[Event "American Continental 8th"] [Site "Mar del Plata"] [Date "2012.10.20"] [Round "10"] [White "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Black "Bruzon Batista, Lazaro"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C08"] [WhiteElo "2503"] [BlackElo "2717"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2012.10.12"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ARG"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2013"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.11.22"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2012.11.22"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. exd5 exd5 6. Be2 c4 7. O-O Bd6 8. a4 Ne7 9. c3 Nbc6 10. b3 cxb3 11. Nxb3 O-O 12. Bd3 h6 13. Rb1 Ng6 14. Re1 Qf6 15. Nc5 Na5 16. Nb3 Nc6 17. Nc5 Rb8 18. Bc2 b6 19. Nd3 Bf5 20. Nb2 Rfe8 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Bxf5 Qxf5 23. Nd3 Bc7 24. Rb2 Re4 25. g3 Qg4 26. Rd2 Qe6 27. Nde1 Na5 28. Ng2 Nc4 29. Ra2 Qg4 30. Ra1 f5 31. Kf1 f4 32. Ra2 Re6 33. Qd3 Rf6 34. Nge1 Ne7 35. Re2 fxg3 36. fxg3 Nf5 37. Kg1 Qh5 38. Ne5 Nfd6 39. g4 Qh4 40. Ng2 Rf1+ 41. Kxf1 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk ol (Men) 39th"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2010.09.22"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Black "Bu, Xiangzhi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D17"] [WhiteElo "2550"] [BlackElo "2695"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2010.09.21"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [SourceTitle "CBM 139"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2010.11.18"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"] [SourceQuality "1"] [WhiteTeam "Brazil"] [BlackTeam "China"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BRA"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5 12. Ne3 gxf4 13. Nxf5 O-O-O 14. Qc2 Nc5 15. O-O fxg3 16. hxg3 a5 17. Rad1 h5 18. Rxd8+ Qxd8 19. Rd1 Qf6 20. Ne4 Nxe4 21. Qxe4 Bb4 22. Bh3 Kb8 23. Qd4 Qe6 24. Kg2 Ng6 25. Ne3 Qe7 26. Qc4 Qf6 27. Qd4 Qe7 28. Qc4 Qf6 29. Qd4 Qe7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Festa da Uva playoff1"] [Site "Caxias do Sul"] [Date "2016.02.12"] [Round "1"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2559"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2016.02.12"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "2"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2018"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2017.10.13"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2017.10.13"] [SourceQuality "1"] [TimeControl "900+5"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. O-O d6 7. Bb3 h6 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 Ba7 10. h3 Re8 11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bc2 d5 13. exd5 Bxd5 (13... Nxd5 14. Ng3 Qd6 15. Nh4 Qd7 16. Qf3 Qe7 17. Nhf5 Qf8 18. Bb3 Rad8 19. Nh5 Bxf5 20. Qxf5 Nde7 21. Qf3 