[Event "Ordix Open"]
[Site "Frankfurt GER"]
[Date "2000.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Bologan, V."]
[Black "Rublevsky, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[ECO "B43"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 ( 7... Qxc6 { Aiming for ...b7-b5 as in the Hracek-Polgar game would be preferable, I think. } ) 8. O-O Nf6 9. Bg5 ( 9. Qe2 { aiming for e4-e5 and Nc3-e4 should give White good play on dark squares and the possibility of f2-f4-f5xe6 to open the f-file. Meanwhile Black's Bc8 isn't very good. } ) 9... Bd6 10. Kh1 Bf4 { Black fights on the dark squares and encourages the trade of Bg5 for either Black piece. In this case I'd think trading it for Bf4 should be better, because White can gain even more from weakening square d6, though he couldn't then play f2-f4 as easy as he'd like. } ( 10... Bxh2 $2 11. f4 ) 11. Bxf4 Qxf4 12. Qe2 d5 13. Rae1 O-O 14. Na4 ( 14. e5 Nd7 15. g3 Qh6 $13 ) 14... a5 15. b3 { White seems to shy away from every variation which calls for a commitment of pawn structure. Na4-b6xc8 should be a plus. Leaving Pb2 as long as possible should be better than bringing it closer to Pa5 & Pc6. Offering a queen trade by Qe2-e3 might be useful to fight on dark squares. } ( 15. Qe3 ) ( 15. Nb6 Rb8 16. Nxc8 Rfxc8 17. b3 ) 15... Rd8 16. e5 { At this stage of the game this doesn't seem likely to succeed. Only by really securing c5 could he hold Black down long enough to make any real gains. This is a pretty good indication Black has fully equalized. } 16... Nd7 17. g3 Qb4 { That's confidence his king-side is impenetrable. He continue to fight for the central dark squares and c5. } 18. f4 c5 { threatening ...c5-c4 since Pb3 is tied to defending Na4 } 19. c3 Qb7 20. Kg1 g6 { It may look locked-up, but Black has pawn moves to open some lines and White has to play around the existing pawn structure: there's no time for h2-h4-h5xg6 to open the g-file. } 21. c4 { So, White tries to lock the queen-side more firmly. } 21... Nb6 { Again Rublevsky shows great confidence, here gambitting a pawn to force open lines. } 22. Nxc5 Qc7 23. Qf2 dxc4 24. bxc4 Na4 25. Nxa4 Rxd3 { The logjam is broken and Pc4 is a sitting duck. Black's Bc8 will come into play in a huge way, with the a8-h1 diagonal completely weak. } 26. Nc5 { This is an excellent way to keep Bc8 undeveloped. } 26... Rc3 27. Qd4 Rc2 28. Rb1 Qc6 29. Rf2 Rxf2 30. Kxf2 Ba6 31. Qd6 Qxd6 32. exd6 Bxc4 { Black regains the pawn, but at the cost of giving up on a direct attack on Kg1. Also, White's Nc5 & Pd6 look very menacing. White has done terrifically to keep all his pieces working. As they near the time control (move 40 one presumes) Black must be very careful. } 33. d7 Rd8 34. a4 Kf8 35. Rb7 Bd5 36. Ra7 Ke7 37. Rxa5 Kd6 38. Ke3 f6 39. Kd4 e5+ { It seems Black's king activity should ensure equality (Pd7 falls if Nc5 ever moves and Ra5 can't beat Black by itself) . } 40. fxe5+ fxe5+ 41. Kd3 Bc6 42. Kc4 Bd5+ 43. Kd3 Bc6 44. Ke3 Rf8 ( 44... Bxd7 45. Nxd7 Rxd7 46. Rb5 Rc7 47. Kd3 { likely draws, though White has the slight advantage of Pa4 being the "outside" pawn. } ) 45. Ne4+ { White does a nice job of keeping the game alive. By forcing these pawn exchanges all the pieces become more free to move about. } 45... Kxd7 46. Ra7+ Ke6 47. Rxh7 Rf1 { threatening ...Rf1-e1+ to win Ne4 } ( 47... Bxa4 $4 48. Nc5+ ) 48. Nc5+ ( 48. Ng5+ Kd5 49. a5 ) 48... Kd6 ( 48... Kf5 $4 49. Rf7+ ) 49. Nd3 Rf3+ $1 { Suddenly Black's pieces work together nicely and Rh7 seems hopelessly out of place. } 50. Ke2 e4 51. Nf2 ( 51. Nf4 g5 ) 51... Ke5 52. Re7+ Kd4 53. Re6 Bd5 54. Rxg6 Bc4+ 55. Ke1 e3 56. Rg4+ Kd5 57. Rxc4 exf2+ 58. Kf1 Kxc4 { When Black's pieces worked together properly White's looked pathetic. From the end position Black only needs to play Kc4-e3 and then move his rook around to White's back rank, to force the advance and promotion of Pf2. White's pawns are far too slow to stop this. } 0-1