Adams vs Ghasi - 105th British-ch 2018 Hull - Round 6

Adams moved back into the sole lead of the 2018 British Championship with this win.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Adams,Michael (2706) - Ghasi,Ameet K (2494)

105th British-ch 2018 Hull (6), 02.08.2018

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 c6 6.Bh6 Bxh6 7.Qxh6 Qa5 8.Bd3 c5 9.Nf3 B07: Pirc Defence: Miscellaneous Systems 

9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc6 11.Bb5 Bd7 12.0–0–0 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7zpp+lzpp+p'
6-+nzp-snpwQ&
5wqL+-+-+-%
4-+-sNP+-+$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1+-mKR+-+R!
xabcdefghy

12...Nxd4N [12...Rc8 13.Kb1 Ne5 14.Nb3 Qc7 15.Bxd7+ Qxd7 16.Rhe1 Qc6 1–0 (41) Van Kampen,R (2640) -McNab,C (2433) Reading 2017] 

13.Bxd7+ Nxd7 14.Rxd4 0–0–0 15.Kb1 Kb8 16.Nd5 e6 17.Ne3 Ne5 18.Rhd1 Qc7 19.a3 a6 20.f4 Nc6 21.R4d3 Rhe8 22.g4 b5 23.Qh4 Ka8 24.g5 Na5 25.Qe1 [¹25.Qxh7 Nc4 26.Qg7] 

25...Rd7 26.Rc3 Qb6 27.b3 Rc7 28.Rxc7 Qxc7 29.Qb4 Rd8 30.Rd3 Nb7 31.Kb2 [31.Ng4±] 

31...Nc5= 32.Rd4 Qc6 33.Nd1 Rc8 

XABCDEFGHY
8k+r+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6p+qzpp+p+&
5+psn-+-zP-%
4-wQ-tRPzP-+$
3zPP+-+-+-#
2-mKP+-+-zP"
1+-+N+-+-!
xabcdefghy

( -> ... Nd3+!) 

34.Nc3 Rc7 35.Rd2 Nb7 36.a4 a5 37.Qd4 bxa4 38.Nxa4 Kb8 39.Nb6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-mk-+-+-+(
7+ntr-+p+p'
6-sNqzpp+p+&
5zp-+-+-zP-%
4-+-wQPzP-+$
3+P+-+-+-#
2-mKPtR-+-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

39...Qb5? 

What was the better option for Black in this position? 

00000 

[39...Nc5± is a better chance. 40.Qxd6 Nxe4 41.Nd7+ Kb7 42.Qxc6+ Kxc6 43.Ne5+ Kc5] 

What can White do to immediately punish the error? 

00000 

40.Qh8++- White is clearly winning. 

40...Ka7 41.Nc8+ Ka6 [¹41...Rxc8 42.Qxc8 Qf1] 

42.Nxd6 Qb4 43.c3  1–0