[Event "WA State Championship (Championship)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Vemparala, Nikash"]
[Black "He, Daniel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2220"]
[BlackElo "2318"]
[Annotator "Daniel He"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,64,19,19,53,33,33,60,74,11,27,41,34,31,37,10,16,34,0,1,1,-10,1,-49,-36,-59,-54,-46,-33,-72,-54,-73,-82,-113,-115,-121,-117,-182,-135,-136,-128,-143,-122,-97,-110,-238,-239,-260,-152,-210,-230,-352,-278,-296,-402,-405,-469,-666,-705,-1147,-1226,-1119,-1026,-1193,-1271,-1599,-1659] I was in a 4-way tie for first before this final round game, which meant this was a must-win game to ensure at least shared first.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {A sideline of the Rossolimo behind the main moves 3. g6 and 3. e6. My plan for the opening is to get out of mainline theory early and keep pieces on the board for a complicated battle!} 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Qc7 6. e5 (6. O-O e5 {The solid type of position I was expecting and a long game ahead.}) 6... Nd5 7. h3 h6 {With intention of giving my light squared bishop a retreat square on h7 but also the subtle idea of meeting 8.0-0 with g5!? now that White has created a hook pawn on h3.} 8. Nbd2 (8. O-O g5 $1 {Engines will still evaluate this position as equal, but practically White has all of the difficult decisions to make to avoid getting busted on the kingside.}) 8... Bf5 9. Ne4 O-O-O {A very imbalanced position. White has the better structure temporarily while Black has the bishop pair. The game revolves around Black's ability to open up the light squares with c4. This would solve the doubled c-pawn issue and open up the central light squares while White is missing his light squared bishop.} 10. Ng3 (10. Nxc5 {Of course the c5 pawn is poison} Qa5+) 10... Bh7 11. O-O $6 {[%cal Gc5c4] White forgets about c4, which blasts open the light squares} (11. b3 {This prevents my c4 idea but looks quite passive} g5 12. Bb2 Rg8 {It's hard to say which side of the board White's king is safest at}) 11... c4 12. a3 (12. d4 {This move would solidify White's position if not for my next move:} Nb4 $1 {My light squared bishop is living the dream on h7 uncontested.} 13. Ne1 c5) 12... cxd3 13. cxd3 g5 14. d4 f5 $5 {Now White has to make a critical decision: Allow another pawn in the pawnstorm or en passant and have no way in for his knights? Neither seemed ideal to White} (14... Rg8 {Rg8 was my initial idea but I noticed White's e6 pawn sac is annoying and takes full control over the e5 square} 15. e6 fxe6 16. Ne5 {There's no need to allow unnecessary complications here}) 15. exf6 exf6 16. Qa4 Kb8 17. Bd2 h5 {Preparing the deadly g4 break on light squares} 18. Rfc1 (18. Nxh5 Be4) 18... Rc8 $6 {A bit too compliant. I did not want to get provoked to play b6 after Ba5, but turns out I can continue my pawnstorm and retreat with Nb6 to keep the queenside pawn structure intact} (18... g4 $1 19. Ba5 Nb6 20. Bxb6 Qxb6 {Completely winning}) 19. Ba5 Qd7 {Consistent with Rc8. b6 is objectively as strong but is less practical due to White's increased pressure on the c6 pawn base.} 20. Nd2 h4 {As a common theme regarding pawn breaks, it is important to play h4 before g4. If g4 first, h4 successfully locks up the kingside.} (20... g4 $2 21. h4) 21. Nge4 g4 {Forcing a pawn break, ensuring the g-file will open up} 22. Qb3 gxh3 23. Qxh3 Bf5 24. Qh2+ Ka8 25. Bb4 Bh6 {It's not easy for White to deal with the deadly threat of Bf4} 26. Bd6 (26. Qd6 Qg7 {Unfortunately for White, he still has no major threats while his kingside is bare.}) 26... h3 $1 {White is forced to either allow hxg2 or shut his queen out of the game on h2} 27. Nc5 Qf7 28. Nc4 Bxc1 29. Rxc1 hxg2 30. Qxg2 Rcg8 {Now many moves will win, but I find the most forcing and fanciest sequence} 31. Bg3 Nf4 32. Qf3 Qh7 $1 {White resigns as the knight on f4 can't be taken, and the threat of Qh2+ followed by Qh1 mate is unstoppable. A picturesque final position!} 0-1

[Event "WA State Championship (Premier)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Zhou, David"]
[Black "Whale, Nicholas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2080"]
[BlackElo "2072"]
[Annotator "David Zhou"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,130,22,22,20,-20,37,29,16,9,27,13,8,8,8,13,14,18,24,26,25,20,20,30,28,25,48,11,17,19,28,26,25,18,25,25,18,20,36,42,28,38,37,43,66,64,141,16,108,-10,-10,-21,-28,-29,73,104,57,72,74,76,95,39,90,95,128,140,140,62,62,58,38,58,37,34,45,45,45,11,5,0,0,0,0,-15,-51,-40,-44,-49,-56,-77,-71,-26,-24,-37,-17,-56,-22,-22,-25,-62,-10,-27,-24,-31,-7,-31,-47,-81,-76,-85,-92,-151,-153,-305,-69,-57,-96,-210,-216,-216,-329,-328,-328,-328,-328,-328,-346,-515,-525,-525,-525,-525,-525] With three rounds to spare, I was trailing the leader (Vihaan) by half a point. We had already faced off in the first round, so my best chance of overtaking him in the standings was to play each of these final games for a win.} 1. d4 d5 {I had been hoping for a sharp and unbalanced position in the Dutch Defense, but my opponent deviates on the very first move from his round 4 game in which he quickly got a bad position.} 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 {Hunting for the bishop pair should yield a stable advantage.} Bg6 7. Be2 {There is no rush to exchange on g6 as the bishop has no squares to retreat to.} Nbd7 8. O-O Bd6 9. g3 O-O 10. Nxg6 {This is a sensible time to finally capture the bishop as Black can no longer hope to open the h-file on my castled king.} hxg6 11. Qb3 Qb6 (11... b6 {Defending the pawn while keeping the queen on d8 should not change the nature of the position. I intended to continue as in the game with normal developing moves.} 12. Bd2 Rc8 13. Bf3 {White has ideas of eventually opening the center with e4 for the bishops.}) 12. Bd2 {My plan is to slowly develop and open the position for the bishops once all my pieces are mobilized.} Rfe8 13. Rac1 Rac8 14. Rfd1 {Now that I've centralized my rooks, I can consider Qc2 next, avoiding the queen trade.} Qxb3 {Black goes for the trade, but White maintains a nagging edge in the queenless middlegame.} 15. axb3 a6 {Black is very solid on the queenside due to my doubled b-pawns, so the break I should be playing for is e4.} 16. Bf3 {First, I must prevent Black's own breaks (...c5 and ...e5, which would activate his pieces before I manage to fully coordinate.} Red8 17. Kg2 (17. g4 {is a tempo faster than the game, but I can afford to play slowly as Black doesn't have real counterplay.