[Event "Washington Class (Expert 2000-2199)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.11.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Razmov, Gabriel"]
[Black "Zhang, Michelle"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Razmov"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1846"]
[BlackElo "1822"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[GameId "2133668789805097"]
[EventDate "2024.11.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,155,21,18,26,18,22,14,9,9,28,12,-11,-11,19,42,2,-37,36,-53,-3,-10,1,-2,12,15,26,30,19,23,54,19,29,19,50,33,34,19,13,13,6,-4,5,-47,36,26,37,-2,65,55,52,53,52,52,52,38,122,25,69,22,30,31,28,28,26,14,11,0,44,63,60,64,59,59,39,55,55,47,53,48,66,23,17,21,66,66,60,27,21,20,47,53,53,17,38,47,81,83,87,91,93,36,91,57,91,76,80,86,95,93,93,93,95,94,95,81,98,56,68,64,40,46,48,49,458,516,868,1012,1016,1016,1016,1038,1392,1934,26248,29970,29973,29972,29973,29976,29977,29978,29981,29974,29979,29982,29983,29984,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,29999]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 {A modern sideline that aims for a White queenside castle and central/kingside play. However, Black finds a plan to avoid this and castle queenside, turning the game into a longer, more positional battle.} Bb6 6. Nc3 Qf6 7. Qe2 Nge7 8. Bd2 d6 9. f4 Bd7 10. O-O-O O-O-O 11. g3 Qg6 $2 {Black slips here, likely judging that 12.f5 is a bad choice given that it gives away the e5-square. Unfortunately, White concurred with such an assessment and didn't find the best continuation.} (11... h5 {is a better plan to eventually pick apart White's slightly fragile kingside. Pawn breaks with ...h4 and ...g5 could be useful later on in the game.}) 12. Bg2 $2 (12. f5 {was much better, for a very concrete reason. After} Qf6 13. h4 h6 14. g4 g5 {(White calculated up to here)} 15. Kb1 {and Black's kingside pawn structure turns out to be unstable and prone to pressure. A black knight on e5 looks nice, but it wouldn't have any clear entry points into White's position.}) 12... f5 13. Rhe1 fxe4 14. Bxe4 Qf7 15. Be3 Kb8 16. Nd5 Nf5 $6 {This encourages White to exchange bishops, which they were already interested in. The black knight isn't well-placed on f5. The likely reason for Black's decision was that on e7 the knight blocks the e-file for Black's rooks and constrains Black's position somewhat.} (16... Rhe8 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. Bg1 {would leave the position roughly equal.}) 17. Bxb6 axb6 18. Qg2 (18. Qc4 {is another option that White barely considered, aiming for} Be6 19. Qc3 Nfe7 20. Nxe7 Nxe7 21. a4 {, where White's queen supports a4-a5 as well as potentially aiming at g7.}) 18... Rhe8 19. Nc3 Nfe7 20. h3 Bf5 21. Bf3 Be6 22. Kb1 d5 23. Qf2 d4 $2 {This mistake hands White a clear advantage. Perhaps Black was trying to liquidate to an endgame, though the endgame turns out to be better for White...} (23... Bxh3 {instead would lead to} 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Rxe8 Qxe8 (25... Nc3+ 26. bxc3 Rxe8) 26. Rxd5 Rxd5 27. Bxd5 h5 {with very few chances left for either side, rendering this position equal.}) 24. Nxd4 Nxd4 25. Rxd4 Rxd4 26. Qxd4 Nc6 27. Qf2 g5 28. Bd5 $2 {White seems to also be interested in liquidating into a position with an f-passer, not realizing that such positions may actually not be winning for them. Black's queen and knight can slow down the passer enough such that the Black king can come and help out.} (28. Bg4 $1 {is the right exchanging move. After} gxf4 29. gxf4 Bd7 30. Rxe8+ Bxe8 31. Qe3 {White is a solid pawn up and has good winning chances.}) 28... gxf4 $2 {Once again allowing White a chance, but White miscalculates and misses it.} (28... Bxd5 29. Rxe8+ Qxe8 30. Nxd5 Qe6) 29. gxf4 $2 (29. Rxe6 $1 {A relatively obvious candidate move. However, White was concerned about} Rxe6 30. gxf4 Ne7 31. Bxe6 Qxe6 {and Black seems to have pressure on the h-pawn as well as a blockade on f5. However, looking a bit beyond the end of the forced line, White's position is quite pleasant after} 32. Qh4 {as they retain the extra pawn and have pressure of their own on Black's h-pawn.}) 29... Bxd5 30. Rxe8+ Qxe8 31. Nxd5 Qh5 {Black now regains their pawn. Despite this, White played on confidently, blitzing out the next few moves.} 32. Ne3 Qxh3 33. a3 Qe6 34. f5 Qf7 35. f6 Ne5 {A nice defensive resource. Around here White realized that a queen endgame was imminent in order to avoid the loss of the f-pawn.} 36. Qf5 Nd7 37. Ng4 h5 $6 ({Impatience!} 37... Ka7 $5 {seems at first unintuitive - going in the opposite direction to the passer. The deeper point is that White is now restrained to the defense of their f6-pawn and Ng4-Ne5 is no longer viable, contrary to lines where Black's king remains on b8.}) 38. Ne5 Nxe5 39. Qxe5 Kc8 $1 {White had foreseen up to this point from afar, but missed 39...Kc8, which stops the threat of 40.Qe7. As a result, now White would have to try grinding out an advantage in the queen endgame. Get ready for another few dozen moves of maneuvering $1} 40. Qg5 Kd7 41. Qf5+ Kd8 42. Qd3+ Ke8 43. Qe4+ Kd7 44. Qf5+ Kd8 45. Qd3+ Ke8 46. Qb5+ Kd8 47. Qf5 {Maneuvering to lose a tempo, making Black \"show their cards.\" Black can make a mistake in such a situation, and indeed they do.} h4 $2 {Impatience again, weakening the h-pawn and allowing a queen endgame up a pawn for White. However, White wasn't sure if this endgame was winning or drawn, not seeing that the Black king will end up stranded away from its queen-side pawns (as later happened). Thus, as neither side was confident enough to change the position, there follows a series of errors.} (47... c6 48. a4 Kc7) 48. Qd3+ Ke8 49. Qe4+ Kd7 50. Qf5+ $2 (50. Qxh4 {was simply best, as after} Ke6 51. Qe4+ Kxf6 52. Qxb7 {White has a healthy extra pawn and, more importantly, Black's king is on the wrong side of the board.}) 50... Kd8 $2 (50... Kd6 $1 {was the correct defense here, since after} 51. Qf4+ Ke6 52. Qxh4 Qxf6 53. Qe4+ Kd7 54. Qxb7 Qf1+ {Black has a perpetual check:} 55. Ka2 Qc4+) 51. Qg5 $2 (51. Qd3+ {The only way to win, transposing back to the position from a few moves ago.}) 51... Kd7 $2 {Allowing White one more chance to get a technically winning queen endgame.} (51... h3 $1 {was a tougher defense. White thought} 52. Qg7 Ke8 53. Qh8+ Qf8 54. Qxh3 Qxf6 55. Qc8+ {was good in that case, but missed} Qd8 $1 {from afar. After} 56. Qxb7 Qd1+ 57. Ka2 Qxc2 {this position will end in a draw.}) 52. Qg4+ Kd6 53. Qxh4 {Finally, White takes the chance.} Ke6 (53... Ke5 54. Qg5+ Ke6 55. Qf4 $16) 54. Qe4+ Kxf6 55. Qxb7 Qc4 $1 (55... Ke6 56. Qc6+ $1 Ke5 57. b3 $16) 56. Qf3+ $1 {Pushing the king away.} Ke7 57. Qe3+ $1 {Cutting the king as the d-file is poisoned due to 58.Qd3+.} Kf6 $2 {A mistake - or could it be a swindling attempt? - but White misses their chance, again due to a miscalculation.