[Event "Garden State Chess League 2015-16"]
[Site "Kenilworth, NJ"]
[Date "2015.12.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Moldovan, John"]
[Black "Minkov, Ari"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B54"]
[WhiteElo "1837"]
[BlackElo "1960"]
[Annotator "Moldovan, John"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2015.10.06"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2012.01.06"]
[WhiteTeam "Kenilworth"]
[BlackTeam "West Orange"]

{Board 2  G/75+5 (delay)  B54 Sicilian Defense  (by transposition)} 1. Nf3 {
On my 20-minute walk to the Kenilworth bus, I decided to start this way & wing
it thereafter. So much for preparation.} (1. d4) (1. c4) ({&} 1. g3 {were
considered (as was 1.e4) but I didn't want a West (...e6-based) Indian or an ..
.e5 English.}) 1... Nf6 {A bit of a relief.} ({I expected} 1... c5 {, as in
our last game which continued} 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6.
Nb3 f5 $5 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 $5 $146 (9... b6 $142 $11) 10. e4 (
10. Bf4 $142 $1 $14) 10... d6 $11 {(A35 Symmetrical English, GSCL, W. Orange 5/
7/2013, 0-1)}) 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 {Something new in our 16-year series.} ({
In the past he's played} 3... Bb4 {2x}) (3... d5 {2x}) (3... b6) ({&} 3... Be7
$5 {Altogether, this is our 42nd game & the 21st time I've had White.}) 4. e4 (
{Other tries here include} 4. g3 {which is probably best}) (4. d4) (4. e3) ({&
} 4. a3 $5) 4... d6 (4... Nc6 $142 5. d4 $140 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bb4 {B44 Taimanov
Sicilian}) 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 ({For} 6... Be7 {see my 2009 win over LM
Mark Kernighan at http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/chesscoroner/Events/2009/
2009_kccc_r2g1.htm}) (6... a6 {, with a B41 Kan Sicilian, was another option.})
7. Be3 d5 $2 {I'm puzzled by this choice. It's obviously bad.} ({What was
wrong with} 7... Be7 8. Be2 O-O $14 {?}) 8. exd5 $6 $146 {Not the best but
good enough for a clear advantage.} (8. cxd5 $142 $1 exd5 9. Bb5 $1 {Berg -
Neto : World U12 Championship, Bratislava 1993} Bd7 ({Better than the original
} 9... Qd6 $4) 10. exd5 Nxd4 11. Bxd7+ Qxd7 12. Bxd4 {which the top 3 engines
say is +1.36 to 1.48.}) (8. Nxc6 $143 bxc6 9. e5 $2 Nd7 10. f4 Bb4 $11 {
Coves - R. Grau : Valencia, ESP  2003}) 8... exd5 9. Nxc6 (9. cxd5 $143 Nxd5 (
9... Nb4 $2 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. O-O $18) 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 (11... cxd5
$2 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Qxd5 $18) 12. Qxd5 cxd5 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. Bxd7+ Kxd7 15.
O-O-O Kc6) 9... bxc6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Qa4 (12. O-O $142 {/\ Re1}
Be7 13. Qa4 $16) 12... Bd6 13. Rd1 O-O 14. Bxd7 Nxd7 15. Nxd5 {White has won a
P & holds a 1-step lead in development.} Nc5 $2 (15... Nb6 $142 16. Nxb6 axb6
17. Qd4 Be7) 16. Bxc5 $6 (16. Qg4 $142) 16... Bxc5 17. O-O Qg5 (17... a5 $142)
18. b4 Qg4 19. Qb5 Bd4 $6 (19... Bd6 $142 $16) 20. h3 $6 (20. Qd3 $142 $18)
20... Qh4 21. Qd3 Be5 22. Qf5 Rfe8 $2 (22... Rae8 $142 $16) 23. Rd3 $2 (23.
Rfe1 $142 $18 Bd4 $140 24. Qf3 {threat : 25.g3.}) 23... Qc4 24. a3 (24. Rfd1
$142 Qxa2 $140 $2 25. f4 $18) 24... h6 $2 (24... g6 $142 25. Qf3 Rad8 26. Rfd1
Kg7) 25. Rfd1 g6 26. Qf3 $6 (26. Nf6+ $142 Bxf6 27. Qxf6) 26... a5 $4 {This
drops an Exchange & the game.} (26... Rac8 $142 $16) 27. Nb6 Qa6 {He could've
quit here.} 28. Nxa8 Rxa8 29. Rd7 $2 {This lets Black hang-around for a while.}
({Much} 29. Qxa8+ $142 {Forcing a simplification.} Qxa8 30. Rd8+ Qxd8 31. Rxd8+
Kg7 32. bxa5 Bc7 $140 33. a6 $1 Bxd8 34. a7) 29... Rf8 30. bxa5 $2 (30. Qd5
$142 Bg7 31. Qxa5 {would've added a P to my booty.}) 30... Qxa5 31. Qd5 Qc3 32.
Qd3 $6 (32. a4 $142 {. The same advance should also been preferred on turns 34
& 36.}) 32... Qc5 33. Rd5 Qc7 34. Qb5 $6 Bf4 35. Rd7 Qc2 36. Qb4 $6 Bb8 $2 (
36... Bc7 $142) 37. Qd4 $2 (37. Rd8 {, threatening mate at f8 & winning the B,
was far easier.}) 37... Qe2 38. Rd8 Qe7 $2 (38... Rxd8 $142 39. Qxd8+ Kh7 40.
Qd5 Kg7 41. Qd3 Qe6) 39. Rxf8+ Qxf8 $8 (39... Kxf8 40. Qh8#) 40. Qd8 {Black
resigns.    Time left - Moldovan 4:39, Minkov 20:16  Estimated time used -
Moldovan 73:41, Minkov 58:04    Longest think by White - 12 minutes for 9.Nxc6
& 11 minutes for 23.Rd3?  Longest think by Black - 6 minutes for 7...d5?   
Not one of my better efforts but, with the win, Kenilworth drew the match.} ({
There was no reason to play-on any further.} 40. Qd8 Be5 41. Qxf8+ Kxf8 42. a4
{is hopeless.}) 1-0

