Patrick O'Sullivan (1856) vs Yelizaveta Orlova (2040)

This is my first round game at the Hart House Summer Open last weekend, and as the tournament turned out rather unfortunately for me, it happened to be my only well played game from beginning to end.  I wanted to steer the game into a positional battle because I know it is quite common of young chess players to attack viciously.

Patrick O'Sullivan (1856) vs Yelizaveta Orlova (2040)

1.e4 c5-  A solemn reminder that I will not get away with my positional intentions without grappling with the fighting spirit of my opponent.  I always hate to see the Sicilian, but I believe my results against it are pretty good.
2.Nf3 Nc6- I saw this system a lot on the weekend, not only on my board.  I guess there may be a trend of Sicilian players using the line to cut down opponents in the early stages of the game based on an offbeat move stemming from the move 2...Nc6.
3.d4-  I very slightly considered the Rossolimo, but I need to do a lot more work on it before I can play it; especially against this caliber of opponent.
3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6!?-  Though I have not played a lot of tournament chess, I assume this is rarely seen.  I was especially wary of this move because of the way IM Noritsyn crushed me with an opening tactic in the Accelerated Dragon based on his queen sitting on b6.
5.Nb3 g6-  Looks like it's an Accelerated Dragon, and huge pressure will come now on b2 because my knight no longer stands bravely on d4.
6.c3!?-  Certainly offbeat and out of book.  I played this partly to begin a positional game- even at the cost of initiative, but I was also terrified of a line like 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be2 Qb4 with the idea of taking off my knight and grabbing the e4 pawn, but it turns out white is much better because the queen move is wasted in view of 8.Bd2 Bxc3? 9.Bxc3 Qxe4 10.Bxh8.  I suppose I was just not ready to actually calculate things, but in retrospect I would still rather play an equal position with c3 than one that holds a slight edge for white while allowing a lot of tactics to hang in the air.  I know it is wrong to look at player ratings when choosing a plan, but chances are that a 2040 has a significant edge over me in the calculation department.
6...Bg7 7.Be3 Qc7 8.f3- I want to play my knight to a3, but I can't decide if I should play a4 first in order to discourage the a6 and b5 plan thematic of most Sicilian positions.  Instead of choosing a path, I played 8.f3 which is a solid move in all Sicilian structures.  I am going to wait and see what direction my opponent takes.
8...Nf6 9.Na3-  Of course, she plays nothing radical and I have really gotten no extra information, but I decide that my knight must be developed and that a4 instead could potentially leave me vulnerable to pins on the long diagonal with moves like ...Nb4 or ...b4 and my b2 pawn would be under fire by the g7-bishop should I choose to capture on b4.  9.Na3 forces 9...a6 and it could soon be headed to d4 via c2.  I felt this was a better plan than 9.Nd2, because on a3 the knight has more prospects.
9...a6 10.Qd2 d6-  Now I can relax just a bit, knowing that it will be a while before the pawn is pushed to d5.
11.Be2 b5 12.Nc2-  Stopping any dream of an immediate ...b4 whilst keeping the position closed.  I had no intention of playing 12.c4, even though 12...bxc4 13.Nxc4 looks very impressive for white.  I am starting to think that I am too timid, as already twice in this game I have been satisfied to show black equality for the mere prospect of a maneuvering game.
12...Ne5 13.Nbd4- Getting out of the way of the b-pawn (c-pawn?) early before 13...Nc4 14.Bxc4 bxc4.
13...Bb7 14.O-O d5-  Stable equality has been reached for black now, and her piece activity could push the game from equal to advantageous for her.
15.exd5 Nxd5

Looks like it will be difficult for white to prove any advantage.  His only winning chance is on the queenside in the endgame, while black can still try for a middlegame victory.
  
