[Event "2026 ICA January Alchemist Coffee House"]
[Site "Boise, ID"]
[Date "2026.01.24"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Niezgoda, Meckayden"]
[Black "Lindgren, Dustin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "1454"]
[BlackElo "1653"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[GameId "2270913230266487"]
[EventDate "2026.01.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,77,25,24,35,32,82,67,65,53,58,10,21,4,5,4,4,4,49,33,46,29,29,36,87,65,89,19,25,23,97,-104,-102,-117,-135,-572,-178,-352,-64,-53,-34,-2,-4,-71,-94,-97,-82,-75,-60,-89,-78,-80,-52,-72,-50,-35,-72,-99,0,-102,-91,-97,110,12,114,77,362,365,1563,658,698,300,381,369,391,405,406,282,481,496]} 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 (2... d5 {is the main line Nimzovich Defense. White can choose between all three central responses: capture on d5, push past with e5, or support with Nc3.}) 3. d5 ({2...e5 used to be called the Kevitz variation, back when I played this stuff with both sides. The most likely transposition, though, is into the Scotch with} 3. Nf3 {.}) 3... Nce7 4. Nf3 Ng6 5. c4 (5. h4 $5 h5 6. Bg5 Nf6 7. Nc3) 5... Bc5 6. Be2 Nf6 7. Nc3 a6 8. a3 Ng4 (8... d6) 9. O-O d6 10. b4 Ba7 11. h3 h5 (11... Nf6) 12. Qc2 (12. c5 $5 {is similar to the next note.}) (12. hxg4 $2 hxg4 13. Ng5 Nf4 $1 $19) 12... Nh4 13. g3 $6 ({Weakens the kingside.} 13. c5 $1 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 dxc5 15. b5 $1 c4 16. bxa6 bxa6 17. Nd1 $14) 13... Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Qf6 15. Kg2 (15. Qe2 $13 {avoids the immediate tactics.}) 15... Nh2 $3 16. Kxh2 Qxf3 17. Nd1 (17. h4 $17) 17... Bd4 ({Black misses the breakthrough on this and the next move.} 17... Bxh3 $1 18. Rg1 h4 19. g4 Bxg4 20. Rxg4 Qxg4 $19) 18. Rb1 h4 (18... Bxh3 $1 19. Kxh3 h4 $19) 19. g4 b6 20. Rb3 Qf6 21. f4 (21. Ne3) 21... exf4 22. Bb2 (22. Bxf4 {could lead to a promising exchange sacrifice:} g5 23. Be3 Qxf1 24. Bxd4 O-O 25. Nf2 {, when White threatens Rb1, collecting the trapped queen. If} b5 26. Rf3 Qxc4 27. Qd2 {White takes aim at the black king as well.}) 22... g5 23. Bxd4 Qxd4 24. c5 bxc5 25. bxc5 Qxc5 26. Rc3 Qb5 27. Re1 Qa5 (27... O-O) 28. Re2 Ra7 (28... O-O 29. Rxc7 Qxa3 $13) 29. Qd3 (29. e5 dxe5 (29... O-O 30. exd6 cxd6 31. Rxc8) 30. Rxe5+ Kd8 31. Nb2 {with good coordination.}) 29... Qb5 30. Rc4 f6 $2 (30... O-O $13) 31. Rb2 $14 (31. e5 $1 fxe5 32. Qg6+ {is a big attack.}) 31... Qd7 32. Qd4 Qe7 $4 33. Qxa7 f3 34. Qxc7 ({Even stronger is} 34. Rxc7 $1 Qe5+ 35. Kh1 {, which leaves Black with no reasonable checks and no defense.}) 34... Qe5+ 35. Kg1 Qg3+ 36. Kf1 Qxh3+ 37. Ke1 O-O 38. Qxd6 Qg3+ 39. Qxg3 {(time forfeit) Of course White is winning on the board after 39...hxg3 40.Ne3, but the clock is an important piece in the game!} 0-1

[Event "2026 ICA January Alchemist Coffee House"]
[Site "Boise, ID"]
[Date "2026.01.24"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Beck, Andrew"]
[Black "Machin, Alex James"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "1598"]
[BlackElo "1810"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[GameId "2270914830086290"]
