[Event "Spielvogel 2019"] [Site "Mechanics Institute"] [Date "2019.02.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Rodney Jacobs"] [Black "Ruari Coffey"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1657"] [BlackElo "1584"] [ECO "A05"] [Opening "Reti: 1...Nf6"] 1.Nf3!? {I assumed I was to play Bas. Ruari before the game told me he knew we were playing and had prepared. It seemed a good bet that he had not contemplated this. (RJ)} Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 b5 5.cxb5 a6 6.b6 {Declining the gambit as I felt Ruari would know the Benko far better than me. (RJ)} Qxb6 7.Nc3 Bb7 8.e4 d6 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.h3 Bg7 11.Be3 {With the idea of a possible b4, now or after Rb1. in retrospect, probably that was not such a brilliant idea. After going to b4, the b pawn can only take at c5, in which case Black gets a great square for his knight, or be pushed, resulting in a protected pawn at c5 for Black. In either case Black's bishop at g7 probably becomes more powerful. (RJ)} Qa5 12.Nd2 O-O 13.Nc4 Qc7 14.Rd1 {For now stops the e6 break. (RJ)} Rfb8 {Throwing his lot on the Queenside. (RJ)} 15.Be2 Bc8 16.O-O a5 17.f4 Ne8 18.h4 Ba6 19.h5 Rb4 20.b3 {It's very tricky. Na3 and Nd2 both lose material. (RJ)} Rab8 21.Na4 Bxc4 22.Bxc4 Nb6 23.Nxb6 R4xb6 24.hxg6 hxg6 25.Bd2 {Wanting to get rid of Black's bishop, his most active piece. (RJ)} Bd4+ 26.Kh1 Ra8 27.Bc3 Bxc3 28.Qxc3 a4 29.Rd3 axb3 30.Rh3 Ng7 31.axb3 Rbb8 32.e5 {I thought for a long time about 32. Qg3, with a view to Qh4. It may have been better. (RJ)} Qa5 {de is out because of d6, activating White's bishop. (RJ)} 33.Qg3 {With an exchange of queens, White's attack would be over. (RJ)} Nf5 34.Qg5 {Ruari said he han't foreseen this. But Qh2! is much stronger. (RJ)} Kg7 35.Bd3 {I had planned either this or g4. I decided against g4 because of the reply Rh8. But, as Ruari pointed out, after g4? Black doesn't play Rh8 but f3!, trapping the Queen. (RJ)} f6 36.Qg4 Rh8 37.Bxf5 Rxh3+ 38.gxh3 g5 39.fxg5 fxe5 40.Qh5 {I was really happy with this game, against an opponent of the calibre of Ruari. I seem to have overcome what has been a pretty substantial dip in my chess confidence. (RJ)} {#r} 1-0