[Event "4NCL"]
[Site "Sunningdale, ENG"]
[Date "2010.05.01"]
[Round "9.14"]
[White "Greet, Andrew N"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "2429"]
[BlackElo "2704"]
[PlyCount "182"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{This was the first time I had ever crossed swords with a player at the 2700
level. I suppose it was only fitting that my opponent for this momentous
occasion would be Mickey Adams, my fellow Cornishman and former pupil of Truro
School (although he left the school just before I joined it). The game was far
from perfect, with plenty of tense moments and errors on both sides, but I was
finally able to secure a draw after a fight that lasted just a couple of
minutes short of the full seven-hour time limit.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 {
Before the game I decided it would be best to avoid any heavy theory and aim
for a solid position and perhaps just a modest advantage. The text move, a
speciality of Mark Hebden (ironically now Adams' team-mate at P&P, our
opponents for the present match) seemed like an ideal choice. I had suffered a
few losses as Black versus Hebden from this position, but in doing so had
developed a reasonable understanding of how to play the white side, so I
decided to try and use those painful experiences positively.} ({
The main idea behind White's move order is to avoid the line} 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bh4
(4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. e4 {transposes to a line of the Trompowsky which is not
considered especially promising for White.}) 4... d6 $5 {
intending ...g5 and ...Nh5, which has scored quite well for Black.}) 3... b6 ({
After} 3... c5 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. e4 Nc6 7. d5 Ne5 8. Be2 Nxf3+ 9. Bxf3
exd5 $6 10. Qxd5 {
Black failed to equalize and eventually lost in Hebden - Adams, Kilkenny 2006.}
) 4. Bg5 Bb7 5. Nbd2 {Diagram #} h6 $5 {Perhaps not surprisingly given the
rating gap, Adams decides to provoke an unbalancing of the position.} ({
A more solid continuation would have been} 5... Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 (7. Bxf6 {
is not so attractive when Black can recapture with his bishop and thus avoid
misplacing his queen.}) (7. Bf4 Nh5 8. Bg3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 d6 10. Qa4+ Nd7 11. Ba6
Qc8 12. Bxb7 Qxb7 {Black was comfortably equal in Hebden - Greet, Swansea 2006,
although I later spoiled the position and lost.}) 7... Ne4 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxe4
Bxe4 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. e4 d6 12. Qe2 Nd7 13. Ba6 Bxa6 14. Qxa6 O-O 15. O-O c5 {
Black had equalized in Hebden - Adams, West Bromwich 2003, although I would
not have minded a repeat of this position as it looks extremely tough for
Black to play for a win.}) 6. Bxf6 (6. Bh4 {could be answered by} d6 $5 {
leading to similar positions as mentioned in the note to White's third move.})
6... Qxf6 7. e4 {Having relinquished the bishop pair, White should play
actively. Black on the other hand will try to catch up on development,
neutralize his opponent's slight initiative and eventually exploit his own
dynamic diagonal duo.} g6 (7... g5 $5 8. Bd3 Bg7 {was Black's choice in Hebden
- Adams, Kilkenny 1999, which was drawn in 19 moves. Funnily enough I remember
checking this game before my first encounter as Black against Hebden , at a
weekend congress in 2003 if I remember correctly. I decided to follow Adams'
example but Mark unsurprisingly had an improvement waiting, and I eventually
lost. Anyway I now consider 7...g5 to be a bit too committal, and Mickey's
choice in the game suggests that he is of the same opinion.}) 8. Bd3 Bg7 9. Nf1
$5 ({The obvious continuation is} 9. O-O O-O {and now perhaps} 10. Qe2 {
, but I was quite attracted by the prospect of stationing the knight on e3.}) (
{I also considered} 9. Nc4 {but was not sure if I wanted to allow} d5 $5 10.
exd5 Bxd5 {when Black is starting to open the position for his bishops, and
will look to prepare ...c5 later.}) 9... c5 $5 {This is a principled reaction,
which aims to question the wisdom of White's last move. Had I castled on the
previous turn, there is no way that Black would have opened the position while
lagging in development and with the d6-square within close reach of the knight.
