[Event "Middle School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tang, Zoey"]
[Black "Nobles, Will"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2097"]
[BlackElo "1486"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+5"]

{[%evp 0,57,19,34,29,-1,-15,-7,11,0,14,27,61,9,13,18,18,17,30,34,53,52,106,111,
111,104,115,119,137,146,146,109,145,117,146,136,142,120,133,122,131,139,144,
148,144,144,156,93,193,192,750,677,1328,1369,1437,347,400,426,426,426]} 1. d4
Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 d5 4. e3 g5 {a little out of the ordinary, but playable.}
(4... c5 {is most popular, but White scores well against all moves in this
position.}) 5. Be5 $1 Nf6 ({Engines prefer} 5... Rg8 {which means that the
Trompowsky player has obtained the sort of position where non-stereotyped
moves are required.}) 6. Bxf6 ({Engines suggest} 6. h4 {Perhaps the engines,
along with Zoey and Will, have already sensed that no King can expect to find
safety on the kingside in this game.}) 6... exf6 7. Nc3 c6 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. Nge2
Nd7 10. Ng3 {I would be trying to land this kight on the f5 square, but the
engines are trying to put it on h5. I guess that makes it a good move -
something for everyone.} Bxg3 {Black stops the kight from advancing, but gives
up his best piece in the process.} (10... Nf8 11. Nh5 Ng6 (11... Be6 12. Qf3
$16) 12. g3 Be6 13. Qf3 Be7 14. O-O-O {and Black can't move his queen to
prepare castling long without losing the pawn on f6. So he is choosing between
castling kingside and wondering if his kingside will hold or leaving his king
in the center and wondering if he can defend after white's e3-e4 opening the
center.}) 11. hxg3 Nf8 12. Qe2 Be6 13. O-O-O Qe7 14. Rh6 O-O-O 15. Rdh1 {
Material is still even, but White is positionally winning.} f5 16. Na4 Qc7 17.
Nc5 f4 18. gxf4 gxf4 19. Bxh7 Nxh7 20. Rxh7 Rxh7 21. Rxh7 Bf5 22. Rh5 Bg6 23.
Rh1 Qe7 24. Qg4+ f5 $2 (24... Kc7 25. Qxf4+ {isn't much fun for black}) 25.
Qxg6 fxe3 26. Qxf5+ Kb8 27. Qe5+ Qxe5 28. dxe5 exf2 29. Rf1 1-0

[Event "Elementary Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Tang, Austin"]
[Black "Adebolu, Ademidun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B71"]
[WhiteElo "1852"]
[BlackElo "1260"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3000+5"]

{[%evp 0,79,19,29,40,40,80,76,53,66,36,38,84,45,68,60,96,96,61,61,54,54,48,27,
79,2,67,71,75,75,60,133,127,133,148,43,83,56,156,165,123,83,85,89,179,93,98,
114,115,117,121,95,122,95,98,94,201,205,218,244,305,313,390,391,455,515,509,
534,582,668,1012,728,1244,1498,1702,2153,2239,2239,2239,2678,29979,2710]} 1. e4
c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. f4 {The Levenfish Variation,
not particularly popular, but contains some traps for the unwary.} Bg7 {
this move was once thought a mistake. Today it is considered playable, but it
does allow White to set a few problems for Black.} (6... Nc6 {was once
considered the only playable move. The variations are concrete - not much room
for positional judgment.} 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Nd7 9. exd6 exd6 $13) (6... Nbd7 {
allows black to avoid the immediate complications of 6...Nc6 and the traps of
6...Bg7}) 7. e5 $1 {White is only slightly better, but Black needs to stay on
his toes.} dxe5 (7... Nh5 $5 {is not very popular, but it is playable.} {
White's best move is} 8. Bb5+ {a move that appears frequently in this line,
including on move 10 of this game.} (8. g4 $2 {doesn't win a piece} Nxf4 $1 9.
Bxf4 dxe5) 8... Bd7 9. Qe2 Bxb5 10. Qxb5+ Nd7 {and} 11. Nf3 {is best, with a
wild position.}) 8. fxe5 Nfd7 (8... Ng4 $2 9. Bb5+ Nc6 (9... Bd7 $2 10. Qxg4)
10. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 11. Nxd1 a6 12. Ba4 Bd7 13. h3 Nh6 14. Nxe7 Bxa4 15. Nd5 O-O 16.
Nb6) 9. e6 Ne5 $1 {[#]} (9... fxe6 $2 10. Nxe6 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qa5 12. Bb5 Qxc3+
(12... Qxb5 $2 13. Nc7+) 13. Qd2 Qxa1 (13... Qe5+ 14. Qe2 Qc3+ 15. Kf2 a6 16.
Re1) 14. O-O $18) 10. Bb5+ Nbc6 11. exf7+ Kf8 12. Bxc6 $6 {Austin gives his
opponent one last chance to scratch back to equality.} (12. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 13. Nxd1
bxc6 14. Be2 $14) 12... bxc6 $6 (12... Nxc6 13. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 14. Nxd1 bxc6 $11)
13. O-O $1 {Allowing Black a shot, but foreseeing that when the smoke clears,
White will have the advantage.} Qxd4+ 14. Qxd4 Nf3+ 15. Rxf3 Bxd4+ 16. Be3 Bf6
17. Raf1 Bf5 18. h3 Kg7 19. g4 Bxc2 20. g5 Bxc3 21. bxc3 e5 $2 {stops 22.Bd4,
but allows something worse.} (21... Rhc8 22. Bc5 Bf5 $14) 22. Bc5 $16 Bf5 23.
f8=Q+ Rhxf8 24. Bxf8+ Rxf8 25. h4 Rd8 26. R1f2 e4 27. Re3 Rd3 28. Rxd3 exd3 29.
Rb2 c5 30. Kf2 Bg4 31. Ke3 c4 32. Rb7+ Kg8 33. Rxa7 Be6 34. a4 Bf7 35. a5 Kf8
36. Rxf7+ Kxf7 37. a6 Ke6 38. a7 Kd7 39. a8=Q Kc7 40. Qd5 1-0

[Event "High School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Grabinsky, Joshua"]
[Black "Lu, Ryan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "1962"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]

{[%evp 0,125,10,33,40,35,30,-13,-9,-9,-1,-31,50,42,52,44,27,9,39,-37,10,1,23,
20,36,58,73,47,47,45,38,3,60,43,14,-2,30,18,18,-52,48,80,121,101,111,-77,32,26,
38,25,18,30,30,26,33,-143,-105,-109,30,-21,-20,0,-7,0,114,149,149,148,149,149,
149,139,149,149,132,132,166,152,137,150,178,155,268,196,535,553,566,557,566,
131,138,130,137,143,140,128,129,122,123,89,84,85,96,104,142,167,166,162,170,
226,290,305,379,288,289,343,361,393,408,420,445,468,552,552,554,422,440,463]} 
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 $5 {This isn't an objectively testing move, but it is
surprisingly tricky for Black to play against. White gives Black equality but
not easy equality. There will be a tough game ahead and White will be able to
set some problems for Black to solve.} dxe4 4. Bxe4 Nf6 5. Bf3 $1 c6 {This
looks natural, blunting White's bishop. But it is discouraging to discover
that White scores 69% from this position.} (5... c5 {is the engine approved
move.}) (5... Nbd7 {was played by Joshua himself in a States Cup match against
Arizona, and scores best for Black.}) 6. Ne2 Bd6 7. c4 ({Engines suggest} 7.
Na3) 7... O-O 8. Nbc3 Nbd7 9. Qc2 h6 10. Be3 e5 11. O-O-O Qe7 {invites White
to plant a knight on the juicy f5 square.} (11... Qc7 {is a safer square for
the Queen.}) 12. Ng3 exd4 13. Bxd4 (13. Nf5 $1 Qe6 14. Nxd6 Qxd6 (14... dxe3
15. Rhe1 Ng4 16. Bxg4 Qxg4 17. Rxe3 $16 Qxg2 $4 18. Rg3) 15. Bxd4 $14) 13...
Ne5 14. Rhe1 Qc7 (14... c5 15. Be3 Nxf3 16. gxf3 Be6 17. Nge4 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 Bf5
(18... Bxh2 $2 19. Rh1 Be5 20. Bxc5 $16) 19. Rd5 Bxe4 20. fxe4 $14) 15. Nf5
Bxf5 16. Qxf5 Rfe8 (16... Nxf3 17. Qxf3 Be7 $14) 17. Be2 ({It would be hard to
voluntarily go into a line such as} 17. c5 Nxf3 18. cxd6 Nxd4 19. Rxe8+ Rxe8
20. Qxf6 gxf6 21. dxc7 Ne6 22. Ne4 Rc8 23. Rd7 Rxc7 24. Rxc7 Nxc7 25. Nd6 {
but Stockfish likes it. Joshua's approach is more pragmatic.}) 17... Rad8 18.
c5 {A move later, it doesn't pack the same punch.} Bf8 19. f4 Ned7 ({Black
misses an opportunity} 19... Neg4 $1 20. Bxg4 Rxe1 21. Rxe1 Rxd4 $17) 20. Bc4
$14 Re7 21. g4 $6 (21. Kb1) 21... b5 ({Black has a tricky resource to equalize
} 21... Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Nd5 $1 23. Bxd5 ({White has a cute perpetual with} 23.
Qxf7+ Kxf7 24. Nxd5 cxd5 (24... Qa5 25. Nf6+ Kg6 26. Bd3+) 25. Bxd5+ Kg6 26.
Be4+) 23... cxd5 24. Nxd5 Qc6 {And white threatens to get the pawn back by
taking on c5 or playing Qa4, forking the a-pawn and Bishop} 25. Kb1 Qa4 (25...
Nxc5 $2 26. Ne7+ Bxe7 27. Rxe7 Qh1+ 28. Kc2 Qxh2+ 29. Kc3 Qh3+ 30. Be3 Rf8 31.
Qxc5)) 22. g5 $2 (22. Bb3 $1 $18) 22... hxg5 (22... bxc4 $1 23. gxf6 Rxe1 24.
Rxe1 g6 $1 $17 25. Qe4 Nxc5 26. Bxc5 Bxc5 $17) 23. fxg5 bxc4 $11 24. gxf6 Rxe1
25. Rxe1 g6 26. Qf2 Qa5 27. Ne4 (27. Re7 $1) 27... Re8 28. Bc3 Qc7 (28... Qxa2
$1 $17) 29. Qh4 $11 Nxc5 30. Ng5 Rxe1+ 31. Bxe1 Bh6 $2 (31... Qf4+ $1 32. Qxf4
Nd3+ 33. Kc2 Nxf4 $11) 32. Qxh6 $18 {A back and forth game up to now. White is
in the driver's seat the rest of the way.} Qf4+ 33. Kb1 Qf5+ 34. Ka1 Qxf6 35.
Qh7+ Kf8 36. Qh4 Qd6 37. Qg4 f5 38. Qe2 Nd3 39. Bc3 Qd5 40. Qf3 Qd6 41. Qh3 Ne1
42. Qh8+ Ke7 43. Qg7+ Ke8 44. Qe5+ Qxe5 45. Bxe5 Ke7 46. Kb1 Nd3 47. Bd4 c5 48.
Bc3 Kd6 49. Kc2 Nb4+ 50. Kb1 Kd5 51. a3 Nd3 52. Kc2 Nf2 53. Kd2 Kc6 54. h4 Kb5
55. Nf7 Ne4+ 56. Kc2 f4 57. Ne5 g5 58. h5 Nf6 59. h6 Nh7 60. Kd2 Kb6 61. Ke2
Kc7 62. Kf3 Kd6 63. Kg4 1-0

