Hannes Stefansson. This game has an interesting pawn structure that dictates the flow of the game and features missed opportunities by both players.
[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik, Iceland"]
[Date "2016.03.09"]
[Round "3.21"]
[White "Haessel, Dale R"]
[Black "Stefansson, Hannes"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2212"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "Kleinman"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 g6 {The double fianchetto leads
to interesting positions.} ({More common is:} 5... d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qc2) 6.
d5 Bg7 7. g3 O-O 8. Bg2 Na6 (8... exd5 9. cxd5 c6 10. O-O cxd5 11. Bg5 Na6 12.
Rc1 Nc7 13. Qd2 Ne6 14. Bh6 Bxh6 15. Qxh6 Rc8 16. Rfd1 Rc5 17. Nd4 Qe7 18. b4
Rc4 19. Nb3 d4 20. Nb5 Rxc1 {0-1 (29) Georgiev,K (2636)-Vallejo Pons,F (2706)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2013}) 9. O-O Nc5 10. Bf4 d6 11. Ne1 $146 (11. Rc1 a5 12. b4
axb4 13. axb4 Nce4 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Qd3 Nf6 16. e4 Ra4 17. dxe6 Bxe4 18. exf7+
Rxf7 19. Qb3 Qa8 20. c5 Ra3 21. Qxf7+ $4 (21. Qe6 $1 Bxf3 22. Bxf3 Rxf3 23.
cxb6 $14) 21... Kxf7 22. Ng5+ Kg8 23. Nxe4 Nxe4 $19 24. cxd6 cxd6 25. Bxd6 Qe8
26. Bxe4 Qxe4 27. Rfe1 Qa8 28. Bc7 Bd4 29. Red1 Qe4 {0-1 (29) Haessel,D (2262)
-Xiong,J (2575) Las Vegas 2015}) 11... a5 12. Nd3 exd5 13. cxd5 Nfd7 {This
position somewhat resembles a Benoni; the main difference being the black pawn
lies at c7 here instead of c5. This has the disadvantage of being a backward
pawn, but does protect the d6 pawn, which is typically weak. This makes the
bishop on f4 look somewhat misplaced.} 14. Rc1 Ba6 15. b4 Nxd3 16. exd3 axb4
17. axb4 Ne5 18. b5 Bb7 19. Qc2 Ra5 20. d4 Ng4 21. Ne2 Rxb5 22. Qxc7 Bxd5 23.
Bxd6 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 Qe8 25. Qc2 (25. Bxf8 {leads to a crazy computer variation
which is difficult to figure out over the board.} Qe4+ 26. Kg1 Nxh2 27. Bc5 $1
Nf3+ 28. Kh1 bxc5 29. Qc8+ Bf8 30. Nc3 Qb7 31. Qxb7 Rxb7 32. dxc5 Bxc5 {
White emerges with an advantage, though converting this is another story.})
25... Qa8+ 26. Qc6 Qxc6+ 27. Rxc6 Re8 28. Rfc1 Rf5 29. Nf4 h5 30. h3 Nxf2 31.
Kxf2 g5 32. Rd1 ({It's important to exchange one pair of rooks.} 32. Rc8 Rxc8
33. Rxc8+ Kh7 34. Ke3 gxf4+ 35. gxf4 Rb5 36. Ke4 $14) 32... gxf4 33. Bxf4 Rd8
34. Ke3 Rfd5 35. Rc4 b5 36. Rb4 Bf8 37. Rb3 b4 38. g4 f6 39. Ke4 Kf7 {This
endgame is equal, but more pleasant for Black} 40. gxh5 {This move is pretty
committal; I don't know if it's needed.} (40. Rbd3) 40... Rxh5 41. d5 $4 Re8+ (
41... f5+ 42. Kd4 Rh4 43. Rf1 Bd6 44. Rbf3 Rc8 $1 {And White is paralyzed!
It's a nice Zugzwang.} 45. Kd3 Rc3+ 46. Kd2 Rxf3 $19) 42. Kd4 Rxd5+ (42... Rh4
43. Rf3 Bd6 44. Rdf1 Rc8 {Same Zugzwang as above.}) 43. Kxd5 Rd8+ 44. Kc4 Rxd1
45. Rf3 Be7 46. Bg5 Rb1 47. Bd2 Rb2 48. Rd3 f5 49. h4 Kg6 50. Rd5 Rc2+ 51. Kb3
Rc5 52. Rd7 Re5 53. Bf4 Re4 54. Bd6 (54. Bd2 Re6 55. Rd5 {And White should
draw, though it's slightly unpleasant.}) 54... Bxd6 55. Rxd6+ Kh5 56. Rf6 f4
0-1
