[Event "PNWCC - Plovdiv Hybrid"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.07.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nikolov, Sasho"]
[Black "He, Anthony"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2240"]
[BlackElo "2320"]
[Annotator "Anthony He"]
[PlyCount "198"]
[EventDate "2021.07.03"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "NET"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

{[%evp 0,198,19,29,23,-8,45,25,64,50,46,42,36,25,30,24,59,14,32,18,27,8,22,26,
26,4,-8,-10,-1,-37,-44,-18,-33,-36,0,-14,-8,0,13,-11,-8,-22,9,15,12,19,19,0,0,
0,30,21,27,30,27,-98,-97,-91,-75,-57,-60,-105,-100,-89,-88,-94,-81,-81,-81,
-101,-76,-65,-68,-64,-66,-69,-82,-82,-67,-132,-43,-37,-36,-47,-35,-41,-44,-48,
-40,-50,-50,-52,-33,-52,-35,-48,-48,-48,-33,-47,-42,-47,-48,-44,-43,-43,-43,
-43,-43,-43,-43,-43,-43,-43,-49,-49,-33,-89,-40,-35,-29,-35,-35,-35,-35,-57,
-53,-60,-70,-39,-35,-35,-35,-84,-87,-90,-90,-90,-90,-91,-118,-129,-139,-135,
-141,-141,-141,-146,-158,-158,-150,-158,-143,-143,-90,-156,-136,-128,-141,-147,
-154,-154,-154,-154,-197,-189,-155,-155,-155,-155,-165,-165,-202,-202,-197,
-197,-193,-206,-182,-170,-171,-231,-175,-175,-175,-258,-306,-326,-328,-527,
-527,-547,-557,-567,-774,-773,-790,-1031,-790,-790,-795]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nd7
3. d4 Nb6 4. Bg2 Bf5 5. O-O e6 6. a4 a5 7. Nc3 $5 {Unorthodox. White wants
plans with e4 by reserving the d2 square for his f3 knight.} (7. Nbd2 h6 (7...
Nf6 8. c4 c6 9. Nh4 {(D. Andreikin - K. Alekseenko, Chess.com INT 2020)} dxc4
10. Nxf5 exf5 11. e3 Qd7 $15) 8. Re1 Nf6 9. Ne5 Be7 (9... Nbd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7
11. e4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Bxe4 Nxe4 14. Rxe4 Be7 15. Qh5 Bf6 16. Bf4 O-O
17. c3 c6 $11 {T. Banusz - M. Bluebaum, Austria 2020}) 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4
Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bxe4 13. Rxe4 Nd7 14. Bf4 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Bf6 16. Qg4 O-O 17. Rd1
Qe7 (17... c6 18. Bf4 Kh8 $132) 18. Bf4 Kh8 19. c3 {(A. Adly - M. Bluebaum,
Moscow 2019)} Rfd8 $11 {[%cal Gd8d5]}) (7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 h6 9. Nbd2 Nf6 10. Ne5
O-O $132) 7... Nf6 8. Bf4 (8. Nh4 $5 {Wasn't too worried about this. In these
positions it is not really a problem for White to go Nxf5 and transform the
pawn structure.} Bg4 (8... Be7 9. Nxf5 exf5 {(A. Huzman - N. Abdusattorov,
Lichess.org INT 2021)} 10. f3 O-O 11. e4 fxe4 12. fxe4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 $14) (8...
h5 $5 {Indirect prophylaxis. In the event White decides to go Nxf5, he will
instantly have to deal with h5-h4 threat} 9. Bg5 Be7 10. Nxf5 exf5 11. Bxf6
Bxf6 12. e3 c6 13. Qd3 g6 14. h4 O-O 15. b3 $14 {[%cal Gc3e2,Gc2c4]}) 9. f3 Bh5
10. g4 Nfd7 11. Qe1 Bg6 $13) 8... h6 9. Nd2 Bd6 10. Be5 $5 {Interesting idea.
The key to responding to this is realizing that this idea revolves around the
weakness of the b7 pawn and c5 square.} Bxe5 11. dxe5 Ng4 (11... Nfd7 {
Probably a better move objectivally, but on the other had it allows f4.} 12. f4
Nc5 13. e4 dxe4 14. Ndxe4 $11) 12. e4 $6 (12. Nf3 $1 {Taking advantage of the
dangerously placed knight on g4.} Nd7 13. Nd4 c6 14. e4 dxe4 15. Nxf5 exf5 16.
Nxe4 O-O 17. Nd6 Ndxe5 18. h3 Nf6 19. Nxf5 $14 {Really nothing much at all,
but it is more pleasant for White in the long term.}) 12... dxe4 13. Ndxe4 Qxd1
14. Rfxd1 Nxe5 15. Nb5 $2 {This isn't consistent with his previous plan. He
sacrificed a pawn to attack b7 and utilize the c5 square, not to utilize the
b5 square and attack the c7 pawn.} (15. Nc5 Bg4 16. Bxb7 Bxd1 17. Bxa8 Bxc2 $15
) 15... O-O $2 {There wasn't really a need to castle, and the king should
always be active during endgames.} (15... Ke7 $1 $17 {Not really sure why I
overlooked this move. The idea is the same in regards to connecting rooks, but
the king on e7 is simply much better placed by defending key squares such as
d6.} 16. Nxc7 Rac8 17. Nb5 Bg4 (17... Rxc2 18. Ned6 Bd3 {[%cal Gd3e2,Ge5f3]})
18. Rdc1 Rhd8 $17) 16. Nc5 c6 $2 {Being too materialistic, which will become
apparent soon.} (16... Bg4 $1 {Simply attack the weaknesses (f3 square)} 17.
Rdc1 Bf3 18. Bxf3 Nxf3+ 19. Kg2 Ne5 20. b3 {[%cal Gb3a4] Prophylaxis} (20. Nxb7
Rfb8 21. Nc5 Nxa4 $1 $17) 20... Rab8 $15) 17. Nd4 $1 {I was expecting him to
go for something like Nd6, as I thought after Nd4 I'm "just up a pawn."
Looking closely though, you can see that my knights are poorly placed, White's
piece coordination is excellent, and my rooks are passive.} Rab8 18. Nxf5 exf5
19. Rd4 Rfe8 20. Rad1 Re7 21. Rd8+ Rxd8 22. Rxd8+ Kh7 23. b3 Ng4 {Here I was
already in need for counterplay, as I have virtually no weaknesses to attack.
However, due to the positioning of my b6 knight, chances of success are low.}
24. Bf1 $6 (24. h3 $1 {Best to fight fire with fire} Nf6 25. c4 Re1+ 26. Kh2
Rb1 27. Rb8 Nbd7 28. Nxd7 Nxd7 29. Rxb7 Ne5 {This is what I was planning, but
it becomes evident that White is pressing.} 30. Re7 Re1 31. Ra7 $14) 24... Nd5
{Now my knight gets into position.} 25. Rb8 b6 26. Nd3 Ne5 27. Rc8 $2 {Simply
overlooking my next response} (27. c4 $1 Nd7 (27... Nxd3 28. cxd5 $16) 28. Rc8
Nb4 29. Nxb4 axb4 30. Rc7 $1 {Overlooked this move. There is actually a deadly
threat of c5 followed by an unstoppable a-pawn.} c5 31. f4 $16 {Opening up the
backrank in preparation of Bg2-c6}) 27... Nf3+ 28. Kg2 Nd4 29. c4 Nb4 $6 {
Overlooking my opponent's 31st move} (29... Nc3 $1 30. Rb8 Nxb3 31. Rxb6 Nd4
32. Ra6 Nxa4 {There was literally no reason to go for this instead.}) 30. Nxb4
axb4 31. c5 $1 {After which the game is likely a draw.} bxc5 32. Bc4 Ra7 33.
Rd8 Nc2 34. g4 g6 35. gxf5 gxf5 36. Kg3 Na3 37. Bd3 c4 38. bxc4 b3 39. Kf4 b2
40. Rb8 Rxa4 41. Kxf5 b1=Q 42. Bxb1 Nxb1 43. Rxb1 Rxc4 {The complications have
stopped and it appears to be a dead-drawn rook ending, which I'm sure my
opponent realized. He is not wrong, but he failed to have a proper sense of
danger.} 44. Rg1 c5 45. f4 Rd4 46. Ke5 Rd7 47. Rc1 Kg7 {Transitioning the
ending. My c-pawn can only get so far considering how active my opponent's
king is.} 48. Rxc5 Rd2 49. Rc3 Rxh2 50. Rg3+ Kf8 51. Kf6 Ra2 {While this is
still dead drawn, it isn't as easy as it seems. Accurate play is still
required and Black's play is easy. The first step is to cut off the king.} 52.
Rb3 Ra6+ 53. Kf5 Rg6 {Step 1 complete.} 54. Rh3 Kg7 {Ok, but what to do now? I
can only realistically win this game if I win the f-pawn, but that's
impossible with such an active king. Therefore step 2 would logically be
"forcing the king back", but this isn't exactly easy either. To do so I would
need to give up what I achieved in step 1. However, as Shankland would say,
pawns can't move backwards. I need to find a way to force f5, after which the
pawn would be much more vulnerable.} 55. Rh1 Rf6+ 56. Kg4 Kg6 57. Rh2 Ra6 58.
Rh1 Ra3 {[%cal Gf7f5]} 59. f5+ {Step 2 complete.} Kg7 60. Kf4 Ra4+ 61. Kf3 Rb4
62. Rh2 Rb1 63. Rh5 Rg1 64. Kf4 Rg2 65. Rh1 Rg5 {Now that the pawn is on f5, I
need to find a way to win it. In other words, I need to find a way to include
my king into the game. If you think of the optimal position of the pieces, it
isn't too difficult to see that you want your rook on g4 and king on g5.} 66.
Rh2 f6 {Preparing h5, Rg4, Kh6, Kg5} 67. Ra2 h5 68. Ra6 Rg1 {Seemingly
zugzwang. If white continues to wait then I can push my h-pawn, forcing the
rook back, allowing my king to advance.} 69. Ra7+ Kh6 70. Ra8 Rg4+ 71. Kf3 Kg5
{Optimal piece positioning reached.} 72. Rh8 Ra4 73. Kg3 Ra3+ 74. Kg2 Ra5 {
Now the pawn is lost, but I was aware that the ending is technically still
drawn with split h and f pawns. Practically speaking though, this is far from
easy and nearly impossible. White needs to keep his king in front of the
farther advanced passed pawn.} 75. Kh3 Rxf5 76. Rg8+ $2 {A step in the wrong
direction. This only helps me recoordinate my pieces.} Kf4 77. Rg1 Rg5 78. Rf1+
Ke5 79. Re1+ Kf5 80. Kh4 Kg6 81. Rf1 Rg4+ 82. Kh3 Kg5 83. Ra1 h4 84. Ra8 Rg3+
85. Kh2 f5 {Now it's already too late.} 86. Ra7 f4 87. Ra8 Kg4 88. Ra7 Rb3 89.
Rg7+ Kf3 90. Ra7 Kg4 91. Rg7+ Kf3 92. Ra7 Ke3 93. Re7+ Kf2 94. Ra7 f3 95. Re7
Re3 96. Ra7 Kf1 97. Ra1+ Re1 98. Ra2 f2 99. Rb2 Ra1 {0-1} 0-1