} (57... Kf8 {is objectively better but still lost after} 58. b3 $18) 58. Qc3+ $4 {A tempting but ultimately wrong idea, falling for the alleged swindle. It turns out that this particular pawn endgame is drawn. White thought that despite his doubled pawns, they could push the king to b4, exchange pawns on c5, and then win the resulting 2-vs-1 pawn endgame. However, Black has a subtle defense against this plan $1} (58. b3 $1 {is instead a winner here, as Black cannot prevent the loss of c7.} Qh4 (58... Qf1+ 59. Kb2 c5 60. Qh6+) (58... Qc6 $4 59. Qh6+) 59. Qc3+) 58... Qxc3 59. bxc3 Ke5 60. Kb2 Kd5 61. Kb3 {So far both sides have played as planned, and White seems to be making the progress they wanted. 62.Kb4 looks imminent, after which White would win. However, Black has an only, yet sufficient, defense $1} Kc5 $4 {An intuitive and active move to play, especially in time trouble. But this allows White to force the desired exchange of the c3-pawn, after which the remaining pawn ending is simple and winning. So it wasn't a swindle after all.} (61... c5 $3 {is the less intuitive and correct move. The key idea is that White simply cannot make further progress, as Black's pawns and active king stop White's king.} 62. a4 (62. Ka4 {is one attempt, but it ends the game immediately:} Kc4 $1 {and the \"weaker\" side stalemates the \"stronger\" side $1}) 62... Kd6 63. Kc4 (63. c4 Ke5 64. Kc3 Ke4 65. Kb2 Ke3 66. Ka3 Kd4 67. Kb3 Ke3) 63... Kc6) 62. c4 $1 {Now White is back on the winning track and converts confidently.} c6 63. a4 $1 {Preparing for Black's idea of pushing b6-b5, such that White's a-pawn would advance rather than remain backward on a3 (and lead to a draw).} b5 (63... Kd6 64. Kb4 $18) 64. cxb5 cxb5 65. a5 b4 66. Ka4 Kc6 67. Kxb4 {The rest is truly elementary technique and requires no comments.} Kb7 68. c4 Kc6 69. c5 Kb7 70. Kb5 Ka7 71. Kc6 Kb8 72. Kd7 Kb7 73. c6+ Kb8 74. c7+ Ka7 {Hoping for 75.c8Q $4 with a stalemate, but against serious opponents this is not a probable chance.} 75. Kc6 Ka6 76. c8=Q+ Kxa5 77. Qg4 Ka6 78. Qa4# {Quite an interesting game overall. Black chose an challenging line against White's opening preparation and seemed to have reached equality as a result. However, White kept generating chances into the endgame (even after missing a few good opportunities). In the end, Black's time trouble led to a crucial and subtle error that allowed White to win.} 1-0

[Event "Washington Class (Class B)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.11.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kuhner, Mary"]
[Black "Rubaiyat, Rhadean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Mary Kuhner"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1710"]
[BlackElo "1583"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[GameId "2133668530180123"]
[EventDate "2024.11.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,57,26,21,43,43,48,5,7,3,13,-14,-8,0,0,0,-3,-11,-11,1,4,0,-6,6,4,-88,-84,-73,-76,-76,-87,-87,-57,-50,-41,-72,-22,-62,-59,-60,-63,-226,-29,-40,70,21,224,257,257,298,1072,29990,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 d5 7. d4 ({The engine favors} 7. exd6) 7... cxd4 8. cxd4 Bg4 {The Delayed Alapin is a true chameleon, and this one now looks like a Caro-Kann Advance Variation--an opening I haven't played in around 40 years and don't know.} 9. Be3 e6 10. O-O Be7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Re1 $2 {With the plan of Nf1-Ng3 but this fails miserably; I'm now quite a bit worse. The opening has gone very well for Black.} Bb4 $1 {It suddenly becomes apparent that I will have to give up either an important pawn, or the health of my kingside pawn structure.} 13. a3 Bxd2 14. Qxd2 Bxf3 15. gxf3 {What have I got in return for my bad pawns? Well, the g-file and the bishop pair. While I figured I was worse, I also thought I might be able to do something with that.} Nc4 16. Qe2 b5 17. Kh1 Ne7 $6 {The engine says this throws away Black's advantage. I thought it was a natural move, bringing a piece to the kingside for defense. It would like to see ...f5 or ...Qh4 instead. The position is Frenchy enough that I'm not surprised ...f6 and ...f5 keep showing up among the best lines. Black didn't want to undouble my f-pawns, but that's shortly going to be the least of his problems....} 18. Bg5 Qd7 19. Rg1 Nf5 (19... Kh8 {is probably safer}) 20. Bf6 {Pounce!} g6 {My opponent took a long time here and established that this was the best of a set of bad options. Stockfish agrees.} ({After the game my opponent's friends asked why he didn't play} 20... Kh8 {which looks safer. He said something to the effect of, I've been sitting next to her every round, I know how she plays, she'd sacrifice the rook. Indeed I was drooling to do exactly that:} 21. Rxg7 $1 Nxg7 22. Rg1 Rg8 23. Bxc4 dxc4 (23... bxc4 24. Qe3 Qe8 25. Qg5 Qf8 26. h4) 24. Qe3 Qe8 {and now} 25. Qg5 {was my idea} ({Stockfish prefers the more prosaic} 25. Qh6 Qf8 26. Rg4 Rd8 27. Rh4 c3 28. Qxh7#) 25... Qf8 {is forced but now Black has no recourse against h4-h5-h6-hxg7 as his extra rook can roam the board but cannot do anything, touching the h-pawn leads to a snap mate, and none of his other pieces can move.}) 21. Rad1 {Now I had a psychological problem. I kept thinking about the rook sack, which clearly will never happen now; I had trouble tearing myself loose to think about the actual position. I finally resolved that with a position this juicy I'd find a different sack....} h5 $2 {It wasn't good, but after this it's hopeless. Black is not going to be able to defend his over-extended kingside, and his queenside pieces can't help because of the bishop plus pawn chain dividing the board in half.} ({The last chance was to tackle the problem of the Bf6 immediately:} 21... Ng7 22. f4 Ne8 23. Bg5 f6 {and White is only a little better.}) 22. Rg5 Kh7 23. f4 {To give my pieces access to h5. I can't get in on the dark squares so, as Vukovic says in The Art Of Attack, I need to sack something on a light square.} Kh6 {Otherwise I'm already sacking on h5. In fact I still could, but I didn't see that. This will be a theme of the remainder of the game: I am slowly and inexorably preparing the sack, but in fact passed up several tactically difficult chances to play it earlier.} 24. Rd3 Qc6 (24... Nce3 25. Rxe3 Nxe3 26. Qxe3 Rac8 27. f5 Kh7 28. fxg6+ fxg6 29. Rxg6 Rc1+ 30. Kg2 Kxg6 31. Qg5+ Kh7 32. Qxh5+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Qg7 34. Qxg7# {is a computer line I might not have found, but as I haven't yet given up material, I can just take the knight....}) 25. Rh3 ({Here's another chance:} 25. Rxh5+ gxh5 26. Bd1 Ng7 27. Bxg7+ Kxg7 28. Rg3+ {and mates}) 25... Ng7 26. Bd1 {I love the esthetics of this move: every single White piece is focused on h5 except the dark-squared bishop, and that bishop--which in the previous line was worth a rook, and is about to be worth two rooks--is preventing any helpful Black response to the threatened sacks. Also, I was thwarted in sacrificing one rook and was champing at the bit to sacrifice two. ( In fact the sack was also winning on moves 24 and 25 but harder to calculate, and Black seems unable to free his position so it doesn't hurt to set things up thoroughly. )} Kh7 27. Rgxh5+ ({The computer shows off with} 27. Qxh5+ Nxh5 28. Rhxh5+ gxh5 29. Bc2+ Kh6 30. Bg7# {but one shouldn't play a hard to calculate line when an easier one is at hand....}) 27... gxh5 28. Rxh5+ Kg8 (28... Nxh5 29. Qxh5+ Kg8 30. Qh8#) (28... Kg6 29. Qg4#) 29. Qg4 {The bishop of doom has the last word. My favorite game of the tournament.} 1-0

