[Event "Northumbria Masters"]

[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.02.18"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Storey, Charles"]
[Black "Player, Edmund."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C07"]
[WhiteElo "2250"]
[BlackElo "2172"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[SourceDate "2017.12.13"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.12.13"]

1. e4 e6 {The French Defence.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {The Tarrasch Variation. Now

there are many options for Black, including 3...Nf6 (the Botvinnik Variation)
and 3...Be7, as well as the less common moves: 3...a6 and 3...h6. However,
I've been opting for the open game more recently.} c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 (4... exd5 {
This recapture results in a classic isolated queen pawn (IQP) position and was
played seven times by Korchnoi against Karpov in a 1974 World Championship
Candidates Final match. All seven games resulted in a draw!}) 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6.
Bc4 Qd7 $5 {This is currently in fashion. The idea is to delay the development
of the kingside knight, so that it has the option of travelling to g6 via e7,
providing a more solid defence against any attack White might throw at the
Black King.} (6... Qd6 {is the main line.}) 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nb3 a6 9. Nbxd4 (9.
a4 $5 {is also playable. White can aim to play Qe2, followed by Rd1, capturing
the d4 pawn with more force.}) 9... Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Bd3 $5 (11. Bb3 Bd6
12. h3 (12. Qh5 {Now both knight moves are possible.} Nf6 (12... Ne7 13. c3 O-O
14. Rd1 Rd8 (14... g6 $2 15. Qh4 e5 $4 16. Bh6 {threatening Qf6.}) 15. Bc2 g6
16. Qh4 e5 17. Nf3 Nf5 18. Bxf5 Bxf5 19. Bg5 Re8 20. Rd5 {should be ok,
although Black's pawn structure and pieces don't feel as coordinated as
White's.}) 13. Qh4 {Despite the computer engine saying that this position is
equal, Rublevsky has had success with the White pieces here on three occasions.
Although Rublevsky's success is probably partly down to the fact that on paper
he outgraded his opponents, it is also probably partly due to the cramped
positions Black ends up in, improving White's practical chances.} Bd7 14. Bg5
h6 $1 (14... Be5 $2 15. Rad1 h6 $2 16. f4 {1-0 (35) Rublevsky,S (2702)
-Bluebaum,M (2588) Berlin 2015}) 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Rad1 (16. Qxf6 $2 Bxh2+ 17.
Kh1 Be5 $15) 16... Be7 (16... O-O-O $5 17. Qxf6 Bxh2+ 18. Kh1 Qf4 19. Qe7 Qg5
20. Qxf7 Rhg8 21. Qf3 (21. g3 $4 Bxg3 22. fxg3 Qxg3 $19) 21... Be5 $44 22. Qh3
Qg4 23. Qxg4 Rxg4 24. Nxe6 (24. Nf3 Bxb2 $11) 24... Rh4+ $11) 17. Rfe1 O-O-O
$11) 12... Ne7 13. c3 O-O 14. Qh5 e5 15. Nf3 Bf5 16. Bg5 Bd3 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18.
Rfe1 Bg6 {1/2-1/2 (18) Sjugirov,S (2653)-Lupulescu,C (2618) Baku 2016}) (11.
Qe2 Bd6 12. h3 Ne7 $11) 11... Bd6 12. h3 (12. Qh5 $5 Nf6 13. Qg5 Bxh2+ 14. Kh1
Be5 15. Nf3 Nd7 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 {White has compensation for the pawn, but
nothing more than that.}) 12... Ne7 13. Re1 O-O (13... e5 $1 14. Nf3 O-O $11 {
would have been fine for me.}) 14. Qh5 {I saw this coming.} Ng6 15. Nf3 Qc5 {
I thought for half an hour about this move as I couldn't find a plan against
16.Qg4.} 16. Bxg6 $2 {Charlie played this almost immediately, which took me
totally by surprise.} (16. Qg4 $14 {Pretty much anything Black plays here
results in a good game for White where Black has to contend with many nasty
tactical ideas.} Bd7 (16... Qc7 17. Ng5 h6 18. Bxg6 hxg5 19. Bd3 {is good for
White.}) (16... Rd8 17. Bg5 Re8 18. Rad1 {is also good for White.}) 17. Be3 Qc7
18. Rad1 $14 {with ideas of Ng5 and Qh5, weakening the Black King.}) (16. Qxc5
Bxc5 17. Bd2 {was another option for White.}) 16... hxg6 17. Qxc5 Bxc5 18. Be3
Bxe3 (18... Be7 19. Ne5) 19. fxe3 $5 {Nor was I expecting this method of
recapturing. Despite the weakend pawn structure, taking with the pawn didn't
turn out as badly for White as I first thought it would.} Rd8 (19... f6 $1 20.
Rad1 e5 21. Rd6 Kf7 {with ...Be6 to follow, would have been more efficient.})
20. Red1 Bd7 21. Rd4 Kf8 22. Rad1 Ke7 23. Kf2 f6 24. e4 e5 25. Rd6 Bc6 (25...
Rac8 {Why not add this move in, before thinking about exchanging everything
off! Now Black also has the option to play ...Rc7 followed by ...Rdc8.}) 26.
Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Rxd8 Kxd8 28. Ke3 g5 {At this point I felt that I'd played the
endgame pretty well, planting my pawns on opposite coloured squares to my
remaining bishop.} 29. c4 g4 $6 {Too clever! I was short of time and foolishly
sensed a chance to win by attempting to tie up White's knight and King.
Although Black should still be fine, it turns out that White's extra pawn and
Black's resulting weakness on f6, give White the only winning chances.} (29...
Ke7 {is just totally equal.}) 30. hxg4 g5 31. Ne1 Bd7 32. Kf3 Be6 33. b3 b5 {
playing actively is vital now.} 34. cxb5 axb5 35. Nc2 Kd7 36. Ne3 Kc6 37. Nf5
Kc5 $2 {Another bad move! I came close to giving this a double question mark
as making a draw is now very tricky.} (37... b4 {is totally drawn.}) 38. Ng7 $1
b4 $4 {A horrific blunder. Here I resigned after Charlie shrugged his
shoulders politely.} ({Before I mistakenly picked up the wrong piece, I
intended to play} 38... Bd7 {but things would have probably ended badly anyway,
since there are lots of ways for Black to go wrong, for example:} 39. Nh5 Bc6
40. Nxf6 Kd4 41. Nd5 Bd7 42. Ne7 Kc3 43. Nd5+ Kd4 44. a3 Kd3 45. Ne7 Kc3 46. b4
Kb3 47. Ng6 Kxa3 48. Nxe5 Bc8 $1 {the bishop is safe here.} (48... Be8 $4 49.
Nd3 Kb3 50. Ke3 Kc4 51. g3 {Zugswang! If the bishop moves to a vacant square
White lands the knight on e5 with check!} Kc3 52. e5 Kc4 53. e6 Kd5 54. Nc5 $18
{the end is nigh...}) (48... Be6 $4 49. Nd3 Bc4 50. Ke3 $18) 49. Nd3 Kb3 50.
Ke3 Kc4 51. e5 Bxg4 52. Nf2 Bf5 53. Ne4 Kxb4 54. Kd4 Ka3 55. Nd6 Bd7 56. Kc5
Ka4 $11 (56... b4 $4 57. Nc4+ $18)) 1-0