Finegold vs Jiminez, St. Louis Open 2013

Here is a game between Ben Finegold, as white, against Fidel Corrales Jiminez, as black, from the 3rd round of the 2013 St. Louis Open. Annotations by Selden Trimble (ST) and NM Ken Jones (KJ).

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[Event “St. Louis Open”]
[Site “Chess Club in St. Louis”]
[Date “2013.04.13”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Ben Finegold”]
[Black “Fidel Corrales Jiminez”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “2569”]
[BlackElo “2669”]
[ECO “E38”]
[EventDate “2013.??.??”]
[Annotator “ST–Selden Trimble; KJ–Ken Jones”]

1.d4 {This is one of most exciting games I ever witnessed. I was playing in the same tournament and in the same room as GM Finegold and GM Corrales Jiminez.–ST} 1…Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bg5 O-O 8.e3 h6 9.Bh4 Be7 10.Be2 b6 11.O-O Bb7 12.Rad1 {Black has developed solidly but must now find a way to counter White’s pressure on the d-file–KJ.} 12…d6 {After this natural move, White is able to force new concessions. Perhaps 12… Rc8 13. Rd2 Na5 (Yermolinsky-Rensch 2011) is a better way to get counterplay–KJ.} 13.Rd2 Rc8 {Passive, but maybe necessary is 13…Qb8 14. Rfd1 Rd8–KJ.} 14.Rfd1 a6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Ne4 {Also good is 16. Qe4 to get at the weakened K-side, but White’s move forces the play–KJ.} 16…Nb4 17.Qb1 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 Nxa2 19.Nd4 Nb4? {Black has to try 19…f5–KJ.} 20.Nxe6! {From Finegold’s blog–ST.} 20…fxe6 21.Qg6+ Kh8 22.Qxh6+ Kg8 {At this point, I looked at the game and assumed it was a draw–ST, but I have no doubt GM Finegold saw the fine Bishop manuever that follows when he played 20. Nxe6!–KJ.} 23.Qg6+ Kh8 24.Bg4! Qd7 25.Bf5! {This threatens mate. If 25. … B8, then 26. Rd4 (renewing the mate threat) Rf7 27 Rh4+ forces mate — KJ} 25…exf5 26.Rd4 f4 27.Rxf4 f5 {At last the bishop gets in the play, but too late!–ST} 28.Rdd4 Qd8 29.Rf3 f4 30.Rxd6!! {From Finegold’s blog–ST; A splendid culmination of White’s imaginative play–KJ.} 30…Bh4 31.Qh5+ Kg8 32.Rg6+ Kf7 33.Rxf4+ Ke7 34.Qe5+ {Black resigned. After the game, six grandmasters sat around a board and analysed it: Finegold, Seirawan, Robson, So, Corrales, and Hoyos. That was something to watch–ST.} 1-0
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