[EventDate "2026.01.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,55,25,24,11,25,25,8,18,2,-1,8,6,11,26,31,31,12,29,16,36,36,35,31,19,28,37,15,22,-36,-26,-13,-7,0,41,-47,-53,-37,-45,-46,-43,-82,-51,-53,-48,-64,9,17,13,-32,-13,-10,-4,-55,0,-81,7,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. d3 Bc5 8. a4 (8. Nc3 {is the other main move here, when} d6 9. a4 {is a transposition to the game.}) 8... d6 9. Nc3 b4 10. Nd5 ({There's some point to} 10. Ne2 O-O 11. Ng3 {, aiming at f5.}) 10... Na5 11. Bg5 (11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. Ba2 $13 {I could be persuaded that White is marginally better, due to the over-concentration of black pieces on the queenside.}) 11... Nxb3 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. cxb3 f5 14. d4 $5 (14. Rc1 Bxd5 ({The attempt to encircle the d5-knight backfires:} 14... f4 15. Nxe5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Bxf2+ 17. Rxf2 dxe5 18. Qh5 $16) 15. exd5 Bb6 {. The engine still prefers White here, despite the demolished pawn structure.}) 14... fxe4 (14... exd4 {seems harder to meet, as} 15. Qd3 (15. Re1 Kd7 $1 $15 {is a Stockfish idea that's hard to believe would be played by biologicals.}) 15... O-O 16. Nxd4 fxe4 17. Qxe4 Kh8 {leaves White dealing with open diagonals and files aimed at the king.}) 15. dxc5 dxc5 $1 (15... exf3 16. Qxf3 {is not as good.}) (15... Bxd5 16. Qxd5 exf3 17. Qxf3 {is worse still.}) 16. Nxe5 (16. Nxc7+ Qxc7 17. Nh4 $13) 16... Bxd5 (16... Qxd5 17. Qxd5 Bxd5 18. Rac1 O-O-O 19. Rxc5 Rhe8 20. Nc4 $13 {It's almost cheating for the annotator to deliver an evaluation of unclear here. In fact, coming up with an accurate appraisal during the game is absolutely critical! Unfortunately it's also insanely difficult. There are so many subtle factors, too many slightly different move orders and targets, and endgames become unforgivingly concrete.} Bxc4 21. Rxc4 a5 22. Rfc1 Re7 23. Kf1 {is called a slight edge for Black by Stockfish. But what if White goes after the a5-pawn? Does g2-g4 undermine the black pawn on e4, or does it become a weakness along the g-file? How strong is ...Rd2?}) 17. Nc4 Bxc4 18. bxc4 Qxd1 19. Raxd1 Rd8 20. Rfe1 (20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Rd1+ Ke7 22. Kf1 {is a slightly more efficient way to reach the position in the game. The extra black pawn doesn't feel like much.}) 20... Rxd1 (20... O-O $15) 21. Rxd1 Ke7 22. Kf1 Rd8 $2 ({This could be a costly misevaluation of the king and pawn endings.} 22... c6 {denies the white rook entries.}) 23. Rxd8 $1 Kxd8 24. Ke2 Ke7 25. Ke3 f5 26. h4 $2 ({This soon locks up the position, securing the tournament victory with a draw against a higher-rated player. White, however, has excellent winning chances after} 26. Kf4 Z0 ({White will either undermine e4 with h3/g4, or play a zugzwang tempo waiting game to dislodge the black king and infiltrate.} 26... Kf6 27. h3 h5 28. a5 h4 (28... Ke6 29. h4 Kf6 30. b3 $1 Ke6 31. Kg5 Ke5 32. Kxh5 f4 33. Kg4 e3 34. fxe3 fxe3 35. Kf3 $18) (28... b3 29. h4 $1 c6 30. g3 $1 $18) 29. g3 hxg3 30. fxg3 {when White will break with g4 and demonstrate the power of the outside passed pawn.}) (26... Ke6 27. a5 $1 Kf6 (27... b3 28. h3 $1 {intending 29.g4.}) 28. b3 $1 Ke6 29. h3 $1 h5 30. g4 hxg4 31. hxg4 fxg4 32. Kxe4 Kf6 33. Kf4 $18 {I took an hour and had engine assistance with this ending. Good luck getting it exactly right with the clock ticking off your rapid time control.})) 26... h5 27. f4 b3 28. a5 {Even the apparently bland draws often have unseen depths.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Susan Polgar Simul"]
