1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7
This is the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian, which I started playing years ago when Larry Kaufman recommended it in his interesting book The Chess Advantage in Black and White. I use it primarily as a way to avoid playing against the Najdorf but, like all of my openings, I don't necessarily play it against all opponents. It just depends on their rating and/or if I have a good idea of their opening repertoire.
Black's third move is not forced. Both 3. ... Nc6 and, even better, 3. ... Nd7 are possible. Either way, it has to be said that white voluntarily giving up his light squared bishop in the Sicilian is a bit controversial. However, he does gain some time and note that none of black's kingside pieces have moved yet.
5. O-O Nf6 6. Re1
Kaufman prefers to play 6. Qe2 followed by bringing the rook from f1 to d1, which I have also played many times. Both 6. Re1 and 6. Qe2 are the main lines here.
6. ... Nc6 7. c3 g6 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bg7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. h3 Rad8 12. Bg5 h6 13. Be3
This look fairly natural but Fritz thinks that 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nd5! Bg7 15. Rc1 is best, with a half pawn advantage to white. However, giving up the dark squared bishop is hard for a human player to do and I think 13. Be3 is a reasonable practical choice.
13. ... d5 14. e5 Ne4 15. Nxe4?
So far, white has been ticking along nicely and had his usual slight advantage out of the opening. White's 15th move is a serious positional mistake, which will end up giving black a juicy square on f5 for his knight, control over the d file, and a central pawn majority. The simple 15. Rc1 was both natural and good, preserving a very minor edge for white. I am not sure why I didn't play this. True, it looks annoying to allow black's knight to sit on e4 but it's not the end of the world. White would still have plenty of reasonable ideas after 15. Rc1, e.g. bringing the queen to b3 or d3 (after playing a3), or to c1 to target the h6 pawn.
15. ... dxe4 16. Nd2 Nxd4 17. Nxe4 Bxe5 18. Bxh6 Rfe8 19. Rc1 Nf5 20. Qxd7?
Very careless. The position is unpleasant but still tenable for white after 20. Qe2!, with the point that 20. ... Nxh6 doesn't win a piece because of 21. Nc5! when white will pick up to loose bishop on e5. After the text move, white will simply end up down a pawn with a much worse position. The rest of the game is simple for Austin.
20. ... Rxd7 21. Bd2 Bxb2 22. Rc2 Bg7 23. Bg5 Red8 24. Kf1 b6 25. g4 Nd4 26. Rd2 Nf3 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Re3 Nxg5 29. Nxg5 Bh6 0-1
White can save the exchange with 30. f4 but, after black plays Rd4 and e5, everything is falling apart (and black is still up a healthy pawn anyway).
Although this was a disappointing game, the truth is it all stemmed from one bad decision (15. Nxe4) which gave me an uncomfortable, but still playable, position. As is common in chess, one poor move then led to another (20. Qxd7), after which black was just winning.
I decided to withdraw from the tournament after this loss. Having taken byes in the first two rounds, I would have been out of contention for any prizes and the venue was quite a commute from home. I have withdrawn from tournaments before the last round, or the last couple of rounds, quite often but it's a policy I may rethink. Perhaps it is better to play as many games as possible, particularly in a section like this one was (under 2200), when I get still get some good opponents in the last round or two.
Here is the full PGN of the game vs Austin Hughes:
(594) Hayes,Matthew (2133) - Hughes,Austin (2195) [B52]
American Open Orange (6), 29.11.2014
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0–0 Nf6 6.Re1 Nc6 7.c3 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Bg7 10.Nc3 0–0 11.h3 Rad8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 d5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Nd2 Nxd4 17.Nxe4 Bxe5 18.Bxh6 Rfe8 19.Rc1 Nf5 20.Qxd7 Rxd7 21.Bd2 Bxb2 22.Rc2 Bg7 23.Bg5 Red8 24.Kf1 b6 25.g4 Nd4 26.Rd2 Nf3 27.Rxd7 Rxd7 28.Re3 Nxg5 29.Nxg5 Bh6 0–1
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