[Event "Oregon Open 2000+"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Palathingal, Rafael"]
[Black "Tabet, Roger"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E94"]
[WhiteElo "1947"]
[BlackElo "2113"]
[Annotator "Roger Tabet"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[GameId "2093788474585142"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,129,19,31,14,30,64,47,24,32,29,43,30,39,63,54,51,46,40,49,53,32,18,-7,-7,-13,-20,-34,4,-44,-57,-56,-35,-95,-80,-84,-84,-79,-84,-84,-90,-73,-68,-71,-65,-65,-69,-104,-53,-70,-70,-69,-42,-38,-23,-64,-39,-39,-40,-31,-32,-36,-41,-32,-42,-36,-36,-51,-10,-4,0,0,0,0,0,6,36,0,11,21,13,-6,0,-38,-35,-32,-51,-47,-36,-46,-14,-6,-9,-199,-246,-254,-179,-177,-96,-148,-151,-118,-71,-149,-142,-133,-122,-143,-146,-139,-132,-139,-141,-131,-119,-109,-110,-109,-115,-115,-104,-112,-6,-112,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Be2 Na6 7. O-O e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 Kg7 $1 13. Rad1 Be6 14. b3 c6 15. Nc3 {This was the first hard decision. The natural move Nc5 is good but black has to know how to deal with b4} g5 (15... Nc5 16. b4 $2 Nd7 17. a3 a5 $1) (15... Nb4 $1 {Good move too} 16. a3 $2 Nc2 17. a4 $17) 16. h4 $6 (16. Rxd8 Rxd8 17. Rd1 g4 18. Ne1 h5 $15) 16... g4 (16... gxh4 $1 {Taking was better} 17. Na4 Bg4) 17. Nh2 {Only move that does not lose a pawn. h4 is hanging but so is g4.} h5 18. g3 {I played g4 earlier to get to this forced position where the h2 knight is temporarily in Jail. But f3 is coming and I only have a few moves to ameliorate my position.} Be7 $1 (18... Nb4 $1 {Also good} 19. f3 gxf3 20. Bxf3 Rh8 $1 21. Rf2 Be7 $15) 19. f3 gxf3 (19... Bc5+ $1 {The best move.} 20. Kg2 Nb4 $17 {To get to c2 and e3 or d4}) 20. Nxf3 {A critical position. Maintaining the advantage here is not simple.} Bh3 $6 (20... Nb4 $1 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Rd1 Bc5+ 23. Kg2 Rxd1 24. Bxd1 f6 25. Ne1 Bd4 $1 $17) 21. Rxd8 $1 (21. Rfe1 $2 {I thought this first} Bb4 $2 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rd1 Rf8 (23... Rxd1+ $2 24. Nxd1 f6 $10)) 21... Rxd8 22. Rd1 Rxd1+ 23. Bxd1 $6 (23. Nxd1 $10) 23... Nc5 $6 $10 (23... Bb4 $1 24. Nb1 Bc5+ 25. Kh2 Bg4 26. Kg2 f6) 24. Ne1 $2 Kg6 {4 mn just on this move.} (24... Nxb3 $5 25. axb3 Bb4 26. Bxh5 Bxc3 27. Nc2 $10) 25. Kf2 Ne6 $2 $10 {Despite the bishop pair, this position is equal.} (25... a5 $1) 26. Nd3 f6 27. Ke3 Nd4 28. Ne2 $10 Nxe2 29. Bxe2 b6 30. Bf3 Be6 31. Kd2 a5 32. Kc3 Bd6 33. Be2 f5 {I thought breaking with f5 would help activate my bishops, but this is still equal.} 34. Bf3 $1 c5 (34... f4 $10 35. gxf4 exf4 36. e5 Bc7 37. Bxc6 Kf5 $10) 35. Kd2 fxe4 36. Bxe4+ Kf6 37. Ke3 Bf8 38. Bf3 Bh6+ 39. Ke2 Bf7 40. Nb2 {I find this idea strange but actually good. With Nf2 the control of the e4 square was clear and I had no way of progressing.} (40. Nf2 $1 $10) 40... Bg6 $1 $10 41. Nd1 $6 {A bad move. g4 was best.} (41. g4 $1 hxg4 42. Bxg4 e4 43. Na4 Ke5 44. h5 Bf7 45. Nxb6 $6 $17 Kf4 46. Nd7 Bg7 47. Nxc5 Kxg4 48. Ke3 Kf5 $15 49. Nxe4) 41... e4 $1 {Now or never. This takes space and allows the black King to enter via e5 and d4} 42. Bg2 Ke5 43. Ne3 $6 {Nc3 was best.} (43. Nc3 Bf5 $1 $17) 43... Kd4 44. Nd5 {The endgame starts to be interesting here. I missed the best move Bf5} e3 (44... Bf5 $1 45. Nxb6 $4 Bg4+ 46. Ke1 Kd3 $1 47. Bf1+ Kc2 48. Be2 Bd2+ 49. Kf1 Bh3+ 50. Kf2 e3+ 51. Kf3 Bg4+) 45. Bf3 Bb1 $3 {Very good move made with a few minutes on the clock. The idea was not so much to take the white paws, but to incite a3 then Bd3+ and b3 is weaker after Kc3 at some point.} (45... Bd3+ $2 $10 46. Kd1 b5 47. cxb5 Bxb5 $10) 46. Ke1 $4 {A bad move. a3 was more resilient.} (46. a3 Bd3+ $1 47. Ke1 Bc2 $1 48. Nxb6 Bg7 $19 {To go to e5 then g3}) 46... Bxa2 {We started blitzing here.} 47. Bd1 b5 (47... Bf8 $1 48. Nxb6 Bd6 49. Nd5 Bxg3+ 50. Ke2 Bxh4 $19) 48. Ne7 Bf8 $2 (48... Bxb3 $3 {The best move is to let the h6 Bishops hang and give the other bishop as well. The main idea is to clear the path for the a pawn.} 49. Bxb3 a4 $3 50. cxb5 (50. Ba2 b4 51. Nf5+ Kc3 52. Nxh6 b3 53. Bb1 a3 54. Nf5 a2) 50... axb3 51. b6 b2 52. b7 b1=Q+) (48... bxc4 {Also wins} 49. Nf5+ (49. bxc4 Kc3) 49... Kc3 50. Nxh6 cxb3 $19) 49. Nc6+ Kc3 50. Nxa5 bxc4 $4 {Gives away all the advantage and goes back to equality.} (50... b4 $1 51. Ke2 Bh6 52. Ke1 $19) 51. bxc4 $2 {Another mistake! Taking with the knight was the only move.} (51. Nxc4 $10 Bxb3 52. Bxb3 Kxb3 53. Nxe3 $10) 51... Bd6 $2 {Another Mistake! Bb1 was winning again. The game will be even from now on.} (51... Bb1 52. Bxh5 Bd3 53. Be2 Be4 54. Bd1 Kb4 55. Nb3 Kxc4 $19) 52. Ke2 Bc7 53. Nb7 Kd4 54. Nxc5 $3 {A brilliant move and the only idea that saves the game. Well found from my opponent.} (54. Kf3 $1 $10 {The only other good move, and for the same reason.} Bxc4 55. Nxc5 $7) 54... Bxc4+ 55. Kf3 Bd5+ 56. Ke2 Bxg3 (56... Kxc5 57. Kxe3 Bf7 58. g4 $10) 57. Nb3+ Ke4 58. Nc5+ Kd4 59. Nb3+ Ke4 60. Nc5+ Kf4 61. Nd3+ Kg4 62. Kxe3+ Kxh4 63. Bxh5 Kxh5 64. Nf4+ Bxf4+ 65. Kxf4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Oregon Open 2000+"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kodarapu, Ishaan"]
[Black "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A26"]
[WhiteElo "2091"]
[BlackElo "2362"]
[Annotator "Ishaan Kodarapu"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[GameId "2093155602350202"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d6 3. e4 e5 $5 {Quite an interesting opening; the move order is very weird.} 4. h3 $6 {I'm not sure what I was thinking when I played h3. This move is not useful. Better is} (4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 {And aiming for a English Botvinnik setup.}) 4... g6 5. d3 Bg7 6. g3 {Now we can see h3 was a wasted move, but does allow my bishop to go to e3 without being bothered with Ng4.} O-O 7. Bg2 Nc6 (7... c6 $5 {Is another interesting way to play this position. The end goal is to push d5, which he can prepare with Be6 and Nbd7-b6.}) 8. Nge2 Nd4 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Ne2 Nd7 11. O-O (11. b4 $5 {Maybe playing this before Black played ...c5 was a try.} c5 12. O-O $1 cxb4 13. Bb2 Qb6 14. a3 {Despite being down a pawn, White is preferable.}) 11... a5 {Stopping White's b4.} 12. b3 {With the idea of Bb2 and forcing c5.} Re8 13. Bb2 c5 14. a3 $2 {This move is utterly pointless. I had thought in the game I would try to play b4 but that doesn't even do much.} Rb8 {Preparing b5. I am forced to go a4.} (14... h6 {(Useless move)} 15. b4 {b4 only weakens my position; black has the nice} b5 $1 {ending with a complex position where Black should come out on top.}) 15. a4 {Basically, a3 was a wasted move.} Ne5 {I had seen this knight manoeuvre in advance. He obviously wants to go Nc6-b4} 16. Nf4 {Now I manoeuvre my Knight to d5.} Nc6 17. Nd5 Be6 {He wants to capture on d5 and play Nb4. This isn't really stoppable} 18. Bc1 $6 (18. Ba3 Bxd5 19. cxd5 Nb4 20. Bxb4 axb4 {Without a wasted Bc1.}) 18... Bxd5 19. cxd5 $5 {I had decided to capture this way to keep my chances alive. If the pawn structure was purely symmetrical, Black should never lose. I decided to take this risk, opening up the b5 push for Black.} Nb4 20. Ba3 {Now we can see 18. Bc1 was wasted!} b5 $1 {Black lashes out on the queenside finally} 21. axb5 Rxb5 22. Kh2 $2 {Not a necessary move. After checking with the engine, I saw that} (22. h4 $1 {immediately is fine. I had played this a move later, but Kh2 had pretty much been wasted. The whole idea behind this is to try and soften up Black's kingside. The next moves for White will be h5 and f4-f5, while Black naturally gravitates towards the queenside in hopes of picking up the isolated b3 pawn.}) 22... Na6 23. h4 {I start the kingside "attack" if you can call it that. Only way Black can play for an advantage here is} Nb8 $2 {Nb8 is totally unnecessary.} (23... Qb6 $1 {And I had} 24. Bc1 $1 Rxb3 25. Rxa5 $1 {Calculated.} Rb8 {However, Black is still better here because of the d3-pawn and his activity.}) 24. f4 $2 {In my mind, I had still considered that Black would go for the b3 pawn with Qb6. I thought I was going to simply march my pawns and get significant counterplay. However} (24. Bc1 $1 {Is a much better move. The idea is simple: defend the a3-pawn.} Qb6 25. Ra3 Nd7 {Only way Black is winning b3 is by moving his knight out of the way.} 26. Bh3 Nf6 27. h5 $1 Rb8 28. h6 Bf8 29. Bd2 {White is completely fine here.}) 24... Nd7 25. Bh3 h5 26. Bc1 {I realized that I actually have time to transfer my f1-rook to the defense of the b3 pawn, because Black has his knight to worry about} Nf6 27. Rf2 $2 (27. f5 $1 Qb6 28. Bg5 {Black is given no time to mess around on the queenside. Actually, he's starting to have serious problems on the kingside.}) 27... Qb6 28. Ra3 Rb8 29. Rb2 Kh7 30. Qc2 $2 {Black is simply better now. He has pretty much stopped all traces of counterplay ever happening on the kingside. He can easily continue to slowly squeeze his advantage.} (30. f5 $1 {Attacking as soon as possible, while keeping the White queen flexible! Qc2 was very commital, but by keeping the queen on d1, I give myself more chances to transfer it over to the kingside if necessary. It is not clear how Black will continue.}) 30... Ng4+ 31. Bxg4 hxg4 32. Qe2 c4 $2 {This is not a terrible move; however, he gives me a lot of chances to make something happen on the kingside, because all of his pieces are on the queenside.} (32... f5 $1 {Very simple move!} 33. exf5 gxf5 34. Qe6 Rf8 {And White has nothing here.}) 33. Qxg4 Rxb3 34. Raxb3 cxb3 35. f5 {Finally, we see this pawn break. It is Black who has to play precisely in order to keep his advantage. Otherwise, he could allow a perpetual, or even could get into some trouble *hint hint*.} Qc5 $2 {He goes on the offensive, but this is not the best move.} (35... Qc7 $1 {The idea is that Black leaves the infiltration of Qc3 on the table, as well as bringing his queen to the kingside if necessary.}) 36. Bf4 {Now according to the engines, the position is equal. However, it is very tricky to play for Black. In the game, I was pretty much going for a draw, but maybe Black could mess up somewhere and give White a win.} Qc3 37. Rf2 Qxd3 38. fxg6+ (38. Bxd6 {First is also fine.}) 38... fxg6 39. Bxd6 {Defending e4.} Re8 40. e5 $3 {With less than 2 minutes on the clock, it's not easy to find this move, but it was kind of a gut feeling to play it. I thought that if Black took it, he would lose, but the real idea is just to defend the pawn, as Black was simply threatening Qxe4.} Rxe5 $4 {Suddenly, White is completely winning!!!} (40... Qe3 $1 41. Rf7 b2 42. Rxg7+ Kxg7 43. Qd7+ Kh6 44. Qxe8 {Black cannot even promote a queen here, as Qh8 is threatened. Black is actually the one forced to make a perpetual with} Qf2+ 45. Kh3 Qf5+ (45... Qf1+ 46. Kh2 Qe2+ 47. Kh3) 46. g4 $1 {Not} (46. Kh2 $4 Kh5 $1 {And there is no perpetual for White.}) 46... Qf3+ 47. Kh2 $10) 41. Bxe5 Bxe5 42. h5 $6 {Simpler was the immediate} (42. d6 {Black cannot take the pawn, but can't really let the pawn run either} Bxd6 (42... Qe3 43. Rf7+ Bg7 44. d7 $18) 43. Qd7+) 42... a4 43. d6 a3 44. d7 Bc7 45. d8=Q Bxd8 46. Qd7+ Kh6 47. Qxd8 Qe3 48. Qh8+ Kg5 49. Qf6+ {Overall a crazy game, which for the most part was unclear. However, by creating annoying chances on the kingside, I was able to win this game!} 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open 2000+"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Raptis, Nick"]
