[Event "Meurthe-et-Moselle B 2016"]
[Site "Nancy FRA"]
[Date "2016.02.20"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Jessel, Stephen"]
[Black "Micottis, Dorian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2336"]
[BlackElo "2331"]
[ECO "A15"]
[Annotator "Jessel, Stephen"]
[ICUid "31894"]
[UsedInIcuSite "true"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b4 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2 e5 7. O-O a5 8. b5
Re8 9. d3 Nbd7 10. Nc3 Nc5 11. Nd2 h5 { My opponent had prepared against me
following a game I had played and lost in France in 2014 against...
Sebastien Maze, quite well-known in the Irish chess scene for his numerous
weekender participations in Ireland. } 12. Ba3 $1 { A nice improvement from
the game against Maze where I had played } (12. h4 $6 { weakening my
kingside and the g4 square unnecessarily }) 12... h4 $6 { ignoring my
positional idea. } 13. Bxc5 $1 { Although this swap may look harmless at
first (even the computer isn't worried about it), I believe it actually
seizes a strategical advantage. The squares d5 and e4 become clear
potential outposts for White's light pieces, and the position becomes
suddenly quite difficult to open up for black which should be favoring
White's knight pair over Black's bishop pair. } 13... dxc5 14. Nde4 Nxe4
15. Bxe4 Rb8 16. Rb1 b6 17. e3 Rf8 { Underlining the difficulty for Black
to find an ambitious plan in this position, altough the Black rook could
maybe support an f5 f4 breakthrough on a good day. Black's position,
altough passive, is still solid of course. } 18. Rc1 Bh3 19. Bg2 Bf5 20.
Be4 Bh3 21. Re1 { Deliberately repeating moves and then switching to
another move is a well-known little psychological trick. It sends the
uncomfortable message to your opponent "You're the one who wants to draw
here, I want to win!". } 21... Be6 22. Qe2 Bf6 23. f3 Kg7 { Considering
white's answer, Black maybe had to do } (23... hxg3 { first in this
position and then only Kg7 }) 24. g4 { Keeping the position nice and closed
avoiding Black to open up the h-file in his favor. } 24... h3 25. Kh1 Rh8
26. Rg1 $1 { Putting the rook on the file where the opponent's king just in
case it might be useful, is usually a quite good idea, especially when no
other files are open. } 26... Rh4 $2 { A move without a clear purpose. }
27. Rg3 Bg5 28. Bd5 Bd7 { Typically, If Black goes for } (28... Bxd5 29.
Nxd5 { he finds himself in a typically bad scenario of passive bishop
against very strong and quite impossible to dislodge central knight. }) 29.
Ne4 Be7 30. Qb2 $1 { Suddenly, Black is under a lot of pressure as White's
pieces are all getting one by one to their best squares and the e5 pawn is
a real headache to defend. Moreover, Black has been unable to create any
form of counterplay whatsoever in the meantime. On a strategic point of
view, Black may already be "lost" here whatever he does if White doesn't
start messing up. } 30... Bd6 (30... f6 { would have failed quite clearly
to White's } 31. g5 { breakthrough }) 31. f4 Qe8 ({ After } 31... Qe7 {
White could have applied a different powerful attacking theme with } 32. f5
$1 $18) 32. Rf1 { piling up the pressure ! f7 being a target notably but
not only. } 32... Bxg4 { The defence I was expecting, as } (32... Rxg4 {
unfortunately fails to } 33. fxe5 Bxe5 34. Rxf7+ Kh6 (34... Qxf7 35. Qxe5+
$1) 35. Rxh3+ $1 { for example, with mate to follow as the h file is given
away }) 33. Nf6 $3 { not the only win according to the computer, and not
the most difficult-to spot chess tactic of the decade, but definitely a
very aesthetic move nonetheless } 33... Kxf6 { Black is helpless and has to
get rid of the trojan horse... as his queen and bishop are forked and } (
33... Qc8 { releases the tension on the e5 pawn and the whole b2-h8
diagonal in a lethal way (e6 is coming) } 34. fxe5 $18) 34. fxe5+ Kg5 35.
exd6 f5 { the most resilient defence, parrying the Qf6+ threat } (35...
cxd6 36. Qf6+ Kh5 37. Bxf7) 36. Qg7 { threatening mainly Bf7! } 36... Qh8
37. Rxf5+ $1 { This nice game put me back on track, and gave me the boost
of confidence I needed to score 1.5/2 in the last final two rounds to get
my third IM norm. } 1-0