[Site "Bellevue"]
[Date "2025.11.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Susan, Polgar"]
[Black "Cedric, Davies"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Davies,Cedric"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[GameId "2247562426749038"]
[EventDate "2025.08.30"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 fxe4 5. Nxe4 Nf6 6. Nxf6+ exf6 7. Be3 d5 8. Bd3 Be6 9. h4 Qd7 10. Ne2 Nc6 11. c3 O-O-O 12. Qa4 Kb8 13. Bb5 Rhe8 14. O-O-O Bf8 15. b4 Bd6 16. Bxc6 Qxc6 17. Qxc6 bxc6 18. Kd2 Bf5 19. Nc1 Kb7 20. Nb3 Kb6 21. a4 h5 22. Na5 Re7 23. Kc1 Rde8 24. Kb2 Be4 25. Rdg1 (25. Rhg1 Bh2 26. Rh1) 25... Re6 26. Kb3 Bd3 27. Ka3 f5 28. Rd1 Be4 $2 (28... Ba6 $17 {Engine gives about -1.41 eval} 29. g3 (29. c4 Rxe3+ 30. fxe3 Rxe3+ 31. Kb2 Bxb4 $19 {clearly winning}) 29... Rxe3 30. fxe3 Rxe3 31. Kb2 Bxg3 $19) 29. c4 dxc4 $4 {I did not see the coming discovered check with d5} 30. d5+ c5 31. dxe6 Bd3 32. bxc5+ Bxc5+ 33. Bxc5+ Kxc5 34. Nb3+ Kb6 35. Nc1 Be4 36. f3 Bc6 37. Rhe1 Re7 38. Na2 Kc5 39. Re5+ Kb6 40. Rb1+ Ka6 41. Nb4+ 1-0

[Event "WA Class Ch (Karpov Class C)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.11.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bravenboer, Jake"]
[Black "Hendricks, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Jake Bravenboer"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "1423"]
[BlackElo "1500"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[GameId "2280033561104447"]
[EventDate "11.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,112,25,13,30,29,26,20,65,58,40,43,23,28,41,-31,-17,-19,8,19,28,50,50,-57,53,19,15,7,9,-24,0,-16,27,-26,-27,-13,-35,-83,-35,-43,22,30,34,39,36,3,5,4,0,-21,-54,-50,-41,-62,-66,-74,-54,-71,-72,-91,-83,-99,-99,-110,-110,-121,-121,-112,-118,-124,-124,-118,-124,-116,-120,-117,-128,-140,-133,-127,-137,-143,-107,-118,-136,-105,-139,-126,-108,-93,-18,56,114,152,92,103,283,335,552,628,786,105,457,142,1016,1016,1022,1022,1022,1032,1032,1032,1032,1460,29957]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 c6 4. Nf3 Bf5 5. e3 e6 6. Ne5 Qb6 $5 (6... Bd6 $2 {This move does not meet the expectations of the position. It is passive in a bad way.} 7. g4 $1 Bg6 8. h4 h6 9. Nxg6 fxg6 10. Bd3 Kf7 $18 {Absolutely winning.}) (6... h6 {This move is passive in a good way.} 7. g4 $6 {This is dubious because instead of getting the preffered line above, the bishop has safety on h7.} Bh7 $1) 7. Na4 Qa5+ 8. c3 b5 $6 {Giving me the c5 square seems like too much of a stab to his own heart to make this move playable. I assume here that he wanted to get more tempi, but if after the b4 advance I had played more accurately, the game would be in my hands, not his.} (8... Nbd7) 9. Nc5 Bxc5 10. dxc5 b4 11. Rc1 $6 {My point was that I wanted another defender of c3, but the following line is best:} (11. a3 bxc3 12. b4 Qd8 13. g4 Bg6 14. h4 h6 15. Nxg6 fxg6 16. Bd3 O-O 17. Bxg6 $18) 11... Qxc5 $6 {My point after this move was that i hoped that I could utilize the weak c6 pawn as a potential target that I could eventually capture.} (11... bxc3 12. bxc3 Ne4 13. Qb3 {Here I missed the winning combination for black which pushes my position into a small little box.