Ng6 22. Re4 Na5 23. Bc2 f5 24. Re1 Kh8 25. Ng3 Nh4 26. Qh5 Qf6 27. d4 e4 28. Bf4 Bb6 29. Qe2 Nc6 30. Nh5 Qf8 31. Bg3 Ng6 32. Qe3 Re7 33. b4 Rde8 34. Bb3 Nce5 35. Bxe5 Nxe5 36. Nf4 Kh7 37. Nd5 Nd3 38. Nxe7 Nxe1 39. Nxf5 Nxg2 40. Kxg2 Qxf5 41. Bc2 Kh8 42. Re1 Qf7 43. Bxe4 {Giri,A (2778)-So,W (2767) Bilbao 2015 1/2-1/2 (98)}) 14. Ng3 Qd7 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. Rxe3 Re7 17. Qe2 Rae8 18. a3 $146 (18. Re1 g6 19. a4 a5 20. Qd2 Kg7 21. Nh4 Be6 22. Rf3 Nh7 23. Nh5+ gxh5 24. Rg3+ Kh8 25. Qxh6 Rg8 26. d4 f5 27. Ng6+ Rxg6 28. Rxg6 Bd5 29. Kh2 e4 30. Re3 Rg7 31. Rxg7 Qxg7 32. Qxh5 Qg5 33. Qe8+ Qg8 34. Qd7 f4 35. Re1 f3 36. g3 Nf6 37. Qxc7 Qg5 38. Qf4 Qxf4 39. gxf4 Kg7 40. Rg1+ Kf7 41. Rg5 Nd8 42. Kg3 Ne6 43. Re5 Ng7 44. Rxd5 Nxd5 45. Bxe4 Nh5+ 46. Kxf3 Ndxf4 47. Bxb7 Nd3 { Zhigalko,S (2682)-Kabanov,N (2486) Khanty-Mansiysk 2012 1-0}) 18... g6 19. Re1 Kg7 20. Qd1 h5 $1 {[%csl Rg3]} 21. Qe2 Qd6 22. Ne4 {La poussée h5 menaçant le Ng3 a forcé les Blancs à joeur Ne4 et après l'échange les pièces lourdes Blanches seront mal placées} Bxe4 23. dxe4 Rd7 $132 {[%csl Re1,Re2, Re3]} 24. b4 Qe7 (24... Red8) 25. Bb3 Nd8 26. Qa2 Nh7 27. a4 c6 28. Nd2 Ne6 29. Bxe6 Qxe6 30. Qxe6 Rxe6 31. Nb3 Ree7 32. Nc5 Rd8 33. Rd3 Rxd3 34. Nxd3 Nf8 35. Kf1 Kf6 36. h4 Ne6 37. g3 Rc7 38. Rb1 Rd7 39. Ke2 Rc7 40. a5 c5 41. b5 c4 42. Nb4 Rc5 43. bxa6 bxa6 44. Nxa6 Rxa5 45. Nb4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Cappelle op 31st"] [Site "Cappelle-la-Grande"] [Date "2015.03.05"] [Round "7"] [White "Onischuk, Vladimir"] [Black "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2629"] [BlackElo "2556"] [Annotator "RR"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2015.02.28"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "FRA"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2016"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2015.10.08"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2015.10.08"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 (3... a6 4. Ba4 Nge7 5. Bb3 d5 6. Nc3 Be6 7. Ng5 Nd4 8. d3 $146 Qd6 {Onischuk,V (2651)-Stopa,J (2537) Metz 2015 (2) 0-1}) 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Nbd2 d6 7. O-O a6 8. Ba4 b5 (8... Ba7 9. h3 Ne7 10. Re1 c5 11. Nf1 h6 12. Ng3 b5 13. Bc2 Ng6 14. d4 Bb7 15. Be3 Re8 16. d5 c4 17. Bxa7 Rxa7 18. b3 Qc7 19. bxc4 Qxc4 20. a4 Qxc3 21. axb5 Qc5 22. Qb1 axb5 23. Rxa7 Qxa7 24. Qxb5 Rc8 25. Bd3 Nf4 26. Qb3 Ba6 27. Bxa6 Qxa6 28. Nf5 Kh7 29. Qb4 Rd8 30. Qd2 Rb8 31. Qc2 Rc8 32. Qd2 Rc4 33. Ng3 Qc8 34. Nh2 Rd4 35. Qe3 Rd3 36. Qa7 Qc3 37. Re3 Rxe3 38. Qxe3 {Shankland,S (2661)-So,W (2788) Saint Louis 2015 0-1 (92) }) 9. Bc2 h6 10. h3 Ba7 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nf1 d5 $5 $146 (12... Bb7 13. Ng3 Qd7 14. Nf5 Ne7 15. N3h4 Kh7 16. Nxe7 Qxe7 17. Nf5 Qf8 18. Qf3 Ng8 19. Bb3 g6 20. Ne3 f5 21. Bd5 Bxd5 22. Nxd5 fxe4 23. dxe4 Qxf3 24. gxf3 Rec8 25. f4 Kg7 26. Kg2 a5 27. fxe5 