} Bc7 18. g5 Nh7 19. h4 $16) 17... Bc7 (17... g5 $1 {Black should have prevented my plan of dislodging the Nf6 with g4-g5.}) 18. g4 $5 {Intending to push the knight away to prepare the e4-break.} (18. h4 $1 {Without this preparatory move, Black will retain the possibility of preventing the advance of the g-pawn with g6-g5.}) 18... Nb6 $6 (18... g5 $1 {I can still break in the center with e4, but the liquidation of a pair of knights will allow Black to more or less maintain equality.}) 19. g5 $1 {This is the point of White's last few moves.} Nh7 (19... Ne8 $6 {If Black does not gain a tempo by attacking g5, I can address the threat to c4 with} 20. Na4 Nxa4 {Otherwise Nc5 will be annoying for Black to deal with.} 21. bxa4 {And after undoubling my pawns, I can play for a queenside break with b4-b5.}) 20. c5 Nd7 21. e4 {Finally getting my desired break in.} f6 $2 22. h4 {White retains a sizeable advantage here with all of Black's pieces passive.} (22. exd5 $1 {We had both missed this strong piece sac which would leave White with a massive center of passed pawns.} exd5 23. Nxd5 cxd5 24. Bxd5+ Kh8 25. Bxb7 Rb8 26. Bxa6 Rxb3 27. d5 $1 {Despite the nominally equal material, White is winning. The unopposed duo of pawns will likely cost Black two minor pieces.}) 22... Rf8 $2 {My opponent is intending to activate his knight by trading on g5 and playing ... Bf4, removing the only defender of the cramping g5-pawn.} 23. Rf1 $5 {Not fearing his Bf4 idea, I intended to simply strengthen my position and prepare a later f2-f4.} (23. exd5 $1 {This move still works here, but again we both overlooked the strength of the knight sac.} exd5 24. Nxd5 cxd5 25. Bxd5+ Kh8 26. Bxb7 Rb8 27. Bd5 $18) 23... fxg5 $6 24. hxg5 $2 {The start of a miscalculated line.} (24. Bg4 $1 {is the correct move order to keep the Nh7 out of play.} Rce8 25. hxg5 Bf4 26. Bxf4 Rxf4 27. Kg3 $1 {f4 will come next and Black is strategically lost.}) 24... Bf4 25. Bxf4 Rxf4 26. Ne2 Rxf3 {My opponent said after the game he felt lucky to have this resource after missing Ne2 in his calculation, but there was also a saving move on move 28 that would prevent the dark square clamp after the simple rook retreat to f8.} (26... Rff8 {We both thought this didn't work for Black, but he has a surprising resource.} 27. Bg4 {This was the point of my calculation starting on move 23. I move the bishop with tempo and will clamp down with f4.} Rce8 $2 (27... Nxg5 $1 28. f4 Nf6 $1 {and with no good retreat square for the bishop, I must bail out into an equal rook and knight endgame.} 29. fxg5 Nxg4 30. Kg3 Rxf1 31. Rxf1 Ne3 32. Rf3 Nc2 33. Rc3 Nb4 34. e5 $11 {With such a closed position, neither side will be able to make any progress and Black's extra pawn will not count for anything.}) 28. f4 $16) 27. Kxf3 Nxg5+ 28. Ke3 Nxe4 (28... dxe4 $1 {This counterintuitive move would keep Black's knights more active.} 29. Rg1 Nf3 30. Rxg6 Kf7 31. Rg3 Nf6 32. Nc3 {Black would have to see this next critical move to confidently enter this line, however.} Nh4 $1 $11 {Black's active knights help him maintain equality.}) 29. f3 Nef6 30. Nf4 Kf7 (30... g5 31. Nd3 Re8 32. Rg1 e5 33. Rxg5 $14) 31. Rg1 (31. Nd3 $5 {This was also an idea to clamp down on Black's only active break.} Re8 32. f4 Ne4 {with no activity for Black} 33. Ne5+ Nxe5 34. fxe5+ Kg8 35. Rf3 {White will continue to push, but Black's strong knight and two passed pawns offer good compensation.}) 31... e5 $2 {Black seeks activity for his rook, but the open files will only help White if I respond correctly.} 32. Nxg6 Re8 33. dxe5 $2 {A poor trade: I exchange my active knight and Black gets activity for his remaining pieces.} (33. Rc2 $1 {[%cal Gc2g2] and Black is paralyzed. I can continue improving my position with Rcg2 next if Black does nothing.} exd4+ 34. Kxd4 $18) 33... Nxe5 34. Nxe5+ Rxe5+ 35. Kf2 Rf5 36. Ke3 Re5+ 37. Kd3 $6 {Of course, declining the repetition.} (37. Kd2 $1 {This would have been a better square for the king, preventing any tempi being gained by Nd7xc5+ or Nd7-e5+.} Rf5 38. Rcf1 (38. Rg3 Nh5 39. Rh3 Nf4 40. Rh8 Ne6 41. Rb8 $16) 38... Nd7 39. b4 Ne5 $6 40. f4 $1 Nc4+ 41. Kc3 $18) 37... Rf5 38. Rcf1 $6 (38. Ke2 $1 Re5+ 39. Kd2 {This was a chance to put the king back on the right square.}) 38... Nd7 $1 {I had missed how strong the knight would become after landing on c4.} 39. b4 Ne5+ 40. Kc2 $6 {This move tries to hold on to my b-pawns, but Black will soon win the f-pawn, after which I would benefit greatly from having my king in front of his g-pawn.} (40. Ke3 $1 {It was more prudent to give up the b-pawn and play for equality here.} Nc4+ 41. Ke2 Re5+ (41... Nxb2 $6 42. f4 $1 {locks the rook out.}) 42. Kf2 Nxb2 43. Rb1 Nd3+ 44. Kg3 Rg5+ 45. Kh4 {This is the move I had calculated in-game.} (45. Kh2 $11 {This would have been much simpler to prove equality, intending to recapture g1 with the king.}) 45... Rxg1 46. Rxg1 Nxb4 47. Rb1 $1 a5 {This looked about equal to me during the game, but I would have needed to find the precise} 48. Kg5 $1 $11 {and neither side can made inroads.} (48. Ra1 $4 Nd3 49. Rxa5 Kf6 {and it is White who will run out of moves as Black infiltrates the center.})) 40... Rf4 $1 {Given the chance, I will play f4 to keep his rook passive.} (40... Nxf3 $6 41. Kd1 $1 {White will be able to trade off a pair of rooks and gain counterplay against b7.}) 41. Kb3 Kf6 $1 (41... Nxf3 $6 42. Ka4 $1 {White will again be able to trade off a pair of rooks with Rg3 here.}) 42. Rh1 {White's best try is to infiltrate and gain counterplay against b7.} (42. Rg3 $2 {is bad since after the simple} g5 {, Black will soon win f3 and push the g-pawn to victory.}) 42... Nxf3 43. Ka4 $1 {It's important to get closer to threatening counterplay on the b7-pawn while sidestepping the fork.} g5 44. Rh7 g4 45. Rf2 $1 {played to prevent g4-g3.} Kf5 (45... g3 $2 46. Rg2 Rg4 47. Rh3 {and Black will struggle after losing the g-pawn.}) 46. Rxb7 Ne5 47. Re2 Re4 48. Rf2+ Rf4 49. Re2 {I don't seem to have much more than a repetition given Black's strong passed g-pawn, but I was hoping my opponent would play on and that I may have a chance to take over at a later point.} d4 {He obliges and we have a game. Unfortunately, it's White who is walking the knife's edge in this position.} 50. Re7 Re4 51. Rf2+ Nf3 52. Rf7+ $8 {My only move is to bail out into a rook ending, but I burned too much of my remaining time trying to calculate out all the details. Since we had already reached sudden death, this would come back to haunt me in the next few moves.} Ke5 53. R2xf3 (53. Ka5 $4 d3 54. Kxa6 d2 $19) 53... gxf3 54. Rxf3 Re2 55. Ka5 $4 {The first of three mistakes borne out of time pressure.