White: Bruce Leverett
Black: Jim Booth
Exhibition game
October 24, 2000

 1 Nf3    f5
 2 d4     Nf6
 3 e3

   3 g3 is just better.  Even by the turn of the century, before fianchetto
   openings caught on, everyone knew that White should fianchetto his king
   bishop against the Dutch.  Sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me.

 3 ...    e6
 4 c4     b6
 5 Nc3    Be7
 6 Bd3    O-O
 7 O-O

   7 e4 would be logical.  By the same token, Black should have prevented
   this by 6 ... Bb7.  Also, if White didn't plan to play 7 e4, he might
   as well have played 6 Be2 instead of 6 Bd3, since the bishop would have
   more scope.

 7 ...    Bb7
 8 a3

   A waste of time; 8 d5 immediately was better.

 8 ...    Qe8
 9 d5     exd5
10 cxd5   Qh5
11 Nd4

   Because of the lost tempo at move 8, White can no longer afford to keep
   queens on.  For instance, 11 Be2 Bd6 12 h3 Ne4 13 Bd2 g5 shows that he
   has no obvious way of stopping Black's incursion on the kingside.

11 ...    Qxd1
12 Rxd1   g6

   It's a standoff; either side will find it hard to mount serious threats.

13 b4     a5
14 bxa5   Rxa5
15 Nb3

   This wasn't immediately necessary.  15 Bb2 can be played, since after
   15 ... Nxd5 16 Bc4 Rc5 17 Ba2, Black will not be able to hold on to his
   booty.  To win against strong players, you have to see tactical finesses
   like this one.  By missing it, I lost time with the knight, since it
   returned to d4 two moves later.

15 ...    Ra8
16 Bc4    d6
17 Nd4    Rfc8
18 Bb2    Na6
19 Ne6    Nc5
20 Rac1?

   This is an elementary blunder.  20 Nd4 or 20 Nf4, admitting the error of
   the previous move, still leaves the position about equal.

20 ...    Nxe6
21 dxe6   c6

   Not only is the e6 pawn a goner, but more importantly, Black's queenside
   pawns are about to become huge, and White's a-pawn is in jeopardy too.

22 Bb3    d5
23 Na4    Ra6
24 Bd4    c5
25 Be5

   Black now has several different ways of starting his queenside rolling.
   The one he chose somehow did not work out.  We looked at some more
   convincing variations in the post-mortem, but now, analyzing the position
   several months later, I have not been able to reconstruct or remember them.

25 ...    Ng4
26 Bg3    c4
27 Bc2    b5
28 Rb1    Bc6
29 Nc3    Bxa3
30 Nxb5   Bxb5
31 Rxb5   Rxe6
32 Rbxd5  Be7

   White should be OK now, but in time pressure I made a few dubious attacking
   moves, and forgot to take care of my back rank.

33 Re7    Nf6
34 Rb7    Nh5
35 Bc7    Kf8
36 Rd7    Nf6
37 Rd4    Rc6
38 Bf4    Ra8
39 g3     Ra2
40 Bb1    Ra1

   The game was broken off at this point.  Black has strong pressure because
   of his active rooks and advanced passed pawn.  However, it may be that
   White can hold.  After 41 Kg2 c3 42 Bc2, White threatens 43 Bh6+ and
   44 Bb3+ with a mating net.  To win, Black would have to find a way to
   advance his c-pawn without allowing something like this.