[Black "Tang, Zoey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2348"]
[BlackElo "2343"]
[Annotator "Zoey Tang"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[GameId "2093089233256511"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,94,28,30,20,-12,-10,-17,-1,-29,9,-14,-16,-3,-6,-6,-16,-29,-36,-31,21,-1,-20,-12,15,-34,-30,-32,16,-62,-65,-64,-63,-83,-94,-96,-96,-100,-88,-86,-76,-132,-66,-88,-85,-80,-99,-134,-124,-124,-130,-129,-109,-72,-72,-93,-93,-95,-102,-102,-110,-123,-125,-110,-216,-216,-221,-253,-284,-285,-247,-430,-489,-473,-472,-507,-545,-543,-716,-687,-704,-740,-778,-817,-804,-873,-349,-363,-363,-366,-379,-770,-489,-489,-549,-665,-376] Going into the penultimate round, Nick was the only player on 4/4, while I was one of two players with 3.5/4. Standings-wise, I had to win if I wanted a realistic chance of finishing in first.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 {...and there goes all my preparation from the previous night!} d5 3. Bg2 Bf5 {Because white's setup has been rather slow to control the center, I'm able to develop my pieces to the most natural squares. Qb3, the typical refutation to an early Bf5, isn't even legal here!} 4. c4 c6 {The opening has now transposed into a reversed London, where "black" has chosen to fianchetto the kingside bishop.} 5. cxd5 {I was surprised by this move during the game. Normally, keeping the tension (so as to not allow black's knight to get to c6 easily) is preferable.} (5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Nh4 $11) 5... cxd5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Nc3 e6 {[#]} 8. Qb3 $6 {The queen is misplaced here, as it is always in danger of becoming trapped.} a6 {A typical way to defend the b7 pawn; however, there are better options here.} (8... Nb4 $1 {The easiest way to seize the advantage. Already, black is threatening to win on the spot with Bc2.} 9. Qa4+ Nd7 10. O-O $4 Bc2 11. b3 a6 $1 $19 {Quiet moves are always the hardest to see! Now b5 is unstoppable.}) 9. O-O (9. Qxb7 $4 Na5 $19) 9... Be7 10. Bf4 {Now white is threatening Qxb7, since the queen can escape to c7 later.} Na5 11. Qd1 O-O 12. Ne5 Rc8 13. Rc1 b5 14. Bg5 $6 {Trading off the bishop for black's knight isn't the most palatable idea, but it's hard to come up with reasonable moves for white.} ({Humanly speaking, playing} 14. e3 {and waiting around isn't the most natural idea.} Nc4 15. Qe2 h6 16. h4 Bb4 $15 {White isn't losing, but this is not the type of position you'd like to play.}) (14. e4 $1 {When down space, blow everything up!} dxe4 15. g4 Bg6 16. Nxg6 hxg6 17. Nxe4) 14... h6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 {[#] Even though my advantage is by no means decisive, at this point I was feeling pretty good about my chances. Nick was spending lots of time, which (given that it's not a particularly tactical position) meant that he didn't like his position much.} 16. Nf3 $2 {Not really improving.} (16. b3 {looks weakening, but at least it stops Nc4.} Be7 17. Nb1 Qd6 $17) 16... Qb6 $6 (16... Nc4 17. b3 Na3 $1 $19 {Crushing. Black is potentially threatening Bc2, and white still has zero reasonable moves.}) 17. e3 Rc7 18. Qe2 Rfc8 19. Nd2 Qb8 {Threatening b4 to crash through on the only open file.} (19... b4 $6 20. Na4 {I didn't want to allow the excessive trades, though after} Qb5 21. Qxb5 axb5 22. Nc5 Be7 $17 {black is still clearly better.}) 20. Ra1 $6 {[#]} Nc4 $2 {Making equal trades when you're the one putting pressure is usually not a great idea...} (20... b4 21. Na4 Qb5 22. Qxb5 axb5 23. Nc5 Nc4 $1 $19 {White has an impossible choice: take on c4 and straighten out black's structure, or lose the b2 pawn and give up the c4 outpost.}) 21. Nxc4 Rxc4 22. a3 a5 23. Rfd1 b4 24. axb4 axb4 25. Na4 {[#]} Be7 $4 {Too complacent. There's no need to stop Nc5, and the dark-squared had an important duty.} (25... b3 26. Nc5 {white doesn't even have this option because of} Bc2 27. Rdc1 R8xc5 28. dxc5 Bxb2 $19) 26. e4 $1 {Boom! Suddenly white has broken through the binds in the position.} Rc2 27. Qe3 dxe4 28. Bxe4 Bxe4 29. Qxe4 b3 30. Qe3 $4 {The problem with coming back from a losing position is that sometimes, your mentality doesn't adjust quickly enough. White had already managed to fight back to an equalish position!} (30. Qf3 $15 {Maintaining defence of the a8-h1 diagonal is critical, since without the fianchettoed light-squared bishop, the king can get airy. Black has no real targets here.}) 30... Qb7 {[#] I'm now threatening Ra8 or even h5-h4. There's no way to challenge the diagonal.} 31. Nc5 R8xc5 $1 ({I didn't see the exchange sacrifice at first. However, I wasn't completely satisfied with} 31... Bxc5 32. dxc5 R8xc5 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Rad1 {, where even though black has a clear advantage, I'll have to be careful with my king safety. It is a major piece endgame, after all.}) 32. dxc5 Bxc5 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Qd3+ {Even though white has this check, there's still no way to guard the f2 pawn. White's kingside falls apart.} f5 35. Rf1 Qb6 36. Kg2 Bxf2 37. Kh3 {[#]} Bg1 ({Black still has to exercise a bit of caution. A trap I almost fell into:} 37... Be3 $4 {, threatening Qb7 and Qb4, looks very nice, but white has} 38. Rxf5 $1 exf5 39. Qxf5+ Qg6 40. Rh8+ $1 $11 {This would have been very depressing.}) 38. g4 Qc7 39. Rd6 Rxh2+ 40. Kg3 Qe7 41. Rxg1 Qh4+ 42. Kf4 Qf2+ 43. Ke5 Qxg1 44. Kxe6 Qxg4 45. Qxb3 Re2+ 46. Kd7 Qe4 47. Kc7 Qc2+ {Even though I was playing with black, I managed to get an advantage straight from the opening. Barring some exceptional players, defense is nobody's forte, but Nick managed to fight all the way back to equal. Besides that small blip, though, we can pretend it was a smooth victory! I'd like to draw your attention to what happened after move 30 :)} 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open 2000+"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Wang, Ted"]
[Black "Kodarapu, Ishaan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2195"]
[BlackElo "2091"]
[Annotator "Ishaan Kodarapu"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[GameId "2093155851092107"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 {Sideline of the French Sicilian, presumably trying to avoid the main lines.} Nc6 {However, it's very easy for Black to play.} 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. c3 e5 {Stopping d4 for the foreseeable future. Black not has a reverse Botvinnik setup.} 9. a4 d6 10. Nc4 h6 {Preparing Be6. I looked at these sort of lines before the game and White's idea is to push b4, playing on the queenside. Black shouldn't be too afraid and should push on the kingside.} 11. Bd2 Be6 12. b4 f5 {White doesn't have anything concrete on the queenside. He can push b5, but he would probably just lose all his attack.} 13. exf5 {Correct, otherwise I would easily go f4 and the attack would play itself.} Bxf5 14. b5 $2 {The one and only mistake.} (14. bxc5 {Was correct, where after I would play} d5 $1 15. Nd6 Bxd3) 14... Bxd3 $1 (14... Na5 $2 15. Nxa5 Qxa5 16. Nh4 $1 {Either I give up the bishop pair, or lose a pawn.} Bc8 17. Be4 {It seems OK for Black here, but White is completely better}) 15. bxc6 Bxc4 16. cxb7 Rb8 {Perhaps he thought the pawn would be strong on b7, but it's actually just dead. From here, conversion was easy.} 17. Re1 Bd5 18. h4 Qd7 19. c4 Bxb7 20. Nh2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Nf5 22. Qg4 Qf7 23. Rf1 h5 24. Qe2 Nd4 25. Qe4 Qb7 26. Qxb7 Rxb7 27. Bg5 Bf6 28. Be3 Rb4 29. Rac1 Rc8 30. Nf3 Nxf3 31. Kxf3 Kf7 32. Ke2 Ke6 33. Rc2 Rxa4 34. Rb1 Rc6 35. Rb8 Rb6 36. Re8+ Kf7 37. Rc8 e4 38. Rc7+ Ke6 39. f3 exf3+ 40. Kxf3 Rb3 41. Ke2 Rb2 42. Rxb2 Bxb2 43. Kd3 Be5 44. Bf4 Bxf4 45. gxf4 Ra1 46. Rg7 Kf6 47. Rd7 Rd1+ 48. Ke3 a5 49. Ra7 Rd4 50. Ra6 Kf5 51. Rxa5 Rxc4 52. Ra6 Re4+ 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U2000"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.08.31"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bayrambeyli, Emel"]
[Black "Smolensky, Randall"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C57"]
[WhiteElo "1644"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[Annotator "Emel Bayrambeyli"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[GameId "2093559931510795"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,35,19,38,25,16,14,14,15,-37,16,-18,41,36,46,46,57,27,73,6,130,83,150,147,130,132,116,149,147,123,109,101,101,101,637,642,654,638] First of all, I would like to thank the tournament organizers, arbiters, and everyone who contributed to this amazing event. And of course, my heartfelt gratitude to my wonderful chess trainer Stanislav Ilin and my family, who support me in every way. Lastly, a big thank you to Green Chess Team for their support!} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4 $6 {An unexpected move from my opponent, playing unusually. This move surprised me, and I had to spend time analyzing it} 6. c3 {I realized the knight on d4 was strong, so I decided to chase it away} b5 {My opponent knows the theory very well and continues with an aggressive move} 7. cxd4 bxc4 8. O-O Qxd5 9. Re1 {The open e-file creates a pin that's uncomfortable for Black. The Black king is vulnerable and feels pressured.} e4 10. Nxe4 {It's the right moment to exploit the pin on the e-file. Black's king is left exposed.} Nxe4 (10... Be7 11. Nxf6+ gxf6 {White would still have a better position because of black's bad pawn structure}) 11. Nc3 Qd7 12. Rxe4+ Be7 13. Qe2 {I'm putting pressure on the bishop on e7, preventing Black from castling. I'm focusing on the weakness of the e7 bishop.} Bb7 14. Re3 (14. d5 {A move that I also considered}) 14... Kf8 15. b3 cxb3 $2 {Black should have continued development with Re8. cxb3 ruins Black's defense. They don't have time to finish their development.} 16. axb3 a6 17. Rxe7 {A critical rook sacrifice, taking advantage of Black's undeveloped position.} Qxe7 18. Ba3 {- Emel Bayrambeyli (Green Chess Club)} 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open U2000"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Marx, Jaden"]
