[Event "Friendly "] [Site "London"] [Date "2014.11.28"] [Round "0"] [White "Emerson, Roger"] [Black "Black, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [ECO "A41"] [Opening "Neo-Old Indian"] {Comments are by Roger Emerson} 1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 {A favourite of Richard's - and also of Terry Chapman.} 4.f3 (4.f4 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be3 Nbd7 (7...Be7 8.O-O Nbd7 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 {Grischuk,A (2764)-Mamedyarov,S (2766)/Moscow Aeroflot rapid final 2013 (2.2)/1/2-1/2})) (4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Qe2 e6 8.h4 h5 9.g5 Nfd7 10.Bh3 {Gasanov,E (2551)-Chernyshov,K (2540)/ RUS-chT2 16th 2009 (3)/1/2-1/2}) 4...Qb6 (4...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of} g6) 5.Nge2 Nbd7 6.a3 e5 7.Be3 Qc7 (7...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of} Qxb2? 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Ra2 {wins the black queen}) 8.Qd2 Be7 9.g3 (9.{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is} Ng3 Nb8 (9...O-O 10.Nf5) 10.Bc4 O-O 11.Ba2) 9...O-O 10.Bg2 b5 11.O-O Bb7 12.h3 a5 13.Nd1 d5 14.c3 (14.{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with} exd5 Nxd5 15.f4 Nxe3 16.Nxe3 exd4 17.Nxd4 Bf6 18.c3) 14...dxe4 15.fxe4 Rad8 {now I'm getting into difficulties with too many weak squares and pawns} 16.Qc1 Bd6 17.Nf2 Rfe8 (17...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by} exd4 18.cxd4 Bxg3 {because after } 19.e5 Nxe5 (19...Bxf2+ 20.Bxf2 Ne8 21.Bh4) 20.Bf4 Bxf4 21.Qxf4 Nfd7 22.dxe5 Qxe5 23.Qxe5 Nxe5 24.Rfe1 {white would have a reasonable game}) 18.b4 Ra8 (18...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g.} axb4 19.axb4 exd4 20.cxd4 Bxb4 21.e5 {and black has to sacrifice a knight}) 19.Rd1 Nb6 (19...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If} exd4 {I was intending} 20.cxd4 axb4 21.e5 {but Houdini finds the sequence} Nxe5! 22.dxe5 Bxe5 23.Bd4 c5! 24.Bxb7 Qxb7 25.Qxc5 Nd5! 26.axb4 (26.Bxe5 Rxe5 27.Nd4 Ne3 28.Qc6 Qxc6 29.Nxc6 Nxd1 30.Nxe5 Nc3 31.Kf1 bxa3) 26...Ne3 27.Bxe3 Bxa1) 20.dxe5 Bxe5 21.Nd3 {Here I offered a draw} Nc4 22.Nxe5 Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Qxe5 24.Qb6 Rab8 25.bxa5 Nxe4 (25...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played} c5 { delaying the pawn capture until he's activated his bishop} 26.Qd6 Bxe4 27.Qxe5 Rxe5 {and white's weak queen's side pawns give black the advantage}) 26.a6 {now black's advantage has disappeared} Ba8 (26...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played} Bxa6! 27.Qxa6 Qc5+ 28.Nd4 (28.Kh2 Ra8 29.Qb7 Ra7 {traps white's queen}) 28...Qxc3 29.Qxc6 Qe3+ 30.Kh1 Nf2+ 31.Kh2 Nxd1 32.Rxd1 Qxa3 $11) (26...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played If} Bc8 27.Qxc6 $14) 27.Qd4 Nxg3 (27...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played If} Qg5 28.a7 Rbd8 29.h4 Rxd4 30.hxg5 Ra4 31.Rd4 Nxc3 32.Rxa4 Nxe2+ 33.Kf2 bxa4 34.Re1 $11) 28.Qxe5 Nxe2+ 29.Qxe2 Rxe2 30.Rd7 g5?! (30...{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played If} Kf8 31.Rad1 Re7 32.a7 Rbe8 33.Bf1 g6 $11) 31.Rad1 Kg7 32.Rc7 (32.{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played If I realised afterwards that I should have played} Bf3 Re3 (32...Re6 33.a7 Rf8 34.Kf2 {and black is tied up}) 33.a7 Rf8 (33...Rbe8 34.Rd8) 34.Kf2 Re6 (34...{If} Rxc3 35.Rd8)) 32...Re6 33.Rdd7 Rf6 34.a7 Re8 35.Re7 Rd8 36.Red7 (36.{the purpose of black's move order is to hamper any white plans of Be3, Qd2 and queen's side castling, which can create a strong attack if black plays the normal Pirc move of too slow. Better is Houdini wants to liquidate the centre with It would be premature to win a pawn by Black can't win either pawn advantageously e.g. If Up to here Richard has played well, but perhaps he should now have played If I realised afterwards that I should have played If I'd wanted to play on for a win, I could have tried} Rcd7 Rc8 37.Bf1 Rf8 38.Be2 h6 39.Bh5 {but after the pressure I'd been under up to move 25 I was happy to take the draw!}) 36...Re8 {#d} 1/2-1/2