[Event "2021 Norman Friedman Memorial"]
[Site "Garden City, ID"]
[Date "2021.10.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Jablonski, Chase"]
[Black "Roland, Jeffrey T"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "1213"]
[BlackElo "1700"]
[Annotator "Chase Jablonski and Jeff Roland (--JR)"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2021.10.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,118,28,19,19,22,22,-17,39,55,101,88,90,53,64,64,69,69,48,65,65,60,116,
78,117,139,142,60,89,35,6,6,-20,-14,4,-25,-13,-58,-21,-42,-42,-71,-65,-73,-58,
-67,-48,-93,-93,-98,-41,-5,0,-79,-77,-97,-83,-79,-78,-76,-61,-52,-51,-57,3,-13,
-17,0,-15,-8,-9,26,-33,-15,-10,-14,165,91,10,-76,-145,-143,-4,-100,-65,-54,-51,
-55,-59,-61,-27,-33,-23,-20,-31,-44,-24,-43,-42,-65,-35,-46,-28,-31,-29,-23,
-14,-23,-25,-25,-19,-37,-12,-10,-19,-19,-19,-19,-20,-17,-19] G90+30d 1213 v
1700. Opponent made some mistakes early and I felt like I should have been
able to press an advantage. Opponent played well and I could not find
improving moves. I ended up weakening my position which gave black the
opportunity to develop initiative. He missed some opportunities to gain a
decisive advantage so I managed to defend. Eventually we ran into time
constraints and drew. I missed one opportunity to win a piece in time pressure.
} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f6 $2 {In post-mortem, opponent told me this was
Karpov's recommended reply to the Ponziani. This does not appear to be the
case. In the moment I thought my opponent just wanted to take me out of
preparation. Stockfish gives +1.7 here.  Well, I was trying to remember a game
I had only seen 30 years earlier. My memory was faulty. Karpov of course did
play ...d5 first, and then ...f6. I've had this position in tournaments before
and played 3...d5 and 4...f6 and had no trouble. I can't explain why I forgot
this, but White's 4.Bc4 completely refutes the mistake. I'll never forget this
now!--JR} (3... d5) 4. Bc4 $1 {Intending to take advantage of the weakened
light squares. Opponent was clearly distressed by this move but it seemed the
most natural progression to me.} Nh6 $6 {I didn't expect this move. Opponent
was fighting against Qb3, which was part of my plan. I don't really buy that
it's a reasonable move here but that knight did prove to be very helpful in
his defense later. Nge7 or the immediate Na5 were probably better options.} 5.
d4 Na5 {Two knights on the rim? Stockfish gives +2.2 here.  Yeah, I agree.
Looks pretty bad for Black here!--JR} 6. Nbd2 $2 $14 {After playing this move
I walked around. As soon as I returned to the board I understood it was a
mistake. In the moment I was concerned with concrete calculation but after I
took another look at the position I realized giving up the light squared
bishop here was a clear positional mistake. Black had weakened his light
squares and I offered my LS bishop up for a mediocre knight outpost. Bd3 was
clearly better.} (6. Bd3 $16) 6... Nxc4 7. Nxc4 d5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Ne3 {
Time here was White 1:19, Black 1:20. Black took 24 minutes to make his next
move (0:56). I did not understand why. It was a difficult decision where to
put his queen but I was concerned I missed a tactical sequence he was
calculating. I never found it and confirmed after the game that my opponent
had not either.  Yeah, after the game, Chase asked me why I took so long. The
simple and truthful answer was that I didn't know what to do! I kept looking,
and the more I looked the more I realized the problems in my position.--JR} Qd6
{This looks fine. I have no further immediate attacks on the queen. Stockfish
prefers Qe6, which does take better advantage of my weakened light squares.}
10. O-O {I felt clearly ahead in development with a reasonable pawn structure
and felt that with solid play I could likely get a win or draw here.} e4 {
I had not calculated this pawn move, which concerned me at the time. Once
again regretting the loss of my LS bishop I recognized I would have to play a
closed knight game to pursue an advantage.} 11. Re1 $1 {I took advantage of a
tactical sequence to gain a tempo and move my rook to the half-open file.} Be7
(11... exf3 $4 12. Nf5+ Kf7 13. Nxd6+) 12. Nd2 f5 13. Ndc4 {Trying to get my
knight to a more active square. After the excessive time my opponent took to
find his queen's position I felt that this would cause him additional
frustration and time. Stockfish doesn't love this move but I felt it was
appropriate. Opponent took eight minutes to address this move. Time: White 1:
02, Black 41 I'm not sure why Stockfish wouldn't like this.  If White's knight
ever gets to e5, it seemed to me it would be a powerful piece, right in my
face! I had hopes of castling queen-side too. I figured doing that, with a
majority of pawns on the king-side, I could drum up a nice k-side attack, but
after this move, where's a good place to put the queen and facilitate that
plan?--JR} (13. Qh5+ Qg6 14. Qxg6+ hxg6 15. f3) 13... Qd8 {Yeah, I hated to go
here, but I had to completely change plans here. In hindsight, maybe it's best
that I didn't get to castle queen-side after all.--JR} 14. Qh5+ {I wanted to
prevent Black from castling. I thought this would force ...Kf8 but missed a
tactical defense that saves Black.} Nf7 $1 {A clever defense. I missed this
initally. After 15. Nxf5 g6 forks.  My favorite move so far in the game. If 15.
Ne5, I can castle!--JR} (14... g6 15. Qxh6 {loses the knight.}) (14... Kd7 15.
Ne5+ Ke6 16. Nxf5 {and Black can resign.}) (14... Kf8 15. f3 exf3 16. Qxf3 {
and white is clearly winning.}) 15. Qe2 (15. Nxf5 g6 16. Ng7+ {I tried hard to
find a way to make this line work. Spent approximately ten minutes here but
could not find anything. Stockfish agrees there's nothing here.}) 15... O-O 16.
b3 {I struggled to find a move here. I felt b3 opened opportunities for my
dark-squared bishop and cemented the knight on c4.} c6 17. a4 {Gaining space
on the queenside while discouraging b5, which would leave White with a better
center.} Be6 18. Bb2 $4 {At this point in the game I was really struggling to
find moves. What I missed here is that 18...f4! gives Black a clear initiative
that he could use to win the game.  Wow, at the time during the game, I didn't
know I was even doing okay. Psychologically speaking, I was just trying to
finally get developed and didn't see 18...f4 as a viable move! But I agree, I
should have played that! I'm clearly a bit rusty in this game. I need to play
more chess!--JR} Qc7 $6 (18... f4 $1 19. Nd1 f3 20. Qc2 fxg2 21. Bc1 Bd5 {
and white is completely passive. -4.5.}) 19. Rad1 Rad8 20. Kh1 $2 {I hated
this move when I played it. I spent 11 minutes here and could not find a move
that did not weaken my position. The clock was ticking. I was concerned I was
lost here. Stockfish concurs, -3.8. Time: White 28, Black 21.  I was
completely baffled by this move and didn't understand it at all. All other
moves of the game made sense to me, but this, I could figure out what I must
be missing! I didn't have analysis to let me know I was up 3.8, but was just
trying to figure out what White was thinking. So finally after a long time of
thought, I played 20...b6 because I needed another clue what White was doing.
I didn't get it. White's next move did not shed light as to why the King
needed to go to h1 either.--JR} (20. Nf1 Rfe8 21. Ng3 {was a better
continuation. I looked at this but wanted to continue applying pressure to f5
from e3. This was clearly a better position in which to do that.}) 20... b6 21.
