[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Zavortink, Matt"]
[Black "Beltran, Omar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2299"]
[BlackElo "1832"]
[Annotator "Matt Zavortink"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{A somewhat strange game where at times it seems as if both players have bad
positions. Reviewing this game with the computer is quite humbling as it
thinks I misevaluated practically every position and variation I looked at.} 1.
Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bg3 Qc7 {A good line for
black that I believe became popular around 2018 when Carlsen used it in
several games. Black makes the strong positional threat of Nbd7, gaining
irrevocable control over e5. Who knows what the best idea is but white should
certainly try to do something to disrupt black's plan immediately.} 7. dxc5
Qxc5 8. Nbd2 {White's plan is Bd3, Qe2, and e4. It doesn't seem like black
should be worse but it's a little tricky.} Bxg3 9. hxg3 Bd7 $5 {Not what I had
looked at but definitely a reasonable move.} 10. Rc1 ({I did not continue with
the more normal Bd3 as black's last move was planning ...Bb5, however the
computer shows an interesting resource for white to counter this plan:} 10. Bd3
Bb5 11. b4 Qb6 12. Bc2 $1 $14 {and next white can push the black bishop
backwards with a4.}) 10... Nc6 {Here I thought I had two possible plans: 1)
expand on the queenside, or 2) play Bd3 and meet ...e5 with e4. I went with
the first plan, thinking that this justified the position of my rook on c1,
though the computer shows that the 2nd option was probably stronger. Overall I
was not feeling particularly inspired by my position.} (10... Bb5 {Would be a
mistake now because of the obvious} 11. c4 $16) 11. b4 Qe7 (11... Qd6 $1 $11 {
A better move for black, gaining the options of meeting b5 with either ...Ne5
or ...Ne7. But it's understandable to not want to give white the option of Nc4
at the right moment.}) 12. b5 Na5 13. Qa4 b6 {Pushing my pawn to b5 has
introduced a number of different imbalances into the position, which was
difficult for me to understand. For the moment black's knight has been pushed
to a5, away from the center, though it controls the important c4 square and
can quickly reroute to the c5 outpost if I play a careless move like Bd3. I've
also weakened a lot of other squares like a3 where I must constantly guard
against the invasion of the black queen. I considered Ne5, stopping ...e5 and
eyeing the sensitive c6 square, and e4, threatening e5 but risking opening the
position with my king still in the center.} 14. e4 {I was really having a hard
time believing that this was the right move but I didn't know what else to do.}
(14. Ne5 $1 {Stockfish wants to play this move and, if undisturbed, follow up
with g4-g5!, continuing the strange trend of white not developing or castling.
I rejected Ne5 due to} Qd6 15. Qd4 Qa3 {when I thought black's queen was too
active, but white's position is nicely held together by the simple defensive
move} 16. Rc2 $14 {again with g4-g5 coming soon.}) 14... h5 $6 {Too
cooperative; black should not allow white to continue with e5.} (14... dxe4 15.
Nxe4 Nxe4 $6 16. Qxe4 {this looked risky for black as I thought I could
probably play Rxh7 after black defends the a8 rook}) (14... e5 $1 15. exd5 {
Now ...Nxd5 would allow the same Qe4 idea as in the previous note, but black
can play a calm move like} O-O $11 {and then try to regain the pawn. A hard
position for me to evaluate, of course Stockfish gives the useless "0.00."
Note that white cannot try to hold the extra pawn with} 16. c4 $4 e4 17. Nd4 e3
$19) 15. e5 Ng4 16. Rc2 (16. Qxg4 {To be honest I didn't seriously consider
this move as I thought I would still have the same option on the next turn;
however, if white wants to do this, it should be done now, as this version
forces the black queen to a3 where it may actually be a bit out of play in the
ensuing complications.} Qa3 17. Rc2 hxg4 18. Rxh8+ Ke7 19. Rxa8 gxf3 20. Nxf3 {
with another 0.00 position}) 16... Rh6 $6 {Stopping Qxg4 but stranding the
rook and knight on the kingside for the rest of the game.} ({I was expecting} 
16... Qc5 $1 {when I thought I would have two appealing options} 17. Qxg4 (17.
Qd4 $2 Qxd4 18. cxd4 {Another variation I completely misevaluated} Ke7 19. Bd3
Rac8 {I thought black might not be able to do this as the h8 rook is
overloaded defending the h-pawn, but in reality black has a decisive advantage
after} 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Rxh5 Rc3 $19) 17... hxg4 18. Rxh8+ Ke7 19. Rxa8 gxf3
20. Nxf3 $2 (20. gxf3 $1 $10 {planning c4 next}) 20... Bxb5 {I saw this far
and thought I should avoid all of this.} (20... Qc7 $1 $17 {I did not consider
this move})) 17. Be2 (17. Bd3 {I think I avoided this more natural move due to
the black knight rerouting to c5, but it's not a big deal} Nb7 18. Qd4 $14)
17... Qc5 18. O-O Rc8 $2 (18... a6 $1 {I was afraid of this move and had not
yet found a good solution. I thought I should be able to simply lose the b5
pawn and still have a perfectly fine position.} 19. Qf4 axb5 {I was
concentrating on this position. The computer gives} (19... Bxb5 $2 20. c4 $1
$18) 20. Nb3 $1 Nxb3 21. axb3 $16 {With a sizeable advantage for white due to
black's stranded g4 knight and bad d7 bishop}) 19. Nb3 $1 Nxb3 20. axb3 {
Now I felt I should be a bit better as I can untangle with Bd3 (so that the c2
rook guards f2), Re1, and all of my pieces are starting to find their ideal
squares. I was surprised to see that Stockfish thinks white already has a
decisive advantage.} a5 21. Bd3 Ne3 $4 {A blunder that instantly decides the
game.} 22. b4 Z0 ({It's unfortunate for black that they cannot even get rook
and bishop for the queen, as after} 22... axb4 23. cxb4 Qxc2 24. Bxc2 Nxc2 25.
Rc1 {the c2 knight is trapped.}) 1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kodihalli, Kaustubh"]
[Black "Zavortink, Matt"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B36"]
[WhiteElo "1905"]
[BlackElo "2299"]
[Annotator "Matt Zavortink"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{A long game in a Maroczy Bind. White played quickly in the opening and seemed
to know some theory but quickly drifted into a position with a very poor
light-squared bishop. There are some very interesting moments late in the game
where both players overlooked key aspects of the bishops of opposite color
endgame.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2
Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qd3 $5 a5 11. Be3 a4 (11... Bd7 $1 {This is
probably stronger than what I played, as white's Bd4 plan is nicely countered
by a quick ...Bc6 and ...Nd7 when it begins to look like one of the
traditional Maroczy Bind mainlines with white's queen slightly misplaced.}) 12.
Rab1 $6 {Probably the start of a faulty plan. I believe white has mixed two
different systems, and that the consistent way to play with the queen on d3 is
to go Bd4 with the idea of f4.} (12. Bd4 $1 Qa5 13. f4 {aiming for some kind
of kingside attack or central break, when surely white is a bit better. Note
that the white queen must be on d3 for this to work; if it were on the more
typical d2 square in this position then black would immediately win material
with ...Nxe4!}) 12... Qa5 13. Rfc1 Be6 14. f3 Rfc8 $11 {Black has fully
equalized and Stockfish is giving 0.00.} 15. b3 axb3 16. axb3 {I looked at
this position in my preparation for the tournament but with the white queen on
d2 instead of d3. In that case black should go ...Qb4, however here white may
have the the response Bd2, so instead I figured I should immediately highlight
the position of white's queen on d3 with the move} Nd7 17. Nd5 $6 (17. Bd2 $11)
17... Bxd5 18. exd5 $15 {I wasn't really sure of the objective evaluation here
but I didn't think white's position made much sense. I have two minor pieces
that can control the various weak dark squares opposed to white's single
dark-squared bishop, so I figured I had good chances. White's bishop pair is
not worth much as the light-squared bishop does not have a useful role.} Nc5 (
18... Qa2 $15 {Perhaps simpler than what I did}) (18... Qb4 $1 {During the
game I had a feeling Stockfish would want to play this move, and it does!
Black temps white to go Bd2 when the black queen will go elsewhere and argue
that white's bishop has become slightly less good. I didn't think it was worth
my time to try to understand such subtleties, but it's at least sinteresting
to see the computer line:} 19. Bd2 Qb6+ 20. Be3 Nc5 {With the big point being
that black can meet} 21. Qc2 {with} Bh6 $3 $17) 19. Qc2 Na6 {I had a feeling
this maneuver was not the objectively strongest way to play, as it simply
seems too bizarre, but my knight does do a good job targetting the weak dark
squares.} 20. Qe4 {This is a bit superficial; it would make sense if black had
to play a passive move like ...Kf8 to defend the e-pawn, but there are
multiple tactical solutions for black that aren't that hard to find.} (20. Kh1
$5) 20... Qa2 21. Bf1 Nc5 $1 $17 22. Qc2 (22. Qxe7 $4 Re8 23. Qxd6 Nxb3 24. Re1
Rxe3 $19) (22. Bxc5 dxc5 23. Qxe7 $2 Bd4+ 24. Kh1 Qf2 {I was a bit lazy
calculating this variation, but I figured there's no way I could be worse with
my queen and bishop so active.} 25. Bd3 Re8 $1 (25... Ra2 26. Rg1 {is not so
clear as white is coming with d6-d7 extremely quickly}) 26. Qxb7 Ra2 27. Rg1
Qh4 $19 {Threatening ...Be5 with a winning attack.}) 22... Qxc2 23. Rxc2 Ra3 {
Forcing white to capture on c5 in order to defend the b3 pawn.} 24. Bxc5 dxc5 {
We've reached a bishops of opposite color endgame with even material. I
thought I should have good winning chances as my bishop will be extremely
powerful on d4, preventing white from contesting the a-file and creating
continuing threats against the white king thanks to the f-pawn being on f3.}
25. Bd3 Bd4+ 26. Kf1 Rca8 27. Re2 Ra2 28. g4 $2 {I thought this was likely a
very poor move as it gives white fewer ways to defend h2 in the future and I
gain permanent access to the f4 square. I now have a very long-term plan of
attacking the h2 pawn, trying to force h3, and then marching my king
g7-f6-e5-f3-g3. This position is very hard to play for white and the computer
evaluation throughout the next phase of the game alternates between completely
losing and very unpleasant but possibly holdable.} (28. Rxe7 $4 Rf2+ 29. Ke1
Rxg2 $19 {Black's other rook comes to a2 with decisive threats.}) 28... Rxe2
29. Bxe2 g5 $1 {Securing the f4 square} 30. Rd1 Ra2 31. b4 Kg7 (31... b6 32.
bxc5 bxc5 {This is less good than the pawn structure in the game as here white
is able to use the open b-file.}) 32. bxc5 Bxc5 33. Rb1 (33. d6 $1 exd6 34. Rd5
{May be a close to a fortress as white's rook on d5 greatly reduces the number
of ways black can try to progress on the kingside,}) 33... b6 34. Rb3 Kf6 (
34... Ra1+ 35. Kg2 Rg1+ 36. Kh3 {I considered this type of position on a
couple different occasions. White is almost mated, but not quite:} Bd6 37. Rxb6
Rh1 38. Kg2 Rxh2+ 39. Kf1 $11) 35. Rd3 {Now I want to go ...Bd6 trying to
force h3, but white can reply Rb3 counterattacking against the b6 pawn, so
first:} Rb2 36. Rd1 Bd6 37. Rd4 $5 {The computer doesn't like this move but I
thought it was a good try.} (37. h3 Ke5 $19 {Black's king invades}) 37... Bxh2
$19 38. Re4 Bd6 39. Bd3 Rd2 40. Be2 h6 41. Ke1 Bb4 42. Kf1 Ra2 43. Kg1 Kg7 44.