} 10. Ne3 cxd4 {
If Black delays this then d4-d5 would completely stifle his counterplay.} 11.
cxd4 O-O (11... Nc6 {looks a bit risky due to} 12. e5 Qe7 13. Nc4) 12. O-O {
Diagram #} d6 {Black decides to play solidly and bide his time before
attempting to open the position for his bishops.} ({
The critical continuation was} 12... Nc6 {with two possibilities for White:} {
b)} 13. e5 ({a)} 13. d5 $2 {does not work:} exd5 (13... Nd4 {also looks good})
14. exd5 (14. Nxd5 Qxb2) 14... Ne7 {White is losing a pawn.}) 13... Qe7 14. Nc4
{This was presumably the reason why Adams avoided 12...Nc6. The knight hop to
d6 looks troublesome, but it turns out that Black can obtain a decent game
with the remarkable} d5 $1 {Diagram # . Now a simple knight retreat to e3 or
d2 would give Black a fairly comfortable version of the French, in which he
could eventually look to open the centre with ...f6 to bring his dark-squared
bishop to life. Thus the following two moves are critical:} {b2)} 15. exd6 ({
b1)} 15. Nd6 {runs into the clever tactical shot} Nxd4 $1 16. Nxd4 Bxe5 17.
N6b5 (17. Nxb7 Bxd4 18. Ba6 (18. Bxg6 Bxb2 19. Rb1 Bg7 $17) 18... Bxb2 19. Rb1
Bg7 {Black has three pawns for the piece and the knight on b7 is trapped.})
17... a6 18. Nf3 Bxb2 19. Rb1 Bg7 20. Nbd4 {Black has three pawns for the
piece, backed up by a powerful pair of bishops. His chances should be higher
after something like} e5 21. Re1 Qd6 22. Nb3 Rad8) 15... Qd8 {White is temporar
ily a pawn up, but the d6-pawn is unlikely to survive for much longer. A
possible continuation is} 16. Re1 Na5 $1 17. Nxa5 bxa5 18. Be4 {
White had better exchange at least one of the opponent's dominant bishops.}
Bxe4 19. Rxe4 Qxd6 $15 {Black will exert unpleasant pressure against the
isolated d-pawn and on the queenside.}) 13. Rc1 Qd8 (13... Nc6 $5 {was still an
option, although I somehow sensed that if Black was going to play this move,
he would have done so on the previous turn. This time White reacts with} 14. d5
Nb4 (14... exd5 {is inadvisable due to} 15. Nxd5 Qxb2 (15... Qd8 16. Qd2 $14)
16. Rxc6 Bxc6 17. Ne7+ Kh8 18. Nxc6 Qxa2 {White's minor pieces should be
stronger than Black's rook in this position, mainly due to his control over
the light squares and the numerous outposts available to his pieces.}) 15. Rc7
{when Black must either move a rook to the passive square b8, or exchange the
light-squared bishops, neither of which would suit him very well.}) 14. Qd2 {
I thought for a long time over this move. I felt as though I should be a
little better and searched hard for a way to turn my slight development
advantage into something tangible. Alas there was nothing especiallyconvincing,
so I settled for the text move in conjunction with the following interesting
plan.} ({I would have liked to have played} 14. Qc2 {
with the idea of penetrating to c7, but with the queen on this square} Nc6 $1 {
suddenly turns from a dubious move into a very good one.}) 14... Nd7 15. d5 $5
{I felt I ought to do something purposeful, otherwise Black will continue to
improve his position and gradually exploit his bishop pair. The idea of the
text move is to play against the bishop on b7.} (15. Ng4 {
achieves nothing after} h5 {, as} 16. Nh6+ Kh8 {
looks too risky with the knight trapped on h6.}) 15... Nc5 16. b4 $1 (16. Bb1
a5 {enables Black to stabilize the strong knight, followed by ...Re8 with
annoying pressure in the centre.}) 16... Nxd3 17. Qxd3 {Diagram # I was quite
happy with this position, as the black bishops are doing nothing to hurt me
and I can soon start making inroads on the queenside.} Re8 18. Rfd1 exd5 19.
exd5 (19. Nxd5 {was also quite reasonable, but I decided to obstruct the
b7-bishop as much as possible, as well as maintaining a solid clamp over the
c6-square.}) 19... a6 20. Nd4 ({After the game Mickey suggested} 20. a4 {
which probably would indeed have been a slight improvement.}) 20... b5 {
Now Black at least gets some breathing room on the queenside.} 21. Nc6 Qg5 {
At the moment the position is roughly balanced, with both sides having certain
aces up their sleeves. However, somewhere over the next five or so moves, my
position started to slide downhill.} 22. g3 {
I wanted to claim a bit of kingside territory. The text move is probably okay.}
Bc8 23. Kg2 $6 {But this is not quite right.} (23. f4 $5 {
followed by Re1 would have been a better way of achieving my goal.}) 23... Qh5
24. h4 Bd7 25. Rd2 f5 26. Qe2 Qxe2 27. Rxe2 g5 28. hxg5 hxg5 {Diagram # Now
the position has become slightly unpleasant, but by no means disastrous.} 29.
