WAPOGA: FAWOLE ANNOTATES !

I had a lot of pressure on me because my performance in the tournament up until this game was, to put mildly , below expectation. I was just back from the Kaduna camp of the A.A.G and was touted as one of the strongest players in the tournament. However, I lost my queen (with little no compensation) in both of my earlier games and only managed to win and draw because of the relative inexperience of my opponents. I guess the better player is always lucky! .As at round 2, Etuk from Ibadan Poly had 2 points on my board which virtually gave him the gold medal if he rested this round but... he still decided to play.15 minutes to the start of the game, when it seemed fairly sure he was to feature, I went to my room and checked the informator because I knew quite alright that my opponent was going to play the Pelikan/sveshnikov Sicilian. I looked through 2games in the informator and instead of the normal Bg5 on move 7, i decided on Nd5. Here is the game that gave me the gold medal on 1!

[Event "West African Polytechnic Games (WAPOGA)"]
[Site "Yabatech 2007"]
[Date "2007.03.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Fawole, John"]
[Black "Etuk, Leornard-Akpan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "(FAWOLE JOHN OYEYEMI)"]
[EventDate "2007.03.15"]
{B33: Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variations}
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.c4 Be7 10.Bd3 a6 11.Nc3 0-0 12.0-0 f5 13.f3 Nd7 14.Kh1 Bg5 15.b4 'last book move' 15...Bf4

[More common are 15...b6 16.a3 Kh8 17.Qc2 Qf6 18.g4 Bxc1 19.Raxc1 e4 = Short, N-Ni Hua/Beijing 2003 ; 15...a5 16.a3 axb4 17.Bxg5 Qxg5 18.axb4 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Qe3 = Leko - Kramnik Amber Blind 2003; I didn't expect this move but i felt capturing on 15...f4 will give me some play on the f4 pawn and space]16.Bxf4 exf4 17.Ne2 Qh4

[17...Qg5 18.Qd2 Ne5 19.c5 a5 20.a3 Bd7 21.Nd4 axb4 22.axb4 Rfc8 23.Rac1 17...Qb6 18.Nxf4 Ne5 19.Ne6 Bxe6 20.dxe6 f4 21.Qc2 Nxd3 22.Qxd3 Rae8 23.Rfe1 Qxb4 with slight advantage to White, are better. The text move allows black to take the initiative.] 18.Qe1?! [18.Qd2! Ne5 19.Nxf4 Qg5 20.Rad1 Nxd3 21.Nxd3 f4 22.Rde1 b5 23.Nb2 bxc4 would have been better. Now the game is roughly equal.]18...Qh6 19.Qc3 g5?

Unnecessary aggression.20.c5! White gets more space 20...g4 [20...b6 21.c6 Ne5 22.a4 still with the edge. I think the decisive factor in the game was the aggressive nature of blacks moves. White's piece placement is somewhat better and as such any aggression can only be to my advantage.] 21.Nd4 [21.Qc4!? g3 22.h3 a5 23.a3± seems more to the point. I keep control of the centre and all the threats that accompany it.] 21...Ne5 22.Be2 Nf7 23.Rfe1 Re8? 24.Bd3! Bd7??A blunder. Blacks game is difficult but he can still hold on with either of 25.Rxe3 fxe3 26.Bxf5 g3 27.h3 a5 28.Bxc8 Rxc8 29.Qe1 Qg6 ± 25.Qd2 Qg5 26.Qc2 Qh4 27.Rxe3 fxe3 28.fxg4 fxg4 29.Rf1 g3 30.Bxh7+ ± 25.Qc2 dxc5 26.bxc5 g3 27.h3 b6 28.Bxf5 bxc5 29.Qxc5 Qd6 30.Qxd6± all leaving white better but by no means clearly winning. 25.Bxf5! [25.c6! also wins. e.g 25...bxc6 26.dxc6 g3 27.h3 Be6 28.Nxe6 Rxe6 29.c7 +- 25...g3 26.h3 bxc6 27.dxc6 Be6 28.Nxe6 Rxe6 29.c7 Rxe1+ 30.Rxe1 Rc8 +- 25...gxf3 26.cxd7+-] 25...g3 26.h3 Bxf5 27.Nxf5 Qg5 28.Qc2 White is winning. 28...Rad8 29.Rad1 Qh5 30.Re6 dxc5 [30...Ne5 doesn't help 31.Qe4 Nxf3 32.Nxd6 (32.Qxf3 Qxf5 33.cxd6 Rf8) ] 31.Rde1 Ng5

32.Nh6+ Qxh6 33.Rxe8+ Rxe8 34.Rxe8+ Kf7 35.Qe2 Qd6 36.h4 Qd7 [36...Nxf3 37.gxf3 (37.Qxf3 Kxe8 38.Qh5+ Kd8 39.Qg5+ Kc7 40.bxc5 Qxc5 41.Qxf4+ Qd6 42.Qc1+ Kb8) 37...Qf6 38.Kg2] 37.Re5 Nh3 38.gxh3 Qxh3+ 1-0


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