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[Event "79th Tata Steel GpB"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "13.3"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Smirin, Ilya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2603"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[Annotator "Eric Hansen"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2017.01.14"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 {The Kan caught me by surprise since
not only did I beat Smirin in this opening in 2014, but also because he had
done well in Wijk with two Black wins from the Modern Defense.} 5. Bd3 {
Last time I went for a c4 Maroczy structure. Assuming he had some prep I
decided to go for the main line 5.Bd3.} Ne7 $5 {A playable move that
immediately took me out of book. Ilya needed a last round win to have a chance
for first, so I suspect he wanted a non-theoretical position.} 6. O-O Nbc6 7.
Nb3 {On one hand I avoid trading pieces and the knight on e7 doesn't have a
second base. On the other hand, knights on b3 aren't particularly dangerous.}
Ng6 {Smirin is an ultra-aggressive player who sometimes gets away with dubious
setups. The knight on g6 is not good unless White stumbles into something.} (
7... g6 $5 {In hindsight, I think this move is a bit more annoying to deal
with. Artemiev plays this line and if Black can get in a quick ...d5 he might
be quite happy.} 8. c4 ({An example would be} 8. a4 Bg7 9. a5 d5 10. N1d2 O-O
11. c3 e5 $11 {Horvitz,R-Seirawan,Y 1987}) 8... Bg7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11.
Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Ne5 13. Be2 N7g6 14. Qd2 b6 $13 {Jakovenko,D -Artemiev,V, 2015.}
) 8. a4 ({A different but effective setup was adopted in a previous game:} 8.
Nc3 b5 9. Be3 Be7 10. f4 O-O 11. Qh5 d6 $14 {Leko,P-Carlsen, M Amber, 2008.
Black still struggles to find enough space to maneouver effectively.}) 8... b6
9. f4 Be7 10. Be3 d6 11. c3 {Stylistically, I wanted to play against Smirin
and his aggression. I was hoping to put my pieces on good squares while
avoiding commital moves. c3 rather than c4 is an example.} O-O 12. N1d2 Bb7 13.
Qf3 $1 {This simple move was my longest think of the game and what caused Ilya
a lot of trouble. I'm simply threatening Qf2 while trying to avoid any
can-opening moves by Black.} (13. Qh5 e5 14. f5 (14. g3 exf4 15. gxf4 $14 {
The space advantage is still good for White, but I didn't see the need to
expose my king, especially when I can't follow up with f4-f5.}) 14... Nf4 15.
Bxf4 exf4 16. Rxf4 Ne5 17. Qe2 Re8 $13 {Great compensation for Black with the
two bishops, knight on e5, and the potential to cause chaos with ...d5.}) (13.
Qe2 {is no different} e5 14. f5 Nf4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. Rxf4 Ne5 17. Rff1 Re8 $36
{with the same sort of dynamic imbalance that I didn't want.}) ({I was
intially attracted to} 13. Nc4 {hoping for} b5 $2 ({... until I realized that
Ilya had something else in store:} 13... d5 $1 14. Bxb6 (14. Nxb6 d4 $1 $17)
14... dxc4 15. Bxd8 Rfxd8 $44) 14. Nb6 Rb8 15. axb5 axb5 16. Bxb5 $16 {I'm a
fully fledged pawn-grabber these days (thanks Yasser).}) 13... e5 (13... Nb8 {
followed by ...Nd7 was a good try. Black has a slow setup but it's not easy
for White to take advantage of it.}) (13... Na5 $5 14. Qf2 Nxb3 15. Nxb3 b5 16.
Na5 $1 Qd7 17. g3 Rab8 18. Nxb7 Rxb7 19. axb5 axb5 20. h4 $16) 14. f5 Nf4 15.
Bc2 {And here the benefit of Qf3 becomes clear: ...Nf4 doesn't come with tempo,
which allows White to play around it and attempt to trap it with g3.} d5 (15...
Bg5 $2 {allows White to trap the N:} 16. g3 Nh3+ 17. Kg2 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Ng5 19.
h4 $18) 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. exd5 Ne5 18. Qxf4 Re8 19. Ne4 (19. c4 Bg5 20. Qg3 Rc8
$40) (19. f6 $1 {A similar idea as the game, and superior because it is
forcing.} gxf6 (19... Bxf6 20. Ne4 $18) (19... Qxd5 20. Be4 Bc5+ 21. Kh1 Qd7
22. Rad1 $18) 20. Rad1 Qxd5 21. Be4 Qd7 22. Nf3 Qc8 23. Bxb7 Qxb7 24. Nxe5 fxe5
25. Qg4+ Kh8 26. Rd7 Qc6 27. Rxf7 Rg8 28. Rxh7+ Kxh7 29. Rxe7+ $18) 19... Qxd5
({Maybe the only attempt to survive was} 19... f6 20. Rad1 Bxd5 $16 {and to
follow up with ...Ra7-d7. During the game I didn't think Black could take this
pawn because of the pin, so my two pawn advantage would be decisive.} 21. Nd4
b5 22. Kh1 Qb6) 20. f6 Ng6 (20... Bxf6 21. Qxf6 gxf6 22. Nxf6+ Kg7 23. Nxd5
Bxd5 24. Nd4 $16 {During the game I considered this endgame lost for Black,
but I am not bold enough to definitely say it in my notes here. Extra pawn,
queenside majority, and better structure should be enough.}) 21. Qf2 gxf6 22.
Nd4 $1 $18 {It was at this point I considered my position absolutely winning.
Once I saw Nd4 I realized it was over because it allows me to have impeccable
coordination before I go for the throat. My next moves are Rae1 and Bb3 and
Black is helpless.} (22. Rad1 Qc4 23. Nxf6+ (23. Ng3 $5 Rad8 24. Nd4 Bc5 {
also looked like it was giving Black too much activity.}) 23... Bxf6 24. Qxf6
Re2 {seemed totally unnecessary.}) 22... Rad8 23. Rae1 Kf8 24. Bb3 Qe5 (24...
Qxe4 25. Rxe4 Bxe4 26. h4 h5 27. Qe3 $18) 25. Nxf6 Qxf6 (25... Qxf6 26. Qg3 Qg7
(26... Bd6 27. Rxf6 Bxg3 28. Rxf7+ Kg8 29. Rxb7+ Kh8 30. Rxe8+ Rxe8 31. hxg3
$18) 27. Ne6+) 26. Qg3 {A picturesque final position where every piece does
its job. I was able to a punish a slightly dubious opening setup by Smirin in
a game that felt pretty heavy due to the last round consequences.} 1-0
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