[Event "Teters Memorial 2016"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2016-08-25"]
[White "Isaac Stolk"]
[Black "Rob Bailey"]
[WhiteElo "1011"]
[BlackElo "1515"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 {This was the first time I'd ever played Isaac in any form of the game. He played the opening very concretely and logically and I had to really work to obtain any kind of advantage.} c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 e6 4.Qe2 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 Be7 {I spent a few moments considering the Nxe4 tactic but didn't like white's potential response of d5.} 8.O-O O-O 9.Nc3 {Really solid development by Isaac at this point. Qe2 though slightly unusual, has given him some good options and a very classical centre.} a6 {Maybe d5 now is the more correct way to proceed for black. As it was, I just wanted to continue building a Sicilian position.} 10.Rd1 {This is certainly playable and a little reminiscent of the Morra Gambit tabiya. The two pawn pushes, e5 and d5 also promise a slight edge for white.} b5 11.Bb3 Bb7 {After the game, I felt this was an inaccuracy and should have inserted Qc7 (to safeguard e5) first. Maybe b4, chasing the knight is ok too. Isaac now jumps at the chance to make it awkward for black.} 12.d5 exd5 {I was tempted by Na5 here, but didn't really like the resulting messing up of the king position. (dxe, Nxb3, exf+, Rf7, axb3.)} 13.Nxd5 Na5 14.Nxf6+ {I was a little concerned about the e5 push here and thought it looked strong, introducing some possible discovery themes on the d file.} Bxf6 15.Bd5 {A nice move here from Isaac that I'd overlooked.} Bxd5 {Maybe developing the rook to e8 was a decent alternative, but I didn't like the idea of fianchettoing my knight, even if it does look at good squares like c5.} 16.Rxd5 Nc4 17.a4 {The first minor error by Isaac - whilst black wins a pawn, the knight sadly becomes a rock statue on the a4 square for the rest of the game!} Nb6 18.Rf5 Nxa4 19.Bg5 {Be3 might be a better, less forcing continuation.} Bxg5 20.Nxg5 g6 {At this point, I thought I was winning a piece with this removing the guard theme - but to my horror, overlooked Qg4 as a response. (If gxR, then Qxf5! and white is winning)} 21.h4 {The game became quite exciting after this bold pawn thrust from Isaac. I remember seeing BVR watching this move give the arching of the brows in response too.} h6 22.Rd5 {This move did surprise me as I thought a knight sacrifice on f7 was imminent. As it happened, the safer move gave white the chances to win when black falters...} hxg5 23.Rxg5 Qf6 24.Qh5 {An amusing structure. Black shouldn't have allowed the attack to go any further than this and to do the logical thing of seeking refuge in trades instead.} Rac8 25.Qh6 Rc2 26.h5 Qxf2+ {Effectively fanning the flames. An all too hasty decision - Qg7 was surely better and more principled.} 27.Kh1 Qh4+ 28.Kg1 Qf2+ 29.Kh2 Rfc8 30.hxg6 Qf4+ 31.Kh3 Qe3+?? {A tremendous blunder missing a neat rook sacrifice idea on c3 that would have won the queen. (R8c3+ bxR, Rxc3+ g3, Rxg3+ RxR and QxQ)} 32.g3! {All of a sudden, black's attack has stopped dead in its tracks and white is threatening to mate with gxf7+, Kxf7, Rg7 and Qh8. I saw this in complete disbelief over the board and came very close to resigning. However, I had extra time than Isaac, who was down to two minutes and had spent some key moments defending here. Thus, rather than resign now, I decided to try one more move...} Qf2 33.Rh1?? {The losing move. Isaac had created attacking opportunities from very little and capitalised well on black's lacklustre defence of his king position. Naturally, I felt very relieved at this point and quickly found the mate for black.} Qg2+ 34.Kg4 Qxe4+ 35.Kh3 Qxh1+ 36.Kg4 R8c4+ 37.Kf5 Rf2# {It's always exciting playing someone for the first time. I look forward to more close games against Isaac who impressed me in this game and really deserved to win it after my poor strategic technique at move 26.Thanks also to the people who asked to see this game and convinced me to put it up despite my idealistic misgivings. :)}