} Nxc5 14. Qb4 Qb6 15. Qxb6 axb6 16. c4 {I thougt this might be fine but I missed the following crushing line.} f6 17. Nf3 e5 18. Bg3 Rxa2 $19) 12. Nd3 $2 {This move is definitely deserving of a mistake. I tried this to try to either get development like what happened in the game or I get my b pawn without the annoying check on b4. Even though this worked in my head, the best move was to try to stay consistent with my plan of g4. The following line was an improvement:} (12. g4 Bg6 (12... Be4 13. f3 Bg6 14. Qd4 Qxd4 15. exd4 a5 16. h4 {This is similar to the other line with g4.}) 13. Qd4 Qxd4 14. exd4 bxc3 15. Rxc3 O-O 16. h4 $16) 12... Bxd3 13. Bxd3 Nbd7 14. O-O e5 {This move is not bad at all, in fact I think it is a mature move to play, taking the center, not lashing out and starting to trade. In my mind though, this gave me some more hope than I already had because there was only one defender of the e5 pawn and I thought that with enough weaknesses in the center, I could eventually collapse his position} 15. Bg3 {I realised that Bg5 was better because my g3 bishop could be a target but I did want to maintain my pressure in the e5 pawn.} Rc8 $6 {This move makes a lot of sense. defending his c6 pawn so no tactics can occur} (15... O-O 16. cxb4 Qxb4 17. Rxc6 {He wanted to avoid this line in the game, therefore he is required to defend his c6 pawn, the best way being Rc8.}) (15... h5 16. h3 bxc3 17. Rxc3 Qd6 18. Qc2 c5 19. Bh4 O-O 20. Bf5 g6 21. Bxg6) 16. Bf5 $6 {The point was to trade on d7 so I could try to attack the e5 pawn.} (16. c4 Rc7 17. cxd5 Qxd5 18. Bf5 Qxd1 19. Rfxd1 c5 20. Rd2 g6 21. Bd3 h5) 16... O-O 17. Bxd7 Nxd7 18. e4 $6 (18. Qg4 f5) 18... Rfe8 $6 $10 {Inaccuracy. bxc3 was best.} (18... bxc3 19. Rxc3 Qd6 20. f4 d4 21. Ra3 Rcd8 22. Qc2 Qc5 23. Qxc5 Nxc5 24. fxe5) 19. cxb4 Qxb4 20. exd5 c5 {This felt somewhat genius to me, not losing his center seemed like a good plan but I also realised that he has now given me a passed pawn to play around, along with a new weakness, c5.} (20... cxd5 $5 {Computer thinks this is fine but after the following line I felt very comfortable as I had fulfilled my plan to capitalize on some of his weaknesses on the chess board.} 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Qxd5 $10 {Computer says equal but I felt very good about my position after} Qd4 23. Qxd4 exd4 24. Rd1 $14 {White is at least better if you ask me, he might even be much better if black is not careful about how he defends his pieces.}) 21. Qc2 {This is not the best move but I spent like 10 minutes here considering my two best options, queen c and e2.} (21. Qe2 {Best move.}) 21... Nb6 {c4 seems like a better option, because with c4-c3 coming, he can start to break in to my position.} (21... c4 22. a3 Qc5 23. Rfd1 Nb6 {Similar to what happened in the game except here he has a little bit comfort here, having more pressure on my position.}) 22. Rfd1 c4 23. d6 Rcd8 24. a3 $5 {This was not the best move, it lost forty centipawns but my point was that I wanted his queen in the c file when I play b3. The best move is below:} (24. b3 cxb3 25. Qxb3 Qxb3 26. axb3 Re6 27. Rc6 $10) 24... Qc5 25. b3 {I tried to win the c4 pawn for the d6 pawn, however I would have preferred by d6 pawn to stay on the chess board, it falling was not in my control.