} (55. Rf8 $1 {Immediately placing my rook behind the passed d-pawn was the simplest way to draw.} Rxb2 56. Rd8 Ke4 57. Rd6 $11 {I will then seek my own counterplay with my c-pawn.}) 55... Rxb2 56. Kb6 $5 {Of course not taking a6 when Black has an easy win after ...Rxb4.} Rxb4+ $4 {Black blunders the draw back.} (56... Ke4 $1 57. Rf8 Rxb4+ 58. Kxc6 d3 $19 {and Black will queen.}) 57. Kxc6 Ke4 58. Ra3 $4 {The second and final decisive mistake in time pressure.} (58. Rh3 $1 {[%cal Gh3h4] Combining the idea of lateral checks with pushing the c-pawn draws.} Rc4 (58... Rb1 59. Rh4+ Ke3 60. Kd5 d3 61. Rh3+ Ke2 62. Rh2+ $11 {White will continue checking until Black steps in front of the d-pawn, at which point, he can push the c-pawn.}) 59. Kb6 d3 60. Rh4+ Kd5 61. Rxc4 Kxc4 62. c6 $11) 58... Rc4 $1 {After this move, I can only hope to bail out to a queen vs rook ending.} 59. Rxa6 d3 60. Kb5 $5 d2 61. Kxc4 d1=Q 62. Re6+ Kf5 63. Rd6 $2 {Running my clock down on move 52 costs me a final time as I choose the wrong square for my rook.} (63. Rb6 $5 {Black is theoretically winning in this position, but must continue to grind to prove the full point. One thing to note is that if I manage to advance the pawn to the sixth rank, I have very good drawing chances.} Qa4+ 64. Kd5 Qe4+ 65. Kd6 Qe6+ 66. Kc7 Qe7+ (66... Qe3 $4 {This move for instance would let me set up a fortress.} 67. c6 Qe7+ 68. Kb8 Qd8+ 69. Kb7 Qd5 70. Kb8 Qd8+ 71. Kb7 Qd5 $11) 67. Kc6 Ke5 68. Kb5) 63... Qa4+ $1 {The c-pawn falls and with it the game.} 64. Kc3 (64. Kd5 Qe4#) 64... Ke5 65. Rd3 Qb5 {A hard-fought game where my opponent showed incredible tenacity in a worse position to keep counterplay and his own winning chances alive. With prescience of the remaining two rounds and final standings, I would have accepted the repetition on move 37 and won the Premier section a clear half point ahead of the field. Alas, both my opponent and I would go on to win our round 8 and 9 games, leaving me half a point behind him in the final standings. A big congratulations to Nicolas for a clutch finish to secure the win in our section.} 0-1

[Event "WA State Championship (Invitational)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Thomas, Damarcus"]
[Black "Airapetian, Chouchanik"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C83"]
[WhiteElo "1910"]
[BlackElo "1945"]
[Annotator "Damarcus Thomas"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,114,20,19,22,20,22,14,25,7,13,11,32,-6,14,19,9,15,15,-12,2,-13,17,28,11,26,29,26,38,33,24,31,31,15,21,12,27,8,60,48,75,46,29,39,12,27,-13,-14,96,87,95,85,87,87,109,116,263,236,278,305,321,317,318,286,318,207,228,238,244,248,253,254,258,248,290,290,354,354,359,373,371,377,384,393,386,387,380,341,364,390,402,394,401,419,431,398,431,431,450,401,550,503,654,661,656,687,722,765,885,727,718,791,853,807,912,1036,1061]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {I was surprised that my opponent took on e4, I thought to myself, she just walked into my prep. This is the main line of the Ruy Lopez to me, as I have studied it all my life. I normally play Re1 after Ne4, but I knew that d4 was book and best. And since this is the WA State Championship, I will respect my opponent and play the best that I have....} 6. d4 {I must have sat for about 10-15 minutes trying to recall the whole sequence just in case we stay in book, I think she was impressed that I played d5 confidently eventually and then she blitzed out the next few moves.} b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Nbd2 Nc5 11. Bc2 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Re1 Bg6 14. Nd4 Qd7 15. Bxg6 hxg6 16. e6 Nxe6 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Qg4 Kf7 19. Nf3 Rae8 20. Bf4 Bf6 21. Bg3 Rh5 22. a4 b4 23. cxb4 Bxb2 24. b5 $1 {As I reflect, this was the winning move of the game, the response gave me a permanent advantage.} axb5 25. axb5 Bxa1 26. bxc6 Qxc6 27. Rxa1 Qc3 28. Ra7 Re7 {[#] I had looked deeply into the position at this point, I didn't know I was +5, but I knew how to win.} 29. Ng5+ Rxg5 30. Qxg5 e5 31. Bh4 Rd7 32. Qg4 Qc1+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ 34. Qxf4+ exf4 35. Bg5 f3 36. g4 d4 37. Kg3 d3 38. Bd2 Ke6 39. Kxf3 Kd5 40. Ke3 Kc4 41. Ra4+ Kc5 42. h4 Rd8 43. g5 c6 44. Ra3 Rh8 45. Ra4 Rd8 46. Bc3 Rd7 47. Re4 Kb5 48. Rd4 Rf7 49. Rxd3 c5 50. f4 Kc4 51. Be5 Rb7 52. Rd6 {My opponent was saddened by this ending, she did tell me with a sheepish grin that it looked like I took my hand off my Rook as I slide it to Rd6, and suggested that I let it off at Rd5 instead, I simply looked back and smiled and said no way.} Rb1 53. Rxg6 Rd1 54. Ke2 Rh1 55. Rxg7 Rxh4 56. g6 Rg4 57. Rg8 Kd5 58. Rd8+ Ke6 59. g7 Kf7 60. Rf8+ 1-0

[Event "WA State Championship (Challengers)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.18"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Razmov, Valentin"]
[Black "Merriman, Dann"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D41"]
[WhiteElo "1861"]
[BlackElo "1662"]
[Annotator "Valentin Razmov"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,89,19,34,32,-12,-11,2,2,-19,65,49,51,55,69,60,138,114,483,76,81,76,86,96,57,86,187,146,185,187,204,139,155,141,149,152,186,148,187,187,370,353,356,418,467,346,319,337,337,322,322,309,299,309,329,256,251,234,234,228,228,251,252,252,252,229,256,271,328,324,341,310,366,376,395,416,431,429,506,412,451,447,452,464,470,469,496,422,496,501,507,507]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 {A little surprise. The common response by far is 4...exd5 here, though I knew that 4...Nxd5 is not as bad of an option as its reputation used to be years ago.} 5. e4 {A principled response.} (5. Nf3 c5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 {leads to some of the same positions, with transposition.}) 5... Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 {The positions (and many ideas) in this line resemble those of Gruenfeld Defense, Classical variation, even though Black's dark-squared bishop is not fianchettoed here.} 7. Nf3 (7. Rb1 {is known as the Kramnik variation in the Gruenfeld Defense context.} Be7) 7... Nc6 $2 {The second surprise to me. Although the knight move should be played at some point, the timing chosen by Black is odd -- since White's center is still very potent. Normally, players choose to exchange in the center first:} (7... cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ (9... Qa5 $6 10. Rb1 $1 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 12. Kxd2 b6 13. Rc1 O-O (13... Ba6 $6 14. Bb5+ $1 Kd8 15. Ba4 $16) 14. Ke3 {with visible advantage for White.