[Event "Amsterdam ACP Golden Classic"] [Site "Amsterdam"] [Date "2012.07.14"] [Round "1"] [White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Black "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D46"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2606"] [Annotator "Muzychuk,A"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2012.07.14"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "NED"] [EventCategory "19"] [SourceTitle "CBM 150"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.09.14"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2012.09.14"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. a3 {This move came as a small surprise as in many previous games Sasikiran had played 11.e4. Before this one there were no games in which he played 11.a3.} a5 12. e4 e5 13. Rd1 (13. dxe5 {is much more popular, but lately strong grandmasters have switched to 13.Rd1.}) 13... Qc7 ( 13... Qe7 {was another option, but I am not sure that after} 14. h3 {the queen is better on e7, rather than on c7.}) 14. h3 Rfd8 $146 ({14...Rfd8 is a novelty. Before our game there were just 2 games, both played by strong players and both in 2012! 14...Rfe8 was played there but in my opinion White is slightly better after 14...Rfe8, so I chose a new move in this position. The aforementioned games continued like this:} 14... Rfe8 15. Be3 Rac8 (15... exd4 16. Nxd4 Bf4 17. Bxf4 Qxf4 18. Nce2 Qd6 19. Rac1 $14 {1/2 Jakovenko,D (2736)-Grachev,B (2680)/Tyumen RUS 2012/The Week in Chess 920 (61)}) 16. Rac1 Qb8 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. b4 axb4 20. axb4 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Nxe4 22. Qc2 Nf6 23. Bd4 $14 {0-1 Bacrot,E (2714)-Korobov,A (2660)/Warsaw POL 2011/The Week in Chess 893 (48)}) 15. Bg5 $6 {Looking at the fact that after ...h6 White went back with the bishop to e3, there is a big question as to whether it was needed. After analysing different lines, I could not see where it wass better for White that Black had played the additional move ...h6. The only plus could be if White managed to put the knight on f5 and then the move ...g6 would not be possible, but in the variations White could not make it.} ({I think that} 15. dxe5 $5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Be3 {or immediately 15.Be3 were better possibilities than the move in the game.}) (15. Be3 $5) 15... h6 16. Be3 (16. Bxf6 {is not promising for White} Nxf6 17. Rac1 Qe7 18. dxe5 Bxe5 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. Ne2 c5 $11 {Black equalises.}) (16. Bh4 {was the most logical move, following the idea of 15.Bg5. After that there are different interesting lines: } exd4 17. Nxd4 g5 $1 (17... Bh2+ 18. Kh1 g5 19. Bg3 (19. Nf5 gxh4 20. g3 hxg3 21. fxg3 Ne5 22. Kxh2 Bc8 $13) 19... Bxg3 20. fxg3 Nc5 21. Qf2 (21. Nf5 Bc8 $1) 21... Nh5 22. Nce2 $13 {the situation is very unclear but I think I would prefer White's position as it is easier to play and create an attack}) 18. Bg3 (18. Nf5 gxh4) 18... Bxg3 19. fxg3 {and now we could have faced some unusual position. Black's king is weak but White has problems with black squares.