1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 Great. I finally pluck up the courage top play the open Sicilian with White, having spent ages researching the theory, and my opponent comes up with this oddity. I guess White can wimp out with something like 3. c3 here, but despite being armed only with some half remembered lines of Modern theory (sic) I decided to plough on regardless. 3. d4 Bg7 4. dxc5 Qa5+ 5. c3 Qxc5 6. Be3 Qc7 7. Bd4 This was as much theory as I remembered. Black now has 7..Nf6, which is well met by 8. e5, or the unimpressive 7..f6. The other move is 7...e5, but this must leave d5 too weak.. 7... e5?! 8. Be3 Nf6 Time for a think. The d5 square doesn't look too weak after 9.Nbd2 d5, and 9. Bd3 d5 is much the same. Clearly White needs something more energetic here. 9. Na3!! Nunn gives this an exclamation mark in both The Complete Pirc and Beating the Sicilian 3. Since I found it independently, and I'm not a GM, I'm going to take this rare opportunity to award myself a double exclamation mark. 9... Nxe4 This is bad for Black, but alternatives are also unappealing. 9... a6 runs into 10. Nc4 Nxe4 (otherwise 11.Nd6+) 11. Qd5! e.g.11...Qc6 12. Qxe4 Alternatively, Nunn gives a game Maric-Tringov which went 9... O-O 10. Nb5 Qc6 11. Nxe5 Qxe4 12. Nxf7! 10. Nb5 Qc6 11. Nxa7 Nxc3?! This is complete rubbish, but it did cause me some anxious moments. It must be a better practical try than 11... Qc7 when Black's suffering continues after 12. Qb3 threatening Bb6. 12. bxc3 Rxa7 13. Bxa7 Qxc3+ 14. Nd2 Nc6 15. Be3? Careless. Much more efficient was 15. Rc1 Qa5 16. Bc5 keeping everything under control. 15... d5 16. Rc1 Qa5 17. Qb3 d4 18. Bg5 f6 19. Bh4 Bh6 20. Rd1 e4 21. Qb5 Qc3 22. Qc4 Qa5 23. Bxf6 Played with my heart in my mouth. Black is forced to sacrifice another rook, since otherwise White simply has 24.Bxd4. Unfortunately, however, I had about 2 minutes to reach move 34 and my king is about to go walkabout. 23... e3 24. fxe3 dxe3 25. Qe4+ Kf8 26. Bxh8 exd2+ 27. Ke2 Qh5+? e.g. 27... Qb5+ 28. Kf3 Qh5+ 29. g4 or 27... Bf5 28. Qc4 (after 28.Qf3 or 28.Qh4, Black has a perpetual after 28...Qb5+) 28... Ne5 29. Qd4! (not 28.Bxe5 Qxe5+ mating) 29... Bg4+ 30. Kf2 Bxd1 31. Bxe5 28. Qf3+ "Bloody hell!" exclaimed my opponent loudly at this point. Perhaps this was an attempt to convince casual observers that he had just ruined a hitherto brilliantly-played sacrificial attack, rather than just squandered his remaining swindling chances. Other moves make White work harder, especially with 2 minutes for six moves, but he should still hold out, 28... Kg8 29. Qxh5 gxh5 30. h3 Kxh8 31. Rxd2 Bxd2 32. Kxd2 Be6 33. a3 Bd5 34. Rg1 h4 Time control . Despite jettisoning some material unnecessarily, White is clearly winning. 35. Kc3 Kg7 36. Bc4 Be4 37. Re1 Bf5 38. Bd5 Kf6 39. Be4 Be6 40. Bxh7 Kg5 41. Rb1 Ne5 42. Kd4 1-0