Game of the Week

M.Wittje–M.Rohe
River Valley Community Chess Club
Spring Green, WI., April 13th, 2011
Time Control: G/30 +5

1.e4 c5 
Sicilian Defence (B20)

2.Bc4?? e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.d3 b5 5.Bb3 Bb7 6.a3 d6 7.Bg5 Nf6 8.Rg1
Be7 9.h3 O-O
Black has a very small edge at this point in the game, because his king is secure and he has a space advantage on the queenside.

10.e5 dxe5
Shredder evaluates White's move to lose the equivalent of a pawn, but it would involve some risk for Black.

11.Nxe5 Qc7
Black does not go for the tactical shot, preferring a more positional game at this stage.

12.Qe2 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6
Shredder evaluates Black +1.0

14.Nc3 Rfd8 15.0-0-0 a5
Shredder: Black +1.6
White's king position is a little insecure because of Black's advanced pawns.

16.Ne4? Nxe4
White's move loses a pawn after a few more moves.

17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.dxe4 c4?
Black wins a pawn with Qg5+ 19.Kb1 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 ... Qxg2 or 20.Qxd1 ... Bxe4

19.Ba2 Rd7?
Black again misses the opportunity to win a pawn, instead playing to double his rooks on the open file.  A better plan would be to place his rooks behind queenside pawns & storm the king!

20.f3 Rd8
c3 blows up White's pawn structure in front of his king & leads to some nice attacking chances.

21.Rxd7 Rxd7 22.Rh1? Qd8?
Black continues to dismiss Qg5+.  23.Kb1 Rd2 wins the g-pawn & puts a lot of pressure on Black's position.

23.h4 h5
c3 is still the better move.
Shredder evaluates Black to be up half a pawn.

24.Bb1 e5!
White needs to free his bishop; Black tightens the middle in order to prevent that from happening.

25.c3 g6 26.Bc2 Rd6?
Black's move is rather pointless.
Shredder: game is virtually even now.

27.Rd1 a4 28.Rxd6 Qxd6 29.Qd1 Qxd1 30.Kxd1 Kg7
Shredder: Black has a small advantage +0.3. 

31.Ke1 Bd7 32.Kf1 Kh6 33.Kf2 g5 34.Kg3 f6 35.hxg5 Kxg5 36.Kh2?? Kf4
White's move allows Black's king to infiltrate his position, trap the bishop, & win the game.  White needed to play Kf2 in order to try to hold down the fort.  It should be noted that White was getting low on time, while Black still had plenty.

37.Bb1 h4!
Black seals off the kingside, so that White's king cannot create any counterplay & thus free up his own king to dominate White's queenside.

38.Kg1 Ke3 39.Kh2 Kd2 40.g3 hxg3+ 41.Kxg3 Kc1 42.Ba2 Kxb2 43.Bxc4 bxc4 44.Kh4 Kxc3 45.Kg3 Kd4
Kd2 makes for a quicker promotion.

46.Kf2 c3 47.Ke1 Kd3 48.Kd1 Be8 49.Kc1 c2 50.Kb2 Kd2
White resigns 0-1

Italicized Analysis Performed by Shredder. Annotation Performed by Mike Rohe.