English Opening
[Event "Marshal Club Championship"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2009.12.19"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Panchanathan, Magesh"]
[Black "Rohde, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2541"]
[BlackElo "2450"]
[Annotator ",Microsoft"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2009.12.11"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 { There it is, transposing the game into an English opening } 2...c5 ( 2...g6 { This can transpose into a King's Indian or the Grunfeld defense } ) ( 2...e6 { This can transpose into one of the following, Nimzo Indian, Queen's
Indian or the Catalan Defense based on white's response } ) 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 { this early bishop fianchetto for black gives black a good opportunity to
challenge the white bishop on g2. Delaying the knight development to c6 also
makes sure that when white plays d4, recapturing the pawn with the Knight on
f3 would mean a bishop trade } 5.O-O e6 6.d4 ( 6.d3 { is also a possible
alternative here, but the possibility of opening up the position and taking
control of the center with d4 looked more appealing to me } ) ( 6.Nc3 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 9.Rd1 a6 10.b3 Nbd7 ) 6...cxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.Nc3 a6 9.Rd1 Be7 10.b3 Nbd7 11.Be3 O-O 12.Rac1 Qc7 13.h3 Rac8 14.g4 Rfd8 15.g5 Nh5 ( 15...Ne8 16.h4 g6 17.h5 { gives good scope for white's kingside play } ) 16.Nh2 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Qb7+ 18.f3 f5 ( 18...b5 19.Qh4 g6 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Qb4 Rb8 22.Ng4 ) 19.gxf6 Nhxf6 20.Ng4 b5 21.cxb5 axb5 22.Qb4 Rb8 23.Bf4 { Both
white and black have interesting pawn formations here, but white's active
pieces gives him a tiny edge } 23...Nxg4?! ( 23...e5 24.Bg5 Nxg4 25.Qxg4 Bxg5 26.Qxg5 Nf6 ) 24.hxg4 { Now white's pawn formation has become more solid } 24...Nc5 25.Be3 Rdc8 26.g5 { trying to create threats on the 'h' file } 26...Bf8 27.Qg4 Qf7 28.Rh1 d5?? ( 28...Qg6 { White has managed to build a solid position, but
black nevertheless does not have any clear weakness to be launched upon, and
hence black still holds good after this move. } ) 29.Rxh7 { A simple trick that
my opponent missed due to lack of time } 29...Qg6 ( 29...Kxh7 30.Rh1+ Kg8 31.g6 ) 30.Rch1 Nd7 31.Nxd5 Rc2 32.Nf4 Ne5 33.Nxg6 Nxg4 34.fxg4 Bd6 35.Nf4 Kf7 36.g6+ Kf6 37.Nh5+ Ke5 38.Bf4+ Ke4 39.Bxd6 Rd8 40.Ng3+
1-0
