[Event "BCCC 2017"]
[Site "Mechanics Institute"]
[Date "2017-05-25"]
[White "Rodney Jacobs"]
[Black "Robert Bailey"]
[WhiteElo "1695"]
[BlackElo "1524"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.c3 dxc3 {Rod and I have had numerous fascinating duels in the Sicilian and Morra Gambit since 2012. 
In the last encounter, I tried the d3 push here (2014/Koelle) This time I wanted to try and take the gambit on more directly given my tough start to the Championship. (RB)} 5.Nxc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 a6 {More common is e6. But a6 is well known. (RJ)} 7.O-O Nf6 8.Bg5 {Qe2 is most commonly played, according to Chessbase. But, after Rob's slightly unusual move order (a6 rather than e6) Bg4 is on and I did not like the look of it. Interestingly, Qe2 in this position only has an 11% success rate. (RJ) Bg5 surprised me a little and I had to hold back my desire to push an immediate b5. Maybe h6 is ok too. (RB)} e6 {If now 8......Bg4, 9. Qb3! with advantage to White. (RJ)} 9.Qe2 Be7 10.Rfd1 Qc7 11.Rac1 {Still following a book line. (RJ)} Qb8! {The second most popular move on Chessbase, with a 100% strike rate! (RJ)  I first encountered this idea in a Morra Gambit against Svetozar Stoijc at the Begonia Open a few years ago. I found it interesting and wanted to try it here. (RB)} 12.a4 {Bb3 is more commonly played. (RJ)} O-O 13.Rd2 {Departing from book. Probably too slow. Accepted moves are Bf4, lining up the Black queen, or h3, presumably to prevent Ng4 or a later Bg4. (RJ)} Rd8 14.Rcd1 {The engines now give Black a .5 advantage. (RJ)} Ng4 {At the board I felt this was a bit dubious and it is. Stockfish 7 gives h6.(RJ)  I agree Rod - this wasn't very good. I think I felt the pressure of trying to play actively here - I missed the useful 16. h3! which leaves my knight somewhat stranded on h6 in view of avoiding the looming e5 push. (RB)} 15.Bxe7 Nxe7 16.h3 Nh6 {Now White has an edge. (RJ) My pieces are passive and distinctly lacking in co-ordination; but I had to hang in there! (RB)} 17.Ng5 {I thought for a long time about g4, threatening to win the knight. It would have been a better move, (RJ)} b6 {I didn't really know what to do with the white squared bishop and sensed an archetypal piece sacrifice was coming on e6; just couldn't be sure when. As it turns out, the bishop proved a blessing on b7. (RB)} 18.f4 {Again I almost played Qe3, eyeing off the b6 pawn and preventing Bb7 for the moment. Again, it would have been a better choice. (RJ)} Bb7 {Stockfish 2 gives White a .62 plus here, and recommends Qf2. I had thought about that, but was worried about the reply Qc7, followed by Qc5, forcing the exchange of queens. (RJ)} 19.Bxe6!? {Yes, the third game in a row that I have sacrificed a piece for 2-3 pawns! Here, while objectively it may not be the best move, Stockfish 7 gives the position as even after it. I felt the position called for it. I couldn't see any other way of keeping the initiative, which I felt might be lost after Black's threatened d5. And, with the Morra, the initiative is everything!(RJ)} fxe6 20.Nxe6 Rd7! {Best. Continues to protect the d pawn, and also protects the g pawn in some variations. Also it leaves the first rank free for the Black queen to slide across to defend the kingside. (RJ)} 21.Rd3 {With hopes of swinging over to g3. Stockfish 7 prefers f5, Deep Shredder f5. (RJ)} Ng6 {Best. (RJ)} 22.g4 {Stockfish 7 likes e5, Deep Shredder Qh5, which I almost played. (RJ)} Nf7 {Again best. Superb defensive play by Rob. (RJ)} 23.Qf2 {Best. But Black has an advantage of about 2 here. (RJ)} Nf8 {Black would obviously like to exchange down and remain his piece up! (RJ)} 24.Nd4 {Which White doesn's want.} Qe8 25.Re3 Ne6! {Again tormenting White with invitations to exchange pieces. (RJ)} 26.Nf5 Nc5 {Rob's first inaccuracy, g6! is best here. (RJ) Sadly, I'd only seen b4 after I played this (RB)} 27.Rde1 {As so often happens, returning the favour. b4! is best. Black would, though, still have an advantage of about 1. (RJ)} g6 {But the programs indicate g6 is not now the best move. Both recommend a5. preventing b4. (RJ)} 28.Nd4 {Again b4 is far better. (RJ)} Re7! {Now it's White who's on the defensive. (RJ)} 29.Qe2? {Flustered, missing Qc2.} Nxa4 30.f5 {Still continuing the 'attack.' (RJ)} Nxc3 31.bxc3 Ne5 32.Ne6 {A great snapshot. It's not often that you see every square on a file occupied! (RJ) Nice! To be honest, I didn't fully appreciate this at the time, as I was fixated upon the dangerous looking steed at my e6! (RB)} Rxe6 33.fxe6 {Qa2 was possible, but it would have made no difference. White is now crushed. Each of us only now had about 2 minutes left. Black now very nicely mops up.(RJ)} Qxe6 34.Qc2 Rf8 35.Rb1 Nc4 36.Ree1 b5 37.Qe2 Rf4 38.Rf1 Qxe4 39.Qxe4 Rxe4 40.Rbc1 Re2 41.Rf4 Rg2+ 42.Kf1 Rh2 43.Re1 Nd2+ 44.Kg1 Rg2+ {A superb example of calm, accurate defensive play by Rob. Looking over the game, I'm happy that I played as well as I can. The sacrifice was relatively sound. The problem is that my opponent was able to come up with the best move again and again, until it was he who was on top. (RJ) Many kind thanks to Rod for the analysis and compliments. I always enjoy our games despite often coming off the worse (as in the last couple of Club Championships) It's always a pleasurable challenge to meet a player over the board with such an active aggressive style as Rod's. (RB)} {#R}