1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 The French Defense.
3. Nc3 Bb4 Winawer Variation.
4. e5 c5 5. Bd2 A rare solid line for White in the Winawer. I adopted it after seeing John Curdo play it.
5. a3 is more popular and leads to a strategically sharp position.
5... Ne7 6. Nb5 6. f4 is another possibility here.
6... Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 After this exchange, the game is more like a Classical French (3...Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7) than a Winawer.
7... O-O 8. dxc5 Nd7 9. Qc3 f6 !? Black is willing to play the gambit.
9... a6 10. Nd6 Qc7 would win back the pawn, but may not equalize.
10. f4 This risky move is not in my database. It allows Black to open the f-file and isolate the e5 pawn. Still I cannot say for sure it is inferior to the alternatives.
10. exf6
10. Nf3
10... fxe5 11. fxe5 Nc6 12. Nf3 a6 12... b6 13. cxb6 Qxb6 makes the loss of a pawn even clearer, but also gains real compensation.
13. Nbd4 (?) But this returns the pawn and advantage to Black. Better was
13. Nd6
13... Ndxe5 14. O-O-O Qf6 The queen may come under fire here.
14... Nxf3 15. Nxf3 b6 gets right to the point of opening lines on the queenside.
15. Be2 Bd7 16. Kb1 Ng4 17. Rhf1 Qh6 18. Rd3 Nce5 18... Nf6 -e4 looks strong.
19. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 20. Bxf1 Nxe5 21. Rg3 Rf8 22. Be2 22. Nf3
22... Qf6 22... Qxh2
23. Bf3 Nc6 24. Nxc6 Qxc3 (?)
24... Bxc6 leaves Black with the better pawn structure and the better game.
25. Ne7+ Kf7 26. bxc3 Kxe7 27. Rxg7+ Rf7 28. Rxf7+ Kxf7 So White has won a pawn, but what about the horrible looking triple isolated c-pawns? I have often found young players to be much more willing to gambit pawns than to ruin their pawn structure, but usually it is better to have a weak pawn than no pawn.
29. c4 (!) This proves my point. White liquidates one of the weakies.
29... Bc6 29... dxc4 30. Bxb7 wins the Bd7 for the double isolated but passed c-pawn!
30. Kb2 Kf6 30... dxc4 31. Bxc6 bxc6 32. Kc3 Kf6 33. Kxc4 Ke5 34. Kd3 Kd5 35. g4
31. Kc3 a5 ?? The losing move. The center is important in the opening, but can be critical in the endgame.
31... Ke5 32. cxd5 Bxd5 33. Bxd5 Kxd5 34. Kd3 Kxc5 35. Ke4
32. cxd5 exd5 33. Kd4 Ke6 White hold all of the trumps in this ending: Better king, bishop and extra outside passed pawn. There are numerous winning methods, but he uses one where technique alleviates the necessity for long (and sometimes wrong) calculations.
34. h4 34. c4 dxc4 35. Bxc6 bxc6 36. Kxc4 Ke5 37. g4 Kf4 38. Kd4 Kxg4 39. Ke5 also wins.
34... Kf5 35. g3 h6 36. a3 a4 37. c3 Kf6 38. g4 38. c4 dxc4 39. Bxc6 bxc6 40. g4
38... Ke6 39. Bg2 Kf6 40. Bxd5 Bd7 41. g5+ hxg5 42. hxg5+ Kxg5 43. Bxb7 and the c-pawns prevail
1-0
Aldi, Dave