[Event "George Davison Shield"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.10.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Slater, Isiah"] [Black "Elwin, Isaac"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B34"] [Annotator "McCarthy,Damian"] [PlyCount "98"] [WhiteTeam "Culcheth"] [BlackTeam "Stockton Heath"] {[%evp 0,98,80,21,67,71,46,41,32,31,77,85,57,58,49,44,54,-38,53,13,14,-27,-37,-39,25,-27,82,66,61,-8,-6,-23,-9,-21,-17,-48,-14,-53,-62,-86,50,42,43,40,77,12,19,2,31,7,74,48,61,47,143,137,114,101,441,44,134,33,41,-7,-7,-27,0,-13,45,8,45,19,6,-76,-83,-93,-87,-121,0,0,0,-64,0,-62,157,-84,-108,-124,-99,-99,-91,-63,31,-76,146,141,147,416,964,1091,2438]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Be2 Qa5 8. Qd2 {[%csl Gd1][%CAl Gd1d2] An interesting moment, Black could use a typical tactical sequence here if he chooses with Nxe4} d6 (8... Nxe4 9. Nxc6 {The only move!} Qxc3 10. bxc3 Nxd2 11. Nxe7 Kxe7 12. Kxd2 {It's not clear who if anyone is better here, Isaac decided to instead keep the tension.}) 9. O-O-O $5 {A very provacative move by White with Black's pieces all aiming at the Queenside. If the LSB was on c4 we would have reached a mainline position from the Yugoslav attack, but here the bishop is on e2 perhaps slightly more passively placed.} Ng4 $1 10. h3 Nxe3 {Trading White's dark squared Bishop for a Knight like this is nearly always an achievement in the Open Sicilian.} 11. fxe3 Bh6 $2 {A bad plan, it may look tempting to pin the e3 pawn but there is nothing really going on here. Black would be much better served just developing as fast as possible and beginning an attack with moves like Bd7, Ne5 and Rc8 when perhaps the thematic exchange sac Rxc3 will become a threat. If Black dither's then White's own attack will come pretty fast with h4-h5 if he is not careful.} 12. h4 Qb6 {This was obviously the idea behind Isaac's last move, aiming for Nxd4, but this is easily sidestepped and suddenly Black is in some trouble.} 13. Nd5 $1 Qd8 {The culmination of his last 3 moves has meant that Black has just ended up going backwards.} 14. Rhf1 (14. h5 $1 {Exploiting the loose bishop on h6 would have been much more dangerous.}) 14... O-O 15. h5 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Bg7 {Black seems to have regrouped, the rook h-f1 manouver doesn't seem to have helped White, I think it should have stayed where it was on h1.} 17. Qd3 e6 {A common question in some of these positions is whether or not to play this move. On the plus side it dislodges the Knight from d5 and gains control of this important Square, but the d6 pawn will now become terminally weak.} 18. Nf4 Qb6 {A good move, redeveloping the Queen with tempo.} 19. c3 e5 $4 {[%csl Yd5,Ge6][%CAl Ge6e5,Gg7a1] The Bishop on g7 is furious with this move! Not to mention the massive hole we have created on d5...} (19... Bd7 {Qxd6 is not yet a threat due to Qxe3+, there may be many positions in fact where we'd be ok with just letting this d6 pawn go rather then tying down too many heavy pieces defending it.} 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Rf3 Ba4 {looks like a very plausable contunuation to me, If White tries to grab on d6 then Black's pieces will come alive.} 22. Rh1 (22. Qxd6 Bxd1 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Bxd1 Rxa2) 22... Rac8) 20. Nd5 Qd8 21. hxg6 fxg6 22. Qc2 $2 {There were more active moves then this, such as Qb5} Be6 23. Bc4 a6 24. Bb3 Re8 $2 {Abandoning the open file.} 25. Rf2 Rc8 26. Rdf1 Qh4 27. Nf6+ $1 {This should now be winning material} Bxf6 28. Rxf6 Qg4 {[%csl Gf6]} 29. Rd1 $4 {But white misses their chance!} (29. Rxe6 Rxe6 30. Rf6 Rce8 31. Bxe6+ Rxe6 32. Qb3 {would have won the rook}) 29... Kg7 30. Bxe6 Rxe6 31. Rxe6 Qxe6 32. a4 Rd8 {Whe I have a weak pawn on an open file like this, usually defending from behind it with a rook or heavy piece is my lease favourite way to protect it. It is just going to get pinned. I'd have preferred Rf8 instead comig to the open file, after which it can either be defended by Rf6 or we can consider letting it go if we think our own activity is enough to do so. (there are no pins if the rook is on f6!)} 33. b4 d5 {The problem with this plan is the pawn is never going to be able to capture anything due to the pins...} 34. Qb3 $1 {Another pin!} Qg4 {Correctly going for counterplay elsewhere. The d5 pawn is a gonner.} 35. exd5 Qxg2 36. d6 {A bit hasty, Qc4 first threatening Qc7 would have been stronger.} Qc6 37. b5 axb5 38. axb5 Qb6 39. Qe6 Qxe3+ 40. Kc2 Qe4+ 41. Kb3 Qh4 42. Qe7+ Qxe7 43. dxe7 Re8 44. Rd7 {[%csl Yg7][%CAl Gh7h1,Yg7f7] When I saw this position appear on the board I thought Black was probably winning with a plan of Kf7 and h7-h5-h4-h3 etc... Black is a pawn up but White will also have a very fast potential passed pawn of his own with c3-c4-c5 so time is of the essence.} b6 45. c4 e4 {Unfortunately this is the wrong pawn to push as the White King is near enough to catch it! This move is probably what loses the game in fact as the tempo lost here is vital.} 46. Kc3 (46. c5 {[%csl Gb3,Re4][%CAl Re4b1,Ye4e1,Ye1b1,Yb1b4,Yb4e4] straight away just works, the King is still near enough to catch the pawn on e4.}) 46... h5 47. c5 {An excellent move by White who has seen the winning idea, there is now no defence.} Kf7 48. cxb6 Rb8 49. b7 Rxb7 1-0