My recent tournament games - Part 2

In my last Post (you can find it here), I showed you the first game of a 5 round tournament. I won the last game, so this time I was paired against the #1 in my group with an ELO of 1818, so he is the absolute favorite in this game (my FIDE Elo was 1463 at this time)!

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[Event "DSAM 2022"]
[Date "2022.07.02"]
[Round "2"]
[White "nameless"]
[Black "Philipp87"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B23"]
[PlyCount "80"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Nde2 Nf6 7. g3 O-O 8.Bg2 d6 9. O-O Rb8 10. a3 Be6 11. h3 Nh5 12. Nd5 f5 13. Kh2 Nf6 14. f3 fxe4 15.fxe4 Ne5 16. Nef4 Bxd5 17. exd5 Qb6 18. Ra2 Rbc8 19. b3 Rf7 20. Ne6 a5 21. Bb2 a4 22. Bd4 Qa6 23. Re1 axb3 24. cxb3 Bh6 25. Rc2 Rxc2 26. Qxc2 Qd3 27. Rc1 Nf3+ 28. Bxf3 Qxf3 29. Qc8+ Bf8 30. Qxb7 Ne4 31. Rg1 Nd2 32. Rg2 Nf1+ 33. Kg1 Nxg3 34. Qb5 Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Nf1+ 36. Kh1 Ne3+ 37. Rg1 Qf3+ 38. Kh2 Qf2+ 39. Kh1 Rf3 40. Ng5 Rf5 1/2-1/2

1. e4 c5

I have tested the Sicilian from time to time, and in this tournament I wanted to give me the opportunity to train it even more. Also I don't wanted to play boring games, and when the opponent is rated 400 points higher than me, I want to create some chances for both sides!

2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Nde2

My opponent chooses a strange way to reach the Open Sicilian. With the move 6.Nde2 he plays a very strange move, and now I am "out of book". But I have some easy moves to reach a dragon position to do, and the knight on e2 looks kind of silly to me, so everything is fine for the moment :-)

6... Nf6 7. g3 O-O 8.Bg2 d6 9. O-O Rb8

My alternative to Rb8 was Be6, but I wanted to go out of the long diagonal with my rook to prevent some ideas with e5.

10. a3 Be6 11. h3 Nh5

This was maybe a wrong move, because my enemy is now able to play g4 with tempo, which he should play anyway. The maybe better alternative was Nd7, but the idea is still the same: Go for f5 and open up the position!

12. Nd5 f5 13. Kh2 Nf6 14. f3 fxe4

The Pawn play from my opponent surprised me a little bit, as I was expecting g4 or f4. Not I can open the position (in my favor !?).

15.fxe4 Ne5 16. Nef4 Bxd5

This was a mistake. I should keep my light square bishop with f7 or even d7. Now I come in some trouble!

17. exd5 Qb6 18. Ra2 Rbc8 19. b3 Rf7 20. Ne6 a5 21. Bb2 a4

I was looking for some counterplay on the queenside, as the kingside is very hard to make progress.

22. Bd4 Qa6 23. Re1 axb3 24. cxb3 Bh6 25. Rc2 Rxc2 26. Qxc2 Qd3 27. Rc1

With this move my opponent allows me to take the initiative! He should have better traded queens and convert his better piece coordination, but now it is my turn!

27... Nf3+ 28. Bxf3 Qxf3 29. Qc8+ Bf8 30. Qxb7

The loosing move for White! The pawn wasn't important, and now I have a very strong attack against the White king.

Ne4 31. Rg1 Nd2 32. Rg2 Nf1+ 33. Kg1 Nxg3 34. Qb5 Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Nf1+ 36. Kh1 Ne3+ 37. Rg1 Qf3+ 38. Kh2 Qf2+ 39. Kh1

I struggled to find a good way to finish the White King off. As there are some repetitions, I should go for a draw. But with such an attack, I was playing for a win. So what's now? I need some more attackers, but I choosed to wrong way to go!

39...Rf3??

The plan is clear, mate with Rxh3#. But I missed the next move, maybe due to time problems...

40.Ng5

Now the h3 pawn is protected and my rook is under attack. Maybe I should have played Rf5 instead.

40... Rf5??

Now Rf5 is a mistake. I though, this would end in a repetition and offers a draw, which my enemy accepted after a think of 1-2 minutes. I was lucky, that he missed 41.Qd7!! with all kinds of threats, and he accepted the draw. This was a very wild game. We both missed our chances and a draw is a result where both could be happy with, especially me who played against a higher rated opponent. I am not at 1,5 / 2 in this tournament and doing very well!