Western States Open, Game 4 (Rd. 6)

A draw with a 1753-rated guy from Texas finished up a very good tournament for me.

[Event "Western States Open (B)"]
[Site "Reno, NV"]
[Date "2007.10.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Anderson, Bradley "]
[Black "Pearson, Robert"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "1753"]
[BlackElo "1607"]
[ECO "A48"]
[Annotator "RLP"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 { Aiming for the King's Indian } 3. Nc3 { I haven't seen this move for a long time; now 3. ... d6 4. e4 and I'm playing the Pirc, which I'm all right with, but given the opportunity why not d5? } d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 { Okay, we're in the "Barry Attack" but I didn't remember the name at the time. There was a guy who played this against me in a couple of Alaska tournaments so I wasn't really shocked by it. } Bg4 { In Beating the Anti-King's Indians Joe Gallagher recommends c5, breaking up White's center with a temporary pawn sacrifice. But I'm out of "book" now and Bg4 seemed very natural--it's been played by masters many times in this position. } 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Bxf3 c6 9. h4 { Okay, NOW I get it. Well, a King's Indian player can't be too afraid of this move, I've seen this before...keep the kingside closed and you'll be fine. } h5 10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. O-O-O Qa5 { ?! With the idea of b5, b4 and Qxa2, keeping him busy on the queenside. All my other pieces are where I want them in anticipation of his g4 push. But more precise was b5, keeping the queen flexible. } 12. g4 hxg4 13. Bxg4 Nxg4 14. Qxg4 Nf6 15. Qg2 { I don't think Qg5 is anything special for him either; my plan is still to play Nh5 and push the b-pawn, with a roughly level game. } Nh5 16. Be5 b5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Ne2 { ?! Daring me to take the pawn! After 10 minutes thought I couldn't see a clear refuatation of it, but decided to "play it safe." however, 18. ... Qxa2 19. c3 Rab8 20. Ng3 Nxg3 21. Qxg3 b4 seems good for Black. I don't know why that should be beyond my horizon, but anyway... } Qc7 19. f4 e6 20. Rdg1 Rh8 { I don't know if any individual move of mine in this game deserves a (! ) but I think I did have a good plan to meet his unusual and aggressive set-up. } 21. Qg5 Kf8 { To free the queen from guarding e7, but a5 was more conducive to trying for an advanatage. } 22. Ng3 Qe7 { Rc8 winding up for c5 would again have been more assertive. } 23. Qg4 Nxg3 24. Rxg3 Rh5 25. Rgh3 { He offered a draw. I spent a few minutes looking at c5 as a winning attempt, but thought any edge I'd get was pretty small. Objectively, it's worth playing on for Black, though. Kg7 and Rah8 ties him to the weak h-pawn, then Black can probe the queenside. To be honest, I was a little worn from the events of the previous few days, I was satisfied with my play in the game so far and a draw with a player 150 points above me would complete a very good result; so... } 1/2-1/2