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16... a4 17. Nc1 exf4 18. Bxf4
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White's opening the f-file hardly did anything for him. His isolated pawn is much weaker than mine, and he has wasted a lot of movevs. Here I was considering a3 or b3. I wasn't comfortable after a3 because I don't think I'm in a position to take advantage of the dark square weakness, i thought b3 was much sharper, and White might accept the pawn sacrifice, but now that I analyse the game in-depth, I don't think the sacrifice would have worked out very well for me. But luckily White did not accept it. |
 
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18... b3
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The lines where Black plays a3 are more positional, and Black should also have a knight ready to head for c3, I think b3 is sharper and a lot more interesting. Most players familiar with Calishnikov know that accepting this sacrifice isn't good, and Black will mount up an attack on the files White opens after accepting the pawn. Don't be afraid to make this sacrifice, if White accepts it, then just attack whatever he weakens from accepting it and your attack will be annihilating. |
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19. cxb3
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It's better to open the c-file rather than the a-file, since the open c-file is not as dangerous, Black's major pieces will flood the a-file if White opens it. |
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19... axb3 20. a3
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White declines the sacrifice, which is safer, but I think accepting the sacrifice is White's best chance since now I have enough time to play the long awaited d5-boost, which is the typical freeing break in the Sicilian, and now I have the initiative |
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20... d5
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White still has the option of accepting the pawn, but it is not advisable to open files to your king in a double-edged position, even if it seems like Black has hardly any compensation, taking the pawn could be regrettable in the future if Black gets a crushing attack. |
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21. Qf2
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Maneuvering the queen to the open f-file while pinning the d-pawn, exd5 next move could be dangerous with the queen on the d-file. |
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21... Nd6
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Now my knights will get good outposts thanks to the freeing d5 move, and this blocks the queen from the rook's path. Nbc4 is coming, and then I can build up to sacrifice on a3. |
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22. Be3
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This bishop has moved back and forth, while my knights have landed on great outposts. |
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22... Nbc4
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White almost has no play on the kingside, and his two pawns won't defend his king for long, since only pawns have been exchanged and White has a lot of pieces out of play, I can sacrifice a knight on a3 to finish the attack. I think Black should've taken the b-pawn earlier since he doesn't have much play on the kingside, and it was the only chance to create an imbalance. Now taking the pawn is pretty much suicidal, since I didn't have the Nxa3 idea before, but White chose the wrong time to take the pawn, because now Nxa3 is crushing. |
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23. Nxb3 Nxa3+
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White's only chance is to take the knight and try to defend. Playing like a coward and moving the king just lets me have the attack without losing any material. |
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24. bxa3
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After my sacrifice, the b-file has been opened to White's king, so now my rook can take control of the b-file |
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24... Rb8
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White needs to save this knight, like I said before, White shouldn't let me equalize the material since then he would have nothing to compensate for his exposed king and inactive pieces. White should now be focused on trying to hold onto as much material as possible. Defending with Rd3 allows dxe4, attacking the rook while attacking the knight again, and after Qc2 dxe4 White cannot defend the knight any longer. Against Ka2, I can play d4 attacking the knight and bishop, and I can continue the attack while recovering some material. So I think Kc2 is pretty much the only move. If White tries exd5 then Rxb3 Kc2 Qb8 with crushing attack, or exd5 Rxb3 Kc1 Qa5! and White's king is surrounded by the major pieces. If exd5 Rxb3 Ka2, then I can play Rxa3 and if Kxa3 then Ne4 |
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25. Kc2 Rxb3
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Sacrificing more material to open up the king is okay when your opponent's pieces are out of play. I learned that from (bakerbaker) who has many attacking games annotated on gameknot. It was actually him who taught me his Sicilian repertoire and his theories behind it. I agreed with all his theories and he has taught me a lot of attacking strategies in the lines of our Sicilian repertoire |
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26. Kxb3
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White's king is very exposed against my active pieces, which are just ready to attack the helpless king. I analysed this variation when I first played Nxa3 and was planning to play Qb8 , but now I saw Qa5 which might be better than my intended Qb8 . I couldn't decide between Qb8 or Qa5, so I decided to keep both queen moves options, while increasing the pressure around the king |
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26... Nxe4
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This knight doesn't really have anywhere to go to, while it's still contraversial where my queen should go, and this also frees up space for my dark bishop. White needs to make an important decision here, whether to remove my knight controlling squares near White's king, or to move the queen to help defend. I think it's better just to remove the knight, since Qb8 will be deadly if the knight is left alone and has the potential to attack. |
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27. Nxe4
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Trade passive pieces for active ones |
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27... dxe4+
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White should save his rook so that I don't catch up in material, so White can play either Kc2 or Bc4. |
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28. Bc4
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Kc2 is too passive, and White's king is too vulnerable to all my tempo checks. Bc4 offers to trade an inactive piece for an active one, even with White's king on c4, I think I'm probably still winning, but the attack will be harder to carry out without my light bishop, so I should increase the pressure of my attack. |
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28... Qa5
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I have some major tempo threats now. Qxa3 , Rb8 , and Qb5 all continue the attack with tempo, so White needs to see which threat is the most dangerous, and if there is any way to defend. I think no matter how I continue the attack, as long as I have tempo, I should be able to mate or recover more than enough material. |
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29. Bxe6
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White cannot stop all my tempo checks, so he trades while giving the king more breathing space. But now I can exploit my awesomely placed queen. |
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