Kf1 Bc5 45. Kg2 {Now slightly low on time I fail to find the best way to make
progress.} f5 $4 (45... Kg6 $1 {Playing for ...h5 is the correct way to
proceed. I felt nervous about putting my king on g6 due to Bd3 ideas but they
do not work.} 46. Kf1 h5 47. Bd3 Kh6 $1 $19 {Black is threatening ...Rf2+ and
also ...h4 to create a passed pawn.}) 46. Re6 $1 {Suddenly white is close to
having another fortress.} (46. gxf5 $4 Kf6 $19) 46... f4 47. Kf1 Ra1+ 48. Kg2
Rg1+ 49. Kh2 Re1 50. Kg2 Rg1+ 51. Kh2 Re1 52. Kg2 Kf7 {Here I was quite
certain that white should draw if they just sit and don't do anything. I can
try to set up a couple tricks by putting my bishop on e3 at the right moment
but I also must be careful that white's bishop doesn't activate, for example
by getting to f5 or g6 via d3. White's king looks very restricted but there
are unfortunately no mating ideas. Instead white panicked:} 53. Bd3 $4 (53. Kh2
{May be the easiest move for white, keeping the bishop unrestricted to go to
d3 if black messes around too much}) (53. Re4 {I was expecting this move,
though I didn't appreciate the number of possible tactics during the game. Now
white must find a lot of only moves:} Be3 54. Bf1 $1 (54. Bd3 $4 Rg1+ 55. Kh2
Rd1 $19 {and suddenly white drops the bishop}) 54... Rd1 55. Re6 (55. Be2 $4 {
falling for another trick} Rg1+ 56. Kh3 Re1 57. Bd3 Rh1+ 58. Kg2 Rg1+ 59. Kh2 (
59. Kh3 Rg3+ $19) 59... Rd1 $19) 55... Rd2+ 56. Kh1 Rf2 57. Bg2 {The position
has changed a little bit and I guess black can keep finding ways to continue
the game, for example:} Bd4 58. Rxh6 Bf6 {and perhaps black can create some
more tricks, or activate the king on the queenside, in the time it takes white
to extract the rook from h6}) 53... Rxe6 54. dxe6+ Kxe6 $19 {During the game I
wasn't quite sure of the objective evaluation here but I thought I had very
good winning chances, and an easy plan to make progress. Black's main idea is
to put the king on d4. Then white will need to guard the c4 pawn and would
also like to stop black's e-pawn from getting to e4. Unfortunately the only
square from which the white bishop can accomplish both of these tasks is d5,
which with the black king on d4 will always allow black to play ...b5!,
winning the c4 pawn which will be stuck defending the d5 bishop. On their own
these two ideas are probably not suffucient to win, as white can allow ...e4,
play fxe4, and then park the king on f1 forever while using the bishop to
defend the c4 and g4 pawns. However, black's seemingly useless h6 pawn will
decide the game by, at some point, sacrificing itself on h5 to give black two
connected passed pawns.  One huge subtlety that both players missed is that in
the structure with ...e4 and fxe4, if white is able to put the king on the
superior f3 square, then he will be able to draw. From f3 the king will be
ideally positioned to stop the passed f and g-pawns after black's ...h5
sacrifice, and any attempt by black to break the blockade by means of ...Kf5
will be met with an immediate check from the white bishop.} 55. Bf5+ Ke5 56.
Bc8 Kd4 57. Ba6 Ke3 58. Bc8 e5 59. Bb7 Kd3 60. Bd5 Kd4 61. Bf7 Bf8 $2 {In
typically paranoid fashion I put my bishop on f8 to pre-emptively stop the
passed pawn that white will get after my ...h5 sacrifice. However, this allows
the white king to go to f2, and then meet ...e4 with fxe4 Kxe4, then check the
black king with the bishop, and then be threatening Kf3! with a blockade and
draw. Black should keep the bishop on c5 to prevent this idea, as the
variation above with the white king on g2 rather than f2 will fail as black's
king will be able to get out of check by going to e3 at the end, denying white
the opportunity to blockade the f3 square.} 62. Kf2 e4 $4 {I could still have
corrected by mistake with ...Kd3 followed by ...Bc5+} 63. Ke2 $4 {Here
suddenly I felt that something was wrong and that I needed to "go for it"
immediately:} (63. fxe4 Kxe4 64. Bd5+ Kd4 {Now black is threatening ...b5} 65.
Bf7 {but white is threatening Kf3 with a secure blockade.} h5 66. gxh5 g4 67.
Be6 $1 $11) 63... h5 (63... e3 {also wins}) 64. gxh5 (64. Bxh5 exf3+ 65. Kxf3
Kxc4 {and the b-pawn decides the game}) 64... g4 65. fxg4 Bh6 {A nice position;
white has finally equalized the material but black's connected passed pawns
immediately decide the game.} 66. Kf2 Bg5 67. Kf1 Kd3 68. Bd5 e3 69. Bf3 Kxc4
70. Ke2 b5 71. Kd1 Kc3 72. Be4 b4 73. Ke2 b3 0-1

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Zavortink, Matt"]
[Black "Min, Ryan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2299"]
[BlackElo "1982"]
[Annotator "Matt Zavortink"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{I was fortunate to not have to expend too much energy during this game; I
followed my preparation until my opponent blundered. I failed to find a number
of more accurate continuations after that but the result was never really in
doubt.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Bg2 {This
position is a bit difficult to play for black. Though I think there are a
couple decent equalizing tries they are hard to find for an unprepared player.}
Nbd7 7. O-O c6 8. Nbd2 Re8 9. e4 e5 10. dxe5 {White's idea in this line is
typically to aim for a good version of an exchange King's Indian. By leaving
the pawn on c2 white has avoided giving black a potential outpost on the d4
square as occurs in the mainline exchange variations.} dxe5 {Here white would
really like to play a move like Re1, then try to exploit the weak d6 square
with Nc4 and maybe Ba3, but it's simply too slow. So white must continue
energetically with:} 11. Nc4 (11. Re1 b5 $11 {Black will reorganize with ...
Bf8-c5 and have a perfectly acceptable position}) 11... Nc5 $2 ({Black must
enter the complications:} 11... Nxe4 12. Re1 Nec5 13. Nd6 {with a weird mess
and a lot more to prepare for anyone considering playing this as either color.
White has managed to obnoxiously plant his knight on d6, but at least black is
up a pawn. In the game continuation white gets the knight to d6 "for free."})
12. Nd6 Rf8 (12... Re7 {Seems a bit more natural though white is still a pawn
up after} 13. Nxe5 $18) 13. Nxe5 Qe7 14. f4 $6 (14. Nec4 $1 {This is nearly +4
as white is able to go e5 next. I looked at this and thought it was needlessly
complex, but getting in e5 is a big achievement so I should have spent more
time calculating.} b5 15. Na5 Bd7 16. e5 $18) 14... Rd8 15. Nxc8 (15. Nexf7
Qxf7 16. Nxf7 Rxd1 17. Raxd1 Kxf7 {Of course I considered this and thought
white must have some edge. Stockfish shows that white is completely crushing
but only after the somewhat unintuitive (to me)} 18. f5 $1 gxf5 19. exf5 {
followed by the simple plan of h3, g4 and g5.}) 15... Raxc8 16. Qe2 $18 {
I haven't played the most precisely but still have a stable position with an
extra pawn and the bishop pair.} Re8 {Threatening ...Nfd7 Nc4 Bxb2 Nxd2 when
the rook's presence on e8 causes white's e4 pawn to be hanging.} (16... Nfd7
17. Nc4 $18) 17. Ba3 b6 (17... Nfd7 $4 18. Nxd7 $18) 18. Rad1 Rc7 19. Rfe1 Nh5
20. Nc4 {White is ready to go e5 and re-occupy the d6 square with a knight.}
Bc3 21. Rf1 b5 {Desperately trying to complicate.} 22. Nd6 b4 23. Nxe8 Qxe8 24.
Qc4 $1 Nxe4 25. Bxb4 Nhxg3 26. hxg3 Nxg3 27. Bxc3 Qe3+ 28. Rf2 Ne2+ 29. Qxe2
Qxc3 30. Qe5 1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Richardson, Ryan"]
[Black "Zavortink, Matt"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B35"]
[WhiteElo "2030"]
[BlackElo "2299"]
[Annotator "Matt Zavortink"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{Another Accelerated Dragon. I was happy to be able to play the 'trendy' 8...