[Event "Middle School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kodarapu, Ishaan"]
[Black "Tang, Zoey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E90"]
[WhiteElo "1607"]
[BlackElo "2097"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+5"]

{[%evp 0,102,25,10,25,-17,31,40,42,28,41,37,46,30,52,37,77,60,57,37,44,27,57,
58,92,49,92,72,118,131,123,112,125,83,75,70,140,67,142,95,54,118,120,86,93,71,
88,75,66,74,105,49,27,9,2,39,37,-28,-47,-61,-61,-55,30,-133,-121,-140,-18,-67,
-4,-52,51,-466,-325,-466,-372,-582,-328,-328,-317,-700,-897,-927,-441,-29995,
-1098,-1208,-1636,-2057,-29988,-29989,-29986,-29987,-29988,-29989,-1778,-29993,
-29994,-29995,-29994,-29995,-29996,-29997,-29998,-29999,-30000]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2.
c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. h3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Be3 exd5 9. exd5 Re8
10. Be2 Nbd7 11. O-O Nf8 12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Rfe1 Qc7 14. Bd3 $14 {We are out of
the opening, and White stands a little better. This is the bargain that King's
Indian and Benoni players have always made - they give White an objective
advantage in exchange for continuing opportunities to create mischief.} a6 15.
Bf4 Nh5 16. Bh2 f5 17. a3 Nf6 18. Rab1 Rad8 19. b4 cxb4 20. axb4 b6 21. Bf1 h6
22. Rbc1 g5 23. Nd4 ({Engines say the best move is} 23. h4 {but I would be
reluctant to weaken my kingside when it looks like Black is trying to attack
there.}) 23... f4 24. Kh1 Qb7 25. f3 Ng6 {White has maintained his advantage
up to here, but the pawn structure imbalances mean that it will take great
accuracy to prevent accidents from occurring.} 26. Ne4 (26. Ne6 Bxe6 27. Rxe6
$16) (26. Bg1 {I would be reluctant to leave the g3 square undefended, but} Nh5
27. Bf2 {and the Bishop defends g3 once again, but now from a more active
diagonal.}) 26... Nxe4 27. fxe4 Rc8 28. g3 {weakens the White King's pawn
cover and the f3 square - the game is now equal according to the engines. 
Some of you may notice the annotator's bias in criticizing White's kingside
pawn moves but not Black's. As a former King's Indian player, my excuse is
that these defenses require risk taking with one's kingside pawns. The
positions are nearly impossible to defend passively, so risky kingside pawn
advances are part of the bargain.} (28. Bg1 {is a safer move that retains an
edge.}) 28... Rf8 29. Nf5 Bxf5 30. exf5 Ne5 {At this point, White wishes the
pawn were back on g2.} (30... Rxf5 31. Bd3 Rf6 32. Bxg6 fxg3 33. Bxg3 Rxg6 {
is also about even, but Zoey's choice maintains more Mischief Potential (tm).})
31. Be2 (31. gxf4 $5 Nf3 32. Qg2 Nxe1 33. Rxe1 {gives White some mischief
potential.}) (31. Qc2 $13) 31... f3 32. Bd3 (32. Bf1 $15 {White has bigger
issues than trying to keep the pawn on f5}) 32... g4 (32... f2 33. Rf1 b5 $1
34. cxb5 $4 (34. Be4 Rxc4 $19) 34... Qxd5+ 35. Be4 Qxe4#) 33. hxg4 Nxg4 34. Re6
$2 (34. Re4 $1 {fights for the h-file. Why would one suspect that the h-file
would be important in this position?} Nxh2 35. Kxh2 ({The engines see the
knight is trapped and confidently play} 35. Rh4 {with close to equality.})
35... Rxf5 36. Rh4 $15) 34... Qf7 $1 {headed for the h-file. Up to now it has
been anybody's game, but the rest is kingside carnage.} 35. Qe1 Qh5 36. Qg1 Bd4
37. Rg6+ Qxg6 38. Qxd4 Qh5 39. Rc2 Rce8 40. Qg1 f2 41. Qg2 Nxh2 42. Qxh2 Re1+
43. Bf1 Rxf1+ 44. Kg2 Rg1+ 45. Qxg1 fxg1=Q+ 46. Kxg1 Qxf5 47. Kg2 Qxc2+ 48. Kh3
Qf2 49. Kg4 Qf5+ 50. Kh4 h5 51. g4 Qxg4# 0-1

[Event "Middle School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Tang, Zoey"]
[Black "Sripada, Havish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2097"]
[BlackElo "1895"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+5"]

{[%evp 0,55,21,33,23,-14,-3,-3,10,-27,-5,7,3,9,32,33,39,28,28,0,0,-8,-8,-8,-36,
-18,-9,-9,-8,-61,58,70,70,5,24,17,17,10,19,2,69,71,63,62,74,62,95,37,233,224,
491,492,565,646,653,584,589,541]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qc2 h6 9. Bf4 (9. Bh4 {is more popular, but
Zoey's choice is common too. If she can play 10.h3 and keep the Bishop on the
h2-b8 diagonal she will have a good game.}) 9... Nh5 $1 {Havish won't allow it.
} 10. Be5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 d4 $1 $15 {Black has a slight edge with the two
bishops on an open board.} ({if} 11... O-O 12. Be2 {is annoying}) 12. exd4 Qxd4
13. Nf3 Qg4 14. Be4 O-O ({The greedy} 14... Qxg2 {is best, but it is not
pleasant to get your get your queen out of play against an attacking player
like Zoey}) 15. h3 Qe6 (15... Qxg2 {no longer works} 16. Rh2) 16. O-O-O f5 ({
The engines recommend} 16... Nf4 {I guess it follows the rule of improving
your worst placed piece if you don't count the undeveloped Bishop on c8 or the
bottled up Rook on a8.}) 17. exf6 Qxf6 18. g3 Bf5 19. Nd4 Qg5+ (19... Bxe4 20.
Nxe4 Qf7 {gains time by attacking the undefended pawn on a2}) 20. Kb1 Bxe4 21.
Nxe4 Qg6 22. g4 $1 {Zoey is in her element.} Nf6 ({I would be tempted to play} 
22... Nf4 {but it is weaker than Havish's choice.} 23. Nf5 Rfe8 24. Rd7 {
and Zoey's pieces are swarming.}) 23. Nf5 Rae8 $2 (23... Qf7 24. Rhe1 $16) 24.
Ned6 $1 $18 Nd5 25. Rxd5 $1 {The flashiest way to finish the game off, but
White's more prosaic alternatives} (25. Nxe7+ Nxe7 26. Nxe8 {and}) (25. Nxe8
Qxe8 26. Rhe1 {are also winning}) 25... Rxf5 26. Nxf5 Qe6 27. Nxe7+ Qxe7 28.
Rdd1 1-0

[Event "High School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Semenov, Fedya"]
[Black "Grabinsky, Joshua"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "1803"]
[BlackElo "2315"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]