[Event "Washington Class (Class B)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.12.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Buck, Stephen"]
[Black "Davies, Cedric"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Cedric Davies"]
[ECO "A87"]
[WhiteElo "1600"]
[BlackElo "1655"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[GameId "2118230061260341"]
[EventDate "2024.11.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,120,18,-11,45,53,45,51,71,61,65,40,55,43,28,29,79,50,75,21,20,37,144,0,18,-16,-16,-1,16,5,65,-27,-16,-61,-6,-46,-47,-58,-24,-34,-34,-38,-20,-20,-29,-28,-26,-51,-44,-44,-55,-55,-43,-41,-30,-34,104,24,24,23,9,2,13,-39,-37,-35,-41,-78,-37,-37,-37,-41,-37,-52,-49,-57,-43,-46,-40,-45,-21,-109,-117,-120,-107,-137,-110,-150,-149,-167,-170,-170,-128,-134,-150,-217,-237,-244,-262,-263,-263,-263,-263,-449,-372,-364,-376,-376,-278,-271,-274,-293,-291,-433,-497,-507,-627,-639,-672,-683,-683,-1459,-1637] My favorite game from the tournament. No big mistakes. Went up a pawn in the early middle game. Got into an ending a pawn up with a better Knight vs Bishop and converted with nice endgame technique.} 1. c4 f5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O c6 8. Qb3 Qe8 9. d5 Na6 {The Knight is well placed here. A small fight ensues over control of the c5 square} 10. Be3 e5 11. dxe6 Qxe6 ({Computer offers this line as being better} 11... Ng4 12. Bf4 Ne5 13. e7 Rf7) 12. Ng5 {Does not really accomplish anything and will be kicked away soon} Qe7 13. Rad1 {Rxd6 is now a threat} h6 14. Nf3 Be6 15. Qa4 Ng4 {[#] I feel like over the past few moves, my position has improved while his has not. This moves wins the important c5 square.} 16. Bd4 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 {Rxd4 was expected to protect the c4 pawn} Nc5 18. Qc2 Bxc4 19. b3 Bf7 20. e4 {Interesting try to open things up. White is slightly worse due to being a pawn down} fxe4 21. Nxe4 Nxe4 22. Bxe4 Qf6 23. h3 Ne5 24. f4 Nd7 {Black has nothing to fear from the pawn pushes. White risks opening up their own King} 25. f5 g5 26. g4 $17 {[#] White has establish a passed pawn on f5, but it is well blockaded. And the best piece to blockade is the Knight. I aim for a small reshuffling of my pieces to get the Knight to f6.} Qe5 {Threatening Qg3+} 27. Bg2 Nf6 $2 {The one move I wasn't happy with. I played it too quickly. This allows Ne6 possiblities, because of Bxe6 fxe6 Qxe6 Qg6+. I should have played first Rae8 or Kg7 to shore up the position before posting the Knight to f6} 28. Rfe1 (28. Ne6 $142 Bxe6 29. fxe6 Kg7 30. Rfe1 Qa5 $11) 28... Qc5 {Realizing my mistake, I was happy to have this move that practically foces Queens off the board} 29. Qxc5 dxc5 30. Ne6 Bxe6 31. Rxe6 $15 (31. fxe6 $142 Rfe8 32. Rc1 Kg7 33. Rxc5 Rad8 34. b4 a6 35. a4 Rd6 36. Rce5 Re7 $11 {Black still has a small edge in the endgame and will likely pickup the e6 pawn, but it is better for White then the game.}) 31... Rae8 32. Red6 Kg7 {[#] Not only does Black have an extra pawn, but here the Knight is better than the Bishop. The Bishop's influence is significantly reduced by the c6 pawn, and importantly the Knight covers the infiltration square d7. Only Black can play for a win here.} 33. Kf2 Re5 {It helps that Black can now double Rooks, while still protecting the c5 pawn} 34. Bf3 Rfe8 35. R1d2 R8e7 36. Rd8 {Here White offered me a draw. Nope, I came here to play! Let me show you my endgame technique. :)} h5 $1 {Now that I've improved my position and placed all my pieces on their best squares, I start to work on creating a weakness on the Kingside} 37. R8d3 a5 {And now the other side of the board! I threaten a4 now or later, weakinging his Queenside pawns. Here Ne4+ Bxe4 Rxe4 was under serious consideration. But I felt it better to set up the position for weaknesses before going for that type of line.} 38. Rc2 hxg4 {I first create the g4 weakness and then challenge him for control of the d-file. I have an advantage in that I know he doesn't want to trade pieces, and so I can force him to make concessions.} 39. hxg4 Rd7 40. Rdc3 $17 (40. Rxd7+ $142 Nxd7 41. Rd2 $15) 40... Ne4+ 41. Bxe4 Rxe4 {After trading minor pieces, White has a lot of problems due to his weak g4 pawn.} 42. Rg3 $2 $19 {Too passive. The alternative Rxc5 at least keeps the White Rooks active.} (42. Rxc5 $142 Rxg4 43. Rxa5 Kf6 $17) 42... b6 43. Kg2 Kf6 44. a3 Rdd4 45. Kh3 a4 $1 {[#] Now creating a target on the Queenside while the White King and Rook wait passively protecting g4} 46. bxa4 Rxa4 47. Rd2 $2 (47. Rb3 $142 Ke5 48. Rxb6 Rxa3+ 49. Kh2 Kd6 50. Rb8 Rxg4 51. Rd8+ Ke7 52. Rg8 c4 $19) 47... Rad4 {Nope! You can't have the file, it is mine (queue evil laughter). Again White doesn't want to trade, which I use to my benefit to shut down all potential counterplay} 48. Rb2 b5 49. Rc2 c4 50. Rb2 Rd3 51. a4 Ree3 {Note the technique. This is better to keep the King farther away from the Queenside then the alternative Rxg3+ Kxg3 Re3+ Kf2} 52. Rxe3 Rxe3+ 53. Kg2 Rb3 {Again I use the fact that White can't trade to my benefit} 54. Re2 bxa4 55. Re6+ Kf7 56. Rxc6 c3 57. Kf2 a3 58. Ke2 a2 59. Ra6 Rb2+ 60. Kd1 (60. Kd3 c2 61. Kd2 Rb1 62. Kxc2 a1=Q) 60... Rb1+ {I like how I handled the ending in this game. Not rushing. Improving my position before going for breaks. Keeping control of important files and not allowing counterplay.} 0-1

[Event "Washington Class (Class C)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.11.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Lindgren, Dustin"]
[Black "He, Oliver"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Dustin Lindgren"]
[ECO "B23"]
[BlackElo "1386"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[GameId "2133765726949674"]