[Event "Summer of Seattle"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.08.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "He, Anthony Bi"]
[Black "Stukopin, Andrey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B44"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2555"]
[Annotator "Anthony He"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,89,19,28,40,40,45,30,30,42,27,11,49,36,44,42,83,60,60,46,47,32,20,73,
69,69,99,72,76,73,53,43,53,71,65,45,45,-8,-8,-8,13,-24,-27,-17,-42,-36,-36,-36,
-36,-47,-20,-45,-15,-36,-15,-15,-23,-77,-31,-69,-56,-56,-36,-54,0,0,21,21,55,
68,40,40,40,31,40,40,48,48,30,45,38,33,176,198,273,321,318,380,491,496,484,489]
} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. g3 $5 {A surprise I was
preparing. When preparing for your opponents, always consider what they expect
you to do.} h5 $5 {Interesting idea which I had 0 knowledge on. But in
reasonably quiet positions, a move such as h5 can only be so good.} 6. Bg2 h4
7. Nc3 {Normal development.} a6 {I was reasonably pleased when I saw him play
this move. This is basically a Kan/Taimanov but he spent tempo on h5-h4.} 8.
Nxc6 $5 bxc6 9. e5 {Attempting to take advantage of my lead in development.} (
9. Bf4 {Objectivally, this looks like the best option.} h3 (9... hxg3 10. hxg3
Rxh1+ 11. Bxh1 d6 12. Qe2 e5 13. Bd2 Nf6 14. O-O-O Qb6 15. f4 Rb8 16. b3 $16 {
with comfortable advantage.}) (9... d6 10. gxh4 $5) 10. Bf3 d6 11. Qe2 e5 12.
Be3 Rb8 13. O-O-O Nf6 (13... Qa5 14. Qc4 $1) 14. g4 Qa5 15. g5 Nd7 16. Bg4 Qb4
17. a3 $1 Qxb2+ 18. Kd2 Qb7 19. Rb1 Qa8 20. Rxb8 Qxb8 21. Rb1 Qc7 22. Qc4 Nc5
23. Bxc8 Qxc8 24. g6 fxg6 25. Bxc5 dxc5 26. Nd1 $1 $14 {[%csl Re8] and Black
has problems with king in center.}) 9... Qc7 10. Qe2 (10. Bf4 g5 $1 11. Bxg5
Qxe5+ 12. Ne4 d5 13. Bf4 Qxb2 14. Rb1 Qg7 15. Nd6+ Bxd6 16. Bxd6 Kd7 $5) 10...
Ne7 (10... a5 $1 11. Bd2 (11. Ne4 $2 Ba6 (11... Qxe5)) 11... Ba6 12. Qe4 Ne7
13. O-O-O Nd5 $132 {with complex game.}) 11. Ne4 (11. O-O $5 Nf5 (11... Ng6 12.
f4 hxg3 13. hxg3 $14 {[%cal Gc1e3]}) 12. Bf4 $14) 11... Ng6 $2 {Mistake which
gives me the advantage.} (11... Nf5 $1 {I was expecting this, with the idea of
h3+Nd4, but I wasn't really worried about losing the bishop pair.} 12. Bf4 h3
13. Bf3 Nd4 14. Qd3 c5 15. O-O-O Rb8 16. Rhe1 Qb6 17. b3 a5 $132) 12. f4 $16
Be7 13. Qd3 {[%csl Gd6] Controlling the d6 square.} Qb6 {Now this was an
interesting move which I didn't consider at all, and it in all honesty was a
brilliant practical move. While it technically doesn't have direct threats,
it's still annoying to deal with. hxg3, Rxh1, and Qg1 hang in the air all the
time. Be3 must be objectivally the correct move, but the follow up isn't easy
at all, and this transformation of the game wasn't exactly what I wanted, as I
was sure that I was much better.} 14. Be3 $2 {A poor practical decision. While
White must be close to winning after this pawn sacrifice, there is no reason
to force yourself to have to find follow ups in such a position.} (14. b3 {
Ignoring Black's ghost threats} hxg3 15. hxg3 Rxh1+ 16. Bxh1 Qg1+ 17. Qf1 Qd4
18. c3 Qb6 19. Qf2 $18) 14... Qxb2 15. O-O hxg3 16. hxg3 Qa3 17. Qxa3 $2 {
Running low on time, I attempted to convert the position into something I
viewed as "risk free." This was also wrong, just looking at the position,
there is no world where White should trade queens.} (17. c3 $44 Rb8 (17... O-O
18. Rfb1 a5 19. Qc2) (17... Qa4 18. Rfb1 $1) (17... a5 18. Rfd1) 18. Bc1 Qa5
19. c4 O-O 20. Bd2 Qa4 21. Bc3 $16) 17... Bxa3 18. Nd6+ $2 ({The best move was
} 18. Rfb1 $1 a5 (18... O-O 19. Nc5 $1 {[%cal Gb1b3]} a5 20. Rb3 Bxc5 21. Bxc5
Re8 22. Be4 $14) 19. Rb6 Ba6 20. Rd1 Bc4 21. Rb7 Bd5 22. c4 Bxc4 23. Rdxd7 O-O
24. Nd6 $16) 18... Bxd6 19. exd6 a5 $1 {[%cal Gc8a6] I completely missed this
idea, and was depressed over the poor decisions made. Now if anyone is better,
it could very easily be Black.} 20. c4 Ba6 21. Rfc1 f5 22. Bd2 Kf7 23. c5 a4 (
23... e5 $1 24. fxe5 Nxe5 25. Bxa5 Nd3 $17) 24. Bc3 Bd3 $17 25. Bd4 Rhb8 (25...
e5 $1 26. fxe5 Ke6 27. Re1 Bc4 $15) 26. Kf2 a3 27. Ke3 Ba6 28. Rab1 (28. Rc3 $1
) 28... Re8 (28... e5 $1 {I was surprised when my opponent decided to keep his
material instead of freeing squares for this pieces.} 29. fxe5 Rxb1 30. Rxb1
Bc4 31. Ra1 Nf8 $1 $17 {[%cal Gf8e6,Gg7g5]}) 29. Be5 $1 Nxe5 30. fxe5 Rh8 31.
Rb3 Rab8 $2 {Probably some miscalculation. This move doesn't really make sense.
} (31... g5 $1 32. Rxa3 Bb5 33. Rcc3 Kg6 $15) 32. Rxa3 $16 {And suddenly the
table turn again. It's not immediately obvious, but you slowly realize how
weak Black's pawn structure is.} Rb2 33. Bf3 Ra8 34. Rcc3 Rbb8 35. Rcb3 Bc4 36.
Rxa8 Rxa8 37. Rb7 Ke8 38. a4 g5 39. Rb4 Ba6 40. Rb6 {A small trap} Bc4 $4 (
40... Bc8 41. Rb4 (41. Rxc6 $4 g4 42. Bg2 Bb7 $1) 41... g4 42. Be2 Kf7 $14 {
and Black should be able to hold position.}) 41. Rxc6 $18 Bd5 42. Bxd5 exd5 43.
Rc7 Rxa4 44. Rc8+ Kf7 45. c6 {An up and down game which illustrates the
importance of making wise, practical decisions.} 1-0

