Round 7: Martirosov-Slive 1-0

White wins a pawn in the opening and nurses it all the way to a win in the ending. I'm unsure whether Black ever had any drawing chances after adjournment. Perhaps one of the players will be kind enough to enlighten us.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.11.03"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Martirosov, Vadim"]
[Black "Slive, Alex"]
[Result "1/2"]
[WhiteUSCF "2198"]
[BlackUSCF "2039"]
[ECO "D37"]
[Opening "Queen’s Gambit Declined"]
[Variation "5.Bf4"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.cxd5 cxd4?!

[The database contains 108 games which reached the position after White's 7th move. 7...exd5 was played 65 times; 7...Nxd5 had 37 outings. The text has only been seen on 6 occasions]

8.Qxd4 exd5 9.Bxb8 Rxb8 10.Qxa7 Be6 11.Be2 Ra8

[Fritz prefers 11...Ne4 and considers the position close to equal]

12.Qd4 Qa5 13.0-0 Bc5 14.Qd3 Bb4 15.Nb5 d4 16.a3

16...Rfc8

[Here's one of those fascinating computer lines I would never have found over the board: 16...dxe3 17.axb4 Qxa1 18.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 19.Bf1 Ng4 20.fxe3 Bc4 21.Qxc4 Nxe3 22.Qe2 Rxf1+ 23.Qxf1 Nxf1 24.Kxf1 and White is probably a little better with the two knights vs. a rook, but who knows?]

17.Qxd4 Bc5 18.Qh4 Bd7 19.b4 Qa4 20.Nbd4 Bf8 21.Ne5 Rc3 22.Nxd7 Qxd7 23.Nb5 Rc2 24.Rad1 Rd2 25.Rxd2 Qxd2 26.Bf3 Qd3 27.Nd4 Rxa3 28.Bxb7 Bxb4 29.Nc2 Qxc2 30.Qxb4 Qc3 31.Qxc3 Rxc3 32.Rd1 g6 33.h3 Rb3 34.Bf3 Rb2 35.g4 g5 36.Kg2 Kg7 37.Ra1 Rd2 38.Ra5 h6 39.e4 Nd7 40.e5 Nf8 41.Be4

[Sealed move]

41...Ne6 42.Kf3 Nf4 43.h4 Rb2 44.hxg5 hxg5 45.Bf5 Rb3+ 46.Ke4 Rb4+ 47.Ke3 Rb3+ 48.Kd4 Rb2 49.f3 Rd2+ 50.Ke3 Re2+ 51.Kd4 Rd2+ 52.Kc4 Rd8 53.Ra7 Re8 54.Kd4 Ne2+ 55.Kd5 Rd8+ 56.Kc4 Re8 57.e6 Rf8 58.Kd5 Kf6 59.e7 Re8 60.Kd6 Nd4?

[60...Nf4 seems better, though I'm not sure if Black has any drawing chances at this point]

61.Rb7 Nxf5+ 62.gxf5 Kxf5 63.Kd7 Rxe7+ 64.Kxe7 Kf4 65.Kf6 1-0