[EventDate "2024.11.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,156,23,18,67,50,50,45,52,20,23,8,39,-4,30,40,35,18,36,35,42,42,42,47,51,41,42,42,41,42,47,35,42,23,45,7,49,45,50,73,88,88,89,94,102,85,88,77,100,100,97,97,83,80,118,122,192,140,157,96,96,96,254,3,3,3,3,3,4,0,0,0,3,-70,23,23,15,8,2,10,14,14,30,14,43,51,183,183,226,29,30,0,0,0,26,0,23,-67,-57,-101,-18,-19,-11,-29,-49,-35,0,0,0,0,58,56,100,116,152,152,152,152,152,142,152,0,0,0,0,0,0,-62,-95,-95,-95,-89,-85,-85,-30,-27,-30,-25,0,-25,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Bxc6 {Against the Sicilian defense I like to take the knight on c6 and play against what will hopefully be a pawn weakness on the c file. b takes and d takes are both valid but I think d takes plays against this setup slightly better for black.} dxc6 5. d3 e6 6. f4 Qc7 7. Nf3 Be7 8. b3 b6 9. Qd2 {I have to hold f4 with the queen because blacks queen is on c7 for some reason and I'm going for a queenside castle / kingside attack with Bb2.} Bb7 10. Bb2 a5 11. a4 O-O-O 12. O-O-O {Black agrees the kingside is too dangerous so we both take the queen side.} Kb8 13. g3 Rhf8 14. Qe2 Ba6 15. Ne5 Kb7 {Here I understood that all the tension would revolve around b5. That's how black plans on attacking, so my goal is to make b5 as unpleasant as I can. This was a long think but I was happy with Nc4 aiming for Na3 to prevent b5. After Nc4 can black play b5? Yes, and it is the best move, but I was hoping for further preparation before the push. The computer does not like Nc4 and we go from an evaluation of +1.5 to +0.6. A rook move or Nb1 would have been better, which is hard to see with all the tension on b5.} 16. Nc4 Ka7 17. Na3 Qb7 {I get my idea and he still insists on b5, well this makes Nc4 good again.} 18. Nc4 Kb8 19. Nb1 Qa7 20. Nbd2 Bc8 21. Bc3 Ka8 22. Nf3 h6 23. Nfe5 Bb7 24. Kb2 Ne8 25. Ng4 Qa6 {For a while black cannot decide what to do and shuffles their pieces around. I make improvements to my positions without committing anything too aggressive. There are still only white pieces on whites side and black pieces on blacks side. Computer gives this position +3.3 on even material because black does not have hardly any good options and white can basically do whatever they want. A queenside breakthrough doesn't look too good with the queen and king lined up on the a file and a1 being free for a rook as well.} 26. Qe1 Rc8 27. Nge5 Bd8 28. h4 Bc7 29. g4 Rd8 30. h5 b5 {The long awaited b5, something has to happen or black will simply be lost. Evaluation is +5.0 for white after a takes.} 31. Nxa5 {Blunder by white. I saw b4 and miscalculated that after b4 I'd save my knight by trading it off on b7. However this allows c3 to be taken with check, and then the knight will also be taken on b7. I loose a piece, however, I win 3 great pawns.} b4 32. Nxb7 bxc3+ 33. Qxc3 Kxb7 34. Qxc5 Bxe5+ {After realizing this blunder I assumed that I had an advantage, and now it is back to equal, even though I'm down a piece. Computer agrees giving this position -0.2 for the best move or 0.0 for others.} 35. Qxe5 Qb6 36. g5 Qd4+ {Black wants an endgame up a piece.} 37. Qxd4 Rxd4 38. c3 Rd8 {Position is equal, I have every starting pawn still on its own file, more space, breakthrough possibilities, a pretty good king, 3 on 1 pawns, but I do not have a knight.} 39. d4 Nd6 40. Rde1 Rde8 41. Rhg1 Rg8 42. c4 g6 {Blunder by black, with the only move being gxh6. I did not think there was a difference between g takes and h takes so I missed this opportunity. "Always take towards the center" or something. I thought after hxg6, Rxg6, gxh6, Rxh6, then Rg7 would be an advantage. I missed their response to Rg7.} 43. c5 Nc8 44. hxg6 Rxg6 45. gxh6 Rxh6 46. Rg7 Rf6 {Great move by black, equal position, I have to defend some pawns.} 47. Rf1 Rh8 48. Rg4 Ne7 49. Kc3 {Initially I thought Rh3 was not an issue because of something like Kc4. After thinking about it for a while on my opponents turn though, I realized it was. This would have been the best move for black giving black -3.3. I think they decided against it for the same reason I didn't think it was a threat, that my king would be better on c4.} Rhh6 50. Rf3 Rfg6 51. Rfg3 Rxg4 52. Rxg4 Rf6 {I realized I have to defend my f pawn because of knight g6. Equal position.} 53. Kd3 Ng6 54. Ke3 Ne7 55. b4 Ng6 56. b5 cxb5 {It appears that black couldn't find anything worth doing and probably also assumes this is a draw no matter what. However, they allowed this a bit too easily and white is back to +5.0 with some passed pawns that are close to promoting and black’s pieces are stuck on the queenside.} 57. axb5 Ne7 58. Rg2 Ng6 59. Rf2 Ne7 60. b6 {Surprisingly b6 is a blunder by white, I thought that the simple plan of getting a rook to a7 would probably result in a win, but black has 1 move to draw the game, and they found it.} Rh6 61. Kd3 Rh3+ 62. Kc4 Re3 63. Ra2 Nc6 {Knight c6 is the problem, it's much harder to remove than it would appear and a7 has been defused. d5 won't work because of Rxe4+.} 64. f5 Rxe4 65. fxe6 fxe6 66. Kc3 {King c3 was surprisingly the only move to maintain a draw.} Rh4 67. Rd2 Rh5 68. Re2 Rh6 69. Re3 Nd8 70. Rd3 Kc6 71. Kc4 Rh5 72. Rf3 Rh7 73. Rf8 Rd7 74. Rf6 Rd5 75. Rg6 Rd7 76. Rh6 Rd5 {Well, this is a drawn position, lets make it fancy.} 77. b7 Kxb7 78. Rxe6 Rxd4+ {Back to back rook sacrifices and the game is over after Nxe6+ so we agreed to a draw. This 78 move draw took over 4 hours and was emotionally exhausting going back and fourth between a draw or a potential win. The piece blunder could have been avoided with more careful consideration of b4 but just getting to that point was mentally draining. ~80.7 accuracy for white to ~79.5 accuracy to black, and I did drop a piece so a draw is a great outcome even though I missed multiple winning opportunities.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Washington Class (Under 1000)"]
[Site "Redmond, WA"]
[Date "2024.11.29"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Ge, Emma"]
[Black "Davies, Damien"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Cedric Davies"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "924"]
[BlackElo "812"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[GameId "2117427889329102"]
[EventDate "2024.11.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,78,21,21,43,48,80,66,60,44,46,46,46,27,27,34,31,0,31,13,34,23,34,16,14,4,41,35,36,27,198,129,161,21,27,14,11,-42,-72,-54,-2,-109,-98,-120,-129,-120,-146,-148,-109,-178,-106,-569,-167,-272,-281,-299,-305,-296,-308,-339,-343,-435,-922,-1134,-1201,-1202,-1239,-1243,-1293,-29991,-843,-29977,-29978,-29979,-29980,-29981,-29982,-29997,-29998,-29999,-29999] Damien, my son, is a 12-year old boy. He plays a great game here, showing some nice tactics and good strategic understanding. Although she falls in this game, Emma also plays a nice game, and she's a girl of just 7 years. As both a chess parent and a chess enthusist, I am both proud and amazed at the quality of play by WA youngsters. Chess has a bright future in WA if these kids keep it up.