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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d6 6.g3 Before the game I decided that I couldn't assume Keti would be happy to draw and since she is such a strong player I didn't want to risk playing too passively in the opening. She plays so many different move orders in the Sicilian that I decided to try to learn one which I could use against (almost) all of them; g3 fitted the bill nicely, despite the fact that I had never played it before!.....At times like this NCO comes in very handy because it tends to give a good and digestible synopsis of best play for both sides.
6...Nf6 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.0-0 Be7!? [8...a6] 9.Ndb5 Given an exclam by Gallagher in NCO, but I'm not so sure.
9...Qb8 10.Bf4 [10.Bg5 a6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Qa7 Black is absolutely fine here but so is White after 14.Qd3! Exchanging Queens tends to be bad in these structures because the bishops can be unleashed without the Black king coming under fire. I guess it's a matter of taste which side to prefer here, but I like my position more than I did in the game.]
10...Ne5 11.Bg5 The idea of this bishop manoeuvre is to prevent the knights coming off on d4 in the following structure.
11...a6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 I had a scary moment as Keti thought this one over; what if [12...Bxf6 (?).....It looks like I am positionally obliged to sacrafice material (again). 13.Nxd6+ (13.Nd4 Qa7) 13...Ke7 14.Nf5+ exf5 15.Nd5+ Ke8 16.exf5 That said, White's initiative does look rather enduring.]
13.Nd4 Qc7!? [13...Qa7 14.Kh1 is given as slightly better for White in NCO. (14.a4!? was suggested by former Scottish Champion Peter Jamieson in the post-mortem, with the idea of discouraging queenside castling. Then after 14...h5 15.h4! when I think White is definitely not worse.) 13...h5!?]
14.Qh5 I played this knowing that it is normally a huge gain in such positions; in general it is now difficult for Black to play actively due to the weakness of f7 and h7. However, I was basing this largely on lines from the Najdorf or Rauzer where White's king is on the Queenside and acts as my most efficient defender of b2! Here by decentralising my Queen, I neglect the dark squares in the centre and on the queenside, but what else? [14.Qe2!? Qb6!? (14...Qc4 15.Qd2 Qb4 16.b3 Rc8 17.Nde2 h5 18.h4 looks unclear. Playing b3 is not such a positional disaster for White because later I can "shore up" with Nd1-e3.) 15.Nb3 Rc8 With threats of ...Rxc3 and ...Nc4 looks slightly better for Black, though 16.Rab1!? is an interesting way to deal with these problems, and it's good news for White that Black can't castle queenside. 16...Rxc3 (16...Nc4 17.Nc1!? Nxb2 18.Nd1!; 16...0-0!?) 17.bxc3 Bb5 18.Nd4 Bxe2 19.Rxb6 Bxf1 20.Bxf1±]
14...Nc4! If it were just a question of the b2 pawn this would be risky, but in conjucntion with the threat of...Qc5 it is a very strong move indeed.
15.Rfe1! Only move! There's no way to defend b2 passively even if I wanted to. Now I woke up to the fact that the safest way to play for my GM title was to play as sharply as possible!......I comforted myself with the aphorism: "And the thing is.....if you risk nothing, you risk even more" and tried to rediscover the youthful enthusiasm which led me to play in such a style en route to the IM title.
15...Qc5! A good and slightly displeasing decision. [15...Nxb2 16.Nd5! is probably quite dangerous for Black. Over the next few moves there is a hidden maze of possibilities ( a hidden maze?-that's quite a predicament to find yourself in, especially if you are lost :-)). I am writing this with only a day to get organised before I go to the British so I'll have to present a somewhat incomplete version of events. A full and conclusive analysis would take a long time. 16...exd5 17.exd5 Nc4 18.Ne6! Bxe6 19.dxe6 0-0-0 20.Rab1 b5 21.a4!? (I. Swan)]
16.Nf5! A big and difficult decision. I guess this is the best move, and I knew that at the time. However, not only is this sacrifice a little difficult to believe but given my situation (which wasn't dominating my thoughts, though with the bulletin on my board reading in bold: "IT NOW LOOKS ALMOST CERTAIN THAT IF JONATHAN ROWSON MAKES 1 out of 2 HE WILL BECOME SCOTLAND'S THIRD GRANDMASTER" and the assembled crowd looking a little concerned, or confused, or both, about my position, it was hard to block it out completely. The most challenging piece of interference came from the advice of friend and host for the tournament Alan Minnican (many thanks to you and Ruth) who mentioned the knight (that was a slip,I meant night) before the game something like the following: "You know tommorow there will be a big crowd around your game because of all the weekend events and everyone knows how close you are, so don't go showing off by sacrificing a piece or something. "Having convinced myself that I wasn't just showing off, calculating enough to convince me of its viability and being put off by the general smell of the alternative, I decided to play the best move. [16.Qxc5 dxc5 17.Nde2 was also possible. Given that a draw from this game gives excellent chances to make the title it was tempting just to try to equalise this slightly worse endgame. I didn't see any particular problem at the time but it just felt bad; like I might lose if I went this way. I had a strong hunch that Keti would find a string of good moves and I would be struggling for the whole game. Indeed, in the post-mortem Keti confirmed my intuition. When trying to subtly gauge whether she might have taken a draw had I done this she just mentioned the following and said in her inimicable way: "I think I have a good position", which left me feeling somewhat relieved. 17...Bc6! 18.b3 Na3! 19.Rac1 0-0-0! Black's next move will be ...c4 or ...Rd2 followed by ...Bc5 and doubling on the d-file; I would have come under very heavy pressure indeed. ]
16...exf5 [16...Nxb2!? Now there is no big Ne6 hit but this does look a little suspicious. 17.Nd5!? followed by Rb1-b7at some moment is probably at least adequate for White; at least I think that's what we concluded at the time.]