Re8 move (and to be able to remember the lines I had looked at before the
tournament).} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Be3 Nf6
7. Bc4 O-O {Now black is threatening the "fork trick" with ...Nxe4 followed by
d5, eliminating white's center pawn, so white must reply:} 8. Bb3 Re8 $5 {
The trendiest move at high levels, essentially just waiting to see what white
is going to do.} (8... d6 {An argument can be made for this move, seemingly
allowing white to transpose to a normal Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon,
but with the subtlety that black didn't have to spend a tempo on ...Rc8 to
provoke Bb3.}) (8... a5 {When I played the Accelerated Dragon as a kid this
move was all the rage, but the advance of chess engines has not been kind to
this variation:} 9. O-O a4 10. Nxa4 Nxe4 11. Nb5 $14 {and current theory
suggests that black's two center pawns do not compensate for the severely
weakened b6 square}) (8... d5 $5 {is a modern idea, played by Gelfand among
others} 9. exd5 Na5 10. Qf3) 9. f3 (9. O-O {If white gives up on the Yugoslav
Attack setup then black has an essentially solid position even having 'wasted'
a move on ...Re8.} d6 {Black is threatening ...Ng4 and ...Na5 so white will
lose the bishop pair.}) 9... d5 $1 (9... e6 {is also possible, preparing ...d5
more slowly.}) 10. exd5 Nb4 {Now compared to the move 8...d5 shown above,
white cannot defend the d5 pawn with Qf3} 11. Nde2 e6 12. d6 (12. dxe6 $2 {
White is already worse after this natural capture:} Bxe6 {White has trouble
defending the e3 bishop but also the c2 pawn, as black is threatening to
remove both defenders by trading the light squared bishops and the queens.})
12... Nbd5 13. Bg5 {I was now out of my preparation; I didn't think I'd looked
at Bg5 before so I assumed I had at least an equal position.} (13. Nxd5 exd5
14. Bd4 Qxd6 $11 {Black has an isolated queen pawn that is firmly blockaded
but white's f3 pawn creates a lot of comparable weaknesses.}) 13... Qxd6 14.
Qd2 {I felt I should move my queen to get out of the pin on the d-file and
considered b6, c5, c7, and even f8 (the computer's choice)!} (14. Bxf6 {
I thought this might be white's idea:} Bxf6 15. Ne4 Qe7 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 {
I thought I'd have some advantage here though I didn't consider the immediate
equalizing move} (16... Nxf6 $1 $15) 17. Qd4) 14... Qc5 {Guarding c5,
preparing ...b5, and eyeing the potentially weak e3 square.} 15. O-O-O b5 16.
Bh6 (16. Nxd5 Nxd5 {White cannot win a pawn without hanging the e2 knight:} 17.
Bxd5 exd5 18. Qxd5 Qxd5 19. Rxd5 Rxe2 (19... h6 {During the game I missed this
much simpler move after which black can safely take either e2 or g5}) 20. Rd8+
Bf8 21. Bh6 {It looks like I'm mated but I have} Bb7 22. Rhd1 Re8 $1 {and
black is a clean piece up.}) (16. h4 $1 $13 {with the idea of capturing on d5,
when ...Nxd5 will allow white to continue attacking with h5. The computer
gives 0.00.}) 16... Bh8 {Perhaps I was a bit lazy but I played this move
largely for psychological reasons. My opponent spent 20 minutes deciding on
Bh6, and I thought one of two things would happen. He'd either now enter the
equal-ish endgame resulting from a bunch of captures on d5, in which I thought
I can probably play forever with the bishop pair, or he really wasn't sure
what to do in which case he'd have to spend another 20 minutes!} (16... Nxc3 $5
{Stopping white from capturing on d5 once and for all}) 17. Rhe1 $6 {This move
sort of admits that white has nothing on the kingside and commits to passive
defense against black's incoming queenside pawnstorm.} (17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5
{Now this works out better for white as the inclusion of Bh6 and ...Bh8 means
I am unable to capture the hanging knight on e2:} exd5 19. Qxd5 Qxd5 20. Rxd5
Be6 $1 21. Rd2 Bxa2 {and here I saw white was unable to trap my bishop:} 22. b3
a5 {though I definitely should have spent more time considering} (22... Rac8 $1
$17 {This strong move would probably become more obvious if the position were
to actually arise on the board.}) 23. Nd4 $1 {which keeps white in the game
and may lead to the position fizzling out, for example with the computer line:}
a4 24. Kb2 axb3 25. cxb3 Red8 26. Be3 b4 27. Ra1 Bxb3 28. Rxa8 Rxa8 29. Kxb3
Ra3+ 30. Kxb4 Rxe3 $11) 17... Bb7 18. Qg5 $6 {I don't think this does much.}
Rac8 19. Rd2 ({Stockfish keeps white in the game with resources like} 19. Nf4
$1 Nxc3 20. Qxc5 Rxc5 21. bxc3 Rxc3 22. Nxe6 $1 $11) 19... a5 $19 {And
suddenly black has a crushing position.} 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Red1 b4 22. Nb1 (22.
Na4 Qb5 {Attacks both white knights.}) 22... a4 23. Nd4 a3 24. bxa3 bxa3 25.
Nb3 {Black is winning with any sort of slow move but I found an immediate way
to win material:} Ne4 {Threatening ...Bb2#} 26. c3 Bxc3 {Setting up a decisive
in-between move:} 27. Nxc5 Bxd2+ $1 {Without this move the entire sequence
starting with 25...Ne4 would not work} 28. Nxd2 Rxc5+ 29. Kb1 Nxg5 30. Bxg5 {
And black has won a clean exchange and pawn.} Kg7 31. Nb3 Rb5 32. Rd2 Re1+ 33.
Kc2 Rb4 34. Bh4 {Now in an amusing and absurd moment I overlooked the most
important feature of the position and reached for the b4 rook to play ...Rc4+,
planning Kd3 Re8 followed by ...Ba6! Before I could move my opponent resigned,
anticipating the obviously superior move ...Rxh4 capturing the free bishop. I
didn't realize the bishop was hanging until I checked this game with the
computer.} 0-1

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Zavortink, Matt"]
[Black "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2299"]
[BlackElo "1818"]
[Annotator "Matt Zavortink"]
[PlyCount "189"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{A long, epic game. Black played too routinely in the opening and quickly
found himself in a difficult position. I had an unusual amount of trouble
focusing and managing my own intrusive thoughts about winning the game, the
tournament, and the prize money, and after a few completely nonsensical moves
combined with poor time management black was back in the game. Thankfully my
opponent played very quickly in my time pressure and allowed me to create new
winning chances just when the position was starting to fizzle out.} 1. Nf3 d5
2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bf5 {In my opinion this move is very difficult to play as
black though it is probably objectively OK. If white plays unambitiously and
allows black to complete the full Reversed London setup (...e6, ...c6, ...h6, .
..Nbd7, and ...Be7 in some order) then the position will be equal, but
well-prepared white players can choose between a variety of quite critical
plans to disrupt black's setup and pose concrete problems.   Most strong
players who wish to develop their bishop in positions like this put it on g4
which theory suggests is a bit safer (but still not totally safe; see for
example the game Neponiatchi - Duda from the 2022 Candidates).} 4. c4 c6 5. Qb3
(5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 {For many years this was the way for white to play though
it has now been neutralized by the gambit:} Nc6 $1 7. Qxb7 Bd7 8. Qb3 e5 $44) (
5. O-O e6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. d3 Be7 8. Qb3 Qb6 9. Qc2 $1 {Another critical line;
white plans Nc3 and e4 followed by Be3, likely with a small edge.}) 5... Qb6 6.
d3 h6 $6 (6... e6 {Is more normal and common though it does allow white to win
the bishop pair, for example} 7. Be3 Qxb3 8. axb3 a6 9. Nh4 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11.
g4 $14) 7. Be3 dxc4 $6 8. Qxc4 {White has achieved a very pleasant position,
with two center pawns against black's one and the later possibility of a
minority attack on the queenside.} Qa6 9. Qxa6 (9. Nbd2 {May be stronger}) 9...
Nxa6 10. O-O {When I traded queens I felt that black's position was extremely
awkward here as ...e6 allows white to force further concessions. I expected a
move like ...Bh7 when white has a nice edge.} e6 $6 {Missing or perhaps
underestimating the idea.} 11. Nd4 {Threatening Nxc6 and to win the bishop
pair.} Nb4 12. a3 (12. Nxf5 exf5 13. Rc1 {followed by a quick minority attack
may be the simplest path for white.}) 12... Nbd5 13. Nxf5 exf5 14. Bd4 Be7 {
Here I felt like I had a crushing advantage but spent too long looking for
something immediately decisive. I was guessing that this position was close to
+2 but all of the variations I looked at left me with an edge I felt was too
small. So after wasting too much time I played the move I thought was the most
complicated but completely overlooked black's response.} 15. Bh3 $2 (15. e4 {
The obvious try, but black looks surprisingly OK after} fxe4 16. dxe4 Nc7 $1
$14 {Black plans ...Ne6 and ...Bc5 with a grip on the weakened d4 square.
Surely white still has some advantage with the bishop pair but this did not
feel like enough, and the computer agrees that white is only slightly better.})
(15. Bxd5 $1 cxd5 (15... Nxd5 16. Bxg7 $18) 16. Nc3 O-O 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nxd5
Bxb2 19. Ra2 Be5 20. Ne7+ Kh7 21. Nxf5 $18 {This is the +2 continuation I was
looking for. I actually saw this position during the game but didn't
comprehend how strong it is.}) 15... f4 $1 {Somehow I completely overlooked
this move and thought black had to go ...g6.} 16. Nc3 fxg3 17. hxg3 O-O 18. e4
Nc7 (18... Nxc3 {Seemed right to me, trading off the superfluous knight.} 19.
Bxc3 {Is what I was planning when I thought I must still have a small edge.} (
19. bxc3 {Looked wrong due to} c5 20. Be5 c4 {but Stockfish shows the
surprising} 21. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 22. d4 $18 {when the mass of central pawns
provide white with a decisive advantage.})) 19. Be3 c5 {Now I realized I
needed to be moving faster and tried to just get my pieces in the game while
being ready to liquidate my backwards d-pawn.} 20. Rfd1 Rfd8 21. Rac1 Ne6 22.
Ne2 ({I spent some time considering} 22. Bxe6 $5 fxe6 23. Nb5 {threatening Nc7
and Bxc5,} {but didn't go for this due to} Rdc8 {when black keeps everything
together.} ({The computer solves black's problems more effeciently with} 23...