[Event "Summer of Seattle"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.08.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "He, Anthony Bi"]
[Black "Maiti, Milind"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2384"]
[Annotator "Anthony He"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,100,25,16,71,35,60,46,47,59,52,47,74,88,57,25,24,6,46,40,49,2,17,-6,
33,2,26,-27,-4,1,6,2,-4,-14,10,3,-12,13,11,23,26,18,18,7,22,22,30,22,30,44,26,
7,29,11,21,3,21,0,0,4,3,3,54,10,54,54,58,16,36,3,32,0,3,12,63,63,40,53,48,51,
51,54,92,95,171,117,170,147,209,226,185,173,184,108,115,87,128,137,150,136,153,
143,186]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qf3
Bb4 $5 {At this moment, I already knew I got outprepared. Although it is very
possible that it was simply a different move order, even one innacuracy can
change the entire opening.} (7... Qc7 {This was obviously what I was expecting.
}) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 ({Another option is} 8... dxc6 {Another option, with lots of
theory behind it.}) 9. Bd3 d5 (9... e5 $6 10. Qg3 d6 (10... O-O 11. O-O Qe7 12.
Bg5 Qe6 13. Bc4 (13. Na4 Rb8 14. b3 d5 15. f3 Bd6 16. Rfe1 h6 17. Be3 Nd7 18.
c3) 13... Qd6 (13... Nh5 14. Bxe6 Nxg3 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. hxg3 Bxc3 17. bxc3 d5
18. Rfe1 h6 19. Bc1 $14) 14. Rfd1 $16) 11. O-O Nh5 12. Qf3 Nf6 13. Na4 $1) 10.
Bd2 (10. exd5 $2 cxd5 11. Bd4 O-O) (10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 $6 Bf8 12. Bf4 $6 h5 $1)
10... O-O 11. O-O a5 $1 {Now Black achieved good version of certain lines in
Taimanov, without wasting time with Qc7.} 12. Qe2 Nd7 13. Na4 Bxd2 (13... Ne5
$5 14. exd5 Bxd2 15. Qxd2 cxd5 $132 {looks nice for Black.}) 14. Qxd2 Ba6 $2 {
I really don't see why my opponent prioritized trading bishops. His knight is
likely the worst placed piece, so he should change them instead.} (14... Nb6 $5
15. Nxb6 Qxb6 $132 {Is what I would have done if I were him.}) 15. Bxa6 Rxa6
16. c4 {Putting pressure on the center.} Nf6 $1 17. e5 Nd7 18. b3 Qc7 (18...
Nxe5 $2 19. Qe2 {With cxd5 next.}) 19. f4 {Once we reached this position I was
feeling pretty confident. I had felt that I had "escaped" the opening and was
pretty sure I could slowly outplay my opponent.} Raa8 20. Qf2 f6 (20... dxc4 $1
21. bxc4 Rab8 22. a3 Rfd8 23. Rfd1 Nf8 24. Nc5 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Qb6 $132) 21.
cxd5 cxd5 22. Rac1 Qb7 23. exf6 Rxf6 24. Qe3 {Strangely enough, we kind of
have a French structure.} Re8 25. Nc3 (25. Nb2 e5 26. fxe5 Rxe5 27. Qd4 Re4
$132) 25... h6 26. h3 Qb8 27. Qd4 Ref8 28. Ne2 Qd6 29. Rf3 {Rearranging my
pieces.} Rg6 (29... g5 $5 30. Rg3 (30. Rcf1 Qc5 $132) 30... e5 31. fxe5 Nxe5 {
[%cal Gf6f2]} 32. Nc3 Nf3+ 33. Rxf3 Rxf3 34. gxf3 Qg3+ 35. Kh1 Qxh3+ 36. Kg1
Qg3+ $11) 30. Re3 Rf5 31. Rf1 Nc5 32. Rc1 Nd7 33. Rf1 {The point of this
repetition was actually not to gain time, but to gauge my opponent's mindset.
After repeating moves I realized he was fine with a draw, which boosted my
confidence.} Nc5 34. Rff3 Nd7 35. Ng3 Rf8 36. Kh1 Qc5 37. Qd3 Rgf6 $6 38. Nh5
$1 Rf5 39. g4 R5f7 $2 {Basically resignation.} (39... e5 $5 {I was really
quite worried about this move, but White should still be pressing.} 40. gxf5 e4
41. Qd1 (41. Rxe4 dxe4 42. Qxe4 (42. Qxd7 Qc1+ 43. Kh2 Qb2+ 44. Kg3 exf3) 42...
Rxf5 43. Qe6+ Kh8 44. Qxd7 Rxh5 45. Qe8+ Kh7 46. Qe4+ Rf5 $132) 41... exf3 42.
Qg1 g5 43. fxg5 f2 44. Qxf2 hxg5 45. Kg2 $14) (39... Rxh5 40. gxh5 e5 41. fxe5
Rxf3 42. Rxf3 Nxe5 43. Qc3 {Important intermediate move which I had prepared
beforehand.}) 40. Rxe6 Nf6 41. Ng3 h5 42. gxh5 $5 (42. g5 $1 Ne4 43. Nxe4 dxe4
44. Rxe4 $16) 42... d4 43. Re5 (43. h6 $1) 43... Nd5 44. Ne2 Qc6 45. Qe4 (45.
Nxd4 Qc1+ 46. Qf1 Qxf1+ 47. Rxf1 Nxf4 48. Rxa5 $18) 45... Nb4 46. Qxc6 Nxc6 47.
Rc5 Rf6 (47... Re7 $5 48. Ng3 Nb4 49. a3 d3 50. axb4 d2 51. Rd5 Re1+ 52. Rf1
Rxf4 53. Rd8+ Kh7 54. Rxd2 Rexf1+ 55. Nxf1 Rxf1+ 56. Kg2 Rf5 57. bxa5 Rxa5 58.
Rb2 Rg5+ 59. Kh2 Rxh5 60. b4 Rb5 61. Kg3 Kg6 62. Kf4 Kf6 63. Ke4 Ke6 64. Kd4
Rh5 65. Rb3 Kd7 66. b5 Kc7) 48. Kg2 Re6 49. Kf2 Rfe8 50. Nc1 Nb4 51. a3 Nc6 52.
f5 Rd6 53. Nd3 Rb8 54. Nf4 d3 55. Nxd3 Rxb3 (55... Nd4 $1 56. Rg3 Rxb3) 56. Nf4
Rb2+ (56... a4 $1) 57. Kg3 a4 58. Ng6 Rb3 59. Rxc6 1-0

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "McClain, Jack"]
[Black "Nair, Roshen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "1762"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "112"]