{[%evp 0,50,19,29,55,9,19,32,123,42,42,42,37,17,13,13,13,-36,-60,-122,-92,-103,
-23,-88,-110,-75,-71,-113,-44,-44,-44,-198,-181,-194,-193,-193,-188,-172,-172,
-246,-279,-527,-291,-295,-290,-292,-302,-319,-300,-844,-862,-870,-881]} 1. e4
Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 c6 $6 {The Ponziani Reversed?} 4. d3 ({White can keep an
edge with} 4. d4 exd4 (4... Qa5 {is more in line with the Ponziani Reversed
theme, but} 5. Nxe5 Nxe4 6. Qh5 g6 7. Qf3 {is good for White.}) 5. Qxd4 $1 {
as the pawn on c6 prevents the usual Nb8-c6 with a gain of time.}) ({or} 4.
Nxe5) 4... d5 $1 {and Black has the advantage the rest of the game.} 5. exd5
cxd5 6. Nxe5 d4 7. Qe2 (7. Ne2 $2 Qa5+ {picks up the knight on e5}) 7... Be7 8.
Nb1 O-O {Black's pawn sacrifice was a good investment, as his better
development and open e-file with two White major pieces on it give him
sufficient reasons to be optimistic about the future.} 9. Qd2 {This move looks
awkward, but it the best defense. White gets one major piece of the e-file and
stops the Qa5 check that would fork the knight on e5.} Re8 10. Be2 Bd6 ({
Stockfish likes} 10... Bb4 11. Qxb4 Rxe5) 11. Nf3 (11. Nc4 {minimizes White's
disadvantage.}) 11... Nd5 12. Qg5 Qd7 {What is up with all these
Bishop-blocking Queen moves? For any descriptive notation fans out there,
notice that both sides played Q-Q2 with their bishops on QB1.} (12... Bb4+ {
displaces White's king, as} 13. Nbd2 (13. Bd2 f6 14. Qh4 g5 15. Qxd4 (15. Qg3
Bd6)) 13... f6 14. Qh4 g5 15. Qxd4 (15. Qg3 Bd6) 15... Be6 {And Black's threat
of} 16. Z0 Nc6 17. Qe4 f5 18. Qc4 Ne3 {means White is in trouble.}) 13. Nxd4
Re5 14. Qh4 Nc6 15. Nc3 g5 $1 {winning a piece, as White's Queen is overworked.
} (15... Nxd4 {is also strong} 16. Qxd4 Nxc3 17. bxc3 Qe7 18. Be3 Bc5 19. Qf4
Bxe3 20. fxe3 Rxe3 21. Qf2 Bg4 {but Joshua's move is more dramatic.}) 16. Bxg5
Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Rxg5 19. f4 Rxg2 20. Kd2 Qg4 21. Rae1 Qxf4+ 22.
Qxf4 Bxf4+ 23. Kd1 Be6 24. Bf3 Rd2+ 25. Kc1 Rxd3+ 0-1

[Event "High School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Pai, Kushal"]
[Black "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1687"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]

{[%evp 0,84,40,26,30,14,27,22,39,55,57,32,61,24,27,26,16,18,23,-21,-23,-31,7,
-28,-32,-32,-33,-27,-36,-26,-35,-25,-22,-28,-36,-36,12,-36,-55,-69,-42,-11,-62,
-19,-8,-7,-5,-30,-16,-58,-58,-62,-65,-72,-42,-42,-42,-113,-76,-126,-162,-145,
-117,-168,-142,-150,-155,-155,-147,-154,-167,-167,-167,-165,-101,-134,-100,
-103,-107,-111,-110,-119,-121,-144,-166,-198,-200]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3
g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. h3 c5 6. c3 Qb6 7. Qc1 (7. Qb3 {is less of a concession, but
I have seen Shunkai grind out some equal looking endings for wins, so perhaps
keeping queens on is the practical approach.}) 7... O-O 8. Bd3 ({Engines
slightly prefer} 8. Be2 {I thought it was just a funny engine quirk, as the
Bishop looks a little more active on d3. But if you look ahead to move 14, you
will see that White would have wished that his Bishop were on e2 instead of d3.
}) 8... Nc6 9. O-O Nd7 $1 {Uh-oh. White has made normal developing moves, but
Black is taking over the center.} 10. Nbd2 Re8 (10... e5 {is also good. Black
is in no hurry, and spends another move to prepare it.}) 11. Re1 e5 12. dxe5
Ndxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Be2 Bf5 15. Nf3 Nc4 16. b3 Nd6 17. g4 $6 {this looks a
little loosening, but Black is better, so perhaps it is time to try to mix it
up before Black improves his position further.} Be4 $15 (17... Bd7 {is also
interesting, planning to place the Bishop on c6 to probe the long diagonal and
make White wish his pawn were still on g2.}) 18. Nd2 $5 {GIving Black some
problems to solve, as his Bishop is trapped, so Black plays...} d4 19. Bxd6
Qxd6 20. Nxe4 Rxe4 21. Bf3 Re7 22. exd4 cxd4 23. Rxe7 Qxe7 24. cxd4 Bxd4 25.
Rb1 Qh4 {Black has a slight initiative and can apply it to a White's weakened
kingside} 26. Qf1 Rc8 27. Rd1 Bb6 28. Rd2 Qh6 $1 {Black regroups with the
short-term threat of a queen and bishop battery on the h2-b8 diagonal,
accelerated by an immediate threat of taking White's rook.} 29. Re2 Qf4 30. Kg2
Rc1 31. Re1 Bc7 $1 {White's defenses are stretched to the limit.} 32. Qe2 Qh2+
33. Kf1 Qxh3+ 34. Bg2 Rxe1+ 35. Qxe1 Qxg4 36. Bxb7 {As White, I'd be hoping
the opposite colored Bishops might save me, but I'd be wrong.} Qf4 37. Qe4 Qxe4
38. Bxe4 {Who would suspect that pawn-down opposite colored Bishops ending
would be over in just 4 moves? Stockfish, that is who.} f5 39. Bd5+ Kg7 40. b4
Kf6 41. Ke2 g5 42. f3 h5 {Resignation might look premature, but Stockfish says
-7.37. Probably there weren't any good defensive tries coming to Kushal's mind,
because there aren't any.} 0-1

[Event "High School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Black "Kodithyala, Raj"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B67"]
[WhiteElo "2411"]
[BlackElo "1886"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]

{[%evp 0,67,19,31,72,53,68,72,74,26,26,38,67,55,85,68,87,55,51,7,4,4,12,-33,
-39,-98,-19,-52,-52,-52,-52,-81,-28,-28,17,-25,-16,-41,-26,-13,32,57,61,76,59,
59,54,54,55,52,101,18,435,513,768,861,831,870,870,859,859,644,648,648,655,544,
1382,1418,29999,-30000]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6
6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 h6 10. Bxf6 ({The main line is} 10. Bh4
{and Black has tricky lines to play like} g5 ({also tricky is} 10... Nxe4 $5
11. Qe1 $1 {(punctuation by Harding and Markland from "The Sicilian
Richter-Rauzer" published in 1975)}) ({In a must-win last round game of the
2016 Candidates Tournament, Caruana played} 10... b5 {to which Karjakan
responded} 11. Bxf6 gxf6 {transposing to the 9...b5 "Suicide Variation" with a
pawn on h6 instead of h7. I can think of no reason why the pawn is better on
h6 than h7, and do I do not have Caruana's contact information to ask him why.
I do know that sometimes in the "Suicide Variation" Black plays his Bishop to
h6, so Caruana's line seems weaker to me. Caruana got chances along the way
before Karjakan eventually got the upper hand and beat him to win the
opportunity to play Carlsen for the 2016 World Championship.}) 11. fxg5 Ng4 {
gaining the e5 square for the knight, probably regaining the pawn on g5 at
some point, and loosening the position, perhaps beyond repair.}) 10... Qxf6 11.
e5 $6 {looks like White might blow the game wide open before Black gets his
king to safety, but Black has a defense, and stands a little better here.} (11.
Nf3 {threatens 12.e5 and is about equal.}) (11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Qe3 {is also
about equal. Black has the two Bishops, but White has the annoying threat of
Nd5 at some point, has chances to crack open the kingside by pusing his pawn
to g5. Castling long may be playable.}) 11... dxe5 12. Ndb5 Qd8 13. Nd6+ Bxd6
14. Qxd6 exf4 15. Ne4 f5 $6 (15... Qe7 $1 $15 16. Qc7 {and now the unlikely
looking move} Bc8 $1 {is best. Yeah, I know it looks like a computer move, but
my database shows that three flesh-and-blood players have found it, and each
of them won.} 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. Qb6 g6 19. Be2 Kg7 {and black is weaseling out.
As Homer Simpson points out, weaseling out of things is what separates us from
the animals. Except the weasels.}) 16. Be2 $11 h5 17. Qc5 $2 (17. Nc5 Bc8 18.
Nxb7 $1) 17... b6 $2 (17... fxe4 $1 18. Bxh5+ Rxh5 19. Qxh5+ Kf8 $15) 18. Nd6+
$1 $14 Kf8 19. Qf2 Qg5 $2 (19... Qc7 20. Qxf4 Rh6 $14) (19... e5 20. Bc4 Qe7
21. Qxb6 Rb8 $13 22. Qxa6 $2 Rh6 $1 {and the position is tricky, but engines
assure me that Black has more tricks than White.}) (19... Rh6 $13) 20. Bf3 $1
$16 Rb8 21. Rhe1 Qf6 22. Nc4 Be8 23. Rd6 Nd8 24. Nxb6 Qe7 25. Qc5 Nb7 $2 (25...
Rh6 $16) 26. Bxb7 $18 Qxb7 (26... Rxb7 27. Rexe6) 27. Rd7+ Kg8 28. Rxb7 Rxb7
29. Rxe6 Bf7 30. Re5 Kh7 31. Rxf5 Rhb8 32. Nc4 Bxc4 33. Rxh5+ Kg6 34. Qf5# {
OK, so I added a lot of punctuation, based on suggestions from engines and old
musty books. This is the nature of the Sicilian Defense, where the game is
sharper than a typical Queen's Gambit or Ruy Lopez. The question marks don't
indicate the players are playing badly, only that it is difficult to make all
accurate moves in a Sicilian.} 1-0

[Event "High School Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Black "Grabinsky, Joshua"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C60"]
[WhiteElo "2411"]
[BlackElo "2315"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]