[Black "Gorman, Cody"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "1821"]
[BlackElo "1875"]
[Annotator "Cody Gorman"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[GameId "2102771844079659"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,76,19,31,25,-16,-12,-25,-19,-7,3,13,8,4,0,-1,0,0,0,0,0,-52,4,-6,-19,-28,-10,0,5,1,8,-36,22,22,38,-140,-110,-110,-110,-132,-137,-142,-137,-103,-97,-106,-106,-114,-122,-109,-103,-104,-95,-98,-86,-108,-119,-390,-328,-321,-327,-548,-546,-700,-728,-742,-581,-654,-577,-738,-751,-765,-816,-873,-649,-746,-613,-672,-687]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qa4 {As someone who plays the Catalan, the move I would play is Ne5 whereas this allows Black to equalize nicely.} a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Nbd2 Nc6 $6 {Although I had this nice idea that the knight would simply move and attack the queen which would free up the c-pawn, there's no need for this maneuver when simply ...Nbd7 and ...Rc8 puts pressure on the queen. There's no need to chase the queen with ...Nc6 to b4 when White will have to move the queen off the c-file regardless.} 11. e3 (11. Ne4) 11... Nb4 12. Qb1 c5 13. a3 Nbd5 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. b4 $2 (15. e4) 15... Ba7 (15... Bxe3 $1 {I saw this during the game, but it didn't feel as decisive. If White accepts the sac with} 16. fxe3 Nxe3 {we end up in a neat position where White's development and piece placement hurt. For instance} 17. Re1 Nxg2 18. Kxg2 Rc8 {and White's in a tough position. White's bishop is tied to defend the d2-knight and Black has full control of the c- and d-files.}) 16. Bb2 Nxe3 17. Bxf6 $2 (17. Ng5 $1 {keeps White in the game and just creates chaos with multiple hanging pieces. The computer suggests White comes out a little better after} Qxd2 18. Bxf6 Nf5 19. Bxb7 Rab8) 17... gxf6 18. fxe3 Bxe3+ 19. Kh1 Bxd2 20. Rd1 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Ra7 22. Ra2 Rd7 23. Qb2 Bg5 24. Rxd7 Qxd7 25. h4 Qd3 26. Kg2 Be3 27. Qxf6 Rc8 28. Ra1 $2 {This loses the game by giving Black's rook entrance to the second rank.} Rc2+ 29. Kh3 Rf2 30. h5 h6 31. a4 Bg5 32. Rd1 Qxd1 33. Qxg5+ hxg5 34. Bxd1 Rd2 35. Bb3 Rb2 36. Bd1 Rxb4 37. axb5 axb5 38. Bc2 f5 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U2000"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Natarajan, Neil"]
[Black "Gorman, Cody"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B03"]
[WhiteElo "1739"]
[BlackElo "1875"]
[Annotator "Cody Gorman"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[GameId "2102776870188058"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. exd6 cxd6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bd3 $6 {This equalizes the position and puts the bishop on an ineffective square. Either Bb3 or Be2 is better.} Bg7 8. b3 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Bb2 Nb4 $2 {I thought going for the bishop pair was fine, but there's no need to attack the bishop and force it to retreat. ...Bg4 followed by ...e5 gives Black the edge in the opening.} 11. Be2 Bf5 12. Na3 {White could also just play c3 since if ...Nc2 is played, 13.g4 hurts.} Rc8 13. c3 N4d5 14. Qd2 e5 15. c4 Nf4 16. d5 $2 {This relieves any pressure in the center and gives Black a very comfortable position.} Nd7 17. g3 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Nc5 19. Qd2 Bd3 {I should have just done ...Bh3 and then ...f5. White kingside is under stress.} 20. Rfd1 Qd7 21. Ne1 (21. b4 Be4 22. Ng5 f6 23. Nxe4 Nxe4) 21... Bf5 22. Nac2 h5 23. Ne3 Bh6 24. Qe2 Bh3 25. N3g2 f5 26. f3 Rce8 27. Nd3 Nxd3 28. Qxd3 Qd8 29. Qc3 Qb6+ 30. Kh1 $2 (30. c5 {is the only way to keep the position from getting worse, by forcing a trade of queens and playing with a pawn down.}) 30... Qf2 31. Rg1 Kh7 32. Nh4 Be3 33. Rad1 g5 34. Ng2 Bd4 35. Qc1 Bxb2 36. Qxg5 Qxf3 37. Rd2 Bd4 38. Rgd1 Bxg2+ 39. Rxg2 Qxd1+ 40. Rg1 Qxg1# 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U1700"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Cheng, Selina"]
[Black "Sardar, Ekam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "1644"]
[BlackElo "1292"]
[Annotator "Selina Cheng"]
[PlyCount "167"]
[GameId "508996536169"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,167,28,15,15,22,22,8,13,32,11,11,25,25,98,98,92,92,92,92,99,92,98,83,94,54,52,52,50,45,50,39,42,42,129,62,62,47,62,62,54,55,56,60,60,60,60,47,39,23,12,-2,10,6,25,20,-2,0,-6,-24,239,221,352,190,199,196,196,131,293,285,337,368,396,430,473,86,100,102,105,106,106,106,106,112,112,112,106,106,68,68,68,40,106,0,0,0,0,0,69,92,160,165,166,188,189,204,317,342,411,434,442,457,454,552,552,680,808,833,833,833,833,618,670,1012,1016,1030,1453,28099,29967,29968,29969,29970,29975,29976,29977,29972,29973,1540,1543,1577,1686,2191,2221,28625,29981,29980,29981,29984,29985,29986,29989,29986,29987,28514,29987,29988,29989,29990,29991,29992,29995,29994,29995,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,29999]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Ruy Lopez, or the Spanish} Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 {I thought he'd go for main line 4. Nxe4, but apparently not!} 5. Nxe5 $140 {The idea of 5. d4 after 4... Nxe5} Nxe5 6. d4 Bxd4 {Black gets the pawn back} 7. Qxd4 Nc6 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Bg5 $140 {With the idea of e5} h6 12. Bxf6+ gxf6 {Doubling his pawns} 13. f4 {I want to go f5, and reduce the squares for his bishop} Ke7 14. f5 Bc4 15. Rfe1 Rad8 16. Rad1 b5 $2 (16... Rd6 17. b3 Ba6 18. Kf2 Rhd8 19. Kf3 b6 20. a4 Bb7 21. a5 c5 22. Rxd6) 17. b3 b4 18. Na4 Bb5 19. Nc5 Rxd1 $6 (19... Rd6) 20. Rxd1 Rd8 21. Rxd8 {I trade off all the rooks} Kxd8 22. Kf2 Ke7 23. g4 $6 (23. g3 Kd6 24. Nb7+ Ke7 25. h4 Ba6 26. Nc5 Bb5 27. Ke3 Bf1 28. Kd4 Be2) 23... Kd6 24. Nd3 $2 (24. Nb7+ Kd7) 24... c5 25. Ne1 Ke5 26. Ke3 a5 27. h4 c4 28. Nf3+ Kd6 29. g5 h5 $4 {This gives up a pawn} (29... fxg5 30. hxg5 hxg5 31. Nxg5 f6 32. Nf7+ Ke7 33. Nh6 c5 34. Ng8+ Kf7 35. Nh6+) 30. gxf6 a4 31. Ng5 Ke5 32. Nxf7+ Kxf6 33. Ng5 c5 $6 (33... Ke5 34. Nf3+) 34. Kf4 cxb3 35. e5+ Ke7 36. f6+ Ke8 37. axb3 $4 {I took with wrong one, cxb3 is better.} (37. cxb3 Bd7 38. e6 Bxe6 39. Nxe6 {An example of what might happen after 37. cxb3}) 37... a3 38. e6 a2 39. f7+ Ke7 40. Nh7 a1=Q 41. f8=Q+ Kxe6 42. Ng5+ Kd5 43. Qf5+ Kc6 44. Qe6+ Kb7 45. Qe7+ Kb6 46. Qd6+ Bc6 47. Qd8+ Kb7 48. Ne6 Qf1+ 49. Kg5 Qg2+ $4 {This is a huge blunder, as it allows my king to hide on h6. He should've played Qg1+, and there would lots of checks.} (49... Qg1+) 50. Kh6 {My king escapes to spot where there are no more checks} Qd5 $4 (50... Qf3 51. Nxc5+ Ka7 52. Qd4 Ka8 53. Ne6 Bb7 54. Qd8+ Ka7 55. Qa5+ Kb8 56. Qe5+) 51. Qxd5 {I trade queens} Bxd5 52. Nxc5+ {I take the pawn with check, and I have ideas of attacking the b4 pawn} Kc6 $6 (52... Kb6 53. Nd3 Bf3 54. Nxb4 Kb5 55. Nd3 Be2 56. Kg5 Bd1 57. c4+ Kc6 58. b4) 53. Nd3 Kb5 54. Kxh5 Be4 55. Kg5 Bh7 {He can't take the knight, because I will queen first, as shown below} (55... Bxd3 56. cxd3 Kc5 57. h5 Kd4 58. h6 Kc3 59. h7 Kxb3 60. h8=Q) 56. h5 Be4 57. h6 Bh7 58. Kf6 Be4 59. Kg7 Bf5 $6 (59... Kc6 60. Nxb4+ Kd6 61. h7 Ke5 62. h8=Q Kf4 63. Qh4+ Kf3 64. Qh5+ Kf2 65. Nd3+) 60. h7 Bxh7 61. Kxh7 Ka5 62. Kg6 Kb5 63. Kf5 Ka5 64. Ke5 $6 (64. Ke6 Ka6 65. Kd6 Kb5 66. Kc7 Ka6 67. Nxb4+ Kb5 68. Nd3 Ka6 69. c4 Ka7) 64... Kb5 $6 (64... Ka6) 65. Kd5 Ka5 66. Kc5 Ka6 67. Kxb4 Kb6 $4 (67... Ka7 68. Kb5 Kb7 69. c4 Kc7 70. c5 Kb7 71. c6+ Kc7 72. Kc5 Kb8 73. Kb6) 68. c4 Kc6 69. c5 {I simply push my pawns} Kb7 70. Kb5 Kc7 71. c6 Kb8 72. Kb6 Kc8 73. c7 Kd7 74. Kb7 Kd6 75. c8=Q Kd5 76. Kb6 Kd4 77. Qc4+ Ke3 78. Ne5 Kf2 79. Qd3 Kg2 80. Qf3+ Kg1 81. Qe2 Kh1 82. Ng4 (82. b4 {Another line leading to mate} Kg1 83. Nf3+ Kh1 84. Qh2#) 82... Kg1 83. b4 Kh1 84. Qf1# {I think I got off lucky he didn't play 49...Qg1+, and he instead played Qg2+, and I won.} 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open U1700"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Scarborough, Laurel"]
[Black "Nicoski, Aaron"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1265"]
[BlackElo "1635"]
[Annotator "Aaron Nicoski"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[GameId "509057821738"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,39,40,39,82,75,59,59,85,64,37,22,54,15,14,14,70,66,82,93,147,142,107,107,348,318,315,315,423,360,366,407,407,69,524,588,857,874,858,884,878,896] My opponent played very well this game and found the one and only move to seal the victory on move 12. The game was basically over from there.} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Be3 Nd7 6. Bb5 Qa5+ (6... Ne7 {is what I should have played} 7. Nf3 Nf5 8. Bd4 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 a6 10. Bxd7+ Bxd7 $15) 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. a3 Nf5 9. b4 Nxe3 10. fxe3 Qc7 11. Nf3 b6 $4 {Mistake. Be7 was best. I unknowingly opened the a8-h1 diagonal which led to this defeat. Almost any other move would have kept me in the game.} (11... Be7 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 O-O 14. Qd4 Rd8 15. O-O-O b6 16. c6 Nb8 17. Nd6) 12. Nxd5 $3 exd5 13. Qxd5 Bb7 $6 {Inaccuracy. Be7 was best.} (13... Be7 14. Qxa8 bxc5 15. Rd1 O-O 16. Qc6 Qxc6 17. Bxc6) 14. c6 Bxc6 15. Bxc6 O-O-O 16. Rd1 Be7 $4 {Blunder. Bxb4+ was best.} (16... Bxb4+ $1 17. axb4 Nb8 18. Bb7+ Qxb7 19. Qc4+ Qc6 20. Qg4+ Qe6 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Qxg7 $14) 17. Bxd7+ {Game Over 1-0 Any way I capture the Bishop ends in my demise.} Rxd7 (17... Qxd7 18. Qa8+ Kc7 19. Qxa7+ $18) 18. Qa8+ Qb8 19. Qxb8+ Kxb8 20. Rxd7 $18 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open U1700"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Davies, Cedric"]
[Black "Scarborough, Laurel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "1577"]
[BlackElo "1265"]