17.exf5 [17.Nd5 f4!] 17...Ne5 [17...Qxf5!? leaves White with a few choices. I was attracted to the idea of: A) 18.Rxe7+ 18...Kxe7 19.Nd5+ Kd8 20.Qe2 Ne5 21.Qe3!? which is very sneaky, but not fully adequate after: 21...Rc8 22.Qb6+ Ke8 23.Qxd6 Qe6 24.Nxf6+ Kd8 B) 18.Qe2 Ne5 19.f4 was Keti's concern but by giving the piece back at a suitable moment Black is probably not worse. C) 18.Qxf5! Is probably best. 18...Bxf5 19.Nd5 Be6 (19...Ne5 20.Nc7+ Kd7 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.Bxb7 is similar; I prefer White; there's lots of scope and targets for the rooks.) 20.Nc7+ Kd7 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.Bxb7 Rb8 23.Bxa6 Nxb2 24.a4 is probably even a bit better for White.
18.Nd5 Rc8 Of course there are alternatives, but it is likely that this move is best.
19.c3! I was very pleased with this move, because it suggests that I am in no hurry to justify my sacrifice. A group of players from Polytechnic Chess Club (Larry Kirk, Doug Finnie and Ian Swan) were trying hard to make sharper lines (e.g with Qh6) work, but I quickly came to the conclusion that I although I could win some material back this way, I would also activate Black's pieces. It's quite correct to check these sharper lines in analysis, but over the board it's good to be more practical; I was confident that I had full positional compensation for the piece. [19.Qh6 Bc6 20.Nxf6+ Kd8 21.Qg7 Bxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kc7]
19...Bc6 Keti said she didn't like her position here. I thought of offering a draw around now, but it seemed to me that Black had some problems to solve. The compensation consists partly in material (one pawn and will win at least one more), but the rest of the compensation is well illustrated by Paul Motwani's Four S's for evaluation :STRUCTURALLY I am much better-all Black's four pawns from th d-h files are vulnerable whilst it's very difficult to attack any of White's. I have more SPACE; apart from having one less piece to find room for, my knight, queen and pawn on f5 exert a strong clamping influence. My pieces have more SCOPE and are all working at near full capacity, whilst Black has particular problems with his bishop on e7 and rook on h8. In terms of SAFETY, I am also much better off because my king has excellent pawn shield whilst Black will find it difficult to get the king out of the centre and has to beware of timely sacrafices on e5and the long term threat of f4. However, a piece is a piece and Keti plays the next few moves more accurately than me.
20.Rad1 Bxd5 21.Bxd5 Rc7 22.Kg2? Careless. I had assumed this plan of f4 would be difficult to meet but I was insufficiently attentive to Keti's intentions. Had I noticed the immanence of the threat of ...Kd8-c8, I would have directed my moves against this plan because once the king gets to c8 I think the position is just unclear. It's particularly important for Black that Qh6-g7 can be met by ...Rcc8 because if I win the h-pawn I will almost certainly come away with three pawns for the piece and a good position. [22.Re2! Kd8 23.Qh6 Rc8 (23...Kc8 24.Qg7 Rd8 25.Qxh7 Winning this pawn in particular is very good news; I may be able to keep my queen in the vicinity and push my h-pawn all the way to h8, while Black's f-pawns remain vulnerable.) 24.Bxb7 Rb8 25.Bd5! Kc7 26.Kg2 and now with two pawns and complete control I definitely prefer White. 22.Qh6? Qxf2+ 23.Kxf2 Ng4+ 24.Kf3 Nxh6 25.g4 Rf8 26.g5 Ng8]
22...Kd8 23.Re4 [23.Qh6 Qxf2+] 23...Kc8 24.f4 Nc6 25.Qh6!? [25.Bxf7 Kb8 26.Bd5 Bd8] ½-½ Now I realised I has let it slip somewhat and since Black is not so badly co-ordinated I became more aware that I was a piece down. Neither player felt Black was necessarily better, because she remains very passive and it's difficult to exchange pieces, but somehow things look better for Black than they did a few moves ago. Given the tournamant situation, and that I no longer thought I was better, it seemed a good moment to offer a draw. 25...Kb8 26.Qg7 Rcc8! 27.Bxf7 Rcf8 28.Bd5 Bd8 29.Qd7!? is unclear.