dxe5 28. Be3 Bxe3 29. Rxe3 Ra6 30. a4 c6 31. axb5 cxb5 32. f4 exf4 33. Nxf4 Rd8 34. Re2 a4 35. Rf1 g5 36. Nd5 Nf6 37. Nc7 Rb6 38. Rf5 b4 39. cxb4 Kg6 40. Rc5 Rxb4 41. Rc6 {1-0 (41) Petrosyan,M (1920)-Ambarcumova,K (2309) Yerevan 2010}) 13. Qe2 Be6 14. exd5 Bxd5 15. Ng3 Qd7 16. a4 Rad8 $132 17. Nh4 ( 17. axb5 axb5) 17... Bc5 18. Nhf5 Bf8 $1 19. Be3 Ne7 20. Nxe7+ Bxe7 21. axb5 axb5 22. Ra7 Qc6 23. f3 Ra8 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. d4 exd4 26. Nf5 Bc5 27. Nxd4 Qb7 28. b4 Bb6 29. Bf2 c6 30. Nf5 Bxf2+ 31. Qxf2 Qa7 $11 32. Nd4 Qc7 33. Qe3 Kf8 34. Kf2 Re8 35. Qd2 Rxe1 36. Qxe1 Nh5 37. Nf5 Be6 38. Ne3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Reykjavik op"] [Site "Reykjavik"] [Date "2011.03.16"] [Round "9"] [White "Gustafsson, Jan"] [Black "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D70"] [WhiteElo "2647"] [BlackElo "2529"] [Annotator "Mekhitarian,K"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2011.03.09"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "ISL"] [SourceTitle "CBM 141 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.05.03"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2011.05.03"] [SourceQuality "1"] {The last round of the excentric Reykjavik Open. I have to tell you, my friends, that for a Brazilian, it's not that easy to spend 9 days in cold Iceland. Anyway, the people there make it quite a fun event. My tournament started with a loss against a 2100 player, and finished with this interesting battle:} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 {Played once by Gustafsson until then - but somehow I felt he could try this, since I've been playing only 3...d5, and I believe that White gets an edge in the main line (9...f5).} d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 ({The rare} 8... Be6 $5 {tried by Eljanov and Kovchan, is also possible:} 9. d5 (9. O-O-O Bc4 10. Nge2 e5 11. d5 c6 12. b3 Ba6 13. d6 N8d7 $13 {Caruana,F (2716)-Kovchan,A (2563) 12th ch-EUR Aix-les-Bains FRA 2011 (2) 0-1 Re8-e6, Nc8 to come}) 9... Bc8 $13 {when White could try a quick h4-h5, or Bh6 at once, but either way Black gets decent counterplay with c6 or e6.}) 9. O-O-O Qd6 $5 (9... e5 {is a move considered to be not so good anymore:} 10. d5 Nd4 11. f4 c5 12. fxe5 Bg4 13. Re1 Bxe5 14. h3 Bd7 15. Nf3 Nxf3 16. gxf3 {and White's central flexibility, added to the h4-h5 advance give him a solid advantage;} f5 $5 {an interesting idea found by me over the board against Leitao back in 2008.} 17. Bxc5 (17. Bg5 $1 {Postny's idea when I repeated the same ...f5 some months later} Qc7 18. f4 Bxc3 19. Qxc3 fxe4 20. Rxe4 Rf7 21. Re5 {Black's position seems dangerous - a plan like h4-h5 would simply destroy the kingside.