2006 April Toledo Swiss, 4.8.2006
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation [B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 Ne7 7.c3 c5 8.Be3
Benjamin played 8. dxc5 against Seirawan in the 1991 US Championships. MCO scores that line +-
8...Nc6 9.a3 c4 10.Nbd2 b5 11.b4 a5 12.Re1 a4
I must admit, I really didn't expect Ashley to close off the queenside. However, her plan is now clear. She intends to castle queenside and shelter her king behind that wall of pawns.
13.Nf1 Be7 14.Ng3 Bg6 15.h3 Qc7 16.Qd2 0-0-0 17.Bf4 h6
I was now seeking a plan. Ashley's king was safely locked away on the queenside. I needed to get my rooks into the game, however there were no open files. Therefore, I decided to temprarily move my king to h2, bring the king back to the queenside by hand, and then march my kingside pawns up the board with the rooks behind them. This is a very slow developing plan, but in a closed position like this there is much more time for positional maneuvering than in open games.
18.Kh2 Rdg8 19.Rh1 Bd8 20.Kg1 Ne7
At this point I realize that I have to consider the possibility that the e7 knight is coming to the f5. At that point, I expected that the knights would be traded off. 21.h4 Nf5 22.Kf1 Nxg3+ 23.Bxg3
With the capture by the bishop on g3 I maintained a solid kinside pawn structure, although if my king was more secure, then I probably would have looked to open the f-file.
23...Bh5 24.Ke1 Be7 25.Ng1 Bxe2 26.Kxe2
With the king perched on e2, I finally have room to bring my a1 rook over to the kingside and join in the impending attack. 26...g6 27.Bf4 h5 28.Nf3 Nf8 29.Bg5 Bxg5 30.Nxg5 Qe7?
This loses a pawn. Nh7 would have held.
31.Qf4 Kd7 32.Nxf7 Rh7 33.Nd6 Kc6 34.Rh3 Nd7 35.Qg5
In retrospect, I don't like this idea. After hxg5 there is no place for the white king to penetrate the black position.
Now the white king has no entry point into the black position.
35...Qxg5 36.hxg5 Rhg7 37.Rah1
I think Rg1 was more accurate as it lends support to the pushing and trading of the doubled g2 pawn.
37...Nb6 38.Rf3 Nc8 39.Nxc8 Rxc8 40.Rf6 Kd7 41.Kf3
The king belonged on e3 if I was going to move it as I needed to push both the f-pawn and g-paw. So on f3 it is in the way.
41...Rh8 42.Rh4 Ke7 43.Kf4 Rhg8 44.g4 hxg4 45.Kxg4 Re8 46.Rh2 Reg8 47.Rf3 Kd7 48.Rh6 Ke7 49.Rfh3 Kf7 50.Kg3 Kf8 51.Kh4 Kf7 52.Kg4 Kf8 53.Rf3+ Ke7 54.Rf4 Kd7 55.Kg3 Ke7 56.f3 Kd7 57.Rfh4 Ke7 58.Rh8 Kf7 59.Rf4+ Ke7 60.Rh6 Kd7
I allowed this draw with about 2 minutes left on my clock. However, with time white may still be able to play for a win. The idea would be to play Rf6 and then move the white king off the g-file. Next, white would play f4 and sacrifice the f-pawn on f5. This would open up play for a rook battery for white along the 6th rank.
½-½
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