1.d4
I gave up on preparing for this game, because I couldn't figure out what Hoekstra would likely try against the Grunfeld- and sometimes he plays the Trompowsky anyway. It's harder to prepare with black- you need to just know your stuff.
1...Nf6
2.c4
g6
3.g3
I was happy to see this move. I love playing Benoni structures against the finachetto. I also had some good games with the Grunfeld against g3- but I would prefer to have refreshed my memory before playing those sharp theoretical lines.
3...Bg7
4.Bg2
c5
5.dxc5
this is not a theoretical line as far as I know.
5...Na6
[5...Qa5+
I wasn't in the mood to get my queen out early in this particular game, although it's just as playable as Na6. 6.Nc3
Qxc5
]
6.a3
Nxc5
7.b4
I was frankly surprised by this highly ambitious move- I expected Matt to wait a bit and develop some more pieces before expanding on the Q-side. As a lifetime e4 player, I can't relate to the lust for space that Queen pawn players seem to share.
7...Nce4
8.Ra2
0-0
9.Qd3?!
I was surprised by this move, because it seems to invite black to blast open the position and take advantage of white's undeveloped pieces and exposed queen. [While Hoekstra was thinking about his ninth move, I was trying to figure out what to do against c5- torn between playing d6 and sacrificing two pieces for a rook and playing the slightly pathetic looking h6.
I was kind of annoyed because I felt the position after c5 should hold more resources! 9.c5!
cutting off the Knights only escape square and threatening the simple f3. 9...d6
(9...h6
10.f3
Ng5
) 10.f3
Be6
11.Rc2
Nxc5
12.bxc5
Bb3
13.cxd6
exd6
14.e3
Bxc2
15.Qxc2
Rc8
16.Qd2
Nd5!
Black has to seize the moment or white will castle and have a better game. 17.Ne2
Nxe3
18.Qxe3
Re8
19.Qd2
Qb6
]
9...d5!
Now or never
10.f3
Nd6
11.cxd5
e6
12.e4
At some point, I had to stop calculcating and trust that my edge in development would show in critical variations. This move is an example of a choice i hardly analysed; it just looked so disgusting to me to open the files and diagonals for my already active pieces. [12.dxe6
was what i spent most of my time analysing- I was worried that white could force a queen trade here, thus tempering my time-advantage. 12...Bxe6
13.Rd2
Qc7
(13...Nc4
Trading queens is sad in this position, with white's open king and black's lead in development. I probably wouldn't do it, even though black is doing fine in these variations. 14.Qxd8
Rfxd8
15.Rxd8+
Rxd8
16.Nh3
Nd5
17.0-0
Bd4+
18.Kh1
Nde3
19.Re1
Bf5
And black has full compensation for the pawn, but probably not much more. ) 14.Rc2!
(14.Qxd6
Qxc1+
15.Rd1
Qe3
16.Qd3
Qb6
17.Qd4
Qa6
18.e4
Bb3
) 14...Bc4?
this was my idea during the game, but the surprising (14...Qe7
15.e4
Rfd8
) 15.Bf4!
found by Fritz gives white a big advantage. ]
12...exd5
13.e5
Bf5
14.Qb3
Re8
15.Re2!
The clever point to e4. Most likely, Hoekstra missed my next move, without which it's not clear if black has enough comp.
15...Nb5!
A rare landing square for the Knight and an unusual in between move. White is already in big trouble here. [15...Rc8
I considered throwing in Rc8 here, but didnt like the ugly but practical move, 16.Kd1
I'm still winning here, but I didnt want to give white a free chance to unpin his king. (16.Bg5
is another worry, although this also turns out to be good for black after nb5. ) ]
16.exf6
Nd4
17.Qd1
[17.Rxe8+
Qxe8+
18.Qe3
fails to nc2, which is a major point of the variation. ]
17...Bxf6
During the game I was sure that Bf6 was better than ne2 immediately, which I didnt like cause white becomes one move closer to castling. At this point, it was my nightmare for white to give up a small ammount of material and pull off a big O-O. But according to Fritz, Ne2 is just as strong because after Nxe2 ne2 Qf6, the b1 knight is in take, and there is no graceful way to develop it- Nd2 loses to bd3, and the c3 square is a landmine- Nc3- Qxc3 and the e2 knight is pinned. [17...Nxe2
18.Nxe2
Qxf6
19.Bf4
Qb2!
20.Nd2
Bc2
]
18.Nc3
Nxe2
19.Ncxe2
Here I was sure i was winning, but I still nervous. I've always been a little jealous of players who are so confident of victory that they can enjoy themselves at the home stretch, screwing the pieces slightly into the squares, stretching their arms in exageratted exhuastion at the effort, thus drawing attention to their beautiful positions.
Me, I was worried here- which was better rc8 or d4, and what if i chose the wrong move? (Of course, both win)
19...Rc8
20.Kf1
d4
21.Bd2
d3
22.Nf4
Bc3
23.Bxc3
Rxc3
24.Bh3
d2
25.Nge2
Bc2
This wins of course, but i might have given my teammates a bit of a scare by allowing my opponent to briefly restore material equality to the board. Luckily, Hoekstra resigned quickly after the ensuring transition, so there was no panicky recollecitons of the fact that "Three pieces are usually better than a Queen." (But not one queen and soon to be Queen on d2.) [25...Bxh3+
26.Nxh3
Qd3
27.Nf2
Rc1
28.Nxd3
Rxd1+
; 25...Rxf3+
26.Kg2
Rxf4
27.Nxf4
Be4+
28.Kg1
Bxh1
]
26.Nxc3
Bxd1
27.Nxd1
Re1+
My opponent resigned as if 28.Kg2 g5!, followed by 29...Qd3, and white cannot stop black's invasion. I was still tense here, totally unsure if the Knights would pull off a win. Jay Bonin had already lost to Kaminsky an hour ago. Meanwhile, Lew Eisen was down a pawn, but with compensation and Braylovsky, on board two was involved in a crazy melee against Lev Milman. Lewis managed to show the power of two bishops and win within only twenty minutes, and Braylovsky had traded a rook for four (!) pawns.Gregory had a winning position at the end of his game, but he only had a couple of minutes, so he accepted a draw to clinch the match in our favor. Ironically, this may have cost him "Game of the Week"!, although his inspired play keeps him in contention as a possible league MVP. 0-1