[Annotator "Davies,Cedric"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[GameId "2085995860912314"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,122,17,13,76,67,77,60,51,31,18,38,23,25,77,75,113,87,93,66,88,79,73,75,95,87,79,79,98,66,52,33,29,30,25,41,41,38,43,50,56,58,106,122,114,110,126,123,157,201,214,118,130,11,84,51,93,0,39,32,32,35,34,-44,150,-24,97,32,145,188,176,105,204,25,75,68,60,60,227,220,222,113,143,-98,-104,-1184,-1255,-1285,-1329,-1362,-241,-298,-160,-293,-316,-359,-368,-358,-363,-375,-238,-244,-302,-371,-383,-383,-383,-419,-435,-450,-478,-535,-561,-586,-659,-805,-931,-962,-1011,-1917,-28568,-29975,-29976,-29999,-29999] Going into the 5th round, my opponent and I were tied for clear first with a score of 3.5 each. Although he had a low rating, I saw that he had beat a 1600 and a 1500, so he was not to be underestimated. I was in charge most of the game, but Laurel was tenacious in his fighting spirit to generate counterplay, not afraid to make sacrifices. His resourcefulness at the end of the game to generate counterplay against my King while keeping an eye on my passed pawn was well done. I aided in his quest with a terrible 41. Rh3?? blunder that sealed my fate. If I had won this game, I would have won the tournament. An unfortunate error, but that is life, and it is for interesting chess games that we play.} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. c3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Qa5 $6 {Unusual - not sure this does anything, other than a one move threat on d4. Black ends up wasting a move} 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. Nbd2 e6 9. Qb3 Qb6 {The prior Qa5 move makes this the only sensible way to gaurd the b-pawn, but the resulting pawn structure is terrible for Black} 10. Qxb6 axb6 $14 11. Ne5 Nh5 12. Be3 Nf6 {He smartly brings his Knight back} (12... Nxe5 $2 13. dxe5 Bc5 {I had this exact position in my 3rd round game, though messed it up by not playing the best line.} 14. Bxc5 bxc5 15. h3 Bf5 16. Bb5+ Ke7 17. g4 $18) 13. h3 Bh5 14. g4 Bg6 15. Nxg6 {Idea here is to trade off the Bishop for a Knight, making my d3 Bishop the boss of the light-squares. It also gives me the potential for a passed pawn on the h-file. This is a sound judgement. But better was to avoid the trade with Bb5, play h4, forcing h6 in reply, and only then make the trade, leaving Black with a really bad pawn structure} (15. Bb5 $142 Rc8 16. h4 h6 17. Nxg6 fxg6 $16 {And Black's pawn structure is terrible}) 15... hxg6 $14 16. Ke2 {I wanted to bring my King to g2 by playing Kf1 first, but realize that fails to Nxg4. So I move the King up, uniting the Rooks.} Bd6 17. f4 Ke7 18. Kf3 Ra5 19. a3 Nd7 {[#] Here I thought that Black was planning to play f5, so I play the Rook to the g-file to prevent it} 20. Rag1 g5 $5 {A dubious, though daring sacrifice to at least get some freedom for Black's pieces. At first I thought it was quite good, for if I take later on e5, his pieces come alive. Then I realized I don't need to take on e5, and can just calmly step away from the fork on e4} 21. fxg5 e5 22. Kg2 e4 23. Bc2 Rc8 {[#] A confusing move at first. I then realized that Black was likely planning a sacrifice on the a3 pawn, but it didn't look sound, so I didn't work to prevent it.} 24. Bb3 {Putting pressure on d5 and preventing b5. Although I wasn't planning it, c4 is also a strong threat.} Nd8 25. Rf1 {In retrospect, I don't like this move. I think it would have been better to prepare for Black's sac by shoring up the e3 Bishop with Re1. But h5 starting on my outside passed pawn may be better, or even c4. The idea here was to threaten Rf5, picking up the d5 pawn, but it's maybe a little slow.} Bxa3 $5 {Another daring sacrifice! Black isn't sitting back to let me control the flow of the game. He ends up picking up 3 pawns, with counterplay. Before the sac, I thought it was unsound cause I would win the d5 pawn, not realizing the threats to my e3 Bishop.} 26. bxa3 ({Computer recommends to not accept the sacrifice} 26. Rb1 Ne6 27. h4 $18) 26... Rxc3 27. Kf2 Rxa3 28. Re1 $5 {I choose to allow Black to exchange his Rook for 2 pieces. I figure I don't need to waste time protecting the Bishop and then will be free to push my passed h-pawn. Computer seems to agree.} Raxb3 29. Nxb3 Rxb3 30. h4 {[#] The h-pawn should be the deciding factor in the game... if I had played it right} Ne6 31. Re2 $2 {I'm wasting too much time playing prophylactic moves here. I need to get on with it by pushing h5!} Nf4 32. Rd2 $2 {I saw that if I captured the Knight, he had a Rook check on f3 that looked a little dangerous. I stopped my calculation here, not a good choice. If I had looked deeper, I would have seen that the Rook check amounted to nothing..} (32. Bxf4 $142 Rf3+ 33. Kg2 Rxf4 34. Rf2 $1 {And the Black Rook is forced to trade itself, making it an easily winnable game for White} Rxf2+ (34... Rxg4+ $4 35. Kh3 {The Rook is trapped}) 35. Kxf2 $18) 32... Nf8 $2 (32... f6 $1 $11 33. gxf6+ (33. Bxf4 Rf3+ 34. Kg2 Rxf4 $11) 33... Nxf6 34. Bxf4 Rf3+ 35. Ke1 Rxf4 36. Rg2 Rxg4 37. Rxg4 Nxg4 $11) 33. h5 {A good move, but I still had the chance here to take the f4 Knight and trade the Rook, which was better} N8e6 34. h6 Ng6 35. Ra2 $2 {Getting greedy! Much better to push h7 right away and either force the Knight to the corner or pick it up on the next move. I was too ambitious, thinking I could get my other Rook around quickly to prevent the Knight from stopping the pawn. By sending this Rook to the back rank, I end up leaving my King vulnerable.} (35. h7 $142 Nh8 36. Rc2 Kd7 37. Ra1 b5 38. Ra8 Nd8 39. Rcc8 $18) 35... Rc3 36. Ra8 Rc2+ 37. Ke1 gxh6 38. gxh6 Nef4 39. Kd1 Rb2 {My original plan here was to continue with Kc1 until I realized Nd3+ protects the Rook. I therefore, switched plans cause I thought I could use Bxf4 to draw the Knight away from stopping the h-pawn} 40. Bxf4 ({But much better is} 40. Bc1 {unfortunately it never crossed my mind during the game} Rb1 41. Kc2 {Cleanly shuts down the active Rook} Rxc1+ 42. Kxc1 Nf8 43. Kd2 N4e6 44. h7 (44. Ke3 Ng5) 44... Nxh7 45. Rxh7 Nxd4 $18) 40... Nxf4 {[#]} 41. Rh3 $4 {And here I made the losing move. A complete blunder and it looks silly, but I actually thought it was brillant at the time. For one, it defends along the 3rd rank, so if the Knight goes to d3, I will snap it off. And I thought Black couldn't take the Rook, because it would take the Knight away from stopping the passed pawn, along with clogging up the h-file. But, I did not think through the possible checks and weakness of my own King as we shall see. I had maybe about 8 minutes on my clock at this time, so I should have calculated this out better.} (41. Rh5 $1 {This also sacrifices the Rook, but on a much better square, where I can take back with the g-pawn and really clog up the h-file} Nd3 (41... e3 42. Re5+ Kd6 43. Rxe3 Rh2 44. Rd8+ Kc6 (44... Kc7 45. Rf8 $18) 45. Rf3 Ng6 46. g5 $18 {White's King is safe, his passed pawn is dangerous and his active Rooks easily win the day}) 42. h7 e3 {This comes with a mate threat, but we can stop it} 43. Re8+ $5 {Cute, although Re5+ also works and is simpler} (43. Re5+ Nxe5 44. dxe5 Rb1+ 45. Ke2 Rh1 46. h8=Q Rxh8 47. Rxh8 $18) 43... Kxe8 44. h8=Q+ Kd7 45. Rh2 $18 Nf2+ 46. Ke1 Nd3+ 47. Kf1 e2+ 48. Rxe2 Rb1+ 49. Kg2 Nf4+ 50. Kf3 Nxe2 51. Kxe2 $18) 41... Nxh3 42. h7 $2 (42. Kc1 $142 Rh2 43. h7 Nf2 44. h8=Q Rxh8 45. Rxh8 Nxg4 $19) 42... Nf2+ ({Worse is} 42... Rh2 43. h8=Q Nf2+ 44. Ke2 Rxh8 45. Rxh8 Nxg4 46. Rb8) 43. Ke1 Nd3+ 44. Kf1 (44. Kd1 $4 e3 {And White can't prevent mate} 45. Re8+ Kxe8 46. h8=Q+ Kd7 {Any White move, then Rd2#}) 44... Rb1+ (44... e3 $142 $1 45. h8=Q e2+ 46. Kg2 e1=Q+ 47. Kh3 (47. Kf3 Qf2#) 47... Nf4#) 45. Kg2 Nf4+ 46. Kf2 $2 ({Although still losing, this is a much better attempt. At the time I had about 1 minute left on my clock, and I felt intuitively that I needed to stay close to Black's passed e-pawn} 46. Kh2 Ng6 47. Rg8 e3 48. Rxg6 e2 49. h8=Q Rh1+ $1 50. Kxh1 e1=Q+ 51. Kg2 Qe4+ 52. Kg3 Qxg6 $19) 46... Ng6 47. h8=Q Nxh8 48. Rxh8 {[#] The battle of the h-pawn has finally settled, but in Black's flavor. We reach a Rook ending with Black up 3 pawns, way too much for me to handle. Even with the low time, the rest of the game was easy for Black to win.} Rd1 49. Rb8 Rd2+ 50. Ke3 Rd3+ 51. Ke2 Rxd4 52. Rxb7+ Kf6 53. Rxb6+ Kg5 54. Rd6 Kxg4 55. Rf6 Ra4 56. Rxf7 d4 57. Rd7 Ra2+ 58. Ke1 d3 59. Rf7 e3 60. Rg7+ Kf5 61. Rd7 Ra1# {Disapointing, in that I had a winning edge for a large part of the game and then ruined it with one bad move. But Black played well to generate counterplay. I definetly realize now with post game analysis, that I had a lot of better options for stopping Black's counterplay. For example the line when he first plays Nf4, to take the Knight with my Bishop and force a Rook trade. Live and learn, this is why we play chess, to have hard fought, interesting games.} 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U1700"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kesey, Caleb"]
[Black "Nicoski, Aaron"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D48"]
[WhiteElo "1547"]
[BlackElo "1635"]
[Annotator "Aaron Nicoski"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[GameId "509244695951"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,94,19,19,14,-4,45,15,29,12,50,50,50,48,37,14,10,22,26,-16,-19,-31,-36,-36,-36,-22,-40,-24,50,-48,-5,-8,-14,-30,-23,-33,-36,-27,-10,-23,11,-176,-148,-572,-448,-1364,-1397,-1403,-772,-838,-705,-722,-624,-775,-800,-796,-789,-789,-762,-803,-660,-1207,-670,-697,-656,-860,-838,-839,-887,-1015,-882,-853,-669,-674,-684,-689,-707,-725,-682,-740,-751,-775,-880,-1515,-831,-857,-857,-1142,-1199,-1443,-967,-967,-1014,-1229,-1262,-1262,-1267] Final round of the tournament! My opponent played the opening well but unfortunately spent way too much of his time in doing so. By move 15 or so, he already had less than 10 minutes on his clock.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. O-O (10. e5 cxd4 11. Nxb5 $1 axb5 12. exf6 gxf6 {is the main line}) (10. dxc5 $2 Nxc5) (10. d5 $6 exd5 11. exd5 Bd6) 10... cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bb7 12. Re1 Bc5 (12... Bd6 $1 {would have been a better spot for my Bishop controlling the e5 square}) 13. Nb3 Bb6 14. Be3 O-O 15. e5 Nd5 (15... Nxe5 $4 16. Bxb6 $18) 16. Bxb6 N7xb6 17. Ne4 Nf4 $5 18. Nbc5 Bd5 19. Re3 Nc4 20. Rg3 $4 (20. Bxc4 $7 {must be played so as to not lose the CRITICAL e5 pawn} Bxc4 21. Qg4 Ng6 22. Rd1 $13) 20... Nxe5 $17 21. Rg5 f5 22. g3 Nh3+ 23. Kf1 Nxg5 24. Nxg5 Qxg5 25. f4 Qg4 26. fxe5 Qh3+ 27. Ke1 Qxh2 28. Rc1 Qxg3+ 29. Kd2 Qf2+ 30. Be2 Qd4+ 31. Nd3 Rac8 32. Rxc8 Rxc8 33. Ke1 Qg1+ 34. Bf1 Bg2 35. Qe2 Qxf1+ 36. Qxf1 Bxf1 37. Kxf1 Rc2 38. a3 g5 39. Ke1 h5 40. Kd1 Rg2 41. Nc5 Rxb2 42. Nxe6 g4 43. Nf4 h4 44. e6 Kf8 45. Ng6+ Ke8 46. Nxh4 g3 47. Kc1 Rh2 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U1400"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.08.31"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Fonseca, Kenzo"]
