Tennessee Open, Round 3, September 4, 2004
White:  Patrick McCartney (2024)
Black:  Mirko Remec (1800)
Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6?!  Unlike in the Rossolimo, where White's King's Knight is developed instead of his Queen's Knight, it's not good to allow White to double his pawns, and theory considers 3...Nd4 to be best, while 3...Na5 and 3...Qc7 are plausible options.  4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.d3 e6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.Qe2 d5 9.Na4 c4 Any other move allows White to play 10.c4, after which if Black takes on c4, he's left with 2 very weak isolated c-pawns, and if he doesn't take, White can play b3 and Ba3 and the position would be very similar to the Hubner Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense, which now-a-days is considered very good for Black, with the colors reversed.  10.e5 cxd3 11.cxd3 Nd7 12.d4 c5 13.Be3 Qa5 14.Nxc5 Nxc5 15.dxc5 Bxc5 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 17.Rac1 Qb6 18.Rc2 Bd7 19.Rfc1 O-O 20.h4 Rfc8 21.Rxc8+ Rxc8 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Qc2 Bb7 24.Ng5 g6 25.h5 Qd8 26.f4 Qb6+ 27.Kh2 Qe3 28.Qa4  28.g3 may be safer, but I wanted more out of the position.  28...Bc6 29.Qb4 d4 30.Qb8+ Kg7 31.h6+ Kxh6 32.Qf8+ Kh5 33.Qxf7 h6? 33...Qf2 is far better, as after the forced sequence 34.Qxh7+ Kg4 35.Qh3+ Kxf4 36.Nxe6 Kxe5, Black is probably better.  34.Nh7!  The only move as 34.Nxe6 fails to 34...Qe4! 35.Ng7+ Kg4 36.Qe6+ Kxf4 37.Qf6+ Ke3 38.Qf1 Qxe5+ 39.Kg1 Kd2! winning.  Now White threatens 35.Nf6+ Kh4 36.Qxg6 as 36...Qxf4+ will fail to 37.g3+.  34...Be4??  The wrong way to stop White's threat.  Black's got 2 choices here.  One is to take the g-pawn with 34...Bxg2 and if White takes the Bishop, Black has perpetual check, and if not, White's King gets in a lot of trouble.  The other is to play 34...Qd3, and if 35.Qxe6, then 35...Kh4 with the threat of perpetual check, and White's only true way to stop it is to play 36.Qf6+ Kg4 and give the perpetual check himself.  With the move played in the game, White is now winning.  35.Qf8!  The only move that wins.  White now threatens 36.Nf6+ and 37.Qxh6 mate.  35...g5  This move or 35...Kg4, which both amount to the same thing, are the only 2 ways to avoid mate.  The problem is, Black must give up his Queen for it.  36.Nf6+ Kg6 37.f5+!! Kxf5  Any other capture of the pawn allows 38.Qg8 mate.  38.Nd5+ Kxe5 39.Nxe3+ dxe3 40.Qc5+  White's only remaining task is to stop the passed e-pawns, which only requires using a few check moves to relocate the Queen into a better position.  The rest needs no comments.  40...Kf4 Qc7+ e5 42.Qf7+ Bf5 43.Qc4+ e4 44.Qe2 Be6 45.b3 h5 46.g3+ Kf5 47.Qxe3 h4 48.Qf2+ Ke5 49.gxh4 gxh4 50.Qxh4 a5 51.Qg5+ Kd4 52.Qd2+ Ke5 53.Qxa5+ Kf4 54.Kg2 Bg4 55.Kf2 1-0