{[%evp 0,57,19,29,40,20,21,1,73,11,28,-1,44,21,36,21,26,31,44,46,23,26,37,39,
56,74,70,77,65,63,61,69,57,60,71,66,83,85,70,75,48,38,61,60,47,55,91,67,194,
140,374,214,378,431,597,586,848,857,1275,1368]} {Joshua chooses a slightly
offbeat line of the Ruy Lopez, makes no blunders, yet eventually succumbs to
Shunkai's pressure.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 {The seventh world champion
Vasily Smyslov scored a lot of wins in this line, including one in 1975 over
the eventually thirteenth world champion Garry Kasparov. More recently, GM
Andrew Tang has used it to score a few Bullet wins against the sixteenth world
champion Magnus Carlsen.} 4. c3 a6 5. Ba4 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 b5
9. Bc2 d5 ({The moves} 9... O-O) ({and} 9... d6 {are more popular and look
more solid to me, but 9...d5 has been played by Nakamura, Giri, Aronian, and
Mamedyarov, so it seems like a reasonable try.}) 10. exd5 Nb4 (10... Nxd5 11.
Bg5) 11. Bb3 Nbxd5 12. Bg5 {For a 1.e4 player, Shunkai seems quite comfortable
playing with an isolated queen's pawn. See his game against Ryan Lu on page 6
of the March 2021 edition of Northwest Chess for another example.} f6 ({
The engines slightly prefer} 12... h6 {but it takes courage to willingly enter
the line} 13. Bxd5 Qxd5 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. Nc3) ({Or Black could try} 12... Qd6
13. Re1 O-O {which looks more solid to me, but the engines have a similar
opinion of all three moves, an edge for White}) 13. Bd2 O-O 14. Nc3 Kh8 15. Re1
Nxc3 16. bxc3 Nf5 17. a4 Bb7 18. Bf4 Nd6 19. Be6 Re8 20. d5 Nc4 21. axb5 axb5
22. Rb1 Ra5 23. Qd3 Nb6 24. Nh4 $1 {Lc0 has trouble seeing the power of this
move} ({and prefers} 24. Rbd1 {but Stockfish loves Shunkai's move.}) 24... Rxe6
{Joshua finds the best try for Black, but it isn't good enough.} (24... Re7 25.
Nxg6+ hxg6 26. Qh3+) (24... Bf8 25. Nxg6+ hxg6 26. Qh3+ Kg7 27. Qh6#) 25. Nxg6+
Kg8 (25... hxg6 26. Qh3+ Kg8 27. Qxe6+ Kh8 (27... Kf8 28. Bxc7 Qxc7 29. Qe8#)
28. Re3) 26. Rxe6 hxg6 27. Qxg6 Ra8 28. Rbe1 Kf8 29. Bxc7 1-0

[Event "Elementary Platinum"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.10"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gupta, Saahil"]
[Black "Tang, Austin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "1584"]
[BlackElo "1852"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3000+5"]

{[%evp 0,93,32,-14,-12,-32,11,9,28,12,12,4,21,8,25,-2,42,31,42,36,78,71,121,
118,239,157,177,92,248,207,192,191,266,230,230,227,253,216,230,233,230,199,200,
196,213,206,186,186,186,187,195,179,183,170,720,720,741,182,194,168,176,171,
177,169,181,181,172,134,232,231,596,606,613,613,634,634,634,638,638,638,866,
1255,1308,1377,1412,754,754,771,779,714,718,602,640,636,768,777]} {Black
drifts into a passive position, and White never lets up.} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3.
d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Bg2 Be7 (5... d5 {is normal, but}) (5... Na6 6. Nf3 Bc5
{is also known to theory.}) 6. Nc3 O-O 7. e4 d6 8. Nge2 Re8 9. O-O Bf8 {
A little too slow. Black should be developing his queen Knight.} (9... Nbd7 10.
Bf4 Nc5 {and now} 11. Qd1 {is best} (11. Rad1 Ne6) (11. Qd2 Ne6 12. Be3 Ng4))
10. Rd1 Qc7 (10... Nbd7 $14 {isn't much better.} 11. Bf4 Nc5 12. Bxd6 Bxd6 13.
Qxd6 Qb6) 11. Bf4 Rd8 12. c5 (12. e5 $1 Ne8 13. exd6 Bxd6 (13... Nxd6 14. c5)
14. c5 Bxf4 15. Qxd8) 12... Ne8 13. Rd2 Qd7 14. Rad1 Qe6 15. Bxd6 Na6 16. Nf4
Qh6 17. e5 Bg4 18. Re1 Rac8 19. b4 Nac7 20. Qe3 Ne6 21. Nxe6 Qxe6 22. Ne4 Nc7
23. Ng5 Qd7 24. h3 Be6 25. Qd3 Bf5 26. Be4 Bg6 27. Bxg6 hxg6 28. h4 Ne6 29.
Nxe6 Qxe6 30. Qe3 Rd7 31. Kg2 Rcd8 32. Red1 Be7 33. Bxe7 Qxe7 34. Rd6 f6 35. e6
Rxd6 36. cxd6 Qe8 37. e7 Rd7 38. Qxa7 Kf7 39. Qe3 Kg8 40. Qe6+ Kh7 41. Re1 b5
42. Qxd7 Qxd7 43. e8=Q Qxd6 44. Qe4 f5 45. Qb1 Qd5+ 46. Kg1 Kg8 47. Qb3 1-0

[Event "OSCF Team Upper Board 3"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tang, Austin"]
[Black "Zhang, Ethan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "1824"]
[BlackElo "1804"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Mixed K12 Southridge"]
[BlackTeam "Stoller K8"]
[TimeControl "2400+5"]

{[%evp 0,113,25,20,20,13,34,25,23,30,30,-1,-8,12,32,32,46,7,55,38,41,35,67,54,
83,73,74,68,67,63,152,114,152,159,159,149,159,159,155,134,128,91,376,161,250,
163,299,185,457,236,236,236,236,236,236,236,236,26,26,26,26,26,31,31,42,0,0,0,
0,0,0,0,0,-46,132,170,312,312,312,312,312,312,312,312,290,209,204,277,300,300,
310,231,231,231,231,231,231,108,287,124,137,207,2162,422,404,477,645,466,500,
500,500,500,571,571,571,571]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Nf6 9. Nbd2 {This looks drawish to me, but
White scores a surprising 74% in the 25 games from my database.} Re8 10. Nf1
Nbd7 11. Ng3 Bf8 12. c3 c6 13. Bd2 Nb6 14. Qc2 Nc4 (14... h6 {prevents White's
unpleasant next move}) 15. Bg5 h6 (15... Rxe1+ 16. Rxe1 g6 {keeps Black's
kingside pawn structure intact, but White is still attacking after} 17. h4) 16.
Rxe8 Qxe8 17. Bxf6 $18 gxf6 18. Re1 Qd8 19. Nh5 Nd6 20. h3 Be6 21. Nh4 Ne8 22.
Re3 Bd6 23. f4 Bf8 24. Rg3+ Ng7 25. Bf5 Kh8 26. Nxg7 Bxg7 27. Bxe6 fxe6 {
Stockfish has been telling us that White is winning since around move 16, but
the way forward isn't obvious.} 28. Rxg7 {White tries a direct approach that
objectively gives up part of his advantage. But practically it will be very
difficult for Black to defend against the combined onslaught of the Queen and
Knight with his Rook helplessly watching from a8.} ({White's one pawn break is
f4-f5, so perhaps the best idea is to aim for it under favorable circumstances.
} 28. Qg6 Qd7 (28... Qe7 29. Re3 Qc7 (29... Rg8 30. Qf5) 30. Qg4 f5 31. Qh5)
29. f5) 28... Kxg7 29. Qg6+ Kf8 30. Qh7 Ke8 31. Ng6 $6 (31. f5 $1) 31... h5 $2
(31... Rc8 $14 {A successful defense will require the rook, so Black should
hurry to bring it into the fight, no matter the cost in pawns.}) 32. Nh8 $2 (
32. Qxh5 $1 Kd7 33. Qh7+ Kc8 34. h4 {and Black will be hard pressed to stop
the h-pawn.}) 32... Qe7 $1 {Hmm, maybe a successful defense does not require
the rook. Stockfish says it is equal.} 33. Qg8+ Qf8 34. Qxe6+ Qe7 35. Qg8+ Qf8
36. Qg6+ {[#] Black is in a maze of twisty little passages, all different.} Ke7
$2 {Why would this be any different than the othe King moves?} (36... Kd8 $11
37. Nf7+ Ke7) (36... Kd7 $11 37. Qh7+ Qe7) 37. Qh7+ $1 {Black can't interpose
his Queen like he could with his King on d7.} Ke6 {the alternatives aren't
much fun either.} (37... Kd6 38. Nf7+ Kd7 39. Ne5+ Kc8 40. Qd7+ Kb8 41. Ng6 Qc8
42. Qd6+ Qc7 43. Qxf6) (37... Ke8 38. Ng6 Qf7 39. Qh8+ Kd7 40. Qxa8) (37... Kd8
38. Qxb7 Rc8 39. Nf7+ Ke8 40. Qxc8+ Kxf7 41. Qxf8+) 38. f5+ Kd6 39. Nf7+ Kc7
40. Ne5+ Kc8 41. Qd7+ Kb8 42. Ng6 Qc8 43. Qd6+ Qc7 44. Qf8+ Qc8 45. Qxf6 Kc7
46. Qe7+ Qd7 47. Qe5+ Kb6 48. f6 Qf7 49. Nf4 Rh8 50. Qe6 Qc7 51. Ng6 (51. Nxd5+
) 51... Rh7 52. Ne5 Rh6 53. Qf5 Qd6 54. f7 Rh8 55. f8=Q $1 Rxf8 56. Qxf8 Qxf8
57. Nd7+ 1-0

