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(2) Rensch,D
(2388) - Lenderman,A (2234) [C45]
High School National Champ. (7), 18.04.2004
[Rensch]
1.e4 e5 As I said in the main page of the article,
I prepared for my opponent. However, I prepared for the Sicillian Kan
variation, and he surprised me with 1...e5. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
I decided to repeat my openening from the 5th round against Asuka Nakamura.
3...exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 My opponent chose the Mieses variation.
For analysis on the Classical variation ( 4...Bc5) please see other
game. 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 Black
decides to pin the pawn rather than move the knight. [ 8...Nb6 9.Nc3
Ba6 10.Qe4 is another variation, but not quite as good because white
is able to develope his knight to the more active square c3.] 9.b3
White defends the pawn and plans on continuing his development. In this
variation black usually has an easier time getting developed which enables
him to target white's pawn on e5 immediately. However, because of black's
permanent weakness of doubled pawns on c6 and c7 as well as his misplaced
and out of play bishop on a6, white gets compensation. 9...g6
10.g3 Bg7 11.Bb2 0-0 12.Bg2 Rae8 13.0-0 Bxe5 Black chooses
the "equal" variation. This line to follow is supposed to be
equal according to most books and theory, but, in my opinion and experience,
white has all the winning chances. I spent the few days before Foxwoods
(my previous tourney) preparing this line and playing the "equal"
position over and over. During those few days, by playing blitz games,
I was able to pick up many ideas. So, come this game, I felt very confident,
and I knew that, with focus, this game should be mine... [ 13...Nb6
this is the other choice black has at his disposal. The line would continue:
14.Re1 f6 ( 14...d5! using the pinned pawns 15.Qd2 Qe6 ( 15...dxc4 16.Qa5!
followed by Ba3!) 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Ba3 where white has a clear advantage.)
15.e6! Qxe6 16.Qxe6+ Rxe6 17.Rxe6 dxe6 18.Bxc6 where white has a slight
edge.] 14.Qxe5 Qxe5 15.Bxe5 Rxe5 16.cxd5 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 cxd5
Once again, as in the previous game, we have an "balanced material
situation". (For an explanation on what a "balanced material
situation" is please see the previous game). However, one main
difference here is that this position is supposed to be OK for black.
But, as I stated earlier, I still believe that white, because of his
ability to blockade black's pawns and target black's a7-pawn weakness,
has much better practical chances. 18.Nc3 c6 19.Rd1 Rfe8 20.Bf3!
White is preparing to stunt black's doubled rooks on the open file by
placing his knight on e2. White will then lift his rook to d4 and begin
targeting the a7-pawn by Ra4. If black is then put on the defensive,
white will be able to relocate his knight and bishop to more favorable
locations and start assualting the black pawns. 20...Kg7 21.Ne2
f5 22.Rd4 g5 Black realizes white's plan and tries to disrupt
it by attacking the bishop. I had considered this idea before I began
my manouver on move 20, and I continued to play quickly... 23.h3!
Simply stopping g4. 23...Kg6 24.g4 White prevents black's
pawn from coming to h5 and creates a future outpost on f5 (Ng3-f5 is
now an idea). 24...Rf8 25.Kg2 fxg4 26.hxg4 Re7! Black
won't quit! He tries to continue threatening white pieces (the threat
now is Ref7) in order to prevent white from playing Ra4 which would
force Ra8. 27.Ra4! I played it anyway because I had
seen that my 28th move would hold my kingside and thus force black to
defend the queenside. 27...Ref7 28.Ng1 Ra8 In a practical
sense, this was the turning point. For the most part, black must create
enough play in this line to stop white from ganging up on his pawns.
Usually black can do this by doubling rooks or threatening to push his
d5-pawn; however, here he was unable to do either. 29.Be2
Now that black's rooks are no longer doubled white takes the opportunity
to relocate his bishop and knight to better squares. Right now the bishop
is heading for f5. 29...Kg7 [ 29...Kf6 30.Nf3 Re7 31.Bd3
white has all the winning chances.; 29...Rf4 30.Ra5 d4 31.Bd3+ Kf6 32.Bf5!
d5 33.Ne2 white is winning the black rook.] 30.Kg3
[ 30.Bd3 would have been interesting as well. I didn't choose this line
because of his opportunity to force a rook trade after: 30...Rf4 although
if I had just continued with 31.Rxf4 gxf4 32.Kf3 where white still retains
almost all the winning chances. I feared black might try and create
counterplay by a5 and a4, and if black was able to win the b3 pawn he
ould have two connected passed pawns on a6 and d5. Because I liked the
way things were going for me, as I was slowly forcing him back, I didn't
want to allow any sort of change in the position.] 30...Rf4
31.Ra5 Rb4 32.Nf3 Kf6 33.Bd3 White has succeded in relocating
his pieces and he will soon improve his position greatly by Bf5.
33...h5? Black decides to force the issue. Becuase it was hard
to stop the threat of Bf5 and Bd7 followed by the winning of black's
pawns, it is understandable, but h5 didn't help matters for him. [ 33...h6
34.Bf5 d6 35.Bd7! Rb6 36.Nd4 c5 37.Nf5 where white will continue to
press on.] 34.gxh5 Now white has achieved a passed
pawn, which will be all he needs to create even more of an advantage.
34...g4 35.Ne1 Kg5 36.Bg6! White will not let go of
this pawn... 36...Rd4 37.Nd3 Rf8 Black leaves the a7-pawn
in hopes to create some sort of counterplay. 38.Ne5 Rdf4 39.Rxa7!
White allows black to capture on f2, but black will soon realize that
he has no way to continue his attack after that, and the position will
soon be lost. 39...Rxf2 40.Rxd7 Rxa2 41.Nf7+ Kf6 42.Rd6+ Ke7
43.Rxc6 Ra7 44.Nh6 Rb7 45.Nf5+ Kd7 46.Rd6+ Kc7 47.Rxd5 Rxb3+ 48.Kxg4
The rest of this game was a matter of technique...
48...Rb2 49.Kg5 Rg2+ 50.Kh6 Rh8+ 51.Bh7 Rg1 52.Ne7 Rd8 53.Rf5 Kd7 54.Ng6
Ke6 55.Rf2 Rg3 56.Kg7 Rd7+ 57.Kh8 Rc7 58.Bg8+ Kd6 59.Rf6+ Kc5 60.h6
Kd4 61.h7 Rxh7+ This sacrifice might have been a little early
for black to sacrifice but, in the end, it would have been unavoidable.
62.Kxh7 Rh3+ 63.Kg7 Ra3 64.Rf4+ Ke3 65.Rb4 Ra7+ 66.Kf6 Ra5 67.Ne5
Ra8 68.Bf7 Ra1 69.Bg6 Rf1+ 70.Bf5 Ra1 71.Bd3 Ra8 72.Bb5 Rf8+ 73.Ke6
Rb8 74.Kd5 Rd8+ 75.Bd7 Rf8 76.Rb3+ Kd2 77.Rh3 Rf4 78.Be8 Rb4 79.Bg6
Ke2 80.Be4 Kd2 81.Nc4+ Ke2 82.Rh2+ Ke1 83.Kd4 Rb3 84.Bd3 Rb7 85.Re2+
Kd1 86.Ne3+ Kc1 87.Rc2+ 1-0
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