Wednesday at the Harlequin - and with the C team and B team playing on the same night, there was some debate as to who I should play for. In the end, I stepped down to the C team to play board 1 - and whilst Woodseats' resident IM was not in attendance, I was still up against Alan Potts, who in the words of Andy G, 'destroyed him' last time they played. Black pieces as well, just to top it off. My first objective - not to be the first player to lose!
1.e4
c6
Not the time to be experimenting - I'll cling to my comfort blanket I think.
2.d4
d5
3.f3
The Fantasy variation - which is recommended in my Gambiteer book as the attacking way for White to play against the Caro-Kann.
3...e6
4.Be3
Nf6
I thought this might induce Alan's next move, which I was hoping for to fix the pawn structure.
5.e5
Nfd7
6.f4
c5
7.c3
I considered Qb6, c4 and Nc6 here before opting for the exchange on d4.
7...cxd4
8.cxd4
Nb6
9.Nc3
a6
Not necessary (Alan certainly didn't think so) but I was a little nervous about checks on b5 and/or a knight coming to d6 at some point.
10.Nf3
Nc6
11.Bd3
Nb4
12.Bb1
Nc4
13.Bc1
That's the bishops chased back... I thought this might work in my favour later in the game as the queen's rook is totally inert.
13...Bd7
14.0-0
g6
Keen to prevent f5 - or, if it is played, to take with the g-pawn and open up a file against Alan's king.
15.b3
Nb6
16.a3
Nc6
Back they go.
17.Ra2
Rc8
18.Ne2
h6
A few moves earlier, I might have played h5. However, after over-pressing against Jim Davis and getting picked off in my last game, I deliberately held back. This gives me the option of pushing either my h- or g- pawn later, if necessary.
19.g4
Ne7
Entombing my king temporarily - but Fritz scores this at no more than +0.5, so I'm still comfortable, if cramped.
20.Ng3
Rg8
21.Kh1
Bb5
22.Re1
Bd7
Back again - I felt that I just needed the bishop to cover f5.
23.Rg2
Rc6
24.f5
Tricky... I can't take with the g-pawn, as Alan pointed out afterwards Nh5 is pretty devastating. And exf5 looked very complicated to me (though it's the recommendation from Fritz). I opted to do neither.
24...Qc7
25.fxg6
[25.f6
Nec8
with a long term plan to go after my h-pawn.]
25...fxg6
26.Bd2
Kd8
Time for a king march - it's a bit draughty over there so I want to get my king over to a8/b8.
27.Rf2
Be8
Passive...but I felt necessary to cover f7 and also protect the pawn on g6.
28.Bd3
Kc8
29.Bb4
Kb8
Not a deliberate ploy - but Alan declined the exchange.
30.Rc2
[30.Bd6
Rxd6
31.exd6
Qxd6
32.Qe2
Nc6
33.Qxe6
Qxe6
34.Rxe6
Bxa3
with a slight advantage to Alan.]
30...Nbc8
Covering the threat on d6. Time control reached, Alan with 7 minutes remaining, me with 25.
31.Bc5
I felt this was intended to induce my next two moves - but it felt good for me as it kicked the bishop off the same diagonal as mine.
31...b6
32.Bb4
I offered a draw around here which Alan politely declined, unsurprisingly!
32...a5
33.Bd2
Rxc2
34.Bxc2
Nc6
I've virtually equalised here - Fritz scores it at +0.25 - well under a pawn down and with considerably more time on the clock.
35.Qc1
N8a7
36.Bd3
We looked at a variation here afterwards that potentially gave long term chances to White. [36.Bxh6
Nxe5
37.Nxe5
Bxh6
38.Qxh6
Qxc2
]
36...g5
I felt it was high time for this move - protecting my h-pawn and accepting the exchange of bishop for knight on h5 if necessary.
37.Qb1
The key move - and just a blunder. Alan gives up a pawn, my queenside remains secure, and suddenly I have the long term chances.
37...Bxa3
38.Rf1
Qg7
I did look at Nb4 here, but felt that my black-squared bishop would be at risk here. Turns out this was a lot stronger than I had thought and leads to something of a black minor piece invasion. [38...Nb4
39.Be2
Nb5
40.Bxb5
Bxb5
41.Rf2
Nd3
]
39.Be3
Be7
40.Qe1
Nb4
41.Bb1
Rh8
42.Qd2
Rf8
I offered an other draw here, and Alan gratefully accepted. He was down to his last 5 minutes, I had about 15 remaining. Fritz has me at +1.2, but I wasn't sure where I was actually going to generate play to force my advantage home, and with the pawn I had gained being the a-pawn, it didn't feel like a huge advantage. Alan said afterwards that he would have played in Blitz mode from here onwards, and probably looked to sacrifice on f5 at some point - which would certainly have made the end of the game interesting! Still, I'll happily take a draw with Black against the highest graded opponent I've faced this year and hopefully this will give me the confidence to really start competing in every game going forward. 1/2-1/2