2017 Cleveland Open Round 1
Anton Taylor, 2002 - NM Nabil Feliachi, 2200
French: KIA (C00)
1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. Be2 Nc6 6. O-O Qc7 7. Re1 Be7 8. Nf1? I made this move thematically as it is useful in some variations but here it just loses a pawn. My opponent responds equally quickly and misses his chance to snag the pawn for a free win. c3 or Bf1 are the book moves here (althought this is a sideline that isn't particularly common at all. 5. Be2 is unusual instead of g3. 8. ... b6 9. Ng3 Bb7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Qc1 My rationality for this move is that it gives more potential to the knight on g3. By threatening Bf4 either black will concede the diagonal to the bishop or play e5 allowing the g3 knight access to f5. 11. ... Rac8? I was happy to see this move as the c-file is not going to be opened any time soon. It is the equivalent of a passing move and I will use it to try and get a kingside attack going. 12. Bf4 Qd8 Bd6 is probably an even trade and e5 is what I thought would help me along with improving the g3 knight and bringing it into the kingside attack via f5. Qd8 is fine by white. 13. c3 Probably the best way to kill black's central counterplay in the event of a kingside attack but I played the move thinking about playing something like Bd1-a4 because now the piece I wanted to improve was the sad e2 bishop. 13. ... b5 14. a4 I played this move as an attempt to settle the queenside issues so that I could proceed on the kingside. Komodo is content to play more solid moves like Qc2 or h3 which don't seem to do much but carry a lot less risk along wth their lack of reward. I'm headhunting. 14. ... b4 15. Bd1 This move is consistant with my plan but again Komodo is very sceptical. The whole thing is just roughly equal. 15. ... Ba6 16. Bc2 Qb6 17. e5 This move is interesting but probably wrong. I liked it because I'm eyeing an attack on h7 and looking to remove the squares common defending piece ... the knight on f6. 17. ... Nd7 18. Bg5 There must be an attack in the air with so many pieces headed to the kingside. 18. ... b3 19. Bb1 d4 This move keeps the b1 bishop out of play but I'm not really convinced that it helps black all that much. If white simply plays c4 he can pile up pieces to attack b3 and probably free his tinprisoned piece. 20. Qf4? This allows a lot of unnecessary complications with the wayward black b-pawn that must be treated like a "criminal" as Aron Nimzowitsch would say. As stated before c4 is the right course. 20. ... Bb7 21. Nh5 Qd8 22. Bh6 g6 23. Bxf8? Bxf8 Some players may believe this is great for white but practice has shown that often enough the bishop could be just as good as the rook. In other words this is just an equal trade and probably should have been avoided by white. Instead, 23. c4 again is the right way to go. gxh5 runs into Qg3+ and mate follows. 24. Ng5 As I sat thinking at this juncture I realized an unhappy truth. There is no way to continue this attack. By making the small exchange sacrifice black has created a position where white has no good way to keep going. Since white has left his structure in queenside disarray committing to the attack what can he do now that there is no attack? Keep committed and hope for the best was all I came up with. Sadly mishandled what I felt was a won game. But it never has been particularly "cut-and-dry" as a win and is simply falling behind for white in a double-edged position. 24. ... Ncxe5 25. Rxe5 Nxe5 26. Nf6+ Kg7 27. Qxe5 Qxf6 28. Qxf6+ Kxf6 29. Nxh7+ Kg7 30. Nxf8 Kxf8? Here black goes astray. He should play dxc3 preventing c4 and then he has a winning and active game. 31. Ra3?? The losing blunder. White has no way to get his pieces really active here but after 31.c4 he would have a kind of fortress that is hard for black to break open to realize his advantage. Even at that objectively white is lost but he could at that moment continue the fight. This blunder leads to a swift end. 31. ... c4 32. dxc4 dxc3 33. Rxb3 Rd8 34. h3 (34.Bc2 Be4!) 34. ... Rd1+ 35. Kh2 Rxb1 36. Rxb7 c2 0-1
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