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bc4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Qd2 Bd7 9. Bh6 Re8 {Due to the pressure on f7, with a potential Ng5 coming, I would prefer to keep the Rook on f8} 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. h3 $11 a6 12. a4 Nb4 13. Rfe1 Rb8 {I like the plan of playing for a b5 break. To be considered here is playing b6, to prevent the opponent from playing a5. But before that Black probably needs to play e5 to stop White's potential e5 break.} 14. a5 b6 {Black needs to stop White from making the e5 break} (14... e5 $142 $11) 15. axb6 Qxb6 16. Nd5 $2 (16. e5 $142 $1 dxe5 17. Nxe5 Rf8 18. Nxd7 Nxd7 19. Rxe7 Nf6 $16) 16... Nbxd5 17. exd5 $11 Qxb2 18. Bb3 {[#] White makes an interesting choice here. She is attempting to trap Black's Queen with a threat of Reb1} (18. Rxa6 $142) 18... Rxb3 $1 $17 {A wise decision. Instead of trying to make an escape for his Queen, Damien sacs the Exchange. In compensation he picks up a pawn and will likely pick up the d5 pawn as well.} 19. cxb3 Qxb3 20. Reb1 (20. d4 $142 c4 21. Reb1 Qd3 22. Qxd3 cxd3 $17) 20... Qxd5 21. Rxa6 Bxh3 $1 22. gxh3 $2 {White would be better not taking the Bishop as it opens up her King} Qxf3 23. Qe3 Qd5 $1 {[#] Damien rightly decides to keep Queens on the board. With White's King partly exposed and his control of the center, he has better attacking chances with the ladies remaining on the board.} 24. Rb5 $6 {Leaving the back rank is dangerous here} Rc8 $5 {Interesting idea, fighting for the activity of his Rook and sacing the e7 pawn in the process. If White accepts the sacrifice, the open e-file will work to Damien's benefit} 25. Qxe7 $2 {Who can resist a free pawn? Unfortunately for White, taking the pawn helps Black by opening up the e-file for his Rook} Qxd3 $2 {Damien is also tempted to win a pawn, though here it was better to immediately take control of the newly opened e-file.} (25... Re8 $142 $1 {White must now give up her Queen or allow a forced mate} 26. Qc7 Re1+ 27. Kh2 Qh1+ 28. Kg3 Rg1+ 29. Kh4 (29. Kf4 Nd5#) 29... Rg4#) 26. Qb7 (26. Ra7 $142 Qd1+ (26... Qxb5 $2 {This very plausable mistake would allow White back into the game} 27. Qxf7+ Kh6 28. Qxf6 $11) 27. Kh2 Qd5 28. Rbb7 Rf8 $17) 26... Re8 {Damien takes over the file. Re1+ is a deadly threat.} 27. Ra1 {To prevent Re1+. Probably it was better to stop the threat with the other Rook, in order to preserve the option of playing Ra7} Qxh3 {Strongly threatening Ng4} 28. Qg2 {Again White offers a trade of Queens to stem the attack} Qd3 {And again Damien smartly rejects the trade. Here he gains a tempo by attacking the Rook and perpares for his own Rook-lift} 29. Rab1 c4 $1 {Prevents R5b3} 30. Qc6 Re4 {The Rook enters the attack with deadly effect} 31. Rb7 Rg4+ 32. Kh2 Rh4+ 33. Kg1 Qh3 {Rg4+ is the threat} 34. f3 d5 {[%emt 0:00:05] Nice move! Damien blocks the White Queen's defense of f3. Though there was something better - a forced mate in} (34... Qg3+ $142 35. Kf1 Rh1+ 36. Ke2 Rh2+ 37. Ke3 Qe5+ 38. Qe4 Nd5#) 35. Qc7 Qxf3 {[#] Cool and collected, Damien is not worried about White's threat to f7 as he sees that his King can run to safety} 36. Qxf7+ Kh6 37. Qf8+ Kg5 38. Rxh7 {One last trick} Rg4+ {With ice water in his veins, Damien does not take the free Rook and instead hunts down the King} (38... Nxh7 $4 39. Qxf3 $18) 39. Kh2 Qg2# 0-1

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed (Challengers)"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.12.08"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gupta, Saahil"]
[Black "Lewis, Kai"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[ECO "E68"]
[WhiteElo "1862"]
[BlackElo "1821"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[GameId "2130077253284215"]
[EventDate "2024.12.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,89,19,-8,5,-32,25,10,12,12,8,9,16,38,33,33,46,5,5,24,34,12,33,34,36,28,41,28,43,37,40,34,70,57,76,59,106,134,135,127,186,193,137,115,144,118,143,135,139,107,176,176,155,160,189,95,115,127,136,97,195,133,148,126,142,110,157,149,243,257,257,257,282,190,427,274,427,347,359,290,454,469,485,412,413,443,459,459,1302,691,691,658]} {This game was played in the last round. Saahil and Neil Natarajan are tied for the lead with 3 points out of 4. Both have White in their final game. Kai is a tournament veteran, having played in the last three Oregon Junior Closed tournaments.} 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. e4 exd4 {Black gives up pawn central control to activate his pieces. It is a risky strategy, but risky strategies are obligatory for King's Indian players.} 9. Nxd4 a6 {I believe that this qualifies as Gallagher Variation of the Fianchetto King's Indian, popularized by British/Swiss Grandmaster Joe Gallagher starting around 1989.} ({GM Gallegher sometimes started with 9...a6 like Kai, but often inserted 9...Re8 before playing 10...a6} 9... Re8 10. h3 a6 {Either way, it is likely to lead to a game where calculation accuracy is at a premium.}) 10. h3 Ne5 ({A more popular approach is} 10... Rb8 {which gets the rook off the h1-a8 diagnoal and out of the line of fire of White's bishop on g2. Black is planning to play c7-c5, Nd7-e5, and b7-b5 in some order, giving him a weak backward pawn on d6 and a boatload of tactical shots.}) 11. b3 Bd7 12. Be3 Nc6 13. Rc1 Qc8 14. Kh2 Re8 15. f4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Bc6 17. Re1 b5 $6 {risky, but Black shouldn't wait around. He needs to generate play quickly or White's extra space will allow him to continue to improve his position.} 18. Nd5 $1 $16 {White obtains a position with extra space and a backward pawn on c7 to target. If I were Black I would be hoping that White's bishop on g2 would become a bad bishop, but the game does not provide evidence to support my hope.} Bxd5 19. cxd5 Nd7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Qd4+ f6 22. Re3 Qd8 23. Rec3 {applying pressure to the backward pawn on c7} Rc8 24. h4 {This is a nice idea. After White ties Black down on the queenside, he starts to generate play on the kingside, knowing that his advantage in space will allow him to shift attackers from one side to the other faster than Black can shift defenders.} Nc5 {blocks White's rook pressure on the c-pawn and applies pressure to White's e-pawn.} {But, unfortunately for Black,} 25. e5 $1 {White's e-pawn isn't a static weakness - it is mobile} b4 ({Black can't win a pawn with} 25... fxe5 26. fxe5 Rxe5 {as} 27. Rxc5 {wins a knight}) 26. Re3 ({Not} 26. Qxb4 {distracting White's queen from the e5 square} fxe5 27. fxe5 Rxe5 {is an improved position for Black, though White is still better.}) 26... Rb8 27. Bh3 a5 28. Rce1 Rf8 29. R3e2 Qe7 30. Bg4 Rf7 31. e6 Rff8 32. f5 Rbe8 33. Kg2 {White's gigantic advantage in space means that he is in no hurry - he can leisurely make tidying moves, as Black has no way of diminishing White's positional advantages.} Kh8 34. fxg6 hxg6 35. h5 {Black's knight on c5 is well placed to prevent White from making progress on the queenside, but it will be hard pressed to get back to the kingside where the immediate action is occurring.} g5 36. Bf5 Kg7 37. h6+ $1 Kh8 (37... Kxh6 38. Rh1+ Kg7 39. Rh7+ Kg8 40. Rxe7) 38. Bg6 {Material is even, but Stockfish has White's advantage as over 6 pawns.} Rd8 39. Bf7 Nd7 {a good practical try. If White takes the knight, it removes the pawn defense of White's f7 Bishop. If White doesn't take the knight, it will hop out to e5, a better square for defending the king than c5 was.} 40. exd7 $1 {The weakness of White's scattered isolated pawns is irrelevant, but their nearness to promotion squares combined with his dominant rooks is decisive.} Qxf7 41. Re7 Qg6 42. Qe4 $1 Qxe4+ 43. R1xe4 Rg8 44. h7 Rgf8 45. Re8 {if 45...Kxh7, then 46.Rxf8 Rxf8 47.Re8 and White's d-pawn will promote.} 1-0

