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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The first time I had played this against a GM since writing my book.
4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Qa4+ Qxa4 8.Nxa4 Bd7 9.Nc3 Ne4 10.Nxd5 Na6 11.f3 Nexc5 12.Rb1 e6 13.Nc7+ Nxc7 14.Bxc7 0-0?! Somehow I was afraid of Aaron improving on the analysis in my book but it turns out he hadn't even read it!....... I guess I should trust my judgement a little more. [14...Na4! 15.Bd6 Nxb2 (15...Bxb2? 16.Rxb2 Nxb2 17.Be5) 16.Ba3 Na4 17.Rxb7 Bf8! 18.Bxf8 Rxf8 19.Ne2 Ke7 (19...Nc5!?) 20.Nd4 It was actually here that I thought Aaron might deviate, but he said he was going to go right down the Novikov-Sutovsky Koszalin 1998 game, which (I think) I had shown to be fine for Black in my book. (20.Kd2!? Rfb8 21.Rxb8 Rxb8 22.Kc1 Rb2 23.Nc3 I dimly saw this at the time; I wouldn't put it past Aaron to go to such lengths to keep his pawn, but of course after 23...Rf2 Black is definitely not worse.) 20...Nc5 (20...Rfb8? 21.Nc6+) 21.Rb4 Rfb8 22.a3 My assessment of all this was a little stilted in my book; "Novikov defended well" etc.......It never occurred to me that White might be playing for an advantage! ........Facing a card-carrying pawn grabber of a Grandmaster over the board made me think twice. However, I think I got it right in my book; if anything this line is risky for White. 22...Na6!? My recommended improvement on the above-mentioned game which would have been an excellent surprise over the board. 23.Rxb8 Rxb8 24.Nb5 So far so forced; I suppose 24...Nc5 may be a good punt for a draw but I still like 24...Rb7!? Now, having looked again, I still don't see any convincing answer to the initiative generating ...Nc5 and ...a6 but I am willing to let future opponents prove me wrong!
15.Bd6 Rfc8 16.b3! I just completely missed this concept. I had assumed that ...Na4 and Ba3 would happen, after which ...a6 and ...b5 gives fantastic compensation......I deviated from my book analysis partly because I though such a position might give even more compensation than ...Na4, but now I have, I think, absolutely no compensation. There are some similarities to the Samisch Kings Indian pawn sac endgame but having exhanged a piece already and not having the pawn on e4(d4 square, f5 break for Black) means that Black has very little to do. As this slowly dawned on me, I realised it was going to have to be a long grim defence......but I was determined not to become dispirited.......
16...b5! I was now aware that I was simply trying to draw and so this move sprang from a desire to give my pieces some space.
17.cxb5 a6! The only way. Initially I was interested in [17...Nb7 18.Bb4 Rc2(18...Bc3+ 19.Bxc3 Rxc3 20.Rd1! is similarly annoying; at the very best I'll win one pawn back as White mobilises.) but 19.Rd1! and Rd2 looks like it will leave me without big ideas.]
18.b6 Otherwise I think I do have some significant activity.
18...Rc6 19.Bc7 Bc3+ 20.Kf2 Ba5! The exclam is because I had to see that this held together when playing ...a6. Now Aaron might have considered [21.Rc1!? Bxb6 22.Bxb6 Nd3+ 23.Bxd3 Rxc1 when Black's rooks have a lot to prove, but White's rook is redundant so I thought I'd be OK.]
21.Bc4! Bxb6 22.Bxb6 Rxb6 23.Ne2 Now I am a full pawn down with absolute zip by way of compensation. Still, thinking of "The theory of infinite resistance" I resolved to try to play the best (and most annoying) moves.
23...h5! Crucial. In the long term, white may need to make a second weakness on the kingside to distract me while the passed queenside pawn is shepherded through. If White could play g4 and possibly h4-h5 I would quickly come under unbearable pressure. Even if the threats didn't start immediately after g4 I would never have another chance to shore up my kingside, so I decided to take it here, strange though it looks.
24.Rhd1 Rab8 25.Rbc1 Be8 26.Nf4 Sensible stuff, Aaron just improves his pieces.
26...Kf8 27.Be2 Nb7 28.Nd3 Nd6 29.Ne5 R8b7 Now it's not looking great for Black, but I think Aaron played the next few moves surprisingly badly.
30.Nc4?! [30.Rc5!? looks much more unpleasant to face; there's no reason for White not to fiddle around a bit; now there are threats of Ra5 and Rdc1. a4 might even be a threat. At any rate White should be thinking carefully about which pieces to exchange; I thought I'd have few defensive chances if he exchanged his knight for my bishop or his bishop for my knight. Exchanging one pair of rooks would also be a good idea, so as to activate the King. Perhaps Aaron didn't adjust to how easily he had achieved a winning position because he was making big decisions in unnecessary haste at this stage. ; 30.h4!?; 30.e4!?]
