[Event "BCCC 2017"]
[Site "Mechanics Institute"]
[Date "2017-06-22"]
[White "Rodney Jacobs"]
[Black "Heath Gooch"]
[WhiteElo "1704"]
[BlackElo "1777"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c6 {(RJ) I had expected the Caro-Kann, having looked at Heath's games so far in this tournament. Being wary of his positional ability and technique, I had a look for a line with a quirk in it, to make things a bit wilder. Luckily, I came across a terrific YouTube lecture by Jonathan Schrantz on a 2012 USA Championship game in which Kamsky as white crushed Seirawan. We ended up following that game up to move 15.} 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 {(RJ) According to Schrantz, an improvement on the old Bf4, which allows Black's Qa5.} Ngf6 12.O-O-O Be7 13.Ne4 {(RJ) Still following Kamsky - Seirawan. The idea is, if Black castles kingside, to allow an early g4, even if that means a sac of the g pawn.} Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qd3 {(RJ) Kamsky's improvement on 15. Qe2. The aim to to stymie Black's forced exchange of queens on move 16.} Qd5 {(RJ) Diverging from the Kamsky game, where Black castled before playing Qd5.} 16.c4 Qe4 {(RJ) Aiming for an endgame which, according to Schrantz, is very popular and known to be fine for Black.} 17.Qb3 {(RJ) Had the White queen been on e2, the exchange of queens would have been forced. As it is, the Black queen is now placed somewhat awkwardly in the middle of the board.} b5! {(RJ) Up until now, Heath had been moving instantaneously. I was relieved when he now took some 6 minutes on this move. He clearly knew the opening very well, but not, apparently, the nuance of avoiding the queen exchange. But he found over the board the seeming best move, and one which I had not expected at all. It's picked by Stockfish 7, and is also the top ranking move on Chessbase. The downside is that Black is now committed to kingside (or no) castling.} 18.Ne5 {(RJ) My engines prefer Rhe1.} Rc8! {(RJ) Again picking the best move, preventing cb. Over the board I, wrongly, didn't think much of it.} 19.Rhe1 {(RJ) Also picked as best by Stockfish 7, which here puts it at +.4. The (weaker) Deep Shredder plumps for Qg3.} Qxd4?! {(RJ) A bold choice, snaffling a critical pawn, but braving the discovered attack on the queen. The engines prefer Qf5 or Qxb2.} 20.Bxh6? {(RJ) Handing the initiative to Black. Correct is Qg3, maintaining the advantage.} Qxf2 {(RJ) Best. Now it's about - 1.} 21.Rf1 {(RJ) Hoping to tempt Black into retreating the queen to the queenside, after which 22. Bxg7 wins the f6 knight. Bxg7 may be objectively better, but doesn't really lead anywhere for White.} Qh4 {(RJ) Best.} 22.g3? {(RJ) Wanting to divert the Black queen from the defence of the knight. But the knight can't be won anyway now. Best is Rh1.} Qxh5 {(RJ) According to the computers, it's now about -1.4. But the pawns which Black has gained are between the White rooks and his king.} 23.Bf4?! {(RJ) I only now realised that Bxh7 loses the bishop to Qg5ch.  Again Rh1 is better.} O-O?! {(RJ) Ng4! forcing the exchange of material is best. White can if he wants compel the exchange of Black's queen by Rh1, but the line is good for Black.} 24.Rh1 Qf5 25.Rd2! {(RJ) Getting ready to double rooks on the h file, with the obvious threat.} g5!? {(RJ) It's a sign of the complexity of the position that two strong programs disagree here. The initial view of the (simultaneous) assessments has Deep Shredder putting it at -.7, with Stockfish saying it's .4. Presumably Heath had in mind a dual purpose here - first, to win a piece and second, to give the king a flight square on g7.} 26.g4! {(RJ) Best. Apart from attacking the queen, it gives the White queen access to the h file. The Bishop is immune - if Qxf4, Qh3 wins outright.} Nxg4 {(RJ) Forced.} 27.Qh3 Bf6?? {(RJ) A critical error. 35.Kg7 is necessary. There might follow  28. Nxg4  Rh8  29. Be5ch  f6  30. Bxf6ch Qxf6  31. Nxf6  Rxh3  32. Rxh3  Bxf6  33. Rd6, with White having the advantage, but a long struggle ahead.} 28.Nxg4 Bg7 29.Nh6+ Bxh6 30.Qxh6 f6 31.Qh8+ Kf7 32.Rh7+ {(RJ) As James pointed out immediately after the game, missing the elegant 32.Rd7ch  Ke8  33. Qxf8ch!  Kxd7  34. Qg7ch  Ke8  35. Rh8 mate.} Ke8 33.Qg7 {(RJ) Overall, White obtained a minor advantage through opening preparation, but lost it through inaccurate play on his part and a fine, vigorous response by Black. White, while objectively on the back foot, was able to create complexities and generate threats, which led to Black. overlooking an opportunity to exchange down, and then making a critical error on move 27 which handed White the game. Oddly, in the 33 move game, for approximately one-third of those moves White's black-squared bishop was en prise, but was never taken.} {#r}