[Event "OSCF Team Upper Board 1"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nair, Roshen"]
[Black "Rabacal, Seth"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2076"]
[BlackElo "2015"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Jesuit K12"]
[TimeControl "2400+5"]

{[%evp 0,45,25,-24,30,14,11,6,10,6,6,6,48,5,36,39,40,15,43,6,7,5,18,31,30,27,
61,61,81,81,81,79,91,109,144,138,163,153,237,160,164,164,268,257,257,271,1334,
1354]} 1. c4 {The symmetrical English isn't known for fast kingside attacks,
but Roshen generates one.} c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Nf3 e6 6. d3 h6
7. O-O Nge7 8. a3 O-O 9. Rb1 d5 10. Bd2 b6 11. b4 $1 {We all know about
countering an attack on the wing with an advance in the center, but what about
countering an advance in the center with an attack on the wing?} cxb4 12. axb4
dxc4 13. dxc4 a5 14. bxa5 Nxa5 15. Qc1 h5 16. Nb5 Bb7 17. Rd1 Qb8 18. Bb4 Re8
19. Bd6 Qc8 20. Nc7 Ra6 21. Nxe8 Qxe8 22. Bc7 Qc6 23. Rd8+ {23...Bf8 24.Qh6,
23...Kh7 24.Ng5+} 1-0

[Event "OSCF Team Upper Board 2"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Maslen, Arlo"]
[Black "Lu, Ryan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "1610"]
[BlackElo "1948"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Catlin Gabel K12"]
[BlackTeam "Mixed K12 Southridge"]
[TimeControl "2400+5"]

{[%evp 0,32,25,25,26,25,32,5,45,79,83,70,62,76,108,45,52,46,37,-264,-236,-376,
-354,-354,-393,-445,-333,-356,-356,-349,-349,-361,-389,-506,-505]} 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 {Playing for complications at a fast time control.} 4. Nxc6
dxc6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Be2 h5 $5 7. Bg5 $6 {Doesn't developing a piece and pinning
one of Black's two developed pieces seem like a good idea?} ({The non-piece
developing move} 7. c3 $1 {is best, preparing d3-d4, and keeping Black's Queen
off d4.}) 7... Qd4 $1 {White is still fine, but the margin for error is
diminishing} 8. O-O Ng4 9. c3 $2 (9. Bh4 $1 Qe5 (9... Qxb2 10. Nd2 $14) 10. Bg3
$14) 9... Qe5 $19 {Black's tricks pay off. If this were a website, I would be
inserting an advertisement for Tukmakov's book "Risk and Bluff in Chess"} 10.
Bxg4 hxg4 11. g3 Qxg5 12. d4 Be7 13. f4 gxf3 14. Qxf3 Be6 15. Na3 O-O-O 16.
Rad1 Bg4 0-1

[Event "OSCF Team Upper Board 1"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grabinsky, Joshua"]
[Black "Tang, Zoey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A12"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "2097"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[BlackTeam "Stoller K8"]
[TimeControl "2400+5"]

{[%evp 0,133,19,-32,-9,-14,4,6,3,1,4,-5,10,17,23,-18,-5,1,-3,-19,24,-25,-13,
-32,-20,-53,3,-55,-69,-150,-126,-85,-59,-68,-16,7,-54,-51,-73,-61,-45,-135,
-130,-165,-150,-356,-344,-396,-187,-326,-196,-559,-553,-979,-385,-790,-759,
-775,-993,-993,-408,-972,-247,-247,60,0,0,-58,-98,-127,0,-140,-140,-140,-140,
-160,-30,-151,-5,-145,-145,-115,-90,-220,-216,-267,-119,-57,0,-67,-58,-83,-83,
-78,-63,-58,-61,-46,-46,-46,-39,-65,-39,-53,-56,-45,-45,-50,-18,-19,-17,-64,
-63,-72,-16,-16,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,34,23,29997,29998]} 1. b3 Nf6
2. Bb2 g6 3. e3 (3. Bxf6 {is the most popular and scores well, but the engines
are unimpressed.}) 3... Bg7 4. Nf3 d5 5. c4 {This is the most popular move,
and the engines' favorite too, though White's edge is slight. Nakamura played
it in a "Titled Tuesday" game against Izoria last September.} ({Nakamura played
} 5. d4 {8 times (!) against Caruana in a blitz match on November 2, 2017,
winning 2, losing 2, and drawing 4.}) 5... c6 6. Be2 O-O 7. Qc2 (7. O-O {
is the overwhelmingly popular move in this position. Why would Joshua refrain
from such a natural move? This is not a rhetorical question - the answer will
be given on moves 10 and 13.}) 7... a5 {Maybe Zoey has guessed what is coming}
8. Nc3 Na6 ({Engines like to throw in} 8... Bf5 {on this move or the next with
a rough equality}) 9. a3 Nc7 10. h4 $5 {Justifying the decision to skip
castling on kingside earlier.} h5 11. Ng5 e5 $1 {Zoey is doing fine.} ({
similar positions result from} 11... Bf5 12. d3 e5) 12. f3 $6 {Joshua
continues to try to confuse the issue. It eventually works.} Qe7 13. O-O-O $6
b5 $1 $17 14. g4 $1 {This is the best try to continue the chaos, but Black is
better.} bxc4 15. bxc4 e4 $2 (15... Rb8 {keeps the pressure on White. Black is
somewhat ahead in the race to open lines against the opponent's king.}) 16.
gxh5 exf3 17. Bxf3 (17. hxg6 fxg6 $11 ({the tempting move} 17... fxe2 $6 {
invites trouble after} 18. gxf7+ Rxf7 19. Nxe2 {and White's constant attempts
at confusion will finally pay off.})) 17... Bf5 {Finally Black plays this move.
It isnt' too late - Black stands well.} 18. e4 dxe4 19. Ngxe4 (19. hxg6 {
keeps Black's advantage to a minimum.}) 19... Ne6 20. d4 Rab8 $17 21. hxg6 fxg6
22. Nxf6+ Bxf6 23. Qf2 Bg7 24. Rde1 Bh6+ 25. Kd1 Qb7 26. Re2 Nf4 27. Bc1 ({
Engines are recommending giving up a piece with} 27. Nb5 {to slow Black's
attack, so you know the wheels are falling off White's position.}) 27... Nd3
28. Qg2 Qb3+ 29. Rc2 Nxc1 {And Black has an extra piece} 30. Be4 {White is
dead lost, but is keeping things complicated.} Kh7 31. h5 Qb6 $2 {Black has
held a large advantage since about move 19, but this move lets White back in
the game. The Queen is well placed on b3, pinning White's rook and keeping
pressure on squares around White's king.} ({The engine's first choice is the
non-intuitive} 31... Na2 32. Nxa2 Qe3 {threat: Rb1+} 33. Nc3 Bxe4 34. hxg6+ Kg7
35. Qxe4 Rb1+ 36. Nxb1 Qxe4 {but many other moves retain a large advantage for
Black.}) 32. c5 $1 Qd8 $1 {Black defends by threatening to take the d-pawn
with check.} (32... Qc7 $2 33. Bxf5 gxf5 34. Qg6+ Kh8 35. Qxh6+) 33. d5 (33.
Bxf5 $2 Qxd4+ $1 34. Rd2 (34. Ke1 Rbe8+ 35. Kf1 (35. Be4 Nd3+ 36. Kd1 Nf2+ 37.
Ke1 Rxe4+ 38. Nxe4 Qd1#) 35... Rxf5+)) (33. hxg6+ $1 Kg8 $15) 33... Bxe4 34.
Qxe4 Qf6 35. Qxg6+ (35. Rf2 Qg5 36. Qxg6+ Qxg6 37. hxg6+ Kg7 (37... Kxg6 38.
Rg2+ Bg5 39. Ne4 Rf5 40. dxc6 $13) 38. Rxf8 Rxf8 39. dxc6 $13) 35... Qxg6 36.
hxg6+ Kg7 $1 (36... Kxg6 37. Rg2+ Bg5 38. Ne4 Rf5 39. dxc6) 37. Rch2 $1 $15 {
Joshua continues to pose problems.} Rh8 {Zoey plays the rest of the game with
under a minute on her clock. Joshua has nearly 10 minutes left at this point.}
38. Ne4 (38. dxc6) 38... Nd3 39. Kc2 cxd5 40. Nd6 Nxc5 41. Nf7 (41. Nf5+ Kxg6
42. Nxh6 {is getting close to a draw}) 41... Rhc8 42. Nd6 Rc7 43. Rxh6 Ne6+ (
43... Ne4+ 44. Kd3 Rb3+ 45. Kd4 Nxd6 46. Rh7+ Kf6 (46... Kxg6 47. R7h6+ Kg7 48.
Rxd6 $11) 47. Rxc7 Nb5+ 48. Kxd5 Nxc7+ 49. Kc6 Ne6 $15 50. Rg1 Rxa3 51. Kb6 {
And engines think White can draw this.}) 44. Kd1 Rb1+ 45. Ke2 Rxh1 46. Rxh1
Kxg6 $11 47. Rg1+ Ng5 48. Kd3 Rd7 49. Nb5 Kf6 50. Rc1 Rb7 51. Nd4 Ne4 52. Rc6+
Ke5 53. Ke3 Nd6 54. Nf3+ Ke6 55. Kf4 Rf7+ 56. Ke3 Rb7 57. Ra6 Rb3+ 58. Kf4 Rxa3
59. Nd4+ Ke7 60. Ke5 Nf7+ 61. Kxd5 Ra1 62. Nf5+ Ke8 63. Ra8+ Kd7 64. Ra7+ Ke8
65. Ke6 a4 (65... Nd8+ 66. Kf6 Re1 {is the clearest way to a draw}) 66. Nd6+ $5
Nxd6 $2 ({White doesn't need the Knight to draw} 66... Kf8 $8 67. Rxf7+ Kg8 {
should be drawable.}) (66... Kd8 $2 67. Rd7#) 67. Ra8+ 1-0

