[Event "BCL"] [Site "Luton"] [Date "2024.11.05"] [Round "?"] [White "Dairi, Ramsey"] [Black "Mirza, Humayun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B76"] [WhiteElo "1853"] [BlackElo "1640"] [Annotator "Mirza,Humayun"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventType "game"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.02.13"] [WhiteTeam "Bedford C"] [BlackTeam "Luton C"] 1. e4 {I've been told by an expert that I am a tactically weak player and that I should play positional games, such as might emerge from the Italian or Spanish openings in response to 1.e5 and avoid tactical openings such as the Sicilian.} c5 {Naturally I avoided this advice and played the Sicilian.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {I once beat the club champion Samir in a casual game with a dragon variation, sacrifing a Rook on c3 and unleashing the Bishop on g7. I haven't won a single game against him since, but I can still dream.} (5... a6 {After the game, Ramsey said that had I played the Najdof variation} {he would bamboozle me with the peculiar looking} 6. Rg1 {and advance the g-pawn.}) 6. Be3 Bg7 ({Post match, Ramsey was hoping I would fall for the sneaky trap} 6... Ng4 $2 7. Bb5+ $1 {winning a piece with either} Nc6 ({or} 7... Bd7 8. Qxg4) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bxc6+) 7. f3 a6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O {So it's going to be a straightforward fight on opposite Wings and who gets to the opponents King first wins.} ({I'm relieved that White didn't play} 9. Bh6 {forcing the exchange and loss of Black's fire breathing dragon Bishop here.}) 9... Re8 ({I was still anxious to retain the Bishop of g7 and so moved the Rook to avoid the skewer on h6, but Fritz evaluation shows this is not the best move. Instead, Black should develop the Queenside and ready an attack on the White King with} 9... Nc6) 10. g4 {Ramsey gets his attack going first.} Nc6 11. h4 h5 {Some years ago, I spent time studying The Dragon by Gawain Jones and rather liked this reponse to Whites advancing pawns. Ramsey had a long think, and then played} 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. gxh5 Nxh5 {The position is holds but only temporarily, as White can eventually attack Black's Knight with Be2.} 14. Rg1 Qa5 $2 ({A mistake. I should have immediately seized control of the semi open b-file with} 14... Rb8) {Another long think by Ramsey. I noticed he takes his time at critical points of the game.} 15. Bd4 c5 $4 ({A blunder. I should taken the opportunity to play} 15... Rb8 {when I still can. With the game move, I reasoned that since the dark squared Bishops are coming off the board, I can control the dark squares with the pawn c5-d6-e7 pawn chain and the light squares with the remaining light squared Bishop. But this overlooked one thing.}) 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qg5 $1 {Now Black's Queen is shut off from the Kingside by it's own Pawn on d5.} {My turn for a long think. Nothing looked appealing. White is threatening to capture the Knight on h5 and if the Knight moves, the h-Pawn advances hitting Black's g-Pawn holding off the Queen and Rook on the g-File.} Nf6 $2 ({Making a bad sitiation worse. Turns out} 17... Be6 {was best, but the game is a loss for Black now.}) 18. h5 Rh8 {If only I could have played this before the h-Pawn advance.} 19. hxg6 Rh5 20. Qg3 {Of course I'm busted, so I'll just play on and see how Ramsey does it.} fxg6 21. Qxg6+ Kf8 22. Bc4 Rh7 23. Qg8+ ({I was thinking maybe} 23. Qxh7 Nxh7 24. Rg8# {but Ramsey correctly sees that the Knight doesn't have to capture the Queen and finishes me off with a different Queen sacrifice.}) 23... Nxg8 24. Rxg8# 1-0