[Event "BCC Championship"] [Site "BCC"] [Date "2016.06.30"] [Round "2"] [White "Bas Van Riel"] [Black "James Watson"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1884"] [BlackElo "1821"] [ECO "C70"] [Opening "Spanish: 4.Ba4"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 {Happy to challenge Bas on his home territory. Bas has been playing the Ruy since at least the early 80's - long before James was born! (RJ)} 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Re1 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.a5 Bb7 10.d3 d6 11.Nbd2 Nd7 12.Nf1 Nc5 13.Bd5 Nb8 {In the one game on Chessbase following this line, Black here played Nd4. Stockfish 7 also prefers Nd4. (RJ)} 14.Ne3 c6 15.Ba2 b3 {+-1.50 fritz11 saying bad move (JB).} 16.Bxb3 Nxb3 17.cxb3 Nd7 18.Nc4 f6 19.Be3 {Hiarcs (running on iphone) doesn't like this, preferring Ne3. as does Stockfish 7. RJ)} d5 20.Nb6 d4 21.Nxd7 {somewhat surprisingly white chooses to avoid the exchange sac that I had prepared when playing 18...f6 (JW)} Qxd7 22.Bd2 c5 23.b4 Qb5 {I hadn't seen whites 25.Ra3 when playing this, one intriguing idea here is 23...cxb4 24.Bxb4 Bxb4 25.Qb3+ Bd5! 26.Qxb4 Rab8 27.Qd2 Be6 and black has plenty of positional compensation for the pawn.(JW).} 24.bxc5 Qxd3 25.Ra3 Qc4 26.b4 Kh8 {Usually a defensive move, but here perhaps an indication that James thinks he can win. He avoids the exchange of queens.(RJ)} 27.Qa4 Qe6 $10 28.Qb3 Qg4 29.h3 $14 Qh5 30.Qe6 Qe8 31.Nh4 g6 32.f4? {Perhaps overlooking the reply. Hiarcs and Stockfish 7 recommend Bh6. Both programs say it's back to even after f4. (RJ)} f5! 33.Nf3 fxe4 34.Nxe5 e3 35.Bc1 {Bas played this almost immediately. But it's fascinating that all my engines indicate Bxe3 here, calling it completely even. Stockfish 7 gives 35. Bxe3 de 36. Qb6 Bh4! 37. Rexe3 Bd5 38. Rad3 Rxf4. 39. Nf3 Re4. 40. Nxh4! Rxe3. 41. Qf6ch Kg8 42. Rxd5 Qe7 43. Qxe7 Rxe7 44. Rxd4.(RJ)} Bh4 $15 36.Qxe8 Raxe8 $19 37.Re2 {Interestingly, Hiarcs and Deep Shredder believe White is being crushed here, at around -2, but the much stronger Stockfish 7 puts it at the more modest -1. (RJ). I myself recall during play thinking that white must be on the precipice of defeat in this position, yet it turned out in practice that this wasn't the case at all (JW)} Rxf4 38.Nd3 {The engines prefer the much more aggressive c6. (RJ)} Rff8 39.Bb2 Bf2+?? {All engines call this a mistake. See analysis to next move. (RJ) On playing this I had calculated 40.Nxf2 exf2+ 41.Rxf2 (41.Kf1 Bxg2+) Re1+ 42.Rf1 R8xf1+ however white instead has 42.Kh2! Rxf2 43.Bxd5+ Kg8 44.Bxf2 Re2 45. Kg3 which is actually a vital move for the entire line to work. (JW) fritz11 is saying 1.00 white is better (JB).} 40.Kf1? {Hiarcs indicates 40. Nxf2!! ef2 ch. 41. Rf2 Re1ch 42. Kh2 Rxf2 ( Stockfish 7 gives 42.....Kg8, but the result is similar) 43. Bxd4ch! Kg8 44. Bxf2, with White 2 pawns up in an ending with bishops of opposite colours. (RJ)} Bh4+ {My original point behind Bf2+ was to play 40....Bg3+ 41.Kg1 Re4 and now there are back rank threats, however once I realized this fails to 42.Rxe3! Rxe3 43.Bxd5 I was forced to play (the better) B-h4-f6 (JW)} 41.Kg1 Bf6 42.Ra1 Be4 43.Rd1 Bc6 44.Kh2 Ba4 45.Rc1 Bb5 {Through a series of tempo moves, black has transferred the bishop from b7-b5 with no major loss of time. (JW)} 46.Rd1 Kg8 47.Kg1 Re4 48.Ba1 Bh4 49.Bb2 Bxd3 50.Rxd3 Rf2 {A challenging and competitive game to wrap up the tournament (JW)} {#R} 0-1