Nc2 Bf6 22. f3 Bd5 23. fxe4 $5 {I knew this was dubious but was trying to find
some play anywhere on the board. Even though he had a rook on the f-file I
thought I might get some counterplay there. (-2.3)} (23. Nb4 Rfe8 24. Nxd5 cxd5
25. Ne3 f4 {Better per Stockfish but this line did not look good for me.
There's a very computerish knight sacrifice that saves the game here but there
is zero chance any human I know could find it.}) 23... Bxe4 24. N2e3 Ng5 (24...
Bh4 25. Rf1 Rfe8 {maintains an advantage for Black.}) 25. Nd2 {Trying to trade
the knight for LS bishop. Stockfish confirms that would be a good trade.} Rfe8
{Time: White 18, Black 15. (-0.8 here)} 26. Qf2 (26. Qc4+ Qf7 27. Qxf7+ Kxf7
28. h4 {Equalish.}) (26. Nxe4 Nxe4 27. Qc4+ {was a better choice. I was
concerned about the queen on the e-file and the knight outpost. I didn't think
his bishop could escape.}) 26... Nh3 $1 {Saw this but underestimated it. Black
starts to get initiative against White's queen, repositioning his pieces with
tempo toward Black's king.} 27. Qf1 Bd3 28. Qf3 Ng5 29. Qf2 Ne4 {Time: White
13:50, Black 7:30.} 30. Nxe4 fxe4 31. Ng4 Be7 32. Ne5 Rf8 33. Qe3 Bc2 34. Rc1
Bxb3 35. c4 Bxa4 36. Qxe4 Bd6 37. c5 $5 {I considered Ra1 here, which was
probably better. I spotted a tricky line to pin the rook and opted for it
instead because of time pressure. It turned out to be a reasonable choice as
black used all his time. I thought black retained a slight advantage here
since he was up a pawn. Stockfish gives +0.6. Time was approximately White 6m,
Black 7m.} Be7 $2 38. cxb6 $10 (38. d5 $1 {wins a piece.  Yes, wow, I didn't
see that!--JR}) 38... Qxb6 39. d5 Qxb2 40. Qxa4 Rxd5 41. Qc4 {This was the
intermediate move I calculated after 37. c5. I wasn't sure there was anything
concrete here but knew this would be difficult for my opponent to handle in
time pressure. The bishop was in trouble and there was significant fork
potential. My opponent played it well but used all his time to do it.} Qb5 42.
Nxc6 {Stockfish says a clear draw from here.  That is good to know!
Over-the-board, however, I couldn't tell, and didn't have a lot of time to
know. White was very relaxed and peaceful the whole game...--JR} Bg5 43. Nxa7
Qxc4 44. Rxc4 Ra8 45. Nc6 Kf7 46. Rf1+ Bf6 47. Kg1 Ke8 48. Re1+ Kd7 49. Nb4
Bd4+ 50. Kf1 Rf8+ 51. Ke2 Re5+ 52. Kd1 Bb2 53. Rc2 Rxe1+ 54. Kxe1 Ba3 55. Nd5
Bd6 56. h3 Bg3+ 57. Kd1 Rf1+ 58. Kd2 Rf2+ 59. Kd3 Rxc2 {Black offered a draw
and White agreed. White's time was approximately 3:30 and Black was playing on
increment.  I found the game with all its flaws just what I needed. I enjoyed
the game a lot, and I learned a lot too. It was intense (for me) and I didn't
lose! Also, I made a new friend. I always feel in chess, the opponent is not
the enemy, the position is the struggle. It's a challenge, it's a game, and
it's fun!--JR} 1/2-1/2

[Event "2021 Norman Friedman Memorial"]
[Site "Garden City, ID"]
[Date "2021.10.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Wei, James"]
[Black "McKenzie, Niall"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B77"]
[WhiteElo "1847"]
[BlackElo "1326"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2021.10.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 a6 (10... Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 {is the most popular
theoretical line here.}) 11. h4 h5 12. O-O-O Ne5 13. g4 $1 {White builds a
strong attack by plowing forward, regardless of the cost in pawns.} hxg4 14. h5
$1 Nxh5 15. Bh6 (15. f4 $5 Nc6 (15... Nf3 16. Nxf3 gxf3 17. f5 $19) 16. Nxc6
bxc6 17. f5 $16) 15... e6 (15... Kh7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. fxg4 $16) 16. Bxg7 (16.
Rdg1 {may offer better chances. It's usually good to keep the tension (in this
case between bishops on h6 and g7) rather than unclutter the defensive zone (i.
e., giving a black rook access to h8). Take on g7 when it's either forced or
strong.} Qf6 17. Bxg7 Qxg7 (17... Kxg7 $2 18. fxg4 Nf4 19. g5 $18) 18. f4 $16)
16... Kxg7 17. fxg4 (17. f4 Nc6 $15) 17... Nxg4 18. Rdg1 Ngf6 (18... Nhf6 $1
19. Qg5 Rh8 20. Rxh8 Qxh8 21. Rxg4 Nxg4 22. Qxg4 Qh6+ 23. Kd1 Qe3 {, when
Black has repelled the boarders and keeps the booty.}) 19. Qg5 Kh7 $4 (19...
Qb6 $1 20. e5 (20. Nxe6+ Bxe6 21. Bxe6 Qf2 22. Bxf7 (22. Kb1 $5 Rh8 23. e5 (23.
Bxf7 Kxf7 24. Qxg6+ Ke6 $1 $17) 23... dxe5 24. Bxf7 Kxf7 25. Qxg6+ Ke7 (25...
Ke6 26. Ne4 Qe3 27. Re1 Qxe4 $1 28. Rxe4 Rag8 29. Rxe5+ Kxe5 30. Re1+ Kd6 {
likely winds down to a draw.}) 26. Ne4 Qf4 27. Nxf6 Qxf6 28. Qe4 {The exposed
black king makes the extra piece fairly irrelevant. Stockfish sees perpetual
check on the horizon.} Nf4 29. Qxb7+ Ke6 30. Rxh8 Rxh8 31. Qxa6+ Kf5 32. Qb7)
22... Qf4+ 23. Qxf4 Nxf4 24. Bb3) (20. Nf3 Qf2 $13) (20. Nf5+ exf5 21. Bxf7
Kxf7 {offers complications favoring Black:} 22. Qxg6+ Ke7 23. Rxh5 Qe3+ 24. Kb1
Be8 25. Qg7+ Rf7 26. Qg2 Bc6 27. Rxf5 Rg8 $19) 20... Qxd4 21. exf6+ Qxf6 22.