Rd7 $1 24. Bxc5 Bxc5 25. Rxc5 Nxe4 $11)) 22... b6 23. f4 Bf8 {A complex
position. White still has some advantage due to the bishop pair and potential
pawn breaks. Black is routing his bishop to g7 to eye the d4 outpost, but this
increases the strength of white's e5 idea as the bishop will be staring at a
wall of pawns.} 24. Kf2 g6 25. Rd2 (25. f5 $5 gxf5 26. Bxf5) 25... Bg7 26. Kf3
Ne8 {Now black is finally threatening to occupy the d4 outpost.} (26... Rac8 $2
27. d4 cxd4 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Nxd4 Nxd4+ 30. Rxd4 Rc2 31. e5 {White's pieces
are extremely active and black must be careful, for example:} Nh7 32. Rd7 Rxb2
33. e6 $1 $18) 27. Bxe6 (27. e5 $1 {Was a bit stronger, maintaining the bishop
pair for the time being.}) 27... fxe6 28. e5 (28. b4 $5) 28... Rd7 {We were
basically playing blitz at this point though my opponent had a lot of time. I
panicked a bit and just tried to trade off my backwards pawn.} 29. d4 Rad8 30.
Rcd1 Bf8 (30... cxd4 {I was planning} 31. Nxd4 {when black's position is a bit
awkward; if he ever goes Kf7 then he will lose to the tactic Nc6 Rxd2 Nxd8+!})
31. dxc5 Rxd2 32. Rxd2 Rxd2 33. Bxd2 Bxc5 34. b4 {I really didn't have time to
assess this with any precision but I thought I might still be able to press
for a while. It turns out, somewhat luckily, that my pieces are extremely
well-placed to create immediate problems on the queenside and black is simply
lost.} Be7 $6 (34... Bf8 {Stays out of the way of a future Nc6.}) 35. Nd4 {
A great example of the well-known "weak c6 square" motif common in openings
like the Catalan, Hedgehog, and Reti.} Kf7 36. Nc6 a6 37. Be3 b5 38. Bb6 $1 {
Black is completely paralyzed and this position should be an easy win for
white. With my low time I still managed to make it unnecessarily interesting
though!} g5 39. Nb8 (39. Nxe7 Kxe7 40. fxg5 hxg5 41. Kg4 $18 {Is another way
though I'm scared to enter these positions where I have a potentially useless
bishop.}) 39... h5 40. Nxa6 Kg6 41. Nb8 h4 42. Nc6 Bf8 43. gxh4 gxh4 44. Kg4 $4
{Still winning but it deserves the double question marks for practicality.} (
44. Nd4 {Obviously better, keeping the black king from invading through f5.})
44... h3 $1 45. Kxh3 Kf5 46. Nd4+ Kxf4 47. Nxe6+ Kxe5 48. Nxf8 Kd5 {An
interesting position. Black has clear hopes of drawing based on capturing both
of white's pawns while retaining his knight. Unfortunately white's knight and
bishop are well-placed to create threats of their own.} 49. Kg3 Kc4 50. Ne6 Kb3
51. Nc7 Nd6 (51... Kxa3 52. Nxe8 Kxb4 53. Nd6 Ka4 54. Kf3 b4 55. Ke3 b3 56. Kd3
Ka3 57. Nc4+ $18 {and the pawn is stopped}) 52. Bc5 Nb7 53. Nxb5 Ka4 54. Nd6
Nd8 55. Kf3 {This move allows black to reach his desired K vs KBN endgame so
you may consider giving it a "!" for forcing a known winning ending, or a "?"
for the difficultly of executing said ending, depending on your perspective.
The point is that if black doesn't take on a3, white will walk the king over
to the queenside and win easily. If black does take, the b-pawn runs until
black's knight must sacrifice itself.} (55. b5 {Might be easier. I thought the
game continuation led by force to KNB vs K so I didn't consider anything else.}
) 55... Kxa3 56. b5+ Ka4 57. b6 Ka5 58. b7 Nxb7 (58... Nc6 59. Ba7 $1) 59.
Nxb7+ {Admittedly it was a bit stressful to do this on the 30 second increment.
} Kb5 60. Be3 Kc6 61. Nc5 Kd5 62. Kf4 Kc4 63. Ke4 Kb5 64. Kd5 Kb6 65. Ne6+ Kb5
66. Bc5 Ka5 {I felt good that I had quickly gotten black's king to the edge.
But it took me a couple moves to realize my knight is on the wrong circuit.}
67. Nd4 Ka6 68. Kc6 Ka5 69. Ne2 Ka6 70. Nc1 Ka5 71. Nd3 Ka6 (71... Ka4 72. Bb4
Kb3 73. Kb5 Kc2 74. Nf2 {and the knight and bishop are coordinating correctly
to restrict the king.}) 72. Bb4 Ka7 73. Bd6 Ka6 74. Nb4+ Ka7 75. Nd5 Ka6 76.
Nb6 Ka5 77. Be7 Ka6 78. Bb4 Ka7 79. Bd6 Ka6 {Finally reaching the standard
position. The tablebase says mate in 18 so despite my sloppy technique I'm
going to mate with 12 moves to spare before the 50 move rule kicks in.} 80. Bb8
Ka5 81. Nd5 Ka4 82. Kc5 Kb3 83. Nb4 Ka4 (83... Kc3 {This is the key position
to commit to memory as it looks like the black king is escaping, but white has}
84. Bf4 $1) 84. Kc4 Ka5 85. Bc7+ Ka4 86. Nd3 Ka3 87. Bb6 Ka4 88. Nb2+ Ka3 89.
Kc3 Ka2 90. Kc2 Ka1 91. Bc5 Ka2 92. Nd3 Ka1 93. Bb4 Ka2 94. Nc1+ Ka1 95. Bc3#
1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Zavortink, Matt"]
[Black "Readey, John"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2299"]
[BlackElo "2278"]
[Annotator "Matt Zavortink"]
[PlyCount "26"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{My 4th white game of the tournament!? Readey had a half point less than me so
I only needed a draw to win the tournament. He was in clear 2nd so perhaps he
is also happy to draw and guarantee 2nd place, rather than risk losing.} 1. d4
d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 {I had prepared a bit and was expecting a
system with an early ...Qb6. This move told me he had probably prepared
something unusual as well so I played an early deviation:} 5. Ne5 $5 {I'm
still not sure if this move is under-rated or just not that good. At least it
introduces a number of subtle nuances into the typical London plans for both
sides. Sometimes white may be able to benefit from not having 'wasted' a tempo
on Bg3, though there are downsides as well.} O-O 6. Nd2 b6 7. c3 c5 8. Bd3 $6 (
8. h4 $1 {Stockfish insists white is better after this crude move. I forgot
what was in my files and for some reason thought I was supposed to go Bd3
first and only then h4 depending on black's response.}) 8... Qc7 $1 {A good,
generally useful waiting move.} 9. O-O ({I could transpose to one of the
mainlines with} 9. Bg3 Nc6 (9... Ba6 $5 {is likely stronger now that white has
'wasted' a tempo on Bg3}) 10. f4 Bb7 11. O-O {when black will begin the
standard maneuver in such positions with} Ne7 $1 {planning ...Nf5, ...Be7, and
...Nd6 to lockdown the e4 square.}) 9... Bb7 10. Rc1 {Possibly suggesting c4
next depending on what black does. A complex position. The computer suggests
both sides make waiting moves like ...a5!} Nc6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 {Now I don't want
to let black break with ...e5, so the only option is:} (11... Bxf4 {seemed
less good than the immediate capture on c6 as after} 12. exf4 Bxc6 13. Qf3 {
I get at least a couple further obvious moves to improve my position, like Re1.
}) 12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. f4 {Superficially it looks like white may be better due
to the superior bishop, but how good can a "good" version of the Stonewall
really be? If Stockfish is to be believed, the answer is "not very good." From
a practical point of view I wasn't that excited to play this position, as
black has a number of easy, low-committment "creeping" moves to progress on
the queenside, like ...b5 and ...a5 and ...b4, possibly with the inclusion of .
..c4. Of course white has the potential to create a strong attack against
black's king, but white's ideas like Rf3-h3 and g4-g5 are all extremely
weakening and liable to backfire if the position somehow opens up.} (13. Nf3 $6
Nd7 {and I can't stop ...e5 though the computer still says it's equal after
something like} 14. Re1 e5 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. Qc2) 13... Ne4 $6 {
Black offered a draw and I accepted to secure clear first in the tournament.} (
13... b5 $13) 1/2-1/2

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Baxter, Brent"]
[Black "Nicoski, Aaron"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1794"]
[Annotator "Aaron Nicoski"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{In round 4, I drew the toughest opponent in my section (in my opinion) but I
knew I had the upper hand in that he played 1.b3 openings. I even was talked
to James Nelson before the game who was sitting on the board right next to me.
I said before Brent came in the room, "I bet you he will play b3 on the first
move!" James chuckled because he knows the wild openings Brent plays.....and I
was well....half right! Lol} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Bf5 {This is what I had prepared
in the few minutes I had after pairings were finalized. I was going to go with
what I know best so I played the Reverse London again just like in my game
that ended favorably just a few hours prior.} 3. Bb2 e6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 Be7 6.
d3 h6 {keeping the all important "London Bishop" alive which will prove vital
to the upcoming combinational sequence later on in the game...} 7. Nbd2 O-O 8.
O-O Nbd7 9. Re1 Bh7 {An anticipatory move because I know I will not be able to
prevent an easy e4 pawn break by White so I am buying a little time to figure
out my overall middle game plan. Plus, this threw Brent for a loop. He already
started thinking for quite a while before continuing with his plan of e4} 10.
e4 c6 11. e5 Ne8 12. Qe2 a5 {Without a White Knight on c3 it makes it easier
to play a5-a4 so it almost forces White's next move} 13. a4 b5 {I spent a good
amount of clock here debating on whether to delay b5 or not It was a long term
risk because I was removing the anchor of my pawn wedge against his light
squared Bishop especially when I knew Nd4 could be a possible move he could
play putting pressure on newly weakened c pawn} 14. Nd4 {[%cal Gd4c6,Gd4b5]
The exact move I predicted he would play} Qb6 $7 15. Qg4 {setting up a cheap
tactic if I play a normal looking move like pawn to b4} Nc7 {[%cal Gc7e6,Gc7b5]
defending both of my potential weak points and reconnecting my Rooks} (15... b4
$6 16. Nxe6 $5 {[%cal Ge6f8]} fxe6 17. Qxe6+ Rf7 18. Qxd7 Qxf2+ 19. Kh1 Qxd2
20. Qxc6 {[%cal Gc6d5,Gc6c2,Gc6a8]} Rf2 $2 21. Bxd5+ Kh8 22. Bg2 $16) 16. Kh1
$6 {[%csl Gf2,Gg4,Gd2,Gb2] A little hard to see why this is such a mistake
until you see my follow up combination so I will let the chess moves do some
of the talking but just look at all of his hanging pieces and weak squares! If
I could only get a Knight safely to the d3 square...hmmmm} bxa4 $3 17. Rxa4 (
17. bxa4 $4 Qxb2 $19) 17... Nc5 {The vital tempo I needed to get my Knight to
the beautiful d3 square!} 18. Raa1 $2 (18. Ra2 $7 a4 19. Rea1 axb3 20. N2xb3
Nxb3 21. Nxb3 Bxd3 $17) 18... Bxd3 $1 19. f4 (19. cxd3 Nxd3 20. Re2 Nxb2 $17)
19... Bxc2 $3 {Saying "Take my Bishop I dare you!" No actually I was removing
the final defender of the d3 square so my Knight can gallop right on in} 20.