{[%evp 0,112,19,29,30,23,24,12,16,-13,10,-6,-6,0,-15,-27,-27,-83,-42,-91,-36,
-35,-35,-26,-21,-25,-52,-52,-55,-58,-58,-55,-64,-60,-60,-92,-82,-85,-89,-102,
-106,-150,-232,-227,-195,-389,-166,-202,-163,-246,-230,-347,-383,-473,-485,
-504,-460,-575,-575,-583,-640,-653,-681,-694,-365,-440,-461,-461,-443,-437,
-541,-593,-606,-626,-554,-723,-717,-1036,-634,-635,-565,-565,-577,-668,-699,
-736,-696,-711,-762,-770,-1178,-28885,-1113,-1162,-809,-1192,-1479,-1479,-1636,
-28837,-29978,-29979,-29980,-29981,-29982,-29995,-29994,-29995,-29992,-29993,
-29994,-29997,-29998,-29999,-30000]} {Jack had just completed his first
college term before the tournament began, limiting his time for chess study
over the previous months. This meant he had to play himself into shape during
the tournament. He successfully managed the task, finishing with 1.5 points
and a 17 point rating gain, not bad for the lowest seed. But this game is from
round 1 before he had scraped the rust off. Roshen decides to "help" Jack by
grinding him down in an ending, giving him 56 moves of experience at the cost
of only one point on the crosstable.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4
5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Qd4 (7. Bd3 {is the popular choice in this
position, but Jack's move is fine too.}) 7... Qe7 8. Bd3 d5 9. Bg5 $6 {this
move appears to be aggressive, pinning the knight and preparing the option of
castling long. Unfortunately for White, Black has forced line that results in
a better endgame.} (9. O-O $11) 9... c5 $1 10. Bxf6 ({Hmm, perhaps the endgame
isn't completely forced.} 10. Bb5+ Kf8 11. Qd1 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qxe4+ 13. Kf1 Qe5
{is also better for Black. But with a middlegame on the board instead of an
ending, White has more swindling chances than the actual game. That said, skip
ahead to Tang-Nair from round 4 if you prefer endgame swindling chances.})
10... cxd4 11. Bxe7 Kxe7 12. a3 {Jack is able to save his pinned knight and
eliminate White's advantage of the two bishops, but only at the cost of an
inferior pawn structure.} Ba5 13. b4 dxc3 14. bxa5 d4 $1 {Black's doubled
pawns have a lot more potential than White's doubled pawns.} 15. Rb1 Bd7 16.
Ke2 ({It is tempting to put a rook on the 7th rank, but} 16. Rb7 Rhb8 17. a6 (
17. Rxc7 $2 Rb1+) 17... Rxb7 18. axb7 Rb8 19. Ba6 Bc6 20. f3 Bxb7 21. Bxb7 Rxb7
{is much better for Black.}) 16... Rab8 17. Rhd1 Be6 {Material is still even,
but Black is close to a positional win, as the pawns on the c and d files will
steadily march forward.} 18. h3 c5 19. Ba6 Rb2 20. Rdc1 Rhb8 21. Ra1 c4 22. Kf3
Kd6 23. Kf4 Kc5 24. f3 Bd7 25. e5 Re8 26. Rab1 Ba4 27. Re1 Bxc2 28. Rbc1 d3 29.
Re4 d2 30. Rxc4+ Kd5 31. Rg1 d1=Q 32. Rxd1+ Bxd1 33. Rxc3 Be2 34. Bc8 Rxe5 35.
a6 g5+ 36. Kg4 Bc4 37. Bb7+ Kd4 38. f4 Kxc3 39. fxe5 Kd4 40. Kxg5 Kxe5 41. g4
Rb3 42. h4 Rb6 43. h5 h6+ 44. Kh4 Kf4 45. Bg2 Rb2 46. Kh3 Rxg2 47. Kxg2 Kxg4
48. a4 Bxa6 49. a5 f5 50. Kf2 f4 51. Kg2 f3+ 52. Kh1 f2 53. Kh2 Kxh5 54. Kh3
f1=Q+ 55. Kh2 Qf2+ 56. Kh3 Bc8# 0-1

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tang, Austin"]
[Black "Sripada, Havish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B92"]
[WhiteElo "2023"]
[BlackElo "2007"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "121"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Kh1 {This king move is a Kasparov favorite. He has played it 5 times,
beating Nick DeFirmian in 1995 and Boris Gelfand in 1996, but losing
Jan-Krzysztof Duda in 2021. White strives for flexibility, waiting for a Black
to declare his intentions before committing his f-pawn (f3 or f4?) and
dark-squared bishop (e3 or g5?). He makes a move that often is useful when
White castles kingside in the Sicilian.} b6 {Black will push this pawn to b5
two moves later. So why did he waste time moving it to b6 on move 9? Because
Black's bishop needs to be on b7 to stop tricks on the h1-f8 diagonal before
the pawn can safely move to b5, as 9...b5 10.a4! is strong with the diagonal
undefended. Playing the Najdorf is hard work for both players.} (9... b5 $6 10.
a4 b4 11. Nd5 Nxe4 $2 (11... Nxd5 $6 12. Qxd5 Ra7 13. Be3 Be6 14. Qd3) (11...
Be6 $1 $14) 12. Bf3 f5 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Qd5+) 10. Be3 Bb7 11. f3 b5 12. a4 b4
13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5 Nd7 {My database shows over 100 games from this position.
Moves that might have appeared to be superficial (9.Kh1) or counter-intuitive 
(9...b6) are actually deep theory.} 15. c4 bxc3 16. bxc3 Bg5 17. Bf2 Qc7 18. c4
a5 19. Nd2 Bxd2 {still in the database.} (19... f5 {is most popular, but
Stockfish prefers Havish's choice.}) 20. Qxd2 Nc5 {The position is balanced,
yet both players can still play for the win. This is why I stand by my
statement - the road from 1800 to 2200 goes through the Sicilian Defense.} 21.
Qc2 Bc8 22. f4 f5 $2 {A move that Black should be striving to play to exploit
his kingside pawn majority, but it doesn't quite work.} (22... exf4 {maintains
a rough equality} 23. Bd4 Rb8 (23... g5 $2 24. Bf6 h6 25. Bh5 {gives White a
dangerous attack against Black's weakened kingside.}) 24. Ra3 Qb6 25. Raf3) 23.
fxe5 dxe5 24. Rfb1 $16 {It is natural to take control of the open file with
the king rook while using the queen rook to defend the weak a-pawn.} ({
Stockfish suggests sacrificing an exchange...} 24. Rab1 Bd7 25. Rb5 Bxb5 26.
cxb5 {... and claims a big advantage for White. It isn't obvious what horrible
fate will befall Black in the next few moves, but modern analysts love the two
bishops, and rooks are better on offense than defense. So if Black can't
generate play with the e-pawn and f-pawn and ends up trying to use his rooks
to defend against White's passed pawns, it probably won't turn out well.
Spoiler alert - in the game, Havish will try to generate play with his e-pawn
and f-pawn, and it almost saves the game.}) 24... Bd7 25. Bxc5 (25. Rb5 $5)
25... Qxc5 26. Rb7 Rf7 27. Rab1 Raf8 28. Qc3 e4 29. Qe5 f4 $2 ({Black has been
playing well and now} 29... g6 {gets Black back close to equality. The move
Black played in the game allows White a tricky combination which nets a pawn
and opens lines to Black's king}) 30. Bh5 $1 (30. Qxe4 $2 Bf5) 30... g6 {
So why was this good on move 29 but not here? Black's move 29...f4 gives White
the g4 square for his Bishop which allows it to reach e6 on move 33.} 31. Rxd7
$1 Rxd7 32. Bg4 $1 Rdf7 33. Be6 {Stockfish says White has an overwhelming
advantage, but the position is still very tricky, as White needs to watch out
for back rank mates and pawn advances.} f3 34. Bxf7+ (34. gxf3 exf3 35. Qf6 Qa7
36. Rf1 {is winning easily. White is better in the game continuation, but he
has to find a series of "only" moves to maintain his advantage. Austin is up
to the challenge.}) 34... Rxf7 35. Rb8+ $1 (35. gxf3 Qf2 $11) 35... Rf8 36.
Qe6+ $1 (36. gxf3 Qf2 $11) 36... Kg7 37. Rb7+ $1 (37. Rxf8 Qxf8 $11) 37... Kh6
38. Qh3+ $1 $18 (38. g3 $2 $11 {is equal. Everything else loses for White.})
38... Kg5 39. Qg3+ $1 (39. g3 $2 Qe3 $11) 39... Kf5 40. gxf3 $1 (40. Qh3+ $2
Ke5 41. Qg3+ Kd4 $11) 40... exf3 41. Qxf3+ Ke5 {When I saw this position live,
I didn't know what to think. White is up material and Black's king is
centralized a little too early for a major piece ending, but Black has a Rf1+
counterattack threatened if White forgets to check, either literally and
figuratively.} 42. Qc3+ Kf4 43. Qg3+ Kf5 44. Qf3+ Kg5 45. Qg3+ Kf5 46. Rb5 {
still winning for White.} (46. Rb2 $1 {Is most decisive, when a check on f2
from the queen or rook decide the game.} Kf6 47. Qf2+ Qxf2 48. Rxf2+ Ke7 49.
Rxf8 Kxf8 {is an easily won pawn ending.}) (46. Rb3 $1 {is also winning, but
more complex.}) 46... Qc8 (46... Qd4 {keeps things more complicated, but Black
is still lost after} 47. Qe1) 47. d6+ {The rest is straightforward. Black's
counterattacking chances have disappeared, but White's passed pawns and
Black's vulnerable king remain.} Kf6 48. Qf3+ Kg7 49. Rb7+ Kh6 50. Qe3+ g5 51.
Re7 Rf4 52. Re6+ Kg7 53. Qe5+ Kg8 54. Re8+ Rf8 55. Rxc8 Rxc8 56. Qe6+ Kg7 57.
Qxc8 h5 58. d7 g4 59. d8=Q g3 60. Qe6 h4 61. Qdg8# 1-0