Qxh5 ({or} 22. Rxh5 Qxg5+ 23. Rhxg5 $13) 22... Rh8 $13 {, with three solid
pawns for the piece.}) 20. e5 $1 (20. Nf5 $3 exf5 21. Bxf7 $1 $18) 20... dxe5
21. Ne4 (21. Nf5 $1) 21... Ng4 $2 (21... Nxe4 22. Rxh5+ Kg7 23. Qxe5+ Qf6 24.
Qxe4 {, and with only two pawns for a piece and less activity, Black is
probably lost.}) 22. Rxh5+ (22. Qxg4 {also cruises to imminent checkmate.})
22... gxh5 23. Qxh5+ Nh6 24. Rh1 1-0

[Event "2021 Norman Friedman Memorial"]
[Site "Garden City, ID"]
[Date "2021.10.09"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anthony, Ralph"]
[Black "Wei, James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B38"]
[WhiteElo "1673"]
[BlackElo "1847"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2021.10.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,92,32,32,44,44,86,69,74,58,47,22,25,22,22,22,27,23,23,32,33,49,46,44,
73,70,66,47,50,50,52,50,42,42,42,44,45,27,30,19,19,16,16,0,6,7,6,16,12,12,39,
46,50,44,43,26,18,19,19,25,37,0,-17,-53,-68,-68,-74,-200,-212,-240,-251,-288,
-311,-319,-280,-310,-205,-248,-270,-1136,-430,-471,-1229,-1289,-1289,-1292,
-1392,-1564,-1572,-1527,-1299,-1299,-1372,-1566,-1739]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3.
d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Bg7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. f3 (7. Be2) 7... Nc6 8. Be3 O-O 9.
Be2 Bd7 10. O-O Nxd4 11. Bxd4 a5 12. Qd2 Bc6 13. Nd5 (13. b3 Nd7 14. Be3 Nc5
15. Rab1 Qb6 16. Rfc1 Rfc8 $14 {and we're still in a main line of the
Accelerated Dragon (Maroczy Bind) that has been seen hundreds (at least) of
times.}) 13... Bxd5 14. cxd5 Nd7 15. Bb5 Bxd4+ 16. Qxd4 Qb6 17. Qxb6 Nxb6 18.
a4 (18. Rfc1) 18... Rac8 19. Rac1 f5 20. b3 fxe4 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. fxe4 Rc3 23.
Rf3 Rxf3 (23... Rc1+) 24. gxf3 g5 25. Kf2 Kf7 26. Kg3 e5 (26... Kf6 {The
cosmetic advantage of having the bishop restraining the black knight doesn't
translate to an actual edge here; there is a risk of an ending with bad bishop
versus good knight.}) 27. dxe6+ Kxe6 28. Kg4 Kf6 29. Kh5 d5 ({Time to relocate
that knight:} 29... Nc8 30. Kh6 Ne7 31. Kxh7 Nc6 32. Be2 Nd4 33. Bd1 {and now
it's the black knight dominating the bishop. Black's pawn minus counts for
very little.} Ke5 34. Kg6 Kf4 35. Kf6 Nxf3 36. Bxf3 Kxf3 37. Kxg5 Kxe4 38. h4
d5 {, if that's what Black wants. Or he could maneuver for awhile in search of
an error.}) 30. Bd3 (30. Kg4 dxe4 (30... d4 31. f4 h5+ (31... gxf4 32. Kxf4 Ke6
33. e5 $16) 32. Kf3 g4+ 33. Kg3 $16) 31. fxe4 $14) 30... d4 31. e5+ Kxe5 32.
Kxg5 h6+ 33. Kg4 ({White should take that pawn, despite it taking the king
further from the action.} 33. Kxh6 Nd5 (33... Kf4 $6 34. h4 Nd5 (34... Ke3 35.
Bg6 d3 $2 ({Even after} 35... Nd5 36. h5 Nf4 37. Kg5 Ne6+ (37... Nxg6 38. hxg6
d3 39. g7 d2 40. g8=Q d1=Q 41. Qe6+) 38. Kf6 Nf4 39. h6 Nxg6 40. Kxg6 d3 41. h7
d2 42. h8=Q d1=Q 43. Qe5+ $16 {White has excellent winning chances.}) 36. Bxd3
Kxd3 37. h5 Nd7 (37... Nd5 38. Kg5) 38. Kg7 {and White will promote.}) 35. Kg7
Ke3 36. h5 Kxd3 37. h6 Kc2 38. h7 d3 39. h8=Q d2 40. Qh7+ Kc1 41. Qh6 Kc2 42.
Qg6+ Kc1 43. Qg5 Nc3 {Black will use the threat of promotion to force a
repetition.}) 34. Kg5 Nf4 35. Bf5 d3 36. h4 d2 37. Bc2 Nh3+ 38. Kg4 Nf2+ 39.
Kg3 d1=Q 40. Bxd1 Nxd1 {, and now White will decoy with the kingside pawns
while the white king heads left to eliminate the black foot soldiers. For
example:} 41. f4+ Kf5 (41... Ke4 42. f5 Kxf5 43. Kf3 b6 44. Ke2 Nc3+ 45. Kd3
Ne4 46. h5 Nd6 47. Kd4 Kg5 48. Kd5 Nb7 49. Kc6 Nc5 50. Kxb6 Nxb3 51. Kb5 Kxh5
52. Kc4 Nc1 53. Kb5) 42. Kf3 Nc3 43. Ke3 Nd5+ 44. Kd4 Nxf4 45. Kc4 {etc.})
33... Nd5 34. Kg3 Nf4 35. Bc2 d3 36. Bd1 d2 (36... Nd5 $1 37. Kf2 Kd4 38. Ke1
Ke3 $19) 37. Bc2 Ne2+ 38. Kf2 Nc3 39. Bd1 Kf4 (39... Nxd1+ 40. Ke2 Ne3 41. Kxd2
Nf1+ $19) 40. Be2 h5 41. Bd1 h4 42. Bc2 h3 43. Bd1 Nxd1+ 44. Ke2 Nf2 45. Kxd2
Kxf3 46. Ke1 Ng4 0-1

[Event "2021 Norman Friedman Memorial"]
[Site "Garden City, ID"]
[Date "2021.10.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Pitre, H.G.."]
[Black "Machin, Alex J"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "1844"]
[BlackElo "1769"]
[Annotator "Alex Machin"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2021.10.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,70,30,10,85,67,76,38,89,57,76,69,100,13,-1,10,13,16,9,-7,14,10,9,-37,
-37,-120,-120,-109,-112,-130,-133,-120,-111,-124,-118,-78,-80,-118,-120,-120,
-120,-115,-115,-156,-115,-139,-126,-112,-128,-136,-157,-166,-164,-374,-178,
-161,-166,-166,-159,-176,-184,-184,0,-210,-218,-209,-222,-993,-1039,-1392,
-1469,-29989,-29990] With one draw from round two pulling me down a half point,
I went into this game to win at all costs.} 1. e4 g6 {This is the first time
I've tried this over-the-board, clearly looking for a dynamic game.} 2. d4 Bg7
3. Nf3 d6 4. Bd3 Bg4 5. c3 e5 6. d5 {I was trying to reach an accelerated
King's Indian where I attack White with the move ...f5 and don't waste a tempo
by moving the knight on g8 twice.} Nd7 7. h3 {Forcing Black's hand to
relinquish the bishop pair, but I'm happy to do this because the position is
locked up and I don't lose time. White either damages his king-side pawn
structure or the Queen ends up misplaced on f3 once ...f5 hits.} Bxf3 8. Qxf3
Ne7 9. Na3 {White continues his development while keeping the c1-h6 diagonal
open for his bishop.} O-O 10. Bg5 f6 11. Be3 f5 {It is apparent that the queen
on f3 is misplaced.} 12. g4 $6 {Definately wrong. His desire to attack doesn't
work here. He's going to have problems defending his e4-pawn combined with the
discovered attack on the queen.} fxe4 13. Qxe4 Nf6 $1 {Black is threatening to
take the queen and is double-attacking the d5-pawn at the same time.} 14. Qg2
Nfxd5 15. Bc4 c6 16. h4 {Here I thought for a long time because the idea of
him playing h5 and ripping open my king-side was difficult to deal with. After
a while I found the defensive ...h6 which aims to lock things up.} h6 17. O-O-O
Kh8 18. h5 g5 19. Bb3 Nf4 {It was tempting to play ...Nxe3 and snag the bishop,
but I thought it was simplest to play ...Nf4 and keep control.} 20. Bxf4 Rxf4
21. Rhe1 {White is now threatening to play 22.Nc4.} Qc7 {This discourages Nc4.}
22. Re4 Raf8 23. Rxf4 Rxf4 24. Nc2 d5 {Now that White has kind of exhausted
all of his attacking attempts, I'm finally ready to expand and attack him.} 25.
f3 a5 26. Qe2 $2 b5 $2 (26... a4) 27. Ne3 a4 28. Bc2 a3 {Creating holes around
his king.} 29. b3 e4 {I wish I had more time to think about this position. ...
e4 is a very double-edged move that creates complications that I hadn't worked
out.} 30. fxe4 Bxc3 31. Nf5 Qe5 ({I was trying to figure something with} 31...
