Looking forward to Deltalift Open

At the very last second I managed to get an invitation to Deltalift Open, which starts tomorrow! This years edition will become a veritable wasps nest with a big part of the Swedish chess elite participating. I’m looking forward to playing again and hope to continue in the same style as that in which I finished last months “Påskturneringen” in Norrköping. In that tournament I got to play Black in the ultimate round against Mikhail Ulibin:
   [Event "Påskturneringen 2013"]  [Site "Norrköping"]  [Date "2013.04.01"]  [Round "8"]  [White "Ulibin, Mikhail"]  [Black "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]  [Result "0-1"]  [Annotator "Tiger"]  [PlyCount "76"]  [EventDate "2013.??.??"]   {My opponent in this game plays both 1.e4 and 1.d4, so the evening before this  game I prepared rather thoughroughly against the Catalan and decided: "If he  plays 1.e4, then I'll deal with that at the board." I believe this is the  right attitude: it is better to prepare one thing thoughroughly rather than  jumping from one line to another. In this way your preparations are not only  for one game but will stand up over a longer time.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 {  I knew he would play this and I had not yet decided what to do here. I had two  options...} d5 (3... Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 {is a safe line, but  one that is very popular and - no doubt - one that my opponent would be very  well prepared against.}) 4. e5 $1 ({Is also possible and then Black can play  both} 4. exd5 Qxd5 {and} (4... exd5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. O-O Nge7 8. dxc5  Bxc5 9. Nbd2)) 4... Nc6 ({I don't like} 4... d4 5. Bd3 {although it is quite  playable for Black.} Nc6 6. O-O Nge7 7. Re1 Ng6 8. g3 Qc7 9. Qe2 {White will  continue with Na3 and then - depending on what Black does - continue with Nc2  or Nc4. Also h2-h4 is an annoying move for Black.}) 5. d4 Qb6 6. a3 $5 {This  is the most ambitious move. Ulibin plays the French with Black himself, but he  plays a different line than the one I choose, so here he was burdened in two  ways; he was not sure of the theory and he was playing White against his own favorite opening...} ({If White had tried} 6. Be2 {then I would have played  the line} cxd4 $1 7. cxd4 Nh6 8. Nc3 (8. Bxh6 $6 Qxb2 9. Nc3 Nxd4 {leads to a  forced draw according to Vitiugov.}) 8... Nf5 9. Na4 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Bb4 11. Bc3  b5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Nxc3 b4 14. axb4 Qxb4 15. Qa4 Bd7 16. Qxb4 Nxb4 $11 {  Objectively speaking this is equal, but since my opponent had to win in order  to get a prize I was happy to let him try to win this endgame ;)}) 6... Bd7 (  6... Nh6 7. b4 cxd4 8. Bxh6 (8. cxd4 Nf5 9. Bb2 Bd7 10. g4 Nfe7 {leads to a  position that much resembles the game, the only difference is that White has  won a tempo after} 11. Nc3 Na5 {since there is no rook on c8. On the other  hand one might consider g4 a weakness. I prefer the line I choose in the game.}  ) 8... gxh6 9. cxd4 Bd7 10. Be2 (10. Nc3 $2 Nxb4 $1) 10... Rg8 $1 (10... Rc8 {  is safe and good.}) 11. O-O Rg4 $1 12. h3 Rf4 13. g3 Rxf3 14. Bxf3 Qxd4 15.  Qxd4 Nxd4 16. Bh5 a5 17. Nc3 Rc8 18. Ne2 Nc2 {with nice compensation for the  exchange...}) 7. b4 cxd4 (7... cxb4 $4 8. axb4 $16 {[%cal Gc3d4]}) 8. cxd4 Rc8  {This is prophylaxis against Nc3(-a4-c5), which is White's main idea here.} 9.  