My Round 8 game was against Philip Santelices from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
1.e4
e6
2.d4
c5
This opening gets classified under the French Exchange as the d-pawn will be traded off.
3.Be3
cxd4
4.Bxd4
Nc6
5.Be3
This move loses a tempo but I thought it best to retreat instead of trading the Knight for the Bishop.
5...a6
6.Nf3
Qc7
7.a3
Nf6
8.Nc3
Be7
9.Bd3
b5
10.h3
I have developed pretty much all of the pieces that I wanted and have played both a3 and h3 keeping out the pesky Knights for now.
10...Bb7
11.Bd2
0-0
12.0-0
Rac8
13.Qe2
This move protects the e-pawn which is what I need to do if the Knight on c3 is ever forced to move.
13...Rfe8
14.e5
I wanted to force the trade of Knights but this move is actually not so great as it really causes me to rally around the e-pawn once it becomes exposed.
14...Nd5
15.Nxd5
exd5
16.Rfe1
Bc5
17.Bf5
Nd4
18.Nxd4
Bxd4
19.Qg4
My thought here was to attack the Black Bishop and also the pawn on d7. Probably better would have been Bxh7+ followed by Qd3+ winning the Black Bishop.
19...Qb6
20.Qh4
Threatening to play Qxh7+ and also protecting the pawn on f2.
20...h6
21.c3
Bxe5
22.Bxd7
Rc4
23.Qh5
What I thought cool about this game was the back and forth attacking that seemed to be happening.
23...g6
24.Qxh6
Re7
25.Bg5
My intent with this move was not to trade off my Queen for a Rook and Bishop but that is what happened. Now, I will have my work cut out for me if I wanted to win.
25...Bg7
26.Rxe7
Bxh6
27.Bxh6
Re4
28.Rxe4
dxe4
29.Rd1
I thought I had to grab the open file here for my Rook and then try and regroup my 2 Bishops.
29...Qf6
30.Be3
Qe7
31.Bg4
f5
32.Be2
There, that wasn't so bad. I regrouped my Bishops in 3 moves.
32...g5
33.Bb6
My threat here was to play Bd8 next to go after the g-pawn. I think my opponent was more worried about the Rook check.
33...Bc6
34.Bd8
Qe5
35.Bxg5
f4
36.Bh4
I looked at playing h4 instead of this move. I changed my mind after thinking I could play my Bishop to g3 eventually if the f-pawn advances.
36...Bd5
37.Bg4
I thought it would be better to have these 2 Bishops in a more attacking mode.
37...a5
38.Bf6
I was ready to give up this Black Bishop in exchange for his Bishop. However, my opponent wasn't ready to do that.
38...Qd6
39.Bg5
f3?
A mistake as I can simply play gxf3 and he can't take back as I can take back with my Bishop!
40.gxf3
Qc6
41.f4
I could of played fxe4 but there were too many complications with this move in my opinion. Now my Bishops both have some protection and neither of them has to move for a while and they are in a great position should I ever need to try and check the Black King for a perpetual check draw.
41...Qc4
42.Rd4
Qa2
43.Rd2
e3
44.fxe3
I was extremely worried at ths point. I was afraid that I would get mated if I took this pawn as you can see by the next couple of moves. It took me a while but I was finally able to determine that it would be safe to take the pawn.
44...Qb1+
45.Rd1
Qe4
46.Kf2
Qg2+
47.Ke1
a4
48.Bh4
Qh1+
49.Kf2
Qg2+
50.Ke1
Kg7
I was prepared for a draw in this position as I thought my opponent would simply repeat the postion 3 times in a row. But, I think he was still wanting the win and probably in the back of his mind, he thought he would be able to do a perpetual check later on if he had to.
51.Bf2
Qe4
52.h4
Qg2
53.Be2
Notice where his King is. I am going to take advantage of this spot in securing the postion around my King. Maybe I will be able to advance the h-pawn all the way down if I am lucky enough.
53...Qh1+
54.Kd2
Qh2
55.Rg1+
Kf6
56.Ke1
With this series of moves, I was starting to feel much better about my position!
56...Qh3
57.h5
Qf5
58.Bh4+
Kf7
59.h6
Qh3
60.Rg7+
Playing Ke6 would be bad as I would be able to play Bg4+ winning the Queen.
60...Ke8
61.Bh5+
Bf7
If I would have had more time on my clock, I am sure I would have found the nice continuation of Rg8+ followed by Bg4+ winning the Queen. I only had 2 minutes left on my clock at this point and had to act fast.
62.Bxf7+
Kf8
63.Bg5
After playing this move I had thought I had messed up as I forgot about my weak pawn on e3. I thought that he would get a perpetual check. However, after looking at the position later, I realized that I can safely march my King over to the a2 square and hide there as my Bishop on f7 is covering that diagonal.
63...Qh1+
64.Ke2
Now, I just have to get my King up in the position close to my other pieces and I should be just fine.
64...Qg2+
65.Kd3
Qf1+
66.Ke4
Qg2+
67.Ke5
Qxb2
68.Be6
The threat is now Rg8 mate. All I have to do is to get my opponent to run out of checks.
68...Qxc3+
69.Kf5
Qd3+
70.e4
Qh3+
71.Kf6
My opponent's clock ran out at this point and he lost on time. However, he had only one more check left (Qc3+) which I would have responded by playing my pawn to e5 and Black is out of checks. Then it would be mate on the next move. 1-0