}) 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 $14) 8. d5 $1 {I spent a lot of time choosing whether to re-enter the familiar mainlines (after 8.Be2) or jump into this appealing sideline.  Ultimately, my decision was based on a combination of factors: (a) the tournament situation (with one round to go) was such that I had to play for a win, in order to be able to claim 1st place in my section; (b) earlier in the tournament I had a game where I decided against playing more actively in the opening under similar provocative circumstances, and regretted my decision; (c) despite calculation fairly long possible lines here, I didn't see trouble for White anywhere ahead.} Ne7 $2 {It was obvious that my previous move had come as a surprise to my opponent.  The above response was, again, not the move I expected.} (8... exd5 9. exd5 Ne7 (9... Qe7+ $6 10. Be2 Ne5 11. O-O $16) 10. d6 Nc6 11. Bf4) 9. c4 $2 {Here I became a victim of my pre-game expectations. I had expected to play a possible long game, as I knew that my opponent was skilled. I did not even consider the possibility that my position could already be winning -- and to look for that winning strike here. Under different psychological conditions I may have seen it:} (9. Bb5+ $1 Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Qxd7 11. Ne5 $1 {and the black queen lacks squares on the a4-e8 diagonals in order to properly defend its king, e.g.,} Qb5 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Rb1 $1 {and White mates or wins major material.}) 9... Ng6 10. Bb2 {Constraining the options for Black's dark-squared bishop white entering a desired long diagonal of influence.} (10. e5 $1 {is objective best here, according to the engine, but would have felt a bit too adventurous for my taste and general style.} f6 11. Bd3 exd5 12. exf6 gxf6 13. O-O $16) 10... Qa5+ 11. Nd2 exd5 12. exd5 $6 {I knew this was an important decision, and I made mine on known positional principles -- opening the file of the opponent's king (which will be slow to castle), minimizing opponent counterplay (in this case on the queen-side), etc. It turns out that for very concrete and subtle reasons the other capture is better here:} (12. cxd5 Bd7 13. Rc1 f6 (13... Qxa2 $6 14. Nc4 Qa4 15. Qd2) 14. h4 Bd6 15. h5 Ne5 16. Bc3 (16. Be2 $6 Ba4 17. Bc3 Bxd1 18. Bxa5 Bxe2 19. Kxe2 b5 $1 $14) 16... Qc7 17. h6 {and although Black has managed to blockade White's central pawns and is somewhat ahead in development, Black has numerous weaknesses.}) 12... Bf5 $6 {A natural-looking developing move, but it gives White the initiative due to the unstable positions of Black's pieces.} (12... Bd6 13. Bxg7 Rg8 14. Bf6 Bf5 $14 {is better in comparison, but in practice it can be hard to appreciate -- especially from a distance -- the real benefits of sacrificing the g7-pawn: (a) White's king may be unsafe too as the g-file has opened, (b) the Bd6 blockades White's passer and also supports other Black pieces around the center.}) 13. Qf3 $1 Qb6 14. Bc3 ({I was aware that I had the option of} 14. O-O-O {but given that I had visible advantage in the position already, this choice seemed to me to be handing the opponent some real hope of counterplay and even attack. Closer inspection proves that it's White who gets the attack instead:} Ne7 15. Re1 Bd7 16. Bd3 f6 17. Qh5+ $16) ({In contrast, the option} 14. Qxf5 Qxb2 {seemed truly unthinkable given how much my position was relying on the strengths of White's dark-squared bishop.} 15. Rb1 Qxa2 16. Rxb7 Qa1+ 17. Ke2 {Who wants to bet on White's king safety here $2 :-)} Be7 18. d6 $1 $18 O-O 19. dxe7 Rfe8 20. Qb1 $1 $16) 14... Ne7 $6 {Black refuses to retreat. By this point clearly both opponents had strong (and not necessarily correct) opinions on what should be happening in the game.} (14... Bd7 15. Bd3 $16) 15. Nb3 $6 {A move intended to prevent a long-castle by Black -- and thus to keep the Black king in the center -- on the threat of the possible skewer Ba5.} (15. Ne4 {threatening d5-d6} Bxe4 16. Qxe4 O-O-O 17. g3 $16) 15... f6 $6 {Black is apparently tired of the pressure from White's dark-squared bishop on g7.} (15... h5 16. h3 Qd6 {would eventually achieve the (long) castle that Black may be desiring.}) 16. Bd3 {Developing white eliminating one of Black's most active pieces.} Bxd3 17. Qxd3 O-O-O $6 {Once again, impatience leads to inaccuracies in Black's play. A tell-tale sign was that by this moment White had spent ~95 minutes (of the available 120, plus increment, until move 40), while Black had thought for just under 25 minutes total.} (17... Ng6) 18. Ba5 {Objectively not the best option, but at this point the (desired winning) end seemed well within grasp, so the excitement was high. I know to apply care not chase \"pies in the sky\" and to double check when things seem too good, but even from that perspective the alternatives seemed too slow for me.} (18. O-O) 18... Qe6+ $1 {An excellent and quick find of a tactical resource by Black $1 That I had missed to see this move ahead of time, despite checking for surprises,   alarmed me. So I slowed down to make sure I'm not playing on emotion (any more).} 19. Kd2 $1 Qg4 $2 {This is where Black really needed to invest more than 2 minutes. Now the game is easily winning for White.} (19... Nxd5 20. Rhe1 $1 Qg4 21. Bxd8 Nb4 22. Qe4 Qxe4 23. Rxe4 Kxd8 24. Na5 b6 (24... Kc7 25. a3) 25. a3 {would lead to a winning advantage for White too, but nowhere nearly as quickly or obviously as the continuation in the game itself.}) 20. Bxd8 Kxd8 21. Nxc5 Qxg2 22. Qg3 $5 {White nearly \"all roads lead to Rome\" in a situation like this, there is nothing like the calming effect of removing the opponent's best attacker from the board -- even when it comes at the cost of some mild concessions.} Qxg3 23. hxg3 b6 24. Ne6+ Ke8 25. Rae1 Kf7 26. Nxf8 $5 {Not the first move that would come to mind if you're a positional player -- giving up a powerful knight for a blocked, undeveloped bishop. But concretely here the simplifications make White's conversion job easier to do than if that bishop were to survive and (re)enter the game.} Kxf8 27. d6 Nc6 28. d7 {White has seen a winning line, and is happy to make some concessions along the way in order to drive things in that direction using forcing moves. In practice, it is very important to make move choices that you know how to follow effectively towards your goal, even if they're not objectively the absolute best move. A win is a win, even if you get there via a different (but still reliable to you) route.} Kf7 29. Re8 $1 Rxe8 30. dxe8=Q+ Kxe8 31. Rxh7 Kf7 32. Rh8 $18 {This was the target position that White was aiming for in their calculations from several moves ago. The assessment, as it turns out correctly made, was that it should be an easy win from here due to the power of the rook and the presence of weak black pawns. The rest is applying patience and simple endgame technique.} Ne5 33. Kc3 Ng4 34. f3 Ne5 35. f4 Nc6 36. Rc8 Ne7 37. Rc7 a6 38. Rb7 g5 39. Rxb6 Nf5 40. fxg5 fxg5 41. Rxa6 Nxg3 42. Kd3 {While other paths toward the win exist for White, it's most prudent to make sure that the sole source of potential counterplay for the opponent -- in this case, the passed g-pawn -- cannot yield much counterplay anyway, as the White king approaches it in time to stop its forward motion.} g4 43. Ke3 Nh1 44. Rh6 Ng3 45. Kf4 1-0