Rce1 ({The best defence was} 29. f4 $1 gxf4 30. gxf4 Re4 31. Kf3 Rae8 {
With my clock running down I was rather fearful of subjecting myself to such a
pin, but it turns out that White is in no real dangerafter} 32. Rce1) 29... Bc3
30. Rc1 Bf6 $1 {Adams is not merely repeating the position, but instead
retreats his bishop to a superior square where it prevents any tactical tricks
based on a knight fork on e7.} 31. Rce1 Rac8 32. f4 $6 {Objectively this is
not a great move, but with just a few minutes to reach move 40 I did not want
to be worrying constantly about ...f4 ideas.} Bc3 33. Rd1 {Diagram #} g4 $2 {
This move throws away Black's advantage.} ({
The time had come for Black to 'cash in'} 33... gxf4 34. gxf4 Bxc6 35. dxc6
Bxb4 ({but not} 35... Rxc6 $6 {when} 36. Rc1 {is a little awkward}) 36. Kf3
Rxc6 37. Rg2+ Kf7 38. Nd5 {White has a degree of compensation thanks to the
powerful knight on d5. Nevertheless, with two extra pawns Black should be the
favourite.}) 34. Kf2 {By unpinning the knight, White sets up the possibility
of Nxf5, which will make Black think twice about exchanging on c6.} Kf7 {
Now I found a nice manoeuvre:} 35. Rd3 $1 Bf6 36. Ra3 $1 Ra8 ({By now Mickey
was also running rather short of time. He obviously was not satisfied with} 
36... Bxc6 37. dxc6 Rxc6 38. Nxf5 {, although as it happens} Rh8 {
would now transpose to the position reached after move 40 in the game.}) 37.
Nc2 Bxc6 ({The main alternative was} 37... Rec8 38. N2d4 Bxd4+ 39. Nxd4 Rc4 {
This looks troublesome for White, but he has the following nice resource:} 40.
Rae3 $1 Rxd4 41. Re7+ Kf6 42. Rxd7 Rxd5 43. Rh7 {Black has an extra pawn, but
I doubt that he can claim any real winning chances as White's rooks are so
active.}) 38. dxc6 Rec8 39. Ne3 Rxc6 40. Nxf5 Rh8 {Diagram # Move 40 has been
reached, meaning both of us could enjoy the luxury of a proper think.} 41. Kg2
({The immediate} 41. Ne3 {allows} Bd4 {. After the move played I believed I
was better, as Black has three vulnerable pawns, especially the one on g4.
Unfortunately I had missed his next move.}) 41... d5 $1 ({
It was also quite acceptable for Black to play} 41... Kg6 {
, when play continues} 42. Ne3 Re8 43. Rd3 Rc3 44. Rxc3 Bxc3 45. Kf1 Bxb4 46.
Nxg4 {with equality, but this was obviously not the desired outcome for my
opponent. The move played should not give him any real advantage, but it gives
me more chances to go wrong. The d-pawn now becomes a significant force, and
the rook on c6 is free to move along the third rank, setting up potential
pinning motifs.}) 42. Rd3 d4 43. Red2 ({Obviously} 43. Nxd4 $4 {
loses material after} Rd6 {.}) ({However, the subtle} 43. Rd1 $1 {would have
lved all White's problems by preparing Nxd4 and intending to meet the
potential pin along the d-file with Red2 and Nb3.}) 43... Rc3 $1 {By forcing
e exchange of a pair of rooks, Black safeguards his important passed pawn.} 44.
Nd6+ (44. Nxd4 $4 Rxd3 45. Rxd3 Rd8 $19) 44... Ke6 45. Ne4 Rxd3 46. Rxd3 Rd8
47. Kf1 (47. Nxf6 $2 Kxf6 {would be a bad, quite possibly losing rook ending
for White, as the black king penetrates to e4.}) 47... Be7 48. a3 Kf5 49. Nf2
Bf6 50. Ke2 Rc8 51. Kd2 {Diagram # This was the type of fortress position I
had envisaged when playing 45.Ne4. All of the important entry squares are
covered, and zugzwang seems unlikely as the white pieces have plenty of
breathing room.} Rc4 52. Rb3 Bd8 53. Nd3 Be7 54. Nf2 Bf6 {
For the moment Mickey just shuffles around to see if any opportunities turn up.
} 55. Nd1 Rc8 56. Nf2 Rc7 57. Rd3 Rc8 58. Rb3 Bd8 $1 {
Here we see his plan starting to unravel. The bishop is on its way to b6.} 59.
