[Event "Kenya Chess League 2025"] [White "Gilruth,Peter"] [Black "Nyola,Mark Wasswa"] [Site ""] [Round ""] [Annotator "PGilruth"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2025.03.30"] [WhiteElo "1980"] [BlackElo "2125"] [PlyCount "110"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 d6 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. c4 Ne4 9. Nc3 Bf6 10. Rc1 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 e5 12. dxe5 $5 {12.e3 or d5 show up in Chessbase, but only in a couple of games.} dxe5 13. Qc2 ({I spent time assessing} 13. Qd5+ Kh8 14. e4 Qe7 $13 )Qe7 14. e4 $5 {this was my idea as a follow up to my 12th move.} f4 {played immediately.} 15. gxf4 exf4 16. e5 {following my plan to control the center, but exposing my King to a mating attack.} Bg5 17. Rfe1 Be6 18. Rcd1 ({I missed} 18. b4 $1 Bxc4 19. b5 Nd8 20. Bb4 )Bh6 19. Nd2 $5 {aiming for the e4 square.} f3 $5 {but my opponent denies me! Now I start looking for exchange sacrifices to maintain central control to support my Pe5.} 20. Nxf3 Bg4 21. Nd4 $5 Qg5 $5 (21... Bxd1 {was what I expected.} 22. Nxc6 Bxc2 23. Nxe7+ Kf7 24. Nd5 {with active pieces and a Pe5 with a lust to expand.} )22. Rd3 Nxd4 23. Bxd4 Rf3 $6 24. Kh1 {I had to unpin my Bg2.} Qg6 25. Be3 Raf8 26. Rd2 Bf5 27. Qd1 {I felt that I could now survive.} Bxe3 28. Qxf3 Be4 $6 29. Qxe4 Qxe4 30. Bxe4 Bxd2 31. Re2 Bf4 32. Bxb7 {the complications are over and I find myself 2 pawns up with opposite colour Bs. I know that I need to keep the Rooks on the board in such endings, but with little time on my clock to work out a plan, I shuffled my pieces around aimlessly which only drew.} (32. Bd5+ $1 {to force the King into the corner was more accurate. With a couple of minutes on my clock, I just wanted to eat the pawn.} )Kf7 33. e6+ $2 {I wasn't happy with this move as I want to keep my Pe5 on the dark square. But I think Black can force it to e6 in any case.} (33. b4 {to mobilize my Q-side pawns was a good idea.} )Ke7 34. Kg2 Rf6 35. Bd5 Bd6 36. h3 Rf4 37. Re3 a5 38. Rg3 g6 39. Re3 Bc5 40. Re2 Rf6 41. f3 c6 42. Bxc6 Rxe6 43. Rxe6+ $2 {43. Be4 was necessary to keep the R's on the board, but I don't see any clear path forward since my Q-side majority is blocked.} Kxe6 44. f4 Kd6 45. Bd5 h6 46. Kf3 g5 47. f5 {I knew I had to create a passed pawn on the K-side to have any winning chance. However, my Q-side is still frozen.} Ke5 48. Kg4 Kf6 49. Be4 Bb4 50. Bd3 Bc5 51. Kf3 Ke5 52. Ke2 Be7 53. Kf3 Bc5 54. Kg4 Kf6 55. Kh5 Kg7 {on move 71. White cannot make progress.} 1/2-1/2