I was too exhausted to update after my round seven game. Black against Tal Baron, another young IM who has a rating above 2500. I expected him to play 1.e4 but he surprised me with 1.d4 when I decided to repeat the Dutch. He played the 2.Nc3 sideline but didn’t play the most critical move order and I equalised comfortably. I tried to make it interesting and sacrificed a pawn for the initiative. Unfortunately I had spent too much time and didn’t have enough left to work out the complications properly. I missed a very promising variation and then, continuing to play for the win, my position deteriorated. He found a very strong riposte and I was probably lost. However he then missed something and had to take perpetual. A very interesting game anyway, even if not perfect.
###pgn###[Event “Corsica Masters”] [Site “Bastia FRA”] [Date “2011.10.26”] [Round “7”] [White “Baron, T.”] [Black “Jones, G.”] [Result “1/2-1/2”] [ECO “A80”] [WhiteElo “2505”] [BlackElo “2624”] [Annotator “GJ”] [PlyCount “105”] [EventDate “2011.07.25”] [EventType “swiss”] [EventRounds “11”] [EventCountry “ENG”] 1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nge2 Qd7 8. a3 Ne7 9. Nf4 Bf7 10. Qf3 h5 11. h4 O-O-O (11… g5 12. hxg5 (12. Nfe2 {leaves me with some holes on the kingside}) 12… fxg5 13. Nxh5 Rxh5 14. Rxh5 g4 15. Bxf5 gxf3 16. Bxd7+ Kxd7 17. Rh2 fxg2 18. Rxg2 $13) 12. Qg3 g6 13. O-O-O Bh6 14. Kb1 Kb8 15. Nce2 Nc8 16. Qf3 Ka8 17. Nc1 c6 18. Nb3 Nd6 19. Rc1 Nc4 (19… Ne4 {was perhaps better, during the game I like Nc4. Threats of ….g5 are becoming stronger} 20. g3 (20. c4 $2 g5 $19) 20… Bf8) 20. Qg3 Qd6 (20… Rhg8 {followed by Bf8 was considered in the post mortem}) 21. c3 $6 Rhg8 $6 (21… g5 $1 $17 {immediately is strong because of} 22. hxg5 h4 $1 {I didn’t see this move despite thinking long about g5.}) 22. Kc2 g5 $5 23. hxg5 fxg5 24. Nxh5 f4 25. exf4 gxf4 26. Qf3 Bg6 27. Nc5 b6 28. Bxg6 Qxg6+ $6 (28… bxc5 $1 29. Bd3 ( 29. Bh7 {looks risky}) (29. Bf5 Rb8 30. Rb1 Rb7 $17) 29… cxd4 30. cxd4 Rb8 31. Bxc4 dxc4 $17 {was my original idea but was worried about my own king’s safety. However it appears I would have been doing very well}) 29. Nd3 Rde8 ( 29… Qxg2 $11) 30. Rce1 Re4 31. Qh3 $1 Qd6 $6 (31… Rge8 $1 32. Rxe4 (32. Kb3 $5) 32… dxe4 33. Ndxf4 Qf7 34. Kb1 Bxf4 35. Nxf4 Nxa3+ 36. bxa3 Qb3+ $11) 32. Qf5 $1 Rf8 33. Qh7 Rfe8 34. Kb1 (34. Nf6 $1 Re2+ 35. Rxe2 Rxe2+ 36. Kd1 f3 37. Rxh6 Nxb2+ 38. Nxb2 Qxa3 39. Qg8+ Kb7 40. Rh7+ Ka6 41. Qc8+ Kb5 42. c4+ dxc4 43. Rh5+ Kb4 44. Qf8+ c5 45. Nd5+ Kb5 46. Nc7+ Kb4 47. Qxf3 Qxf3 48. gxf3 Rxb2 49. dxc5 bxc5 50. Na6+ Kc3 51. Nxc5 $18 {is a curious computer line}) 34… Rxe1+ 35. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 36. Nxe1 Qe6 37. Nd3 Qe2 38. Ka2 $2 (38. Qf5 Kb8 39. Ka2 Qd1 40. Nf6 Nd2 41. Nc5 $1 bxc5 42. Nd7+ Kc7 43. Nxc5 $18) (38. Nf6 Qd1+ 39. Ka2 Nd2 $11) 38… Qxh5 39. Qd7 a5 40. Qc8+ Ka7 41. Qc7+ Ka8 42. Qxc6+ Ka7 43. Qc7+ Ka8 44. Ne5 Nxe5 45. dxe5 Qe2 46. Qd8+ (46. Qc8+ Ka7 47. Qd7+ Kb8 48. Qxd5 f3 (48… Bg5 $11) 49. gxf3 Bc1 50. Qb3 Qxe5 51. Qxb6+ Kc8 {looks a probable draw}) (46. Qc6+ Ka7 47. Qxh6 Qc4+ 48. Kb1 Qf1+ 49. Kc2 Qe2+ $11) 46… Ka7 47. Qxd5 f3 48. Qd7+ Ka6 49. Qc8+ Ka7 50. Qc7+ Ka6 51. Qc8+ Ka7 52. Qc7+ Ka6 53. Qc8+ (53. Qc8+ Kb5 $4 54. a4+ Kxa4 55. Qc6+ b5 56. Qe4+ Qc4+ 57. b3# {was a pretty line I saw had I gone forwards}) 1/2-1/2%%%pgn%%%
Today I had White against the experienced Russian GM and former European Champion, Pavel Tregubov. I probably had a slight advantage out of the opening thanks to my preparation but was then stuck for a plan. I had a long think and came up with a committal idea but he defended well. In avoiding repetition my position became a little worse and I had to defend accurately to hold the draw.
Tomorrow the final round is at 10am. I probably need at least a draw to qualify for the knockout. Pairings have just been published; I’ve got White against Ivan Cheparinov, the Bulgarian GM famous for seconding Veselin Topalov.