On Monday I was paired against Tim Thompson, rated exactly 200 points below me. However, Tim has previously been rated over 2100 and had drawn expert Raoul Crisologo in round 4, so I definitely had to be on my guard.
I had only played Tim once before, in a game I won earlier this year when Tim had a perfectly fine position only to walk into a bishop skewer on his king and rook. The first seven moves of our game on Monday were identical to our earlier game but Tim then deviated. Let's take a look...
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Qd2
In our previous game, Tim had played 8. f3 which should lose a pawn to 8. ... Qb6 but I had played 8. ... d5 instead, which is also playable but not as good.
In this game, 8. Qd2 is a mistake. I considered 8. ... Ng4 which Fritz likes but ultimately settled on a well known temporary piece sacrifice which essentially equalizes for black.
8. ... Nxe4 9.Nxe4 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Rd1 Qc7
Here white should just retreat the bishop and accept that black has equalized. However, Tim would be the first to admit that opening knowledge is not his specialty (actually, he even mentioned that before the game!) and he unwisely grabbed a pawn that turned out to be extremely hot.
12.Bxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 Be6
Tempting was also 13. ... Bb7 14. Qc5 Qxc5 15. Nxc5 Bxg2 16. Rg1 Bf3 Rb1 where I thought black would have an excellent position but it wasn't as clear cut as putting the bishop on e6. After 13. ... Be6, both of black's bishops are raking towards white's queenside pawns and it's hard to see how he can hold it all together.
14.Qc5 Qb7 15.f3 Rfc8
It's important to move the right rook. Psychologically, it was tempting to leave my f8 rook where it was and instead play 15. ... Rac8. However, that wouldn't be in the spirit of the position. My rook is not needed on f8 (it's not as if white has a kingside attack going) and I want to keep my a8 rook where it is because it will defend my a7 pawn in some lines. It's already evident that play is going to revolve around the queenside.
Here Tim had a decision to make. I thought he should have played 16. Qa5 but I think black is already in serious trouble. He is going to have to give the pawn back whatever he does and I can't see any good way for him to avoid dropping another pawn after that. It is also worth nothing that white still owes us a tempo when he castles too.
Instead, Tim played a move that looked tempting but I think results in him having a lost position.
16.Qa3 Bxb2 17.Rb1
This was the point but there is nothing for black to fear. I seriously considered playing 17. ... Rxc2, which indeed is Fritz's first choice, but I wondered if white could complicate matters with something like 18. Kf1 Rxg2 19. Nf2 when it's not clear if my rook is happy on g2 plus white is now threatening to capture my bishop on b2. With hindsight, I think I was probably seeing ghosts because black can always play Rb8, followed by Qd5+. Heck, even if white was somehow able to round up the bishop on b2 I think he would still be in serious trouble because black would have three pawns for the piece and white's king looks ripe for the mating out in the open.
Instead, I decided to keep things simple, let the queens come off the board, and end up in a position where black is up two pawns and completely winning.
17. ... Bxa3 18.Rxb7 Rxc2 19.0–0 a5
There is no need to capture on a2 right away. The pawn isn't going anywhere. Fritz also says that 19. ... a5 is the best move.
20.Rfb1 Bxa2 21.Rb8+ Rxb8 22.Rxb8+ Kg7 23.Ra8 Bb4 24.Bb6 Bd5
I had spent some time trying to make something out of 24. ... Rc1+ 25. Kf2 Be1+ 26. Ke2 Bc4+ but couldn't find a way to make it work. Basically, I was seeing if I could skewer his king and bishop on the g1-a7 diagonal but there isn't anything there. Therefore, I decided to play more simply.
25.Ra7 Bxe4 26.fxe4 Re2 27.Bd4+ Kh6 28.e5 Rxe5 0–1
A final blunder. Tim resigned here as white will be down three pawns with a hopeless position after 29. Bxe5 Bc5+.
Next week I will face off against 12-year-old Anthony Ge to determine the winner of the tournament. As the only two players on 4.5/5, it will be winner takes all! Anthony is already guaranteed to move up to expert when the tournament is rated, even if he loses to me, and he has had a wonderful run of results including drawing a 2300 and beating a 2100. I know I will have my work cut out for me.
Here is the complete PGN:
Thompson,Tim (1924) - Hayes,Matthew (2124) [B35]
Istvanyi Open Arcadia (5), 29.09.2014
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Qd2 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.Bxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 Be6 14.Qc5 Qb7 15.f3 Rfc8 16.Qa3 Bxb2 17.Rb1 Bxa3 18.Rxb7 Rxc2 19.0–0 a5 20.Rfb1 Bxa2 21.Rb8+ Rxb8 22.Rxb8+ Kg7 23.Ra8 Bb4 24.Bb6 Bd5 25.Ra7 Bxe4 26.fxe4 Re2 27.Bd4+ Kh6 28.e5 Rxe5 0–1
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