[Event "OSCF Team Upper Board 1"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Black "Grabinsky, Joshua"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C07"]
[WhiteElo "2503"]
[BlackElo "2315"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Mixed K12 Southridge"]
[TimeControl "2400+5"]

{[%evp 0,85,14,13,32,30,32,-8,40,40,37,37,37,13,49,45,37,27,33,46,63,63,58,58,
59,53,80,71,57,56,67,68,75,76,81,81,72,72,71,48,52,67,67,67,127,150,150,124,
175,153,230,198,198,198,198,174,223,170,170,169,236,236,235,222,234,244,245,
245,410,453,440,478,478,478,478,521,584,576,644,645,674,462,460,460,460,460,
460,458]} {Joshua gets the opportunity to avenge his loss in the individual
championship. Unfortunately for him, he gets the Black pieces a second time.
Most games have mistakes made by both players. This game has no big errors by
either player, but White makes slightly more accurate moves over the course of
the game to notch the win. Perhaps this is an occupational hazard of playing
Black in half your games.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6.
dxc5 Nc6 7. O-O Bxc5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Qh5 12. Re1
Re8 13. c3 e5 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Qxe3 Bg4 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Qg6 18. Rad1 Re7
19. a4 Rae8 20. Bd5 {The engines really love White's position. White has the
advantage of a Bishop vs knight on an open board, and the queenside pawn
majority. I normally don't worry much about these factors in the middlegame.
White's queenside pawn majority means Black has a kingside pawn majority that
he can use to attack White's king, and the Bishop vs. Knight advantage isn't
as big as the two Bishops vs. Bishop and Knight advantage. Black wisely traded
one of White's Bishops off before trading his Bishop for a knight. Haven't the
gods placed the middlegame before the endgame? Won't Joshua get a chance to
attack before Shunkai exploits his static advantages? As it turns out, White's
position is just a little too active and Black's attack just hasn't progressed
enough for his kingside majority to take effect. Fischer used White's
advantages to win a lot of endgames, and Shunkai is about to do the same.} Kh8
{Unpins the f-pawn, getting ready to exploit Black's kingside majority.} (20...
h6 {is still much better for White, but avoids some of the back-rank threats
that appear in the notes a few moves from now.}) 21. Qc5 Nb8 {This is perhaps
the one move that allows White's advantage to jump, but White had already
established a significant edge.} ({Some slightly better alternatives are} 21...
h6) (21... Nd8 {and}) (21... f5 {but none are close to equality for Black.})
22. Be4 $18 Qf6 {It is sad that Black's best move blocks the f-pawn that he
spent a move liberating on move 20. This is one of the reasons White stands so
much better - his initiative prevents Black from getting play on the kingside.}
(22... Qg5 {allows the surprising shot} 23. Bxb7 $1 (23. Qb6 {is the prosaic
way to win the pawn, and is also good for White, just less flashy.}) 23... Rxb7
24. Rxe5 Qxe5 (24... Rxe5 25. Qf8#) 25. Qxe5) 23. Rd6 Qh4 24. Qb6 g6 25. a5 Nd7
{the b-pawn can't be saved, so it is time to reactivate the Knight.} 26. Qxb7
Nc5 27. Qb4 Ne6 28. Bc6 {White heads for an easily won endgame} ({instead of
allowing Black some complications with} 28. Rxa6 Nf4) 28... Qxb4 29. cxb4 Rb8
30. b5 axb5 31. Rxe5 Ra7 32. b4 Ra6 33. Red5 Nf4 34. Rd8+ Rxd8 35. Rxd8+ Kg7
36. Bxb5 Re6 37. a6 Re1+ 38. Kh2 Ra1 39. Bc4 Ra4 40. Rb8 Kf6 41. Rb7 Ke5 42. a7
Nd5 43. Rb5 1-0

[Event "OSCF Team Upper Board 1"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2021.04.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nair, Roshen"]
[Black "Peng, Shunkai"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A90"]
[WhiteElo "2076"]
[BlackElo "2503"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Jesuit K12"]
[BlackTeam "Mixed K12 Southridge"]
[TimeControl "2400+5"]

{[%evp 0,80,21,-20,-8,-20,-12,-19,6,-4,69,45,44,60,51,49,56,51,55,28,12,0,0,0,
0,0,-4,-4,-1,-31,-38,-38,-38,-43,-27,-27,-27,-30,-31,-33,-33,-32,-48,-44,-47,
-51,-45,-135,-135,-117,-117,-113,-128,-121,-116,-136,-103,-112,-97,-97,-105,
-109,-113,-339,-96,-362,-127,-127,-127,-320,-274,-851,-884,-1367,-1510,-1520,
-1559,-29989,-29990,-29991,-29992,-29993,-728]} 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4.
Nf3 f5 5. b3 Nf6 6. O-O Bd6 7. d4 {The game transposes from an English to main
line of the Stonewall Dutch. The English opening gives you opportunities to
transpose into attractive variations, but you carry the burden of preparing
for lots of variations.} Qe7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc1 b6 10. Ba3 Bb7 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 {
The permanent hole on e5 gives White hopes of reaching a good Knight vs. bad
Bishop position. But it is surprisingly hard to get there without allowing
Black some play in the center or the kingside.} 12. Nc3 Nbd7 13. cxd5 exd5 14.
e3 Ne4 15. Qb2 Rae8 16. Rfd1 ({Up to here we have been following Giri-Radjabov,
a speed game from the Chessable Masters tournament played on chess.com on June
21, 2020. That game continued} 16. Rac1 Rf6 17. Rfd1 {and eventually ended in
a draw.}) 16... a5 17. Rac1 h6 18. Na4 ({Nothing wrong with Roshen's move, but
engines suggest the alternative} 18. Rc2 {I always wondered how White could
safely move a Rook away from the kingside when Black was loading up for an
attack in that sector, but perhaps White can defend his kingside with a Rook
actively on c2 rather than passively on f1.}) 18... b5 19. Nc3 {White now has
two great dark squares to exploit (c5 and e5), but no good way to use them. If
I were Black, I would plan to use the passive-looking bishop on b7 to defend
c6 and prevent White from mining the c-file. But Shunkai has more ambitious
ideas.} (19. Nc5 Ndxc5 20. dxc5 Nxc5 21. Qa3 b4 22. Qxa5 {maintains a rough
balance.}) 19... g5 20. Ne2 b4 $1 {planning to activate the bad Bishop on the
a6-f1 diagnoal, making it a little more awkward to organize a kingside defense.
And the Bishop can defend the c6 pawn from an active post on b5, instead of my
passive plan of leaving it on b7} 21. Ne1 Ba6 22. Nd3 Re6 23. Bxe4 $2 {it is
tempting to remove Black's active Knight from the board, but this opens the
f-file and gives Black a lot of space on the Kingside. Disclaimer: I have
tried this myself, with similar results to the game.} fxe4 24. Nc5 Nxc5 25.
dxc5 Qd7 26. Nd4 {White has a beautiful Knight, has Black tied down the the
defense of the pawn on c6, but no longer has enough space to defend the sector
of the board where his King resides.} Ref6 27. Rd2 h5 28. Kg2 h4 29. gxh4 Qg4+
30. Kh1 Qxh4 31. Rg1 g4 (31... Rh6 {is a little quicker} 32. f4 (32. Rg2 Bf1 {
is the revenge of the bad Bishop}) 32... exf3) 32. Qc2 Kh8 33. Qb2 Kh7 34. f4
gxf3 35. Ne6 {clever, unfortunately wasted in a lost cause.} Rg8 $1 (35... Rxe6
$4 36. Qg7#) 36. Rdd1 f2 37. Rxg8 Kxg8 38. Qe5 f1=Q+ 39. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 40. Kg2
Qg4+ 0-1

[Event "WA State Kindergarten Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bharadwaj, Samarth"]
[Black "Fox, Nolan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C29"]
[WhiteElo "1228"]
[BlackElo "518"]
[Annotator "James Stripes"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "1500+5"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 exf4 (3... d5) 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 Ne7 6. d4 {White's
already has a winning advantage} Nf5 7. Bxf4 Be7 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O d6 10. Rf2
dxe5 11. Nxe5 Nh6 12. Bxh6 gxh6 13. Nxf7 Qd7 14. Ne5+ Kg7 15. Nxd7 Rxf2 16.
Kxf2 Nxd7 17. Qg4+ Kf8 18. Qg8# 1-0

[Event "WA State Grade 1 Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Merriman, Dann"]
[Black "Dong, Tristan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "1570"]
[BlackElo "1127"]
[Annotator "James Stripes"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "1500+5"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Nbd7 8. Bd3
b6 {There is something about this position that reminds me of the Capablanca
-- Lasker world championship games a century ago.} 9. Qa4 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Bb7
11. Ne5 c5 12. cxd5 Bxd5 13. Bb5 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Nxd7 Ke7 16. Qa6 Bc6 17.
Nxc5 Bxb5 18. Qxb5 bxc5 19. O-O cxd4 20. cxd4 {Getting the minor pieces off
the board leaves White with more and better pawns.} Rac8 21. h3 Rhg8 22. Rac1
Qd6 (22... Qxc1 23. Qb4+ Kd7 24. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 25. Kh2 Rgc8 {could be an
interesting ending}) 23. Qb7+ Qd7 24. Qb4+ Qd6 25. Qa4 Qd7 26. Qa3+ Ke8 27.
Rxc8+ Qxc8 28. Rc1 Qb7 29. g3 h5 30. Qd6 h4 31. g4 f5 32. Rc7 Qa8 33. Qe7# 1-0

