2017 3 Tables Chess - February Round 3 Daro Mott, 2065 - Anton Taylor, 1917 Caro-Kann, Short's 2.Ne2 (B12)

2017 3 Tables Chess - February Round 3
Daro Mott, 2065 - Anton Taylor, 1917 
Caro-Kann, Short's 2.Ne2 (B12)

1. e4 c6 2. Ne2 I should explain this move. I have known Daro for many years. He has consistently been at least 100 rating points higher than me but by some miracle I have managed to maintain a win streak versus him. One of those games that I remembered and talked with him about was playing as black against the Fantasy Variation of the Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3). It is my assumption that this is his primary weapon against the Caro-Kann. Sooo ... this move eliminates theory to some degree but culminates in an awkward advance variation ... so it is a sideline with theoretical ideas. That makes it an equal trade-off basically. I could not help but laugh out loud when I saw the move. It's an interesting sideline. 2. ... d5 3. e5 c5 4. d4 Nc6 5. c3 e6 This is a part of the psychological opening game. Black is essentially saying, "Okay, you have a French position with the extra knight move thrown in. Are you really better for it?" The answer by most critical tests in the line is that the move is a unique development but not particularly an improvement. Bf5 is objectively better than this move but black is fine here. 6. a3 Nge7 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5 9. Bb2 Be7 At a depth of 19 Komodo sees an advantage for black. His pieces that are developed have found useful squares. Even the bishop on e7 has the potential to assist in the f6 pawn break in the future if necessary. Things are looking very good. 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Nf3 Bd7 Komodo recommends b5. This makes a lot of sense as White's only means of counterplay is on that wing. If the pawn become fixed Black's edge and the plan of f6 become dominant. This development discourages White's b5 but it is an illusion. White could prepare to grab the space and make squares on the queenside for his pieces to occupy.12. Ng3 Nh4 I felt that this was a good move. It offers a trade that does help white but it gets rid of his most useful knight to capture it. The knight on g3 has very little future as all of its squares are either controlled or useless for the attack against black's kingside. h5 is the key square for white's attacking operation and it will be occupied by the queen. 13. Nxh4 Bxh4 14. Bd3 f5 15. O-O f4 16. Qh5 g6 17. Bxg6 Qe7!? This is technically a blunder but it's a monstrous calculation to see the mistake. Neither me nor my opponent saw the error and this becomes the winning idea. Objectively I should have taken the draw by taking the bishop. The winning line for white is this: 18. Bd3 fxg3 19. hxg3 Bg5 20. f4 Be8 21. Qxg5+ Qxg5 22. fxg5 and white wins based on his control of the f6 square that white cannot equal. 18. Ne2? This loses. The rest of the game is interesting but not particularly relevant for me to study in-depth.  18. ... hxg6 19. Qxg6+ Qg7 20. Qh5 f3 21. Ng3 Qg5 22. Rac1 Qxh5 23. Nxh5 Be8 24. Ng3 Bg5 25. Rc5 Bg6 26. Rd1 Rac8 27. Rc3 fxg2 28. Kxg2 Ne7 29. Rc5 b6 30. Rc3 Rxc3 31. Bxc3 Rc8 32. Bd2 Bxd2 33. Rxd2 Rc6 34. Ra2 Nf5 35. Ne2 Rc4 36. Rd2 Bh5 37. Ng3 Bg4 38. Nxf5 Bxf5 39. Kg3 Rc3+ 40. Kf4 Rxa3 41. f3 Rd3 42. Ra2 Rxd4+ 43. Kg5 Rxb4 44. Rxa7 Rb2 45. Ra8+ Kf7 46. Ra7+ Ke8 47. h4 Rg2+ 48. Kf4 Rh2 49. Kg5 d4 50. Rb7 d3 51. Rxb6 d2 52. Rd6 Bc2 53. Rxe6+ Kd7 54. Rd6+ Ke7 55. h5 d1=Q 56. Rxd1 Bxd1 0-1 My choices of piece play in this game are the important errors I need to work on. The positional mistakes of Bd7 and Nh4 (moves 11 and 12) are symptoms of a larger problem in my understanding. I was fortunate to escape and even win in this game.