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed (Championship)"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.12.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kodarapu, Ishaan"]
[Black "Tang, Zoey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2156"]
[BlackElo "2356"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[GameId "2130907817199142"]
[EventDate "2024.12.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,124,23,-11,-33,-51,-17,1,-2,4,-5,-5,11,-3,-5,17,31,23,18,12,27,7,17,15,21,16,14,16,18,18,18,20,15,5,30,47,61,61,61,61,53,64,56,73,75,71,129,60,76,98,99,92,105,87,87,63,62,61,76,97,148,72,102,74,102,94,95,101,115,83,152,203,218,252,228,235,246,235,253,250,299,225,250,250,335,188,210,52,71,-54,3,1,13,-13,-9,-73,-60,-55,-92,-95,-65,-107,-55,-106,-130,-102,-124,-124,-121,-121,-123,-121,-123,-501,-787,-789,-801,-1444,-1729,-2277,-2386,-29981,-29982,-29983,-29984,-29995,-29996]} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 d5 $5 {Kids, just because Magnus Carlsen plays a move, it doesn't mean you should play that move. If Magnus jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump off the Brooklyn Bridge? Seriously, this move has been played by Magnus, Vidit Gujrathi, Jordan Van Foreest, and Wesley So, though mostly at fast time controls. As the Oregon Junior Closed gives players a fair amount of time to prepare, opening surprises are valuable, and early opening surprises are extra valuable as they have a better chance of actually appearing on the board.} 3. cxd5 Qxd5 {A standard idea in the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon (1e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4), but is it playable with colors reversed? Stockfish says yes.} ({Black can still return to more conventional lines with} 3... Nf6 {as White's best responses are 4.Nc3 and 4.Bg2. Moves that try to hold on to White's extra pawn give Black plenty of compensation.} 4. e4 (4. Qa4+ c6 5. dxc6 Nxc6 6. Nc3 Bc5 7. Nf3 Qb6 8. e3 O-O $13) 4... c6 5. dxc6 $2 (5. Bg2 $11) 5... Nxc6 $17 {Black's development combined with White's weak d4 square give Black a significant advantage.}) 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qd8 {This is the most popular move among carbon-based life forms. The silicon-based life forms find other moves to be acceptable, those moves being} (5... Qd6) ({and} 5... Qd7) 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O h6 $1 {The exclamation mark was graciously provided by the Chessbase 17 reference tab. The position is still equal, but Black has a plus score in this position. That said, Ishaan has lots of Sicilian experience as Black, including Dragon experience, so he should be able to find his way in this position. And he does.} 8. d3 Bd6 9. a3 a5 10. h3 ({White can liquidate the center and simplify the position with} 10. d4 Nxd4 ({as} 10... e4 $2 11. Nd2 Nxd4 12. Qa4+ Nc6 13. Ndxe4 {is better for White. Liquidating the center is considered an accomplishment when you are playing the Sicilian as Black, but not so much when when you are playing the Sicilian reversed as White. Ishaan's move keeps more tension in the position and more opportunities to play for a win.})) 10... O-O 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Rc1 Rd8 13. Nd2 Be6 14. Nde4 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 a4 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. Rxc5 $1 (17. Bxc5 Qd7 18. Bxc6 bxc6 {gives White great pawn structure but might result in an early draw.} 19. g4 (19. h4 {is still even, but it takes courage to weaken the white squares in the face of Black's unopposed white-squared bishop.}) 19... Bxg4 20. hxg4 Qxg4+ {and White can't avoid perpetual check.}) 17... e4 $6 {trading a center pawn for a wing pawn. If Black doesn't have something concrete in mind, this is a positional concession.} 18. Bxe4 Bxh3 19. Re1 Nd4 20. Rc4 $1 c5 21. Rxa4 {A clear pawn and the two bishops mean that White is close to a winning advantage, but there is lots of chess yet to play. Zoey is a seasoned veteran and doesn't panic easily.} Rxa4 22. Qxa4 b5 23. Qd1 ({It is hard to let your queen abandon your king when you know a Zoey Tang attack is coming, but} 23. Qa5 {keeps a bigger advantage.}) 23... Bg4 24. Bxd4 Rxd4 25. Qc1 Bh3 26. Bf3 Be6 27. Qe3 Qd6 28. Rc1 Kh7 29. Be4+ ({Stockfish suggests the show-off move} 29. Bc6 {with the idea} Qxc6 $2 (29... b4 30. a4) 30. Qxd4) 29... f5 30. Bg2 Bd7 31. Qf3 Qe5 32. Qe3 Qd6 33. b3 Kh8 34. f4 Qb6 35. Kh2 h5 36. Qe5 h4 37. gxh4 Qh6 38. Kg3 $1 Qg6+ 39. Kf2 Qh6 40. Kg3 Qg6+ 41. Kf2 Qh6 {an implicit draw offer.} 42. Bf3 {Ishaan correctly declines.} Rxf4 43. Rg1 (43. Rxc5 $1 $18 {reduces White's king's defending pieces to the bishop on f3, but the king is surprisingly safe, at least according to Stockfish.}) 43... Rxh4 44. Qg3 $11 (44. Qxc5 $16 {is still better for White, but it takes a lot of courage to let your queen drift away from your king, especially when it has so little pawn cover.}) 44... Rh2+ 45. Rg2 Rxg2+ 46. Kxg2 f4 $1 $11 47. Qh2 $6 {The game is still drawn, but this is a step in the wrong direction. It is tempting to get queens off the board against Zoey the fearsome attacker, but sometimes one forgets that Zoey is a fearsome endgame player too.} (47. Qf2 {is still equal}) 47... Qxh2+ 48. Kxh2 g5 49. Bd5 $2 {Surprisingly, this is the losing move. It isn't obvious why.} ({White can draw with the plan of (1) trying to exchange the pawn on e2 for the pawn on f4, then (2) applying some bishop pressure to the pawn on b5. If Black doesn't exchange the pawn on f4 for the pawn on e3, then the pawn on e3 blocks Black's king entry through d4. Not obvious at all.} 49. Kg2 Kg7 50. Kf2 Kf6 51. e3 Ke5 52. Ke2 g4 53. Bb7 g3 54. exf4+ Kxf4 55. Ba6 $1 {I'd have a hard time taking my bishop of the long diagonal where it helps prevent black's g-pawn from advancing and the Black's king from advancing too, but 55.Ba6 is the only move that draws. That line and that move would be hard to find without an engine, especially when playing on increment.}) 49... Kg7 $19 {Black is now winning. It will still take a few accurate moves to make the advantage clear.} 50. b4 ({It is too late to try the e2-e3 plan.} 50. Kg2 Kf6 51. Kf2 Ke5 52. Bb7 Kd4 $19) 50... cxb4 51. axb4 Kf6 52. d4 {Correctly trying to prevent Black's king from getting to the d4 square, but since White doesn't have time to break up Black's pawns with Kf2 and e2-e3, Zoey can safely advance her Kingside pawns to stretch the defense.} Ke7 53. Kg2 Kd6 54. Bb3 g4 $1 55. Kf2 Bf5 56. e3 {Ishaan plays the correct plan, but it is one move too late.} g3+ $1 {only move to win} 57. Kf3 Be4+ $1 {ditto} 58. Ke2 g2 59. Kf2 fxe3+ 60. Kg1 e2 61. Kf2 g1=Q+ 62. Kxg1 e1=Q+ 0-1