Nxc2 Nd3 21. Bd4 c5 (21... Qxd4 22. Nxd4 Nf2+ 23. Kg1 Nxg4 24. h3 (24. Nxc6 $2
Bc5+ 25. Kf1 Ne3+ $17) 24... Bc5 25. N2f3 $13) 22. Bg1 Nxe1 {This is as far as
I could originally see but obviously great for Black so didn't hesitate on ...
16.bxa4!} 23. Rxe1 a4 $1 {Final uppercut...getting my Queen or Rook to the 7th
rank where his hanging pieces lie in wait to die} 24. bxa4 Qb2 25. Qd1 $7 Rxa4
26. Ne3 Ra2 {White resigns 0-1 Brent actually smiled as he resigned which I
never thought I would see in my life. He said "I completely missed Bxd3....had
your Bishop been on a6 or something, I probably would have seen the tactic but
your Bishop was hiding!" One of my personal all-time favorite games up until
now.} 0-1

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Nicoski, Aaron"]
[Black "Northrup, Sean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1794"]
[BlackElo "1864"]
[Annotator "Aaron Nicoski"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{Final Round of the OR Open and my dream has come true! I am getting a chance
to play for 1st place. If I lose, I might be out of the running, the
tournament that has been my nemasis for over a decade. Let's see how the game
goes!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Nd2 b6 5. Ngf3 {Delaying the
development of my light squared Bishop in case he plays Ba6 next move} Bb7 6.
Bd3 Nbd7 7. O-O Be7 8. Ne5 Nxe5 9. Bxe5 (9. dxe5 $6 Nd7 {now that I am castled
my attack is slowed down quite a bit}) 9... O-O 10. Qf3 {Preventing Ne4 and
getting my Queen prepared to go to the h3 square} Nd7 11. Bf4 c5 12. c3 Re8 13.
Qh3 g6 (13... Nf8 {I always like the Nf8 no mate theme personally}) 14. Nf3 Bf6
{Good move coming back to the f8-h6 diagonal and at the same time stopping Ne5
without me doubling my pawns and opening up his light squared Bishop down the
long diagonal} 15. Qg3 {I probably spent the most time surprisingly on this
move deciding how to play the middlegame. I decided to move my Queen off the
h-file, push my h-pawn, and play Ng5, f3, Kf2, and Rh1 when allowed.} Bg7 16.
h4 f6 {My opponent spent over 20 minutes on this move} (16... h5 17. Bxg6 fxg6
18. Qxg6 $16) 17. h5 gxh5 (17... g5 18. Nxg5 fxg5 19. Bxg5 Qb8 20. Bf4 $18 {
[%csl Gg7][%cal Gh5h6,Gf4b8]}) 18. Nh4 Qe7 19. f3 {just continuing with my
plan to bring my Rooks to the h-file} Kh8 $2 {Obviously my opponent did not
anticipate my next series of moves which gave me a HUGE piece superiority on
the Kingside where he was basically left with only 1 defender.} 20. Bg6 $3 Rec8
$7 (20... hxg6 $4 21. Nxg6+) (20... Red8 $4 21. Bd6) (20... Rf8 $2 21. Bd6) 21.
Bd6 Qd8 $7 22. Bxh5 f5 {[%cal Gd7f6] giving the f6 square for his pieces to
come back to the defense of the Kingside} 23. Kf2 Qf6 (23... Bf6 24. Rh1 Bxh4
25. Rxh4 $18) 24. Rh1 h6 25. Ng6+ Kh7 26. Be7 $1 Qf7 27. Nf8+ Rxf8 28. Bxf7
Rxf7 29. Bg5 Kg8 30. Rxh6 $1 (30. Bxh6 Kf8 31. Bxg7+ Rxg7 32. Rh8+ $2 Kf7)
30... cxd4 31. Rah1 dxc3 32. bxc3 Rc8 33. Rxe6 Rxc3 34. Re8+ Nf8 35. Qb8 $6 {
I was beginning to get into time trouble and made a good visually looking move
(for all that's worth) but brought my Queen away from the g-file and attack
the well defended Knight on f8} (35. Qh4 Rc2+ 36. Kg3 Be5+ 37. f4 $18) 35... d4
36. exd4 Bxd4+ 37. Kg3 Bc5 $4 38. Qe5 {[%csl Gh8,Gc3][%cal Ge5c3,Ge5h8]} f4+
39. Kg4 {Black Resigns 1-0} 1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Murray, Dave"]
[Black "Raptis, Nick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "1867"]
[BlackElo "2376"]
[Annotator "David Murray"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{Before this round 1, I couldn't get through the crowd of players to look at
the pairing so I ducked into the playing room to set my bag down and wait. I
ended up near board one where "the Raptor" was sitting. "It's you and me,
huh?". *blink*. Later, a couple of players asked me how to achieve the result
I did, and I told them to play your best and try to make it a good game to
learn from afterward. They acted like that was obvious advice, but it wasn't
to me until recently. If you consider pairings like this to be the best
possible pairing because of the opportunity to learn, you will eventually
surprise yourself.} 1. d4 c5 2. d5 {I wasn't sure what "my stuff" was after 1.
... c5. There are lines where I play d4-d5 and others where I capture and hold
on to the pawn in sharp positions. I hoped to steer the game toward a familar
version of the former, and that is what happened.} Nf6 3. Nc3 {What follows is
memorized theory through 12. Be2. All hail spaced repeition!} g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5.
e4 d6 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. a4 O-O 8. Be2 {Weird move that says, "I have been
practicing GM repertoire lines". The idea is to make ... b7-b5 difficult, and
Black will have to move their piece on d7 soon so no time has been lost.} Bg4
9. O-O Nbd7 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 a6 12. Be2 {Again, and with the same idea of
fighting against ... b5.} Ne8 {This is the end of the repertoire line. White
has a comfortable amount of space in the center and kingside, and Black is
going to continue to try for ... b5.} 13. Bf4 Rb8 14. Qd2 Nc7 15. Bh6 {I'm
never sure about this stock manuever since it doesn't show up much in the
repertoire lines. But if Black breaks through on the queenside, I don't want
their bishop on the long diagonal to contribute.} b5 16. axb5 {16. Bxg7 would
have been more accurate. In the game, Black had the option to play 16. ...
Bxh6.} axb5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. f4 b4 19. Nd1 Nf6 20. Nf2 e6 {White's reply
seems forced, but I spotted a good follow-up.} 21. dxe6 Nxe6 22. Bc4 $1 {
When I ask people how this bishop contributes to the game, they usually point
to the potential attack on the f7 square. Actually, its main funtion is to
occupy the c4 square forever, freezing Black's pawn expansion.} Re8 {My first
instinct was to defend the twice-attacked e4 pawn with 23. Rfe1 or the
stranger-looking 23. Rae1. Since 23. Rae1 looked weird, I tried to talk myself
into playing it with, "If I play Rae1, I am saying that I will never play
Ra1-a6, and that's okay because..." and I couldn't finish the thought. Not
only do I not want to rule out Ra6, but Ra6 *right now* looks spicy.} 23. Ra6
d5 $1 {How many players in the Open section would play this move? It's the top
engine choice.} (23... Rb6 24. Rxb6 Qxb6 25. e5 dxe5 26. fxe5 Ng8 27. Ne4 $18 {
White is winning}) 24. exd5 Nd4 {I thought that 24. ... Nc7 was Black's idea,
but 24. ... Nd4 is again the best move. This is the critical moment of the
game.} 25. Re1 $1 {Black was about to play ... Ne4, and the rook on f1 was the
only piece not contributing. But can't Black win a pawn with ... Rxe1 and ...
Nxc2?} Rxe1+ $2 {25. ... Ra8 or 25. ... Nf5 were best, maintaining the tension.
} 26. Qxe1 Nxc2 $2 27. Qe5 $1 {The point of 25. Re1. I didn't see a definitive
knockout, but did see that this position would be awkward to defend for Black
and easy to play for White. Black's king can't move, and the queen can only
move to squares that defend f6. Ne4 is coming.} Rb6 28. Rxb6 Qxb6 29. Ne4 Nd4
30. Kf2 $3 {Many other moves were winning, but this was the best and the
flashiest. Black can do nothing to stop g2-g4 and g4-g5. I had originally
intended 30. d6, with ideas of pushing the d-pawn or playing Qe7 in some lines.
But ... Nc6 would be played, breaking the pin on f6 and covering the promotion
square. Looking for a better move, I saw the idea of g2-g4-g5 and almost
played 30. g4?? which would have allowed the game-ending 30. ... Nf3+. So 30.
Kf2 h5 and... (several thinking minutes later)... 31. g4 still wins!} Nb3 (
30... h5 31. g4 hxg4 32. hxg4 g5 33. Qxg5+ $18) 31. Nxf6 Nd2 32. Nd7+ f6 33.
Qe7+ 1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Murray, Dave"]
[Black "Haessler, Carl"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "1867"]
[BlackElo "2200"]
[Annotator "David Murray"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bf5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Qb3 Qb6 {Another line that I was
ready for from studying a course. We will play 6. c5, Black will capture on b3,
after axb3, b3-b4 will be our next move.} 6. c5 Qxb3 7. axb3 Na6 {... and cue
the 10-15 minute think. This wasn't in the course. (It actually wasn't when I
checked later).} 8. Bf4 {This was the best and most played move.} Nf6 {And
here White has an interesting and quite strong sacrificial idea. One of my
study partners suggested it as well.} 9. Kd2 {I was solely focused on
preventing ... Bc2 and/or ... Nb4.} (9. Rxa6 $1 bxa6 10. e3 g5 11. Be5 Bg7 12.
