[Event "Teters"]
[Site "Clubrooms"]
[Date "2016-08-25"]
[White "Rob Bailey"]
[Black "Rod Jacobs"]
[WhiteElo "1515"]
[BlackElo "1659"]
[Result "0.5-0.5"]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 c6 {(RJ) I feel comfortable giving the white bishop granite to bite on for a long time. Alternatives given on Chessbase are Be6 (76 games) Nxc3 (38 games) surprisingly Ne7 (87 games) and, by far the favourite, Nb6 (2644 games).} 6.e3? {(RJ) Overlooking the reply and creating a horrible hole at d3, with the white bishop not there to watch it. Usual is Nf3, Nxd5 or d3.} Nb4 7.d4 {(RJ) Best now. But it allows Black a potential tactical trick which causes White problems..} exd4 {(RJ) After the game we looked at Bf5 first, but felt that the text was stronger. Stockfish 7 disagrees. It gives the line 7....Bf5 8. Kf1 Nc7 9. g4 Bg4 10. Rb1 Nxd4.} 8.exd4 Qxd4 {(RJ) Looks clever but in fact not the best move. I looked hard at Bf5, but thought it could be well answered by 9. Be4. But Black then would have 9......Bxe4 10. Nxe4 Qe7! and eventually gets in Nc2. Bf5 is the correct move.} 9.Qxd4 {(RJ) Better was 9. Qe2ch. After the game we thought this was not possible due to the awkward threat of Nd3. But White can meet that by 9...Be6 10. Be4.} Nc2+ 10.Kf1 {(RJ) Best} Nxd4 11.Nge2 {(RJ) Stockfish 7 prefers Bf4.} Nxe2 {(RJ) Stockfish 7 likes Nc2 (which 11. Bf4 would have rendered pointless.)} 12.Kxe2 Be6 {(RJ) Preferred by the engines. With the aim of going to c4 to stop the White king from tucking away at f1.} 13.Be3 {(RJ) Also best.} Bc4+ 14.Kd2 {(RJ) Again best.} Na6 {(RJ) Both my engines pick this. In some variations the knight can drop in at b4. Also Black may well want to castle queenside, and in that case White's bishop at e3 is waiting to pick off the a7 pawn. The knight at a6 gives Black the option of Bc5, stymying White's black-squared bishop.} 15.Rad1 {(RJ) After some 12 minutes thought. Pretty good. Black has his pawn advantage, but is behind in development, his a7 pawn is a worry, White's kingside rook is threatening to make things awkward at e1 and White's bishops can drop in with effect at h3 and f4.} Be6 {(RJ) Rob was surprised at this move, which is of course non-developing, when Black desperately needs to complete his development. I felt it was necessary to keep White's bishop from h3 and to block potential threats along the e file. Stockfish 7 thinks this isn't bad, but prefers O-O-O, which I thought was not possible. It gives 15.......O-O-O 16. Kc2 Bd3ch! (which I overlooked in considering this line) 17. Kc1 Bc5 18. Bxc5 Nxc5 19. b4 Ne6 20. Rhe1 Bc4 21. Kb2} 16.Kc1 {(RJ) Best.} Bc5 17.Rhe1 Bxe3+ {(RJ) Best. Any exchanges to the endgame should be to the advantage of White, with his extra pawn.} 18.Rxe3 O-O 19.Ne4 {(RJ) Both my programs like this, but, interestingly, prefer the odd-looking Re4. The point seems to be to follow up with doubling the rooks by Red4, and if White doesn't allow that, to preserve the option of swinging the rook over to a4 to intimidate the a7 pawn. I had felt that Ne4 was not possible due to what I thought was the strong reply Bd5.} Bd5? {(RJ) But I overlooked White's nifty response:} 20.Bf1! {(RJ) White has, in one fell swoop, (a) escaped from an awkward pin (b) created the threat of messing up Black's pawn structure by Bxa6 and (c) maintained the awkward threat of Nd6.