[Black "Yuon, Chen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1314"]
[BlackElo "1226"]
[Annotator "Kenzo Fonseca"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[GameId "2093133830639703"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,149,20,13,20,18,20,23,-1,-10,-4,-10,-10,-14,1,-5,-14,-14,7,0,24,24,35,26,40,38,26,26,63,1,-4,-31,25,25,41,42,41,41,50,28,46,30,63,39,49,28,47,47,41,-20,41,39,41,42,50,46,75,46,46,46,46,15,26,6,19,19,30,5,37,26,37,0,537,521,599,309,309,287,288,287,287,183,458,348,518,287,287,277,728,241,247,262,300,226,287,279,271,271,291,312,495,496,585,588,588,600,596,596,669,696,752,765,1162,1271,1455,1465,1828,2020,2196,2196,28567,29959,28020,29972,29973,29974,29977,29978,29979,29980,29979,29978,29979,29980,29981,29980,29985,29986,29987,29988,29989,29988,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,29999]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 {A basic opening line that allows for aggressive play or a simple draw when needed} exd4 6. e5 d5 {This is the only good move for black and is a very thematic move as black when playing into e4 openings.} 7. Bb5 {Redirecting the Bishop to pin the knight, while I could trade the minor peices the position isn't the most comfortable.} Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 {Most people play Nbd2 which while is good isn't the best, this allows me to force black to respond and allows me to develop easily} Nxd2 10. Nbxd2 Bg4 {Chen plays a line which allows him to simplify the position to make drawing easier.} 11. O-O {I unpin the knight hoping chen doesn't take my d2 knight to keep the game complicated.} Bxd2 {To my dismay Chen is playing for a draw and decides to simplify the position} 12. Qxd2 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Qd7 {Chen unpins his knight, here I think about moving the king out of the open file, but instead decide to attack his pawn, to force him to make decisions. When you are the stronger player you should make your opponent have to consider more options.} 14. Qg5 O-O 15. Kh1 {Now I move the king away from the open file to remove any chances of black taking the queens off the board.} h6 $6 {Inaccuracy. f6 was best.} (15... f6 16. Bxc6) 16. Qg3 a6 17. Rg1 {An intermezzo threatening mate aswell as creating a battery I can possibly use later on.} g6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Rae1 Qe6 20. f4 {Here I opened up the row for my queen to allow me to easily defend my queenside pawns.} Rae8 $6 {Inaccuracy. c5 was best.} (20... c5 21. dxc5 Kh7 22. a3 Rab8 23. b4 a5 24. Rb1 axb4 25. axb4 Rb5 26. Qd3) 21. Qf3 $6 {Inaccuracy. Rc1 was best. I am sliding my queen to the side to create a battery which I am hoping to use later on to break through blacks pawn structure.} (21. Rc1 Kh7) 21... Qf5 22. Rg3 Kh7 {Chen sees my ideas and brings his king up to defend the g6 pawn aswell as remove his king from the semi-open file.} 23. Rc1 Re6 24. Qa3 $6 {Inaccuracy. b3 was best.} (24. b3 f6) 24... Ra8 $6 {Inaccuracy. Rb8 was best.} (24... Rb8 25. Rf3) 25. Qe3 Rf8 26. f3 $6 {Inaccuracy. Kg2 was best. preventing possible queen trades, in hindsight its not the best since i cut off defense for the f4 pawn} (26. Kg2 f6) 26... Rb8 27. b3 Rf8 28. Rcg1 $6 {Inaccuracy. h4 was best.} (28. h4) 28... Rb8 29. Rg4 Rf8 $6 {Inaccuracy. Rb5 was best.} (29... Rb5 30. Rc1 c5 31. Rxc5 Rxc5 32. dxc5 a5 33. Rg1 c6 34. Re1 g5 35. fxg5) 30. Qe2 $6 {Inaccuracy. Rc1 was best. Here I am preparing to add the queen to my battery} (30. Rc1) 30... Ra8 31. Rh4 {I threaten Rg5 tactics aswell as a possible sac on h6} Kg7 32. Qg2 Rf8 $6 {Inaccuracy. c5 was best.} (32... c5 33. dxc5 Rb8 34. Qg4 Qxg4 35. Rhxg4 Rb5 36. c6 Kf8 37. Rc1 Rb4 38. Rc5) 33. Rg4 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qh3 was best.} (33. Qh3 Qxh3) 33... Rg8 34. Qh3 {this allows for potential tactics like Rxg6 aswell as adding pressure to the h6 pawn} Qd3 $6 {Inaccuracy. Kh7 was best.} (34... Kh7 35. Rc1) 35. R4g3 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qf1 was best. My idea is to take advantage of the diagonal that can be used to infiltrate blacks side of the board aswell as tactics that include Qxe6. I also am threatening f5} (35. Qf1 Qxf1 36. Rxf1 f5 37. Rg2 Rb8 38. Rd2 a5 39. Kg2 Rb4 40. h4 a4) 35... Kh7 $4 {Blunder. Qxd4 was best. Chen is scared by the battery and my f5 ideas, however this just allows f5 to work} (35... Qxd4) 36. f5 Ree8 {Chen adds a defender to his rook but its too late now} 37. fxg6+ fxg6 38. Rxg6 $3 {This threatens mate aswell as winning material, blacks only choice is to take with the queen or i ended up winning both rooks with tempo} Qxg6 39. Rxg6 Kxg6 40. f4 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qg4+ was best. This was unnecessary since g5 is already stopped with Qg5, my plan was to trap the king on their side of the board, however it already is trapped} (40. Qg4+ Kf7 41. Qh5+ Ke7 42. f4 Ref8 43. f5 Kd8 44. f6 Rg5 45. Qf3 Rg6) 40... Rgf8 $4 {Blunder. Ref8 was best.} (40... Ref8) 41. Qd7 {Now invade the queenside and gobble up the pawns} Rg8 $6 {Inaccuracy. c5 was best.} (41... c5 42. dxc5 a5 43. Kg2 Rb8 44. Qe6+ Kh7 45. Kf3 a4 46. f5 Rg8 47. Qxd5) 42. Qxc6+ $4 {Blunder. f5+ was best. I thought about f5 but I didn't play it for since I was scared their might be draw/checkmate ideas, a sad miss} (42. f5+ Kg5 43. f6 Ra8 44. f7 Rgb8 45. Qe7+ Kg4 46. Qe6+ Kf3 47. Qf6+ Ke2) 42... Kf5 43. Qxd5 Re6 $4 {Blunder. Kxf4 was best.} (43... Kxf4 44. e6) 44. Qf3 $4 {Blunder. Qd7 was best. I missed Qd7 which pins the e6 rook and allows me to win the rook or rooks, instead i defend a pawn that cannot be saved} (44. Qd7 Kxf4 45. Qxe6 Rg5 46. Qf7+ Rf5 47. Qc4 Kg5 48. Qe2 c6 49. h3 Kh4) 44... Reg6 {a crucial moment where i am considering h3 or Qf7} 45. Qf2 {I choose Qf7 which is best since the mate threat is defended and I don't allow Rg3} Rg4 46. h3 Rxf4 47. Qc2+ {I force black to pin his own rook which allows me to safely push the pawns} Re4 48. e6 Re8 $2 {Mistake. Rg7 was best.} (48... Rg7 49. b4) 49. d5 c6 $2 {Mistake. Rg8 was best. A final attempt by Chen which hopes to unpin the rook or win the pawn unfortunately for him the pin stops the plan of R4xe6} (49... Rg8 50. e7) 50. dxc6 R8xe6 51. c7 Re8 52. c8=Q+ Rxc8 53. Qxc8+ Kf4 54. Qxa6 Re1+ 55. Kg2 Rd1 $6 {Inaccuracy. Re5 was best.} (55... Re5 56. Qc4+ Kf5 57. h4 Kg6 58. a4 Re7 59. a5 Kg7 60. a6 Kh7 61. Kf3) 56. Qf6+ Ke3 57. Qf3+ Kd2 58. Qxd1+ {getting rid of blacks last piece that is capable of causing a threat} Kxd1 59. a4 Kc2 60. a5 Kxb3 61. a6 h5 $6 {Checkmate is now unavoidable. Kc4 was best.} (61... Kc4 62. Kf3 Kd4 63. a7 Ke5 64. Kg4 Kf6 65. Kh5 Ke5 66. Kxh6 Kd5 67. Kg6) 62. a7 h4 63. a8=Q Kc4 64. Qe4+ Kc5 65. Qd3 Kc6 66. Qd4 Kc7 67. Qd5 Kb6 68. Qc4 Kb7 69. Qc5 Kb8 70. Qe7 Ka8 71. Kf3 Kb8 72. Ke4 Ka8 73. Kd5 Kb8 74. Kc6 Ka8 75. Qb7# 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open U1400"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ho, William"]
[Black "Krishnan, Advait"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
[BlackElo "1377"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[GameId "2094537730945035"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. a3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Ne7 8. b4 Bb5 9. Bd3 Qa6 10. Bxb5+ Qxb5 11. Nc3 Qd7 12. Bb2 Nbc6 13. Rc1 Nc8 14. Na4 Nb6 15. Nxb6 axb6 16. O-O Be7 17. Qd3 O-O 18. Qb5 Rfc8 19. Qxb6 Bd8 20. Qc5 Na5 21. Qd6 Qxd6 22. exd6 Nc4 23. d7 Rc7 24. Ne5 b5 25. Nxc4 dxc4 26. Rfe1 Rxd7 27. Re5 Rd5 28. Rce1 Bf6 29. Rxd5 exd5 30. f3 Rc8 31. Bc3 Kf8 32. Kf2 Ra8 33. Ra1 Ke7 34. Ke3 Kd6 35. Kf4 h6 36. Bb2 Re8 37. Rb1 Re2 38. g4 Rxh2 39. Ba1 Rg2 40. Ke3 Bg5+ 41. f4 Rg3+ 42. Kf2 Bxf4 43. a4 bxa4 44. b5 Rb3 45. Rd1 Rxb5 46. g5 Bxg5 47. Bc3 Rb3 48. Ba5 c3 49. Bxc3 Rxc3 50. Ra1 Rc4 51. Kf3 Rxd4 52. Rb1 Kc6 53. Rb8 a3 54. Rc8+ Kb7 55. Rc2 Rd2 56. Kg4 Rxc2 57. Kf5 a2 58. Ke5 a1=Q+ 59. Kd6 Qa6+ 60. Ke5 Qe6+ 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U1400"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Barish, Elijah"]
[Black "Ho, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C59"]
[WhiteElo "1311"]
[BlackElo "1200"]
[Annotator "Elijah Barish"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[GameId "510933392561"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,135,30,36,20,20,22,19,17,-16,-16,-16,-7,11,11,19,8,-33,-50,-1,-12,-18,38,-81,-63,-63,-50,-205,-77,-66,28,21,43,63,63,63,69,39,41,35,87,24,42,41,76,92,108,105,164,123,109,120,123,65,169,167,170,161,206,172,204,195,186,192,213,170,184,184,203,195,199,194,195,193,186,173,177,168,225,217,308,314,337,353,338,327,364,399,352,352,352,480,494,517,590,590,592,852,1028,1028,1156,1258,1270,1282,1282,920,1087,1208,1492,1711,1899,2391,2392,1948,2770,3407,2646,2654,29981,29982,29983,29988,29989,29988,29989,29990,29993,29994,29995,29996,29999,29998,29999,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 10. Ne5 Qd4 11. Ng4 Bxg4 12. Bxg4 e3 13. Bf3 exf2+ 14. Kf1 Rc8 15. Qe2+ Be7 16. Qxf2 (16. Qa6 O-O 17. Qxa5 Bb4 (17... Rfe8) 18. Qa4 (18. c3 Qd3+ 19. Be2) 18... Rce8) 16... Qxf2+ 17. Kxf2 O-O 18. Re1 Bc5+ 19. Kf1 Rfe8 20. Nc3 Rxe1+ 21. Kxe1 Re8+ 22. Kf1 g5 23. d3 Re7 24. Ne4 Nxe4 25. Bxe4 Re6 26. Bd2 Nb7 27. Re1 Rf6+ 28. Ke2 Bd6 29. g3 Nd8 30. Bc3 Re6 31. Kd1 Be7 32. Bf5 Rxe1+ 33. Kxe1 h5 34. Be5 Ne6 35. Be4 c5 36. Kf2 Kf8 37. Ke3 g4 38. Kf2 f6 39. Bb8 Kg7 40. Bxa7 Nd4 41. c3 Nb5 42. Bb8 Nd6 43. a4 Nxe4+ (43... Kf8 44. a5 Ke8 45. a6 Kd8 46. a7 Kc8 47. a8=Q) 44. dxe4 Bd8 45. b4 cxb4 46. cxb4 Bb6+ 47. Kg2 (47. Ke2 Bg1) 47... Kf7 48. a5 Bd4 49. a6 Ke8 50. a7 Bxa7 51. Bxa7 Kd7 52. Bc5 Kc6 53. Kf2 h4 54. gxh4 Kb5 55. h5 Kc4 56. h6 Kd3 57. h7 Kxe4 58. h8=Q g3+ 59. hxg3 Kf5 60. Qh5+ Ke6 61. b5 f5 62. b6 Ke5 63. b7 Ke6 64. b8=Q f4 65. Qbe5+ Kd7 66. Qh6 fxg3+ 67. Kf3 g2 68. Qeg7+ 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open U1400"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Fonseca, Kenzo"]
[Black "Himmelman, Benjamin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1314"]
