(15) Shahade,G (2550) - Kacheishvili,G (2650) [B60]
6th Tuesday Night Masters (2), 24.04.2002



1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6
The Richter Rauzer Defense

6.Bg5 g6?!
When Giorgi played this move, the pressure was on. Any self respecting chessplayer should feel the need to punish such a theoretically terrible move, and if I am to lose to such an opening move, what kind of player am I?

7.Bxf6 exf6
This is why 6...g6 is supposed to be bad for black. Black has a backwards d pawn and doubled f pawns. In return black has the 2 bishops, but this is not quite enough to compensate

8.Qd2
[8.Bc4 a6 (8...Bg7 9.Ndb5! Goodbye d pawn) 9.0-0+/= This is a normal way to play. As I teach my kids every week, its good to castle as early as possible. Now my king is safe and blacks weakness on d6 still remains.]

8...Bg7 9.Ndb5?!
As I teach my kids, its best not to grab material in the opening before castling. But of course I can make some exceptions can't I? My overconfidence and greed gets punished quite swiftly

9...0-0 10.Qxd6 Qa5
Now all that remains for me to do is castle, lets get to it...

11.Bd3
One move away from safety

11...a6
Ok ok, cant castle yet, must move the knight first...oh wait, is there anywhere good to move the knight?

12.Nc7?
At this point I already realized that I was in serious trouble, yet didn't know what to do about it... [12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 f5 and now the bishop comes to life! 14.Qc4 Be6 Not many good places for the queen to go..; 12.Na3 Probably the best chance, although at the time it felt like a very bad move. Probably I teach too many kids about knights on the rim being dim. The main idea is that in variations with ...f5 and Bxc3, I dont recapture right away because my knight on a3 is loose, but I play Nc4 first. 12...Rd8 13.Qg3 f5 14.0-0 Bxc3 15.Nc4! This was probably my best chance]

12...Rd8 13.Qg3 f5
Now I considered myself lost. All of blacks pieces are coming into the game and my king is stuck in the center. I cannot castle because of Be5 forking the queen and knight.

14.Nxa8
[14.0-0? Be5-+ ]

14...Bxc3+ 15.Kf1
[15.bxc3 Black is winning by force if I take the bishop... 15...Qxc3+ 16.Ke2 Nd4+ 17.Ke3 Nxc2+ 18.Ke2 Nd4+ 19.Ke3 f4+ Fritz calls mate in 7 moves, figure it out for yourself if you are really bored.]

15...Bxb2 16.Re1
Now I was just waiting for the proper moment to resign. The position is hopeless. I will soon lose my knight on a8 and it will be 2 pieces for a rook and my king is stuck in the center.

16...Bc3 17.Rc1 f4 18.Qh4
[18.Qxf4 Bd2-+ 19.h4 ]

18...Be6
Now seemed like a good time to stop the clocks and get a bite to eat before the next game, although playing a few more moves would not have been inappropriate. 0-1