Bb2 (9. Be3 {is another possibility, when} Nh6 10. Bd3 Ng4 11. O-O Be7 {  followed by f6, leads to approximate equality.}) 9... Nge7 10. Nc3 Na5 $1 {  This is the only move, but it is a good one. Now my theoretical knowledge  ended.} 11. Nd2 ({Both me and my opponent preferred the Black side after} 11.  Na4 Qc6 12. Nc5 Nc4 {when White it is almost always out of the question for  White to take on c4, as this would make a wonderful present of the White  squares for Black.} 13. Qb3 b6 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 {and Nc4 is a wonderful piece.})  11... Nc4 $5 ({I did not think that I could play} 11... Nf5 {because of} 12.  Na4 Qc6 13. Rc1 {when it is no longer possible for White to take on a4. However  } Nc4 {is quite possible and strong since White cannot play} 14. Nxc4 dxc4 15.  Rxc4 $2 Qe4+) 12. Bxc4 {I did not consider any other move really, since after}  (12. Nxc4 $6 dxc4 {Black has a good grip on the light squares.[%csl Rb2][%cal  Gb6c6,Ge7d5]} 13. Qd2 Qc6 $5) 12... dxc4 13. Nde4 {This might look ugly, but  it is really a quite logical move since it stops White from playing d4-d5  (since the e5-pawn is hanging). Also, White has to keep an eye on the  Ng6-f4-d3 maneouvre.} Ng6 ({I did not like} 13... Nd5 {because of} 14. Nxd5 (  14. O-O $1 Be7 15. Qg4 g6 16. Qh3 {is a better alternative, although Black is  doing fine here too after} Bc6 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Nc3 Qd8 {White is fighting  for equality here.}) 14... exd5 15. Nc3 Be6 16. O-O Be7 (16... g6 17. Bc1 $36)  17. f4 {when I thought} g6 18. g4 {was better for White. However I missed a  simple tactic here:} h5 19. f5 gxf5 20. gxf5 Bxf5 $1 21. Rxf5 $2 Qg6+ {  Considering this, it is possible that 13...Nd5 was stronger than what I played.  }) 14. O-O Bc6 {So far I had played rather quickly and my opponent had used up  most of his time. I had about forty minutes left to move 40 and my opponent  had less than ten minutes...} (14... Rd8 $5 15. d5 (15. Re1 $5) 15... Nxe5 16.  Na4 Qc7 17. d6 Qc6 18. Nac5 Nd3 19. Nxd3 Qxe4 20. Nc5 Qg6) 15. d5 Rd8 $1 (15...  exd5 $2 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 {and White's prayers have been heard.[%csl Gd5,  Rf8][%cal Gb2g7,Ge4f6,Ge4d6,Gf1e1,Ga1d1]}) 16. Na4 (16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. exd6 Rxd6  {is a dead end for White.}) ({During the game I tried to make out the  consequences of} 16. d6 $5 Nxe5 17. Na4 Bxa4 18. Qxa4+ Qc6 19. b5 $1 Qxe4 20.  Bxe5 {when I came to the conclusion that} Bxd6 $1 {solves all my problems. It  is nice to see that my silicon friend makes the same evaluation...} 21. Rfe1 Qd5 22. Rad1  Qc5 23. b6+ Ke7 {This is where my analysis stopped; I thought: "either White  can take on d6 with an advantage, or I'm fine and since Bxd6 leads nowhere,  indeed I'm fine." However the computer comes up with} 24. Bxg7 Rhg8 25. bxa7 {  when Black has to play a few exact move still:} Qg5 26. g3 Qxg7 27. Qxc4 Rd7  28. Rd3 Ra8 29. Red1 Qe5 30. Rxd6 Rxd6 31. Qc7+ Kf6 32. Rxd6 Qe1+ 33. Kg2 Qe4+  34. Kf1 Qb1+ 35. Ke2 Rxa7 {and the draw is near.}) 16... Qa6 {With this move I  force White to exchange one the the knights for my bishop on f8. It seemed  like the principled decision.} (16... Qb5 17. Nec3 Qa6 18. d6 b6 19. f4 Nh4 20.  Rf2 $13) 17. Nac5 Bxc5 18. Nxc5 Qb5 19. d6 ({I was expecting} 19. a4 $5 Qxb4  20. Ba3 Qb6 $1 (20... Qa5 21. dxc6 Rxd1 22. Rfxd1 O-O 23. Nxb7 {seems  dangerous for Black.[%cal Gc6c8]}) 21. d6 O-O 22. Rb1 Qa5 {with a messy game  (where my extra half an hour would give me a huge practical advantage).