[Event "Richard Morris Open"]
[Site "Arcadia Chess Club"]
[Date "2012.11.26"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Tim Thompson"]
[Black "Anthony Ge"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[WhiteElo "1900"]
[BlackElo "1543"]
{Time control 40/85 & game/30 with 5-second time delay.}
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. O-O {The most common replies are} (4. Nc3
{and}; 4. d3 {but at the time I was quite unprepared for the Schliemann and
really didn't know what to do. So I did what I usually do when I encounter
unfamilar lines in this kind of position and castled, reasoning that his King
is still exposed in the center, which might provide a tactical opportunity. As
it turns out, castling is probably the least common move in this position, but
percentage wise scores no worse than the usual moves.}) 4... d6 (4... fxe4 5.
Bxc6 exf3 (5... dxc6) 6. Bxf3 {looked favorable for White to me, but dxc6
curiously scores very well for Black. I guess neither one of us was "booked up"
on the Schliemann, though I thought he would be when he played it.}) 5. d4 {My
simple minded idea is to pry the center open while his King is still there. It
appears to be the most common move in this unusual position.} 5... Bd7 {Black
seems to so better with} (5... fxe4 6. Ng5 Be7 {But his move seems to leave me
with good chances of being a pawn up.}) 6. dxe5 dxe5 (6... Nxe5 7. Bxd7+ Nxd7
(7... Qxd7 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9. Qxd7+ Kxd7 10. exf5) 8. exf5 {looked OK for me
too.}) 7. exf5 Bd6 (7... Bxf5 8. Nxe5 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bxc2 10. Re1 {also favors
White.}) 8. Re1 Nf6 $6 (8... Nge7 9. Bg5 O-O 10. Bxe7 $6 (10. Nc3) 10... Qxe7
11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. f4 Bd4+ 14. Kh1 (14. Qxd4 Qxe1#) 14... Rxf5
{shows that White can't try too hard to keep the extra pawn and probably has to
give it back to catch up on development.}) 9. Bxc6 bxc6 (9... Bxc6 10. Nxe5 O-O
(10... Bd7 11. Nc6+ $18; 10... Be4 11. Ng4 $18) 11. Nxc6 bxc6 {and Black's
Queenside pawns are doubled anyway.}) 10. Nxe5 O-O 11. Nc3 Bxf5 12. Bf4 (12.
Nxc6 Bxh2+ 13. Kh1 (13. Kxh2 Ng4+) 13... Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Bd6 15. Nd4 {looks OK in
retrospect, but I saw no reason to fall in with such complications. Now I
really am threatening the c6 pawn.}) 12... c5 13. Nc6 {Forcing simplification
towards the endgame, where my extra pawn can begin to count for something.}
13... Qd7 14. Bxd6 cxd6 (14... Qxd6 $4 15. Ne7+ $18) 15. Ne7+ Kh8 16. Nxf5 Qxf5
17. Qd3 {Willing to isolate my d-pawn (which is not easy to attack) to get
Queens off the board.} 17... Qd7 {Unwilling to easily enter an endgame a pawn
down.} 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. Nd5 (19. f3 d5 {keeps his Knight off of e4 and g4, but
now Black has no real positional problems, other then the missing pawn. Putting
the Knight on d5 does squeeze Black's position.}) 19... Ng4 20. Re7 Qc8 (20...
Nxf2 21. Rxd7 Nxd3 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rxd3 $18) 21. f3 Ne5 22. Qc3 c4 {I did not
anticipate this way of protecting the a7 pawn. My Rook is well placed on the
7th rank, with the veiled mate threat on g7, but also looks peculiarly cut off
and in constant need of protection. I was expecting} (22... Rd7 23. Rxd7 Qxd7
{to break up the veiled mate threat on g7. In retrospect, this looks like what
he should have done.}) 23. Rc7 Qf5 24. Rxa7 Qh5 25. Kh1 {Taking away the check
by Nxf3 freezes the Knight in place on e5, thanks to the lingering threat on
g7.} 25... Ra8 {Getting a bit short of time, Anthony began to play quickly now
and less threatening. Now he finally eliminates the veiled mate threat.} 26.
Rxa8 Rxa8 27. a3 Rf8 28. Rd4 Qh6 (28... Nxf3 29. gxf3 Rxf3 30. Qxc4 Qf5 31. Rf4
{and his attack fails.}) 29. Qd2 Qh5 30. Rf4 Rxf4 31. Qxf4 {I didn't think he
would trade Rooks so easily, even if he was getting a bit short on the clock.
From now on White is winning in uncomplicated fashion.} 31... Qe8 32. h3 h6 33.
Qd4 {Contemplating f3-f4.} 33... Qg6 34. Qe4 Qxe4 {I didn't expect him to
trade. Without Queens on the board, White's two extra pawns really make the
position resignable for Black, but the kids these days are evidently taught not
to resign.} 35. fxe4 Nc6 36. Kg1 Kg8 37. Kf2 Kf7 38. Ke3 g5 39. Nb6 c3 40. b3
Ke8 41. Nd5 Kd8 42. Nxc3 Kc8 43. Nb5 Kd7 44. Nd4 Ne5 45. Nf5 {I wanted to
clarify the Kingside before the inevitable advance of my Queenside pawns.
Perhaps} (45. g4 {is better, but I was unwilling to concede even the f4 square
for his Knight.}) 45... h5 46. Kd4 Kc6 {Denying my King the d5 square.} 47. Ng7
h4 48. Ne6 g4 49. hxg4 Nxg4 50. Nf4 Ne5 51. c4 1-0 {Finally, seeing the
Queenside juggernaut on the move, and only two other games still going at the
late hour, he chose to resign, with his father standing by.}