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed (Championship)"]
[Site "Portland, OR"]
[Date "2024.12.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Nobles, Will"]
[Black "Tang, Austin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[ECO "B60"]
[WhiteElo "1875"]
[BlackElo "2164"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[GameId "2130156794269077"]
[EventDate "2024.12.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,124,16,28,97,58,89,51,55,41,41,41,50,56,40,-42,4,-38,-10,-84,-24,-118,-68,-127,41,-25,14,-59,-59,-68,-52,-52,-58,-73,-57,-67,-58,-75,-75,-54,-23,-23,-24,-58,-9,-26,-25,-6,-8,-49,-1,-114,-104,-170,-102,-163,-69,-78,10,10,10,-33,7,-11,41,-140,128,232,208,205,324,245,278,303,298,-257,94,95,218,117,148,71,76,33,47,47,80,56,41,41,77,77,77,33,58,-83,-52,-353,-344,-350,-367,-385,-348,-349,-334,-346,-346,-363,-299,-352,-355,-349,-353,-371,-325,-375,-356,-388,-272,-523,-509,-1172,-477,-676,-1173,-1282,-1282]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nge2 {The Chameleon Sicilian, popularized by Andrew Soltis. Maybe White will play a Closed Sicilian with g2-g3 and Bf1-g2. Maybe White will play d2-d4, returning to a mainline Open Sicilian. Black must be on his guard if he is not to get tricked into playing an Open Sicilian line that he does not know.} Nc6 {If Black was hoping to play the Najdorf variation, this move says goodbye to those hopes. In this case, no worries - Austin has extensive experience in the Classical Sicilian.} 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Bg5 {If you are not interested in the opening theory of this position, I recommend skipping all the notes from here to White's move 9.} Bd7 {The Modern Variation of the Richter-Rauzer Sicilian, the second most popular move for Black. The most popular move is 6...e6 to prevent White from doubling his pawns with 7.Bxf6. But since Black often ends up with doubled f-pawns in these lines anyway, Modern Variation players like Austin just accept that these doubled pawns are their lot in life and move on.} 7. f4 {This looks like a normal move to 6.Bg5 Najdorf players, but Richter-Rauzer players move 7.Qd2 first and ask questions later.} ({After the main move} 7. Qd2 {Black often strives to sacrifice an exchange just to reach an unclear ending like this -} Rc8 8. O-O-O Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Qa5 10. f4 ({White can play} 10. Bd2 {to avoid split pawns.}) 10... Rxc3 11. bxc3 e5 12. Qb4 $1 Qxb4 $1 13. cxb4 Nxe4 14. Bh4) 7... Qb6 {the best response. But Black's move was once considered a refutation of 7.f4, now only considered equal.} 8. Bxf6 ({The main line of the "refutation" goes} 8. Nb3 Ng4 9. Qe2 (9. Qd2 Qe3+ 10. Qxe3 Nxe3 $17) 9... Nd4 10. Qd2 (10. Nd5 $6 Nxe2 11. Nxb6 axb6 {and this unbalanced ending favors Black}) 10... Nxb3 11. axb3 Qe3+ 12. Qe2 $11 (12. Qxe3 {is also equal according to Stockfish, but not according to the old opening manuals, mainly because Leonid Stein won the following game. Back in the day the opening evaluations were often biased towards who won a famous game, instead of our current bias towards whatever Stockfish tells us.} Nxe3 13. Kd2 Nxf1+ 14. Rhxf1 e6 15. Ra5 Bc6 16. Re1 d5 17. exd5 Bb4 18. Raa1 Bxd5 19. Re2 f6 20. Bh4 Kf7 21. Kc1 Bc6 22. Ne4 Rhd8 23. Bf2 b6 24. c3 Be7 25. g3 Rd7 26. Kc2 Rad8 27. Bd4 Bb5 28. Rf2 Rc7 29. Rd2 Rd5 30. c4 Rh5 31. Bg1 Bc6 32. Nd6+ Kf8 33. Re1 Bd7 34. Ne4 Bb4 35. Nc3 Kf7 36. Red1 Bc6 37. Rd8 Ra5 38. R8d3 h5 39. Re1 Be8 40. Rde3 Kf8 41. Rxe6 {0-1 Polugaevsky,L-Stein,L URS Club Team-ch Riga 1968 (8.1)})) 8... gxf6 {White is still equal, but after Will's next move} 9. Nf3 $6 {Black is now a little better, though the position is sufficiently murky for all three results.} f5 $15 {The circumspect way to play for an edge.} (9... Qxb2 $1 10. Nd5 O-O-O {looks dangerous to both sides, as are most positions resulting from 1.e4 c5.}) 10. Bc4 fxe4 $17 (10... Bg7 {and}) (10... Qxb2 {are also strong for Black}) 11. Nxe4 h6 $6 $15 {Perhaps this was played to stop 12.Nfg5 if Black castles long, as the f-pawn seems to be in danger, but Black can neutralize White's apparent threat to the f-pawn with tricks.} (11... O-O-O 12. Nfg5 $2 (12. Neg5 $2 Qb4+) (12. Bxf7 Bh6 13. Bb3 (13. g3 d5 $1 14. Bxd5 Bf5 {and White's pinned Bishop on d5 is in big trouble}) 13... Bxf4 (13... Rhf8)) (12. Qe2 {(best)} Qxb2 13. O-O Nd4 $17) 12... d5 13. Bxd5 (13. Qxd5 Qe3+ 14. Be2 Bg4) 13... Bf5 {Once again, White's pinned bishop is in big trouble. The Sicilian - easy to play with your chess engine running, hard to play with your chess clock running.}) 12. Qe2 O-O-O 13. Bxf7 $6 (13. O-O-O {is roughly equal}) 13... Bg7 $1 (13... Qxb2 $2 14. O-O {White has a slight edge in this highly unbalanced position.}) 14. c3 Rhf8 15. Bd5 Rxf4 16. a4 $6 {It is tempting to start a pawn storm on Black's king, but the queenside is the safest place for White's king, so this move weakens White’s pawn cover for his king.} (16. O-O-O $15) 16... Bg4 $6 {Why relinquish the advantage of the two bishops? Black is still much better if he keeps this bishop on the board.} (16... Kb8 $17) (16... Rdf8 $17) 17. Nf2 $1 {Now Will reels off a series of accurate moves that allow him to snuff out Austin's opportunities.} Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Ne5 19. Nd3 $1 Rf5 20. O-O-O {best and equal, but maybe White now regrets his 16th move.} Kb8 21. Qe4 Nxd3+ 22. Rxd3 Re5 23. Qg4 Bf6 24. Rhd1 Rc8 25. Kc2 Rec5 26. Ra1 {Hmm, maybe I should retract my judgy comments on White's 16th and 20th moves. Will finds a way to make his 16th move pay off.} Rc4 27. Qe6 Qa5 28. Ra3 Qe5 29. Rb3 $1 R4c7 30. Qg4 {Will bravely keeps queens on the board, believing in the attacking strength of his active rooks and unopposed white squared bishop. He will be rewarded for his bravery on the next move.} ({Killjoy Stockfish likes White's slight positional advantage resulting from} 30. Qd5 Qxd5 31. Rxd5 a6 {stopping Rd5-b5} 32. Rh5) 30... Qe1 $2 (30... e6 31. Qb4 d5 {equalizes by blocking White's bishop attack on b7}) 31. Qb4 b6 32. a5 Bg5 33. Rd1 $16 (33. Ra3 {also gives Black problems}) 33... Qf2+ 34. Kb1 {I believe the rest of the game is played in time trouble.} Qc5 {Not objectively the best move, but perhaps practically best.