[Event "2nd Afro-Asian Email Finals"]
[Site "Email"]
[Date "2000.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Matthew Paul, Santhosh"]
[Black "Mekki, Samraoui"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Santhosh Matthew Paul"]
[ECO "C35"]
[EventDate "2000.??.??"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[Source "Mikhail Golubev"]
[SourceDate "2000.11.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 $5 { The opening choice calls for some comment. Why play the
Kings Gambit ? Well, I wanted to avoid the heavily-analysed mainstream theory
in the Ruy Lopez and the Petroff, where it seems to me that White does a lot
of huffing and puffing with just a miniscule plus to show for his efforts. The
KG is far from being on the cutting edge of opening theory today, which is a
blessing in disguise: one can examine positions at leisure without being
bombarded by a series of TN's from contemporary GM practice. At the same time,
there is a kind of renewed interest in this opening today. GM's like
Morozovech, Fedorov, Yuldashev, Grischuk etc. play it quite often. } 2... exf4 3. Nf3 Be7 { The Cunningham Variation. Strangely, the Cunningham was my
favourite defence to the KG during the days when I used to answer 1. e4 with 1.
..e5, based on a recommendation in an old MCO } 4. Bc4 { The Bishop looks down
the Italian diagonal, eyeing the soft spot f7: an ancient idea. 4. Nc3 is also
possible } 4... Nf6 5. e5 { Not 5. Nc3 ? Nxe4 ! } 5... Ng4 6. d4 { One of the
behind the Gambit: White gets a central majority 6. 0-0 is also played } 6... d5 7. Bb3 { A tough decision ! The regular line is 7. exd6, giving White an edge.
The text is a rare, highly aggressive continuation. I first saw the text move
in Fedorov-Soldatenkov Petrov Memorial 1996, 1-0, 38 moves. The idea of
maintaining the d4-e5 wedge in the centre appealed to me, as also the idea of
maintaining the tension in the centre } 7... Bh4+ ( 7... Ne3 8. Bxe3 fxe3 9. O-O $14 { Fedorov-Soldatenkov Petrov Memorial 1996, 1-0, 38 moves } ) 8. Kf1 b6 9. Qe2 $8 { As far as I can see, this paradoxical move that voluntarily aligns the
Queen and King along the same diagonal as the enemy Bishop, is the only move.
The 'c4' point mustbebolstered } ( 9. Bxf4 $2 Ba6+ 10. c4 dxc4 11. Ba4+ b5 12. Nc3 bxa4 13. Qxa4+ c6 { 0-1, 25 moves, Kramer-Euwe, Netherlands, 1941 } ) 9... a5 $1 { A finesse. The 'a6' Bishop is now protected by the 'a8' Rook,
which becomes significant in some lines. Moroever, no loss of time is incurred,
because of the threat of 10...a4, trapping the Bishop on b3 } 10. a4 $6 { A reflex action. 10. a3 ! avoiding the hole on b4, looks correct. I thought
the Queen Knight might want to emerge on a3, realising only later that 'c3'
was the right square for it. I also considered here the wildly speculative 10..
.g3 } 10... Ba6 11. c4 { The centre is now in an interesting state of tension.
Black cannot trade pawns, for that would mean giving up the centre } 11... Bg5 12. Nc3 c6 13. g3 { Time to evacuate the King to 'g2' } 13... Ne3+ 14. Bxe3 fxe3 15. Ba2 { Essentially, a waiting move. I wanted to see how Black would proceed
with his deployment. } 15... O-O 16. Kg2 Bh6 17. Rhf1 Qe7 $1 18. Nh4 g6 19. Qg4 Kh8 20. cxd5 $5 { An exchange sacrifice to occupy the centre and take
charge of the White squares. } 20... Bxf1+ 21. Rxf1 Qb4 22. e6 ( 22. d6 ) 22... Qxb2+ $2 { My opponent confessed after the game that he was writing exams
during this period and that this move was "too optimistic". He felt that maybe
22...Ra7 !? was winning. I think he is right. 23. Rxf7 Raxf7 24. exf7 Rxf7 25.
dxc6 Rf2+ 26. Kh3 Nxc6 and here White can try 27. Nxg6+ or 27. Qc8+ or 27. Qe6,
but Black seems to come out on top each time. It turns out that the Queen is
ideally positioned on b4, covering e7 defensively and looking for an opportune
moment to take on b2. Note that 10. a3 would have covered the 'b4'square } 23. Kh3 Ra7 24. Qe4 $1 { I had thought 24. Rxf7 would give me a mating attack, but
a deeper look revealed that Black's defences were adequate. The text move was
the result of a new search ! } 24... f5 25. Qe5+ Rg7 26. e7 Re8 { INSERT DIAGRAM. } 27. Nxf5 $1 { Crashing through ! } ( 27. d6 $4 g5 $3 { idea 28. g4++ wins ! } ) 27... e2 28. Rb1 Qxc3 { The draw comes after: 29.
Nxh6 Qf3 30. d6 Qf1+ 31. Kg4 Nd7 32. Qe6 Qd1 33. Nf7+ Rxf7 34. Qxf7 e1=Q+ 35.
Rxd1 Qxd1+ with a perpetual. My opponent wrote afterwards that this was "the
most interesting game of the tournament". Certainly, this was good, fighting
chess ! } 1/2-1/2