McCartney, Patrick (2037) - Trower, Todd (2016)
Border Battle Quad I, 2008
Round 3 [McCartney,P]
04/10/2008 - This week's game comes from the third round of Border Battle Quad I.
It features an opening that is very similar to the Rauzer System in the Classical Sicilian, but with
just enough of a twist to it such that what seemed like "normal moves" ended up being "bad
moves", and it cost Black the game.
1.Nc3
c5 2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
d6 This move is often deemed pre-mature as
often times, with no White pawn on e4, Black will want to play ...d7-d5 in 1 shot. A better move here
is 4...Nf6 when 5.e4 is a Sicilian, and 5.Bg5 leads to an independent line with chances for both side,
while 5.g3, the correct here against 4...d6, would actually be a slight error because of 5...d5! and
Black should have equality at that point already.
5.g3
Nf6 6.Bg5 e6
7.Bg2 Bd7 Let's
compare this position to the Rauzer System in the Classical Sicilian. In the Rauzer System, play normally
goes 1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2, and here, normal is 7...a6 or 7...Be7.
7...Bd7 is often considered not good because of 8.Ndb5 with a strong attack for White. So what's different
here? White has played g3 and Bg2 instead of e4 and Qd2. This gives White the benefit of a clear open
diagonal for the light-squared bishop, no target to worry about on e4, and no loss of tempo with the
Queen if Black does decide to allow White to capture on d6. Therefore, Black giving up the pawn after
8.Ndb5 really isn't an option because if it's bad for Black in the Classical Sicilian to just give up
the d6 pawn, it's even worse here. Therefore, Black would have to guard d6 again with a Queen move,
or else advance the pawn to d5. This position has actually come up before in GM play. Following the
game Ligterink - Stohl, Tilburg 1992, their game went 1.Nc3 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.g3 Nc6
6.Bg2 Bd7 7.Bg5 e6 (Given a ? by Harald Keilhack, Knight on the Left: 1.Nc3, 2005, where he suggests
instead 7...a6, 7...Rc8, or 7...Qa5) 8.Ndb5! d5 (8... Qb8? 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Ne4+-) 9.e4! a6 (9...dxe4 10.O-O
Be7 11.Nd6 ) 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.exd5 axb5 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.O-O Be7 14.Qd4 which Keilhack gives as an advantage
for White. The rest of that game went 14...c5 15.Qe3 Rc8 16.Rad1 Qc7 17.Rfe1 Bc6 18.Bxc6+ Qxc6 19.Qh6
f5 20.Qg7 Rf8 21.Qxh7 b4 22.Ne2 Ra8 23. Nf4 Rxa2 24.Nh5 Bd6 25.Ng7+ Kd8 26.Nxe6+ 1-0.
8.
8...h6? Black
fails to take advantage of White's 8th move. Instead, he should play 8...a6, 8...Qb6, or 8...Be7.
9.Bxf6
gxf6 10.Ndb5 d5 Again,
10...Qb8? fails to 11.Ne4+-
11.e4! a6
12.exd5 axb5 13.dxc6
bxc6 So now we have the same position as
Ligterink - Stohl again, except here, the position is that of 13...h6 instead of 13...Be7. While 13...
Be7 didn't work too well for Stohl, 13...h6 can't be the answer.
14.Qf3 Threatening
15.Nxb5.
14...Rc8 15.Rad1
f5 16.Rfe1 With
Black's king virtually stuck in the center (castling kingside can't be pleasant for Black), White's rooks
swarming down the center of the board, and threats like 17.Qxf5, White has got to be close to winning.
16...Qe7
17.Bh3 b4 18.Na4
Rb8 19.Bxf5 Bg7
20.Bxe6?! White goes for the immediate
kill, but 20.Be4! is simply good and winning. Here, Black had the opportunity to only allow White a
slight advantage.
20...Bxe6?? This
loses on the spot. Better is 20... fxe6! 21.Qh5+ Kf8 22.Nc5 Bc8 23.Qf3+ Kg8 24.Qxc6 Bxb2 25.Nxe6
21.Qxc6+
Kf8 22.Nc5 Kg8 Or
22...Rd8 23.Rxd8+ Qxd8 24.Qa4 Qd6 25.Qxb4
23.Nxe6
fxe6 24.Rxe6 Qf7
25.Rd7 Black is dead.
25...Qf5
26.Rxg7+ Kxg7
27.Qc7+ Kg8 28.Qxb8+ Even
stronger is 28.Re7!! Kf8 29.Qd6 Rc8 30.Re5+ Kg7 31.Rxf5 Rhe8 32. Qd4+ Kg8, but the move played still
wins.
28...Kf7 29.Qxh8
Qxe6 White has emerged up 4 pawns, and
is simply winning. The rest is just technical chess, and requires no commentary.
30.Qh7+
Ke8 31.Qd3 Qxa2
32.b3 Qa1+ 33.Kg2
Qa5 34.Qe3+ Kf7
35.Qxh6 Qd5+ 36.f3
Qb5 37.Qh7+ Kf6
38.Qe4 Qc5 39.Qc4
Qb6 40.h4 Kg7
41.g4 Qd6 42.Qd3
Qe5 43.Qd7+ Kg8
44.Qc8+ Kg7 45.Qb7+
Kg8 46.Qe4 Qd6
47.Qe2 Kg7 48.h5
Kh6 49.Qe3+ Kg7
50.h6+ Kh7 51.Qd3+
1-0