} c4 22. Qd4 $6 (22. h4 $1 Na4 23. Qd4 c3 24. b4 $16) 22... Qd6 $6 (22... c3 $1 23. b4 Qd6 $13 {with a5 to come}) 23. Rh2 $6 (23. h4 $1 Re8 24. Rxe8+ Bxe8 25. Bg2 $16) 23... Rc8 24. Rc2 Qc5 $2 ( 24... Qf8 $1 $13) 25. Qxc5 Rxc5 26. Bg2 $16 {Postny,E (2661)-Mekhitarian,K (2504) Barcelona Sants op 10th 2008 (8) 1-0}) 17... fxe4 $1 18. Bxf8 Qxf8 19. Rxe4 Bg7 $44 {Leitao,R (2604)-Mekhitarian,K (2466) Sao Paulo Hebraica 5th 2008 (2) 1/2-1/2 when Black gets pretty decent compensation,}) (9... f5 {the solid idea, which I started playing after feeling that the 9...e5 idea to play my own 16...f5 was starting to become a dream, if I wanted not to lose.} 10. e5 ( 10. h4 $5 {not the best idea - here I feel Black's counterplay in the centre is enough, as was proven in recent games} fxe4 11. h5 gxh5 12. Rxh5 (12. d5 $6 Ne5 13. Bh6 Nec4 14. Qg5 Rf7 {Mamedyarov,S (2724)-Kurnosov,I (2602) Moscow Aeroflot op-A 2009 (6) 0-1 and Black already has the better chances,}) 12... Bf5 13. Rg5 (13. Nxe4 $5 $146 Bxe4 14. fxe4 Nxd4 15. Kb1 $1 $44) 13... Bg6 14. Be2 e5 15. d5 $13 {Black has 15...exf3 or 15...Nd4 here, both leading to unclear positions}) 10... Nb4 11. Nh3 Be6 12. Kb1 {and I believe White can get an edge here:} Qd7 13. Nf4 Bf7 14. a3 N4d5 (14... a5 $2 {Svidler's idea, back in 2007, that gave him a quick win against Motylev, after:} 15. d5 $2 ({ but the 17-year old Indian player showed Kokarev why 14...a5? is no longer playable:} 15. Bb5 $1 c6 16. d5 Bxe5 17. Bxb6 cxb5 18. Rhe1 Bf6 19. Bd4 { White's big positional edge becomes clear slowly} Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Na6 21. d6 Qxd6 $4 (21... exd6 22. Ncd5 Bxd5 23. Nxd5 Qg7 24. Qb6 $16 {Re7 coming, [X Kg8]}) 22. Ncd5 $18 {Bitan,B (2311)-Vokarev,S (2501) Bhubaneswar op 2nd 2010 (9) 1-0}) 15... Bxe5 16. axb4 axb4 17. Nb5 Ra5 18. Qxb4 Rfa8 $17) 15. Ncxd5 Nxd5 16. Bc4 $14 {Zhao Xue (2496)-Laylo,D (2516) Aeroflot Open B 2011 (5) 1/2-1/2 with better chances for White; h4-h5 to come, etc.}) 10. Kb1 $5 $146 {After 30 minutes of thought, White doesn't go for the complicated lines and plays a useful move, preparing actions on the queen-side connected with Nb5-d5-Rc1, or something like that.} (10. h4 $5 {seen in a recent top-level game:} Rd8 11. Nb5 Qd7 12. h5 a6 13. Nc3 Nxd4 14. hxg6 fxg6 15. g4 e5 $5 $146 (15... Qc6 $6 { Grischuk,A (2760)-Mamedyarov,S (2761) Moscow Tal Memorial 5th 2010 (5) 1/2-1/2} 16. Qh2 $1 $40) 16. Qh2 h6 17. Bxh6 Bxh6+ 18. Qxh6 Qg7 $13) ({The very same Mamedyarov faced 9...Qd6 for the 1st time 7 years ago, and brought up an interesting idea:} 10. Nb5 Qd7 11. Bh6 $5 Bxh6 12. Qxh6 a6 13. Nc3 Nxd4 14. f4 $1 $44 {Mamedyarov,S (2657)-Petrosian,T (2539) EU-ch 5th Antalya 2004 (11) 1-0} ) 10... Rd8 (10... a6 $5 {/\ Rd8, was more flexible} 11. d5 (11. f4 $5 { I thought about this idea during the game, it seems possible} Bg4 12. Nf3 Qb4 13. a3 Qb3 14. Qc2 Qxc2+ 15. Kxc2 e6 16. Be2 Rad8 $11) 11... Ne5 12. Qf2 f5 $1 {[X Qf2], giving Black a great counterplay} 13. Bc5 Qf6 14. Nh3 h6 $13) 11. Nb5 Qd7 12. d5 a6 $1 (12... Ne5 $2 13. Qc2 $1 $16) (12... Nb8 $6 13. Rc1 Na6 14. Rc2 $1 {Defending the queen to avoid c6-e6 ideas} (14. Nd4 $6 Nxd5 $1 $13) 14... Bf6 {/\ e6, Xd8} 15. Nh3 $1 $36 {/\ Nf2-g4, [X Bf6]} (15. Nd4 Nb8 $1 { /\ c6})) 13. Nc3 {Maintaining the flexiblity of the position. Black shouldn't have any kind of problems by now.