} { I believe that after} Ne5 {it is possible to keep the balance; moreover after Nf5 there is the nice defence of ...Bc8! Nxh6+ Kg7 and suddenly Black's position becomes better.} (19... c5 $5 {is also playable} 20. Nf5 (20. Ndxb5 Qxg3 21. Rf1 (21. Qf2 Qxf2+ 22. Kxf2 Ne5 $11) 21... Nh5 (21... Ne5 $5 22. Rxf6 Ra6 $11) 22. Rf3 Qb8 {, planning Nf4 or Ne5, followed by c4 and Bc6}) (20. Ncxb5 $2 Qb6 $19) 20... c4 21. Be2 (21. Nxh6+ Kf8 22. Bf1 Qxg3) (21. Bf1 Qc5+ 22. Kh2 Ne5 $11 {[%CAl Ye5g4]}) 21... Kf8 $1 $13) 20. Qf2 (20. Bf1 Qb6 21. Qf2 Nfg4 22. hxg4 Nxg4 23. Qd2 c5 24. Nd5 Bxd5 25. exd5 cxd4 26. Qxd4 Qxd4+ 27. Rxd4 Ne3 $11) (20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. exd5 Nxd3 22. Rxd3 Rxd5 23. Rf1 Rad8 24. Rdf3 Rxd4 25. Rxf7 Qxf7 26. Rxf7 Kxf7 27. Qf5+ $11) (20. Nf5 Bc8 $1) 20... Neg4 21. hxg4 Nxg4 22. Qe2 (22. Qf3 Ne5 $11) 22... Bc8 23. Nf3 (23. Bc2 Qb6) 23... b4 $1 {the most precise} (23... Qb6+ 24. Kf1 (24. Kh1 Nf2+ 25. Kh2 Ng4+ $11) 24... Ne3+ 25. Ke1 Nxd1 26. Rxd1 g4 $13) 24. axb4 Qb6+ 25. Kf1 Ne3+ 26. Ke1 Nxd1 27. Nxd1 Qxb4+ 28. Kf2 Be6 {with a nearly equal position, but keeping practical chances for both sides.}) 16... exd4 17. Nxd4 Ne5 $6 (17... b4 $1 {I could level the position but during the game it was a bit dangerous to play in such a way} 18. Na4 Bh2+ 19. Kh1 c5 20. Nb5 Qe5 {It looked quite strange, but actually Black is doing fine. Now the e4-pawn is hanging and if White plays 21. f3, then the counterplay with ...Nh5 works. Therefore, 21.Qc1 is strong underlining the strange position of the bishop on h2.} 21. Qc1 Qb8 {now the e4-pawn is hanging again} (21... Bxe4 22. f4 Qb8 23. Bc4 Bg3 24. Nd6 Bg6 { maybe this is also ok for Black but it looks very dangerous}) 22. f4 (22. Nxc5 Nxc5 23. Qxc5 Be5 $11) 22... Bg3 23. e5 Ba6 $1 24. Nd6 Bxd3 25. Nxf7 Kxf7 26. Rxd3 Nxe5 27. fxe5 Qxe5 $11) (17... Bh2+ $6 {is not that good} 18. Kh1 Bf4 19. Bxf4 Qxf4 20. f3 $14 {[%csl Yb7] and White gets a typical advantage.}) 18. Bf1 {Now the position is better for White again. The main problem is with the bishop on b7.} Ng6 ({19.f4 was threatening and ...b4 is not so good as the line shows:} 18... b4 19. axb4 axb4 20. Rxa8 Bxa8 21. Na4 $14 Nxe4 22. Nf5 $5 ( 22. Ne6 fxe6 23. Bb6 Qb8 24. Bxd8 c5 25. Bh4 $14)) (18... Neg4 $2 {was the first move that came to my mind but obviously the tactics with ...Ng4 do not work here.} 19. hxg4 Bh2+ 20. Kh1 Nxg4 21. Qe2 {White is simply a piece up. No time for the ...Bg1 idea or transfering the queen to h4.}) 19. Nf5 Bh2+ 20. Kh1 Be5 21. Rac1 (21. Bc5 $5 $14) (21. Ne2 $5 $14) 21... Rxd1 22. Nxd1 Rd8 23. Nc3 {Here I spent quite a lot of time as it was not so easy to make a move. Actually I did not like my position at this moment. I intended to play ...Bc8, transferring the bishop to a better position, but now it was not possible in view of Nb5. 23...Qb8, the move which I played, kept this idea but weakened the c6-pawn.