Gwynedd Championships, Round 3
In round 3 I was paired with a chap I have only played once before, 2 years ago when he beat me quite convoncingly. This year he had already knocked out the second highest rated player in the tournament, so it was a tough fight ahead!
1) d4 Nf6 2)Nf3 d5 3)b3!? Bf5 4)e3 e6 5)Nbd2 c5 I always like to try and play as actively as I can against tepid White openings such as this. 6)Be2 cd4 7)ed4 Be7 8)O-O Nc6 9)a3 O-O 10)Bb2 Qc7 [slightly more active is Qa5!?]11)Rc1 Rac8 12)c4
Black is very happy in this position, and is slightly better thanks to his more active pieces, most noticably the Bf5 and Nc6 (compared to e2 and d2). I decided to resolve the tension in the centre which may have been premature as it gives White definite pland, whereas the tension may have kept him contorted trying to guess the direction of the play. 12)...dc4!? 13)Rc4 But this can be considered dubious, as the isolani can only be considered a weakness as his minor pieces are not well positioned to take advantage of the dynamic plusses an isolani can bring. For example, the knight on d2 should be on c3 (controlling the blockade square d5) and the Bishop on b2 would be more active on the c1-h6 diagonal. Much better would have been creating hanging pawns with 13)bc4!, which can be strong. But again, its whites minor pieces that are letting him down, as the same pieces are misplaced for a hanging pawn situation also. Black now takes the iniative basing play on restraining the d4 pawn and breaking in on the Queenside. 13)...b5! 14)Rc1 Qb6 15)b4 a5! Maintaining the initiative with forcing play. White is no longer dealing with his own plans (as he didnt have any) but is on the defensive. 16)ba5 Na5 17)Nb3 Nc4
Blacks advantage is clear. Whites Queenside is shattered. 18)Rb1?? A horrible blunder, which after the game my opponent told me was a "sacrifice" (yeh right!). Bb1 19)Qb1 Nb2 simple chess, exchanges bring a winning endgame closer to black. 20)Qb2 Ra8 21)Ra1 Ra7 I think it is important to note that a material advantage is just a positional imbalance. It in itself will not win the game until an endgame has been reached. Therefore, it is imperative that Black fights for other positional advantages, so that White never has time to gain compensation for the lost material. Here Black is fighting for yet more material (the a3 pawn), but also the passed pawn that will come with this material gain. Note White is completely on the defensive, and the initiative is firmly with Black. 22)Nbd2 Rfa8 23)Nb1 Nd5 24)Ne5 Ra4 25)Bb5?
Another blunder. R8a5 26)Nc3 Nc3 27)Qc3 Rb5 28)Rc1 Ra8 29)Qf3 Rf8 30)Nd7 
It appears that White is fighting back and winning an exchange back, but all dreams were shattered when I instantly bashed out the move... Rb1! I was very pleased with this move, and miy opponent looked resigned. The Queen is immune due to a defficiency on Whites back rank. 31)Qc3 Rc1 32)Qc1 Qd4 33)Nf8 Bf8 34)g3 Qa4 35)Qc8 Qa3 36)Kg2 Qd6 37)Kg1 g6 38)h4 Kg7 39)Qc3 e5 40)Qa1 Qd4 41)Qa2 Bc5 42)Qe2 h5 43)Kg2 Qf2! The simplest way. 44)Qf2 Bf2 45)Kf2 Kf6 46)Kf3 Kf5 47)Ke3 Kg4 White resigns. Satisfying revenge for beating me two years ago!
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