2020-02-14 - Saunders, Aron 1-0 Waterfield, John
Game of the Month February 2020
[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.02.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Saunders, Aron"] [Black "Waterfield, John"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [Annotator "Jerry"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.04.11"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. f4 c5 4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 {Black comes out of the opening perfectly well} 6. e5 Nh6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. h3 Nf5 9. Nge2 h5 10. g3 Rb8 11. Bg2 e6 12. Qd3 a6 13. a3 b5 14. Be3 Bf8 ({Black has the advantage and can strike immediately with} 14... b4) 15. Bf2 b4 {now White does not have so much to worry about as the f5 knight has less influence} 16. Nd1 Qa5 17. O-O Be7 { Black has pushed his play forward too slowly and the position moves into dynamic balance with a complicated structure which is hard to navigate. However White's plan of kingside attack is clearer and this helps him in the ensuing play} 18. Ne3 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 O-O {in view of the later complications Black would do well to exchange on a3 during this phase} 20. Rfc1 {White nudges his opponent around on the queenside but his real target is the black king} Qb6 (20... Bd7 {was called for, with an uneasy balance}) 21. f5 $1 { Aron detects that the Black pieces have shifted too far to the queenside, disturbing the centre of gravity of the black position, so he sets about dismantling the king's defences with a series of sacrifices.} exf5 ({Black has a tricky choice as} 21... bxa3 22. Qh6 {is also to be feared, for example} exf5 23. Nf4 {is very hard to find any reasonable defence}) 22. Bxd5 Na5 $2 { clearly playing with fire to move even further away while leaving other pieces undeveloped} 23. Nf4 {it would be premature to move the queen into the kingside so another piece comes up to help the attack} Kg7 24. axb4 {drawing a defender away} Bxb4 25. e6 $1 {Black has virtually no chance after this strike, as long as the attack is played accurately} Re8 26. Nxh5+ $1 gxh5 27. Qg5+ Kf8 28. exf7 Rd8 29. Qg8+ Ke7 30. Re1+ $1 {more fuel to the fire} Bxe1 31. Rxe1+ Be6 (31... Kd6 32. Re8 {is murderous}) ({as is} 31... Kd7 32. Qe8+) 32. Rxe6+ Qxe6 33. f8=Q+ Rxf8 34. Qxe6+ Kd8 35. Qd6+ 1-0
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