[Annotator "Kenzo Fonseca"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[GameId "2093133830721624"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,77,20,29,22,20,17,17,38,26,4,4,11,5,81,112,96,114,114,114,129,151,131,120,164,103,117,104,94,85,85,87,104,81,72,62,68,68,66,69,179,88,96,101,143,176,275,322,360,269,519,524,596,292,551,283,522,212,215,228,228,238,253,256,293,293,293,137,137,129,133,96,101,88,123,113,197,146,529,596]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 Ne4 $4 {Blunder. d5 was best. Black falls for a common trap which allows me to get a superior position to black or win material} (6... d5 7. Be2 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Be6 11. O-O) 7. Bd5 $1 {A hard to see move that threatens to win the knight} f5 {blacks best defense, however this allows me to prevent black from castling} 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Nbxd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 h6 12. h4 $6 {Inaccuracy. O-O was best. My idea is to play h5 and then Nh4 followed by Ng6} (12. O-O Ne7 13. Bb3 a5 14. a4 c6 15. Qd3 b6 16. Rfe1 Ba6 17. Qd1 b5) 12... d6 {black attacks my center} 13. O-O-O {I} Ne7 14. Bb3 d5 15. h5 {Allowing the idea of playing Nh4 but my main idea here is to prevent black from moving the knight to g6} Be6 16. Qf4 $6 {Inaccuracy. Ne1 was best. My idea is to attack the kingside more incase black tries to castle, doesn't make sense in hindsight since black ahs no plans of castling kingside and can't really do anything there anyway} (16. Ne1 Qd7 17. Nd3 b6 18. Nf4 O-O 19. Kb1 a5 20. a3 Rab8 21. Rh3 Rfc8) 16... Qd7 17. Rd3 {Bringing my rook up to defend my king aswell as start eyeing the c-pawn} O-O-O 18. Rc3 Kb8 19. Ne1 $1 {I saw that c5 would be a very strong outpost for my knight and find the fastest way to reroute the knight} Nc6 $4 {Blunder. g5 was best. Black stops defending a4 with this move which will be a crucial mistake I take advantage of later} (19... g5 20. hxg6 Nxg6 21. Qd2 f4 22. Nd3 Qg7 23. Kb1 h5 24. a4 f3 25. g3) 20. Nd3 $6 {Inaccuracy. Ba4 was best. proceeding with my plans of playing Nc5} (20. Ba4 Ka8 21. Nd3 Qe8 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23. Nc5 Rb8 24. b3 Qe7 25. Kb2 Rb6) 20... Qf7 $2 {Mistake. Na5 was best. Black doesn't like the idea of losing his lsb and in turn moves his queen away} 21. Nc5 $2 {Mistake. Rxc6 was best. I proceed with my plans, I could've sacced however I thought that Qd2 was too slow} (21. Rxc6 bxc6 22. Qd2 Kc8 23. Nc5 Rde8 24. Qa5 Kd8 25. Ba4 Bc8 26. Bxc6 a6) 21... Bc8 $6 {Inaccuracy. Ne7 was best.} (21... Ne7 22. Ba4 c6 23. b4 Rc8 24. Bd1 g5 25. hxg6 Nxg6 26. Qd2 f4 27. Bh5) 22. Ba4 {Now i threaten to ruin blacks pawn shield} g5 $6 {Inaccuracy. Na5 was best. Black threatens my queen} (22... Na5 23. e6 Qe7 24. Nd7+ Ka8 25. Qxc7 Bxd7 26. Bxd7 Nc4 27. Kb1 Qb4 28. Rxc4) 23. hxg6 {After debating for a while i found that if i take the pawn then play Rg3 and then Rh3 i could win a clean pawn and have a easily won endgame due to blacks bishop being entirely useless} Qxg6 24. Rg3 Qh7 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qg5 was best.} (24... Qg5 25. Rxg5 hxg5 26. Qxg5 Rxh1+ 27. Kd2 Rhh8 28. Bxc6 bxc6 29. Qf6 Rdg8 30. Kc3) 25. Bxc6 {I take the knight first to destroy the pawn shield and cement my knight in its outpost making blacks bishop uselss} bxc6 $6 {Inaccuracy. b6 was best.} (25... b6 26. e6 Rd6 27. Nd7+ Bxd7 28. Bxd7 Rd8 29. Re3 a6 30. e7 R6xd7 31. exd8=R+) 26. Rgh3 h5 27. Qg5 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qd2 was best. Qd2 again is best but i'm too focused on my plan that i miss it once again} (27. Qd2 Qh6 28. Rb3+ Ka8 29. f4 Qf8 30. Qa5 Qxc5+ 31. Qxc5 Bb7 32. Ra3 a6) 27... Rdg8 28. Rxh5 $6 {Inaccuracy. Qd2 was best. now i trade off everything and push my pawn} (28. Qd2 Qh6 29. Rb3+ Ka8 30. f4 Be6 31. Ra3 Rxg2 32. Qxg2 Rb8 33. Qd2 Rb5) 28... Rxg5 29. Rxh7 Rxh7 30. Rxh7 Rxg2 31. e6 $6 {Inaccuracy. Rh8 was best.} (31. Rh8 Rxf2 32. e6 Re2 33. Kd1 Re3 34. Kd2 f4 35. Rf8 a6 36. a3 Ka7) 31... Rg8 {black sees that Rxf2 is deadlost so they bring the rook back to defend} 32. Rf7 Re8 33. Nd7+ $6 {Inaccuracy. e7 was best. I block black bishop from being able to take my e6 pawn, any move that black does loses a pawn and then is forced to lose an endgame} (33. e7 f4 34. a4 a5 35. Kd2 Ka7 36. Rf8 Rxe7 37. Rxc8 Rh7 38. Nd3 Kb7) 33... Bxd7 34. exd7 Rd8 35. Re7 $6 {Inaccuracy. b4 was best.} (35. b4 c5 36. bxc5 c6 37. Kd2 Kc7 38. Ke3 Rh8 39. d8=R+ Kxd8 40. Kf4 a5) 35... Kb7 36. Kd2 c5 $6 {Inaccuracy. a5 was best.} (36... a5 37. a3) 37. dxc5 Kc6 $4 {Blunder. c6 was best.} (37... c6) 38. b4 {I leave the d7 pawn en prize with the idea that if he takes i can play b5+ and win the rook} Rxd7 $6 {Inaccuracy. d4 was best.} (38... d4 39. Kd3 Kd5 40. a4 f4 41. Re4 a5 42. Rxd4+ Kc6 43. bxa5 Kxc5 44. Ke4) 39. b5+ {Unknown 1-0 White wins.} 1-0

[Event "Oregon Open U1100"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Hall, Abigail"]
[Black "Davies, Damien"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1058"]
[BlackElo "827"]
[Annotator "Davies,Cedric"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[GameId "2089788373839025"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,54,20,23,71,-1,47,41,55,47,69,64,102,87,76,55,58,55,55,-69,79,4,113,63,124,5,-6,-36,-36,-98,45,50,50,-162,29,21,61,60,60,49,49,-11,82,36,42,35,35,-29993,21,0,16,-29991,-29992,-29997,-29998,-29999,-29999] Damien, my son, is a boy of 11 years of age, playing in his first adult tournament. We had a lot of fun checking in on each other's games. In this game, Damien goes down by 2 Exchanges, but shows how powerful a pair of Bishops can be.} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 {The Alapin variation. Damien is unfamiliar with this variation and allows White to get a strong center. I keep telling him he needs to study his openings more :)} g6 {I prefer d5 here or on the next move} 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 Bg7 $14 {White has a strong center} 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nf3 d6 7. h3 Nf6 8. Bf4 O-O 9. Bc4 Re8 $2 $16 {With the Bishop on c4, plus the possiblility of the Knight going to g5, moving the rook away from the defense of f7 doesn't seem right. Also there was a much better move in Nxe4} ({Stronger is} 9... Nxe4 $1 10. Nxe4 d5 11. Bd3 dxe4 12. Bxe4 Nxd4 $17) 10. O-O b6 11. Ng5 e6 12. Nb5 {Looks scary, but Black is actually fine here.} d5 $1 {[#]} (12... h6 $6 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 14. Nxd6+ Kg8 $16) 13. Nc7 $2 $19 (13. exd5 exd5 14. Bb3 Ba6 $1 15. Ba4 $11) 13... dxc4 14. Nxa8 Bb7 $2 $14 (14... Qxd4 15. Qa4 (15. Nc7 Rf8 16. Qxd4 Nxd4 17. Be5 Nc6 18. Bc3 $14) 15... Bd7 16. Nc7 Rc8 $11) ({Best is} 14... Nh5 {White has overextended her position. With this simple Knight move, Black could have taken control and been better with 2 pieces for the Rook} 15. Be3 (15. Bh2 Qxg5 16. Nc7 Rd8 $19) 15... Bb7 16. d5 exd5 17. Qxd5 Qe7 18. Nc7 Qxc7 19. Qxc4 $19 {Black is much better}) 15. Nc7 Re7 16. e5 $2 {Blocks the Bishop's protection of the c7 Knight} (16. d5 exd5 17. exd5 $16) 16... Rxc7 $2 (16... Nh5 $142 $19 {Black will now recover a piece with a large advantage}) 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Bxc7 Qxc7 19. Nf3 Qd6 20. Qe2 b5 {[#] Protecting c4, though Qd5 was better} 21. Rad1 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 {The dust has somewhat settled. Although down 2 Exchanges, Black has 2 pawns for it, giving him solid control over the center, and a very strong and unchallenged Bishop pair. Although White is objectively a little bit better here, Black has solid compensation.} 23. Qd2 $2 {A natural move, but does nothing to stop the upcoming threat to g2} (23. Qg4 e5 24. a3 $11) 23... e5 (23... Qg3 $142 $3 {A stunning move, taking advantage of the f2 pin! Black wins as mate is unstoppable}) 24. Rfe1 f6 {Takes away the defensive square g5 from the White Queen} 25. a3 $2 {Allow Black to start his mating attack} (25. Kh2 {This move was necessary so as to be able to protect g2}) 25... Qd5 {[#] The simple threat against g2 is unstoppable} 26. Kf1 Qxg2+ 27. Ke2 Bf3# 0-1

[Event "Oregon Open U1100"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.09.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Fattal, Isaiah"]
[Black "Premchander, Kanishk"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C58"]
[WhiteElo "1088"]
[BlackElo "1181"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[GameId "2094554216948041"]
[EventDate "2024.08.31"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,76,20,18,10,22,13,28,14,18,-17,-7,-1,-1,6,6,-11,5,37,21,20,-29,4,1,-27,-17,-36,-30,10,-47,-33,-98,46,56,35,54,49,50,44,-17,-45,-31,-1,-54,126,134,163,60,144,111,125,46,46,25,31,26,122,140,123,82,145,82,162,-7,1,-209,-330,-330,-432,-856,-946,-1625,-563,-29989,-29986,-29991,-29990,-29991,-29994] A crucial last round game. Kanishk has 5 points, Isaiah has 4.5, so if Isaiah wins he will have at least a share of first place. A draw is good enough for Kanishk finish at least tied for first, but a win gives him first alone. You might expect both players to play it safe in such a high-stakes situation. Instead, a back and forth tactical brawl breaks out.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 (5... Nxd5 $6 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 {Today, Stockfish tells us that White is better.}) 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 {Kanishk - I had studied this line with the continuations 8. Be2 and 8. Bd3, but I completely glossed over 8. Qf3 and didn't know what to do at that moment. I spent around 15 minutes in this position figuring out how to get out of this seemingly gnarly situation.} Bd7 {It is natural to defend the pawn, but in this sharp opening Black can consider sacrificing more material.} (8... Rb8 {and White should retreat the Bishop is most popular} 9. Bd3 {with rough equality} (9. Bxc6+ Nxc6 10. Qxc6+ Nd7 $1 $15 {and in this open position Black's development is more important than White's material advantage. It is strange that Black should retreat the knight instead of gain time on the queen with} (10... Bd7 {but the crude mate threat} 11. Qc4 {leads to White's advantage.}))) (8... cxb5 $5 {It normally scores well, but it didn't work out for Fabinano Caruana in a Titled Tuesday game a few years ago} 9. Qxa8 Qc7 10. Qf3 Nc6 11. c3 Bg4 12. Qg3 Nd4 13. Na3 Bxa3 $2 (13... Ne2 $1 {is unclear but close to equality.