Rxf5 {but nothing concrete was coming to me.}) 32. Nxe7 (32. Nxh6 Bb4 33. Bb1
Qc3+ 34. Qc2 Qe3+ 35. Rd2 Rf1+) 32... Qxe7 33. Rxd5 cxd5 34. Qxb5 Bb2+ 35. Kb1
Rxe4 0-1

[Event "2021 Norman Friedman Memorial"]
[Site "Garden City, ID"]
[Date "2021.10.09"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Jablonski, Chase"]
[Black "Anthony, Ralph"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "1213"]
[BlackElo "1673"]
[Annotator "Chase Jablonski"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2021.10.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,47,30,22,68,55,75,72,76,72,72,65,75,42,38,37,67,48,72,82,140,72,80,98,
146,139,164,182,160,145,177,65,70,13,131,-33,29985,29986,29987,29988,29991,
29992,29993,1470,29987,29988,29989,29988,29999,-30000] G90+30 1213 v 1600. A
fun attacking game finishing in a two-piece sacrifice to checkmate. White took
advantage of Black wasting time with pawn moves. This game was the tournament
director Eric Vigil's favorite.} 1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bg5
c6 $6 {Inaccuracy. O-O was best. If black had castled here, the h6 pawn would
not have been a problem, preventing him from castling later in the game.
Opponent told me he wanted some craziness. Perhaps our rating difference made
my opponent overconfident.} 6. Qd2 h6 $6 {Inaccuracy. ...O-O was best. Black
cannot now castle without losing the h-pawn. I think this is premature.} (6...
O-O 7. h3 Nbd7 8. a4 Qa5 9. Bd3 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5) 7. Bf4 b5 8. Bd3 b4
$5 {This makes six pawn moves by Black in the opening. Perhaps not objectively
wrong but this makes Black's game more difficult. This did frighten me away
from castling queenside.} 9. Ne2 Qb6 $6 {Inaccuracy. Bg4 was best. One of the
options if Black wants to hold onto the b-pawn. I'm not sure Black should have
pushed the b-pawn since now he either has to lose it or spend time defending.}
10. O-O {+1.9} (10. O-O-O {+0.4}) 10... g5 11. Bg3 {Time: White 1:02, Black 0:
34.} Bg4 $6 {Inaccuracy. ...c5 was best.} (11... c5 12. e5) 12. e5 Nh5 13. exd6
Nxg3 $16 {A generally good principle to try and trade off the dark-squared
bishop but in this case the face-off between the bishops was gone.} 14. hxg3 (
14. Nxg3 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxd4 16. Nf5 {I think this line was better from a human
perspective since the knight ended up being in my way in the game. I was
concerned about losing the d4-pawn but Nf5 wins. +7.4}) (14. fxg3 {This was a
line I strongly considered due to opening the f-file but I was concerned about
the g1-h7 diagonal with the queen and bishop already deployed. +3.9}) 14...
exd6 $2 {Opening the king here is bold. The computer might not care but my
opponent said he underestimated Qe3+.} 15. Qe3+ {Mistake. Nxg5 was best.
Missed a tactic with Nxg5 to win a pawn.} (15. Nxg5 O-O (15... hxg5 16. Qxg5
Bxd4 17. Qxg4) 16. Nf3 Nd7) 15... Kf8 16. Rfe1 {Mistake. a3 was best. a3 is
difficult to find. I should consider the bishop supporting an attack on the
queenside. However, I wanted to play down the e-file, so I have no regrets
here.} (16. a3 bxa3 17. Rxa3 Nd7) 16... Bxf3 $4 {Blunder. Nd7 was best. This
is a mistake. Black needs to develop his knight and get his rook into the game
or risk being overrun down the e-file. This is why I played Rfe1.} (16... Nd7
17. a3 Re8 18. Qd2 b3 19. Qb4 Bf6 20. cxb3 Kg7 21. Qxb6 Nxb6 22. b4 h5 23. Rac1
{with a slight advantage for White.}) 17. Nf4 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qxf3 was best. A
sacrifice I spent about 20 minutes calculating. I calculated ...Bxd4, ...Qd8,
and ...Nd7. I was hoping for ...Bxd4 as I had calculated it clearly to
checkmate.} (17. Qxf3 Nd7 18. Bf5 Nf6) 17... Bxd4 $4 {Checkmate is now
unavoidable. ...Qd8 was best. This move looks like it's the trickiest
counter-attack. I initially thought this idea defeated my sacrifice but I had
initially missed, as did my opponent, Ne6+. During the post-mortem, my
opponent regretted not spending more time here but he only had about 20
minutes remaining.} (17... Qd8 18. Ng6+ fxg6 19. Qxf3+ {The best defense.
Stockfish gives only a slight advantage for White but calculating this line I
felt it would be difficult to defend against. I was happy enough with this
continuation. White is down a piece but Black is completely passive with no
active pieces and White has a clear plan of attack.}) (17... gxf4 18. Qe8#) (
17... Nd7 18. Ng6+ fxg6 19. Qe7+ Kg8 20. Qe6+ Kf8 21. Bxg6 {Calculated clearly
to here, expecting a mate to follow. Stockfish confirms mate in 3.} Ne5 22.
Rxe5 Qb7 23. Qe8+ Rxe8 24. Rxe8#) 18. Qe8+ Kg7 19. Ne6+ fxe6 20. Qe7+ Kg8 21.
Rxe6 $2 {Lost forced checkmate sequence. Qxe6+ was best. A clear mistake.