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.11"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sripada, Havish"]
[Black "Tang, Zoey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B89"]
[WhiteElo "2007"]
[BlackElo "2224"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "76"]

{[%evp 0,76,25,25,51,51,73,57,69,38,38,32,39,35,78,56,57,22,56,34,34,19,38,30,
30,30,-2,5,5,-132,45,18,18,-60,-77,-124,-136,-137,-137,-137,-100,-169,-155,
-349,-364,-363,-371,-427,-451,-451,-463,-530,-551,-574,-575,-634,-625,-627,
-612,-658,-597,-683,-597,-778,-726,-766,-786,-907,-997,-1012,-869,-2183,-2611,
-29987,-3031,-29983,-29984,-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qe2 Qc7 9. Bb3 Be7 10. O-O-O Na5 ({
Zoey played} 10... O-O {against Pranav Anoop in the 2021 Oregon Open (see page
5 of the November 2021 issue). Castling gives White a target for a kingside
attack. This is a standard Sicilian technique of tempting White players to
decentralize their pieces by using your king as bait, which may sound risky,
mainly because it is. This time Zoey leaves her king in the center, which has
a different set of risks and rewards.}) 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nxb3+ 13. axb3 Nd7 14.
Nf5 {This looks like a speculative sacrifice, but it is actually the main move
which has been analyzed quite a bit with no particular conclusion. Velimirovic
himself played this move in the earliest recorded game he played in his
namesake line.} Bb7 $6 {Zoey declines the sacrifice, avoiding tons (terabytes?)
of analysis at the cost of an inferior position with plenty of chances for
both sides to go wrong.} (14... exf5 15. Nd5 Qd8 16. exf5 O-O (16... Bb7 $1 $13
) 17. f6 gxf6 18. Bd4 Ne5 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. Rhg1+ Bg7 21. Bxe5 dxe5 22. Qxe5 f6
23. Ne7+ Kf7 24. Qh5+ {1-0 (24) Velimirovic,D-Sofrevski,J Titograd 1965}) 15.
Nxe7 $1 ({I would have tempted to take a pawn with check and ask questions
later} 15. Nxg7+ Kf8 16. Nh5 {is a little better for White, but Havish's
choice is better.}) 15... Kxe7 {[#]} 16. Bd4 $2 (16. Rd4 $1 {prepares to
double rooks to attack Black's backward d-pawn, slows down Black's b5-b4
counterplay, and offers some temporary defense of the e-pawn.} Qa5 (16... e5
17. Nd5+ Bxd5 18. Rxd5 $18 {and Stockfish says White is much better.}) 17. Kb1
{Now Black can try the plan that Zoey effectively used in the game, but it
doesn't work here.} b4 18. Na4 e5 19. Rd2 Bxe4 20. Bb6 $1 Bxc2+ 21. Rxc2 Nxb6
22. Rc7+ {and the engines say White is much better in spite of Black's
material advantage.} Nd7 (22... Kd8 23. Rhc1 Nxa4 24. Qe4 Rb8 (24... Nc3+ 25.
R7xc3 bxc3 26. Qxa8+) 25. Qc6) 23. Rhc1 Rhd8 24. R1c6 $18 {and White's pieces
are cannot be prevented from walking into Black's position with threats like
25.Nb6 and 25.Qh5.}) 16... b4 $1 $17 {One inaccurate move by White and the
advantage passes to Black.} 17. Na4 e5 $1 18. Be3 Bxe4 19. f3 Bc6 20. Qc4 $2 (
20. Rd2 $17 {defends against Black's checkmate threats on c2 that will soon be
appearing.}) 20... Rac8 $1 $19 21. Qxb4 (21. Rd2 Bxf3 22. Rf1 Qxc4 23. bxc4 Be4
24. b3 {and Stockfish says that Black's advantage is much greater than the
extra two pawns imply}) 21... Bxa4 22. Rd2 Bc6 23. c4 Bxf3 24. Rf1 Bh5 25. g6
hxg6 26. Rdf2 f6 27. Qd2 Nc5 28. Bxc5 dxc5 29. h4 Qd6 30. Qa5 Rhd8 31. Kb1 Rb8
32. Ka2 Bd1 33. Ka3 Rxb3+ 34. Ka2 Rb4 35. b3 Bxb3+ 36. Kb2 Bxc4+ 37. Kc1 Bxf1
38. Rb2 Qd1# 0-1

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.12"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Tang, Zoey"]
[Black "Nair, Roshen"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D15"]
[WhiteElo "2224"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "131"]

{[%evp 0,131,19,19,10,5,24,25,36,6,54,47,52,55,48,50,50,40,50,41,81,53,58,42,
25,-10,72,52,51,55,114,147,147,146,152,143,159,174,166,89,114,80,114,114,168,
137,130,128,127,92,201,188,202,137,162,125,129,127,121,120,130,136,123,127,125,
127,112,112,143,148,150,160,164,147,140,145,254,261,276,169,312,306,315,314,
311,192,222,236,229,164,173,175,175,197,213,244,244,196,341,244,244,246,246,
266,266,167,167,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} {
Zoey and Roshen were tied with 2.5 points going into round 4. Roshen usually
plays the Slav against 1.d4, Zoey usually plays the exchange variation, so the
opening will be easy to predict.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 {Easy to predict
the opening, but not easy to accurately predict. Zoey varies from her usual
repertoire, a good practice for closed tournaments where the players have a
week to prepare.} Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. c5 g6 6. Bf4 Bg7 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 O-O 9.
O-O Ne8 10. Qc2 Nc7 11. b4 Re8 12. Rfd1 ({Stockfish recommends} 12. Bg5 {
which provokes} f6 {a move that Black plays willingly in the game.} {But after}
13. Bh4 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 {the pin on Black's f-pawn means that he
must play} Rxe5 16. Na4 {and White is better with the knight jumping to b6,
the e3-e4 break in the works to open the position for White's better developed
pieces, and the dark-squared bishop taking over the g3-b8 diagonal, especially
relevant after the moves} Z0 17. Nb6 Rb8) 12... f6 $6 {Black plans to take
over the center, but this is too ambitious as White is better developed and
Black is cramped.} (12... e5 $1 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bxe5 Rxe5 {
and in this position} 16. Na4 {isn't as troublesome as the position from the
previous note. With the dark-squared bishops off the board, the g3-b8 diagonal
isn't as vulnerable.} Bg4) 13. e4 $1 {Opening the game and accentuating
White's overwhelming advantage, which she will maintain for nearly the whole
game.} e5 14. Bg3 $16 f5 15. exd5 cxd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bc4 e4 18. Bxd5+ Kh8
19. Ne1 $16 (19. Ne5 $1 $18) 19... Nf6 20. Bf7 Rf8 21. Bb3 Ne8 22. Be5 Bxe5 23.
dxe5 Qe7 24. f4 exf3 (24... g5 {is the kind of recommendations that engines
irresponsibly make to flesh and blood's players who may be less enthusiastic
about removing the king's pawn cover when they are worse. White is still much
better, but less so than in the game continuation.}) 25. Nxf3 a5 26. a3 Nc7 27.
Qd3 Be6 28. Bxe6 Nxe6 29. Qc4 axb4 30. axb4 Rxa1 31. Rxa1 Rd8 32. h3 Qd7 33.
Kh2 Re8 34. Ra2 Qc6 35. Qh4 Qe4 36. Rd2 Qxh4 37. Nxh4 Nd8 38. Rd7 Nc6 39. b5
Rxe5 $6 (39... Nxe5 40. Rxb7 {is hopeless for Black, but sacrificing a piece
in an endgame should be hopeless too, shouldn't it?}) 40. bxc6 bxc6 41. Nf3
Rxc5 42. Rc7 {You might think that Black is getting closer to a draw, but
White's active pieces mean that Black is still in big trouble.} f4 43. Nd4 Rc4
44. Nxc6 h5 45. Rc8+ Kg7 46. Ne7 Rxc8 47. Nxc8 g5 48. Nd6 Kg6 49. Kg1 Kf6 50.
Kf2 Ke5 51. Ne8 Kf5 52. Ke2 ({If you look ahead to the game continuation, you
might be surprised that one of the winning moves is} 52. h4 {as} g4 {fails in
this position} (52... gxh4 53. Kf3 Kg5 54. Nd6 h3 55. gxh3 Kh4 56. Kg2 f3+ 57.
Kh2 f2 58. Nf5+ Kg5 59. Ng3 {and the knight returns just in time.}) 53. Nc7 {
and Black's trick from the game doesn't work because White can check on e6 or
d5 to drive Black's king back at a time when White's king is still on f2
defending the g3 square.} f3 54. gxf3 Kf4 55. Ne6+ Kf5 56. Nd4+ Ke5 57. Ne2 {
The Black king never is able to attack White's h-pawn.}) 52... g4 $18 53. h4 $2
{This move is logical, as it keeps more pawns on the board. This is White's
only significant slip since gaining the advantage on move 13. But it is
sufficient to turn a win into a draw if Black has remained alert.} f3+ $1 $11
54. gxf3 Kf4 $1 {[#] Black is threatening to take both White pawns off the
board, and White can only stop it by sacrificing the knight to enter a drawn
pawn ending.} (54... gxf3+ $2 55. Kxf3 $18) 55. Kf2 gxf3 56. Nf6 Kf5 57. Kxf3 (
57. Nxh5 Kg4 {and White's last pawn will leave the board on the next move.} 58.
Nf6+ Kxh4) 57... Kxf6 58. Kf4 Kg7 59. Kg5 Kh7 60. Kxh5 Kg7 61. Kg5 Kh7 62. h5
Kg7 63. h6+ Kh7 64. Kh5 Kg8 65. Kg6 Kh8 66. h7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Oregon Junior Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Chang, Calvin"]
[Black "Marx, Jaden"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "1569"]
[BlackElo "1577"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "92"]