[Event "WA State Championship (Rising Stars)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.18"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Lee, Boas"]
[Black "Wang, Leonardo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "1721"]
[BlackElo "1785"]
[Annotator "Leonardo Wang"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,79,39,-6,39,37,42,40,45,37,37,38,33,30,30,15,11,19,19,-28,-10,-27,5,-32,-35,-34,-40,-74,-65,-72,-32,-53,-20,-61,-61,-61,-28,-28,-31,-28,-31,-48,-3,0,-7,-18,0,0,-5,-15,-19,-16,-16,-23,-19,-16,-65,-87,-87,-84,-82,-92,-89,-88,-77,-86,-85,-111,-110,-116,-111,-105,-98,-103,-98,-102,-105,-116,-118,-118,-111,-121]} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 e6 5. d4 {Here the game transforms from an English to a Slav Defense.} Nbd7 6. Bd2 {[%cal Gc1d2,Gf2d4] This is a passive move, as the bishop is not doing a lot on d2.} Be7 7. Be2 dxc4 8. Bxc4 b5 9. Bb3 a6 10. O-O O-O 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. Qe2 c5 {Usually if black can play c5 in the Slav, black is fine. Here the position is about equal.} 13. dxc5 $6 {This move lets me activate my d7 knight and threaten the b3 Bishop.} Nxc5 {[%cal Gc5b3]} 14. Bc2 Qb6 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16. Nd4 Rac8 17. Be1 Nce4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 {[%cal Ge4f6]} 19. f3 Nf6 $6 {Since the idea of f3 is Bf2, Nc5 is a better move for me as it helps protect my queen from the f2 Bishop after white plays e4.} (19... Nc5 {[%csl Gc5][%cal Ge1f2,Gf2a7]}) 20. Bf2 {I missed Bf2, but after my opponent played it, I realized that my queen does not have a good place to go.} Qa7 {[%cal Ge3e4,Ga7b8] The idea is that I can play Qb8 if my opponent plays e4.} 21. Nb3 Qb8 22. Bb1 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 {[%csl Gf6,Gb7][%cal Ge3e4,Gf2a7]} Bd5 24. Bg3 Qb6 25. Bf2 Bxb3 {Here I thought that it was worth giving the bishop pair because white's pawns are now weak.} 26. axb3 Bc5 27. Qd3 g6 {[%cal Gf6d5] This helps stop any Qh7 ideas, as I want to play Nd5.} (27... Nd5 {[%cal Gd3h7]}) 28. b4 $2 {I'm not sure why my opponent played this, but now I have a better position because I'm up a pawn.} Bxb4 29. Kf1 Bc5 30. Ba2 Nd5 31. Bxd5 exd5 32. Qxd5 Bxe3 33. Bxe3 Qxe3 34. Qd4 {Here he was in severe time trouble, so he didn't calculate the queen trade. I decided not to take because my opponent's king is closer to the queenside.} Qe6 {[%csl Ge6,Gf1]} (34... Qxd4 35. Rxd4 Rc1+ 36. Ke2 Rc2+ 37. Rd2 Rxd2+ 38. Kxd2 Kf8 39. Kc3 Ke7 40. Kb4) 35. Re1 Qc6 36. Ra1 Re8 37. Rd1 a5 38. Qd7 {[%cal Gc6c4,Gd7d3] Here I'm forced to take, as Qc4+ goes nowhere after Qd3.} Qxd7 39. Rxd7 Re3 40. Rd2 Kf8 41. Kf2 Rb3 {[%csl Ge3,Gb3][%cal Ge6e3,Ge3b3]} 42. Ke2 Ke7 43. Kd1 Ke6 44. Re2+ Kd6 45. Kc2 {[%cal Ga5a4]} Rb4 46. Rd2+ Kc5 47. Rd7 Rf4 48. Rd8 Kb4 49. Rh8 h5 50. Re8 Rc4+ 51. Kb1 $6 {This is a bad move, as white has trapped his own king on the queenside. Here I decided to move my king over the kingside and go after his kingside pawns.} Rc6 52. Re4+ Kc5 53. Re5+ Kc4 54. Re7 f5 55. Ra7 a4 56. Rd7 Re6 57. Rb7 Re1+ 58. Ka2 {I got distracted and missed Ka2. I thought after Kc2 I would win a pawn by force.} Re2 59. g3 Rxh2 60. Rg7 Rg2 61. Rxg6 f4 $1 {Wining the g-pawn, as white can't take gxf4 because of Rxg6} 62. Rc6+ (62. g4 hxg4 63. fxg4 f3) 62... Kd5 63. Rh6 Rxg3 64. Rxh5+ Kc4 65. Rf5 Rxf3 66. Rf8 Rf1 67. Rf5 {Here I completely missed b4! which wins the game immediately.} f3 (67... b4 {[%cal Gb4b3,Gf1a1]}) 68. Rf4+ Kd3 69. Rf8 Ke2 70. Re8+ Kf2 71. Rf8 Re1 72. Rf7 Re5 73. Rf8 Ke2 {Here White resigned, we both put up a good fight considering this is a 5 + hour long game} 0-1

[Event "WA State Championship (Rising Stars)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Razmov, Gabriel"]
[Black "Gadde, Arnav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "1774"]
[BlackElo "1556"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Razmov"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,85,32,27,41,3,19,-1,5,-31,3,-15,-13,-29,-10,-32,-10,-10,-20,-16,-5,-22,-9,-27,3,-19,-20,-43,-51,-35,-36,-36,-17,-23,-8,-23,-43,-36,-17,-17,0,-20,2,-26,71,64,81,73,90,91,130,129,143,135,193,191,218,113,220,115,133,112,114,108,112,111,107,101,171,145,153,145,160,160,222,208,212,205,195,211,214,214,215,231,231,229,1021,1049]} 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 {I chose this sideline to avoid mainline French theory, which my opponent might be better prepared in. This variation leads to a complex fight that ends up quite like some King's Indian Attack positions.} Nf6 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. h3 $5 $146 {An interesting novelty, played to avoid a future ...Ng4 by Black that could lead to a possibly weak e3-square.} (6. Ne2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nf4 {is a more common variation.}) 6... Be7 7. Ne2 h6 8. O-O O-O 9. f4 $6 {White begins to overextend here, dreaming about attacking and/or having major control over the center. Better was 9.c4, fighting for the d5 square.} (9. c4 d4 {and now} (9... dxe4 {is another try, after which} 10. dxe4 $1 Nh7 11. Nc3 b6 12. Nf3 Bb7 13. Bf4 g5 14. Be3 {leads to a dynamic equality.}) 10. f4 {when White has a quite acceptable position.}) 9... d4 $6 {Closing the center, and wrongly so. Black should aim to open up the center to try to dispel White's ideas of kingside expansion.} (9... dxe4 {would be a better choice. After something like} 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. dxe4 Qc7 12. Nc3 Rd8 13. Qg4 Nd4 $15 {Black would retain an edge.}) 10. Nf3 $14 Qc7 11. c4 $6 {Aiming to control the d5-square, but missing that after Black captures en passant on c3 White cannot recapture with a pawn.