30...Nxc4 31.Rxc4 Ke7 32.Rc5 Ra7 33.Ra5 Bb5! And suddenly we're going to have some sort of Rook endgame; I'm sure they're not all drawn, but some of them are.........
34.Bxb5 Rxb5 35.Ra4?! Aaron did think this one over for a long so I'm sure he had his reasons but from my point of view [35.Rxb5 axb5 36.Rd2 followed by king to the queenside seemed to hold much less hope for Black. If fact, although I'm by no means an expert on these things, the fact that my king is cut off from the queenside leads me to wonder if I'm not just lost. Obviously I have defensive chances based on eventual activity of the rook when the queenside opens up and prospects for some annoyance on the kingside but I'd feel much less comfortable than I did in the game.]
35...a5! I can defend the pawn actively on the fifth rank; I'd be more passive if it were fixed on the sixth. 36.Ke2 Rc7 37.Rad4 Rg5! The annoyance begins. At this stage I thought my chances of drawing were about 50%.
38.g3 Now his second rank is draughty.
38...Rc2+ 39.R1d2 Rc1 40.Rd7+ Kf6 41.Rd1 [41.Ra7 Rh1 42.Kd3 Rd5+ 43.Kc2 Rxd2+ 44.Kxd2 Rxh2+ 45.Kd3 Rxa2]
41...Rc2+ 42.R7d2 Rc3 43.Rd4 Re5! More annoyance; Aaron is a cool customer but I could feel him getting a little flustered.
44.R4d3 Rc2+ 45.R1d2 Rc1 46.f4 Played with some exhalation; now it's much easier to exchange pawns and sometimes e3 is weak.
46...Rec5 47.Rd1 R1c2+ 48.R3d2 R2c3 49.Rb2 g5! I was tempted to play...Kf5 and try to cause some mayhem with my king, but then I realised my position is not good enough yet. By exchanging some pawns I lessen the scope of my defensive task and remove some "check-shelter" from his king. Moreover, Aaron still hasn't given me a second weakness.
50.a3 h4! I don't necessarily want to exchange h and g pawns because if rooks are ever exchanged I will need a target on the kingside that cannot be defended laterally by a rook (as his king goes to the queenside to help queen the pawn mine goes to g4 to attack g3 etc.) Nonetheless, White has no good way to resolve the tension and if I can keep both rooks on (thus limiting his king's activity) I can probably afford to keep hoovering on the kingside.
51.b4 Rc8 52.Rd3 hxg3 53.hxg3 axb4 54.axb4 R3c6! An important move; now I thought my drawing chances were about 60%. If he pushes the b-pawn I can make both his rooks passive whilst keeping his king out of the action. Besides, for the time being there is nothing to do on the 3rd rank. 5
55.Rd7 [55.b5 Rb6 56.Rdb3 Rc5 57.Kd3 e5! etc.]
55...gxf4 This was now fairly forced; but I didn't mind taking away the potential weakness on g3 because I saw prospects for activity.
56.gxf4 [56.exf4!? Someone like Speelman might have done this; mabye g4-g5 is an idea now but there's also more chance of the kingside disappearing.]
56...Ra8! Creeping, like a crab-snake.
57.Rb7 Ra3 58.Rb5 Only move.
58...Rcc3 59.Re5 Ke7 70%. 60.Kf3 Rd3! It's important to make the following transformation with a rook behind the b-pawn so that he cannot activate his second rook once the rooks are exchanged.
61.Rc2 f6 62.Re4 f5 63.Re5 Rab3 64.Rc6?! 64.Rc7+ Rd7 (64...Kd6? 65.Ra7) 65.Rxd7+ Kxd7 was surely a small improvement
64...Rd6 65.Rxd6 Kxd6 66.b5 (66.Rb5 Kc6 67.Rb8 Kc7 etc.)
66...Rb2 67.Kg3 Rd2 68.Kh4 Rg2 And now I was 90% confident; I didn't see how White could use his King and Aaron had about five minutes to finish the game. So I offered a draw, half hoping for the pugnacious (69.e4? Rg4+)
69.b6 Rb2 70.Kg5 Rxb6 (The ultra-cool 70...Ke7 complicated matters after 71.e4 fxe4 72.f5 Rxb6 73.f6+ Kf7 But from a practical point of view I might have tried this; White could lose on time trying to win!)
71.Kf6 Kd7 98% 72.Ra5 Kd6 73.Re5 Kd7 74.e4 fxe4 75.Rxe4 What should I do now?.....I know I am completely safe but he's pressing like a mad man with seconds left; he glances at his clock and I wonder if I should just chuck a pawn to try to win on time. Still, I was pleased with my play up till now and felt it more dignified to play a good move and make a reasonable offer.
75...e5+ If he takes we get a drawn K+P ending and otherwise he has no more pawns to win, so he didn't hesitate and I felt relieved and quite satisfied; a year ago I would probably have lost this game. ½-½