The Irish Chess Union

[Event "Bunratty Masters 1997"] [Site "Bunratty IRL"] [Date "1997.??.??"] [Round "2"] [White "Speelman, Jonathan"] [Black "O'Cinneide, Mel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2255"] [ECO "D27"] [Annotator "O'Cinneide, Mel"] [ICUid "21865"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Re1 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. a3 Be7 11. e4 cxd4 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd4 Qc7 14. N2f3 O-O 15. Bd2 { White has got a grip in the centre and K-side attacking chances. Black however has no clear weaknesses and has well-placed pieces. } 15... Rac8 16. Qe2 Nc5 17. Bc2 Rfd8 { A useful move, making way for a Knight to return to f8. } 18. Rac1 Qb8 19. h4 $6 { Rcd1 would have avoided Black's next. } (19. Ng5 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 Nf4 { And black is OK. }) 19... a5 $1 { An unusual plan, but the weakness on d3 is hard for White to handle. Speelman attempts to block out the Bishop, but in doing so ends up with the worse game. } 20. b4 axb4 21. axb4 Nd7 22. b5 Nf8 23. Be4 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Bc5 25. Nb3 Ba3 26. Rc4 Rc8 27. h5 h6 28. Nbd4 Bc5 29. Nb3 Be7 30. g3 Nd7 31. Rd4 Nc5 32. Nxc5 Bxc5 33. Ra4 Qc7 34. Qc4 Ra8 35. Rxa8+ Bxa8 36. Kg2 { Now I was certain he was in big trouble, but I only had a few minutes left on the clock. } 36... Qb7 $1 { Threatening Nf4+. } 37. Kg1 Qa7 38. Kf1 Qa1+ 39. Ke2 Qb2 $6 { Qh1 was a strong move here. } 40. Ne1 $6 Qxe5 41. Nd3 Nf4+ { Bailing out for a draw. } (41... Qxh5+ $5 { The move looks crushing, but it's not so simple as the following line shows. } 42. Ke1 { Now what? } 42... Nc7 43. Bxa8 Nxa8 44. Nxc5 Qxc5 45. Qxc5 bxc5 46. Ba5 $18) 42. Bxf4 Qxe4+ 1/2-1/2