} Rxd6 26. Rxd6 Qxd6 27. bxc4 Qc5 {Cute move here. His point is to take my c4 passed pawn off the board.} 28. Qc3 f6 29. Qb4 Rc8 30. Qxc5 $2 {This guarantees the loss of my c4 pawn for literally nothing.} (30. Qb2 Nxc4 (30... Qd4 31. Qxd4 exd4 32. c5 Na4 33. Bd6 Nc3 34. Kf1 h5 35. f3 Rc6) 31. Qb7 Rc7 32. Qb8+ Kf7 33. h4 {We go push the pawn closer to promotion and so it's ready to respond to g5 with hxg5.}) 30... Rxc5 31. f4 Rxc4 32. Rxc4 $2 $19 (32. Rf1 exf4) 32... Nxc4 33. fxe5 fxe5 34. a4 Kf7 35. Kf2 {This is good endgame play. Activating the king makes every single piece in the game active while still controlling the center and keeping your promotion options open.} Ke6 36. Kf3 Kd5 37. Bf2 $6 {Attacking the a7 pawn. If he plays the move a5, I have a dark squared weakness to attack.} (37. Be1 a6 38. Bc3 Nb6 39. a5 Nc4 40. g3 Nd6 41. Bb4 Ne4 42. Ke3 Nf6) 37... a6 (37... a5 38. h4 Nb2 39. Bb6 {My point explains itself. I am still losing but it is possible that I could eventually pick up this pawn, making the position a bit more complicated.}) 38. h4 {Trying to advance my pawn closer to promotion, so it can be a last resort if a trade is forced.} Nb2 39. a5 Nc4 40. Be1 Kc5 41. Ke4 Kb5 $4 $10 (41... Kd6 42. h5 Ke6 43. Bb4 Nd6+ 44. Kf3 Kd5 45. Kg4 Nf7 46. Bf8 g6 47. hxg6) 42. h5 $2 {I hoped this would improve my chance of promoting but it really just made my endgame dead lost.} (42. Bc3 {Holds the draw. Everything is defended and if Nxa5, Kxe5 is a move.} Nxa5 43. Kxe5 Nc4+ 44. Ke6 $10) (42. Kd5) 42... Nxa5 $2 {Just hanging his e5 pawn is not at all good for his position. In fact this move loses almost all of his winning advantage.} (42... Kc5 43. Bc3 Kd6 44. Bb4+ Ke6 45. Bf8 Nd6+ 46. Kd3 g5 47. g4 Kd5 48. Be7) 43. Kxe5 $10 Nc6+ 44. Ke6 Nb4 $4 {Now the night is too far away from his pawns to save them from my invading king.} (44... Kc4) 45. Kf7 $19 a5 46. Kxg7 a4 47. Kxh7 a3 48. Bc3 $1 {blocking off the long diagonal. Now this pawn on the a-file will never get to promote itself.} Kc4 49. Bg7 a2 50. Kg8 Nd5 51. h6 Nc3 52. Bxc3 Kxc3 53. h7 Kc2 (53... a1=Q 54. h8=Q+ {The relation between the a and h pawns promoting is simple. Whichever pawn promotes first wins.} Kc2 55. Qxa1) 54. h8=Q Kb1 55. g4 a1=Q {A desperate attempt that is too slow. The king cannot make it in time to stop my g pawn.} 56. Qxa1+ Kxa1 1-0

[Event "WA Class Ch (Kramnik Class A)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.11.30"]
[Round "6.20"]
[White "Gupta, Saahil"]
[Black "Bharathy Mohan, Aarav Sai"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Saahil Gupta"]
[ECO "E68"]
[WhiteElo "1972"]
[BlackElo "1899"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[GameId "2280033561153600"]
[EventDate "2025.12.01"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,93,13,-11,-33,-49,-41,-38,29,53,40,40,29,23,48,16,50,24,13,-33,42,0,0,1,24,14,13,19,52,53,49,70,71,39,55,73,72,68,68,59,77,62,61,74,69,19,19,-10,-3,37,83,76,97,103,105,105,107,102,104,102,155,137,152,160,161,143,135,127,130,127,141,164,146,197,217,216,249,236,253,253,253,253,252,253,253,253,254,371,733,834,920,871,1516,950,801,910]} 1. c4 {The final round of the tournament, and an important one for all of the players, or as WCF President Josh Sinanan often says, "The Money Round"! I was leading the tournament with 4 points, but three other people were at 3.5, which meant it was critical for me to win this game. I was playing against a very skilled player, who had a great tournament as well.