Nd3 Rc7 60. Nf2 $6 ({Missing the opportunity for} 60. Nc5 $1 a5 61. Kd3 {
when White is absolutely fine. I think the problem was that, having mentally
settled for a draw, I was afraid to risk altering what I believed to be a
secure fortress position. It seems ridiculous now as it is obvious that White
is in no danger here, but one does not always see things clearly after a
six-hour battle against a world-class opponent.}) 60... Rc6 61. Rd3 Bb6 $1 {
Now things start to become tricky as ...Rc3 tricks are in the air.} 62. Nd1 $6
{Diagram #} ({I should have preferred} 62. Kd1 {
but had completely overlooked Black's next move.}) 62... a5 $1 {
Perfect timing! Now White is under real pressure.} 63. Nf2 (63. bxa5 $2 Bxa5+
64. Ke2 Rc2+ 65. Kf1 Ke4 {is no good for White.}) 63... Rc4 64. Ke2 $1 {
Having mentally cursed myself for getting into such a mess, it was time to
look for a solution.} ({This move cost me several valuable minutes, but it was
worth it to determine that} 64. bxa5 $2 {
would, in all likelihood, fail to hold the game after} Bxa5+ 65. Ke2 ({or} 65.
Kd1 Bc3 {followed by ...Ra4-xa3}) 65... Rc2+ 66. Kf1 Bc3 {
when Black's pieces are too active and the a3-pawn will not survive for long.})
64... axb4 65. axb4 Rxb4 66. Rd2 $1 {
It was important to prevent any checks along the second rank.} Rb3 67. Nd3 {
Although losing a pawn was a bad thing for White, it did bring two advantages.
Firstly, it meant that I no longer had to worry about defending my weak
queenside pawns! And secondly, the opening of the queenside files gave my rook
some much needed activity.} b4 68. Ra2 Ke4 69. Ra8 $1 {Judging from Mickey's
reaction, I suspect he had overlooked this. (We were both short of time by now,
with less than five minutes each to complete the game.)} Rc3 70. Re8+ Kd5 71.
Rb8 Kc4 72. Nxb4 $5 {Diagram # The computer does not like this, but from a
practical perspective it was surely the best chance.} Kxb4 $2 {After this I am
pretty sure the position is a technical draw, although it was still necessary
to find some good moves.} ({Best was} 72... Bc7 $1 73. Rb7 Bd6 74. Nc6 Rxg3 {
when Black's two passed pawns, combined with his more active pieces, should be
enough to ensure the victory.}) 73. Rxb6+ Kc5 74. Rb8 Rxg3 75. f5 $1 {
It is essential to advance this pawn without delay. I knew that if I could win
the black g-pawn in return for the f-pawn, then the resulting ending a pawn
down would be an easy draw, so it is up to Black to prevent this fromhappening.
} d3+ ({
Slightly more challenging, but still ultimately insufficient to win, was} 75...
Rf3 76. Rg8 Rf4 77. f6 Kc4 {Diagram #} 78. Kd2 $1 ({The trap was} 78. f7 $2
Rxf7 79. Rxg4 Kc3 {and thanks to the unfavourable position of White's pieces,
he is unable to draw.}) 78... Rf2+ 79. Ke1 Rxf6 80. Rxg4 Kc3 81. Rg8 {
with a theoretically drawn ending.}) 76. Kd2 Kd4 77. f6 Rg2+ 78. Kd1 Rf2 {
Diagram #} 79. Rd8+ ({Black was hoping for} 79. Rg8 $4 Rxf6 80. Rxg4+ Kc3 $19)
79... Ke5 80. Re8+ $1 {Taking advantage of the potential skewer to force the
king to an unfavourable position.} Kd5 81. Rg8 $1 {
Thanks to the position of the king on d5 instead of d4, this now draws.} (81.
Rd8+ Ke6 82. Rxd3 Kxf6 83. Ke1 {is also drawing, but the text is simpler.})
81... Rf4 82. f7 Rxf7 83. Rxg4 Rf2 84. Rh4 Kc5 85. Rg4 Rc2 86. Rh4 Rc4 87.
Rxc4+ Kxc4 88. Kd2 Kd4 {Diagram # Fortunately, after almost seven hours I
could still just about remember how to draw this one.} 89. Kd1 Ke3 90. Ke1 d2+
91. Kd1 Kd3 {As I mentioned at the start, this was my first encounter with a
2700 at a classical time control, and needless to say I was delighted to
achieve a result, especially after having been on the brink of defeat. Even
better, it kept me on track for a first GM norm, which I succeeded in
obtaining after scoring a draw and a win in the final two games.} 1/2-1/2