Bxa6 O-O 13. b4 $18 {White is clearly better}) 9... Ne4+ 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Nh4
{As is typical, when one side plays this thinking that they will pick up the
bishop pair without drama, they often find out otherwise.} Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13.
g4 Be7 $1 14. Ng2 Bg6 15. Kc3 O-O 16. e3 Nb8 17. Bxb8 $6 {The ability to fight
for dark squares will be missed before long.} Rfxb8 18. Nf4 e5 19. dxe5 Bxc5
20. Nxg6 $6 {What were we saying about pieces that can fight for dark squares?}
hxg6 21. Bg2 Re8 22. Bxe4 Rxe5 23. Bg2 Be7 $1 24. Ra4 {Desperation.} b5 25. Re4
Rc5+ 26. Kd3 Bf6 27. Rd4 $5 {This is a ? move, but the idea is good in the 27.
b4 Rd8+ 28. Rd4 line below. I submit that White's chances to survive after ...
Rd8+ or ... Bxb2 would be minimal, so it's time for a "change the nature of
the position" type of move.} (27. b4 Rd8+ 28. Rd4 Bxd4 29. bxc5 Bxb2+ 30. Kc2
Ba3 31. Rd1 Rxd1 32. Kxd1 Bxc5 {and we would have had to forsee that this
ending is equal. I could imagine Carl withdrawing from the tournament with a
cryptic tweet if this had happened.}) 27... Bxd4 28. exd4 Rd8 29. Ra1 Rd6 30.
Be4 $1 {To cover c2 so that Ke3 is a threat to win the rook!} b4 31. Ke3 Rb5 {
Black might still be better, but it felt good to be forcing them to make only
moves and have to regroup slowly.} 32. Rxa7 {GM Yaroslav Zheurbukh calls a
pawn plus a bishop for a rook "a trade" and not the loss of an exchange (a
concept he will tell you is imaginary).} f5 33. Bg2 Rb8 34. Ra4 fxg4 $2 $11 {
The decisive mistake. Once White is allowed to play Be4 and f3, Black should
not be able to make progress.} 35. hxg4 Re8+ 36. Be4 $1 Rb8 37. Kd3 Kf7 38.
Ra7+ Kf8 39. Ra4 Rb7 40. f3 {An important move for the sequence to come.} Ke7
41. Kc4 Rbd7 42. Rxb4 Rxd4+ 43. Kc5 Rxb4 44. Kxb4 {If f3 were not played, 44. .
.. Rd4+ would end the game.} Rd6 45. Kc5 Kd7 46. b4 Kc7 47. b3 $1 {Before we
play b4-b5, we need to play this to keep one b-pawn. Otherwise, Black will
have the typical idea of sacrificing the exchange into a winning king and pawn
ending.} g5 48. b5 cxb5 49. Kxb5 Rb6+ 50. Kc4 Kd6 51. b4 Rb8 52. b5 Rb6 53. Kb4
Rb8 54. Kc4 Rb6 55. Kb4 $11 1/2-1/2

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Pupols, Viktors"]
[Black "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2200"]
[BlackElo "1818"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 {A rare and a bit of a passive move. Not
the most ambitious try for white in the Nimzo.} Nc6 $6 {Inaccuracy. c5 was
best. The idea of this move is that black will block their c-pawn and play on
the dark squares with d6 and e5. This idea can also be used agisnt the
classical 4.Qc2 variation as well for black, called the Zurich variation of
the Nimzo.} (4... c5 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. e3 Nc6 8. Be2 d5 9. cxd5) 5.
Nf3 d6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 e5 {Fighting for the dark sqaures.} 8. d5 Ne7 9. Qc2 c6
10. dxc6 bxc6 11. O-O Ng6 12. Ne4 $6 {A natural move, however, this allows
black to trade off the dark square bishops which is better than the usual
trading for the Knight of c3.} (12. Rfd1 {is the better option, developing the
rook and keeping some tention.}) 12... Bxd2 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. Qxd2 Bg4 15. Ne1
Rfd8 16. f3 Bf5 17. Qc2 Bxd3 18. Nxd3 d5 19. c5 $6 $15 {I'm not too sure about
closing up the center for white, as now black can have good play in the center
after black expands on the queenside with:} a5 20. b3 Ne7 $6 {Inaccuracy. h5
was best. A fluke, and once again a bit too passive here. It was better to
just start an attack and go all out belligerent with:} (20... h5 21. Rae1 Ra7
22. Kh1 Rad7 23. Qd2 d4 24. e4 Nf4 25. Nxf4 Qxf4 26. Qxf4 exf4 27. Rd1) 21. Qb2
d4 22. e4 $13 {Still fairly equal. Both sides are just shuffling their pieces
and pawns at the moment.} Ng6 23. g3 Qg5 24. Rad1 h5 $5 {I felt a storm
brewing at this point. Not as strong as before, but still looking just as
scary for white.} 25. Qd2 Qe7 {When going for the attack, DO NOT TRADE unless
if you have a direct win afterward. Keeping the queens on black still has
better chances for something in the future despite the fish saying that this
position is equal.} (25... Qxd2 $6 26. Rxd2 f6 27. Rc2 Rab8 28. h4 $10) 26. Rc1
Qe6 27. Rc4 f5 $2 {Mistake. a4 was best. Regretfully, I underestimated Qg5!
for white, after which not only has white defended well but is also better
which play on the kingside.} (27... a4 28. Rxa4) 28. Ra4 $4 $138 {Blunder. Qg5
was best. Too slow! Black now has the counterplay he needs in order to keep
white in his feet. My opponent also has less than 5 minutes now on the clock.
That, plus facing a attack will not be fun for him soon.} (28. Qg5) 28... fxe4
$1 29. fxe4 Rf8 $1 $132 {Here it comes. White needs to play VERY accurately
with less than 5 min on the clock to survive this.} 30. Rxf8+ $6 {Inaccuracy.
Rf2 was best. Aaaaand this move just helps black. As I wanted to give up the
a5 pawn and control the f-file anyways. White's extra pawns on the queenside
won't help him here.} (30. Rf2 Rxf2 31. Nxf2 Rf8 32. b4 axb4 $15) 30... Rxf8
$40 31. Qe2 {White tries to defend but his passive Rook on a4 won't be helping
out anytime soon.} (31. Nf2 $17) 31... h4 32. Nf2 Qe7 33. Rxa5 $4 $19 {Blunder.
Nh3 was best. Oh no my a5 pawn!} (33. Nh3 Qd8) 33... Qg5 {It's VERY important
here to play Qg5 right away because if:} (33... hxg3 $2 34. hxg3 Qg5 35. Kh2 $1
Qe3 36. Qxe3 dxe3 37. Nd3 Rd8 $17 {Black is still better here but this isn't
as strong as what happened in the game.}) 34. Qc4+ {My opponent played these
next two moves instantly despite still having around 4 minutes on the clock.
Yet these just allow black to win immediately.} Kh7 35. Qe6 $2 Qe3 {0-1 Black
wins. Lights out Uncle Vik.} 0-1

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Black "Paez, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "1818"]
[BlackElo "1978"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bg5 $5 {What in tarnation is this!? Did
white just forget to play Nc3 first? Nope! This line with an early Bg5 is very
rare and throws a lot of Slav players off guard.} Nf6 {The most natural,
common, and probably correct move here. Now white will trade and willingly
give up the bishop pair. In return, black has a ruined pawn structure with
whichever pawn they may choose to recapture on f6.} 5. Bxf6 gxf6 {I prefer
this way for black, not allowing the d5 pawn to be an isolated target.} 6. Nc3
Bg7 $6 {Inaccuracy. Bf5 was best. I had a good game against NM/WFM Zoey Tang
back at the Vancouver open this year where black instead tried:} (6... Nc6 7.
e3 e6 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. g3 a6 10. a3 b6 11. Nf3 Bb7 12. O-O Ne7 13. Qd2 e5 $4 14.
e4 $1 exd4 15. Nxd5 $36 {and white had all of the fun here.}) (6... Bf5 7. e3
e6 8. Rc1 Nd7 9. g3 Rc8 10. Bg2 Qb6 11. Qd2) 7. e3 O-O $6 {Inaccuracy. Nc6 was
best.} (7... Nc6 8. Bb5) 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. Nge2 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qh5 was best. This
move isn't the worst but I could've just gone for the attack with Qh5! here
first and white is better.} (9. Qh5 h6 10. Nge2 e5 11. Rd1 exd4 12. exd4 f5 13.
Bxf5 Be6 14. g4 b5 15. Kf1 b4) 9... Kh8 {My opponent spent nearly 40 minutes
on this move. The idea is to avoid:} (9... e5 10. dxe5 fxe5 11. Nxd5) 10. Nf4
e6 $6 {Inaccuracy. e5 was best.} (10... e5 11. Qh5) 11. Qh5 $36 {Now white has
the initiative and hopefully an attack soon.} f5 $4 {Blunder. h6 was best. A
natural move, and one I would play as black myself, but insetad the fish gives:
} (11... h6 12. g4 (12. Rd1 f5 13. Bb1 Bd7 14. h3 Qb6 15. Nce2 Ne7 16. g4 Qxb2
17. gxf5 Nxf5 18. Bxf5) 12... e5 13. Nfxd5 exd4 14. exd4 Re8+ $14 {And black
is holding on.}) 12. g4 $1 $40 {Forgot castling was a rule here and decided to
try and checkmate my opponent's king istead.} Nb4 $6 13. Bb1 Qc7 $2 {Mistake.
a5 was best. This way of defending was not one that I had looked at as black
HAD to go for 12.Ne7 Ng6 instead, but here white will parry black's attempt at
counterplay while still having pressure on the kingside.} (13... a5 14. a3) 14.
