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1. e4
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This was a fairly ordinary Sicilian Dragon which developed into a long but quite interesting endgame win for black, and it is primarily for this that I have decided to annotate it. |
 
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1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6
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The Dragon, my main defence against 1.e4 if I am allowed to play it. |
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6. Be2
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White opts for the classical variation rather than the Yugoslav Attack. |
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6... Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Qd2 Bd7
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Ng4 would also have been possible here, taking advantage of white's previous move and threatening to win the bishop pair. |
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10. f3
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ruling out ...Ng4 and supporting his centre. This combination of f3 and Be2 has always seemed slightly illogical to me, though I often come up against it. |
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10... Rc8 11. Kh1 d5
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Taking advantage of white's relative lack of activity. There are various ways to deter this move, but none of them had been played. Part of the object was to expose f3 as a waste of time. |
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12. exd5 Nb4 13. Nb3
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The exchanges here worked in my favour, though I wouln't say that I had calculated all the possible variations. |
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13... Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 15. cxd3
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This isolated pawn will be the main theme of the early endgame. |
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15... Nbxd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bg1
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Preserving the counterweight to the dragon bishop. The duel between the two will be the other main theme of the endgame. |
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17... b6 18. Rac1 Qd6
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I don't mind exchanging rooks, but without conceding the c-file. |
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19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Rd1 Nb4 21. a3 Nd5
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The knight returns, having provoked a slight weakness, to its central outpost. |
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22. Rc1
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White decides to exchange the remaining pair of rooks, probably because he has a space disadvantage and is under a little pressure. |
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22... Rxc1 23. Qxc1 Qd7 24. d4
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The pawn is apparently well defended, but has moved to a bad square. |
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24... Qc7
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Happy to transpose into an endgame, given white's weak pawn. |
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25. Qxc7 Nxc7 26. Be3
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Both sides try to activate their kings, and then we will see some king and knight manoeuvres centred on the d4 pawn. |
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26... e6 27. Kg1 Kf8 28. Kf1 Ke7 29. Ke2 Kd7 30. Kd3 Kc6 31. Nd2
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Aiming to redeploy on c3, preventing the black king from staying on d5. |
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31... Kd5
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In the meantime, though, that seems a good square. |
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32. Nb1 Nb5
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Preempting white's move. The temporary absence of the white knight on its manoeuvres means that the pawn is threatened, and white's reply is forced. |
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33. Nc3+ Nxc3 34. bxc3
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I have allowed white to un-isolate his d-pawn, but now proceed to fix his pawns on the wrong colour. This initiates the next stage of the endgame - the battle of the bishops. |
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34... b5
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With a clear advantage, I think, despite the material parity. |
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