Bishop sacrifice on g4 – part 2. | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

As mentioned it the last entry I played a tournament in Isle of Man at the beginning of October, that was sponsored by PokerStars. It was a well arranged and strong tournament where I had a bad start and struggled to get my game to an acceptable level. I had every intention of publishing a game while I was playing, but in the end I spent so much energy on trying to get myself in shape that there was simply no energy left for anything else. The upside is that I played a King’s Indian game where I got to sacrifice the bishop on g4:

   [Event "Isle of Man (Major)"]  [Site "Douglas"]  [Date "2014.10.09"]  [Round "6"]  [White "Wallis, Christopher"]   [Black "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "E81"]  [WhiteElo "2370"]  [BlackElo "2552"]  [Annotator "Tiger"]  [PlyCount "74"]  [SourceDate "2011.03.24"]   1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. Nge2 ({The only  downside to Black's choice of variation, is that} 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9.  Bxc5 {leads to a position where Black can get a draw without too much effort,  but where winning is not on the table.}) 7... Nc6 8. d5 Ne5 9. Ng3 {I find  this to be the critical continuation.} h5 ({After} 9... e6 10. Be2 exd5 11.  cxd5 {we get a pawn structure where White would not normally place the bishop  on e3, but where Black's knight on e5 is vulnerable to a future h3/f4, so the  ups and downs are balanced.}) 10. Be2 h4 11. Nf1 e6 12. Nd2 ({After} 12. f4 h3  $5 13. gxh3 Nxc4 14. Bxc4 b5 {we get a position from the game Sriram-Adhiban,  that can be found in the archive (late summer 2013).}) 12... exd5 13. cxd5 {  This position is given as one of the main lines in Svetushkins excellent "The  Ultimate Anti-Grünfeld", but he fails to (as far as I can see) to mention the  possibility of playing 13...h3. Since Svetushkin seems not to be the kind of guy who  miss stuff, I just presumed that 13...h3 had never been played and I  did not bother to check my database for examples. Behold my surprise when I  checked the database after the game and discovered that my friend Emanuel Berg  already had played this move with the same idea in mind as I had!} h3 $1 ({  This is clearly to be preferred over} 13... a6 14. a4 Bd7 15. O-O h3 {when  White has no qualms about playing} 16. g4 $1 {, since the sacrifice on g4 does  not work anymore.}) 14. g4 $6 ({White should be content to play} 14. g3 {  although Black can be happy with this since White has been forced to play g3  instead of g4 (see comment to the last move). If I was White I would never  play g4 unless I first made sure that Bxg4 is no good for Black.}) 14... Bxg4  $1 {There it is again. This is not one of those cases where Black just gets a  good game. This is more than just "good".} 15. fxg4 Nfxg4 16. Bf4 ({White must  steer clear of} 16. Bxg4 $6 Qh4+ 17. Bf2 $2 Nd3+ 18. Ke2 Nxf2 19. Qe1 Qxg4+ 20.  Kxf2 Bd4+ 21. Kf1 Qg2#) 16... Bh6 $1 17. Bxe5 Nxe5 18. Nf3 ({After} 18. Nf1 Qg5  19. Ng3 f5 $1 20. exf5 Qe3 $1 21. Nce4 gxf5 22. Nf2 Nf3+ 23. Kf1 Nd2+ 24. Ke1 (  24. Kg1 Ne4) 24... Rae8 {White will be massacred.}) 18... Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 Qh4+  20. Ke2 {It is ironic that I had not prepared against this move and that it  had been played before.} ({Against} 20. Kf1 {I had prepared} f5 {,when} 21. e5  $1 dxe5 22. Qe1 Qf4 23. Qg3 e4 24. Qxf4 Bxf4 25. Be2 Rf6 {looks very promising  for Black. I will continue with Rd8, Rb6 and g6-g5-g4.}) 20... b5 $1 21. Kd3 $2  {My opponents reasoning was similar to mine: if the knight have to go to a4  after b5-b4, then Black will surely be better since the knight is not  participating in the game. So, he evacuates the e2-square for the knight.  However, there is a tactical problem with answering b4 with Ne2...} ({In A.  Istratescu - E.Berg, Eretria 2011, White played the strongest move} 21. Rg1 $1  {and after} b4 $1 22. Rg4 $1 {Black could have gotten a clear advantage with}  Qe7 $1 23. Na4 Kg7 {, intending f5, Rae8 and Rh8. It will not be possible for  White to protect either the center nor the h2-pawn. The game continued 22...  Qf6 and eventually ended in a draw.}) 21... b4 22. Ne2 Qf6 $1 {The double  threat on the bishop and the b2-pawn gives Black a clear advantage.} 23. Rf1  Qxb2 24. Qb3 Qe5 ({Here I missed that} 24... c4+ $1 25. Kxc4 Rfc8+ 26. Kb5 Qe5  {wins easily since Qe5-e8, is a terrible threat.}) 25. Qc4 Rab8 26. Rab1 a5 $5  {I'm planning to a4 and b3. White does not have the time to defend.} 27. Bg4  Qg5 $6 ({Slightly materialistic of me. Instead} 27... a4 {, followed by b3  wins easily.}) 28. Rf4 Qh4 {I thought I was winning immediately here, but had  missed White's next move. Ah well, a few more extra moves don't hurt.} 29. Rg1  Bxf4 30. Nxf4 Qf2 31. Nxh3 Qxh2 32. e5 Qxe5 33. Nf4 Kg7 34. Be6 Rh8 35. Rg2 Rh1  36. Kc2 b3+ 37. axb3 Rb4 {0-1}