16.Bh6 O-O 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.f4!-  I award this an exclamation mark because I have finally amassed the courage to step past the third rank to try to bend the initiative back in my direction.  This move initiates a forcing sequence of exchanges that takes most of the danger out of white's game.
18...Nc4 19.Bxc4 Qxc4-  I thought 19...bxc4 was better to put long term pressure on b2.  The idea I thought black should use is to remove the minor pieces and pile up on the b-file, while white would be effectively defaulted into piling up on the c4 pawn.  A b-for-c trade would leave black with the only chances because white's queenside would be unsalvageable.
20.Ne3 Qc5 21.Nxd5 Qxd5 22.Nf3?-  It was unwise to hand the d-file to black uncontested, as now I have a lot of central problems to negotiate with before I can march my queenside.
22...Rfd8 23.Qxd5 Rxd5 24.Rfe1-  A strong move, setting up a 2nd rank+e-file defense with the king and rooks that may be impenetrable.
24...e6-  Not 24...Rf5 25.Nd4 Rxf4 26.Rxe7 with advantage to white.
25.Kf2 Rad8 26.Re3 Rf5 27.g3 Bxf3 28.Kxf3 g5-  The problem with this line is that the isolated f-pawn created cannot ever be attacked more than once, while it can be perpetually defended by white's king.
29.Rae1 gxf4 30.gxf4 Rd2 31.R1e2

H

How does black break the coordination of the white rooks?

31...Rd1 32.Re1 Rdd5 33.Re5 Kf6 34.R5e4 Ke7-  In order to keep the game alive, black has to pursue a queenside rush.
35.Re5-  I offered a draw here, but it was declined because black has one more idea.
35...Kd6 36.Rxf5-  Now that the king cannot capture on f5, I can get a pair of rooks off in order to reduce black's activity.
36...Rxf5 37.Re2 Kd5 38.Rd2+ Kc5 39.Rd8-  Maybe inaccurate because I have to waste time getting back to protect h2 if ...Rh5 is played.
39...a5-  Black begins to threaten the queenside.  This is the downside of 22.Nf3 as I had no initiative left to pursue my own queenside plans.
40.Ke4 Rh5 41.Rd2 b4-  My opponent suggested after the game that 41...a4 is a better try as it prompts 42.a3 Kc4 with ...Kb3 coming, but the reality may be that nothing can be done to the b2 pawn as long as the white rook stands on the 2nd rank.
42.cxb4+ axb4 1/2-1/2-  The draw was offered by black and agreed upon here because all the white pawns are defended.  I successfully achieved my goal of a positional game, but some slight timidity cost me a chance at advantage.  With a few improvements to my play I really could have put some endgame heat on black.

The final position.  1/2-1/2.

Hart House Summer Open Results

Just before I begin, I would like to say that I am going to continue with the Bg5 after ...Bd6 article soon, but I felt I should talk about the Hart House Summer Open.  It was a fun tournament and a good environment, and the only real drawback was the fact that the chairs provided in the playing hall were creaky and uncomfortable.  This gave me slight back discomfort, but I kept it under control with some Tylenol.

In terms of results, the tournament was my first real setback, as I finished a very scary -3, with 2 draws and 3 losses.  I should say that I was facing some difficult competition though, as all but one of my opponents were rated higher than me, and the lower rated opponent, Ferdinand Cale, was rated at 1829, and from looking at his rating history, he seems to be consistently on the rise.  However, I had a very legitimate chance to win each of the games that I lost and even one that I drew.  I know that is a foolish thing to say at my level because the evaluation often swings between white's favour and black's, but aside from a few foolish mistakes, I could have held a comfortable advantage in each of the games but the first.  Interestingly, the first game proved to be my only promising result as I drew the #2 seed Yelizaveta Orlova (2040) with the white pieces in a tricky Sicilian that I did my best to shift from a tactical affair into a positional one.  I like this approach in Sicilian games because my opponents are often looking for quick knockouts, and I can really frustrate them with some slow stuff.  I don't have time to show the game right now, but I will surely get it posted soon.

I expect that the experience that I received from being beaten up in this tournament will encourage me to keep my head on straight all the way to the end of the games and to take a more aggressive approach when choosing moves.  I am writing this before the results of the tournament are being published, so when I post my game against Yelizaveta Orlova I will also announce the results.