I played an extremely complicated and very instructive Kholmov System Pirc against a higher rated opponent.
S. Tomic (1859) vs E. Nikolic (2043), IV Cro. League, Rd. 4, 04/07/2019
Theory of the Kholmov System: https://youtu.be/MURLEtPvCvY
As it usually happens to me, I didn’t get to face the player I had prepared for. I spent 20 hours solidifying my repertoire against the French and then 1…d6 comes on the board. It was frustrating, but I got to test out my preparation against the Pirc!
I usually play either the classical or the Austrian against it, but I’ve been preparing the Kholmov System for a while now, and I finally got to use it.
My opponent, even though he is higher rated, probably wasn’t familiar with the variation, so he got in trouble right out of the opening. After the first few moves I already had an advantage. Things just kept getting worse for him, and I was winning. My position was perfect and I was a pawn up. I thought it was going to be easy to convert, so I accepted a few trades of minor pieces, and even got to win a second pawn. Then we traded the queens.
Normally a position with no queens on the board two pawns up is easily winning. But this was a whole different story. We ended up playing 30 more moves!
My opponent played very well considering his situation, and I spent almost all my time trying to win. At one point I had no plan and I started feeling that he might have a fortress draw perhaps. But luckily, I found a winning plan and managed to break through and score a win!
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bc4 c6
5. Qe2 e5 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Nf3 Bd6 8. Bh6 Ng4
9. Bg5 f6 10. Bd2 h5 11. h3 Nh6 12. Nh4 Nf7
13. Nxg6 Rh7 14. O-O-O Nd7 15. f4 b5 16. Be6 Nf8
17. Nxf8 Kxf8 18. Bxc8 Qxc8 19. Qf2 h4 20. Be3 Qe6
21. Bc5 Kg8 22. f5 Qe7 23. Bxd6 Nxd6 24. Qc5 Rd8
25. Qxc6 Qd7 26. Qxd7 Rhxd7 27. Rhe1 Kf7 28. b3 b4
29. Na4 Rc8 30. Rd5 Ke7 31. Red1 Rc6 32. Rc5 Rdc7
33. Rxc6 Rxc6 34. Re1 Nb5 35. Re2 a6 36. Kd1 Kf7
37. Re3 Kg7 38. Kd2 Kh6 39. g4 Kg5 40. c4 Nd4
41. Nb2 Rd6 42. Nd3 a5 43. Kc1 Rc6 44. Kb2 Rc8
45. Kc1 Rc7 46. Kd2 Rd7 47. Kd1 Rc7 48. Re1 Rc8
49. Rf1 Rc7 50. Rf2 Rc8 51. Kd2 Rc7 52. Ke3 Rc8
53. Ne1 Rd8 54. Rd2 Ra8 55. Nf3+ Nxf3 56. Kxf3 a4
57. c5 axb3 58. axb3 Ra3 59. Rb2 Ra5 60. Rc2 Ra3
61. c6 Ra8 62. c7 Rc8 63. Ke3 Kh6 64. Rc6 Kg7
65. Kd3 Kf7 66. Kc4
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