} (11. g4 $1 {would have been the right move, following up on the plan for kingside expansion. Clearly White's planning wasn't very consistent here.} e5 (11... a5 12. Ng3 a4 13. a3 c4 14. e5 $14) 12. f5 $14 {and White would have a very nice attacking position.}) 11... dxc3 $15 12. Nxc3 (12. bxc3 {would hand Black a good position after} c4 13. e5 cxd3 14. Qxd3 Rd8 $15 {when Black has a slight edge and the kingside is no longer a danger to them.}) 12... Rd8 13. Qe2 b6 14. e5 $6 {Attempting to expand even more in the center, but this ends up closing the center, which is not what White should aim for. In addition, it gives the d5 square to Black on a silver platter.} (14. Be3 Ba6 15. Rfd1 Nd4 16. Qf2 $15 {retaining a complex position with chances for both sides.}) 14... Nd5 $17 {Now Black owns the center, and White is clearly experiencing difficulties.} 15. Nxd5 exd5 $2 {An automatic and understandable choice, but an incorrect one. The d-file is more important, and White does not get that much pressure along the long diagonal, which is probably what Black was worried about.} (15... Rxd5 $1 16. Ne1 Rd8 17. Be3 Bb7 {and Black has stabilized the diagonal and retains an overall advantage.}) 16. a3 $6 {Trying to keep the Black knight off of b4, but this is a slow approach.} (16. g4 {was a better plan, once again going for a 4-vs-3 kingside expansion and attack. One defensive plan for Black may be} f5 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. g5 {with a sharp position.}) 16... Be6 $2 {An attempt at defense, but the bishop is misplaced on e6 - the long diagonal would suit it better.} (16... f5 {is a more active defensive plan, leading to an unclear and approximately equal position after} 17. Be3 Be6 $15) 17. Be3 $2 {Once again, indecisive. White should go for the kingside attack, which he started pursuing early on.} (17. g4 $1 {and White has a clear advantage after} Bc8 (17... g6 $6 {does not work due to} 18. f5 gxf5 19. gxf5 Bxf5 20. Bxh6) 18. f5 f6 19. Bf4) 17... d4 {Now, Black might get counterplay with ...c4 in the future. White must tread carefully.} 18. Bf2 $10 Rac8 19. Nd2 Qd7 20. Kh2 $6 (20. g4 $1 {is more accurate, keeping the balance. It also underscores how badly placed Black's Be6 is.} Bd5 21. Ne4 $10) 20... Bd5 $6 (20... Na5 $1 21. Rac1 b5 $15) 21. Ne4 Bxe4 $2 {A clear error, as the Ne4 wasn't going anywhere. Now White can pursue the kingside attack with energy and obtain a big advantage.} (21... Na5 $1 {is a more active plan, aiming for ...c4 with lots of counterplay for Black. Both sides have chances, but Black easily has an edge.} 22. Qh5 c4 $15) 22. Bxe4 $16 f5 23. Bf3 (23. exf6 $1 Bxf6 24. g4 $16) 23... Rf8 24. g4 Rc7 $6 (24... Bd8 25. gxf5 $18) 25. Bg3 $18 {Stabilizing the f4-pawn. Another strong continuation was to capture immediately.} (25. gxf5 Rxf5 (25... Qxf5 26. Bg3 $18 {with the same idea as the game.}) 26. Bg4) 25... fxg4 $6 (25... g6 26. Rg1 Kh7) 26. Bxg4 Qd5 27. f5 Kh8 28. Rae1 Bg5 29. e6 $2 {Missing an immediate win, after which White's advantage begins to slide.} (29. f6 $1 {is a neat tactic which takes advantage of the weak e6-square. White missed that after 29...gxf6 30.exf6 Rcf7 they have 31.Be6, winning material.} Qd8 30. Qe4 c4 31. dxc4 Na5 32. fxg7+ Rxg7 33. Rxf8+ Qxf8 34. Qxd4 $18 {White is easily winning in this position.}) 29... Rcc8 30. Bf3 Qb3 31. Be4 $6 (31. Bxc6 $1 {is an interesting opportunity aiming to remove any chances of a blockade on e7. After} Rxc6 32. Qh5 $1 Qxd3 33. Rf2 $1 $18 {with the idea to remove the rook from the vulnerable f1-square, thus preventing ...Rxf5. White has a winning advantage owing to their passed pawns.}) 31... Bf6 32. Qg2 Ne7 33. Rf2 $6 (33. Bd6 $16 {was slightly better, limiting Black's activity. At this point, White is still better, but no longer as convincingly.}) 33... Qa4 $2 {A losing mistake, after which White converts smoothly.} (33... c4 $1 {aiming for counterplay was once again the best defensive plan, though Black remains in difficulties after} 34. Bd6 $16) 34. Bd6 Qe8 35. Bb7 Rd8 36. Bc7 {Winning an Exchange via trapping the Black rook.} Rc8 $6 {Essentially a resignation.} (36... c4 $5 {tries to fight on, though after} 37. dxc4 d3 38. Bxd8 Qxd8 39. Be4 $18 {White retains a winning position.}) 37. Bxc8 Qxc8 38. Be5 Bxe5+ 39. Rxe5 Qc7 40. Qg3 $1 {Carefully unpinning the Re5.} Rf6 41. Re1 Qxg3+ 42. Kxg3 Nxf5+ $6 {Missing a tactic for White, although Black's position is objectively lost already. After} 43. Rxf5 {my opponent resigned, seeing that the e-passer cannot be stopped. This was an interesting, back-and-forth game in which White did not stay consistent to the early plan of attacking on the kingside. As a result, Black had his chances with queenside and central counterplay, but missed opportunities to put pressure there and eventually, the pressure on him took its toll, so White was able to prevail. This win allowed me to tie for 3rd place, which was quite pleasing after a loss on the previous day had taken me out of contention for 1st place in my section.} 1-0

[Event "WA State Championship (Rising Stars)"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2024.02.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Lee, Boas"]
[Black "Karamali, Saiya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1721"]
[BlackElo "1654"]
[Annotator "Saiya Karamali"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,46,28,39,29,38,35,42,65,37,53,43,73,47,53,52,38,46,39,3,1,-59,-56,-57,-56,-74,-68,-50,162,-57,-75,-75,-69,-135,-156,-210,-171,-212,-214,-220,-232,-242,-223,-247,-210,-214,-171,-29997,-29998] This game ended suddenly, but looking over the game I was fascinated by the opening and early middlegame complexities. Both players were at the bottom of the standings going into the second weekend and we were running out of chances to turn things around.} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Be2 Qxd5 5. h3 {Timely. Black would love to take on f3 but the endgame has never looked desirable to me, even though the computer likes it better. Instead, Black's position will quickly become cramped with her h5 bishop inhibiting the Queen's lateral movement to f5 and h5.} Bh5 (5... Bxf3 6. Bxf3 Qe5+ 7. Qe2 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 e5 {Supposedly, this is equal, but White has the bishop pair in the endgame.