[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Andy Samuelson"]
[Black "John MacArthur"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Samuelson,A"]
[ECO "B90"]
[EventDate "2001.??.??"]
[PlyCount "103"]

{ _I know you are very anxious to see my next U.S. Open game, but I must admonish: patience, patience!  We are going to have a break this week with a guest annotator, who submitted a very interesting game to me with notes (and who is also a strong chessplayer and a friend - not all submissions will be published!).  My comments are in-between underscores, but they are maybe not too substantive, as I consider this my week off.  Enjoy!_ } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 { _Apparently black was unaware that this opening is Andy's "bread and butter".  Now his survival chances are minimal! Seriously, opening choice plays a big part of success in chess, but of course if black didn't know his opponent, which is the usual case in US swisses anyway, then he was just unlucky._ } 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. Be2 h5 11. Bxg4 hxg4 ( 11... Bxg4 { _was played in the very important heavyweight game Anand-Kasparov, Frankfurt, 1998.  In my (Hartwig's) opinion, the game is an excellent model of how to handle of how to handle this alternative line.  In fact, I may be posting it to my site one of these weeks with notes!_ } 12. f3 Bd7 13. Bf2 Nc6 14. Qd2 Ne5 15. b3 e6 16. Nde2 Rc8 17. Bd4 b5 18. Nd1 Rg8 19. Ne3 a5 20. O-O-O a4 21. Kb1 axb3 22. cxb3 Ra8 23. Bc3 Ra6 24. Nc2 Bf8 25. Nb4 Ra8 26. Nd4 Be7 27. Rhe1 Qc8 28. Bb2 Qb7 29. Ndc2 f6 30. Nd4 h4 31. g3 g4 32. f4 Nf3 33. Nxf3 gxf3 34. f5 hxg3 35. hxg3 Rxg3 36. Qh2 Rg5 37. Bc1 Rg7 38. Qh5+ Rf7 39. Qxf3 { 1-0; _Yeah, it's probably a bit early to toss it in, but Kasparov's position is definitely unappealing.  White gets the d5-square and black's pawn structure has no dynamism left. Compare with black's late resignation in the text game!_ } ) 12. Qd2 $5 { 12.0-0 first is more common. } 12... Qb6 $6 ( 12... Nc6 13. Nb3 Be6 14. Rd1 $11 ) 13. Nb3 $5 ( 13. O-O-O { is also possible and may be stronger.  _Andy discussed this possibility with me when he showed me the game.  At first I was of the opinion that it is obviously correct, and in fact makes 12...Qb6 look a bit silly.  Compare, for example, to the Poisoned pawn - black plays 7...Qb6 before O-O-O is possible in order to force 8.Nb3.  However, returning to the game, we reached the conclusion that 13.O-O-O Nc6 leaves nothing better than 14.Nb3 anyway.  Therefore 12...Qb6 looks reasonable and white's response is also not clearly worse than 13.O-O-O._ } 13... Nc6 14. Nd5 Qxd4 15. Nc7+ Kd8 16. Qxd4 Bxd4 17. Nxa8 Be6 { _This is the variation we had found if white tries to avoid 14.Nb3 which, in any case, is fine for black._ } ) 13... a5 $6 14. Qxg5 ( 14. O-O-O { is again possible, but I decided to grab a pawn. } ) 14... Bxc3+ ( 14... Kf8 $2 15. Qxe7+ $1 Kxe7 16. Nd5+ Kd8 17. Nxb6 Ra6 18. Nxc8 $18 ) 15. bxc3 a4 $2 { _By the way, black's idea is ...Ra5-h5, which is realized in the game.  However, it turns out to be useless because h2 is extremely solid._ } ( 15... Qc6 16. Qe3 $14 ) 16. Nd4 Ra5 17. Qd2 Nd7 18. O-O Rah5 $6 { The rook has no future here. } 19. Nf5 $1 R5h7 20. Qd4 Qa5 21. Qb4 { _I'm not certain if this is the best move - the queen seemed well-placed in the center.  However, it is associated with a very clear tactical idea.  White wanted to clear the d-file for a rook and consider sacks on d6.  21...Qxb4 might even be worth considering although it is pretty desperate._ } 21... Qa6 22. Rfd1 { With the idea of 23.Nxe7! Kxe7 24.Rxd6 +- winning the Black Queen. } 22... f6 23. Rd4 Nc5 $6 24. Rxd6 $6 ( 24. Bxd6 exd6 25. Nxd6+ $18 { but I was worried about leaving h2 hanging. } ) 24... exd6 25. Nxd6+ Kd7 26. Qxc5 Qc6 27. Qd4 Ke7 28. e5 f5 29. Qb4 Ke6 30. Rd1 Rd8 31. Qf4 Rh5 32. c4 $5 { With the idea of 33.Qd2 and 34.Qd5+. _By the way, this type of move is a lot harder to find than the routine central sack earlier in the game (not hard to find, just to calculate to the correct conclusion).  And in my opinion it is probably the strongest idea._ } 32... Qe4 $2 { This allows white to force a good endgame. } 33. Qd2 Qc6 34. Qd5+ Qxd5 35. cxd5+ Ke7 36. Rb1 Kf8 37. Rb4 Rh7 38. Rxa4 Rc7 39. c4 Rc5 40. Bh4 $2 { This allows Black to win the c-pawn after sacking on d6. _The full '?' might be a little harsh but he is correct that 40.Bh4 is probably not the most precise.  Instead Fritz gives 40. e6, which looks devastating._ } 40... Rxd6 41. exd6 b5 42. Be7+ Ke8 43. Ra7 Rxc4 ( { Forced, as } 43... bxc4 44. d7+ $1 { wins. } ) 44. h4 gxh3 45. gxh3 f4 46. Bf6 Bxh3 $2 { This loses the bishop. 46...Bd7 was more prudent. } 47. Re7+ Kf8 ( { If } 47... Kd8 48. Rh7+ { wins the Bishop. } ) 48. d7 Bxd7 ( { Black should at least try } 48... Rc1+ 49. Kh2 Bxd7 50. Rxd7 Rc2 { winning a pawn back. _I disagree.  Black should resign._ } ) 49. Rxd7 Ra4 50. Rb7 Rxa2 51. d6 Rd2 52. d7 1-0