Emory Tate vs Eric Schiller (2004)

Notes by Eric Schiller.A new move in this rarely explored opening. It caught me offguard and I did not react properly. 9...b4 was surely the correct plan. 9...Rb8 looks dubious because of 10.axb5 axb5 11.d5 +- This retreat is not justified. I simply was afraid of the plan of maneuvering my knight to c4, because I feared that after a capture by the bishop, and recapture with my d-pawn, that the pawn at c4 would then be a serious weakness. 10...Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.b4 Nc4 13.Bxc4 bxc4 14.bxc5 Bxc5 15.Na3 +0.27 would not be so bad for Black. I was thinking along the lines of my game with Nicholas Yap. that’s what happens when you win a nice game, it carries over and the next time you use the opening you tend to play the same way, whether or not it is appropriate. ⩲ No doubt about it, White has a small advantage here. Nevertheless, Black can whip up some serious counter play. This bishop is destined to stagger drunkenly all over the board, without having any serious effect on White’s position. 13...Nd7 would’ve been a much better plan and in that case White’s advantage would not have been so significant. At this point there really isn’t any other source of counterplay. ± White has a dominating position and Black is suffering under the weight of a large number weaknesses. A powerful move! The sacrifice cannot be accepted. 21...dxc5 ? 22.d6+ Kh8 23.dxe7 Nxe7 24.Bxc5 is a miserable for Black. Of course that this is not the best move, objectively. I made the capture simply because it allowed me to develop a plan to win White’s new weakling at e6, and possibly get some counter play going by advancing central pawns. Other moves would have left me with a miserable position with no real chances to establish any sort of counter play. All I have to do is somehow advance my pawn from d6 to d5 and everything will be fine. Unfortunately my opponent doesn’t allow me to do that..By the way, did I underestimate this move. At the very end of the game you will see the point. Finally! At this point, however, the move doesn’t have much of an impact and allows the knight to take up an even better post at c5. Right square, wrong piece. I could have kept the game close by moving my rook to the square. 32...Rf5 ! 33.Qd4 Bxc5 34.Qxc5 Qxe6 35.bxc6 Nbxc6 ⩲ A serious error which allows me to get back into the game, but both of us mis-analyzed the position and missed the finesse at the end. 33.Bd4 ! Nxd4 34.cxd4 cxb5 35.Bxd5 Bxc5 36.dxc5 Ra7 37.f5 was the correct plan. White’s passed pawns and dominating bishop provide a winning advantage. 33...Nh4 ! was the saving plan. I spotted the move, of course, but simply didn’t date indeed enough into the position. Both players saw the same continuation 34.Bxd5 ! cxd5 35.Qxd5 Ra7 ! 36.Bxh4 but here we both failed to spot Rf5 ! 37.Qe4 Bxc5+ 38.Bf2 Qf6 [ 38...Bxa3 39.Bxa7 ] 39.Bxc5 Rxc5 40.Rxa5 Rxa5 41.e7 Rc8 42.e8=Q+ Rxe8 43.Qxe8+ Kh7 44.Qxb8 Qxc3 with a difficult but not hopeless position for Black. +- The bishop slips onto the long diagonal and finishes off the game.I allow Emory Tate to finish the game with a flashy tactic. Why not? He played very well.I resigned. My opponent at long last got his revenge for my upset victory in the 1997 United States Masters.1-0