Despite being a medical student in Moncton, Elias is a strong player (CFC 2362) who in the past four months has played tournaments from New Brunswick to British Columbia. He is an occasional contributor to Chess Canada, the CFC's electronic newsletter, but some extra free time this year will allow him to more time to annotate for us!
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[Event "Tournoi Ouvert de Gatineau_8"]
[Site "Gatineau"]
[Date "2016.03.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Hébert, Jean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[Annotator "Elias Oussedik"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2016.03.06"]
{The tournoi ouvert de Gatineau brings back great memories for me. I scored my
first IM scalp that tournament beating none other than Jean Hebert. I also
finished tied first with IM Aman Hambleton.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 e5 {These two players have played numerous times on the circuit and it
seems that a different opening is played everytime. This time, Hebert goes for
the Kalashnikov, a cousin of the Sveshnikov.} 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 {An important
decision. The alternative is N1c3.} (6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 b5 8. Nd5 Nge7 $14 {
This is the point of playing an early e5 on move four. The knight can go to e7
instead of the usual f6 square, as seen in the Sveshnikov.}) 6... Be7 7. N1c3
a6 8. Na3 Be6 9. Nc2 {All this is well known. White's idea is to re-route his
knight to e3 and control the important and weak d5 square. Black's breaks are
down via either ...b5 or ...f5.} Nf6 $6 {I don't particular like this move.
More common is Bg5. Black's bad bishop is his e7 bishop so he should be trying
to trade it and leave White with his weak bishop on f1.} (9... Bg5 10. Be2 Bxc1
11. Rxc1 Nf6 12. O-O O-O 13. Qd2 Qb6 14. Rfd1 Rfd8 15. b3 h6 16. h3 $14 {
White simply has an extremely comfortable position. In typical Carlsenesque
style, he squeezed his young Chinese opponent to score the full point.} Qa7 17.
Bf3 Ne7 18. Ne3 Nc6 19. Bg4 Nd4 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Nc2 Nxc2 22. Rxc2 Rd7 23. Qe2
Rad8 24. Rd3 Qc5 25. Na4 Qc6 26. Re3 b6 27. Nb2 Rf7 28. Rd2 Nd7 29. Nd3 {
Threatening Nb4} a5 30. Nb2 {and now going back to c3} Nc5 31. Nd1 Rdf8 32. Qe1
Rd8 33. Nc3 Rfd7 34. Qd1 Na6 {Now that Black's pieces are all tied to
defending d6, White changes focus to the kingside.} 35. Qh5 Nc7 36. Rg3 Kh8 37.
Rdd3 Re7 38. Rg6 Qe8 39. Rdg3 Rdd7 40. Nd1 Rf7 41. Qe2 Rf4 42. Qe3 b5 43. Nb2
$1 Rdf7 44. c5 $1 Qc6 45. Nd3 b4 46. Qe2 Rh4 47. R6g4 $1 Rxg4 48. Qxg4 Kg8 49.
Qh5 Nb5 50. Rg4 (50. Qxh6 Qxe4 51. Qxe6 Nd4 52. Re3 Qxg2+ $16) 50... Nc3 51.
Qxh6 Nxe4 52. Qxe6 Nxf2 $2 (52... Nxc5 53. Nxe5 $16) 53. Nxe5 Nxh3+ 54. Kh2 {
1-0 Carlsen,M (2862)-Hou,Y (2673) Wijk aan Zee, 2015.}) 10. Bd3 {To me, Be2
looks more natural but I imagine Bator wasn't looking for a quite maneuvering
position. He was looking for Hebert's king - and fast!} (10. Be2 $14 {A
reasonable alternative.}) 10... O-O 11. O-O Rc8 12. Qe2 Nd7 13. b4 {A very
commital move. White decides to restrict Black's knight on c5 at the cost of
weakening his c4 pawn.} Bf6 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. cxd5 Nd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. f4 $1
$16 {A strong move! White has transposed into a Benoni-like position and he
has the two bishops. White simply needs to rearrange his pieces and then
breakthrough in the center with the typical e5!} Re8 18. Bd2 {White's idea is
simple: Qf3, Rae1 and push e5 home!} g6 {Black is making luft for his bishop
to retreat to g7 as the the h8-a1 diagonal is attractive.} 19. Qf3 Bg7 20. Rae1
Qe7 21. Re2 Nb6 22. e5 $1 {The central breakthrough at last!} Rf8 {Black's
position has transposed into a Benoni structure. Retreating moves like ...Rf8
can never be the way to go. A better idea would have been to play ...Nc4 and
attempt to rid White of his bishop pair.} (22... Nc4 23. exd6 Nxd2 24. dxe7
Nxf3+ 25. Rxf3 Rc7 $14 {White is better, but the opposite color bishop endgame
makes it possible for Black to hold.}) 23. e6 $1 {Elliott the e-pawn! Yikes!}
f5 $16 24. h3 {White is preparing g4 and in true Bator style going for
Hebert's king!} Nc4 {Finally ...Nc4, but too little to late, White already has
his protected passed pawn on e6 and with that, a massive space advantage.} 25.
g4 Nxd2 26. Rxd2 Rc3 27. Rg2 Qh4 28. Qg3 Qxg3 29. Rxg3 fxg4 30. hxg4 {Black
still has drawing chances to as there are bishops of opposite color. His idea
is to hold a blockade on the dark squares.} Bf6 31. Rh3 {Bator is targeting
Black's king, even in an endgame!} (31. f5 $6 {For example, f5 here wouldn't
be the best continuation as it could give Black the possibility to hold a
blockade on the dark squares with} g5) 31... Kg7 32. Kg2 h6 33. Rfh1 Be7 34.
Rxh6 $1 {Brilliant mating net by Bator!} Rxd3 35. g5 {The threat? Rh7#!} Rg8
36. Rh7+ Kf8 37. Rf7+ Ke8 38. Rhh7 Bd8 39. Rxb7 Re3 40. Rb8 {Rd7 and Rbxd8# is
immenent. A nice attacking game by Bator. It was instructive to see how
Bator's understanding of different positions allowed him to change one
advantage for another (d5 sqaure weakness for e5 pawn push).} 1-0
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Marcel Laurin continues to run excellent events in Gatineau. His tireless promoting allows us to play in Gatineau's Maison du Citoyen -- with free parking and literally across the street from Canada's Museum of Civilization -- and the prize money brings in titled players. His next event is the Tournoi Ouvert Regional de L'Outaouais (TORO) on June 3-5, 2016, with a $5000 prize fund guaranteed.