} e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 {already an interesting setup choice by him. I assumed this game would transpose into some Kings Indian type position.} 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Nf3 d6 6. d4 Nbd7 7. O-O O-O 8. e4 (8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Be3 Ng4 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bd2 {this line can be tried here, because black has not included the move c6, a common idea in the King's Indian fianchetto lines, which means I have a strong control over the d5 square.}) 8... Re8 9. Re1 (9. d5 {would have been a better option for me, taking more control, and again, using the fact that c6 had not been played.}) 9... h6 (9... exd4 10. Nxd4 c6 11. h3 {would transpose into a King's Indian fianchetto line, where white has ideas of Be3, Qc2 and Rad1.}) 10. h3 exd4 11. Nxd4 {at this point, I was feeling pretty happy with the opening stage of the game, even though the engine shows +0.00. I had also built up a 26 min time advantage, which was critical leading up to the middlegame.} a5 {nice choice by my opponent, trying to play for Nc5} 12. Be3 Nc5 13. Qc2 Ne6 $5 (13... Rb8 14. Rad1 Bd7 15. b3 b6 16. Ndb5 h5) 14. Rad1 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Be6 16. Nd5 (16. e5 $1 {a beautiful move, and I didn't even see it on the board. It's not the hardest move to spot, but I was solely focused on Nd5 and b3.} Bf5 (16... Nd7 17. exd6 cxd6 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Ne4 $1) 17. Qa4 dxe5 18. Bxe5) 16... Bxd5 17. cxd5 Nd7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qc3+ Kh7 (19... f6 {is what I think was a better move, not commiting to the weak dark squares immediately.}) 20. f4 {my goal was to get a strong pawn center with e5.} Nc5 21. e5 Qd7 22. exd6 $2 {This move neutralizes the position, as the pawn center breaks. I had calculated that I win the a5 pawn, or get a strong e-file, but I should have stayed patient in the game.} Qxd6 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Qxa5 b6 (24... Re3 $1 {Was perhaps a better move. Black's rook gains a lot of activity, and white's king will become slightly weak.}) 25. Qd2 {After these moves, I was feeling confident, as the game on board two was looking like a draw, and I had a two result position in my hand. Still, I wanted to make sure that I convert this position as seamlessly as I could.} Qd7 (25... Ne4 26. Bxe4 Rxe4 27. a3 {could have led to an interesting endgame, where black's rook is much more active.}) 26. Re1 Rxe1+ 27. Qxe1 Kg7 28. Qc3+ Kg8 29. b4 {This was my idea, and now I either force a queen trade, or make black's pieces very passive.} Nb7 (29... Na4 {may have been a better try.} 30. Qe5 $1 {centralizing the queen.} (30. Qc6 Qxc6 31. dxc6 Nc3 32. a3 {would have had better chances for black to draw.})) 30. Qc6 Qxc6 (30... Qc8 31. a4 Nd6 32. a5 {and I would have immediately had a passer on the a-file.