[Event "Hamilton Russell"] [Site "East India / Oriental Club"] [Date "2017.02.28"] [White "Franklin, Sam"] [Black "Lee, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [Opening "French: Steinitz, 5.f4 c5"] {Notes are by: SF = Sam Franklin; PL = Peter Lee} 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Qb6 8.Na4 Qa5+ 9.c3 cxd4 {SF: 9.. b6 is the modern way to play the Qb6 line. After e.g. 10 Bd2 c4 11 b4 Nxb4 12 cxb4 Bxb4 13 Qc2 Bxd2+ 14 Nxd2 b5 15 Nc3 b4 16 Nd1 (Caruana - Fridman 2013) white has to work harder to make the knight count compared to the game PL: Interestingly, my computer prefers 9.. cxd4 (+0.3) to 9..b6 (-0.4) !} 10.b4 Nxb4 {SF:10.. Qc7 was the last chance to avoid the knight sac line, e.g. 11 Nd4 a6 12 Bd3 b5 13 Nb2 Ncxe5 with a mess} 11.cxb4 Bxb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Nxd2 b6 {SF: 13..O-O is the old main line where White scores heavily, e.g. 14 Bd3 b5 15 Nb2 Nb6 16 O-O Nc4 17 Nbxc4 bxc4 18 Bxh7+ Kh7 19 Qh5+ Kg8 20 Nf3 PL: Out of my theory by now but 13..b6 seems OK - still about equal. My computer thinks Black is OK at the end of Sam’s line} 14.Bd3 Ba6 {SF:14..Nc5 15 Nxc5 bxc5 16 O-O O-O 17 Rb1 c4 18 Nxc4 dxc4 19 Be4} 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 {SF:Wrong move order 15 Nb2 is more accurate, then 15..Bxd3 16 Nxd3 Nc5 17 Nf2 Na4 18 O-O Nc3 19 Qg4 O-O 20 Nf3 is Timman-Korchnoi 1987} 16.Nb2 Nc5? {SF: 16.. Rc8 is better then 17 Qe2 Qa5 and it is awkward for White to consolidateas ..Rc2 is in the air PL:Not best as SF says} 17.Qe2 Qa3 {SF:After 17 Qe2 White is close to consolidating. If 17..d3 18 Qe3 Qa3 19 Qd4} 18.Qb5+ Ke7 {PL:I was not concerned with my King moving as it connected my rooks} 19.O-O Rhc8 {SF: 19..Qe3+ 20 Rf2 Rhc8 21 Raf1 g6 22 Nb3 Nxb3 23 Nd1 Qe4 24 axb3 Rc5 25 Qa6 Kf8 26 Rd2 Kg7 27 Qa4 is Zhigalko - Podolchenko 2011 PL:I had thought of 19..Qe3+ but have no heard of either of Zhigalko or Podolchenko!} 20.Rf3 d3 {PL:I had missed the possibility of 20 Rf3 and felt I was a bit worse now} 21.Nxd3 Qc3 22.Rd1 Qc2 23.Qb1 Ne4 24.Nf2 Nxf2 {SF: Even stronger is 24 Qxc2 Rxc2 25 Nxe4 dxe4 26 Ne1 as d4 drops off. PL:I had intended 24..Nxd2 but White has 25 Qb4+} 25.Rxf2 Qxb1 26.Rxb1 Rc2 {SF: Should be a matter of technique for White now but I was sloppy and Peter found strong counterplay in his own time-trouble. PL:Though the computer reckons about +1 for White it is not so easy to play} 27.Nf3 Rac8 28.Nd4 R2c4 29.Rd2 R8c5 30.Kf2 Kd7 31.Rb3 Ra5 32.Rg3 g6 33.Rh3 h5 {PL: I was not convinced White's Rg3 and Rh3 constituted a good plan} 34.Rhd3 Raa4 {SF: 34 Rhd3 does not give up the advantage but is the first sign of carelessness. I totally missed my a pawn would hang. After 34..Rcxa4 35 Kg3 Rxa2 36 Kh4 black has more play than several moves ago, though White has good play with the black pawns not mobilised yet} 35.g3 Rc1 36.Nf3? Ra1 {PL: 36 Rb3 or Rb2 retains a good White plus} 37.Ng5 R1xa2 38.Nxf7 b5 {PL: By now I am virtually equal} 39.Nh8 b4 {PL: I thought my Q side pawns may outweight the decimation of my K side} 40.Ke3 Rxd2 41.Rxd2 a5? {SF: 41.. b3 would have equalised, e.g. 42 Nxg6 Ra2 43 Rd1 b2 44 Rb1 a5 and Black plans a4-a3, Ra1, a2.} 42.Nxg6 b3 {SF: Critically, when Peter had about 90 seconds on the clock , somehow the clock wasn’t pressed. That the computer evaluates me as winning is made irrelevant by my next move. PL: I was confident I had pressed the clock - it is totally reflex with me, but suddenly found my 1 min 30 secs had reduced to 10 seconds. Very annoying.} 43.Kd3? Rc4? {SF: 43 f5 is the only winning move e.g. 43..exf5 44 Rxd5+ Kc6 45 Ne7+ Kb6 46 Kd3 Rb4 47 Rd6+ Kc5 48 Rd8 B2 49 Rc8+ Kb6 50 Rb8+ Kc5 51 Rxb4 Kxb4 52 Kc2 though white’s moves are harder to find PL: 43..Rb4 was better where Black is slightly better} 44.Rb2 a4 45.f5 Rb4 46.Kc3 Rc4+ 47.Kd3 {SF: Peter lost on time here, but the position is equal, e.g. 47..exf5 48 Nf4 Kc6 49 e6 Re4 50 Kc3 Rc4+ 51 Kd3 Re4 PL: One possible conclusion with enough time was 47..Rb4 with repetition and a draw} 1-0