[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.06.27"] [Round "?"] [White "Kavorka1990"] [Black "Paul H."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "1904"] [BlackElo "1896"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [PlyCount "32"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,32,27,10,46,60,48,39,47,21,34,-12,-12,-15,-16,-18,-20,-18,-25,-9,-1, -38,1,13,18,-139,-129,-248,-246,-240,-93,-514,-562,-556,-530]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {I expected this. Bb5 is very common at my level.} g6 {B31 Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation} 4. c3 {Not a popular move but that makes some sense. White wants to reinforce his d4 push. The only issue is that it slows down White's development.} Nf6 {Bg7 is fine too but chess is all about seizing the initiative. Nf6 threatens the e4 pawn forcing White to react.} 5. Qc2 {Protecting e4 but look at the queenside pieces. They are all idle and still need to be developed. The simple d3 does the same thing and it also opens the long diagonal of the c1 bishop.} (5. Qe2 { Main line. A more active move that supports e4 and immediately prepares d4.} Bg7 6. d4 cxd4 7. cxd4 O-O 8. d5 a6 9. Bd3 Nb4 10. Bd2 Nxd3+ 11. Qxd3 d6 12. O-O e6 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Re1 Nd7 15. Nc3 Ne5 16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Nd5 f5 18. f3 fxe4 19. fxe4 Bxd5 20. exd5 Qd6 21. Qb3 Rfd8 22. Bg5 Rd7 23. Rad1 h6 24. Be3 Rc8 25. Bb6 Kh7 26. a4 Rf8 27. a5 Rdf7 28. Rc1 Re8 29. Re4 Rf4 30. Qd3 Rf7 31. b4 Rd7 32. h3 h5 33. Rec4 Bh6 34. Rf1 Bf4 {Aronian,L (2773)-Wei,Y (2732) Chess. com INT 2020 1/2-1/2 (62)}) (5. d3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. h3 d6 8. Be3 $11) 5... Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 {[#]} (7. Bxc6 {Taking the c6 bishop is normal in this line and I was surprised he didn't take it earlier.} bxc6 8. d4 d5 9. e5 Bf5 10. Qa4 Ne4 $11) 7... d5 $146 {d6 was an option but I wanted to grab center control and complete my development.} (7... e5 $5 8. d3 (8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Nxe5 Re8 10. f4 Rxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 12. d3 Nxh2 $15) 8... d6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. b4 cxb4 11. cxb4 Be6 12. Qxc6 a5 13. b5 Rc8 14. Qa6 Ra8 15. Qc6 $11) 8. e5 Ne8 {The knight will re-route to c7 pressuring the b5 bishop and protecting d5. It also has the option of jumping into e5 as needed.} ({Gaining a tempo with} 8... Bf5 { makes sense too.} 9. Qa4 Nd7 10. d4 Qb6 11. Be3 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Nbd2 Qxb2 14. Qxc6 Qxc3 15. Qxd5 Rfd8 16. Qb3 $11) 9. d4 {The right move to contest the center but White's pieces still need to be developed.} Bf5 {A free tempo on the queen.} 10. Bd3 Bxd3 $6 {Probably fine to take here but Bg4 makes more sense mainly because trades help White's lack of development.} (10... Bg4 { keeps the pieces on the board but also allows White to develop.} 11. Nbd2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qb6 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Nxf3 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Bg5 e6 17. Rad1 Bxe5 18. Bxg6 Qxb2 19. Bxh7+ Kg7 20. Be7 Rh8 21. Rb1 Qxc2 22. Bxc2 Bd6 $11) 11. Qxd3 cxd4 12. e6 $2 {White tries to mix it up but again, this is not as scary a move with all of White's queenside pieces sitting on the sidelines.} fxe6 ( 12... Rc8 13. exf7+ Rxf7 14. Ng5 Rf5 15. Qh3 Nf6 16. Ne6 Qb6 17. Nxg7 Kxg7 18. cxd4 Qxd4 19. Be3 Qg4 $17) 13. Rxe6 $4 Nc7 {The best move to evict the knight and prepare e5. Black is winning but still has to be careful.} 14. Ng5 Qd7 $2 15. Rxg6 $4 {White miscalculates, thinking that he has Qg6 with mate to follow. } (15. Qh3 $1 h6 16. Rxg6 Qxh3 17. Nxh3 Kh7 18. Rg3 e5 $17) 15... hxg6 16. Qxg6 Qf5 {White must trade queens or face Qxf2 mating. White resigns.} (16... Rf6 { works too but is not as decisive.} 17. Qh7+ Kf8 18. Qh5 Qf5 19. Nh7+ Kg8 20. Nxf6+ Qxf6 21. cxd4 Nxd4 $19) 0-1