} (13. dxc6 {was the solid approach, choosing an endgame where White is a pawn up, but Black's activity compensates for it:} Qxd2 14. Rxd2 Rxd2 15. Bxd2 axb5 16. cxb7 {driving the c8-B to a worse square} (16. Bxb5 $2 bxc6 17. Bxc6 Rb8 {/\ Nc4} 18. b3 Nc4 19. Kc2 (19. Bc1 Ne5 20. Ba4 Ba6 $17) 19... Rb6 20. bxc4 Rxc6 21. Ne2 f5 $1 $15) 16... Bxb7 17. Bxb5 f5 $1 18. exf5 Bd5 19. b3 gxf5 $44 {/\ c5-c4, and probably this was the position that didn't please my opponent very much. I think the chances are balanced, since White can not move the N because of Bxb3!}) 13... Na5 (13... Ne5 $5) 14. Bd4 Nbc4 15. Qf2 $2 (15. Bxc4 $142 {was needed} Nxc4 16. Qc1 Bxd4 17. Rxd4 b5 $13 {and Black is coming quite fast with central or queenside operations. On the other hand, the c8-B is going to stay passive for a while, since White's light-squared-structure is solid. The position should be balanced.}) 15... e5 $1 {Now it starts to get really unpleasant for White.} 16. Bc5 (16. dxe6 { gives Black an edge either way:} Bxd4 17. Rxd4 (17. exd7 Bxf2 18. dxc8=Q Raxc8 19. Bxc4 Nxc4 20. Nh3 Bc5 $15) 17... Qxd4 18. e7 Qxf2 19. exd8=Q+ Kg7 20. Nge2 Nc6 $15) (16. Be3 $2 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 b5 $17 {/\ Bb7, Rac8, c6}) 16... b6 17. Bb4 c5 18. Bxa5 (18. dxc6 $4 Qxd1+ 19. Nxd1 Rxd1+ 20. Kc2 Rxf1 $19) 18... Nxa5 19. h4 Qd6 {Around here I felt like Black's advantage should be pretty decent, since the attack is going to roll out easily (c4, b5, b4, etc.), meanwhile White can hardly create anything against Black's king. But the position is tricky, and I needed to play very precisely to get real attacking chances:} 20. h5 b5 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. g3 Bd7 23. Rc1 $1 {/\ Nd1, [X c4] A nice defensive idea by White. It is not that easy for me to crack open his queenside.} c4 24. Nd1 Rdc8 25. Bh3 Rab8 $2 {I didn't have much time left, so this seemed pretty natural before b4. But this tempo is going to be crucial for the game.} (25... b4 $1 {/\ c3 - Nxb3,a5, The rook is more effective in a8, supporting the a5-a4 advance.} 26. Ne2 {trying to help the kingside} (26. Ne3 {this would be ok against 26...c3, but now white loses control over the c3 square} b3 $1 {[X c3]} 27. a3 c3 {and again, Black's attack gets in there first} 28. Bxd7 Qxd7 29. Rxc3 (29. Rh2 c2+ 30. Ka1 Rab8 $19 {/\ Qa4, Bf8, Nc4, [X a3]}) 29... Rxc3 30. bxc3 Rb8 $1 31. Nh3 (31. Qb2 Qa7 $1 32. Qd2 b2 $19 {/\ Qxe3!!-Nc4}) 31... b2 32. Ng5 Qa4 33. f4 f6 $1 $19 {[X e4]}) (26. Bxd7 Qxd7 27. Nh3 {as in the game} c3 28. b3 Nxb3 $1 29. axb3 a5 {now it's clear White is defenceless against the breakup of the queenside with a4.