}) 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 e6 8. c4 Qd7 (8... Qf5 {The move I would love to play, but the piece sacrifice leads to an unclear position} 9. g4 Bxg4 10. hxg4 Qxg4+ 11. Kh1 {Black has a strong attack, but it's hard to tell whether it's enough for the material}) 9. Nc3 (9. Be3 {This would have been more precise, with the bishop pointing towards White's queenside and discouraging Black from castling queenside. In the game, White could not play Be3 without sacrificing the d4 pawn.} Rd8 {In his excellent book on this line, David Smerdon says of this position "White has achieved everything she could want from her opening .. .. [but] Black's position is still very solid, and White is obliged to worry constantly about the d4-pawn." Still, I certainly would not love to be Black here!}) 9... O-O-O 10. Be3 $6 {This not only gives up a pawn, but takes some of the sting out of White's attack.} (10. Qa4 {The most critical move, forcing Black to play precisely} Bxf3 $1 11. Bxf3 Nxd4 12. Qxa7 Nxf3+ 13. gxf3 Qc6 {Black is doing fine here, but it certainly looks scary}) 10... Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Qxd4 13. Qa4 a6 $4 (13... Qb6 {This was the move I wanted to play, but I could not make it work.} 14. b4 Qxb4 15. Qxa7 Bc5 $1 {the move I missed} 16. Bxb7+ Kd7 {Again, Black's king is safe but it's tough to play this way}) 14. a3 $4 (14. Bxb7+ {Both of us missed this move, winning material} Kxb7 15. Rad1) 14... Bd6 15. Rfd1 Qc5 16. b4 Qxc4 $1 {The only move after which Black is better, undermining White's attack} (16... Qe5 17. b5 {White's attack breaks through}) 17. Rac1 Bf4 $1 18. Rc2 Rxd1+ 19. Bxd1 Qd4 (19... Rd8 20. Bf3 Rd2 {This would have been simpler, giving White fewer chances to drum up an attack}) 20. Bf3 Rd8 21. Qb3 Bd6 (21... Ne4 $1 {another nice idea that leads to simplification. The knight cannot be taken on account of White's back rank issues., and Nxc3 cannot be stopped.} 22. b5 a5 {Nxc3 cannot be stopped}) 22. b5 Qe5 23. Re2 $4 {Blundering into mate in 2.} (23. g3 a5 24. b6 c6 {this certainly looked scary as I was struggling to make time control} 25. Na4 Kb8 {[%emt 0:00:40] Black is winning here, but it would not have been easy to defend with only 20 minutes to reach move}) 23... Qh2+ 0-1

[Event "WA State Championship (Rising Stars)"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Cheng, Selina"]
[Black "Palathingal, Raphael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "1543"]
[BlackElo "1781"]
[Annotator "Selina Cheng"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2024.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,33,29,19,19,8,22,6,17,3,7,-3,17,15,15,32,5,11,11,22,11,-113,35,34,11,26,26,38,65,80,53,40,44,46,46,25]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {e4, e5, Nf3, Nc6, Bb5, the Ruy Lopez.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. Nxe5 {I have done this little fork many times in my previous games.} Nxe5 8. d4 Bxd4 9. Qxd4 d6 10. Bg5 {Here, I forgot about c5 and I played Bg5. Luckily, Rafael played h6, or I would've been down a bishop, and probably, lose the game.} h6 11. Bxf6 {I captured to prevent c5.} (11. Bh4 {If I made this move I would be down a bishop.} c5 12. Qe3 c4 13. f4 Nc6 14. Bxc4 bxc4 {And now I am down a piece.}) 11... Qxf6 {He is threatening to go Nf3. If I made a random move like h3, I would lose a queen as the line below shows.} 12. Qc3 (12. h3 Nf3+ 13. gxf3 Qxd4) 12... c5 {Rafael is trying to trap my bishop.} 13. Bd5 Rb8 14. f4 Nd7 15. e5 Qf5 16. Nd2 O-O 17. Rae1 {I develop my rook.} Nb6 18. Be4 Qe6 19. exd6 Qxd6 20. b3 {I did this to prevent Na4, and losing a pawn, as the line shows below.} (20. h3 Na4 21. Qe3 Nxb2) 20... Be6 21. f5 Bd5 22. f6 {I push this pawn to attack the king.} b4 23. Qe3 Rbd8 24. fxg7 Rfe8 25. Qf3 Be6 26. Bd3 {I bring back my bishop to open the e file.} Qd4+ 27. Kh1 Kxg7 {Rafael had missed Rxe6, a move that would make him down a piece and potentially, mate. He should have tried to trade queens by Qg4, instead of this fatal mistake. According to the engine, there is mate in 8.} 28. Rxe6 {I hesitated to play this move because I was afraid that it would fail. I took a lot of time to think about this move. And eventually, I realized that this rook sacrifice would work!} Rf8 (28... Qd7 {[%emt 0:00:08] Mate in} 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Bh7+ Kxh7 31. Qxh6+ Kg8 32. Qg5+ Kf8 33. Rg6 f5 34. Qh6+ Kf7 35. Qg7#) 29. Qg3+ Kh8 30. Rxh6# {And... checkmate.} 1-0

[Event "WA State Championship (Prodigies)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Shah, Kanav"]
[Black "Wong, Kate"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
[BlackElo "1277"]
[Annotator "Kanav Shah"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,109,20,-6,-20,-15,25,54,90,71,66,56,69,57,58,-2,52,-1,22,45,54,2,28,22,36,28,80,42,92,98,107,93,78,82,171,150,168,170,170,146,166,154,158,77,139,147,148,156,171,186,184,189,183,201,217,221,235,232,239,242,245,244,274,244,246,222,273,250,594,600,595,602,612,592,589,573,617,506,507,514,529,535,536,541,546,553,560,439,448,416,535,542,627,576,583,539,540,584,652,695,721,744,1014,977,1252,1282,1749,1799,29987,29988,29999,29999]} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. e3 c6 4. a3 $5 {d4 would be a normal move but after pawn trade Bb4 would be annoying pin so a3.} Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. exd4 Bb6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Qe7+ 9. Be2 O-O 10. d5 $6 {Trying to take the space advantage and stopping opponents d5. Better would be Nf3 and castle.} d6 11. Nf3 Nbd7 12. O-O Ne5 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 $2 {This looses the pawn instantly so better would be:-} (13... dxe5 14. Re1 Re8 15. Bf3 $16) 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Bg3 Qe6 16. Qxd6 Qxd6 17. Bxd6 Re8 18. c5 $1 {Completely shutting down the dark bishop's diagonal and fixing the c6 weakness.} Bd8 19. b4 Be7 20. Bxe7 Rxe7 21. a4 $2 {Missed the easy way to convert the advantage. Though its still better for white.} (21. Bf3 $1 Bb7 22. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 {followed by b5.}) 21... Rc7 22. Rac1 Rb8 23. b5 cxb5 24. Nxb5 Re7 25. Bd3 Ba6 26. c6 Bxb5 $6 {Can't give connected passed pawns so easily.} 27. axb5 Rc7 28. Ra1 {Rule of 2 weaknesses:- a7 and passed pawn.} Nd5 29. Ra5 Nb6 30. Rfa1 Ra8 31. Ra6 {With the idea of Rxb6!} Rd8 32. Bc2 Re8 33. h3 {Stopping the only threat that black possesses, which is back rank mate.} Ree7 $4 {Forgetting the same back rank mate for herself.} 34. Rxb6 $3 g6 (34... axb6 35. Ra8+) 35. Rb8+ {Rest is mere formality.} Kg7 36. Rb1 h5 37. Ba4 Kf6 38. b6 axb6 39. R8xb6 Re6 40. Rb7 {Simplifying the material always helps.} Ree7 41. Rxc7 Rxc7 42. Rb7 Rc8 43. c7 {Clearer would be:-} (43. Rd7 Ke6 44. c7 {Blocking the king from attacking on c7 pawn.}) 43... Ke7 44. Kh2 Ke6 45. Kg3 g5 46. h4 f6 47. hxg5 fxg5 48. f4 h4+ 49. Kh3 gxf4 50. Kxh4 f3 {Final Desperation} 51. gxf3 Ke7 52. Kg5 Rg8+ 53. Kf4 Rc8 54. Ke5 Ra8 55. c8=Q# {1-0. Very rare and interesting mate. "Promotion mate"} 1-0