} Qb8 (23... b4 24. Na4 $14) (23... Bc8 24. Nxb5) (23... Rd7 { was possible, defending from Nb5, but it was not clear what to play after that and how to solve the problem with the bishop.} 24. Ne2 $14) 24. Bb6 $6 (24. Ne2 $1 $14 {It was not an easy move but quite standard for this type of position. The idea is to take control over the d4- and f4-squares, also increasing the pressure on the c6-pawn. One more point is that the idea with Ned4 appears.} c5 25. f3 c4 26. a4 $1 (26. Ned4 a4) 26... bxa4 (26... b4 27. Ned4) 27. Ned4 Bf4 28. Bxf4 (28. Rd1) 28... Qxf4 29. Rd1 $14) 24... Bc7 {This was a critical moment as while making the next moves White started to lose the thread of the game and in just a few moves I equalised and even started to play for an advantage. As Krishnan told me after the game, he wrongly calculated my reply of 24...Bc7, thinking that he wins a pawn after 25.Bxc7 Qxc7 26.Nxb5. But after 26...Qf4 I would have got good counterplay.} 25. Be3 $6 ({After 25.Be3 I got an easy game. That is why White had to choose between 25.Bc5 or still 25. Bxc7.} 25. Bxc7 Qxc7 26. f3 (26. Nxb5 Qf4 27. Nbd6 Rxd6 28. Nxd6 Qxd6 $13) 26... Nh5 27. Ne2 a4 $11) (25. Bc5 Re8 26. b4 axb4 27. axb4 Bc8 $14 {/=}) 25... Bf4 26. a4 $6 {Wrong idea as Black does not need to react.} Qe5 27. Re1 $2 (27. f3 {maintained equality.}) 27... b4 {Now Black gets the initiative.} 28. Bxf4 ( 28. Nb1 c5 29. f3 (29. Nd2 Nxe4 $19) 29... Bxe3 30. Nxe3 Qg3 $17) 28... Qxf4 ( 28... Nxf4 $5 {was also a good option:} 29. Nb1 c5 30. Ng3 (30. f3 Bc8 $17) 30... h5 $17) 29. Nd1 Rd2 $2 {Difficult to believe, but the move which everyone would like to make, especially in time trouble, is a mistake. In this position it was too early. The problem is that after 30.Qc1 White has some tactical motifs, looking at the point that the rook on d2 is pinned.} (29... Ne5 $5 $17 {or 29...Bc8 was correct.}) 30. Qc1 c5 31. f3 $2 (31. Ng3 {After 31. f3 Black's position became winning. 31.Ng3 was the only move:} Nd7 (31... h5 32. f3 $1 $11 {The idea which both my opponent and I missed during the game. It is difficult to find, but this trick shows why the move ...Rd2 was not that good.}) 32. b3 Rd4 $15) 31... Ne5 $1 ({Immediately taking on e4 was a mistake: } 31... Nxe4 $2 32. fxe4 Bxe4 33. Ng3 $1 (33. Nde3 Rf2)) (31... Bxe4 {is better than 31...Ne4 and leads to a position with advantage for me, but 31... Ne5 is the most precise.} 32. Nde3 (32. Nfe3 Rc2 $19) 32... Rxg2 $1 33. Nxg2 Qxf3 34. Nxh6+ gxh6 35. Qe3 Qxe3 36. Rxe3 Ne5 $15) 32. Be2 (32. Re2 Nxf3 $19) 32... Bxe4 {Now everything is forced, but 32...Ba6 was another interesting winning possibility.} (32... Ba6 $5 $19) 33. fxe4 (33. Nde3 Rxe2 $19) (33. Nfe3 Rc2 $19) 33... Nxe4 34. Rf1 (34. Nde3 {could not save the game, but was the most stubborn.} Nf2+ 35. Kg1 Nxh3+ $1 36. gxh3 Nf3+ 37. Kg2 g6 $19) 34... Qg5 35. h4 Qd8 36. Ba6 (36. Re1 g6 $19) 36... Rxd1 (36... g6 $5) 37. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 38. Qxd1 Nf2+ 39. Kg1 Nxd1 40. b3 c4 0-1