Anything wins here, but maintaining a forced sequence should have been my
priority. I had initially calculated Qe6+ but forgot it in the moment. I had
also calculated the text line to checkmate and in the moment felt safer with
that. I should have stopped here and recalculated, as time was sufficient.} (
21. Qxe6+ Kf8 22. Qxd6+ (22. Qe8+ Kg7 23. Re7+ Kf6 24. Qf7#) 22... Kg8 23. Qg6+
Bg7 24. Re8#) 21... Bxf2+ $6 {Checkmate is now unavoidable. Bh5 was best.} (
21... Bh5 22. Rxd6) 22. Kh1 Bh5 23. Bg6 Qd4 24. Qf7# {Final time: White 24m,
Black 7:39.} 1-0

[Event "Susan Polgar Foundation National Open f"]
[Site "Bellevue Hyatt, Bellevue, WA"]
[Date "2021.10.03"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Razmov, Gabriel"]
[Black "Zhou, Leonardo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1516"]
[BlackElo "1664"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Razmov"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+5"]

{[%evp 0,107,27,10,31,26,22,4,8,12,3,2,11,0,19,19,27,23,30,29,32,31,21,23,23,
31,80,53,55,57,55,68,54,59,27,-72,-31,-94,-111,-93,-58,-58,-80,-123,-90,-85,
-104,-47,185,216,210,283,233,278,307,439,506,514,552,571,972,993,1052,1107,
1107,1017,1027,655,655,670,696,711,707,580,628,617,617,617,636,621,680,661,818,
753,939,945,988,617,703,746,841,807,882,544,544,537,599,613,719,433,450,131,
132,132,171,188,216,205,260,260] This game was played in round 4 of 6 at the
Susan Polgar National Open for Girls & Boys. I had a good day 1 (rounds 1-3),
winning my first game and drawing Class B and Class A players after that. I
was hoping to get in contention for first place, and this game was critical.} 
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4 Bb6 6. d3 d6 7. O-O h6 8. a4 a6
9. h3 O-O 10. Nbd2 d5 11. exd5 ({Another option, although not necessarily
better, was} 11. Bb3 d4 12. Nc4 dxc3 13. Nfxe5 Nd4 14. Nxb6 cxb6 15. Be3) 11...
Nxd5 12. Ne4 Bf5 $6 (12... Be6) 13. Qb3 Nf6 14. Re1 $6 (14. Rd1) 14... Qe7 15.
Ba3 {Around here I thought I would be winning out of the opening, but soon
enough, I realized it wasn't quite so easy!} Qd7 {White retains about a +2
advantage here, but now there are no tactics for them.} 16. a5 {Frustrated, I
tried to win material but as my minutes burned away, I couldn't find a good
line.} (16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Bc1 $1 Bxh3 18. Re4 $1 {is promising, in hindsight})
(16. b5 $2 Na5 $1 {and there is nothing here.}) 16... Ba7 17. Rad1 $6 (17.
Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Bc1 {aiming at the kingside.}) 17... Bxh3 $1 {A nice sacrifice,
due to a lot of White pieces concentrated on the queenside. This is a move
which forces White to be extremely precise. Unfortunately, I was already not
in the mood to play this type of game, since I couldn't win material earlier
on the queenside, and this move got me off balance a little bit.} 18. gxh3 Qxh3
19. Nxf6+ $4 {Now Black is winning, as they could utilize the open g-file
against the white king!} (19. Nh2 {I considered this, but I couldn't work out}
Nxe4 20. Rxe4 Qg3+ 21. Kh1 Bxf2 $4 {My calculations stopped here, and I
thought I must be in a dangerous position here! Unfortunately, my calculations
were wrong. As it turns out,} 22. Rf1 $1 {was winning, due to Rg4 next move.}
Kh8 23. Rg4 Qe3 24. Bc1) 19... gxf6 20. Nh2 Bxf2+ $4 (20... Kh8 $1 {This
leaves Black winning, since even} 21. Bxf7 {doesn't work:} Rg8+ 22. Bxg8 Rxg8+
{and White must give up their Queen.}) 21. Kxf2 Qxh2+ 22. Ke3 Qf4+ 23. Ke2 {
At this point, I thought he would go for the repetition, but surprisingly he
didn't.} Rae8 $4 (23... Qh2+ {=}) 24. Rg1+ $1 {An only winning move. From here,
I calculated up to about move 28.} Kh8 25. Rdf1 $1 Qh2+ 26. Kd1 e4 (26... Qh5+
27. Kc1) 27. Rh1 Qg2 28. Rxh6+ Kg7 {This is the crucial position. There is an
only way to win (that is your hint), but what is it?} 29. Rhh1 $1 ({Not} 29.
Rfh1 $2 Rh8 {=}) 29... e3 30. Rfg1 e2+ 31. Ke1 Qg5 32. Bc1 Ne5 33. Rxg5+ $6 {
This move was due to a hallucination.} (33. Bxg5 Nf3+ 34. Kf2 e1=Q+ 35. Rxe1 {
+- is an easier win instead}) 33... fxg5 34. Kxe2 $6 {A brave move, but I am
up so much material I can afford such inaccuracies and still retain a winning
position.} (34. Be3 $1 {A nice blocking move, which then wins the pawn on e2
without losing the c4-Bishop.} Nxc4 35. Qxc4 Rxe3 $2 36. Qd4+) 34... Nxc4+ 35.
Kd1 Ne5 36. d4 $6 {I have no idea why I did not take the g-pawn now.} (36. Bxg5
) 36... Ng4 {From here onward White is trying to consolidate and eliminate
dangerous counterplay, but Black manages to stir things up anyway. Time on the
clocks also becomes an increasingly influential factor for the rest of the
game.} 37. Qc2 f5 38. Bxg5 Re4 39. Qb2 Kg8 40. Bh6 Rf7 41. Qd2 Rf6 42. Qg5+ Kf7
43. Qd2 f4 44. Bg5 Rf5 45. Qa2+ Kg7 46. Bh4 (46. Bh6+ $1 Nxh6 $2 47. Qg2+)
46... f3 47. Qb1 Ne3+ 48. Kd2 Rxh4 49. Rxh4 $2 (49. Qg1+ Rg4 50. Qxe3) 49... f2
50. Qxf5 $6 (50. Rh1 {is simpler}) 50... Nxf5 51. Rf4 Ng3 52. Rxf2 Ne4+ 53. Ke3
Nxf2 54. Kxf2 {White is lucky that after all the fireworks they're left with a
solid extra pawn in the king-and-pawn endgame, leading to a simple technical
win. I stopped notating here, as our clocks were quite low (~2 minutes left
for me and ~30 seconds for him). In the end, White went on to win, as expected,
from this position.} 1-0

[Event "Simultaneous Exhibition"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.10.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Polgar, Susan"]
[Black "Bian, Erin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2598"]
[BlackElo "1903"]
[Annotator "Erin Bian"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,46,30,16,21,33,33,33,33,5,52,2,2,-18,-3,-33,-18,-41,-45,-45,-46,-54,
-65,-74,-79,-81,-44,-114,-124,-147,-152,-147,-164,-155,-155,-289,-343,-384,
-277,-581,-577,-624,-637,-783,-778,-793,-803,-885,-938]} 1. e4 {This was a
small surprise; I expected Susan to play 1. d4 or 1. Nf3} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qf3 dxc6 7. Qxf6 $6 {I think this is a bit
inaccurate, because it realeases the tension and lets me develop my knight to
the superior f6 instead of e7. The computer actually likes Qxf6, but it's not
scoring very well for white.} (7. Nc3 {This is the main line, played by many
top players.}) 7... Nxf6 8. f3 {This is natural - defending e4 and somewhat
restricting my minor pieces.} Be6 {Develops the bishop and prepares to castle
queenside.} 9. Nc3 O-O-O 10. Bg5 $5 {I missed this move, and spent a lot of
time thinking here.} (10. Bd2 {Also a valid choice; this would be similiar to
if she had played 11. Bd2, first provoking h6. But the pawn may be more useful
there.}) 10... h6 {Probably the safest choice.} (10... Bd4 $5 {I considered
this for a while but decided against it because I wanted to get rid of the
threat of e4-e5 as soon as possible. This is logical, but my concrete reason
was flawed - I thought white could play} 11. Ne2 $2 Bxb2 12. Rb1 Be5 13. f4 {
followed by 14.e5, but didn't see that I could return to d4 with the bishop:}
Bd4 $1 14. Nxd4 Rxd4 $19) 11. Bxf6 (11. Bd2 {Susan almost played this, but
decided against it. I would argue here that the h6 pawn is better placed here
versus if she had played 10. Bd2 in one go.}) 11... gxf6 12. a3 $6 {Presumably
trying to prevent ...Bb4, but I don't think white has time for this.} (12. Bd3
{Blocking the d-file and castling queenside on the next move was probably
better.}) 12... Bd4 $5 {If white moves the knight to e2 or a4, she loses the
pawn of b2. If she does something else e.g. Bd3, I'll always have the
possibility of doubling her pawns with ...Bxc3.} 13. Nd1 $2 {stops ... Bxc3
and defends b2, but it's too slow. White is now at least 2 moves (or more,
because if she moves the knight I can take it and prevent castling again) away
from castling, which is not going to end well for her once I open the e-file.}
f5 14. exf5 $6 {This opens the e-file, which may be disastrous if white can't
protect her king quickly. The computer even suggests returning with 14. Nc3,
keeping the e-file closed for the moment and possibly escaping with the king
to the queenside.} Bxf5 15. Bd3 Rhe8+ 16. Kd2 {Forcing the king out.} Bf6 $1 {
Opening up the d-file and threatening Bg5+.} (16... Be5 $1 {with the same idea
also works.}) 17. Rb1 {After thinking for a long time, Susan decided to play
this. Rb1 is a mistake, but there weren't any good options at this point.} (17.
