Lim Zhuo Ren vs NM Edward Lee

Lim Zhuo-Ren – NM Edward Lee Kim Han [B20]
Sarawak Open 2008, 01.11.2008
Annotator : Lim Zhuo Ren
1.e4 c5 2.Na3

I recently started playing this and decided to try it against my opponent as he knows my main White opening and I wanted to try something different 2...a6 3.f4 this is not the only move. Moves like 2. Nf3 or 2. c3 or even 2. g3 are fully playable 3...b5 Black has only been making pawn moves. This can't be good. Not only that, he is expanding on the wing. Flank attacks can be countered by attacking the center or developing. So... 4.Nf3 Bb7 5.d3 e6 6.Be2 During the game I was thinking about 6.g3 followed by Bg2, 0–0 and perhaps try preparing the advance f5 and start a king-side attack. However, since Black only has one piece in play, I thought it was better to go for quick and simple development 6...Nf6 [6...c4 I always face this in blitz and normally I would just allow Black to capture my d-pawn. This time, I made up my mind to go for dxc4 and go into new territory for both me and him 7.dxc4 bxc4 (7...b4 8.Nb1 Bxe4 9.Be3 Nf6 10.Nbd2 Fritz gives this as slightly better for White. Obvious reasons are White is far better developed. Black's light squared bishop must be removed from e4 and that loses more time if Black wishes to keep the two Bishops. If allowed, White can play c5 followed by Nc4 and Nd6 or maybe just gaining the two Bishops by taking on e4 followed by Qd4 and castles completing development on the next move or two; 7...Bxa3 8.bxa3 Bxe4 9.Bb2 Nf6 10.0–0 bxc4 11.Bxc4 0–0 This is unclear. White has the two bishops, a slight lead in development in exchange for his shattered pawn structure. Black also has weak dark squares and the e5 square. It would be advisable to move his King to h1 to prevent tactics with Qb6+) 8.Nxc4 Bxe4 9.0–0 Nf6 10.Be3 White is ahead in development and the position is open. His pieces have good squares and it is easier to find a plan for White] 7.0–0 Be7 I think Black should play d6 instead of Be7 8.e5 I could have played this a move earlier but I thought castling was safer. I saw it before playing 7.0–0 and should have played it earlier. Luckily, my opponent did not pounce on my slight error 8...Nd5 9.c4 Nc7 10.d4 The Black King is not safe. Break the CENTER!!!! 10...b4 11.Nc2 d5 This move came as a surprise to me. 12.Kh1?! I should have open the center with exd6. This was an unnecessary move and it throws away almost all of White's advantage [12.exd6 Qxd6 (12...Bxd6 13.Be3 Nd7 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Qd2 Qe7 16.Rad1 Rd8 17.Ne5 (17.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 18.Kh1 a5 19.Ne5 Qe7 20.Qd4 f6 (20...Nxe5 21.Qxe5 0–0 22.Qxa5) 21.Nxd7 Rxd7 22.Qb6 Be4 23.Rxd7 Qxd7 24.Rd1 Qc8 25.Ne3) 17...Bxe3+ 18.Qxe3 0–0 19.Nxd7 Rxd7 20.Rxd7 Qxd7 21.Nxb4) 13.Be3 Nd7 14.dxc5 Qxd1 15.Rfxd1 Bxc5 16.Rac1 Black's KIng is stuck in the center. White is fully developed. Instead of 16. Rac1, other moves are possible] 12...Nc6 Here, I thought for a long time. I was thinking about trying to stabilise the center and start a Kingside attack with either f5 or pieces. However, I could not find a way. Fritz gives this position as equal. I thought I was still better during the game 13.Be3 cxd4 14.Nfxd4 [14.Ncxd4 dxc4 15.Bxc4 Nd5 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 White has to part with his e3 Bishop or move it to d2 or c1 which isn't attractive. White would like to put it on d4 and play f5-f6 or if black plays exf5 then e6 opening the diagonals for the Bishops but his f-pawn would be hanging. 