Malaysian Chess Championship - Round 7 : Looi Xin Hao vs NM Kamal Abdullah

NM Kamal Abdullah (left) vs Looi Xin Hao. Photo from Azhar Said

Looi Xin Hao (2157)-   NM Kamal Abdullah ( 2095) 
Malaysian Chess Championship
Round 7, 1.6.2019, Kuantan, Pahang

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 Xin Hao loyal to his Veresov Opening 3...Nbd7 4. e3
g6 Unlike Xin Hao previous opponents , Kamal choose the fianchetto setup - a
loyal padawan to his late Master -  Eduard Gufeld

5. f3 planning e4  5...c6 6. e4 h6  7. Bxf6 Nxf6 8. e5 Nh7 9. Bd3 Qb6 10. Nge2 Bg7 11. Na4 Qc7 12. Nf4 Ng5 13. Qd2 Ne6 14. Nxe6 Bxe6 15. Nc5 Bc8 Kamal choose to preserve his double bishop 


16. f4 b6 17. Nb3 Bd7 black is planning to c5 but he want to stop Bb5 first

18. Qe2 h5 19. O-O of course 19. O-O-O? will lost material Bg4

19... Bg4 20. Qf2e6 21. Qg3 planing to play 22.h3 next with tactical idea 22...Bf5 23.Bxf5!
exf5 (23...gxf5?? 24.Qxg7) 24.e6! tu ruin black position

21...Bf8 Kamal prevent  any tactic along the g-file

 22. c4 dxc4 23.Bxc4 Qd7 24. Rac1 a5 thereatening to play a5 attacking the guardian of d4 25.
a4 white prevent it but now there are hole in b4 square

25...Bf5 26. Qe3 Be7 27.h3 h4 !? I like this move. It restrict white's pawn and also there is
interesting idea to play Rh5-g5 later.

 28. Be2 O-O 29. Bf3 Rac8 30. Kh2 Rfd8 31. Rfd1 Kg7 32. d5? i think white have not enough support make this breaktrough. 

32... cxd5 33. Rxc8 Rxc8 34. Qxb6 Qxa4 white lost a pawn.

35. Nd4 Bc5! double attack against white's queen and knight...i think black is winning here

36. Qb7 36. Nxf5+ can't save the day because f4 weakness 36...gxf5 37. Qb7 Qxf4+

36... Bxd4 37. Qxc8 37. b3 offer more resistence but black still have the upperhand in the long run for e.g. Qc6 38. Qxc6 Rxc6 39. Rxd4 Bc2 40. Bd1 Bxd1 41. Rxd1 Rc3 42. Rb1 

37... Bxb2 38. g3?  this just expose the king  38... hxg3+ 39. Kxg3 g5! strike when the iron is still hot!

40. fxg5 Bxe5+ 41. Kf2 Qh4+ 42. Ke2 Qg3 43. Qc5 d4 the passed -d pawn add more problem to white. The position can't be save anymore. 

44. Rf1 Qf4 45. Kd1 Bxh3 46. Bg2 Bg4+ 47. Kc2 Qe3 48. Qxa5 d3+ 49. Kb1 Qd4 50. Qa2 d2 0-1 white call it a day. The desperado 51. Rxf7+ lead to nowhere 51...Kxf7 52. g6+ Kxg6 53. Qc2+ Bf5