}) 19...  O-O {This is the position I was hoping for when I entered the complications  with 14...Bc6. It might seem that White is clearly better here due to the  passed pawn on d6, but it is not that simple; partly because my minor pieces  are much stronger than their counterparts (a temporal fact that might come to  change with time...) and partly because I can always play f6 at some moment...  Even if there is a way to prove an advantage for White here (and I doubt it)  it is clearly easier to be Black...} (19... b6 $5 20. d7+ $1 ({I was more  afraid of} 20. a4 Qxb4 21. Ba3 Qa5 22. d7+ {, but then the engine comes up with}  Bxd7 23. Nb7 Qd5 $1 24. Nxd8 Kxd8 25. Qh5 Kc7 {with equal chances. I missed  Qd5.}) 20... Bxd7 21. Nb7 O-O 22. a4 Qd5 23. Nxd8 Rxd8 24. Qc1 Bc6 25. f3 Qd7  26. Qxc4 Bxa4 {gives Black rather decent compensation.[%cal Gg6f4,Ga4b5]}) 20.  Qd2 {Stopping Nf4...} Bd5 (20... a5 21. Bc3 axb4 22. axb4 b6 23. Na6 Nxe5 24.  Nc7 Nf3+ 25. gxf3 Qf5 26. Qd4 f6 27. Qg4 Rxd6 28. Rfe1 $14) 21. f3 {A good  decision; especially when one is in time trouble...} a5 $6 {I played this very  fast, trying to make my opponent suffer more of a time-related crisis...} (  21... f6 $1 22. exf6 gxf6 23. Rad1 b6 (23... Rxd6 $5 24. a4 Qc6 25. Ne4 Bxe4  26. Qxd6 Bd3 27. Qxc6 bxc6 28. Rf2 Nf4 {is also nice, and easy to play for  Black.}) 24. Ne4 Bxe4 25. fxe4 e5 26. g3 Qc6 {is quite pleasant for me since  the d-pawn is more of a liability than an asset here.}) 22. Bc3 (22. Qe3 $1 {  stopping f7-f6 and making it possible for the knight to retreat to e4, would  have made life difficult for me...} f6 $1 23. exf6 gxf6 24. Nxe6 Rfe8 25. Nc7  Rxe3 26. Nxb5 Kf7 {and nothing is decided yet. White is a pawn up, but Black  is very, very active.}) 22... b6 23. a4 ({The point behind 21...a5 is seen in  the line} 23. Ne4 $6 Bxe4 24. fxe4 axb4 25. axb4 Nxe5 {; without the inclusion  of a5, b6 and axb4 White would either have a3-a4, or Ra5.}) 23... Qc6 24. Na6  Qb7 25. b5 f6 $1 26. exf6 ({Houdini likes} 26. f4 $5 {, but you have to be  very cold blooded indeed to play such a move here. After} Rd7 27. Nc7 Rxc7 28.  dxc7 f5 {I believe Black has excellent compensation due to the incredibly  strong bishop on d5.}) 26... gxf6 27. Bb2 Rf7 $6 (27... e5 $1 28. Ba3 Nf4 29.  Nc7 Bf7 30. Rae1 Bg6 $13) 28. Ba3 $138 ({We both missed} 28. Nc7 $1 Rxd6 (28...  Qc8 29. Nxd5 exd5 30. Qxd5 Nf4 31. Qe4 Qc5+ 32. Kh1 Nd3 33. Ba3 Nf2+ 34. Rxf2  Qxf2 35. Qxc4 Kg7 $14) 29. Ne8 $1 {when again White is slightly better:} Qe7  30. Nxd6 Qxd6 31. Bd4 {[%csl Rb6]} Nf8 32. Qf2 Nd7 33. Qg3+ Qxg3 34. hxg3 $16)  28... Rg7 29. Qh6 e5 30. Nc7 Bf7 ({We both saw} 30... Nf4 31. Qxf6 Rxg2+ 32.  Kh1 Bxf3 33. Qxd8+ Kf7 {but did not dare to bet on what result it would lead  to... I had a little less than five minutes left decided not to spend it all  on trying to find the truth about this line. In fact White is completely  defenceless...} 34. Qe8+ Kf6 35. Rxf3 Qxf3 36. Qf8+ Kg6 37. Qg8+ Kh6 $19) 31.  Kh1 Qc8 32. Rad1 (32. Rf2 $5) (32. g3 $5) 32... Qf5 33. Qe3 Nf4 34. Rd2 Kh8 35.  g3 $4 {Finally the time trouble gets to him. I did not know what to expect.  The only thing that was quite obvious to me was that} (35. Qxb6 {was bad due to  } c3 36. Rdf2 Rdg8 37. g4 Nh3 $1 $19 {but that was about it.}) 35... Rxg3 36.  Qxb6 Qh3 37. Qf2 c3 38. Rc2 Rdg8 {and White resigned} 0-1
CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

Tiger Hillarp on Chess

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