[Event "Mechanics Masters"]
[Site "San Francisco CA USA"]
[Date "1997.12.06"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Izumakawa, Burt"]
[Black "Schiller, Eric"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Schiller Eric"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[ECO "D32"]
[Remark ""]
[Source ""]
[WhiteElo "0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 cxd4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Qxd5 Nc6 { The Schara Gambit is one of my favorite openings. } 8. Qd1 Nf6 9. e3 Bc5 10. Nf3 Qe7 11. Bb5 O-O { In the past, queenside castling was considered better, so that a pawn storm
could be used on the kingside. But Black's fortress on the queenside is a bit
airy, and I prefer kingside castling. It is more comfortable to attack when your king is safe. } 12. O-O Rfd8 { Better 12...Rad8. I realized later that rooks belong at e8 and d8. Typical wrong rook move! } 13. Qe2 Bg4 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. b3 Nd7 16. h3 Bh5 17. Bb2 Bd6 18. Nb1 { Intending Nd2. Probably 18.Rfd1 was better. } 18... Be5 19. g4 Bg6 20. Nc3 h5 21. Rfd1 hxg4 { Opening the h-file is very double-edged! } 22. hxg4 Bc7 23. Kg2 $1 Nf6 24. Nd4 Re8 $1 { To discourage any advance of the f-pawn. This is why the rook should have been at e8 all along. } 25. Rh1 Qd7 26. Rh4 c5 27. Rah1 Nh7 { The defensive plan is ...f6, ...Ng5 and the initiative comes back to me. } 28. Nf5 Rad8 29. Qf3 f6 30. Rd1 { Last move of time control (30/90), with 17 seconds left. Izumakawa has been in deep time pressure for the last 7 moves. } 30... Qe6 31. Rxd8 Rxd8 32. Ne4 { ? } ( 32. Qb7 $1 { and the position is still a mess. } ) 32... Rd5 $1 { A dangerous square for the rook, with lots of tricks involving Ne7 to calculate. } 33. Nc3 { ?! } ( 33. Ba3 Bxf5 34. gxf5 Rxf5 35. Nxc5 Rg5+ 36. Kf1 { was correct. } ) 33... Bxf5 34. gxf5 Rxf5 35. Qa8+ Nf8 { A computer may prefer White, but I was very happy to reach this position as Black! } 36. Ne4 { White seems to have the better attack, but Black turns the tables with the next
move. Perhaps the queen should have moved here, hoping to get the queens off
the board. The resulting endgame would be about even. } 36... Qa6 $1 { This covers all key squares, not only eliminating threats from the enemy queen,
but also threatening a deadly infiltration at e2. } 37. a4 ( 37. Rh8+ Kxh8 38. Qxf8+ Kh7 39. Nxf6+ Rxf6 40. Bxf6 { doesn't work because Black has } 40... Qxf6 41. Qxc5 Bb6 42. Qh5+ Kg8 43. Qe8+ Qf8 { %02where } 44. Qxf8+ Kxf8 45. Kf3 Ke7 46. Ke4 Ke6 47. a3 { would be a difficult endgame for White, though a draw is within reach as long
as White doesn't run out of movesand get forced into zugzwang. } ) 37... Qe2 38. Ba3 Qf3+ 39. Kf1 Qxe3 $1 { The endgame has been calculated. } 40. Qd5+ ( 40. Bxc5 Qd3+ $1 41. Ke1 Rxc5 42. Nxc5 Qc3+ 43. Kf1 Qc1+ $1 ( 43... Qxc5 44. Rc4 ) 44. Ke2 ( 44. Kg2 Qg5+ 45. Kh3 Qxc5 ) 44... Qxc5 45. Rc4 Qe5+ 46. Kf1 Bb6 47. Rc8 Qd6 { and Black will find it difficult to make progress because of the nasty pin at f8. } ) 40... Rxd5 41. fxe3 Ne6 42. Ke2 { ? } ( 42. Rg4 Kf7 ( 42... f5 { ? } 43. Nf6+ Kf7 44. Nxd5 fxg4 45. Nxc7 Nxc7 46. Bxc5 a6 { is likely to wind uo as a draw. } ) 43. Rg2 { was perhaps safest. } ) 42... Ba5 $1 43. Nxc5 { ? A quick death, but the alternative was prolonged suffering. And Izumakawa had almost exhausted his remaining hour. } ( 43. Bb2 Kf7 44. Rh7 f5 $1 45. Nc3 Rd6 { Black will eventually win the b-pawn with ...Rb6. } ) ( 43. Rg4 Kf7 44. Rg1 f5 45. Ng5+ Nxg5 46. Rxg5 g6 { leaves White a pawndown with two many weaknesses. } ) 43... Nxc5 44. Bxc5 ( 44. b4 Nxa4 45. bxa5 Rxa5 { gives Black two extra passed pawns. } ) 44... Rxc5 45. b4 g5 $1 { There is no need to delay the advance. } 46. Rd4 Re5 47. bxa5 Rxa5 { The rook and pawn endgame is a simple win. } 48. Kd3 Kf7 49. Kc3 Ke6 50. Kb4 Re5 51. e4 g4 52. Kb3 g3 53. Rd3 g2 0-1