1. f4 Bird's. This is the fifth time I've to fight against this opening since
I play here on QA. The outcome in the previous four games was 2-2
1... g6 I had played and LOST against my opponent two times before and I respect him a
lot, so I thought It was wise to fianchetto my king and let the game flow with
a solid defense position
2. e4 d6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O Here I thought
he was going to play c4 but I was wrong, he played a clever prophylactic
move
6. h3 c5 Now my king was safe, my plan was to destroy white's center, by attacking d4
7. c3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Qb6 I cotinued with my attack over d4
9. Qe2 White's intention was to free his black bishop of the defence of b2.
9... Nc6 Two pieces attacking d4, plus one more x-raying it and only one defending it.
To advance d5 it's not an option for white, the preassure on b2 would be very
high. So the black bishop comes intoaction
10. Be3 Bishop on e3 seems
dangerous because it x-rays the black queen and an advance of d5 will
represent a double threat ( knight-queen ) . It was necessary that my black
bishop came into action. The attack over b2 would discourage white to advance
that pawn. So my knight had to get out of the way. Here is when the pawn on h3
becomes a gold pawn, my knight would be very happy to go to g4, but now it's
impossible.
10... Nh5 So Nh5 was the answer. And was an interesting answer because
it represented a dangerous threat for white, because g3 was unprotected.
11. Qf2 Protecting g3, and also strengthen the pressure over my queen. This
situation scared me, and I didn't think with lucidity. My pressure over b2 was
still working. If d5, Qxb5, QxQ, BxQ and the a1 rook would fall. However, I
didn't think that way, and I decided to move my knight to prevent the double
threat.
11... Nb4 12. Kd2 I didn't understand this move, c2 was protected by the
queen, my knight was useless on b4. Maybe it was time to move the white bishop
to c4, for example.
12... Qa5 To x-ray the king through my knight and threat a1.
White can defend from it easily by developing his b-knight. Maybe capturing
white bishop was a better idea, forcing the king to go to the third rank.
However this move had its benefit, it supported the advance of the e5 pawn.
13. Nc3 Despite the position of his king, white has a beautiful situation now.
I remembered with nostalgia those days when I had a plan... I had been
distracted and now my only solution consisted in the advance of a desperate
e-pawn.
13... e5 When I moved this pawn, a little voice inside my head whispered:
"Too late. Now trouble is here".
14. fxe5 dxe5 15. Bc4 Here I thought that
white was going to play d5, obtaining a passed pawn. Maybe he thought that f5
would be dangerous, and he decided to pin my f-pawn.
15... Nf4 Here I began
walking on the tightrope. I don't understand why I played this move. I wanted
to put a knight on d3, but the move is useless, d3 is well defended. My
priority should have been the d4 pawn.
16. a3 exd4 A desperate move. I don't
know where but I read a long time ago that when I knight is been attacked, the
easy solution ( moving the knight ) a lot of times it's not the better solution.
Anyway in this situation I have eyes only for a square. And that was the d4
square. So I decided to go for the pawn that was the protagonist of my first
plan.
17. Nxd4 I really thought that he was going to take my knight on f4.
However now I see that this would have meant an isolated white pawn on c3 by
BxN dxN+ bxc. So he decided to take my pawn. At this moment the situation was
critical. My two knights were threatened, and my walk on the tightrope
continued. I found only one solution.
17... Bxd4 This allowed me to save the
situation, but conceded to my rival the great black diagonal, the diagonal of
my castle.
18. Bxd4 Nc6 Another step on the tightrope. The only solution I found. If QxN, NxB
19. Be3 Qd8+ My black bishop was gone, so I thought that maybe in a few moves my
queen would be necessary on the kingside. So I decided to gain time.
20. Nd5 It seemed that all the white pieces were converging towards my undefended king.
Was the end near?
20... Ne5 I didn't take white knight on d5 because this would
signify a d-passed pawn again. No way. Then I decided to use another time the
idea of not moving the threatened knight: So, take my knight, and I'll take
your bishop, check.
21. Bxf4 Nxc4+ 22. Kc3 Nd6 Have you noticed the dance of
this knight, arround the white knight? It seems a waltz : ) However the dance
was almost to end.
23. Bxd6 Qxd6 After the exchange, the situation wasn't
bad. I had still not developed my bishop, but white had his e-pawn isolated,
so I was happy, it could be worse, very worse.
24. Kb3 White tried to avoid my check, but the knight was going to be pinned.
24... Be6 It's odd. I've not played this bishop over 23 movements. And now it was going
to become my guardian angel!!!
25. Rhd1 Now the battle for attacking/protecting the knight began
25... Rac8 The main objective
with this move was to force the white's king to stay on the a2-g8 diagonal.
26. Ka2 King tried to escape from my pin. If Ka4, Rc4+, and the situation
would be very unpleasant for white. If Qxa7, Qg2+, taking g2.
26... b6 Now the king wasn't on the third rank I had to protect a7 pawn
27. Qd2 At this time, this movement didn't seem to me very dangerous. I thought that
was simply a way to overprotect the knight. I've trouble to see some pins, and
I didn't realized that the situation was potentially dangerous. At this moment
the knight was pinned, but it actually had a frightening check onf6!
27... Rc5 My plan was to take advantage of the pin to gain the isolated pawn, the next
move was intended to be Rd8.
28. Rac1 A good move. I thought this rook was
to be useless in this situation, it could not arrive to protect the pawn. I
was wrong. My plan had been destroyed. Now I hadn't time to move Rd8.
28... f5 I couldn't gain the control of the d5 square by force, so I decided to attack
the pawn that defended it. If exf, Rxf, 4 pieces attacking the knight by only
3 defendingit!
29. Kb1 King went away from pin. Maybe it was better Ka1 as you will see.
29... fxe4 It had been very easy. I had won the pawn and obtained a passed one. But was
it really easy? The answer was "No". I was very lucky. I made a great mistake,
but my opponent made a mistake at the same time. The knight was no longer
pinned anymore. Actually I saw the check on f6, but I haven't seen the x-ray
attack over my queen. I thought Nf6+, RxN, easy. I hadn't seen QxQ!!!! However
I was lucky as I said. Do you remember my guardian angel? If QxQ, Ba2+, KxB,
RxQ. I had not planned it. I took the e pawn without thinking. But my opponent
allowed me to take it without defending it, because he didn't see Ba2+. As I
said: Just luck
30. Rxc5 Qxc5 31. Qg5 Bxd5 I made a mistake once, but not twice.
So I decided to take that knight. I was almost certain that he would play QxB,
and queens would be exchanged, because if RxB, Rf1+ Ka2 Qc4+ b3 Qc2++, but my
opponent didn't see it.
32. Rxd5 Rf1+ 0-1 