Re1 {A small improvement, but she probably didn't like} Bg5+ 18. Ne3 c5 19. b3
Bxd3 20. cxd3 Re6 $17 {with a clear advantage for black.}) 17... c5 $1 18. b3 {
Prevents ...c4.} b5 {Threatens to win the bishop again.} 19. Kc1 {Saves the
bishop, but this runs into another problem - and it's not just about the pawn.}
Bg5+ 20. Kb2 Bxd3 21. cxd3 Re2+ $1 22. Ka1 Bf6+ 23. Nb2 Rxd3 $19 {I can now
trade a set of rooks, take the kingside pawns, and trade everything on b2. The
resulting king and pawn endgame is easily won. White resigns.} 0-1

[Event "Simultaneous Exhibition"]
[Site "Bellevue Hyatt, Bellevue, WA"]
[Date "2021.10.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Polgar, GM Susan (Zsuzsa)"]
[Black "Razmov, Valentin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2577"]
[BlackElo "1986"]
[Annotator "Valentin Razmov"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,70,28,30,26,27,27,27,52,44,76,-1,29,29,24,-10,54,8,21,-15,-2,-9,7,-13,
12,-7,1,-73,-39,-54,-57,-48,-48,-67,-57,-61,-56,-38,-48,-39,-39,-52,-21,-29,
-38,-82,-69,-65,-31,-28,0,-7,-8,-21,-21,-23,-25,-27,-24,-20,-27,-27,-8,-22,-8,
-25,-8,-19,-7,0,0,0,0]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 e6 6.
c3 Bd6 7. Bg3 b6 $6 {Not the best treatment of the London System for Black,
since the c6-square and the knight sitting on it are now weakened as a result.}
(7... O-O) 8. Ne5 (8. Bb5 $5 {is more ambitious, attempting to immediately
take advantage of the temporarily weakened a4-e8 diagonal:} Qc7 9. Bxd6 Qxd6
10. Ne5 Bd7 11. f4 {⩲} (11. Nxd7 Nxd7 12. Qg4 O-O 13. Qg3 Qxg3 14. hxg3 Rfc8)
) 8... Bb7 9. Bd3 {Played after a long think by the GM...} O-O 10. O-O Ne7 {
A well-known plan for regrouping Black's pieces and adding strength to Black's
king-side.} (10... Qc7 11. Nxc6 (11. f4 Ne7 12. Qb1 c4 13. Bc2 b5 {∞} 14. Bh4
Ng6 15. Nxg6 fxg6) 11... Bxc6 (11... Bxg3 12. fxg3 Bxc6 13. Rxf6 gxf6 14. Qh5
f5 15. Qg5+ Kh8 16. Qf6+ {=})) 11. Bh4 $6 {White seems a bit too eager to take
advantage of Black's latest move. Now White falls under some pressure
themselves.} (11. Qf3 Qc7) 11... Ne4 $1 {A standard way for Black to simplify
and gain counterplay in many Queen's pawn openings.} 12. Bxe4 $6 {Once again,
played after several minutes of thought.} (12. Nec4 Bc7 13. f3 Nxd2 14. Nxd2 f6
15. Bf2 Qd7) 12... dxe4 13. Ndc4 $6 {Natural, but not optimal. I had
considered some alternatives:} (13. Qg4 f5 14. Qg5 {⩱}) (13. Nec4 f6 (13...
cxd4 14. Nxd6 Qxd6 15. Nc4 Qd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. cxd4 Rfc8 {=}) 14. Nxd6 Qxd6
15. Bg3 Qd5) 13... f6 14. Nxd6 {And another long thought by the GM here...} (
14. dxc5 $6 Bxe5 (14... Bxc5 $2 15. Nd7 Bd5 16. Nxf8 Bxc4 {=}) 15. Nxe5 Nf5 16.
c6 (16. Qg4 $5 h5 $1) 16... Ba6 {∓}) (14. Qg4 $6 Bd5 $1 {∓}) 14... Qxd6 15.
Nc4 Qd5 16. Nd2 Nf5 {Now White's bishop is without much prospect.} 17. Bg3 Ba6
$2 {Putting White's rook where it actually wants to go.} (17... cxd4 18. cxd4 (
18. exd4 $6 e3 19. Nf3 g5 $1 {∓}) 18... h5 $5 {∓}) 18. Re1 Nxg3 19. hxg3
Rfd8 (19... Bd3 $5 {⩱}) 20. Qb3 f5 $6 {Attempting to preempt f2-f3 by White,
but this move creates a weakness on e5 in the long-term, which the White
knight might be able to utilize as a future outpost.} (20... Bd3 21. Qxd5 exd5
22. f3 f5 {⩱}) 21. Qxd5 exd5 {= White equalized after Black's recent
inaccuracies.} 22. f4 $2 {Once again, White seems overly eager to blockade the
center in defense, but allows Black a future protected passed e-pawn. Perhaps
White was influenced at this point by feeling under pressure on all 3 top
boards of the simul event (especially one of those boards already had a lost
position for the GM) -- I was playing on board 2.} Rd6 {Looking for potential
king-side activity or doubling rooks in the center.} (22... Bd3 23. Nb3 Rab8 {
⩱}) 23. a4 {Likely planning to push a4-a5 and weaken the queen-side,
including the support of Black's c5-pawn} cxd4 24. exd4 {Keeping the c-file
closed and planning to blockade on the dark squares (including e3) via either
king or knight} b5 $2 {A positional mistake - in an attempt to open up files
for the rooks and bishop, Black went too fast in asking for it and
accidentally weakened the c5-square, which the white knight can utilize to
blockade the queen-side and even turn up the pressure on Black there.} (24...
