[Event "ICCD World Individual Championships"] [Site "Yerevan, Armenia"] [Date "2016.05.21"] [Round "6"] [White "Varvaglione, Antonio"] [Black "Kreuzer, Chris"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [Opening "Sicilian: Alapin, 2...d5 3.exd5 Qxd5"] 1.e4 c5 2.c3 {As this was the afternoon game on the double-round day, neither me nor my opponent had time to prepare properly, but I did find out from other players that my opponent plays the c3 Sicilian, so I had a bit of time to think about what to play. The other bit of context is that my opponent's game had been the last to finish in the morning round, so he only had a break of about 1 hour (from 3pm to 4pm). This seemed to affect his play early on, as he allowed me to get a dominating position. As the game wore on though, he nearly turned the game around to win and I escaped with a draw by the skin of my teeth. A very exciting game, if a bit disappointing that I missed a huge chance to go to +2 and only half a point behind the leaders.} d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 e6 7.h3 {The placement of this pawn on h3 proved crucial 50 moves later...} Bh5 8.O-O Be7 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.c4 Qc6 11.Nc3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bxe2 13.Qxe2 Qc8 {This looks awkward, but Black's position is actually very solid and difficult to break down.} 14.a3 O-O 15.Rfd1 Rd8 16.Ndb5 {My opponent heads for d6 with the knight, but I am reasonably familiar with this sort of position and I saw that the knight would risk getting trapped on d6, so after only a short think I played 16...a6.} a6 17.Nd6 Qc6 18.Qf3 (18.c5 Nxc5 19.Bxc5 Bxd6 20.Bxd6 Rxd6 21.Rxd6 Qxd6 22.Rd1) (18.Bf4 e5 19.Nf5 {Both me and presumably my opponent missed this move that rescues the knight from d6.}) 18...Qxf3 19.gxf3 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 Ne5 {Obvious and winning a pawn. I was very surprised to be about to go a pawn up after 20 moves against a 2228-rated player. At this point, my opponent started finding the best moves, demonstrating his strength. Still, I feel I should have done better from this point on.} 21.Rb6 Rd7 22.Na4 Nxc4 23.Rc1 {I initially considered 23...Nxe3 and briefly looked at 23...Rc8, which in fact is the best move. Logically, it makes sense as it makes the threat of Nxb6 very real.} Nxb6 (23...Rc8 24.Rb4 (24.Nc5 Nxb6 25.Nxd7 Rxc1+ 26.Bxc1 Nfxd7) 24...Rdc7 25.Nb6 Nxe3 26.Rxc7 Rxc7 27.fxe3 {In many lines, Black does better to take the bishop, to undouble White's pawns, and go into an endgame a pawn up.}) 24.Nxb6 Rdd8 {I saw that I would end up in a passive position, but thought I could consolidate and win.} (24...Rad8 25.Nxd7 Nxd7 26.Rd1 Kf8 27.Bb6 Ke7 28.Bxd8+ Kxd8) 25.Nxa8 Rxa8 26.Rc7 b5 27.Kf1 {White immediately starts to bring his king into the action. I should have done the same and left h6 until later. Conversely, White should have played Bc5 to prevent my king coming to f8.} Nd5 28.Rb7 h6 (28...Kf8 29.Ke2 (29.Bc5+ Ke8) 29...Rc8 30.Kd3 Ke8 31.Bd2 Rc7 32.Rxc7 Nxc7 33.Kd4 Kd7 34.Kc5 Nd5 {This looks to be an improvement over the game (omitting h6 in favour of activating Black's king). Black can now slowly push forward the kingside pawns}) 29.Ke2 Rc8 {Planning to play Rc7 to challenge his rook, though I failed to see a flaw in this plan, namely his active king which is already eyeing up a6 from e2.