The Irish Chess Union

[Event "Gonzaga Masters 2016"] [Site "Dublin IRL"] [Date "2016.01.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Li, Henry"] [Black "Murray, David B"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1882"] [BlackElo "2160"] [ECO "C78"] [Annotator "Murray, David B."] [ICUid "31838"] [UsedInIcuSite "true"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 { In our only previous encounter Henry had smashed me in a model game of the Grand Prix Attack. This time I resolved to be sure I would last more than 20 moves and picked a slower opening: the Archangel Variation of the Ruy Lopez } 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Bg5 { a slightly unusual move } (9. a4 { leads to the very theoretical main line, where Black usually has to sacrifice the b-pawn. }) (9. Be3 { was played against me last summer by another talented young aggressive player, India's Aryan Chopra } 9... Bg4 10. Nbd2 exd4 $2 11. cxd4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 13. Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. Qb3+ d5 15. Nxd4 c5 16. e5 $1 { with an attack in Chopra-Murray, Riga 2015 }) 9... O-O { I remembered that ...h6 and ...g5 was the normal way to play against the early Bg5, but I couldn't see why it should be good here. I decided to play more solidly and get my king out of the centre first. } (9... h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bg4 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nbd2 Nfd7 { and Black had quite a nice position in Bologan-Tkachiev, Tilburg 1994 }) 10. d5 $6 { a strange decision to close the centre. Normally Black is happy to see this move, opening up his bishop, giving him a target to chip away at with c7-c6, and sometimes condemning White's bishop to be very passive on g3. } 10... Nb8 11. a4 bxa4 { grabbing the bishop pair } 12. Bxa4 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qd3 a5 15. Nbd2 Na6 16. Bc6 Nc5 17. Qc2 Rb8 18. b4 axb4 19. cxb4 Nd7 (19... Na6 $5 { Henry said he was much more worried about this possibility, which I didn't really consider } 20. Rab1 Nxb4 $1 21. Rxb4 Bxf2+ 22. Rxf2 Rxb4 { with quite a different game }) 20. Qa4 { not really gaining a tempo, because the knight wants to go to f8 and g6 anyway and the rook needs to make way for it } 20... Rd8 21. Nc4 Nf8 22. Nxb6 { Here I had a big decision to make } 22... cxb6 { I chose to put all my eggs in the kingside basket. White's bishop prevents my rooks from being active on the a- to e- files, so the only plan is Ng6, Rf8, Q moves and f5. This is quite a slow plan but I didn't see what he could do on the queenside in the meantime - even if he gets his rook and queen to the seventh rank he isn't threatening much and they would be a long way from defending his king } (22... Rxb6 $5 { would allow me to play on the queenside as well as the kingside. Either the b4-pawn remains as a target, or it advances to b5 shutting out the bishop and maybe giving me c5 for the knight. }) 23. Qb3 Ng6 24. Qe3 Nf4 { threatening Bh3 } 25. Kh1 $1 (25. Ra7 $2 Bh3 26. Ne1 Qg6 27. Qf3 Bg4 28. Qe3 Be2 { winning an exchange }) 25... Rf8 26. Ne1 Qg6 27. g3 Nh3 28. f4 $1 { not allowing me to have it all my way on the kingside } 28... f5 $1 { this has to be played anyway } 29. fxe5 dxe5 30. Nd3 $1 { a good move which I had missed, covering e5 and f4. Fortunately some tactics here work out in my favour. } 30... Qd6 31. Rae1 { defending e4 and preparing to be able to take on e5. But after Ng5 it is hard to defend the e-pawn } (31. exf5 $6 Bxf5 32. Qxe5 $4 Qxe5 33. Nxe5 Be4+ { wins }) (31. Qe1 $1 { a clever computer manoeuvre to counter-attack the e5-pawn } 31... Ng5 32. Qc3 fxe4 33. Qxe5 Qxe5 34. Nxe5 { and White's passed pawn is better supported than Black's }) 31... Ng5 $1 32. Nb2 $2 { A blunder in a position that was becoming difficult. } (32. exf5 $2 Bxf5 { with a huge threat of Be4+ and Nh3 mate } 33. Nf2 Rbc8 $3 { with an unstoppable threat of mate on the light squares } 34. b5 Rxc6 $1 35. dxc6 Qd5+ 36. Kg1 Nf3+ { winning }) (32. Rc1 $5 Nxe4 33. g4 $1 { keeps the position unclear }) 32... Qxb4 33. Nd3 Qxe4+ $2 { after winning a pawn, it was tempting to exchange queens, destroy the support of White's passed pawn and bring my knight to the blockading e4-d6 route. But these are all superficial things. If I had looked deeper I would have seen how much compensation White has here. This was my most disappointing decision of the tournament. } (33... Qd6 $1 { returning to the same position from two moves ago, but having won the b4-pawn. Now Black has total control and should be winning with the pressure on e4. } 34. Rc1 Ba6 $1 { shows a big difference now that b4 is gone. }) 34. Qxe4 Nxe4 35. Nxe5 { I had managed my time pretty well and now I was a pawn up with 30 minutes against 10. But the longer I looked the less I could find a clear route to an advantage. } 35... Rd8 (35... b5 { the most natural try } 36. Ng6 Rd8 37. Ne7+ Kh8 38. Nxc8 Rdxc8 39. Rxf5 { with equality }) 36. g4 $1 { Henry correctly tried to mix it up and get activity at all costs. Even if he loses the g-pawn he opens the f-file, the e-file and the b1-h7 diagonal and removes my knight from its excellent outpost on e4. } 36... Nd6 37. Ng6 fxg4 $6 (37... Kh7 { is a better winning attempt, but White still has compensation }) 38. Re7 $2 { a big let off for me. } (38. Ne7+ Kh7 39. Ba4 { is quite a straightforward draw that both of us missed at the time. Black can't defend against both Nc6 and Bc2+ } 39... Bb7 40. Bc2+ g6 $2 { even loses: } 41. Re6 Nf5 42. Bxf5 gxf5 43. Rxf5 Rf8 44. Rh5) 38... b5 39. Ne5 b4 { Now White's pieces look quite threatening, but the b-pawn can't be stopped } 40. Ra1 (40. Nf7 $2 Rf8 { wins }) 40... b3 41. Bd7 Bxd7 42. Rxd7 Rxd7 43. Nxd7 b2 44. Rb1 Rb5 45. Ne5 Rxd5 46. Nxg4 Nc4 47. Nf2 Ra5 48. Nd1 Ra1 49. Nc3 Nd2 { One last trick to finish it off. A back-and-forth game where I made the second last mistake. Definitely more pleasant than our last game, and the stroke of luck I needed to be in with a chance of winning the tournament on Sunday. } 0-1