[Event "Koelle 'A' 2018"]
[Site "Mechanics Institute"]
[Date "2018-11-08"]
[White "Bas van Riel"]
[Black "Jamie Brotheridge"]
[WhiteElo "1798"]
[BlackElo "1507"]
[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 h6? {not a good move [jb] BvR. I disagree. Actually, next time, in the same position, I will not play 6.Bg5} 7.Bh4 Qc7 8.Be2 g5 9.Bg3 Nc6 10.f3 Bg7 11.Bf2 Bd7 12.Qd2 Ne5 13.O-O-O b5 14.Kb1 O-O 15.Nf5 Be6? {BvR. a wasted move as the threat is a kingside attack starting with h4 and Nxg7 whereby black has to eliminate the knight on f5 to try and survive.} 16.h4 Bxf5 17.exf5 b4? {BvR. 17...g4 was needed. White now has about +1 advantage. I spent about 10 minutes, deciding where to move the knight to: Ne4, Nd5, seem to be the obvious choices, but I did not like the reduced material after the knight swaps, until I suddenly spotted the strong Na4 move. Not very obvious as it moves to the side of the board, but where it is lethal in combination with the bishop on f2. Moreover, black's light pieces remain uncoordinated and I now have created dangerous attacks on both sides of the board.} 18.Na4! Rfc8? {BvR. Was it an oversight/blunder, Jamie? The game is now instantly lost.} 19.Nb6 Rab8 20.Nxc8 Qxc8 21.hxg5 Nfd7 {BvR. +3.6. Better (+2.6 for black) was first hxg5, Qxg5, saving a pawn.} 22.gxh6 Bf6 23.f4 {BvR. Perhaps not the most direct, but I wanted to swap pieces quickly, to avoid complications and time trouble.} Nc4 24.Bxc4 Qxc4 25.Bd4 {l should have played the caro kann [jb] the caro kann is not will known as the siclian. BvR.Thanks for the game, Jamie. I don't think that your opening choice was the problem. In fact, you did quite well, until we reached the middle game. You were equal until move15, i.e well beyond the opening phase.Moreover, the Sicilian is so diverse and complicated, that not many players are Sicilian experts. In my opinion, it is an opening where pure chess skills are more important than opening knowledge, and it is one of my favorites.} {#R}