(10) Rowson,J (2490) - Shaw,J (2410) [B77]
Scottish Ch.
Edinburgh (2.1), 18.07.1999
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 I wasn't in the mood for a
Kalashnikov and I don't think John has ever been fully tested in The
Dragon.
3...g6 [3...e5!?]
4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 [7...Qa5!?]
8.Bb3 d6 After some thought. [8...a5!?]
9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 a5 What's this?...... Whatever it is I
wasn't displeased to see it.
11.a4! It didn't take long for me to see that this was
the right move, otherwise Black has lots of tricks based on ...a4.
11...Rc8 12.0-0!? I remember Short doing this in some
sort of Yugoslav attack though I can't remember the details. Once Black has
allowed the queenside to be fixed White can use his extra kingside space to
target the weakened squares around Black's King. It's less clear what Black
should do.
12...Nxd4 [After 12...Ne5 I intended 13.Rad1!? Nc4
14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.b3 Rc8 (15...Rc5 16.Ne6!) 16.Nd5 when the positional threat of
c4 seems to oblige 16...Nxd5 17.exd5 e5 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.c4 When Black's
position looks very loose.]
13.Bxd4 Bc6 [13...Be6 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Rad1+=]
14.Rae1!? I took a long time over this because Black's
intentions are now clear and I need an exact response to keep the initiative.
Essentially I have to deal with the simplifying threat of ...Nd7, ...Bxd4 and
...Qb6 whilst trying to make progress with my own ideas. [14.f4? e5!; 14.Rf2!?
Nd7 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.f4+=]
14...Nd7 15.Bxg7! This felt like some sort of concession
because I don't normally shy away from endgame transitions and the game
continuation virtually forces me to sacrifice material. However, [15.f4 Bxd4+
16.Qxd4 Qb6 17.Qxb6 Nxb6 18.e5 d5! 19.Rd1 Rfd8 20.Rd4 e6 leaves white with an
inferior version of a well known French endgame which tends to be drawn in any
case. It is hard for White to improve the placement of the minor pieces.]
15...Kxg7 16.f4 Qb6+!? Played very quickly, but I think
this plan may be too ambitious .........After the game we initially found it
very difficult to conceive of any alternative but we thought [16...f6!? may be
better than it looks. The e6 square is a glaring weakness, but that's where the
bad news ends because it's not so easy to make sense of white's position. A)
17.Be6 Qb6+ 18.Kh1 Qxb2 looks promising for Black because he has ...Nc5 as a
good exchange sacrifice to defuse any attack.] B) 17.Ne2!? may be the only way
to strive for the advantage. B1) 17...Nc5 18.Nd4 Bd7 19.e5±; B2)
17...Qb6+!? 18.Kh1 Nc5 19.Nd4 Bd7 20.e5?! (20.f5! looks a bit better for White)
20...fxe5 21.fxe5 dxe5; B3) 17...Bxe4 18.Nd4 Nc5 19.Rxe4 Nxe4 20.Ne6+ Kh8
21.Qd4±;
17.Kh1 Nc5 18.f5!‚ [18.Qd4+?! Kg8 19.f5 Nxa4]
18...Nxb3 19.cxb3 Qxb3 20.Rf3! I hadn't look very deeply
at this position but my hunch was that White had at least enough and mabye more
for the pawn. The threat of Nd5, Rh3 and the hovering punch of my f-pawn looked
like an awful lot for Black to deal with.
20...Qb4? John may have made small mistakes up till now,
but this is definitely an error...... [20...f6! was clearly the right way to
go, after which the position seems more unclear than anything else. Black's
position is fundamentally quite sound and it seems I can only win material back
or create threats by allowing Black's rooks some significant activity. A full
and conclusive analysis would be very time consuming, but the following gives
some idea of how things could then develop. The only thing I am certain of is
that White is not worse. 21.Nd5 Qxa4 22.Nb6 Qb5 (22...Qb4!?) 23.Nxc8 Rxc8 looks
fine for Black; I don't see any kill on the kingside so Black has plenty for
the exchange. 22.Ra3 Qc4! seems to just mis-place my rook, though this rook
swinger was John's main concern.; 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Rh3 Rh8 24.Nxe7 Rxh3 25.Nxc8
Bxe4 26.Qxd6 Bxg2+ 27.Kg1 Qg4 28.Re7+ Kh6 29.Qd2+ g5 30.Qxg2 Qxc8 31.Qe4 is
absolutely not forced, but I have a feeling the truth lies somewhere in this
line. 31...Qg8 32.Qf5; 22.Rh3!? g5 23.Rg3 wins for White.
21.Rh3 Rh8? A further, and decisive error; now I saw a
forced win; I think John had missed the final move. Black had to try [21...h5
when 22.Rxh5 (22.Qg5!? may be even stronger.) 22...Rh8 23.Rg5 looks more
comfortable for white and]
22.Qh6+ Kg8 23.fxg6 fxg6 24.Rf3 Qd4 25.Ref1 Qg7 26.Qh3!
Black is playing a rook down and there is no adequate answer to Qe6+. 1-0
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