[Event "WA State Championship (Prodigies)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bharadwaj, Samarth"]
[Black "Xu, Zoe"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B56"]
[WhiteElo "1353"]
[BlackElo "1217"]
[Annotator "Samarth Bharadwaj"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,44,20,24,60,43,66,65,68,38,48,34,42,17,35,38,31,29,28,35,22,20,30,29,142,169,239,224,231,224,227,244,241,237,257,257,346,271,376,397,393,316,316,316,495,507,611]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. h3 {I thought my opponent would play e5 or e6 but I did not expect Bd7} Bd7 {I had not seen this move before} 7. Be3 g6 8. Qd2 Bg7 9. O-O-O a6 10. f3 Qc7 11. g4 O-O-O $2 12. g5 $1 {I liked this move a lot as after 12.Nh5 13.Nd5 comes with a lot of force!} Nh5 13. Nd5 $1 Qb8 14. Nxc6 {I was trying to find a way to attack the king but could not find a blow.} Bxc6 15. Nxe7+ Kd7 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Ke7 18. Rg1 $2 {I touched the rook on accident and played a nothing move as a result} Rhe8 $2 19. Bc4 $1 Rf8 20. f4 $1 {starting the attack!} b5 21. Bb3 Rd7 22. e5 Qb7 23. exd6+ Kd8 24. Bb6+ $3 {declining the queen trade in style.} Kc8 25. Qc5+ Kb8 26. Bd5 $1 {black is to cramped to reach the half point.} Qc8 27. Bc6 $1 {27.Bc7+ wins only an exchange however 27.Bc6 wins two therefore what I chose.} Rfd8 28. Bxd8 {If 28.Rxd8 29.Qb6+ is game over.} Qxd8 29. Bxd7 {Being up two exchanges convertion was simple.} Qxd7 30. Qb6+ Kc8 31. Rge1 Nxf4 32. Re7 Ne2+ 33. Kb1 Nf4 34. Rxd7 Kxd7 35. Qc7+ Ke6 36. d7 Kf5 37. d8=Q Nxh3 38. Qd5+ Kg4 39. Qc8+ Kg3 40. Rd3+ Kf4 41. Qe8 Nxg5 42. Qe3+ Kg4 43. Qexg5# 1-0

[Event "WA State Championship (Prodigies)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.02.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wong, Kate"]
[Black "Chen, Andy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "1277"]
[BlackElo "1419"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "2024.02.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,143,25,16,71,60,78,65,34,40,55,44,48,21,29,16,33,48,52,50,45,45,48,44,71,69,79,42,58,33,32,34,25,19,19,6,3,-2,0,-33,-58,-67,-79,-58,0,0,-26,-47,-40,-75,-76,-61,-64,-66,-57,-59,-10,0,61,31,21,35,28,-49,-53,-57,-57,-101,-82,-80,-109,-90,-80,-131,-24,-45,-38,-38,-15,-25,0,-22,-6,-21,-28,-38,-32,-46,7,8,3,7,1,0,0,0,25,-18,-14,-7,0,-18,-12,-10,-17,-20,-18,-17,-17,-15,-12,-11,-13,-23,-10,-12,-5,-6,-16,-5,-5,-5,-5,-25,-6,-26,-23,-14,-11,-4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. O-O Nf6 6. Re1 Nc6 7. c3 g6 ({The sort of "normal" way to play this position is} 7... e6 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 d5 10. e5 Ne4 {with rough equality. Development might continue} 11. Nbd2 Nxd2 12. Bxd2 Be7 13. Rc1 O-O {.}) 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bg7 ({The reason 7...e6 is preferred over ...g6 is seen in the line} 9... d5 10. e5 Ne4 $14 {, where Black's bishop has a more limited role on g7, biting on the white central pawn chain.}) 10. Nc3 ({White can also consider the space-grab} 10. d5 $14 {, here or on one of the next few moves, with a small edge:} Ne5 11. Nxe5 dxe5 12. Nc3 {.}) 10... O-O 11. Bg5 Rfd8 12. Qd2 Rac8 13. Bh6 b6 $6 ({Weakening the c6-square, which has the potential to become an outpost for White.} 13... e5 {instead requests some central clarification, and after} 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 {Black's disadvantage is manageable.}) 14. Qg5 ({It isn't clear what this is intended to accomplish.} 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. d5 Ne5 {and now instead of capturing on e5 as in previous lines involving the d5 advance,} 16. Nd4 $1 {eyes that c6-outpost square.}) 14... Qg4 15. Qxg4 (15. Qe3 $14) 15... Nxg4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. a3 ({Creating minor weaknesses.} 17. Rad1 {completes centralization with equality.}) 17... Na5 18. h3 Nf6 19. Rad1 $2 ({It suddenly becomes difficult to defend tactics involving the b2-pawn and under-defended knight on c3.} 19. Rac1 {was safer, adding protection to the knight on the open file.}) 19... Nc4 $1 20. Rb1 Nxb2 (20... Nxa3 $1 {is more forcing, disallowing knight moves in reply by hitting the white rook.}) 21. Nb5 $1 Nc4 $6 ({Introducing various desperado-style tactics that muddy the position.} 21... Rc2 $1 22. Nxa7 $6 Ra8 23. Nb5 Ra5 $17) 22. Nxa7 Ra8 23. Nb5 (23. Nc6 Rdc8 24. Nxe7 Rc7 25. e5 $5 $13) 23... d5 24. exd5 (24. Nc7 $5 Rxa3 25. Nxd5 Nxd5 26. exd5 Rxf3 $1 27. gxf3 Nd2 28. Kg2 Nxb1 29. Rxb1 {with a position deserving an endgame study all its own. Evaluation? Certainly no winning chances for White, but are there any for Black? No idea. Could be fun!}) 24... Nxd5 25. Rb3 Ra5 26. Rc1 Rc8 27. Rc2 Kf6 $6 (27... Rc6 $15 {prevents 28.Ne5.}) 28. Ne5 Ra4 $6 29. Nc3 (29. Rf3+ $1 {shifts the initiative to White! Since 29...Ke6?? 30.Re2 is winning for White, Black must retreat:} Kg7 (29... Kg5 30. Nxf7+ $16) 30. Rxf7+ Kg8 31. Rf3 $14) 29... Nxc3 30. Rbxc3 b5 31. Nd7+ ({White plays for a repetition.} 31. Rf3+ Ke6 32. Re2 Kd5 {is probably heading toward a complicated draw.}) 31... Kg7 32. Ne5 f6 $1 33. Nd3 $6 (33. Nxc4 Rcxc4 (33... Raxc4 34. Rxc4 Rxc4 $4 (34... bxc4 {:} 35. Kf1 Kf7 36. Ke1 $1 Ke6 37. Re2+ $1 Kd6 38. Kd2 Ra8 39. Kc3 {.}) 35. Rxc4 bxc4 36. Kf1 {and White's outside passed pawn is decisive.}) 34. d5 f5 35. Rxc4 bxc4 36. Rc3 f4 $15) 33... Rca8 34. Nb2 Nxa3 35. Re2 R4a7 36. Rb3 $6 (36. Rc5 Rb7 37. d5 {leads to a tough defense, when Black certainly has some chances to convert the extra pawn.}) 36... Nb1 $6 (36... Rc8 $17 {puts Black's rooks on both open files. Activity matters.}) 37. Nd1 Na3 38. Nc3 {Now it is hard to hang onto the extra pawn, and even if Black manages to pick up the white d-pawn, four versus three on the kingside is a technically drawn single rook ending.} Nc4 39. Rxb5 Rd8 40. d5 Ra1+ 41. Kh2 Rd7 42. Re6 Rc1 43. Na4 Rc2 44. Rc5 Na3 45. Rxc2 Nxc2 46. Nb6 Rb7 47. Nc4 Kf7 48. Re2 Nd4 49. Rd2 Nb3 50. Re2 Nd4 51. Rd2 Nf5 52. d6 Rd7 53. dxe7 Rxd2 54. Nxd2 Kxe7 55. g4 Nd4 56. Kg2 Ke6 57. f4 Kd5 58. Kf2 Nc2 59. Kf3 Kd4 60. Nb3+ Kc4 61. Nc1 Kc3 62. h4 f5 63. gxf5 gxf5 64. Ne2+ Kd2 65. Ng3 Nd4+ 66. Kf2 Kd3 67. Nh5 Ke4 68. Nf6+ Kxf4 69. Nxh7 Kg4 70. Nf6+ Kxh4 71. Nd5 Kg4 72. Ne3+ {A nicely played, tough battle. Congratulations to the players.} 1/2-1/2

