World Open, 1999
Round 7 [McCartney,P]
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Every Monday or Tuesday (with perhaps a few exceptions), I'll be submitting an annotated
game for the week. For the first one, I'm going back to the 1999 World Open, 7th round, in which I played
the White side of a Pirc, and used an exchange sacrifice that, while theoretically only equal, proved
to be enough to defeat my opponent via complete control of the dark squares. 1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.e5 Nd5 10.Nxd5 Rxd5 11.Bc4 Rd8 12.Ng5 This leaves Black with a discomforting choice to make. Continue to undevelop with 12...Rf8, or else hem in the light-squared bishop. Black makes the wiser choice. 12...e6 
13.13...b6 14.Be3 Ba6 15.Bxa6 Nxa6 16.Rad1 Nb4 17.c3 Nd5 17...Nd3 18.Rd2 Rd5 19. Ne4 Nxe5 20.fxe5 Rxe5 21.Rd7 Rxe4 22. Rfxf7 Be5 23.Kf2 h5 24.g3 = 18.Bc1 c4?! This relinquishes control of the d4 square to White. Black can keep the position near equal with a simple move like 18...h6 or 18...a6. 19.Rd4 b5 20.Rfd1 Rdc8 21.Ne4 Rc7 22.g4 Rb8 23.g5 White
now has complete control of the f6-square, and secures himself a small but lasting edge.23...Bf8 24.Rxd5 After Black moved his bishop off the long diagonal, White decides to sacrifice the exchange in order to be able to advance the e-pawn to clear out the long diagonal, and move his bishop to d4, or, as is the case with the game, c3 if Black attempts a pawn trade there. 24...exd5 25.Rxd5 b4 26.Bd2 bxc3? This does nothing but help White continue his attack. Better would have been to play 26...b3! 27.axb3 cxb3 and the position is roughly even. 27.Bxc3 Rcc8?  Black's
position continues to deteriorate. Instead, he should keep control of the 7th rank, and play passively
with 27...Bg7 where it would be harder for White to break through. Now the long diagonal and 7th rank
will prove lethal.28.Nf6+ Kh8 29.Rd7 Bc5+ 30.Kg2 Rf8 31.e6!! The lethal move. White's upcoming discovery is unavoidable. Black also can't take the pawn because of mate with the rook on h7. 31...Rbd8 32.exf7 h6 33.Ne8+ Kh7 34.Nf6+ In serious time trouble, I decided to repeat moves once in case the game didn't end before move 40, though Black can safely resign here. 34...Kh8 35.Ne8+ Kh7 36.Rxd8 Be7 37.Nf6+ Kg7 38.Nd7+ 1-0 |