Rb8 {⩱ maintains the pressure on White}) 25. axb5 (25. Nf1 $5 bxa4 26. Ne3
Bb5 (26... g6 $6 27. Rxa4 {⩲} Bb5 28. Ra5 a6) 27. Nxf5 Rd7 28. c4 $5 {=})
25... Bxb5 26. Nb3 Rb6 {In turn, realizing that things aren't going as planned,
Black now \"presses on the brakes\" and with a series of accurate moves closes
the queen-side by forcing White to blockade there.} 27. Nc5 Bc4 28. b4 ({
During the game I was uneasy about the option} 28. b3 $2 Bxb3 29. Reb1 {
and felt relieved when White didn't take that path (in reality White likely
didn't even consider it, since move 28 was played very quickly), only to
realize later that} Ba2 $1 {was in fact tactically refuting such an idea by
White, e.g.,} 30. Rxb6 axb6 31. Nd7 Kf7 (31... b5 $2 32. Kf2) 32. Nxb6 Rb8 33.
Rxa2 Rxb6 34. Ra7+ Kf6 35. Rd7 Rc6 36. Rxd5 Rxc3 {∓ and only Black can play
for something more than a draw here.}) 28... Bb5 {Ensuring that all light
squares are guarded, so the white knight won't be able to jump around and
create chaos in the back of Black's position.} 29. Kf2 a6 {Closing off the
queen-side for good, and also freeing up the rook on a8.} 30. Rh1 Rf8 31. Ra3
Rff6 32. Rh5 {Preventing rook trades via ...Rh6, and thus keeping Black from
taking over the king-side too. A drawish outcome was already taking shape at
this point.} g6 {Now Black hatches a plan to close off the king-side and hold
a fortress-like structure, as there seem to be no realistic winning
opportunities any more.} 33. Rh1 h5 $1 {Prevents pawn breaks like g3-g4,
unless White is willing to take the risk of a sacrifice to accomplish that.}
34. Rha1 Kf7 35. Ke3 Ke7 {and here White offered a draw, which was promptly
accepted. Neither White, nor Black can reasonably expect to be able to press
on without taking a big risk in opening up the position at the cost of some
pawn sacrifice(s).} 1/2-1/2

[Event "2021 WA G/15 Championship"]
[Site "Orlov Chess Academy (Greenlak"]
[Date "2021.10.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Corey-Derrah, Alan"]
[Black "Razmov, Valentin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1771"]
[BlackElo "1986"]
[Annotator "Valentin Razmov"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]

{[%evp 0,87,27,20,41,55,68,70,51,51,44,44,51,55,63,42,37,42,51,30,30,38,24,-12,
16,-20,-32,-14,-9,-3,32,32,32,-98,-98,-105,-105,-102,-102,-110,-110,-110,-114,
-212,-198,-199,-197,-239,-110,-334,-315,-339,-326,-336,-326,-331,-218,-664,
-203,-276,-185,-188,-140,-136,-143,-226,-226,-223,-223,-223,-243,-241,-241,
-243,-243,-244,-243,-244,-243,-243,-243,-245,-259,-259,-245,-268,-269,-273,
-225,-224]} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 Bf5 {Letting White develop
an initiative thanks to their potential mobile center. More common is:} (4...
Bg4) 5. Nc3 {Transposing to the mainline after 3.Nc3, thus blocking the c-pawn
and missing the opportunity to put pressure on Black using:} (5. c4 $5) 5...
Qa5 6. Bd2 {A commonly played move at the club level, but in reality not as
dangerous as it looks.} c6 7. a3 e6 8. Ne4 Qc7 {Not fearing the exchange on f6
with doubling of Black's pawns. An alternative is 8...Qd8.} 9. Nxf6+ gxf6 10.
Bc3 $6 {This promising looking spot for the bishop will become a liability in
the near future. More to the point are the alternatives involving the push of
the c-pawn:} (10. c4) (10. c3) 10... Nd7 11. Qd2 (11. g3) 11... Nb6 12. O-O-O
Nd5 13. Kb1 Bd6 {Black is already quite comfortable by this point.} 14. g3 b5
$6 {Although not a common idea for Black in this opening, the queen-side
attack seemed tantalizing and I decided that it's worth trying at least for
the learning experience of doing it. But there was a better way to start that
queen-side campaign...} (14... a5 {∓}) 15. Ba5 {Correctly blockading the
dark squares and thus slowing down Black's queen-side progress considerably.}
Qb7 16. Bg2 $2 {This looks promising as a developing and solidifying move, but
is in fact too slow given the dynamic nature of the position. Both players
still had plenty of time left on the clocks: nearly 10 minutes each out of the
original 15 (plus delay).} (16. Nh4) 16... b4 $1 {Taking advantage of White's
slow-down...} 17. axb4 Bxb4 18. Bxb4 Nxb4 {Now the dark squares on the
queen-side are once again unblocked and Black is ready to attack. It felt good
to be having this promising position as Black.} 19. Ne1 Rb8 20. Qc3 Qa6 {
Black's moves come naturally and are strong. White has its back against a wall,
and is playing forced moves to defend.} 21. Nd3 $6 (21. Qc5) 21... Qa2+ 22. Kc1
Nxd3+ 23. cxd3 O-O $2 {Black trembles at the prospect of having the king left
in the center with White's queen and bishop eyeing the c6-pawn with check!
More than that, this prophylactic move releases the pressure on White and
gives them a chance to eliminate one of the main threats to their position --
with a forced queen exchange. Both players had roughly 5 minutes left on the
clocks at this point.} (23... Rb3 $1 {Gutsy and strong -- the black king can
safely hide on g7, if needed.} 24. Qc2 O-O 25. Qb1 {-+}) 24. Be4 $2 (24. Qa3 $1
Qxa3 25. bxa3 Rb3 {∓ and although Black has all the chances, White can have
reasonable hopes to survive in the end.}) 24... Rb3 25. Qc2 Rfb8 26. Rd2 Bxe4
27. dxe4 R8b4 {White's position is at a breaking point. But will Black find
the way to crack it with 2 minutes left on the clock?} 28. Qb1 {Black has a
game-ending strike here and was in fact looking for that, but somehow missed
it! Can you spot it?} Qa4 $6 {Missing the effective and efficient way to end
the attack and win the game...} (28... Rc3+ $1 29. Rc2 Rxc2+ 30. Qxc2 (30. Kxc2
Qc4+ 31. Kd1 Qxd4+ 32. Ke1 Rxb2 {-+}) 30... Rc4 {-+}) 29. Rhd1 Rc4+ $6 {
From here onward, the game was strongly influenced by the clock: both sides
had about 1 minute left (plus delay).} 30. Rc2 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Qxd4 32. Rxc6 Qxf2
33. Qc2 Qe1+ 34. Qd1 Qxd1+ 35. Kxd1 Rxb2 {Simplifying to a manageable and
promising endgame that is easier to play (compared to an endgame with queens
still left on the board) given the extra material Black has.} 36. Ra6 Rxh2 37.
Rxa7 Rg2 38. Ra3 Kg7 39. Ke1 Kg6 40. Kf1 Rb2 41. Re3 Kg5 42. Kg1 Kg4 43. Kf1
Kh3 {Black decides to avoid pawn exchanges until the time is right -- lest
White manages to transition to the notorious drawn rook endgame with only f-
and h-pawns left.} 44. Rf3 {With seconds left on the clock, I stopped notating
here. The game concluded after one more pawn was exchanged and Black (somehow)
managed to trade rooks with a skewer on the f-file, leading to a king-and-pawn
endgame with no chances for White to survive.} 0-1

[Event "WA Challenger's Cup"]
[Site "Seattle, WA"]
[Date "2021.10.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Liu, Austin"]
[Black "Perez, Ignacio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1794"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[Annotator "Austin Liu"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2021.10.24"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 Nf6 5. f3 O-O 6. Qd2 Re8 $5 {An
interesting sideline, aiming to drop the bishop back if White tries Bh6.} (6...
c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Nc6 {Transposes into the Samisch.}) 7.
