Alabama Chess Antics

Qe2+) 46...Kf7 47.Qf5+ Qf6 48.Qxe4 Qxf2+ 49.Kh1
d2.
39...Rxd3 40.Rxd3 exd3 41.Qd2 Qe2!
A Beautiful Game from the 2010
Chris Bond Memorial
by Will Stevenson
Will Stevenson − Benjamin Levine
(2167) (1629)
Chris Bond Memorial 2010, Round 2
White lost on time (0-1). This final position is
remarkable to me because after 42.Qxe2 dxe2,
White's king is so close to the passed pawn, but he
just can't stop it! He's so close, yet so far away. On
the other hand, after 42.Qf4 d2 43.Qb8+ Kh7, there is
no perpetual check; Black will queen his pawn and
win.
I am very, very proud of this game. There was
nothing really flashy about my play; I just slowly
improved my position with little moves here and there
until, suddenly, my advantage was overwhelming.
Have you ever had one of those games where all your
ideas seemed to "click," your pieces worked in perfect
harmony, and you simply won? And then you said to
yourself: "Wow, this is the way it's supposed to work!
This--now this is chess." That was how this game
made me feel. I think it's because of moments like
these that I love chess so much, and I'll always keep
coming back to play again.
Special thanks to my best friend, Jonathan
Clark, who takes a casual interest in chess. He
recently drew my attention to the Scandinavian as a
possible back-up defense; without him, this game
never would have happened. Thanks also to Bryan
Tillis for another interesting battle, and of course,
thanks to all the players--and organizer Caesar
Lawrence--for helping make this tournament such a
big success.
You never know what to expect when playing a kid. I
always face a dilemma on what to open with against a
kid. Conventional wisdom says to not play too
theoretically and keep the position fairly closed. I,
apparently, am NOT a wise man. That being said, my
strategy produced one of the best (if not THE best)
games I have played. So I can't complain.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
The most common defense in chess in the modern
era, the Najdorf Defense (in this case, the
Scheveningen through the Najdorf move order... i.e.
a6 before e6).
6.Be3
The dangerous English Attack. The most popular
response at all levels these days.
6...Nc6
Generally I am not too fond of this move. It kind of
looks like a Najdorf/Classical Sicilian hybrid, seems to
block Black's potential c-file pressure, and is less
flexible than placing it on d7. However, none other
than Kramnik and Gelfand have played it, so it can't
be too bad!
7.f3 e6 8.Qd2 Bd7 9.g4 h6
5