1. e4 c6 {I always considered the Caro-Kann a way for positional players like
Botvinnik and Petrosian to take the starch out of the sails of attacking
players like Tal. Today it is played by aggressive players like Alireza
Firouzja. The pawn structure is unbalanced, most of the pieces stay on the
board - what is not to like?} 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. d4 e6 5. Be3 Nf6 6. e5
Ne4 7. a3 ({White has chances for the advantage in a messy position with} 7.
Nxe4 dxe4 8. h3 {This will be the last opportunity Jaden will give him.}) 7...
Qa5 8. Bd2 Nxd2 9. Qxd2 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Qf4 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 {This is
natural, keeping queens on the board with a space advantage.} ({The less
natural computer recommendation is} 12. b4 $1 $15 {which is still better for
Black, but less so than the game continuation} Bxb4 13. Qxb4 Qxb4 14. axb4 Bh5
15. Nb5 {and Black has an extra pawn but the White knight arriving on d6 will
soon give him a few threats and some hope as compensation.}) 12... Nc6 {
Black stands very well in this position. At first glance you might notice
White's space advantage and strong light squared Bishop and think White has
some attacking chances. In reality, Black has an edge in development and a
weak pawn on e5 to target, so White won't get the opportunity to attack.} 13.
Bb5 {White trades off his wonderful light squared bishop to reduce the
pressure on his e5 pawn. It is White's best move, but it isn't much fun to
make.} O-O 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. O-O Bd4 16. Rfe1 f6 $1 {Black's position
resembles the Advance variation of the French Defense where everything has
gone right.} 17. Qg4 fxe5 $1 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Re2 Qb6 20. Nd1 e4 21. c3 Qb5
22. Rc2 Qd3 $1 23. Rac1 Rae8 24. Qxc6 $6 {why not grab a pawn for your
troubles?} ({especially when the engine recommends the defeatist line} 24. Qxe8
Rxe8 25. cxd4 Qxd4) 24... e3 $1 {because now Black's position is overhwelming.}
25. cxd4 e2 26. Rxe2 Qxe2 27. h3 Qd2 28. Qc3 Re1+ 29. Kh2 Rxd1 {Black is a
rook up and clearly winning.} ({A cute computer sideline is} 29... Qf4+ 30. g3
({better but insufficient is} 30. Qg3 Qxc1) 30... Qxf2+ 31. Nxf2 Rxf2#) 30.
Rxd1 Qxd1 31. Qc5 Re8 32. Qxd5 Qe2 33. Qf7 Qe7 34. Qf5 Rd8 35. Qg4 Qd6+ 36. f4
Qxd4 37. Qf5 Qxb2 38. Qa5 Qd4 39. Qc7 Qd6 40. Qc4 Qxa3 41. h4 Rb8 42. Qc7 Qb4
43. Qxa7 Qxf4+ 44. g3 Rb2+ 45. Kh3 Qf5+ 46. g4 Qf3# 0-1

[Event "Washington Class Championships"]
[Site "Bellevue, WA"]
[Date "2021.11.26"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Hosford, Michael"]
[Black "Liu, Austin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "1881"]
[BlackElo "1864"]
[Annotator "Austin Liu"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2021.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,78,29,32,23,36,48,43,28,19,19,30,30,22,39,10,12,5,11,-25,-22,-22,-34,
-34,-6,-3,9,5,0,-13,-7,-12,-10,-10,-8,-27,-43,-112,-99,-105,-97,-92,-125,-130,
-98,-96,-102,-102,-94,-94,-62,-77,-20,-14,2,-27,-11,-11,-7,-84,-67,-89,-110,
-94,-88,-75,-90,-152,-149,-155,-154,-178,-172,-178,-220,-288,-303,-309,-310,
-309,-332]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6 {
A solid option. I considered c5 but decided getting back the pawn if he played
dxc5 would take too much time.} 7. Qe2 {Keeping the option of castling
queenside open.} c5 8. c3 Bb7 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 (10... Qxd7 {I
considered this, since it's a natural capture, but I felt that after White
plays f3 later, my knight will be misplaced.}) 11. O-O {At this point, my plan
was to go f6-e5, but I wanted to be able to recapture with the pawn, which I
couldn't do because of the pin. However, in fact capturing with the knight is
perfectly fine.} Re8 $6 (11... f6 $1 12. Bh4 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Ba6 Bxa6 15.
Qxa6 Qc8 {the endgame is good for Black due to his better placed pieces.} 16.
Qe2 Qe6 {and Black will play f5 and have a pleasant position due to his space
advantage.}) 12. f4 Qc7 13. f5 e5 $1 {Countering a flank attack with
counterplay in the center. Now comes on of the critical moments of the game;
how does White respond? He can play fxg6, f6, fxe6, or keep the tension with
Qg4.} 14. f6 (14. fxe6 Rxe6 $44 {and my opponent's e3-pawn will be a hindrance
for him. Black has no problems in this position, since any attack along the
f-file can be easily defended against.}) (14. fxg6 fxg6 {Allowing Black to
fight for the f-file.} 15. Qg4 Qd6 $44 {Stopping any Qe6+ ideas. Black will
soon place his rooks on f8 and e8, with a good position.}) (14. Qg4 $1 {
In my opinion, the best move. White keeps his options open, leaving Black
without a clear plan. White can then choose whether to play f6 or capture on
g6 at the time of his choice, depending on what Black does.}) 14... Bf8 {
A difficult decision. On h8, the bishop attacks the f6-pawn, but might be
trapped later.} 15. Qg4 e4 {Taking away the important f3-square from White.}
16. Bb5 {Presumably White doesn't want to lose time dropping back the bishop,
but it also exhanges his good bishop for my bad one.} Bc6 17. Bxc6 Qxc6 18. h4
$2 {We both agreed afterwards that this was the critical mistake.} Qe6 $6 (
18... h6 $1 {I considered this for a while.} 19. h5 $1 {Obviously the only
practical try.} hxg5 20. hxg6 Nxf6 21. Qxg5 Bg7 22. gxf7+ Kxf7 $19 {This line
is in fact just winning for Black, and objectively I should have gone for it.
In the game though, I was under a lot of pressure and went for the "safer"
option.}) 19. Qf4 Bd6 20. Qf2 Qg4 {Black threatens a queen trap with Bg3.} 21.
Rae1 c4 $6 {My idea here was to go into an endgame where I have an advantage
due to my better minors and space advantage. However, there is an even better
option.} (21... Bg3 $1 22. Qe2 {with the idea that Black's queen is en prise.}
Qe6 23. Rb1 h6 $1 24. Bxh6 Nxf6 $19 {and White is losing across the board.})
22. Qe2 Qxe2 23. Rxe2 Bg3 {Stopping any counterplay with g4.} 24. h5 $5 {
White needs to try something. If he waits one more move, Black plays h5
himself.} Nf8 $6 {This isn't necessary at all.} (24... gxh5 $4 25. Rf5 $1 $14)
25. Bf4 Bxf4 $6 {Trading bishops for no good reason.} (25... Bh4 {I was
worried about my bishop getting trapped here, but White doesn't have anything,
since Black always captures f6 in time with Re6 and/or Nd7.}) 26. Rxf4 {
So now I've managed to really ruin things. I now try to desperately capture f6
before White gets g4-g5.} Re6 27. Nf1 {The start of the wrong plan, in my
opinion, although this isn't a mistake.} (27. g4 {was the move I was worried
about.} h6 {I realized this doesn't work due to} 28. hxg6 fxg6 29. Rh2 $1 Kh7
30. g5 h5 {and Black doesn't have anything.}) 27... Nd7 28. Ref2 Rc8 29. hxg6
fxg6 30. Nh2 $2 (30. g4 {is the only saving move now.} h6 31. g5 $1 hxg5 32.
Rg4 Rf8 33. Rxg5 Rexf6 34. Rxf6 Nxf6 35. Rxg6+ Kf7 {This is a good position
for sure, but with correct play White should definitely draw this.}) 30... Rf8
31. Ng4 h5 {and suddenly the f-pawn becomes undefendable.} 32. f7+ Kg7 33. Nh2
$2 {Missing the last chance for a draw. In fairness, my opponent was probably
demoralized and tired from hours of playing this exhausting game.} (33. Ne5
Nxe5 34. dxe5 Rxe5 $15 {I saw this in the game, and I realized it's
surprisingly difficult to convert the advantage here, due to the weak d5-pawn.}
) 33... Rf6 34. Rxf6 Nxf6 35. b3 Rxf7 36. bxc4 dxc4 37. Rb2 Nd5 38. Nf1 Nxc3
39. Rc2 Nd5 {and at this point he realized Rxc4 fails to Rxf1+ and Nxe3+, so
he duly resigned.()} 0-1

