I’m smiling and he’s not, probably he didn’t see the game

Colovic,A – Christiansen,Jo [B51]

Reykjavik op (2), 2014

This game was played in the second round, at the somnambulistic (for me) time of 9.30am. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ even I decided to jump the Carlsen bandwagon! I had no wish for sharp Dragons at the ungodly hour. 3…Nd7 4.0-0 Ngf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bd3 b5 7.c4 Rb8N [7…Ne5 8.Bf1 was played in Carlsen,M (2872)-Nakamura,H (2776)/Zurich rapid 2014] 8.Nc3 b4 9.Nd5 e6 

10.Nxf6+ choosing the simpler route [10.Bc2!? was very tempting 10…exd5 11.exd5+ Be7 12.Qe2 and it seemed that white had great compensation 12…Kf8 (12…Ng4 13.d4; 12…Ne5? 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.Qxe5 Rb7 15.d6+-) 13.d4] 10…Nxf6 11.Bc2 e5 12.Ba4+ Nd7 [12…Bd7 13.a3] 13.a3 a5 14.axb4 axb4 

15.Bc6 transferring the Bishop to d5 15…Qc7 16.Bd5 Nb6 17.d3 and in this moment the loudspeaker in the Harpa went ballistic with the information about the fire that broke out somewhere in the building. All the players were forced to stop the clocks and exit the building. It didn’t last very long though, only after a few minutes we went back and he played Bg4 [17…Be7 18.Be3 with the idea of Nd2] 18.h3 only to have another attack on the ears with another loud warning! This time it was much longer, some 15-20 minutes in the cold Icelandic weather. Luckily it didn’t disturb me much. When we went back he played Bxf3 [18…Bh5 19.g4 Bg6 20.Be3 Be7 21.Nd2] 19.Qxf3 Nxd5 20.cxd5 Be7 

21.Be3! kingside play didn’t promise anything. With this I try to take control of the a-file [21.Qg4 0-0 22.Bh6 Bf6 23.Ra6 Ra8 24.Rea1 Qb7=; 21.Qg3 0-0 22.f4 Bf6] 21…0-0 22.Ra4 Ra8 23.Rea1 Qb7 [23…Rxa4 this gets rid of all the Rooks and was probably preferable 24.Rxa4 Qb7 25.Qd1 Ra8 26.Qa1 Rxa4 27.Qxa4] 24.Qd1 Rfc8 25.R1a2 h6 26.Qa1 Rxa4 27.Rxa4 now white has a stable advantage

 27…Qb5[27…Bg5 28.Bxg5 hxg5 29.Ra7 Qb5 30.Qa6 Qxa6 31.Rxa6+/-] 28.Ra7 Bf8 the Bishop does cover d6 safely, but is also extremely passive [28…Bg5 29.Bxg5 hxg5 30.Qa6] 29.Qa6 Qxa6 30.Rxa6+/- Be7 [30…c4? 31.Rc6] 31.Kf1 Kf8 32.Ke2 Ke8 33.Kd2 Kd7 34.Kc2 Rc7 35.Kb3 Bf8 

36.f4 white needs to open a second front on the kingside in order to break through 36…f6[36…exf4? 37.Bxf4+- f6 38.g4 and eventually d4 should decide] 37.f5 Be7 38.g4 Bd8 39.h4 Be7 40.Kc4 Bd8 41.Ra1 Be7 42.g5 hxg5 [42…h5 43.Rg1 with the idea of gf] 43.hxg5 Rc8 [43…fxg5 44.Rg1]44.Rh1 [44.g6 Rc7 should transpose to the game (44…Rh8? 45.Ra7+ Ke8 46.Bxc5! dxc5 47.d6+- Bd8 48.Rxg7) ] 44…Rg8 [44…fxg5 45.Rg1]

45.g6 already here I saw the final combination45…Ra8 46.Rh7 Rg8 47.Kb5 Kc7 48.Bh6 Bf8 49.Ka6 Kc8 

50.Bd2 first winning a tempo to play b3, avoiding …b3 ideas [50.Bxg7 Bxg7 51.Kb6+-] 50…Kc7 51.Be3 Be7 52.Bh6 Bf8 53.b3 Kc8 

54.Bxg7! Bxg7 55.Kb6+- now it like a pawn endgame when white wins because he has taken the sixth rank! 55…Kd7 [55…Bf8 56.Kc6 Kd8 57.Ra7 Ke8 58.Ra8+ Ke7 59.Rb8

this is the cute zugzwang position that probably caught the eye of the organisers 59…Rh8 60.Rb7+ Ke8 61.g7+-] 56.Kb7 Ke8 57.Kc6 Bf8 58.Ra7 

Rh8 [58…Kd8 59.Ra8+ Ke7 60.Rb8+-] 59.g7 the rest is simple59…Bxg7 60.Rxg7 Rh3 61.Kxd6 Rxd3 62.Ke6 Kf8 63.Rb7 Rxb3 64.d6 Ra3 65.Rb8+ Kg7 66.d7 Rd3 67.d8Q Rxd8 68.Rxd8 c4 69.Rb8 b3 70.Kd5 1-0