}) 14. cxd4 Bd6 15. Ne4 {1-0 Erigaisi,A (2718)-Caruana,F (2766) chess.com SpeedChess 2022 chess.com INT blitz (1.12)}) 9. Ba4 $14 {White's extra pawn gives him an edge, but Black's lead in development means that there is a lot of fight left in the game. This wide-open position will reward players for tactical accuracy an a willingness to look beyond the stereotyped moves in the position.} Be7 10. c3 {Not best. White is behind in development and should work on catching up.} (10. O-O $14) (10. d3 $14) 10... Qc7 11. b4 Nb7 12. Bb3 O-O {And just like that, Black is a little better.} 13. O-O c5 14. a3 a5 {Kanishk - I considered c4 here, but I decided to get at the queenside structure instead since my own pawns were already isolated and easy targets} 15. bxa5 Nxa5 {allows White a tactical trick that gets him close to equality.} (15... c4 {prevents White's next move Kanishk - I was looking at 14. ... c4 but I guess I got a bit greedy and went for the pawns on the queenside since the c-pawn is isolated anyway}) 16. Bxf7+ $1 Kh8 $1 $15 (16... Rxf7 $2 17. Qxa8+ Rf8 {and now Stockfish says White's should keep his queen on the edge of the board with} 18. Qa6 (18. Qf3 {unfortunately leaves White's queen in the lines of fire of Black's pieces})) 17. Ne6 Bxe6 18. Bxe6 e4 19. Qg3 Bd6 20. Qh3 c4 {Kanishk - Idea behind 20. ... c4 was obviously to lock down the c3 pawn and prevent White's dark squared bishop from ever seeing the long diagonal} 21. a4 Qb6 (21... Nb3 $1 22. Ra2 Ra5 $1 {is an effective rook lift, getting ready to bring the rook from a8 into a kingiside attacking position on h5. Kanishk - I was thinking of 21. ... Nb3 but for whatever reason I didn't see the Ra5 follow up so I went for f2 for the rest of the game instead}) 22. Na3 $1 {And now White stands a little better, with two extra pawns and ambitions to take a third on c4. But White's bishop on c1 and rook on a1 are not contributing to offense or defense, so he will need to be very careful.} Bc5 23. Bf5 h6 24. Rb1 {A good move, developing a piece, approved by Stockfish} (24. d4 cxd3 25. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 26. Qxh6+ {No checkmate yet, but Black's king is undefended and White can take a draw by perpetualif he wants. That said, a draw gives Black at least a tie for first place.}) 24... Qc6 25. Nc2 (25. Rb5 $1 {gets one of White's two sleeping pieces into the game.}) 25... Nb3 {Kanishk - Missed 25. Rb5 but thankfully he missed it so I shut that down with 25. ... Nb3 immediately} 26. Nb4 Bxb4 27. cxb4 Nxc1 {Kanishk - This move allows me to be 100% sure I would never have to deal with any threats on g7.} (27... Qxa4 $14) 28. Rfxc1 {White is better. All his pieces are finally in the game.} Rxa4 29. Be6 Qd6 30. Bxc4 Qxd2 31. b5 {Normally passed pawns should be pushed, but White needs to take care of the attack on f2 first.} (31. Qe3 $16) 31... Ng4 {Kanishk - I spent a good 20 minutes on this move, calculating not only 32. Qxg4 but also 32. Qg3, defending f2. In any case, even if the position was equal, I felt that if anyone had winning chances, it would be me} 32. Bf7 {tricky, but Kanishk sees through it.} (32. Qxg4 Qxf2+ 33. Kh1 Rxc4 $1 $10 34. Rxc4 $4 Qf1+ $1) (32. Qg3 Nxf2 $10) 32... Qxf2+ {Black is winning - the e-pawn combined with back rank mates is too much for White to handle.} (32... Rxf7 33. Qxg4 Qxf2+ 34. Kh1 {is about equal}) 33. Kh1 e3 {Kanishk - No need to take on f7, the more important thing was to defend the g4 knight and prepare a promotion/mating idea on f1} 34. Be6 e2 35. g3 Ne3 {Kanishk - I didn't see any way to push the pawn forward or checkmate on f1, so I played 35. ... Ne3 to threaten Qg2# and force the white queen to stay passive, but also to add further defense to f1 in case there was a moment to break through} 36. Bc4 Rxc4 37. Re1 Qf3+ 38. Kg1 Rh4 $1 {if 39.Qxh4 Qg2 mate.} 0-1

[Event "Charlotte Norm Super Swiss"]
[Site "Charlotte, NC"]
[Date "2023.07.10"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Lee, Megan"]
[Black "Fedorowicz, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2337"]
[BlackElo "2461"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[GameId "471992838424"]
[EventDate "2023.07.09"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,69,18,38,51,38,68,43,43,42,41,37,43,29,31,3,15,8,12,15,22,22,14,14,26,30,44,45,40,38,50,32,45,19,34,27,53,58,42,30,49,26,90,60,79,78,157,166,168,179,190,178,202,212,186,219,259,255,264,229,218,207,212,212,204,227,237,259,201,175,913,947]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe2 e6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 a6 9. c4 Be7 10. b3 O-O 11. Bb2 Re8 12. Nc3 Bf8 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Rfe1 g6 15. Kh1 Qa5 16. Qd2 Rad8 17. f4 Qh5 18. Nf3 b5 19. cxb5 axb5 20. a3 Qc5 21. Nd4 b4 22. axb4 Qb6 23. b5 e5 24. Nc6 Ra8 25. f5 d5 26. fxg6 hxg6 27. exd5 Bd6 28. Qe2 Kg7 29. Rf1 Rh8 30. Ne4 Nxe4 31. Qxe4 f6 32. h3 Qxb5 33. Qg4 Qb7 34. Qe6 Bc5 35. Nxe5 1-0

[Event "Seattle Chess Classic"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.08.18"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Degenbaev, Aziz"]
[Black "Lee, Megan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C52"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2346"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[GameId "2102422384908070"]
[EventDate "2024.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,141,19,38,25,16,14,14,11,-27,-32,-42,-45,-45,-54,-92,-82,-62,-62,-63,-25,-137,-102,-110,-148,-164,-129,-143,-143,-171,-180,-198,-177,-155,-185,-161,-165,-165,-177,-184,-168,-134,-90,-99,-55,-43,-49,-46,-50,-50,-42,-48,-22,-22,-22,-40,-25,-34,-46,-32,-36,-52,-52,-27,-18,-36,0,-10,0,-49,-38,-31,-21,0,0,0,0,-18,-24,-27,0,0,0,0,-12,-12,-12,-7,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,12,0,0,0,51,0,65,52,72,43,110,103,118,118,118,83,159,144,166,136,261,255,273,234,364,252,276,507,715,715,732,759,757,796,796,869]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 {The Giuoco Piano, starting point for countless games throughout chess history.} 4. b4 ({The Evans Gambit. White offers a pawn to attack on diagonals leading toward the black king, as well as potentially building a pawn center. Another similar idea is} 4. c3 Nf6 {Black pressures the e4-pawn.} 5. d4 ({Old school, going into forcing attacking lines that have been played and analyzed forever.} 5. d3 {is the current super-popular system, leading to very subtle, quiet maneuvering.}) 5... exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ {with several gambit choices from here.}) 4... Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 ({Most common.} 5... Be7 6. d4 Na5) ({and the solid} 5... Bd6 6. d4 Nf6 7. O-O O-O {are alternative defensive ideas.}) 6. Qb3 ({Rare, but quite logical, and analogous with similar positions in the main-line Giuoco, generally after the black bishop has been distracted by taking the rook on a1. It could prove effective here, with the bishop off on a5 where it doesn't defend the kingside dark squares and simultaneously at least delays any threat of ...Na5.} 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O {is well-represented in historic games.}) 6... Qe7 7. Ba3 (7. d4 {has been played here.}) 7... d6 8. d4 exd4 ({It feels a bit risky to open the position, but without extensive advance prep, I wouldn't want to attempt} 8... Nf6 9. d5 (9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Bd7 (10... Nxd4 $5 11. cxd4 Bxe1 12. Nxe1 exd4) 11. Nbd2) 9... Nd4 $1 10. Qa4+ (10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Qa4+ Bd7 12. Qxa5 Qxe4+ 13. Kd1 O-O) 10... Bd7 11. Qxa5 Nc2+ 12. Kd1 Nxa1 13. Nbd2 {, when Stockfish thinks Black is doing well. As a human, I don't even want to attempt to evaluate any of the above, as I have no clue what is going on in these lines.}) 9. O-O Nh6 {Taking advantage of the bishop's absence from the c1-h6 diagonal.} 10. Re1 $6 ({A simpler way to get a good position is} 10. cxd4 O-O (10... Qxe4 {is too greedy, and can be punished in several ways. One possibility:} 11. Bd3 Qf4 (11... Nxd4 12. Bxe4 Nxb3 13. axb3) 12. d5 Nd4 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. Bb2 Qc5 15. Bxg7 $18) 11. Qd3 {and I think we just call this "with compensation."}) 10... O-O 11. e5 Qd8 12. Bc1 $6 (12. Bd5 $5) 12... Nxe5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Bxh6 gxh6 15. Rxe5 Bb6 16. Nd2 Qf6 {White still has a small lead in mobilization, but Black is two pawns up. The pawns are compromised, true, but there are two of them, now supported by the bishop-pair in a wide-open position.} 17. Ree1 dxc3 18. Ne4 Qg7 19. Rad1 Bf5 (19... Bh3 20. Ng3 Bg4 $17 {Now it's three pawns, the black rooks are connected, and actual compensation for the material is not obvious.}) 20. Nxc3 Kh8 $6 (20... c6) 21. Nd5 Rae8 $6 (21... Bg4) 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Nxb6 axb6 24. Bxf7 {A few swift exchanges and the material imbalance is one rather insignificant doubled h-pawn. Black's king is the less secure. Equal/unclear?} Rf8 25. Bd5 Bg4 26. f3 Bh3 27. Qc2 c6 28. Bb3 Bf5 29. Qf2 b5 30. Kh1 Re8 31. h3 Qf6 32. Qg3 Qg5 33. Qc7 Qg7 34. Qf4 Bg6 35. Qh4 h5 36. Rd8 h6 37. Rxe8+ Bxe8 38. Qf4 Bg6 39. Be6 Kh7 40. Qd6 Bb1 {Just plain equal. Neither side has been making any progress, but in good modern style they press on, awaiting opportunity.} 41. Kh2 h4 42. Kh1 Bg6 43. Bb3 h5 44. Kh2 Bf5 45. Kh1 Bg6 46. Kg1 Bf5 47. Kh1 Qa1+ 48. Kh2 Qg7 49. Kh1 {Threefold repetition achieved... but if no one claims...} Bg6 50. Kg1 Bf7 51. Bc2+ Kg8 52. Qd8+ Qf8 53. Qg5+ Qg7 54. Qd8+ Qf8 55. Qg5+ Kh8 56. Qf6+ Qg7 57. Qd8+ Bg8 58. Qxh4 {Black played on to reach this?} Qa1+ $6 59. Kh2 Bxa2 60. Qxh5+ Kg7 61. Qg5+ Kf8 62. h4 $14 Qc3 63. Bg6 b4 ({Black's defense is tenuous now in any case, as White can combine threats to the exposed black king with advancing the pawn mass.} 63... Bf7 64. Qf4 (64. Be4 $16) 64... Qc4 65. Be4 Qc5 66. Bf5 (66. Kh3 Qg1 {is slightly less clear.}) 66... Qc4 67. Qg5 {Black's task is hard.}) 64. h5 Qd4 65. h6 Qd6+ 66. f4 Bg8 67. Bf7 $1 {Cute.} Kxf7 (67... Bxf7 68. h7 Qd4 69. Qh6+ Qg7 70. h8=Q+) 68. Qg7+ Ke6 69. Qxg8+ Kf5 (69... Ke7 70. Qg5+ Kd7 71. h7 Qf8 72. Qh4 Qh8 73. Qg4+ Ke7 74. Qg8) 70. Qg5+ Ke4 71. h7 1-0

[Event "Seattle Chess Classic"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.08.18"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Kona, Vidip"]
[Black "Wong-Godfrey, Emerson"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2156"]
[BlackElo "1908"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[GameId "2102422384908068"]
