McGaugh vs Burch, June 2010

In round 5 I was matched up against Martin Burch. Over the last few months Martin has made a big improvement in his level of play. Only a few weeks before he had a drawn position against Parker, but lost mainly due to time pressure. Then he played a pretty good game against Glenn Bidari, but wound up losing.

Before the game Martin told me he was expecting an Anti-Sicilian and that's what I intended to play. No surprise! So, I started with the c3-Sicilian.

1. e4 c5
2. c3 Nf6 (the best move according to GM Sveshnikov)
3. e5 Nd5
4. d4 e6
5. Bc4 (diagram below)



5...Nb6
6. Bb3 cxd4
7. dxc4 d6
8. exd6 (8. Qe2 Nc6 9. Nf3 Be7 = according to Rybka)



8...Bxd6
9. Nf3 Nc6
10. 0-0 0-0
11. Nc3 Ne7



12. a3 a6
13. Bc2 Qc7
14. Bxh7+?! (Rybka recommends 14. Ne4!?)



I made a very dubious move here. I calculated up to move 17 and didn't know what would happen after that. The move did have some value because my opponent spent a lot of time on the clock. The real purpose was to show Martin that I'm not afraid to go into complications.

14...Kxh7
15. Ng5+ Kg6
16. Qd3+ f5 (16...Nf5 17. g4 Rh8 with a small advantage to Black according to Rybka)
17. Qh3



17...Bd7
18. Qh7+ Kf6
19. f3!



I played 19. f3! instantly. It creates a dangerous threat against the black king with 20. Nge4+!.

19...Bxh2+

Let's take a small diversion and assume Martin played 19...Rh8?.



After 19...Rh8, I intended to blow the position up with 20. Nge4+!. For example, 20. Nge4+ fxe4 21. Nxe4+ Kf7 22. Ng5+ Kf6 and repeat the position with a perpetual check! Maybe not a win, but I'll be glad to take the draw after my risky play.

Okay, back to the game:

20. Qxh2 Qxh2+
21. Kxh2 Rh8+
22. Kg3 (22. Kg1 might be better.) Rh5



23. f4 Rah8 (23...Re8 with a small Black advantage: Rybka)
24. Be3 (Another risky move, but I felt it was necessary.) Nc4
25. Bg1? (The first unintentional blunder I made.) ...e5?? (returns the favor)



Martin seemed to be getting frustrated. I think he wanted to win badly and was losing patience because I kept coming back to even the position. Not to mention he was also falling behind in time. He blundered with a sense of frustration as the threw the move out fast and blew out a gust of air.

26. dxe5+ Kg6 (I would not recommend 26...Nxe5 as I play 27. Bd4 with more threats coming.)
27. Rad1 Bc6



The position is now critical as I contemplate 28. Rd4 and 28. b3. I almost played 28. Rd4 and might have won the game with it; however, I went against I better judgement and played the slightly worse 28. b3. Now the play winds down to a draw.

28. b3 Rxg5+ (forced)
29. fxg5 f4+
30. Rxf4 (30. Kxf4 Rf8+ 31. Kg3 Rxf1 32. Rxf1 Nxe5 and White is better)



I thought it was too dangerous to play 30. Kxf4 and place the king in the middle of the board, but it seems that was the best move.

30...Nxe5
31. Rd6+??



Another blunder. I wanted to play 31. Bd4, but feared 31...Nf5+. I missed the reply 32. Rxf5! Kxf5 33. Rf1+ Kxg5

31...Kxg5
32. Rxc6



It's late in the game and I'm feeling tired. Fatigue almost cost me the game. I missed 32. Ne2! Nf5+ 33. Rxf5+ Kxf5 34. Nd4+ Ke4 35. Nxc6 Nxc6 =. 32. Rxc6 might be okay. I'm not sure.

32...bxc6
33. Ne4+ (This check allows my knight to go to a good post: c5) Kg6
34. Nc5 Nf5+
35. Kf2 Rd8 (Martin goes for the draw.)



36. Ke2 Ng3

A 3-fold repetition occured on move 39 and a draw was agreed.

1/2-1/2

Congratulations to Martin on a well-played game!

Lesson Learned: Don't attack too early. Wait until all the pieces are developed. Also, be careful with the speculative play. I was lucky to have gotten away with it.

Overall: I'm not too disappointed with the outcome, although I did miss some good subtle moves.