[Event "WDCL Division 1"] [White "McCarthy,Damian"] [Black "Mulleady,Peter"] [Site ""] [Round ""] [Annotator "McCarthy,Damian"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2022.11.30"] [PlyCount "97"] {[%evp 0,27,19,31,72,53,48,43,44,18,47,24,45,45,43,-4,-4,-15,-1,32,29,-3,30,26,26,22,70,55,114,67]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 (11. Bxb5 {Is the move I have quite regulary played against this line in the past, but there are quite a few published games online from me in that now so preferred to try something different (and probably sounder) on this occasion.} )Be6 12. O-O f4 (12... Bxd5 {Is the main move} )13. c4 Bxd5 $2 {I suspect here however this is a mistake} (13... b4 14. Nc2 )14. exd5 Nd4 15. cxb5 ({I did consider this move which would have been less adventurous then cxb5 but contains black's counterplay, In the end however I went for the pawn grab on b5.} 15. Qh5 $14 )Qg5 (15... f3 {was the main move I had considered} 16. g3 { With the general plan of trading knights, playing Re1 and being a pawn ahead but black will still have practical counterplay chances and an exciting game ahead.} )16. bxa6 f5 17. Re1 Kf7 18. Nb5 {This seemed obviously the best move to me getting rid of the dangerous knight on d4 but the engine thinks I should just get on with things and play Rc1.} (18. Rc1 Rg8 19. Rc7+ Be7 20. Bf1 { I think I thought this pawn would be hanging in a line like this but Stockfish points out that} Rxa6 21. Rxe7+ Kxe7 22. Qxd4 $18 )Nxb5 19. Bxb5 h5 20. Qb3 {I was happy with this move at the time but it might not be best, my idea was that the queen discourages f3 and h3 for the moment and I can play Bf1 in response to Rg8 without dropping the a6 pawn due to Qb7+} Rg8 21. Bf1 Be7 { At this point I had a very long think as Black's counterplay is getting quite dangerous and a6 may be hanging} 22. Qa3 {I didn't want to give up the a6 pawn as I felt that would be the gamewinner if maintained, I also had idea's of just pushing the b pawn up the board to join it but it turned out that plan would be far too slow} (22. Rac1 {just giving up the a6 pawn was probably better} Rxa6 23. Rc7 Raa8 24. Rxe5 {and now this works} )({I seriously considered} 22. Rxe5 dxe5 23. d6+ Kf8 24. dxe7+ Qxe7 {which it turns out is actually pretty good for white, but it was not so clear cut to me} )h4 { A real critical moment, I felt I had to decide upon a defensive set up as Black I thought was ready to play h3 as a sacrifice.} 23. Rac1 (23. h3 { I did consider, but I felt having already played a bunch of slow moves I really didn't want to be wasting more time. This also still looked quite dangerous to me after} e4 24. f3 Qg3 {I rejected this as too passive and dangerous when also very short on time} )e4 (23... h3 {was the main move I expected, I hadn't fully made up my mind whether to venture the capture or not but I thought it seemed like I could get away with it} 24. Qxh3 Rh8 (24... e4 25. Rc7 Rh8 26. Qa3 Qh4 27. h3 f3 28. Qxd6 )25. Qa3 Rag8 26. Rc7 Qh4 27. h3 {seemed scary but I wasn't seeing a breakthrough for Black, the bishops defence is vital from f1} )24. Rc7 Qf6 25. Rec1 {Now in severe time trouble} f3 $1 {finally black's pawn lands and I react improperly} 26. g3 $4 {This should now lose but luck was in my favour, it helped that by now Peter was quite low on the clock himself (although not nearly as bad as me!)} f4 (26... hxg3 27. hxg3 Rxg3+ $1 {this is the breakthrough} 28. fxg3 Qd4+ 29. Kh2 Rh8+ 30. Bh3 Qf2+ 31. Kh1 Rxh3# )27. Qc3 Qxc3 {To my great relief, in mutual time pressure now Peter traded off the Queens which greatly relieves the imminent danger to my king. The game is still far from won however} (27... Qg5 28. Qd4 hxg3 29. hxg3 Qh4 30. Rxe7+ Qxe7 31. Bh3 $17 )28. R1xc3 hxg3 29. hxg3 fxg3 30. fxg3 Rxg3+ {Peter offered a draw here but having been keeping an eye on the other boards it seemed from early on a win on my board would be vital so I felt obliged to play on. I also suspected I was now better again.} 31. Kf2 Rgg8 32. R3c4 Kf6 33. Rxe4 Bd8 34. Rb7 Kf5 35. Re6 Bh4+ 36. Kxf3 Rg3+ 37. Ke2 Rc8 38. Rf7+ Kg4 {Here I went down to 3 seconds left (with 10 sec increment) there are a few nasty mate threats, therefore the simplest seemed to be trading down the two rooks for the rook and bishop which I felt should be won withe the protected passer on a6} 39. Rg6+ Bg5 40. Rxg5+ Kxg5 41. Rg7+ Kf4 42. Rxg3 Kxg3 43. Kd3 Rc5 44. Ke4 Kf2 45. Bd3 Ke1 46. a4 Kd2 47. Bb5 Rc2 48. a7 Rc8 49. Bc6 { Black resigned} 1-0