O-O-O b5 $2 {A highly dubious gambit - with proper defense, White gains a
clear advantage.} 8. Bxb5 c6 9. Bc4 Qa5 10. Kb1 Qb4 11. Bb3 a5 12. a3 Qb7 13.
Nge2 {and Black's attack is already looking very unconvincing.} Nbd7 14. g4 Nb6
15. Ka1 {With the idea of Rb1.} a4 16. Ba2 Rb8 17. Rb1 Be6 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19.
Qd3 Nfd7 20. h4 e5 21. h5 exd4 22. Bxd4 e5 {An "all or nothing" move; if
Black's attack doesn't succeed, then White's material advantage and better
pawn structure will prevail.} 23. Bxb6 Nxb6 24. hxg6 hxg6 25. Qxd6 Qf7 26. Qxc6
{Freeing up the d5-square for the queen or knight in future lines.} Rec8 27.
Qb5 Rd8 28. Rhd1 Rdc8 29. Rd3 {Defending f3, as well as preparing to cover a3
after Nxa4.} Bf8 30. Nxa4 {I decided to take on a4 instead of on e5 since I
was worried about opening the long diagonal for Black's bishop, although both
are good.} Nxa4 31. Qxa4 Ra8 32. Qb3 Qxb3 33. Rxb3 Rxc2 34. Nc3 Bc5 35. Nd5 Bd4
36. Ka2 Rf8 37. g5 {At around this point, I went below 5 minutes; as such, the
following moves are rather messy and made the win a lot harder than it should
have been.} Rg2 38. Nf6+ Kg7 39. Ng4 (39. Rb7+ Rf7 40. Rh1 Rxb7 41. Rh7+ Kf8
42. Rxb7 $18 {is a more elegant solution; Black's unpleasant king situation
allows White to easily march the a-pawn to victory.}) 39... Rf7 40. Rh1 Rg3 41.
Nf6 Rxg5 {Here, I almost played Rh7+ and Rb6#. Except, the bishop covers b6.
That was a near-disaster...} 42. Ne8+ Kg8 43. Rb8 Rg2 44. Nc7+ Kg7 45. Ne8+ Kg8
46. Nd6+ Rf8 47. Rh8+ Kxh8 48. Rxf8+ Kg7 49. Rf7+ Kh6 50. Nc4 g5 51. a4 Rf2 52.
Rf5 Rg2 53. a5 g4 54. fxg4 Rxg4 55. Nxe5 Rxe4 56. Nd3 Re3 57. Nc1 {And after
35-ish more moves, I succeeded in earning the full point.} 1-0

[Event "WA Challenger's Cup"]
[Site "Seattle, WA"]
[Date "2021.10.23"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Dudala, Vihan"]
[Black "Liu, Lucas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "1295"]
[BlackElo "1602"]
[Annotator "Vihan Dudala"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2021.10.24"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 {This is typically the most popular response for black known
as the 'Slav Defense' and is considered to be very solid for black.} 3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Nf3 Bf5 $5 {This is inaccurate. The right choice of move is e6 for black.
The bishop should ideally stay inside the pawn structure to keep b7 protected.}
5. e3 {An opportunity was missed for me here. White is better with the
following variation:} (5. cxd5 cxd5 (5... Nxd5 6. e3) 6. Qb3 $1 {In the
variations, seen - white gets the advantage of at least a pawn to grab if
played correctly. It's hard for Black to keep d5 and b7 protected at the same
time.} Qc7 (6... b6 7. e4 dxe4 8. Ne5 e6 9. Bb5+ Nbd7 10. Bg5) (6... Qd7 7. Ne5
Qc8 8. Nxd5) 7. Nxd5) 5... e6 6. cxd5 {Another option for me was to just
continue to keep the tension and play Bd3 immediately.} (6. Bd3 Bg6 7. O-O Be7
8. Ne5 {just continuing to keep the tension and not trading anything first.})
6... cxd5 7. Bb5+ Nbd7 8. O-O Bd6 9. h3 O-O 10. Bd3 Bg6 11. Bxg6 fxg6 {Not
sure if this recapture was best, it leaves a weak backward pawn on e6 that
could become a target later. It's usually better to recapture towards the
center and minimize the number of pawn islands you get in a standard a
middegame} (11... hxg6) 12. Nb5 $6 {This was probably inaccurate, black could
have retreat Bb8 and followed through with a6. The knight doesn't accomplish
anything on the b5 square} (12. Qd3 Nb6 13. Bd2 Rc8 14. Rac1 {Just completing
development}) 12... Nb6 $6 {Giving up the bishop pair, maybe the variation
below was a better continuation} (12... Bb8 13. Bd2 a6 14. Nc3 b5) 13. Nxd6
Qxd6 14. b3 Ne4 15. a4 {Threatening Ba3 (Skewer)} Qc7 16. Ba3 Rfe8 17. Rc1 Qd8
18. Ne5 Nd7 19. Nxd7 {Couldn't see what else to do, and since black had the
backward pawn on e6 - I figured that this would be a better endgame for white
anyway.} Qxd7 20. Bc5 $6 {My original idea was to invite black to take my
bishop on c5 and prepare to double up my rooks. However, after reviewing the
game later - I realized that a better continuation was to simply kick the
knight out with f3 and complete development.} (20. f3 Nf6 21. Qd3 Rec8 22. Rc3
Rxc3 23. Qxc3 Rc8 24. Qd2) 20... b6 21. Ba3 {Lost a tempo} e5 22. dxe5 Rxe5 23.
Qd4 {Now black has a weak d5 pawn that can be targeted.} Rae8 24. Rc2 Qf5 25.
f4 $2 {A mistake, the better way to prepare this idea was with Rc7 first,
following f4} (25. Rc7 $3 Qf6 (25... h6 26. f4 R5e6 27. Qxg7#) 26. Rxa7) 25...
Ng3 {This leads to a lot of complications which is what eventually lead my
opponent to blunder a few moves later.} 26. fxe5 Qxf1+ 27. Kh2 {Black has to
lose material} Ne2 28. Qxd5+ Kh8 29. Rxe2 $1 {My idea was to prepare Qf7 with
the strong possibility of setting up Back Rank Mate via Bf8 or alternatively
get my e5 pawn going.} Qxe2 30. Qf7 Rc8 $4 {A blunder that leads to forced
mate in 5. With correct play, Black can still force a draw - but probably not
easy to find.} (30... Rg8 31. e6 (31. Bf8 Qxe3 32. Bxg7+ Rxg7 33. Qf8+ Rg8 34.
Qf6+ Rg7 35. Qf8+ Rg8 36. Qf6+ Rg7 37. Qf8+) 31... Qxe3 32. e7 Qe5+ 33. Kg1
Qe1+ 34. Kh2 Qe5+ 35. Kg1 Qe1+ 36. Kh2 {And we have repetition}) 31. Bf8 $3 {
Mate is cannot be stopped. My opponent resigned here. If black continued to
play here, it would have concluded in the following variation.} (31. Bf8 Qxg2+
32. Kxg2 Rc2+ 33. Kf3 Rf2+ 34. Kxf2 b5 35. Qxg7#) 1-0

