[Event "4NCL"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grant, D."]
[Black "Stewart, J."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B23"]
[Annotator "J.Stewart"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2010.05.26"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {I had been "reliably" informed that I would get a c3 sicilian,
so this move wasted a whole 10 minutes of preparation and leaves me to play my
own moves for the rest of the game.} Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {I have been criticised for
this move, but justify it on the basis that I would like to play c4 if
possible and the a6 pawn helps support the chain when I play b5.} 4. Bxc6 dxc6
5. d3 e5 6. f4 exf4 {I felt that my light square bishop would be able to
defend the potential weak spot f7, therefore, opening up the f-file was not as
major a threat as it might be in other such positions.} 7. Bxf4 Be6 8. Nf3 Be7
9. O-O Nf6 {White cannot seek to remove the bishop pair via Ng5 here as it is
met by Bg4 followed by h6.} 10. Qd2 {In order to play the aforementioned Ng5.}
h6 11. a4 a5 {An ugly looking move, but necessary, as White is trying to apply
pressure onto the weak c5 pawn. If he can get the pawn to a5 himself his
chances of a win improve significantly as he can play Na4 and it is no longer
possible to defend the c-pawn by b6.} 12. h3 g5 13. Be5 Rg8 14. d4 {Black now n
eeds to play very actively as White has a strong control over the centre and
is threatening to play d5 and d6 with a comfortable advantage.} Bc4 15. Rfe1 g4
16. hxg4 Nxg4 17. d5 Bh4 $5 {A troublesome move for White, it is quite a
complicated position now and capturing the bishop leads to some unpleasant
looking attacks by Black eg Nxh4 Qxh4 and Black is able to castle to safety on
the queenside and maintain a strong initiative.} 18. Qf4 Bf2+ {I thought it
might be handy to leave myself a potential check on f2 with the knight later.}
19. Kh1 Bxe1 20. Rxe1 f6 $2 {In my excitement in getting an advantage against
a superior opponent I commit a blunder and allow a strong counter attack,
thinking this bishop is trapped.} 21. Bc7 Qd7 22. e5 Qxc7 23. exf6+ Kd8 24. f7
{At this point it seems as if I was lost-the White queen being en prise is
irrelevant as White can capture the rook and instantly regain it and also pick
up the Black rook on a8. However, I did remember my check on f2 was available
and made a combination out of it.} Qxf4 ({Most distressingly, after feeding
the game into Fritz, it was in agreement with almost all of my moves (a rarity
in itself) apart from one, move 24! If Black had played} 24... Nf2+ 25. Kg1 (
25. Kh2 Qxf4+ $19) 25... Rxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Qxf4 {and now the rook is not there to
be captured and the queening square on f8 is covered by the Black queen,
therefore leaving Black with a won position. Regardless, the perpetual
combination is still one of my greatest ever escapes from defeat and worthy of
some note in its own right.}) 25. fxg8=Q+ {
Interestingly this is also the longest bit of notation possible.} Kc7 26. Qxa8
Nf2+ ({After} 26... Nf2+ {"Why would White accept a draw when a rook up" I
hear you demand. Well the answer is because after} 27. Kg1 Nh3+ 28. Kh1 ({
and if} 28. gxh3 Qg3+ 29. Kh1 Qxf3+ 30. Kg1 Qg3+ 31. Kh1 Qxe1+ {
and the position is strong for Black.}) 28... Nf2+ {is a repetition.}) 1/2-1/2