} 30. Nb2 a4 $1 31. Nxa4 Rxa4 32. bxa4 b3 $19) 26... Bxh3 27. Rxh3 c3 28. b3 Nxb3 29. axb3 a5 30. Nexc3 {the only idea} (30. Nb2 a4 $1 31. Nxa4 Rxa4 32. bxa4 Qa6 $19 {/\ Qd3-b3, Qxa4}) 30... bxc3 31. Rxc3 a4 32. Rxc8+ Rxc8 33. bxa4 Qd7 $17 {/\ Qxa4, Ra8, Bf8, etc. With a huge attack for Black.}) 26. Bxd7 Qxd7 27. Nh3 b4 28. Ng5 {And suddenly I couldn't find a way to open up his king.} Qa4 {I played this with around 3-4 minutes left on the clock, but it seemed like there was no defence for ...c3! followed by ... Nxb3 -+.} (28... c3 $5 29. b3 Nxb3 $1 30. axb3 a5 31. Qa2 a4 32. Ne3 (32. Qxa4 $2 Qb7 33. Qa2 Ra8 34. Qh2 Ra3 $19) 32... axb3 33. Qxb3 Rb7 $40 {/\ Ra7-a3, Ra8 }) 29. Qa7 {I had this one analysed as well, and my lunatic analysis said I was winning after 29...Rb7.} (29. f4 $5 {when White could even try for more than just a draw, as in the game} c3 $1 (29... exf4 $2 30. Qxf4 Rb7 31. e5 Qb5 (31... c3 32. Nxc3 $18) 32. e6 {It's weird, now White's attack got there first. All defensive ideas fail:} Qxd5 (32... f6 $2 33. Qe4 $1 fxg5 34. Qxg6 $18) ( 32... fxe6 $2 33. Qh4 Bf6 34. Qh6 $18) 33. exf7+ Rxf7 34. Qxf7+ Qxf7 35. Nxf7 Kxf7 36. Ne3 $16) 30. fxe5 Rc7 31. d6 b3 (31... c2+ {forces a balanced endgame: } 32. Rxc2 Qxc2+ 33. Qxc2 Rxc2 34. Kxc2 Rc8+ 35. Kb1 Nc4 $11) 32. axb3 cxb2 $1 (32... Nxb3 $2 {being ambitious is not always good:} 33. dxc7 Qa1+ 34. Kc2 Qxc1+ 35. Kd3 {and Black loses a piece:} Rf8 36. c8=Q Qb1+ 37. Ke3 Qc1+ 38. Kf3 Rxc8 39. Kg4 $1 Rc7 40. Qb6 cxb2 41. Qb8+ $1 Rc8 42. Qxb3 $16 {and now f7 is no longer defended}) 33. Nxb2 Rxc1+ 34. Rxc1 Qxb3 $13) 29... Qe8 {/\ Rb7. With 1 minute left for the next 11 moves, I started to get worried about my situation.} (29... Rb7 30. Qxa6 c3 31. b3 c2+ $4 (31... Qa3 $142 32. Rc2 Rcb8 $11) 32. Rxc2 Rxc2 {was my initial idea when I played 28...Qa4. When he actually played 29.Qa7, I figured he has 33.Qa8, forcing checkmate. And, guess what, I also noticed he could play the very difficult 33.bxa4! Ok, the human mind gets tired after some hours eventually, and could even start hallucinating. This whole idea is so bad that even 33.Kxc2 is not losing clearly.}) 30. Qxa6 {From the practical point of view, White could've tried something else, since I didn't have any time to think. From a logical point of view, this move forces a draw (of course neither I or my opponent had any idea about it).} Ra8 31. Qd6 Qa4 {Now I still have my 1 minute, and white has around 20. Suddenly I thought - hey, I won the game! The threat of Qxa2 seemed just too brutal to be avoided.} (31... c3 $5 32. b3 Nc4 33. bxc4 Qa4 34. Rh2 Ra6 35. Qe7 Ra7 $11) 32. Nxf7 $1 $11 {A tragi-comic moment - I felt I had a forced mate somewhere, but 60 seconds wasn't enough to find it. Clearly White has 33.Nh6+ threatened, as well as some 33.Rh8+, meaning Black can not mess around so much:} (32. a3 $4 {came to my mind during the game, as his only resource, when of course the natural} c3 $19 {decides in Black's favour.