Nd3 $4 {Blunder. a3 was best. Regretted this move the moment I played it. You
should never go take steps backward in an attack and instead look for ways to
go forward.} (14. a3 Nc6 15. gxf5 exf5 16. Ncxd5 Qa5+ 17. b4 Qd8 18. Bxf5 Bxf5
19. Qxf5 Ne7 20. Nxe7 Qxe7) 14... Qc4 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qb6 was best.} (14... Qb6
15. Nf4 Rg8 16. gxf5 exf5 17. Nfe2 Bf8 18. Qxf7 Bh6 19. a3 Nc6 20. b4 Rf8 21.
Qxd5) 15. Kd2 $6 {Inaccuracy. Nf4 was best. Nice resource by white. The king
ain't afraid of no ghosts.} (15. Nf4 Bd7 16. gxf5 exf5 17. Bxf5 Bxf5 18. Qxf5
Rac8 19. a3 Qb3 20. O-O Qxb2 21. axb4 Rxc3) 15... Nxd3 $6 {Inaccuracy. e5 was
best.} (15... e5) 16. Bxd3 Qb4 17. Rab1 a5 18. Rhg1 Ra6 $2 $138 {Mistake. h6
was best. Played with less than 2 minutes on the clock.} (18... Rg8 19. gxf5
exf5 20. a3 {Was better for black}) (18... h6 19. gxf5 exf5 20. Rg3 a4 21. Bxf5
Bxf5 22. Qxf5 Ra6 23. a3 Rf6 24. axb4 Rxf5 25. Ke2) 19. gxf5 exf5 20. Rxg7 $3 {
White now crashes though. I could've taken the rook on a6 right away but this
way is prettier and still gets the job done.} Kxg7 21. Bxa6 Kf6 22. Kc2 {
Now threatening Nxd5+. Black tried to play 22.Rd8 here but flagged just before
hitting the clock. It wouldn't have mattered anyways because Rd8 Qh4+ wins the
rook and the game for white.} 1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Black "Arganian, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E76"]
[WhiteElo "1818"]
[BlackElo "2013"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 $6 {Inaccuracy. Be2 was best. One
of my favorite and most underrated ways to tackle the KID. Black can get into
huge trouble here if they don't know or understand the theory. Which, in most
cases, they do not as this opening and line on move 8, is fairly uncommon.} (5.
Be2 O-O 6. Be3 Na6 7. h3 e5 8. d5 Nc5 9. Qc2 Ne8) 5... O-O 6. Nf3 c5 (6... Na6
$5) 7. d5 e6 (7... b5 $5) 8. dxe6 {A young Boris Spassky loved this variation
and had several good games here as white. This moves also takes a lot of KID
players by surprise as:} (8. Be2 exd5 9. cxd5 Re8 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Ng4 {
is the mainline and therefore, what most black players are probably most
prepped for.}) 8... Bxe6 $6 {Inaccuracy. fxe6 was best. This is one way to
recapture, but 8.fxe6 would have been more solid and is better for black.} (
8... fxe6 9. Bd3) 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. f5 $5 {The dynamic play begins now...} gxf5
11. exf5 Bd7 12. O-O Ne5 13. Bg5 $6 {It wasn't best to allow Nxd3 here.
Inestead:} (13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Bg5 Bc6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Be4 Qd4+ 17. Kh1 $14)
13... Bc6 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Qe2 e4 16. Bc2 Qd4+ 17. Be3 Qe5 18. Bf4 $2 {
Mistake. g4 was best.} (18. g4 h6) 18... Qe7 $2 {Mistake. Qxf5 was best. Here
I thought that 18.Qxf4 was refuted by Bd6. However, the fish thinks the black
is fine afterward and has activity for the lost exchange.} (18... Qxf5) 19.
Rae1 Rfe8 20. g4 $5 {Attacking on the same side of the board!? Very barbaric
and creates an exciting, and vivifying game nonetheless.} Nd7 21. Nd5 Bxd5 $2 {
Mistake. Qh4 was best. Apparently black needs to find the computer defense:} (
21... Qh4 22. Bg3 Qh6 {which isn't easy to commit to.} (22... Bd4+ 23. Kg2 Qd8
24. Nc7 Re7 25. Kh3 Rc8 26. Nd5 Re8 27. Bh4 Nf6 28. Nxf6+)) 22. cxd5 Bxb2 $6 {
Inaccuracy. Qh4 was best. Way too greedy, now white has the initiative and
attack.} (22... Qh4 23. Bg3) 23. g5 $1 $40 Be5 $2 {Mistake. Nb6 was best.} (
23... Nb6 24. Kh1) 24. f6 $1 Qd6 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qf8 was best.} (24... Qf8 25.
Qh5 Kh8 26. Qh3 Rad8 27. Rxe4 Qg8 28. Rfe1 Bd4+ 29. Kf1 Rxe4 30. Rxe4 Nf8 31.
Qf3) 25. Qxe4 $18 {1-0 White wins. If Bd4+ Qxd4!! cxd4 Bxd6 and white is up a
whole Bishop.} 1-0

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Omori, Michael"]
[Black "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2163"]
[BlackElo "1818"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Bd3 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc3+ $6 {Inaccuracy.
O-O was best. Here black should instead play:} (6... Nbd7 7. Nge2 a6 8. a3 Bxc5
$15) (6... O-O 7. Nge2 Bxc5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nd4 Bd7 10. Nb3 Bb6 11. Rc1) 7. bxc3
Qa5 8. Bd6 $1 {After the game, my opponent told me this was the opening trap
they had studied on Chessable. It's a rare trap, but it stops black from
castling while accepting the triple pawns and a King on f1.} Qxc3+ 9. Kf1 $1
Nbd7 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qa5 was best.} (9... Qa5 10. Ne2 b6 11. Rb1 Ba6 12. cxb6
axb6 13. Rb3 Bxd3 14. cxd3 Na6 15. Ra3 Qb5 16. h4) 10. Ne2 Qa5 11. Nd4 $6 {
Inaccuracy. Rb1 was best.} (11. Rb1) 11... a6 $4 {Blunder. Nxc5 was best. Here
I got scarred because if Nxc5 then Nb5. But the fish likes to yell at me and
instead says:} (11... Nxc5 12. Nb5 $4 (12. Nb3) 12... Nxd3 13. Nc7+ (13. Qxd3
Ne4 14. Nc7+ Kd8) 13... Kd7 $1 14. cxd3 Kxd6 15. Nxa8 Bd7) 12. Nb3 $6 {White
is now better here and it's up to black to try and wiggle out of this mess.}
Qd8 13. Qf3 b6 14. cxb6 Qxb6 15. Ba3 Bb7 16. Qg3 Rg8 $6 {Inaccuracy. h5 was
best.} (16... h5) 17. Rc1 $6 {Inaccuracy. Rb1 was best.} (17. Ke2 $1 {
Connecting the rook and keeping them more flexable.}) (17. Rb1 e5 18. f3 Bc6
19. Kf2 Bb5 20. Rhe1 g5 21. Kg1 h5 22. Bf5 Rc8 23. Qf2 Rc6) 17... Rc8 18. Qd6
$6 {Now I was happy that I can at least get the queens off. The bishop on d6
still causes my problems however.} Qxd6 19. Bxd6 Ne4 20. Bb4 f5 21. Na5 Nec5
22. Nxb7 $6 Nxb7 $6 (22... Nxd3 23. Nd6+ Kd8 24. Ba5+ Ke7 25. Nxc8+ Rxc8 26.
Rd1 Nb2 27. Rd2 e5 $14 {This was really hard to go for as black despite the
fish saying this was black's best try.}) 23. Bxa6 Rc7 24. Bb5 $6 {Inaccuracy.
Ke2 was best.} (24. Ke2 Kf7) 24... Kf7 25. a4 Ra8 26. c3 $6 {Inaccuracy. Ra1
was best.} (26. Ra1 Nf6) 26... Ndc5 $1 {Going after a4. Black needs to get
that pawn off asap.} 27. Ke2 Nxa4 28. Ra1 Nb6 $2 29. Rxa8 Nxa8 30. Ra1 $1 Nb6
31. Ra7 $2 (31. Ra6 {Was apparently better, but I'm still not too sure as to
why.}) 31... Nc8 $1 {Now black and defend without much issue, despite white
having 'The double bishop pair' vs black's knight pair.} 32. Ra8 $6 {
Inaccuracy. Ra6 was best.} (32. Ra6 Nc5 33. Bxc5 Rxc5 34. Bd7 Ke7 35. Bxe6 Nd6
36. Bg8 Rxc3 37. Bxd5 Rc2+ 38. Ke1 Rb2) 32... Ncd6 33. Bd3 Kf6 34. Ra7 Rc6 35.
f3 Nc5 36. Bc2 Nc4 37. Bb1 Nd6 38. Bc2 Nc4 {1/2-1/2 The game is a draw.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Qiao, Eniie"]
[Black "Borate, Neel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "1522"]
[BlackElo "1180"]
[Annotator "Neel Borate"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. c4 (1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6) (1. e4) 1... e6 (1... e5 2. Nc3 Nf6) 2. g3 {In a way
I was expecting 2. d4 because it would lead to the Queens Gambit, which could
be easier to play in this situation.} (2. d4 d5 {[#]}) 2... d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. d4
Be7 5. Nc3 {[#] Closed Catalan} (5. Nf3 dxc4 6. Qc2 (6. Nbd2 b5 7. Ne5)) 5...
O-O {[#] Here I think that if White had played slightly different then I would
be having a very hard time with my light squared bishop.} 6. Bg5 $6 (6. Nf3 $1
{It still is equal, but White is doing better here.} c6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Nd2 b6
9. e4 {White controls lots of space. Black isn't losing, but I feel slightly
uncomfortable in this situation because of how unactive my pieces are.} dxe4
10. Ndxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 $14) 6... c6 $2 {Not a losing move, but I could have
won a free pawn with 6...dxc4} (6... dxc4 7. Nf3 Bd7 8. Ne5 Bc6 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 {
Wins a free pawn.}) (6... c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 (7... d4 8. Nb5 Bxc5) 8. cxd5) 7. e3
{[#] Traps the bishop in that small area. I don't like this move.} h6 {Bishop
for knight trading.} 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. cxd5 (9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4) 9... exd5 10.
Nge2 Bf5 {I like my position here because of how comfortable it is.} 11. O-O
Nd7 12. Rc1 Nb6 13. b3 $15 {This move creates holes. My dark squared bishop
has some annoying ideas for White.} Be7 14. a4 Nd7 15. Nf4 Qa5 16. Nd3 Nf6 (
16... Ba3 17. Ra1 $4 {Unfortunately White would play 17...Rc2 instead.} (17.
Rc2 {Here White has some annoying pins though, however.} Bb4 18. Nxb4 Bxc2 19.
