[Event "BCC 2017"]
[Site "Mechanics Institute"]
[Date "2017-06-15"]
[White "Peter Lumsdon"]
[Black "Rob Bailey"]
[WhiteElo "1724"]
[BlackElo "1524"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 {During the week leading up to this game, I had a look at all of the games I'd played against Peter since our very first encounter in 2002. Curiously, out of the six games I found, I'd had black in every one of them! My record has not been great with a score of +0 - 5 = 2.} c5 {The tradition of having black continues. After two previous fighting sicilians, I wanted to continue in the same vein...} 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3! {Peter surprises me by selecting a closed line; neatly side-stepping the improvements I'd had in mind from our previous Najdorf.} Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O e6 {Perhaps Nf6 is more logical here, but I wanted to try putting the knight on e7, keeping the bishop open in a similar plan to my game against Rod some years back.} 7.d3 Nge7 8.Re1 O-O 9.Bg5 a6 10.Qd2 {Creating the fianchetto buster.} Rb8 {Arguably unnecessary and inaccurate in the light of what eventuates, but I just wanted to get the rook off the white diagonal.} 11.Rad1 {Very principled and direct play from Peter. Both players are pursuing their respective plans.} b5 12.Bh6 Re8 {The first inaccuracy - b4 makes more sense. Now white has an edge after the trade of the bishops.} 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Ne2 d5? {A bad move and overall faulty plan which loses a pawn to Qc3+ d4 and Qxc5. Maybe e5 is the better choice, safeguarding d4 and locking down the centre. Qb6 looks ok too.} 15.Qf4 Bb7 16.Ng5 Rf8 17.e5 h6 {I was a little concerned about the knight sacrifice on e6 possibility after Qf6+ which after the game Peter said he had definitely looked at.} 18.Qf6+ Kg8 19.Nf3 (19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Kg7 21.Nf4 Bc8 (21...Nd4)) 19...d4 20.Nf4 Nb4 {Superficially it looks as if the knight is pawn-hunting but even though Peter didn't play 21 a3, I decided to follow my idea of trying to occupy d5 with a knight.} 21.Re2 Nbd5 22.Nxd5 Nxd5 23.Qxd8 Rfxd8 24.Nd2 Nb6 25.Ne4 Bxe4 {This was a tough decision to make. The knight was threatening to outpost itself into f6 or d6 and whilst I didn't really want to trade my remaining bishop, I felt it was the best choice even though it seems the white squared bishop is left to dominate the diagonal unopposed.} 26.Bxe4 c4?! {I think Na4 first looks better. I was worried about the weakening of the d pawn from here on.} 27.b3! {I thought this was a nice move. It made me use a good portion of time and consider the options carefully.} cxb3 28.axb3 a5 29.Bc6 {Maybe Ra1 immediately to prevent black dreaming of forks on c3; thereby preserving the bishop.} Nd5 30.Bxd5 Rxd5 31.Ra1 Ra8 32.Kf1 a4 33.Ra3 Rc5 34.Ke1 Rc3 35.Kd1 Kf8? {Rac8 straight away is better.} 36.Re4 Rac8 37.Ra2? {Maybe taking on d4 straight away is the way to go.If black jumps to take on c2, Rd8! looks like a nice reply. Black now wins a pawn.} axb3 38.cxb3 Rxd3+ 39.Ke2 Rxb3 40.Rxd4 b4 41.Rd7 Ra3? {Possibly over anxious in the attempts to mobilise the flank passer. g5 Kg7, Rc1 are better alternatives.} 42.Rxa3 bxa3 43.Ra7 {A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient. - Aron Nimzowitsch} Rc2+ 44.Ke3 a2 45.h4 Ke8 46.g4 Kd8 47.f4 h5 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.f5 exf5 50.Kf4 Rf2+ 51.Kg5 f4 52.Kf6 f3 53.Kxf7 Re2 54.e6 f2 55.Rd7+ Kc8 {This was an exciting strategic game; my first ever win against Peter who has been a great mentor and source of encouragement since my early years as a returning club member in the early 2000's. I fondly remember that he gave me a stern talking to once about offering draws in slightly better positions after one our club championship games and gave me sound advice on aspiring to compete at the higher levels of our club against the established champions. Thanks for the game Peter; look forward to many more to come.} {#R}