[Event "Washington Class Championships"]
[Site "Bellevue, WA"]
[Date "2021.11.28"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Li, Emma"]
[Black "Razmov, Gabriel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1689"]
[BlackElo "1609"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Razmov"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2021.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,100,25,16,38,42,68,54,56,68,47,55,71,65,65,51,57,32,77,50,84,65,45,41,
51,54,43,34,36,0,21,-105,-105,-85,-99,-120,-111,-125,-122,-113,-109,-299,-86,
-96,-92,-83,-112,-109,-112,-114,-120,-135,-115,-110,-109,-118,-100,-111,-111,
-109,-109,-109,-128,-128,-100,-105,-127,-142,-151,-203,-151,-179,-198,-206,
-209,-215,-256,-310,-330,-326,-333,-411,-430,-458,-476,-986,-1543,-1383,-1471,
-28439,-29970,-29971,-29974,-29975,-29978,-29979,-29980,-29981,-29982,-29983,
-29984,-29997,-29992] This game was played in Round 5 of the WA Class
Championships in the Class B section. My opponent was rated ~100 points higher
than me. I felt this game was critical, so I went for what I consider a
no-risk, solid opening as Black.} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 {This is
the main line of the Scandinavian, called Mieses-Kotrč. It is a line in which
Black often equalizes relatively simply, with good play to follow.} 4. Nf3 Nf6
5. Bc4 Bf5 6. O-O e6 7. d4 c6 {The moves up to this point can transpose in
many different ways.} 8. Re1 ({One trap that White needs to be aware of in
this opening line is that if} 8. a3 Nbd7 9. b4 $4 Bxb4 {, taking advantage of
the pin. Obviously, White should not play like this when their dark squared
Bishop is still on c1 and the Rook is on a1.}) 8... Be7 9. Bf4 Qd8 $6 {I felt
that the queen was no longer as useful on a5, so I brought it back to base
camp to ensure that my pieces are protected while I develop. This is one thing
that draws people away from the Scandinavian - it involves moving Black's
Queen 3 or 4 times, seemingly uselessly. However, this Qd8-d5-a5-d8 maneuver
offers some challenges for White (e.g., it temporarily pins the White knight
when developed to c3), and it is instrumental in leaving enough space for
Black to develop before the Queen comes back to safety in Black's camp.} (9...
Nbd7 {is another natural way to continue development quickly, though it allows
White a more long-term pressure via the dark-squared bishop.}) 10. Qd2 O-O 11.
Bd3 $6 {Usually White aims to exchange Black's bishop for the knight, not the
light-squared bishop.} (11. Nh4) 11... Bg6 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Ng5 $6 {
Over-ambitious. There are sacrificial tricks White can play around the
potential weakness of the e6-pawn (I once fell into such a trap); however,
here this idea does not work, as the game shows.} Nbd7 14. Qe2 Nb6 15. Nxe6 $2
{Did White blunder the rook defense 16...Rf7 a couple of moves down the line?}
fxe6 16. Qxe6+ Rf7 {∓} (16... Kh7 $6 17. Qxe7 Qxe7 18. Rxe7 Nbd5 19. Nxd5
Nxd5 20. Bg5 Nxe7 21. Bxe7 {⩱ Although Black still comes out better, White
would have two pawns for the exchange and some practical drawing chances.}) 17.
Ne4 Nxe4 18. Rxe4 Nd5 (18... Qd5 {looks simpler and compelling.}) 19. Be5 Nf6
20. Rae1 $2 {A material blunder or a sign of desperation?} Qd5 $2 ({I have no
idea why I didn't simply take the offered rook.} 20... Nxe4 21. Rxe4 Qd5 {
and the game would be over already.}) 21. Bxf6 Qxe6 22. Rxe6 Bxf6 23. c3 Kf8 {
I intended to trade a set of Rooks in order to make this endgame simpler to
win, because rooks could create extra counter-chances and complications.} 24.
g3 Re7 25. f4 Rae8 26. Rxe7 Bxe7 $6 (26... Rxe7 {either captures control over
the e-file or trades rooks and thus makes it simpler for Black to win the
endgame.}) 27. Re5 Bf6 {I realized that rooks did indeed create complications,
so I admitted my previous mistake and offered the trade again.} 28. Rxe8+ Kxe8
{This position should be technically winning, but Black needs to be careful,
especially not to allow too many pawns to be exchanged.} 29. h4 Ke7 30. Kf2 Ke6
31. Ke3 Kd5 32. Kd3 c5 33. dxc5 Kxc5 34. Ke4 Kc4 35. Ke3 b5 {Black's plan is
to advance on the queenside and thus either win some White pawns there or gain
access to the vital d4-square, which would allow an invasion on one of the
flanks, e.g., via Bf6-d4-f2, attacking the White kingside pawns with a bishop
while the Black king attacks the queen-side pawns.} 36. Kd2 a5 37. b3+ $6 {
Already a weakening that White cannot reve} Kd5 38. Kd3 a4 {White is
practically in zugzwang.} 39. bxa4 bxa4 40. c4+ Kc5 {Another zugzwang wins a
pawn.} 41. g4 Bxh4 42. f5 gxf5 43. gxf5 Bf6 {And another zugzwang wins another
pawn. The game is practically over.} 44. Ke4 Kxc4 45. Ke3 Kc3 46. Ke4 Kb2 47.
Kd3 Kxa2 48. Kc2 a3 49. Kc1 Kb3 50. Kb1 a2+ {White resigned. Overall, I felt I
played well, though the game was colored by the early \"blunder\" piece
sacrifice by White.} 0-1