Nxc2 Qxc3) 17... Bxd3 18. Qxd3 Bb2) 17. Nc5 Rab8 18. Qf3 $4 $18 {[#]} Bg4 19.
Qf4 Rfd8 $4 {Black isn't losing, just that there was a much, much better move
available to play.} (19... g5 20. Qe5 Qd8 $3 $18 {[#] The only way to trap
White's queen}) 20. e4 dxe4 $11 (20... Bxc5 21. dxc5 dxe4 22. Nxe4 Nxe4 23.
Bxe4 Be6 {Comfy position for Black.}) 21. N3xe4 Bh5 22. Nxf6+ Bxf6 23. g4 $4
$18 (23. h4 Bxd4 24. Nd7) 23... Bg5 {I'm very surprised that my opponent
didn't see this move. At the time, I thought that I could do multiple cool
tricks, but I really only had this one.} 24. Qe4 Bxc1 25. Rxc1 Bg6 26. Qe7 {
I had about 13 minutes on the clock here, and my opponent had about 30 minutes.
And I thought for about 10 minutes on this move, but then I knew exactly how
to win.} Re8 $1 27. Qd6 Rbd8 28. Qf4 Re1+ 29. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 30. Bf1 b6 $1 31. Nb7
$4 (31. Qe3 {White's best option.}) 31... Bd3 32. Kg2 Bxf1+ {I should have
taken with the queen, but I guess the time pressure got to me on that one.} 33.
Kg3 Qc3+ 34. f3 $6 Qe1# 0-1

[Event "72nd Oregon Open"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Jensen, Conner"]
[Black "Rodriguez-Melendez, Mauricio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "1654"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2022.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,99,20,30,65,57,59,37,62,24,17,35,38,37,29,-17,4,-9,-10,-10,14,22,42,
41,40,39,41,47,47,58,90,66,82,81,76,36,32,17,68,72,104,95,96,129,125,125,130,
133,128,94,99,94,92,79,112,116,120,97,125,107,115,51,38,33,58,29,74,61,129,117,
121,142,132,130,131,120,136,118,166,170,252,189,260,258,253,194,188,211,217,
163,242,172,178,204,204,195,319,233,263,271,315,263]} {Conner has a history of
playing clutch chess when there is a section prize on the line - see his games
on pages 11 and 12 of the January 2022 edition of Northwest Chess for more
examples.} 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d3 Nf6 7. g3
{Bobby Fischer played this position five times in 1959 Candidates tournament
but played it only once outside of that tournament, against Ray Weinstein in
1959. One can understand the attraction of this variation - White obtains the
two bishops and a King's Indian reversed type position. But one can also
understand why he never played it again, as he obtained only one win in the
six games. Against Soviet Grandmasters Keres and Petrosian, he scored three
losses and a draw. The draw against Petrosian was featured in his book "My 60
Memorable Games", known as the "Four Queens" game.} Nbd7 8. Bg2 d4 9. Nb1 $1
$14 ({The move} 9. Ne2 $2 {looks more natural to me.} {But Black can play} Qa5+
$1 {which gives him an advantage, as after} 10. Bd2 Bb4 11. c3 $2 (11. Qf4 e5
$17 {minimizes the damage but is still better for Black.}) 11... Ne5 $1 {
wins White's queen. One of the negative aspects of my "natural" 9.Ne2? is that
it blocks the retreat squares for White's queen.}) 9... Ne5 10. Qe2 {Conner
uses the retreat square that he left available by retreating his knight to b1
on move 9.} Bb4+ 11. Nd2 {And he uses that knight to interpose on d2 so he
doesn't have to relinquish his advantage of the two bishops.} O-O 12. f4 Ned7
13. O-O Re8 14. g4 {And White has an excellent King's Indian Attack position.}
Nf8 15. g5 Bxd2 16. Bxd2 N6d7 17. Rf3 Ng6 18. Qf2 Ndf8 19. Rf1 f5 {Trying to
put a roadblock in front of the attack, but} 20. gxf6 $1 {opens the position.}
({Grabbing space with} 20. e5 $2 $11 {just slows the attack down.}) 20... Qxf6
21. Rg3 e5 22. f5 Nf4 {best} (22... Ne7 $2 23. Bg5 Qd6 24. f6 {and Black's
kingside is cracking with White's major pieces aimed at the wreckage.}) 23. Kh2
{White chooses to work around Black's knight instead of winning a pawn by
taking it with his bishop. Black's knight is unlikely to leave the f4 square,
as it is currently responsible for stopping White from playing Bg5 followed by
f5-f6 after Black's queen moves away. So White will probably be able to take
the pawn later if he changes his mind.} ({White can win a pawn with} 23. Bxf4
exf4 24. Qxf4 {but black may be able to set up a dark-square defense with} Nd7
{followed by 25...Ne5 if possible.}) 23... Nd7 {This knight ready to jump into
the e5 square should White take the knight on f4. Both players agree that the
bishop on g2 is worth less than Black's knight on f4.} 24. Rg1 Re7 25. Rg4 Rc8
26. h4 Nf8 27. h5 h6 (27... Nxh5 $2 28. Bg5) 28. Bf3 Rcc7 29. a3 b6 30. Rxf4 $5
{Creative and fun, though not the only way to exploit White's advantage. Since
White gains a tempo with the Bishop attack on Black's rook on c7 and the
knight no longer on d7, Black doesn't have enough time to set up the knight
blockade on e5.} ({Stockfish suggests trading queens} 30. Qh4 Qxh4+ 31. Rxh4
Nd7 {And then combining the pawn win on f4 with improving the position of
White's king.} 32. Kg3 Re8 33. Bxf4 exf4+ 34. Kxf4 {And calls this +3.5.} {
But after blockading with} Ne5 {As black, I'd be relieved to be in this
position as compared to the attack that he faces in the game.}) 30... exf4 31.
Bxf4 Rcd7 32. Qg3 Nh7 33. Bg4 Qf8 34. e5 {White's mobile pawns and pair of
bishops combined with the major piece battery aimed at Black's king means the
defense won't be much fun. And there are no open files for Black's rooks to
create counterplay.} Rd5 35. f6 Nxf6 36. exf6 Qxf6 {Material is formally equal
and Black has some open files for the rooks. But the bishops are too strong.
White is winning.} 37. Rg2 Rf7 38. Rf2 Qe7 39. Re2 Qf6 40. Be5 Rxe5 (40... Qg5
41. Be6) (40... Qe7 41. Bxg7) (40... Qf1 41. Rg2 (41. Be6 $4 Qxe2+) 41... Kf8
42. Be6 {among others.}) 41. Rxe5 Qf2+ 42. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 43. Kg3 Rxc2 44. Re2 {
Once again, the formal material count is deceiving. Black is down "only" a
bishop for two pawns, but the ending is easily won for White, as Black's extra
pawns cannot be converted to passed pawns or exchanged to a drawn R+B vs. R
ending.} Rc1 45. Kf4 Kf7 46. Ke5 c5 47. Kd6 Rg1 48. Bf5 Kf6 49. Bg6 Rg3 50. Kd5
1-0

[Event "Hollywood Chess Norm Classic Swiss Inv"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2022.08.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Batchuluun, Tsegmed"]
[Black "Levine, Joseph"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2478"]
[BlackElo "2254"]
[Annotator "Joseph Levine"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Nf3
Re8 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. Rae1 Bg4 12. Ne5 {So far he has played all his
moves very quickly. Ne5 caught me off guard, I thought this was just a free
pawn, but white has compensation.} Bxe5 13. dxe5 Rxe5 14. f4 {White's point!
After f5 my bishop is trapped.} Re8 {I thought about 14...Rxg5 but didn't like
15.fxg5 N6d7 and 16.h4, but the computer thinks that is best, +0.2.} 15. f5 h6
16. Bh4 Bh5 17. h3 N8d7 {I initially planned to play 17...Qb6 instead, with
the idea that 18.Bf2 Qc7 19.g4 Bxg4 is fine for me. However, I missed Na4 when
I just have to go back.} 18. g4 Qb6 19. Na4 {Instead of this, 19.gxh5
immediately was stronger. If 19...Nxh5, White has f6. I was planning after 19.
gxh5 to play 19...Rxe3 20.Bf2 Rxe1 21.Bxb6 Rxf1+ 22.Kxf1 and 22...axb6, with a
losing position, but it's still tricky to actually win for White.} Qa5 20. gxh5
c5 {Although this is still objectively winning for White, this is really
difficult to play. My pawns are moving forward, and he can't easily attack my
king.} 21. Qd1 b5 22. Nc3 b4 23. Na4 Kh8 {23...c4 here was also ok, but I
thought that after 23...c4 24.Bc2 and then 24...Kh8 he had 25.Qd4 which was
quite strong.} 24. b3 Ne5 25. Bc2 Rad8 {All my pieces have activated, and I
have a lot of strong options, like ...d4-d3 or ...c4. We are both relatively
low on time at this point.} 26. Bxf6 $4 {A big blunder. My knight was never
going to move because of f6, and his bishop could have been useful on g3 or f2.
This also opened the g-file for me. Better options were Kh1 or Qe2/d2.} gxf6
27. Kh1 Qc7 28. Rg1 Qc6 29. Rg2 {According to the computer, 29.e4 dxe4 30.Bxe4
was the only winning plan for White here, because after 30...Rxd1 31.Bxc6 Rxe1
32.Rxe1 the knight is pinned.} d4 30. exd4 {30.e4 was better.} Nf3 $1 {All of
a sudden, my pieces activate, and he is in serious trouble. If 31.Rxe8+ Rxe8
32.d5 I have Qxd5!!} 31. Rf1 {Apparently only 31.d5! kept advantage for White,
and after 31...Qxd5 White can play 32.Rf1, and ...Nh4 doesn't work because of
the queen trade.} Nh4 32. d5 {32.Qg4 was the only holding move as it forced
trades on g2. If 32.Qg4 Rg8 33.Be4 is winning.} Rxd5 33. Qg4 Nxg2 34. Qxg2 Rg8
35. Qf3 Qd6 36. Qf4 Qxf4 37. Rxf4 {After the queen trade I have a winning
position because his pieces are so misplaced, and his pawn structure is really
bad.} Rd2 38. Be4 c4 {A useful final touch as I create a passed pawn that will
ultimately win one of his pieces.} 39. bxc4 Rxa2 40. Nc5 Rc8 41. Nd7 Rd8 42.
Bc6 b3 43. Rf1 b2 0-1