}) 31. dxc6 Nd6 32. a4 $1 {The easiest method to convert the endgame. I restrict black's plans, and now always have a threat of pushing my passer, so black can't take his knight too far from the a8 promoting square.} Kf8 33. Kf2 Ke7 34. g4 (34. Ke3 Nf5+ 35. Kd3 Nxg3 36. a5 $1) 34... f6 35. Ke3 g5 36. fxg5 (36. f5 {was the second line I was calculating, but in the end, I decided that the f5 square should be empty for my king, in case I want to penetrate black's position from that side. In the end, that f5 square made the difference.}) 36... hxg5 37. Kd4 Nc8 38. Kd5 Na7 39. Be4 Kf7 40. Bf5 {trapping the black knight on a7.} Ke7 41. Bd7 {creating room for the king to go to f5.} Kf7 42. Ke4 Ke7 43. Kf5 Kf7 44. b5 Ke7 45. Kg6 Kd8 $1 {Fantastic awareness by my opponent! I have to be careful here, because there are some stalemate ideas.} 46. Bf5 {I didn't want any chance of stalemate, so I just made sure that the e8 square was always open for the black king.} (46. Kf7 $1 {would have also won.} Nxb5 47. axb5 f5 48. gxf5 g4 49. f6 g3 50. Ke6 g2 51. f7 g1=Q 52. f8=Q# {and I queen in time.}) 46... Ke7 47. Kg7 {And my opponent resigned. This wasn't the smoothest game, but it presented with a lot of ideas especially in the opening with pawn breakthroughs, and piece placement.} 1-0

[Event "WA Class Ch (Karpov Class C)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.11.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wang, Harvey"]
[Black "Mishra, Aakash"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Harvey Wang"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1360"]
[BlackElo "1368"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[GameId "2280033561153601"]
[EventDate "2025.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,67,31,18,14,14,14,14,6,6,3,4,22,9,-8,-9,18,28,20,18,25,9,1,-13,-5,4,30,-2,7,2,2,2,14,-2,0,0,10,0,0,-5,92,0,94,11,34,33,41,33,26,0,259,259,247,247,296,224,216,208,228,228,206,198,355,286,29983,29984,29985,29986,29999,29999]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 (3... Bc5 {if he had played this i would have played the following...} 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4) 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. h3 a5 {the point of this is to have a square for the bishop.} 7. O-O Ba7 8. Be3 Bxe3 $6 {it gives me doubled pawns but it also opens the f-file for the rook.} 9. fxe3 O-O 10. Qe2 {I was trying to maneuver my queen to the kingside but Qe1 is more efficient.} Be6 11. Bb3 h6 12. Nbd2 Ne7 13. Qf2 Ng6 14. Bxe6 {I was deciding between this and qg3.} fxe6 15. Qg3 Kh7 16. Nh4 $2 {h4 was a better move.} Nxh4 17. Qxh4 c6 18. Rae1 Qb6 19. b3 d5 20. exd5 Nxd5 $2 {He should have taken with the e-pawn to undouble his pawns} (20... exd5 21. Nf3) 21. c4 {Qe4 was a missed opportunity} Nxe3 22. Qe4+ Nf5+ 23. Kh2 Qd4 24. Nf3 Qb2 $4 {This allows me to win his knight with g4.} 25. Re2 Qc3 26. g4 a4 27. gxf5 exf5 28. Qxe5 Qxd3 29. Rg1 $3 {Threatening mate on g7! Rg2 Rf7 Rg1 transposes into the game.} (29. Rg2 Rf7 30. Rfg1) 29... Rf7 30. Reg2 $3 {threatening to take on g7 again. The knight is still hanging.} Rg8 31. Qe6 Qd7 $6 {allows forced mate!} 32. Qg6+ $1 {on the path to mate.} Kh8 33. Ng5 $3 {sacking the knight for mate!} hxg5 (33... Qd6+ {the only move to avoid immediate mate. Though it hangs the queen.} 34. Qxd6 hxg5 35. Rxg5) 34. Qh5# 1-0

