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[Event "Huntsville Quads"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2001.05.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Funaro, Greg"]
[Black "Larson, Gerald"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Greg Funaro and David Hayes"]
[BlackElo "2106"]
[ECO "B22"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "1746"]
{ This game is my favorite because I have lost to expert Gerald Larson many,
many times. Finally, this B-player outplays the expert. } 1. e4 { B22:
Sicilian: 2 c3 } 1... c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 { Gerald plays the Taimanov variation very well.
So my first plan was to avoid the Taimanov! } 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bb3 d6 8. exd6 e6 9. cxd4 { Statistically this is best, although
I didn't know it at the time. } 9... Bxd6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. O-O Be7 12. Ne4 Nd5 13. a3 b6 14. Re1 Bb7 { Gerald points out that he spends two tempi just to weaken
the pawn on e6. 14... Qc7 15 Qd3 Jicman,Ligia - Chiricuta Kantor,Iudita, (1)
1992 0-1 } 15. Qd3 Nf6 { The only thing I know about playing an isolated
queen-Pawn is to keep your minor pieces and try to create weaknesses. } 16. Neg5 h6 { The weakness is black's e- and f-pawn. 16... h6 just creates another
kingside weakness! 16... Qe8, Kh8, or Bc8 are more cautious moves. 16... Bc5
adds some spice to the game. } 17. Nxf7 { Another attack for another day is:
17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Bxe6+ Kh8 19. Nh4! g5 20. Ng6+ Kg7 21. Nxf8 leaving white
material and positional advantage. } 17... Rxf7 18. Bxe6 Bc8 { As ugly as they look,
either 18... Kf8 or 18... Qe8 are better alternatives. The move played walks
into a beautiful combination here. White to play and win material! } 19. Ba2 { No that's not the move. The game is over after: 19 Bxf7+ Kxf7 20 Qc4+ Qd5 21
Qxc6 Qxc6 22 Ne5+ } 19... Qd6 { 19... Bb7 or 19... Bd7 or 19... Bg4 or 19... Qe8 puts
up more resistance. However, none of these moves are natural for black.
White's moves are as natural as a smile to a baby. } 20. Qg6 Nd8 21. Bxh6 Be6 22. Rxe6 { 22. Ng5 is stronger 22... Bxa2 23. Nxf7 removing the only defender
of mate on g7. } 22... Nxe6 23. Re1 { 23. Ng5 is once again best, but white wins the
house with the main line. One footnote. I got the opportunity to play a c3
Sicilian against Gerald at the very next club quad. Gerald deviated from this
game score with 11... Bd7. Gerald gave me another lesson. } 1-0