[Event "WA State Grade 3 Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jammalamadaka, Vihaan"]
[Black "Wu, Derek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E91"]
[WhiteElo "1755"]
[BlackElo "1330"]
[Annotator "James Stripes"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "1500+5"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Bg4 7. O-O Bxf3 8.
Bxf3 Nbd7 9. Bf4 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Be3 Nb6 12. Qe2 Ne8 13. Rad1 Qe7 14. c5
Nd7 15. Nd5 Qd8 {Players of the King's Indian Defense don't like to see White
having such control of the center. Maybe we should look at choices made on
moves 6 and 7. Maybe problems began later.} 16. Rd2 c6 17. Nc3 Qe7 18. b4 b6
19. b5 cxb5 20. Nd5 Qd8 21. c6 Nb8 22. Qxb5 f5 23. Nxb6 {ouch!} Qc7 24. Nxa8
Qxc6 {The rest is a mop up operation with a nice checkmate at the end.} 25.
Qxc6 Nxc6 26. exf5 Ne7 27. fxg6 Nxg6 28. Rd8 Bf6 29. Rb8 Be7 30. Bh6 Bd6 31.
Rc8 Ne7 32. Rd8 Nf5 33. Bd5+ Kh8 34. Bxf8 Bxf8 35. Rxe8 Kg7 36. Rb1 Bd6 37.
Rb7+ Kf6 38. Rf7+ Kg5 39. Rg8+ Kf4 40. g3# 1-0

[Event "WA State Grade 9-12 Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Peng, Brandon"]
[Black "Pendharkar, Gaurang"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D32"]
[WhiteElo "1819"]
[BlackElo "1761"]
[Annotator "James Stripes"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "1500+5"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. dxc5 d4 6. Ne4 Bf5 7. Ng3 Bg6 8.
Nf3 Bxc5 9. Ne5 Qb6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 {Black seems better here.} 11. Ne4 Nf6 12.
Nxc5 Qxc5 13. e3 Nc6 14. Bd2 dxe3 (14... Rd8 {bringing the rooks into play
should secure the advantage.}) 15. Bxe3 Qe5 16. Qb3 Qa5+ 17. Bd2 Qe5+ 18. Qe3
Qxe3+ 19. Bxe3 {Point count chess says equal, but there is a minor piece
imbalance.} Nd5 20. Bb5 O-O-O 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. O-O Nxe3 23. fxe3 {And the
minor pieces are gone. What would Capablanca play? Would Carlsen play the
same? Both world champions have won their share of technically drawn rook
endings.} f6 24. Rac1 Kc7 25. Rc2 Rd3 26. Rfc1 Rd6 27. h3 Re8 28. Kf2 Re4 29.
Kf3 Ra4 30. a3 Ra5 31. Rc4 Rf5+ 32. Ke2 Rg5 33. g4 Re5 34. b4 Rde6 35. R1c3 Kb6
36. Kf3 g5 37. Rd4 Kc7 38. Rcd3 Re7 39. a4 R5e6 40. Rc3 Kb6 41. Rdc4 Rc7 42.
Rc5 (42. b5 c5) 42... Rce7 43. R5c4 Rc7 44. Rd4 Rce7 45. Rcd3 Kc7 46. a5 Re5
47. Rc4 Kb7 48. Rdc3 R5e6 49. Rc5 Re8 50. b5 cxb5 51. Rxb5+ Ka6 52. Rd5 R8e7
53. Rdc5 Rd6 54. Rc7 Rdd7 55. R7c5 Rd6 56. Rf5 Rde6 57. Rd5 {Game drawn by
agreement} 1/2-1/2

[Event "WA State MS Open Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Huang, Lucas"]
[Black "Xuan, Owen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B73"]
[WhiteElo "1468"]
[BlackElo "1875"]
[Annotator "James Stripes"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "2700+5"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. Qd2 O-O 8.
Be2 (8. f3) 8... Nc6 9. O-O (9. O-O-O) 9... Ng4 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxg4 Bxg4 12.
Bh6 Qb6 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Rab1 Be6 15. Rfe1 Rfd8 16. Na4 Qc7 17. b3 Rab8 18.
Qc3+ Kg8 19. Rbd1 c5 20. h3 Rdc8 21. e5 d5 {Watch these pawns} 22. Qg3 c4 23.
Rc1 d4 24. Qf4 Rd8 25. Red1 Rbc8 26. Nb2 Qb6 27. Na4 Qc6 28. Qh4 Qc7 29. f4 c3
30. Rd3 {A mistake} Bf5 31. Rdd1 {Now the pawns have proven their worth} d3 32.
cxd3 c2 33. Rd2 Rxd3 34. Rxd3 Bxd3 35. Qg3 Bf5 36. Qe3 h5 37. Qf3 Kg7 38. Kh2
Qc6 39. Qe2 Qe4 40. Qf2 Rd8 41. Nc3 Qd3 42. Qe1 Rd4 43. a3 Rxf4 44. Qg3 Qxg3+
45. Kxg3 Rd4 46. Na2 Rd3+ 47. Kf2 Rxb3 48. Ke2 Rxa3 49. Nb4 Rc3 50. Kd2 Rc4 51.
Nxc2 {Now Black can exchange into a simple pawn ending} Rxc2+ 52. Rxc2 Bxc2 53.
Kxc2 f6 0-1

[Event "Washington Senior Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.04.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Perez, Ignacio"]
[Black "Lavoice, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "2229"]
[BlackElo "1911"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

{[%evp 0,60,25,26,30,41,36,32,32,28,30,30,30,27,17,24,28,-43,-58,-49,-55,-101,
-54,-31,-38,-108,-63,-47,-101,-133,-111,-108,-51,-79,-42,-40,77,87,94,43,76,43,
69,76,76,87,72,101,131,158,156,-10,-22,-22,-14,-45,-47,-61,-70,-51,-59,-71,-43]
} 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Nf3 (7. Qg4
Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 Bd7 12. Qd3 dxc3 {is a
well-traveled path, certainly known to both players.}) 7... Qa5 8. Bd3 (8. Bd2
{is the main move here, with play often going} Nbc6 9. Be2 (9. a4) 9... Bd7 (
9... cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa4 11. Rb1 Nxd4 12. Bd3 {seems sufficient compensation for
the pawn.}) 10. O-O c4 $13) 8... cxd4 9. O-O dxc3 10. Re1 Bd7 11. Rb1 Qc7 12.
h4 (12. Be3) 12... Nbc6 13. h5 h6 14. Rb3 Na5 15. Rb4 O-O-O 16. a4 f6 (16...
Nc4 $1 17. Bxc4 a5 $1 $15) 17. Rg4 fxe5 $2 (17... Nec6) 18. Nxe5 Rhg8 19. Bf4
Qb6 20. Be3 Qc7 21. Bf4 Qb6 22. Bg3 Be8 23. Rf4 g6 24. hxg6 Bxg6 25. Bh4 $2 (
25. Nxg6 Nxg6 26. Rf7 {seems quite straightforward, and very much in Ignacio's
style, so I'm not sure what problem he may have seen here.} Rd7 (26... Ne7 27.
Qf3 Rde8 28. Rf6) (26... Nf8 27. Rc7+ Qxc7 28. Bxc7 Kxc7 29. Qh5) 27. Qf3 Ne7
28. Bb5 Nac6 29. Rxe6 $18) 25... Rde8 26. Rf6 $6 (26. Bb5 Nac6 27. Rf6 $14)
26... Bxd3 27. Qxd3 Nf5 28. Qxc3+ Qc7 29. Qxc7+ Kxc7 30. Rf7+ Kc8 31. Bf6 $6 ({
White chooses to maintain the bishop, though there are also chances to target
the e6 and h6 pawns if White allows the exchange on h4.} 31. Nf3 Nc6 (31... Nc4
32. Rf6) 32. g3 Nxh4 (32... a5 33. Rf6 Kd7 $15) 33. Nxh4 Nd8 34. Rf6 $13) 31...
Nd6 $6 (31... Ref8 $17) 32. Rh7 Nf5 $6 (32... Ne4 33. Rxh6 Ref8 34. Bh4 Rh8 35.
Be7 Rxh6 36. Bxf8 $14) 33. Kh2 Ref8 34. Nf7 (34. Nd7 $1 Re8 35. Bc3 Re7 (35...
Nc6 36. Nf6 Rh8 37. Rxe6 $1) 36. Rxe7 Nxe7 37. Nf6 Rg6 38. Rxe6 $16) 34... Rg6
35. Rxe6 Kd7 $2 ({The position is quite complex, but Black doesn't actually
stand worse. He should bring his wayward piece, the knight on a5, back into
the game on c6 or c4.} 35... Nc6 36. c3 d4 37. cxd4 Ncxd4 38. Rd6 Nc6 {, when
White has nothing better than the repetition.} ({Not} 38... Nxd6 39. Nxd6+ Kb8
40. Bxd4 {, though, when White is winning.})) 36. Nd8+ $1 Kc8 37. Bc3 ({Or} 37.
Be5 $1 Rxe6 $4 (37... Rfg8 38. Rxg6 Rxg6 39. Nxb7 $1 Nxb7 40. Rc7+ Kb8 $5 (
40... Kd8 41. Rxb7 {leaves Black with a very steep hill to climb.}) 41. Rg7+
Rd6 42. Rf7 $1 Kc8 43. Rxf5 Re6 {is actually comfortably winning for White,
too.}) 38. Nxe6) 37... Rxd8 $2 (37... Rfg8 38. Rxg6 Rxg6 39. Bxa5 b6 {is
likely just winning for White as well, but Black can put up some resistance.})
38. Rxg6 Nc6 39. g4 d4 40. Bd2 Ne5 41. gxf5 Nf3+ 42. Kg2 Nxd2 43. Rgg7 Rf8 44.
Rc7+ Kb8 45. Rxb7+ Ka8 46. Rxa7+ Kb8 47. Rhb7+ Kc8 48. Ra8+ ({More or less
instantly mating is} 48. a5 Z0 49. a6 Z0 50. Ra8# {, with some dodging of
spite checks along the way.}) 48... Kxb7 49. Rxf8 Ne4 50. f6 Kc7 51. f7 1-0

