[Event "A Rose for Your Queen"]
[Site "Pasadena Chess Club"]
[Date "2011.12.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Alvin Huang (1868)"]
[Black "Tim Thompson (1943)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[WhiteElo "1868"]
[BlackElo "1943"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 Nc6
{4... Nxe4 $4 5. Qa4+ $18}
5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nxe4
{I have faced this line a few times by now, but was not well schooled in it. This is a book move, as one might think, but I didn't know that at the time. Black takes the sacrificed pawn, but White gains time & development in return, a typical pawn sacrifice motif.}
7. d5 Qa5+ 8. Nc3
{He advanced the d-pawn at once, but took a few minutes here. Maybe just trying to get comfortable with the position, but if he did not anticipate the Queen check, then maybe he is as unschooled as I am in the line. But in any case, this is the standard book move, not that hard to figure out.}
8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ne5
{9... Qxc3+ $2 10. Bd2 $16 and Black will wind up with three pawns for the piece, but White has a big lead in development and must be able to win the middle game before Black's pawns can make themselves felt in the endgame.}
10. Nxe5 dxe5
{And again 10... Qxc3+ $2 11. Bd2 Qxe5 12. O-O $16 is a line that heavily favors White, who is primed and ready for the middle game while Black is still far from getting out of the opening.}
11. O-O e6
{I thought about 11... g6 but it just seemed to slow to me. Still, that along with 11... Bd7 seem to be equally popular alternatives.}
12. Rb1
{He took a long time here but it looks like he made the right move. Pressure on the b-file is evidently enough to make me give back the pawn.}
12... a6
{There were just too many threats on b5. 12... Bc5 13. Rb5 (13. Bb5+ Ke7) 13... Qxc3 14. Bb2 $18; 12... b6 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. Bxd7+ Kxd7 15. dxe6+ Kxe6 16. Qb3+ $16}
13. Bf3
{13. Be3 b5}
13... Rb8.
{Main alternatives are 13... exd5 and 13... Bc5 but White must have an advantage here in any case, due to much better development. We have so far been playing along previously explored lines, but my move looks like an end to that trend and we are on our own from here on.}
14. dxe6 $6
{In retrospect, this looks like a mistake. White has weak pawns on a2 and c3, and the apparition of a Black Bishop on e6 only adds to their woes. A better idea is 14. Qb3 and if 14... exd5 $2 15. Bxd5 Black is having problems with f7.}
14... Bxe6
{14... fxe6 And I am still a pawn ahead, but with a position so bad I might as well be a pawn down.}
15. Bxb7
{15. Rxb7 Rxb7 16. Bxb7 Bc5 17. Bc6+ Ke7 is a tempo better since the Black Rook is inactive at home instead of active on b8. This may be significant, as I think we now go into a game slightly advantageous to Black.}
15... Bc5 16. Bc6+ Ke7 17. Rxb8
{This shows the disadvantage of not trading Rooks on move 15. This is an unfavorable trade that removes the active White Rook, while activating the inactive Black Rook. But it's hard to avoid, since White's Queen Bishop does not seem to have any good square to go to for his Queen to cover the Queen Rook.}
17... Rxb8 18. Qh5
{At this point I think the advantage has shifted to Black. The Black Bishops are better posted and have more scope, the White Rook on f1 compares unfavorably to the more active Black Rook on b8, and White has seriously weak Queenside pawns.}
18... h6 19. Qh4+
{He took quite a while here too. I think he had expected to simply take the e-pawn but only now saw 19. Qxe5 $4 Bxf2+ $19}
19... Kf8
{19... f6 20. Qg3 And I didn't like the breezy light squares. 19... Kd6 20. Qe4 And my King looks more exposed than I like.}
20. Rd1 Be7
{20... Qxc3 $4 21. Rd8+ $18}
21. Qe4
{This move took him 20 minutes, and from here on he was slow and in increasing time trouble. I think this is where he just became unable to figure out what to do.}
21... f5
{21... Qxc3 22. Qh7 And Black's King feels uncomfortable.}
22. Qf3 Rd8
{22... e4 $2 23. Bxe4; 22... Qxa2 is not good enough, e.g., 23. Bd7 Bxd7 24. Rxd7 Rb1 25. Rd1 Qc2 26. Qa8+ Kf7 27. Qd5+ Kf6 28. Qc6+ And Black can't avoid the draw by perpetual check.}
23. Re1 $6
{I think this is a mistake, since it leaves my Rook in control of the d-file and his back rank is weak. 23. Rxd8+ Bxd8 24. a4 looks better.}
23... Bf6 24. a4
{At this point he had only 8 minutes 39 seconds to reach move 40, while I had about 20 minutes.}
24... e4 25. Ba3+ Kg8 26. Bb4 $4
{Black's superior Bishops will win the pawn on c3 and White must remain active to fight for the draw. He must have realized this and saw that this guards the pawns, but in time trouble overlooked that it drops a piece instead.}
26... Qxb4 $19 27. cxb4 exf3 28. Rxe6 $4 Rd1+ 0-1
This must be what he failed to see when he played his 26th move.