} (34... Rc4 35. Qa3 Qc5 36. axb6 Qxa3 37. bxa7+ Kxa7 38. Rxa3+ {is objectively best for Black, bit leaves Black in groveling mode.}) 35. Qa4 Qf5+ 36. Be4 Qd7 37. Qb4 $2 (37. Rb5 $18) (37. Qd4 $18 b5 38. Qd5) (37. Qxd7 Rxd7 38. Bf5) 37... Be3 $2 (37... Rc4 $1 38. Qa3 Rxe4 ({or} 38... Ra4 39. axb6 a5)) 38. axb6 Bxb6 39. Bf3 $2 {Back to equal. Now Austin reels off a series of accurate moves to snuff out Will's opportunities.} (39. Qa5 $1 Rb7 40. Qa6 $18) 39... Rc4 $1 40. Qa5 R8c5 $1 41. Qa6 Ra4 42. Qd3 Qe6 $2 {allowing Will to improve his prospects, which he graciously accepts.} (42... Re5 $11) 43. Bd5 $1 $16 Qe5 44. Rb5 $1 Ra5 45. Rxa5 Rxa5 46. Qc4 (46. h3 $16) 46... Rc5 (46... Qf5+ 47. Be4 Qb5 48. Qf7 Ra1+ 49. Kxa1 Qa4+ 50. Qa2 $1 (50. Kb1 Qxd1+ 51. Ka2 Qa4+ 52. Kb1 Qxe4+) 50... Qxd1+ 51. Bb1 $11) 47. Qb3 $2 (47. Qd3 $14) (47. Qg4 Rxd5 $4 (47... Rb5 $1 $14) 48. Qg8+) 47... Qf5+ 48. Qc2 $2 {Both players made choices throughout the game that have resulted in a dramatic back-and-forth struggle where it has been impossible to predict who will come out on top. That back-and-forth struggle has just come to an end - no drama remains.} (48. Kc1 $1 $11) 48... Rxd5 49. Rxd5 Qxd5 50. Qh7 Qg5 51. Qe4 Kc7 52. Qc4+ Kd7 53. Qe4 Qe5 54. Qb7+ Ke6 55. Qc8+ Kf7 56. Qh3 Qf6 57. g4 e5 58. Qg2 e4 59. h4 Qf3 60. Qh2 Ke6 61. g5 e3 62. gxh6 e2 0-1

[Event "US Senior Women's Championship"]
[Site "Salt Lake City, UT"]
[Date "2024.12.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kuhner, Mary"]
[Black "Sekar, Jayashree"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Mary Kuhner"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1711"]
[BlackElo "1600"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[GameId "2133669281583389"]
[EventDate "2024.12.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.12.14"]

{[%evp 0,99,20,18,29,22,29,19,21,-7,-13,1,12,-10,18,-15,35,11,36,2,12,-41,33,26,72,24,129,137,142,109,158,108,111,-87,-95,-72,18,37,42,-19,26,18,140,76,114,-2,112,-128,-50,-29,-51,-52,-93,-70,245,248,224,211,207,214,198,193,286,286,324,324,336,343,673,638,638,142,1171,494,504,516,553,558,602,642,660,493,678,528,1434,471,481,518,566,640,702,731,801,1174,1194,1486,1530,1888,29983,29986,29987,29988]} 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 {I didn't feel like playing her pet opening, and she doesn't force me to do so.} e5 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. a4 a6 {In the database this is a drawish line, but I knew a game with Jayashree was likely to be anything but drawish. She had already upset two strong players in this event. I hoped that I could provoke a risky attack and bring my defensive skills to bear.} 8. O-O {I should know this opening--like all of my openings--better than I do. I didn't want to play h3 making the eventual ...Nf4 even stronger; I didn't think I could play Nf1 due to the weakness of f2.} ({Stockfish says} 8. Nf1 Ng4 9. Ne3 {is perfectly playable, though it didn't feel that way at the time.}) 8... Ne7 {Going to f4 eventually, I guessed.} 9. Nb3 $2 {This can't be good, given that it traps my bishop. But I was struggling to get my pieces untangled without h3, which I still didn't want to play.} Ba7 10. Be3 Ng6 11. Nbd2 Kh8 {Now she's signalling a desire to play ...f5.} 12. d4 ({Because of my concerns about a knight on f4, I discarded the computer's favored line} 12. Bxa7 Rxa7 13. Re1 {but now I see that} Nf4 {will simply be undermined by} 14. d4) 12... Nf4 $2 {She should hold out for trying to plant a piece on this square, not a pawn that will block important attacking lines.} 13. Bxf4 ({better is} 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Bxa7 Rxa7 15. Nxe5) 13... exf4 14. Qc2 Nh5 15. Bd3 g5 {Here it comes!} 16. e5 $2 g4 ({My idea works fine against} 16... dxe5 17. Nxe5 {but this is a big problem}) 17. Ne1 f5 $2 {This closes lines--including my line against h7, but h7 really doesn't matter and Jayashree should strive to keep things more open.} (17... dxe5 {unleashes the fury of the Ba7, which is likely to be more than I can handle}) 18. exd6 cxd6 19. Nc4 Bb8 {Despite two of her own pawns in the way, Jayashree forsees a future for this bishop on the b8-h2 diagonal.} 20. Qd2 Qh4 21. g3 ({Both here and later Stockfish recommends} 21. Nb6 {but the wide variety of sacrifices available to Black was seriously worrying me.}) 21... Qh3 {Now comes a turning point. I was very much afraid of ...f3 followed by a mate on g2 or h2 that I wouldn't be able to stop. Having been watching Jayashree play, I knew she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice for it. But the move I chose gives me permanent weaknesses by opening lines, and apparently it's not necessary.} 22. gxf4 $6 (22. Qe2 f3 23. Qe7 {apparently ties up Black's undeveloped pieces and doesn't permit her to make progress with her attack.}) (22. Nb6 {is also possible but how White defends is even less clear to me here.}) 22... Be6 23. Ng2 Bd5 24. Nce3 Bf3 {I somehow did not see that this bishop could settle in on f3, and now I'm in terrible trouble. The one ray of hope is quickly bringing my bishop to f1 where it will both defend my king and menace Black's queen, which is short of squares.} 25. Rfe1 d5 26. Bf1 {Jayashree is completely winning, but has only 1 minute on her clock from here on out ( the event was G/90 with 30 seconds increment ) and makes a panicky move that throws away her advantage.} Bxg2 $4 27. Bxg2 Qh4 28. Nxd5 {Not for the pawn's sake but to cover f4. The game now revolves around the f4 pawn, because if it falls the floodgates will re-open for Black's pieces. ( Though it was some comfort to me that the pseudo-fianchettod light square bishop means that ...Qxh2+ won't necessarily lead to mate. )} Bd6 29. Re6 Rad8 30. Rae1 Bb8 {I realized to my dismay that she is threatening to sacrifice the exchange on d5, after which f4 and h2 fall and the attack is on again. I found a solution that the computer turns out to approve, though during the game it felt like I was building a house of cards that might fall down at any moment.} 31. Rh6 Kg7 32. Ree6 Rxd5 {Jayashree throws a last bit of fuel on the fire, reckoning that the endgame offers her nothing.} 33. Bxd5 g3 ({The goal of 31. Rh6 was to be able to meet} 33... Bxf4 {with} 34. Qxf4 Nxf4 35. Rxh4 Nxd5) 34. fxg3 Qg4 35. Qe2 $6 {Loses quite a bit of material unnecessarily but is still winning.} Nf6 $2 (35... Qxe2 36. Rxh7+ Kxh7 37. Rxe2 {and White has four pawns for the piece and is likely to pocket one or two more soon, but there's scope for an error. After this move there is very little.}) 36. Rhxf6 Qxe2 37. Rxe2 Rxf6 38. Re7+ Kh6 39. Rxb7 Bd6 40. Bg8 Kh5 41. h3 Rh6 42. Rxh7 Rxh7 43. Bxh7 {Bishops of opposite colors, but there's no way the bishop can dance at this many weddings--I'm about to be up six healthy pawns.} a5 44. Bxf5 Be7 45. Kf2 Bd6 46. Ke3 Be7 47. c4 Bb4 48. c5 Be1 49. c6 Bxg3 50. c7 1-0