[EventDate "2024.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,77,19,29,18,2,22,-47,-24,-57,-24,-30,-4,-1,-1,-20,2,-2,-3,-9,-13,-20,-8,9,23,-1,3,2,-6,-19,-17,-9,1,1,6,13,12,7,8,9,14,10,8,0,0,0,0,-30,-33,-26,-24,-26,-21,-26,-28,-27,-27,-27,-29,-27,-28,-28,-36,-37,47,34,138,125,181,186,202,646,992,1122,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,29999]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 d5 $6 {A highly unusual move order to reach standard positions in a few moves. Unusual for good reason; see the next note.} 3. g3 ({White should exchange the center pawn and bring an insufficiently supported black piece into the center as a target for development and central pawn expansion. After} 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. d4 $14 {there's no fear of a reversed Sicilian if Black can't play ...e5. This exact position is given in countless old opening books (generally from the move order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6? 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3) claiming clear advantage.}) 3... e6 ({Black has options, including} 3... c6) ({or a reverse Benoni with} 3... d4 {.}) 4. b3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Bb2 c5 {Through flexible transposition we sneak back into main-line territory...} 9. Qe2 Nc6 10. Rd1 Qc8 ({...and soon leave it behind.} 10... Qc7 {is the most popular move here, and perhaps ironically the most successful for White, though my sample size is not huge.} 11. Nc3 Rad8 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Rxd5 14. d4 $14) (10... dxc4 11. bxc4 Qc7 (11... Rc8) 12. Nc3 a6 {probably represents a transposition into 10...Qc7 much of the time, evening out the statistics a bit to near equality.}) (10... Rc8 {, and the related 11...Rc8 from the c4 exchange line above, tend to score well for Black, for reasons too subtle for me to discern. Perhaps it's just a tiny bit too early to commit the black queen?}) 11. Nc3 Rd8 12. d3 (12. cxd5 exd5 13. d4 {could be an alternate treatment, but Black might toss a proverbial wrench into the works with 12...Ba6!?, justifying his tenth move.}) 12... d4 {A natural gain of space, reaching a different odd reversed Benoni.} 13. exd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 cxd4 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 Qd7 18. Re1 Bb4 19. Re2 Qd6 20. Rf1 Bc3 21. Bc1 Re8 22. f4 f6 23. f5 $2 ({In general material terms, two rooks are better than queen and pawn. Positional specifics matter, though. Here, the queen on e4 is White's best-placed piece, powerfully centralized. Black's rooks are not particularly active, currently performing largely a defensive role.} 23. h4 {intending advance to h5, attempts to create further kingside weaknesses.}) 23... exf5 $1 {More important than evaluating the relative value of White's queen versus Black's rooks, however, is evaluating the pieces that remain on the board.} 24. Qxe8+ Rxe8 25. Rxe8+ Kf7 26. Re2 g6 27. Bf4 {White's bishop has been improved for sure. One could argue that it is now comparable in value to the black bishop on c3. But in order for two rooks to outweigh a queen, the rooks must coordinate together. Here it's quite difficult to make the rooks work together: on the e-file there's no way to double. That c3-bishop spikes e1, the d-pawn guards e3, the f-pawns control e4 and e5, the black royalty covers the entry ranks. White's chances of forcing a win from here seem slim.} Qa3 28. Bc7 {White tries for something involving Bd8/Re7+.} Bb4 ({One idea to make progress with Black might be exchanging on c4, either creating a passed d-pawn or gaining some pressure against d3.} 28... b5 29. Bf4 (29. cxb5 Qc5 $17) 29... bxc4 30. bxc4 Bb4 31. Rd1 g5 $5 32. Bc1 Qa5 $15) 29. Bf4 Bc3 30. h3 $6 {Objectively, White should be happy to accept a repetition. Psychologically, knowing that Black is happy to repeat can put fresh wind in the sails.} h5 31. Kh2 Qa6 $6 (31... a5) (31... Qc5) 32. Bd6 Kg7 $2 (32... Qc8 33. Re7+ Kg8 $13) 33. Rff2 {White now has a path to double rooks on the e-file.} b5 34. c5 ({Safe enough, but not necessary. Faster:} 34. Re7+ Kh6 35. Rd7 Qc8 (35... bxc4 {allows an end similar to the actual game.}) 36. Rf7 g5 37. Rxf6+ Kg7 38. Be5 $18 {.}) 34... b4 (34... g5 35. Rxf5 {and White's breakthrough is now just a matter of time.}) 35. Re7+ Kh6 36. Rf7 Qxd3 (36... Qc8 37. Bf8+ Qxf8 {avoids mate, but that's about all you can say for it.}) 37. Bf8+ Kg5 38. h4+ Kg4 39. Rf4# 1-0

[Event "Lone Pine"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1971.03.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Evans, Larry Melvyn"]
[Black "McCormick, James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A06"]
[Annotator "John Donaldson"]
[PlyCount "152"]
[GameId "2102100832866904"]

1. b3 {Bent Larsen had incredible success with 1.b3 throughout 1972, but this game was played before he started using it regularly.} c5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 e6 5. Bb5 Nge7 {This is a sensible way to handle the position, taking advantage of the fact that the knight is not committed to f6.} 6. Ne5 Bd7 7. Nxd7 Qxd7 8. O-O Nf5 {Not bad, but 8...a6 9.Be2 d4, as in Danailov–Eingorn, Alicante 1992, is even simpler.} 9. d3 {9.Bd3, trying to stop Black from developing his bishop, can be met by 9...d4.} Be7 10. e4 Nfd4 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. c3 Nb5 13. c4 dxc4 14. dxc4 Nd4 {Black’s ironclad grip on d4 compensates for the doubled pawns.} 15. Nc3 e5 16. Na4 Qc7 17. Qg4 O-O 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. Rd3 Rfe8 20. Rfd1 g6 21. Kf1 Bf8 22. Qg3 Qb8 {It’s difficult for either side to make progress.} 23. Qh4 Be7 24. Qh6 Bf8 25. Qc1 Qc8 26. Ba3 Ne6 27. g3 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Rd8 29. Qd1 Rxd3 30. Qxd3 Qc7 31. Ke1 {McCormick now does Petrosian (famous for such maneuvers) proud by moving his bishop back and forth between e7 and f8 the next ten moves, challenging Evans to find a way to improve his position.} Be7 32. Kd1 Bf8 33. h4 Be7 34. Kc1 Bf8 35. Kb1 Be7 36. Bc1 Bf8 37. Be3 Be7 38. Kc1 Bf8 39. Qd2 Be7 40. Kb2 Bf8 41. f4 {This is a double-edged attempt by the former U.S. Champion to unbalance the position.} exf4 42. gxf4 Qe7 43. Qf2 Bg7+ 44. e5 f6 $1 {Logical. Black wants to open the diagonal for his bishop.} 45. Nxc5 fxe5 46. fxe5 $4 {Evans over-presses. He had to play 46.Nxe6 Qxe6 47.Ka3 (47.Bxa7 exf4+ 48.Ka3 Qd6+ 49.Bc5 Qxc5+ transposing into a winning pawn ending, a theme that will come up in the actual game as well.) 47...a6 (47...e4 48.Bxa7) 48.fxe5 Qxe5 49.Ka4 (49.Bc5? Qxc5+!) with equal chances.} Nxc5 47. Bxc5 Qxe5+ 48. Ka3 {48.Kc2 fares no better after 48...Qc3+ 49.Kd1 Qa1+.} Qxc5+ $3 49. Qxc5 Bf8 {Black has a winning king-and-pawn ending.} 50. Qb4 {50.Kb4 is met by 50...a5+.} Bxb4+ 51. Kxb4 h5 52. Kc5 g5 53. Kd4 g4 $2 {53...gxh4 was winning as it prevents White’s king from staying in the middle of the board. 54.Ke4 c5 55.Kf3 Kf7 56.Kg2 Kf6 57.Kh3 Ke5 58.Kxh4 Kd4 59.Kxh5 Kc3 60.Kg5 a5 61.Kf5 Kb2 62.Ke5 Kxa2 63.Kd5 Kxb3 64.Kxc5 a4 65.Kd5 a3 winning.} 54. Ke4 Kf7 55. b4 Ke6 56. a3 Kd6 57. Kf4 Kc7 58. Ke3 Kb6 59. Kd3 c5 60. Ke4 cxb4 61. axb4 a5 62. bxa5+ Kxa5 63. c5 $4 {63.Kd3 draws despite Black’s protected passed pawn as White’s king can both support his passed pawn and keep Black’s under control: 63...Ka4 64.Ke4 Kb4 65.Kd4 drawing. 63.Ke3 also draws.} Ka6 64. Kd4 Kb7 65. Ke4 Kc7 66. Ke3 Kd7 {66...Kc6 67.Kd4 Kb5 is faster, but the text does no harm.} 67. Kd3 Kc6 68. Kd4 Kb5 69. Kd5 g3 70. c6 Kb6 71. Kd6 g2 72. c7 g1=Q 73. c8=Q Qd4+ $1 {Well-played. Black has calculated everything to the end.} 74. Ke7 {Forced.} Qxh4+ 75. Kf8 {75.Kf7 Qf4+ 76.Ke8 (otherwise checks on c7 or g4 trade queens.) 76...Qe5+ 77.Kf7 (77.Kf8 Qh8+) 77...Qc7+ wins.} Qf4+ 76. Ke8 Qe5+ {Evans came back from this defeat to win his next six games in a row and take first place. He got his revenge against McCormick in the first round of Lone Pine 1973.} 0-1

[Event "2024 Seattle Seafair Open"]
[Site "Seattle"]
[Date "2024.07.13"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Boey, Chad"]
[Black "Gaivoronski, Andrei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "1922"]
[BlackElo "1417"]
[Annotator "Chad Boey"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[GameId "2089732915224636"]
[EventDate "2024.07.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,37,25,15,52,42,21,17,19,15,40,34,25,18,62,9,28,-14,117,114,147,127,144,140,286,345,328,360,369,368,368,235,459,417,417,472,629,657,29997,29998] Round 3, Chad Boey vs. Andrei Gaivoronski} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 g6 {This is an excessive pawn move which is already giving white too much play.} 7. O-O {Slightly better is an immediate 7. Qb3. In all previous games I have played Qb3 in this position which seems to equalize immediately, but that's just the problem. After 7. Qb3 e6 8.Bf4 Nf6 9. Rd1 black can consider giving back the pawn for king safety and the position can become dry. I still considered 7. Qb3 but decided that I had enough time to castle first and then see how black will defend if I play with two rooks instead of one.} Bg7 8. Qb3 {In all previous games in the database here, white has played 8.Qe2, a thematic move but an error. This is not a "system" opening and cannot be played the same way every time. White needs to know when and how to change course.} e6 {The move that I wanted to provoke. I must attack now.} 9. Bf4 Qe7 10. Rfd1 e5 11. Bg5 Bf6 12. Nd5 Qd8 13. Nxf6+ Nxf6 14. Bxf7+ Ke7 15. Bd5 h6 {Now I took my longest think of the game. I could see a few different winning continuations but I needed to check each one. First I considered 16. Bxf6+ which looked obvious but the winning continuation afterwards was not so clear to me. It looked like black could get away eventually after losing a pawn or two. I wasn't interested in playing for 30 or even 20 more moves. Next I considered 16.Bxc6 hxg5 17.Nxe5 but this also requires some extreme precision for several more moves if black defends correctly. Many minutes had passed and I couldn't decide. Then something occurred to me: why am I concerned at all with my bishop on g5? Doesn't black need to be a lot more concerned about their king? When attacking, isn't the correct way always forward? I should not retreat nor should I mindlessly exchange pieces to simplify the board for black where they might enjoy an endgame with a more active king. I finally found my idea, and calculated. I think it works.} 16. Nh4 $1 hxg5 $4 17. Nxg6+ Kd7 18. Bxc6+ bxc6 19. Qf7+ {The idea was never to capture the h8 rook, but to deliver this checkmate.} 1-0