} Rfe8? {(RJ) The question mark is because it allows Bxa6, entirely dissipating Black's advantage. I wanted to play 20. Nc7, but was worried about 21. Nd6 b6 22. Re7. However Nc7 was the right move; after 22....Nf8, White has nothing special.} 21.Rde1? {(RJ) Returning the favour. Bxa6.} Kf8? {(RJ) Again, Nc7 was called for.} 22.Nd6? {(RJ) Both of us seemed to be under the delusion that White would be better off keeping his white squared bishop for the endgame than destroying Black's pawn structure.} Rxe3 23.Rxe3 Nc5? {(RJ) Far better was 23..... b5! I rejected this because of 24. a4 but after 24.....Nc4 25. ab Rd8! Black has the advantage.} 24.b4 Ne6 25.a3 {(RJ) better was 21.Nxb7 Bxa2 22. Ra3, again pressuring the a7 pawn.} b6 26.Bd3 h6 {(RJ) Maybe g6 was slightly better, to deprive White's knight of f5.} 27.Kb2 Rd8 {(RJ) a5 was an alternative. Stockfish 7 gives Black a 1.37 advantage at this point.} 28.Ne4? {(RJ) Necessary was Nf5 or Nc4.} Rd7? {(RJ) Dithering, unsure what to do. As Rob pointed out after the game, it's pretty clear! 28.....Bxe4 29. Bxd4 Rd2ch 30.Kc3 Rxf2 with a strong advantage.} 29.Nc3 Nc7 {(RJ) Maybe not a clear mistake, but dodgy. With pawns on both sides of the board, it would be better to preserve this bishop. As we thought after the game, the best way to do this would be by the strange looking Bg2!} 30.Nxd5 {(RJ) Deep Shredder recommends this snapping off of the bishop, but Stockfish 7 prefers h4. Query why.} Nxd5 31.Bf5 {(RJ) A good move, and a brave one given Rob now has only 1 minute on his clock to my 7.Unfortunately, despite this, he outplays me for the rest of the game.} Rd8 32.Re2! {(RJ) Best} Re8? {(RJ) Disastrous, giving away much of Black's remaining advantage. c5 was best. At this point, Deep Shredder calls it dead even; the stronger Stockfish 7 gives White still a .46 pull..} 33.Rc2! {(RJ) Black now must lose his extra pawn.} c5 {(RJ) Rd8 was a bit better.} 34.bxc5 bxc5 35.Rxc5 Rb8+? {(RJ) with 3 minutes left, weakening under the time pressure. Far better was 35......Re2ch 36. Rc2 Rxc2ch.} 36.Kc2 Ne7 37.Be4 {(RJ) Taking away the knight's key squares, as well as the squares from which the Black would like to defend the a7 pawn. In the time trouble momentum, the advantage has shifted to White, with the bishop far stronger than the knight.} g6? {(RJ) Rc8 was necessary.} 38.Rc7 a6? {(RJ) Again, Rc8 should have been played.} 39.f4 {(RJ) Still with 1 minute to go, missing the sharp Ra7!} Rb6 40.Rb7 {(RJ) Best} Re6 {(RJ) Also best} 41.Rb8+ {(RJ) Bd3 was better} Kg7 42.Kd3 Rd6+ 43.Ke3 Re6 44.Kd4 f5 {(RJ) I saw Nc6 ch, but after 45.Bxc6 Rxc6 was worried that the white king would be placed much better. But the engines indicate Nc6ch was best.} 45.Bf3 Rd6+ {(RJ) Again Nc6ch.} 46.Kc3 Re6 47.Kd4 Rd6+ 48.Kc3 Re6 49.Kd4 {(RJ) both have about 1 minute left on the clock.} Kf6 {(RJ) Maybe a mistake in view of the next note.} 50.Rf8+ {(RJ) Stockfish 7 here likes the possibility of Ra8, with the idea of going after the long-suffering Black a pawn with Kc5.} Kg7 51.Rb8 {(RJ) Rob accepted my offered draw. Again Ra8 is on. As the engines confirm, White does seem better, with bishop v knight and pawns still on both sides of the board, and a better placed king. But Rob didn't have enough time on the clock work out how to make something of it. A great game, with Black gaining the upper hand in the opening due to White's e3 disaster, but with White clawing his way to an advantage under extreme time pressure during the final phase.} {#d}