}) 32... Qxa2+ 33. Kc2 Qa4+ (33... Qb3+ {was the only try:} 34. Kb1 $1 (34. Kd2 $4 Qxf3 $19 {when Nb3+ is coming pretty hard, and the Q on f3 helps defending the black king}) 34... Qxf3 {and of course I discarded this quickly, since I had no time to check any lines} 35. Nh6+ (35. Qxg6 $5) (35. Rh8+ {also does the job with some bizarre computer lines.} Bxh8 36. Qxg6+ Kf8 37. Ng5 $1 $11) 35... Bxh6 36. Rxh6 Qd3+ 37. Rc2 Qxd1+ 38. Rc1 Qd3+ 39. Rc2 $11) 34. Kd2 (34. Kb1 $11 ) 34... Kxf7 {After a long battle, and a roller-coaster tournament, 34...Kxf7 was a wise decision.} (34... Nb3+ 35. Ke1 Qe8 {this insane computer idea to try something could easily backfire:} 36. Nh6+ (36. Qxg6 $2 Kf8 $1 $17 (36... Qxf7 $2 37. Rh8+ $13 {oopsie})) 36... Bxh6 37. Rxh6 Kg7 {and White has options: } 38. Rh1 $5 (38. Ne3 $5 Kxh6 39. Ng4+ Kg7 40. Qf6+ Kg8 41. Qd6 $13) 38... Nxc1 39. Ne3 $1 $13 {White wants brutality with 40.Nf5+.}) ({Another funny thing is that when I was walking to the hotel, I was satisfied with the game generally - played a good opening, got a healthy position, had better prospects, etc. But I was quite sure I had missed something. And at some point, I concluded that 35...Ra6 was the move!} 34... Ra6 $4 35. Qe7 Ra7 {First of all, White has simply 36.Qe6 with a huge advantage, or...} 36. Rh8+ $1 Bxh8 37. Nh6# {so kids - that's why you should never get into time trouble. And if you do, don't try to be the hero.}) 35. Qe6+ Kf8 36. Qd6+ Kf7 37. Qe6+ Kf8 38. Qd6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "American Continental 8th"] [Site "Mar del Plata"] [Date "2012.10.14"] [Round "4"] [White "Granda Zuniga, Julio E"] [Black "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2647"] [BlackElo "2503"] [PlyCount "148"] [EventDate "2012.10.12"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ARG"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2013"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.11.22"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2012.11.22"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. e3 Bf5 8. Ne5 O-O 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Nxd3 Nbd7 11. O-O a5 12. Rc1 Re8 13. Qb3 Qb6 14. Qxb6 Nxb6 15. Nb3 Ne4 16. Bxe7 Rxe7 17. Nbc5 Nxc5 18. dxc5 Nc4 19. b3 Ne5 20. Nb2 Nd7 21. Rfd1 Re4 22. a3 Kf8 23. Na4 Ra6 24. Kf1 Ke8 25. Rc3 Kd8 26. f3 Re7 27. Rd4 Kc7 28. Kf2 f5 29. h4 Ra8 30. Nb2 Nf8 31. Nd3 Ne6 32. Ra4 Ree8 33. Rc1 g6 34. Nf4 Nxf4 35. Rxf4 Re6 36. h5 Rae8 37. Rc3 Re5 38. hxg6 hxg6 39. Ra4 g5 40. Rd3 d4 41. Raxd4 Rxc5 42. g4 Re7 43. gxf5 Rxf5 44. Kg3 Ref7 45. e4 Rf4 46. Re3 Rh4 47. Rd2 Rfh7 48. Red3 Kb6 49. Rd7 R7h5 50. Rg2 Rh1 51. Rg7 Rb1 52. Kg4 Rh8 53. Kxg5 Rxb3 54. f4 Kc5 55. Rg4 b5 56. f5 Rxa3 57. e5 a4 58. f6 Kd5 59. Kf4 Rd8 60. f7 Rf8 61. R4g6 Ra1 62. Rd6+ Kc5 63. Rd7 Re1 64. Kf5 a3 65. e6 a2 66. Ra7 Kd6 67. Rg8 Rf1+ 68. Kg6 a1=Q 69. Rxa1 Rxa1 70. Rxf8 Rg1+ 71. Kf6 Rf1+ 72. Kg7 Rg1+ 73. Kf6 Rf1+ 74. Kg6 Rg1+ 1/2-1/2