Week 3
In this week’s game Ben Marmont from the University of Arizona played against National Master Ernesto Alvarez from the Miami Area College Chess Team. They played a wild sicilian game, where looked like white will win by material advantage, but black got counterplay against the white king and could force the draw by perpetual checks at the end. Let us look the game!
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 b5

This move maybe a little early, black most of the time prefer to play first pawn e6 to prevent the knight to jump to d5. Now white can play agresively and can attack the b5 pawn. If the pawns would be exchanged, then white could attack the a6 pawn.
7. a4 b4 8. Nd5 e6

In this position white can play solid like in the game or can start to dance on the fire, by sacrificing the d4 knight on c6 and when the b8 knight capures it, then the bishop goes to b6 with the idea to move the knight to c7 in the next move to give a check and win the rook. That would lead to very complicated position. Maybe next time
9. Nxf6+ Qxf6 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. O-O d5

Very good move. Black exchange the start central pawn on e4 and opens the diagonal for his bishop, so can attack the g2 pawn and the king. If black can play the d6-d5 move in the sicilian defense, then most of the time his position will be ok.
12. exd5 Bxd5 13. c3 Bd6 14. cxb4 Qe5

The black queen force white to move the pawn to g3 to weakening the kingside, and then he has time to recapture the b4 pawn.
15. g3 Bxb4 16. Qc2 Nd7 17. Nc6

The white knight wants to be exchanged for a bishop, because bishops are good in open positions, where pawns were exchanged. Black should capture it with the bishop or need to move the queen to d6 to defend the b4 bishop, but he decided to sacrifice the b4 bishop and play for checkmate. Was it a good idea? We will look.
17…Qh5 18. Nxb4 Bf3

White had a bishop advantage and a winning position. Black planned to create mate threat with moving the queen to h3. The simpliest way for white to play is to move the f-rok to c1 and then the bishop to f1 to defend and win the game.
19. Be4 Ne5

The black knight came to help and in the way how white reacted it really helped to save the game. White could capture the a8 rook and if black would move the queen to h3 to plan to give checkmate on g2, then the queen gives check on c8, Ke7 is only move and there the knight jumps to d5. That is the key move. Pawn can not capture, because then h3 queen is hanging, if the bishop captures then queen gives check on c7 and then a8 bishop capture the d5 bishop and pawn moves to f4 to open space to prevent the checkmate.
20. Bxf3 Nxf3+ 21. Kg2 Nh4+

If the king moves to h1, then the queen moves to f3 and then gives checkmate on g2, if the king moves to g1 or h3, then the knight goes back to f3 to force the king to g2, which will be same position as 1 move ago. In the game white captured the knight. That opened the g-file and the queen could give perpetual checks to get the draw.
22. gxh4 Qg4+ 23. Kh1 Qf3+ 24. Kg1

The king can not escape. The players agreed to have a draw.