} 30.Kd3 Kf8 {I probably should have taken on e3 here. Similarly, he should have played Bd2 earlier.} 31.Bd2 Rc7 32.Rxc7 {I was very surprised by this, as I had assumed he would be forced to play Rb8+ to keep the rooks on, and that the knight vs bishop ending was won for me. The key is the activity of his king.} Nxc7 33.Kd4 Ke8 34.Kc5 Kd7 35.Kb6 {Here, I should have realised that I needed to get my kingside pawns moving, ready to create a passed pawn at the right moment. It will take White a while to force the win of the a6 pawn. In the game, I mess around for a long time with my knight and nearly lose.} Nd5+ (35...g5 {Black may be able to force a passed pawn and a win very quickly, as h4 loses here for White. It is very annoying that I missed this. Ironically, I found this plan later in the game, but then it only saved the draw.} 36.Kb7 (36.h4 gxh4 37.Bxh6 h3 38.Bf4 Nd5+) 36...f5 37.Ba5 Nd5 38.Kxa6 Nf4 39.Bc3 (39.h4 gxh4 40.Bd2 e5 {Simple win. Very annoying that I didn't see this over the board.}) 39...Nxh3 40.Bg7 h5 41.Bh6 h4 42.Kxb5 e5 43.a4 Nxf2 44.Bxg5 h3 {Again, a nice win that I didn't see at the time.}) 36.Kxa6 Kc6 37.Ka5 Nb6 38.Kb4 Nd5+ 39.Kb3 Ne7 40.Kc3 Nf5 41.Kd3 Kd5 42.Bc3 g6 43.b3 Nd6 44.a4 bxa4 45.bxa4 {I am in severe danger of losing here. I spent ages working out where to put the knight and trying to get it to a6 safely and in time. I looked at e5 and Nb7 before deciding on Ne8.} Ne8 (45...e5 46.a5 e4+ 47.fxe4+ Nxe4 48.Bd4 {This looks like a win for White.}) (45...Nb7 46.Bb4 Nc5+ 47.Bxc5 Kxc5 {And I think in all lines Black gets back to the kingside in time to save the game. But 48.f4 here may improve on the example line given here, though I think it is still a draw. If White does not take on c5 after the knight check, then the knight just sits on a6. I played 45...Ne8 in the game, as I was not sure if the king and pawn endgame in this 45...Nb7 line was drawn or not.} 48.Ke4 f6 49.Kd3 Kb4 50.Kd4 Kxa4 51.Kc5 Kb3 52.Kd6 e5 53.Ke6 Kc3 54.Kxf6 Kd3 55.Kxe5 Ke2 56.f4 Kxf2 57.Kf6 Kg3 58.Kxg6 Kxf4 59.h4 h5 60.Kxh5 Kf5) 46.Ba5 Kc5 47.Bd2 h5 48.Ke4 Nd6+ 49.Kf4 f6 50.Bc3 g5+ (50...e5+ 51.Bxe5 fxe5+ 52.Kxe5 {This is winning for White. This is why I rejected e5+ and played g5+ instead.}) 51.Ke3 {Having finally got my kingside pawns moving, this position should now be drawn, but I had been playing on the increment for many moves now and had a few more moves to find to secure the draw.} f5 52.Bf6 Nf7 53.Be7+ Kb6 54.Kd4 Ka5 55.Kc5 Kxa4 56.Kc6 h4 57.Kd7 g4 {My opponent can still lose here if he fails to see the threats.} 58.fxg4 (58.Bxh4 Ne5+ 59.Kxe6 gxh3 60.Bg3 Nxf3 61.Kxf5 Kb5 62.Kg4 h2 63.Bxh2 Nxh2+ 64.Kg3 Nf1+ {And this line is drawn as well.}) 58...fxg4 59.Bxh4 (59.hxg4 h3 60.Kxe6 h2 61.Kxf7 h1=Q 62.g5 Qf3+ 63.Bf6 Qxf2 64.g6 {Though even this may still be drawn.}) 59...gxh3 60.Bg3 Ng5 61.f4 h2 {I had seen this some moves earlier, but it was still nice to be able to play this with seconds on the clock. 61...Nf3 may also draw, but no need to calculate that.} 62.Bxh2 Nh3 63.Kxe6 Nxf4+ 64.Bxf4 {#D} 1/2-1/2