17.Qd2=] 14...dxc4 15.Bxc4 Nd5 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.Bd4 Here, I spent quite some time to formulate a plan. My King is relatively safe. My Bishops are menacingly placed on c4 and d4 if only the diagonals could be opened. My Queen can go to h5 or g4. Rooks to f3 and g3 or h3, my a1–rook can go to d1 facing Black's Queen when my Queen moves. My c2-Knight might come to life at e3 pointing at f5 and g4. AND i have f5 opening the f-file. Everything points to a Kingside attack. His King will most probably go to the Kingside. Castle long is suicide and staying in the center isn't a good alternative. After a long thought, I played Qe2 with a gain of time 17...0–0 18.Qe2 [18.f5 exf5 19.Rxf5 with Qg4 and Raf1 coming, White has all the fun. Maybe I should have played this immediately 19...Bb5] 18...a5 I developed my Queen and he wasted a pawn move. Now Attack!! 19.f5 exf5 20.e6 f4 This was the move that I saw during the game. It was a good idea to keep my f-Rook from entering the game with great effect 21.Rad1 Bring my last piece into play 21...f6 22.Bxd5? This gives me a worse position. I couldn't see any other way to continue. Fritz gave.... [22.Qg4 Qd6 23.Kg1 Rad8 24.Rd3 with chances for both sides] 22...Qxd5 23.Rxf4 Rad8 [23...Qxa2 this wins a pawn for no compensation whatsoever. After the game, Edward told me he wanted to pin my d4 bishop.] 24.b3 Rfe8 25.Qg4 I didn't see anything better. I wanted to play Ne3 and Nf5 without giving away my e6 -pawn 25...Qg5 This is playable. Both of us probably had no idea on what plan to choose. The exchange of Queens is forced. Now its a question of whether my e6-pawn is a strength or a weakness. I had to rely on the far-advanced a and b pawns for counterplay 26.Qxg5 fxg5 27.Rff1 unpinning the bishop 27...Bf8 He took a long time to play this move. He is putting pressure on my e-pawn. Black is better here. [27...Be4 28.Ne3 Bf8] 28.Rde1 [28.Rfe1 Rd6 29.Bb6 Rdxe6 30.Rxe6 Rxe6 31.Bxa5 Re2] 28...Bd5 After this move, my e-pawn is lost. The only way to maintain material equality was Bb6, at least to me. I saw after 29. Bb6 Rb8 30. Bxa5 Ra8 Bxb4 Rxa2 and Black will have all sorts of threats like Rxc2. If my Knight moves, my Bishop is lost. Furthermore, my g2-pawn will come under heavy fire. I thought Bb6 was impossible because of this. I begin looking for other ways to maintaining a playable position. But couldn't find anything. At this point, I was thinking I might lose this game. Then I looked back at Bb6 followed by Bxa5 and Bxb4 with his rook on a2. I saw a refutation. I was hoping my opponent would play into that variation, thinking he would win but be shocked by my surprise. Unfortunately, my opponent didn't even see 30. Ra8 [28...Rd6 29.Bc5 Rd2 30.Rf2 Rxf2 31.Bxf2 Bd5 32.Nd4 Bc5 33.Re5 Bxd4 34.Bxd4 Bxe6 35.Bb6= This should be an easy draw] 29.Bb6 Rb8 30.Bxa5 Rb5 This was the move I missed [30...Ra8 31.Bxb4 Rxa2 32.e7 Rxe7 (32...Bxe7 33.Rxe7 Rxe7 34.Bxe7±) 33.Bxe7 Bxe7 34.Rxe7±] 31.Bc7 [31.Rxf8+ Rxf8 (31...Kxf8 32.Bxb4+ Kg8 33.e7) 32.e7 Re8 33.Bxb4 Bf7 34.Rf1 Re5 35.Rf2 Rc8 36.h3 h5 37.Kh2 Re4 38.Rd2 Be8 39.Rd8 Rxc2 40.Rxe8+ Kh7 41.Rf8 Rce2 42.Bd6±] 31...Rc5?? This move made his position bad. The rest is simply technique. I didn't play the most accurate moves but there were good enough to win 32.Nxb4 Bxe6 33.Rxf8+ Rxf8 34.Bd6 Rcf5 35.Bxf8 Kxf8 36.Kg1 Bf7 37.Nc6 Rd5 38.Ne5 Bh5 39.Nc4 h6 40.Kf2 Bg6 41.g3 Bd3 42.Ne3 Ra5 43.Ra1 Ra3 44.Ke1 Ke7 45.Kd2 Bg6 46.Nc4 Ra6 47.a4 Bf7 48.Kc3 Kf6 49.Kb4 Be8 50.Rf1+ Kg6 51.Rf8 Re6 52.a5 Bd7 53.Rf2 Bc6 54.Kc5 h5 55.b4 1-0