[Event "GBR-ch 103rd"] [Site "Bournemouth"] [Date "2016.08.02"] [Round "8"] [White "Pleasants, Allan J"] [Black "Kalaiyalahan, Akshaya"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2038"] [BlackElo "2288"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "2016.07.25"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.03.01"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Nc3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Nd7 10. Bb5 Bd6 11. f4 O-O 12. Bd3 Qc7 13. Bb2 Rd8 {[#]} 14. Bxh7+ {The Greek gift sacrifice.} (14. O-O {with the prospect of steadily building an attack, with say Qh5 and Rf3, was the other way of playing the position.}) 14... Kxh7 15. Qh5+ Kg8 16. Qxf7+ Kh8 {[#]} 17. Qh5+ {And at this point a draw was agreed as Allan can force perpetual check. It seems that in taking the draw Allan showed excellent judgement. What could result from playing on is quite fascinating.} (17. O-O {The obvious try to play for a win.} Nf6 $1 (17... Nxe5 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. fxe5 Bxe5 20. dxe5 Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Rf8 22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 {with an extra pawn white must be a little better here even if his pieces are not very well coordinated}) 18. Rf3 (18. Qg6 Rf8 19. Rf3 Kg8 20. Rh3 Bd7 $17 {and black will play Be8 driving the white queen away}) 18... Qxf7 19. Nxf7+ Kg8 20. Nxd8 Bc7 21. Nxe6 (21. Nxb7 {leads to a similar story}) 21... Bxe6 {[#] This is a really interesting position. White has a rook and three pawns for a bishop and knight and nothing dropping immediately, so on a crude piece value count he is around +2 . On the other hand his white squares are weak, his a-pawn is weak, his bishop is inactive, he may get tied down to the c-pawn, and it is hard to activate his king. I think it is easy to see that the positional factors are worth a pawn but are they worth two or more? Modern engines assess this position as better for black and as you play down the lines it becomes apparent why, e.g.} 22. Re3 Bd5 23. g3 Rc8 24. a4 Ba5 25. Rae1 (25. h3 Rc4 26. Kf1 Ne4 {and white can barely move}) 25... Rc4 26. Re5 Rxa4 27. Ra1 Rxa1+ 28. Bxa1 $17 {black has got a pawn back, still has a white square grip and now has a dangerous a-pawn.}) 1/2-1/2