[Event "Washington Senior Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.04.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Perez, Ignacio"]
[Black "Kuhner, Mary"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A83"]
[WhiteElo "2229"]
[BlackElo "1878"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

{[%evp 0,64,37,26,41,19,70,45,62,46,39,21,33,34,25,38,19,21,20,-59,-12,-93,-98,
5,-32,-226,-239,-235,-192,-333,-359,-361,-180,-343,-271,-317,-324,-562,-481,
-477,-464,-554,-471,-467,-478,-478,-460,-547,-545,-626,-643,-666,-669,-789,
-804,-2820,-29106,-29987,-29988,-29989,-29992,-29993,-29994,-29995,-29996,
-29997,-1235]} 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. Bg5 Nf6 4. Nbd2 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e4
fxe4 (6... d5 7. exf5 exf5 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O) (6... d6) 7. Nxe4 O-O {Black
waves the red cape in front of the bull. Presumably Mary was aware of the
risks.} 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. h4 ({The solid} 9. c3 {is certainly an option. Black's
kingside remains a juicy target even without sacrificing the center pawn.})
9... Nxd4 10. Nfg5 $5 g6 11. Nxh7 $5 Kxh7 12. Qg4 $2 ({This amounts to a loss
of tempo in some important lines. We don't know that the queen belongs on g4
-- perhaps it wants to swing to h5 in one move after the h-pawn is cleared
away -- so it's important to be incisive here.} 12. h5 $1 {is the logical
follow-up. Black may have a defense; this may even all be advance prep. But
White has chosen the path, and only walking it offers the chance to succeed.}
Kg7 (12... Nf5 $4 13. hxg6+ Kg7 (13... Kg8 14. Qh5 Qe7 15. Nxf6+) 14. Rh7+ Kg8
15. Qh5 {illustrates my previous point.}) 13. Qg4 (13. hxg6 Rh8 $1 14. Rxh8 (
14. Rh7+ Rxh7 15. gxh7 {, and here} Be7 $3 {is the surprising key to the
defense, getting the bishop out of hock:} 16. Qh5 d6 17. O-O-O Kh8 {, and
while White will certainly play on, he'll be attacking a king well-covered by
White's own pawn, and dealing with an extra black piece.}) 14... Qxh8 15. Nxf6
Kxf6 16. Qg4 Qh1+ 17. Bf1 Nf5 {is still lacking a knock-out.} (17... Nxc2+ 18.
Kd2 Nxa1 (18... Qh6+ 19. Kxc2 Qxg6+ 20. Qxg6+ Kxg6 21. Bd3+ $13) 19. Qf4+ Kxg6
20. Bd3+ Kg7 21. Qg5+ Kf8 $1 22. Qf6+ Kg8 {and White must take the perpetual,
not being able to bring sufficient force to mate.})) 13... g5 14. f4 Kh6 15.
fxg5+ Bxg5 16. Nxg5 Qxg5 17. Qxd4 d5 {looks like something of a defensive
success, with both kings feeling a mite drafty.}) 12... Nf5 $1 13. f4 ({After} 
13. h5 g5 14. f4 {even} gxf4 {is possible.}) 13... Nh6 14. Ng5+ Kg8 15. Qg3 Nf5
$6 (15... Bxb2 16. Rb1 Qf6 $19) 16. Qh3 $2 (16. Bxf5 $1 exf5 (16... Bxb2 17.
Rb1 Rxf5 18. Rxb2 Qf6 {is messy.}) 17. O-O-O {and White is developing
compensation.}) 16... Qe7 17. O-O-O {Now it's Black's initiative that matters,
and she never looks back.} Qb4 18. Rdf1 Bxb2+ 19. Kd1 Qd4 20. Rf3 b6 21. h5 Bb7
22. hxg6 Bxf3+ 23. gxf3 Qg7 24. Nf7 Qxg6 25. Bxf5 exf5 26. Nh6+ Kg7 27. Rh2
Qg1+ 28. Kd2 Qd4+ 29. Ke1 Rae8+ 30. Kf1 Qd1+ 31. Kg2 Re2+ 32. Kg3 Qg1+ ({
Perhaps picky to point out, but} 32... Qe1+ {is mate next move.}) 0-1

[Event "Washington Senior Championship"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.04.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Scholz, Fritz"]
[Black "Kuhner, Mary"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2012"]
[BlackElo "1878"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

{[%evp 0,90,19,-18,-11,0,39,44,49,15,22,17,7,0,37,28,26,6,15,16,10,1,22,29,52,
-1,-7,0,-10,-6,-5,0,15,-22,22,6,21,21,-3,0,15,19,19,23,15,2,7,0,0,0,-5,-30,-4,
0,8,2,2,-7,5,-15,20,-37,-26,-47,-42,-43,-46,-40,-40,-41,-37,-35,-20,-20,-20,
-88,-138,-207,-118,-118,-118,-253,-259,-271,-640,-660,-271,-699,-775,-814,-118,
-848,-1154]} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 c6 3. d4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bg5 Be7 7.
e3 Bf5 8. h3 ({This is hardly a blunder, but I'm really at a loss as to why
White would want to play 8.h3 here. If the idea is to play Bd3 next move
anyway, what does h3 do?} 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 (9. Bxf6 $5 Bxf6 10. Qxd3) 9...
Nbd7 10. O-O O-O) 8... Nbd7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nf8 $6 ({I'm calling the plan
to redevelop the knight dubious, because Black likes the bishop on e7, rather
than f6, to slow the minority attack on the queenside. So not only does Black
no longer have a knight available to recapture on f6, but if the f8-knight
heads to e6 it only manages to encourage White's capture on f6.} 10... O-O) 11.
O-O (11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. b4 $14 {White starts his minority attack.}) 11... Ng6 $6
({The knight is misplaced on this square in terms of battling the queenside
minority attack. Stockfish actually shows a strong preference for} 11... N8d7 {
(!), claiming equality.}) (11... Ne6 {may make a little more sense than ...Ng6
in terms of positioning the knight for play against b4-b5, as it could support
...c5 in response.} 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. b4 $14) 12. Ne5 $6 ({No, this isn't
White's natural play. In no particular order, get the rooks over to b1 and c1,
take f6, and push the queenside pawns.} 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. b4 $14 {is a fine
start.}) 12... Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. f4 O-O 16. Rae1 f6 17. exf6
Nxf6 18. e4 dxe4 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20. Rxe4 Qc5+ 21. Kh2 Rad8 22. Qb3+ Qd5 23. Rf3
Qxb3 24. Rxb3 Rf7 {With a series of very natural exchanges, we've managed to
reach a completely equal double rook ending. Now White apparently feels the
need to "do something."} 25. g4 h6 26. Kg3 Rfd7 27. Ree3 Kf7 28. h4 b6 29. g5
h5 30. Rf3 Rd4 31. a3 c5 32. Rbe3 R8d5 33. Re2 g6 34. Rfe3 Rd3 35. Kf3 c4 {
White is still fine here. The kingside pawn advances have slightly weakened
the h4-pawn and f5-square. These are more cosmetic than actual problems,
though.} 36. Kf2 Rxe3 37. Rxe3 $2 ({Now this causes actual damage.} 37. Kxe3 {
is correct. White was probably worried about the h-pawn, but Black doesn't
really have time to chase it down. For example:} Rd3+ (37... Ke6 38. Ke4) 38.
Ke4 $1 Rh3 (38... Ke6 39. f5+ gxf5+ 40. Kf4+ Kf7 41. Kxf5 Rf3+ 42. Ke4 Rh3 43.
Kf5) 39. Rd2 Ke6 40. Rd8 Rxh4 41. Rg8 Kf7 42. Rc8 {.}) 37... Rd2+ 38. Re2 Rxe2+
39. Kxe2 Ke6 40. Ke3 Kf5 41. Kf3 b5 42. Ke3 a6 43. Kf3 a5 44. Ke3 b4 (44... a4
$1 45. Kf3 b4 $1 46. axb4 c3 $1) 45. Kd4 (45. axb4 axb4 46. Kd4 Kxf4 47. Kxc4
Kg4 48. Kxb4 Kxh4 49. Kc5 Kxg5 50. b4 Kf6 $1 {avoids the need to play the
queen and pawn versus queen ending:} 51. Z0 (51. b5 Ke6 52. Kc6 (52. b6 Kd7 53.
b7 Kc7) 52... h4 53. b6 h3 54. b7 h2 55. b8=Q h1=Q+ 56. Kc5 (56. Kc7 Qh2+)
56... Qd5+ 57. Kb4 (57. Kb6 Qb3+) 57... Qd6+) (51. Kd6 h4 52. b5 h3 53. b6 h2
54. b7 h1=Q 55. b8=Q Qh2+)) 45... c3 $1 0-1

