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y<br />
Michael Lee<br />
The<br />
World<br />
Open<br />
14. ...Ng6 15. g3<br />
Preventing ...Nf4.<br />
15. ...g4<br />
15. ...f4? 16. g4 +/-.<br />
due to his inability to attack on the locked<br />
kingside.<br />
20. Rb1 a5 21. Nb5<br />
Tightening White’s grip on Black’s<br />
position. 21. a3 a4! is unclear.<br />
21. ...Ra6!?<br />
To allow ...Bd7.<br />
22. Qf2 Bd7 23. Rf1 Nh8<br />
23. ...Qe7 24. Nc7 Rb6 25. Nb1 +/-.<br />
Coming into this round on plus one (4.5/<br />
8), having just drawn a crushing game<br />
against Marc Esserman, I thought I’d have<br />
to win with black to secure the norm, given<br />
that the average rating of my opponents was<br />
about 2410(FIDE). GM Bhat had a bit of a<br />
rough tournament, but still was a formidable<br />
opponent, and the fourth GM I faced as black<br />
(the fifth GM in all). Knowing that Vinay is<br />
more of a positional player, I chose to play<br />
the King’s Indian, an aggressive and<br />
unbalanced opening. However, he played an<br />
interesting sideline, and I was left with a<br />
position which I could only hope to draw.<br />
After a few errors by my opponent, I held a<br />
difficult endgame, and then found out I had<br />
earned my first IM norm!<br />
Vinay Bhat – Michael Lee<br />
World Open, Round 9<br />
Philadephia, Pennsylvania, July 5, 2009<br />
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6<br />
5. Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3<br />
7. 0-0 is the main line.<br />
16. fxg4<br />
I was hoping for 16. exf5 gxf3 17. fxg6<br />
fxe2 18. gxh7+ Kh8 19. Qxe2 Bh3 20. Rfe1<br />
Ng4 21. Nde4 Bh6 with compensation.<br />
Despite being two pawns down, Black has<br />
locked up White’s position and is prepared<br />
to double rooks on the f-file.<br />
16. ...Nxg4<br />
16. ...f4!?.<br />
17. Bxg4 fxg4 18. Be3! +=<br />
Preventing ...Bh6. Here, I realized that<br />
any kingside attack would be useless, and I<br />
would have to try to defend the queenside<br />
to hold a draw.<br />
18. ...Rxf1+ 19. Qxf1?!<br />
24. Nb1!<br />
Black has no counterplay, and can only<br />
try to defend the position. His only hope lies<br />
in the blocked position.<br />
24. ...h6 25. N1c3 Bc8 26. Bd2 Qe7<br />
With the idea of an eventual ...b6, Ra8-<br />
b8-b7.<br />
27. b3 Nf7<br />
7. ...Ng4 8. Bg5 f6 9. Bh4 Nc6 10. d5<br />
28. Qxf7+?!<br />
Ne7 11. Nd2 Nh612. f3 g5!?<br />
A slight misplay, allowing ...c5. 19. Nxf1<br />
Played quickly; White tries to force<br />
12. ...c5 is more popular.<br />
c5?! 20. dxc6 bxc6 21. c5 +=.<br />
things. 28. a3 +/- planning to break through<br />
13. Bf2 f5 14. 0-0!?<br />
on the queenside: 28. ...b6?? 29. Qxf7+ +-.<br />
19. ...c5!<br />
A rare variation that promises White a<br />
28. ...Qxf7 29.Rxf7 Kxf7 30. Nc7<br />
Otherwise c5 and Black slowly loses,<br />
slight but definite edge. 14. c5 is usual.<br />
The idea: the rook is trapped, and White<br />
Page 22 <strong>Northwest</strong> <strong>Chess</strong> August 2009
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