It was a 3rd round in the Thursdays club. I got White and my opponent, a young man, played Sicilian d6. In the previous round I returned to Bb5+ and despite of misplaying the opening and losing the pawn, my general impression was good. I was feeling more comfortable than playing Closed Sicilian, so I decided to go for Bb5+ again.
He answered with Nc6 and the game transformed into one of the lines of the Rossolimo variation. Computer criticizes his 14… h5 as well as his 18… Qa5. After his 24… Nf5 I missed 25. b4! winning the knight. Interesting that when I played 26. Qe2 I had a feeling that he might play Rce8 and he did. I saw that I can safely take on c6 after the queen check on c4, as after 28. Qxc6 Rc8 I have Qd5. He made another mistake playing 27… d5.
On move 31 he blundered, I quickly checked that I have Bg1 defense after Rc1+ and took on f5. He continued to play and resigned only after I pinned his bishop.
Rolling Pawns 
April 21, 2023 at 1:44 am
Maybe Black could hold after 22…Bg6, but after your 24.Qd3 move, it’s as if the game is somehow positionally decided. You simply over-powered your opponent positionally in this game.
10.Kh1 You go from an on-tilt, overly pushing for a win style in your last few losses to this over-restrained move which leads to a highly positional game, where your understanding of the game transcends. This is where you are “you” and playing at your highest level, where your particular talent is infused into the game, your “inner Master” style of play.
Of course, no doubt, 10.f4 is the has-to play move here, as it would cut out …c4 as played in the game, threaten to take on e5, you get a Bxf4 recapture, and …Qb6 is a non-starter. Kh1 already looks non-promising, but then it comes to the talent level of who can play such a position better.
14…h5 Super-tempting to play this move to refute White, but …f5 was “the plan” and his move made your Ng4 move good, since Nf3 was looking preferable, until he took the bait by playing …h5. The cost of each move in the opening is super-high in an Open Sicilian like this, apparently even a delayed Open Sicilian.
24…BxNf5 This move looks like a complete mis-evaluation of the position. Black has to want to capture with the rook on f5 here. By now, he is probably seeing that b4 queen deflection move, and doesn’t want to follow up with Rf5xRf1+, which might still be best but shows that …Nf5 wasn’t possible. Black was close to being in middlegame zugzwang as it was though.
26…Rce8. …Rc7 might have been the move, and otherwise it’s hard to find a good move here for Black. It looks like he simply missed that 29.Qxd5+ came with check, when playing his move. He could practically resign once he saw it was with check, but the blitzing from here is the fun part of chess sometimes, so that’s probably why he played on.
Congratulations on your fine win! 🙂
April 21, 2023 at 2:07 am
24…Nf5. I can’t help but add a comment here.
This small-center position of Black’s has lead to this point where it has to be played with some kind of Master-level approach, the ‘kid gloves’ treatment. Perhaps 24…Be8 followed by 24…Nh5 plan, where the knight eyes the g3, f4, and f6 squares and for example could lead to a position where …Ng7-h5-f6, …d5 and …Ne4 or …d5 and …g4 is possible at some point, but it has to be handled at such a high level, definitely above the Class level, where …Nf5 is like is the “natural move” for an A or B level player.
The point is that when Black spends a long time looking at this position it becomes clear that this position needs to be built-up more with the avoidance of piece-trades, otherwise the road to his king becomes exposed.
April 21, 2023 at 2:19 am
For example, I suggested 26..Rc7 as a try, but even here just 27.b4 Qxb, 28.RxBf5 RxRf5, 29.Qe6+ Rf5-f7, 30.Rf1 QxNc3, 31.RxRf7 appears to win for White since Qg6+ is threatened. So, it’s hard to believe that 24…Nf5 was working.
April 21, 2023 at 2:27 am
I also noticed there that 30…Bd8, 31.Qg6+ Kh8 (if …Rg7, Re8+ mate), 32.RxR RxR, 33.QxR QxNc3, 34.Qe8+ picks up the Bd8 and White is a piece up, albeit the position is somewhat weird after …Qe1+, Bg1.
April 21, 2023 at 10:53 am
Thank you!
Yes, 22… Bg6 was the best, eventually he made the same mistake putting the bishop on d7 instead of g6 as I did in the 1-st game in the previous post. Right, 14… f5 was the move, he would equalize.
Funny that I looked at 22… Qc7 and thought that it is bad due to Nd5, but computer just gives up the queen for the knight and rook and evaluates the arising position as equal.
Regarding your defense plan for Black, I think his king is too exposed for that as you rightly noticed. If 24… Be8 then 25. Rxf8+ Bxf8 26. Rf1 Be7 27. d5 c5 28. Ng4. He pays the price for advancing his kingside pawns with the fluid center and open lines.
Your comment about 22… Rc7 23. b4! is right, there is also 22… Rc7 23. Qc4+ Kg7 24. b4 Qa3 25. Nb5 Bd3 26. Nxa3 and White is up a piece. In your last line 30… Bf8 instead of Bd8 saves the day for Black.