[Event "Washington Class Championships"]
[Site "Bellevue, WA"]
[Date "2021.11.28"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Haining, Kyle"]
[Black "Jiang, Brandon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2288"]
[BlackElo "2088"]
[Annotator "Kyle Haining"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2021.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,93,23,-35,61,45,63,8,39,19,20,7,23,7,15,8,12,-8,18,-54,27,-10,41,6,67,
60,73,70,69,29,29,42,49,49,59,65,51,44,72,78,95,92,96,90,90,65,88,62,61,62,58,
30,43,3,3,-2,14,9,9,0,-11,-33,30,40,43,53,52,42,66,53,79,53,90,103,151,141,141,
141,141,141,141,142,136,146,146,146,143,104,172,143,172,164,164,111,111,152]
For the last round, I was paired against Brandon Jiang, who was having a great
tournament and had already won his section. I played him before as white,
where he went for a sharp line. Not wanting to go for that, I spent awhile on
my first move and decided to play my black opening as white} 1. g3 f5 2. Bg2
Nf6 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 e5 5. d3 Be7 6. Rb1 a5 7. a3 O-O 8. b4 Nc6 $6 {It is
better for Black to trade pawns on b4. As you'll see from the game, neither of
us really understood this. Also, in this kind of structure Black is better off
playing c6 and developing the knight to d7.} (8... axb4 9. axb4 {gives Black
the a-file for his rook}) 9. e3 $6 (9. b5 {not allowing the trade on b4 is
better} Nd4 10. e3 Ne6 11. Nge2 $14) 9... Qe8 10. Nge2 {again, 9... axb4 and
10. b5 would have been better moves} Qh5 11. Qc2 Kh8 12. b5 Nb8 13. Nd5 Bd8 14.
c5 $6 {I thought this was a good move, weakening Black's pawn structure, but
this turns out not to be the case} Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Nd7 $6 ({A problem with 14.
c5 is that} 15... dxc5 16. Qxc5 Nd7 {and the natural looking} 17. Qc2 {can be
met by} f4 $1 18. exf4 exf4 $15 {exposes an attack on the d5 bishop}) 16. c6
bxc6 17. Bxc6 Ra7 18. d4 Be7 19. Bb2 Nb8 {A good practical decision by my
opponent, offering a pawn in exchange for the bishop pair} 20. Bg2 {I decline}
(20. dxe5 Nxc6 21. Qxc6 {is still good for White, but is risky, letting Black
have the h1-a8 diagonal} (21. bxc6 $2 Ba6 {White has lost most of his
advantage here, according to the computer. White has serious problems with his
light squares. This is one of the cases where you should decide you're not
paid enough to take the extra pawn.})) 20... e4 21. Nf4 Qf7 22. h4 d5 23. h5 {
threatening Ng6+ with a discovery on the h-file if Black takes} Kg8 24. Bf1 {
threatening Nxd5, and Black can't play Qxd5 due to Bc4} Be6 25. Bc1 Rc8 26. Qd2
$6 {I was scared of a break on the c-file, but turns out it doesn't work} (26.
Be2 c5 27. dxc5 Bxc5 28. Qd2 {and Black does not have much. A sample line is}
d4 29. exd4 Rd7 30. Bb2 Rcd8 31. Nxe6 Qxe6 32. Qc2 Bb6 33. Bc4 {+-}) 26... Nd7
27. Be2 Bd6 28. Kf1 $6 Nb6 $6 ({Here and in later moves, Black should take the
knight. According to the computer, I should have traded on e6 the previous
move. This is not at all intuitive to me. Why should I exchange my knight for
the "bad" light-square bishop rather than the "good" dark-square bishop?
Apparently the answer has to do with the weakness of the g-file.} 28... Bxf4
29. gxf4 h6 $1 {and Black has a plan of Kh7, Rg8, and g5.}) 29. Bb2 Bd7 30. Kg2
Qe8 31. Bc3 Rca8 32. Qa2 Qf7 33. a4 Rf8 {White has a good position, but how to
improve? I came up with a plan of Bc3-b2-a3 to trade dark square bishops. That
way, c7 is weakened and I can also post a rook on c5. To protect a4 while my
bishop is on a3, also planned Bd1, which has the nice benefit of allowing Bb3,
putting more pressure on d5.} 34. Bd1 Bc8 35. Bb2 Bb7 36. Ba3 Qe7 37. Bxd6 Qxd6
38. Bb3 Rd8 39. Rbc1 Ba8 40. Rc5 Kh8 41. Rhc1 Kg8 {My plan worked quite nicely.
Now, all my pieces are active, while Black doesn't have good plans. This is
the kind of position you're happy to be playing in person, where others can
see your board :)} 42. Qc2 {I played Rxd5 later. Not sure when exactly I
spotted it, but was being a bit lazy. Why am I going down material when I have
such a huge position? I was hoping to find an easier way to win.} Rd7 43. Qd1
Qf6 44. Qe2 Kf7 45. Qa2 Qd8 {Eventually I decide this is the easier win} 46.
Rxd5 Nxd5 47. Rc5 {Res.} ({White crashes through. Black has no way to guard d5.
An example line is} 47. Rc5 Kg8 48. Nxd5 Bxd5 49. Bxd5+ Kh8 50. Bc6 {and White
is about to regain material with a great position after taking the f5 pawn.
Black's a7 rook, meanwhile, is trapped by the bishop.}) 1-0

[Event "Washington Winter Classic"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.26"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shahinyan, David"]
[Black "Aleksandrov, Aleksej"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "2570"]
[BlackElo "2708"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[%evp 0,110,19,38,25,16,14,22,8,-17,-16,12,15,15,16,12,23,-41,5,-23,4,9,3,18,
-7,18,16,16,10,11,39,30,30,29,23,25,34,36,30,40,55,55,118,120,100,102,120,122,
117,123,126,120,126,122,120,69,81,84,85,86,99,100,123,111,122,89,118,110,139,
90,188,194,194,194,232,191,166,166,203,204,214,106,108,155,155,171,148,130,181,
161,120,62,54,3,3,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,3,3,5,5,5,5,5,5,5]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.
Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. Bd2 $5 (8. exd5 cxd5
9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 c6 11. Qf3 {has been played hundreds of times (at least),
with an equal position.}) 8... O-O 9. O-O Bg4 (9... Bxc3 10. Bxc3 dxe4 (10...
Nxe4 11. Bxe4 dxe4 12. Qe2 Bf5 ({Similarly} 12... Re8 13. Qe3 {, when White
has full compensation for the pawn through active pieces and pressure against
the many pawn weaknesses—though it is hard to see this leading to a serious
advantage.}) 13. Qe3 {is essentially equal.}) 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Bxe4 {and an
eternal optimist might be able to claim a microscopic advantage for White.})
10. f3 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxb4 Qd4+ 13. Kh1 Qxb4 14. Bxe4 Be6 15. b3 Rad8
16. Qe1 $1 Qxe1 (16... Rd2 $4 17. Rf2 Rfd8 18. Bd3 $18) 17. Rfxe1 $14 {Now
White has a distinct structural edge in the endgame.} Rd6 ({Possibly} 17... c5
{, intending ...c4, keeps the troubles to a minimum.}) 18. Kg1 Rfd8 19. Re3 $1
Bd5 (19... c5 20. Rc3 c4 $5 $14) 20. Rae1 Kf8 $6 (20... g6 21. Kf2 Kf8 22. Rc3
$16) 21. Bxh7 $1 {Black probably assumed this to be impossible, but White sees
the tactical overload of the f7-pawn.} g6 22. c4 Kg7 ({If} 22... Be6 23. Bxg6
$18) 23. Bxg6 Kxg6 24. cxd5 cxd5 25. Rc1 d4 26. Re7 $6 ({Blockade!} 26. Rd3
R8d7 27. Kf2 {followed by a slow mobilization of the white pawns. Black is
helpless.^^Not that White's choice actually throws away the game or anything...
}) 26... Ra6 (26... d3 $5) 27. Rc2 (27. Rcxc7 Rxa2 (27... d3 28. Red7 Rd6 29.
Rxd6+ Rxd6 30. Rc1 $18) 28. Rxf7 $18 {Sure, White seems to be able to counter
Black's scary ideas, but this requires accurate calculation.}) 27... d3 28. Rd2
Rc6 29. Kf2 f5 30. f4 Kf6 31. Re1 (31. Re5 $5 {keeps the option of Ra5 at some
point.}) 31... Rc3 32. h3 Rd4 33. Kf3 a5 34. g4 a4 (34... Rc2 $5 35. Rxc2 (35.
Red1 Rxd2 36. Rxd2 a4 $5) 35... dxc2 36. g5+ Kf7 37. Rc1 Rd2 $14) 35. g5+ $1
Kf7 36. Re5 axb3 37. axb3 ({Why not the intermediate} 37. Rxf5+ $1 {, I wonder?
}) 37... Kg6 38. h4 Rc2 39. Rxc2 dxc2 40. Rc5 $4 ({Here, or on the last move,
the key to winning is to prevent Black's counterplay involving ...Kh5-g4. It's
actually a basic principle to push the king back with tempo, so it didn't need
a great deal of analysis. Time must have been a factor.^^Gotta finish off
these 2700 players when you have the chance.} 40. Re6+ $1 Kf7 (40... Kh5 $4 41.
Rh6#) 41. Rc6 Rd3+ 42. Ke2 Rh3 (42... Rxb3 43. h5 $1) 43. b4 $1 Rxh4 44. Ke3
Rh3+ 45. Kd4 Rb3 46. Ke5 Rxb4 47. Kxf5 $18) 40... Rd3+ 41. Ke2 Rxb3 42. Rxc2 (
42. Kd2) ({and} 42. Rxc7 {are other attempts. Black should be able to hold.})
42... Kh5 $1 43. Rc5 Kg4 44. g6 Rb8 45. Rxc7 Rg8 46. g7 Kxf4 47. Rf7 Kg4 48.
Ke3 Kh5 49. Kf4 Kg6 50. Rxf5 Rxg7 51. Ra5 Rf7+ 52. Kg4 Kg7 53. Kg5 Rb7 54. h5
Kh7 55. Re5 Ra7 1/2-1/2

[Event "NW Chess Winter Open"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.11"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Razmov, Gabriel"]
[Black "Cheng, Edward"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E67"]
[WhiteElo "1605"]
[BlackElo "1738"]
[Annotator "Gabriel Razmov"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2021.12.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[TimeControl "1800+5"]

{[%evp 0,117,25,27,29,-11,44,33,40,35,33,16,26,-29,-12,-28,0,-7,0,-14,-4,-7,35,
8,157,139,158,150,135,113,118,145,253,139,123,152,257,285,346,346,628,577,516,
688,688,667,672,679,870,862,868,868,941,941,941,555,555,550,608,761,868,866,
858,1343,1800,1859,1893,1466,1480,1520,1530,1340,1390,1401,1505,1475,1450,1536,
1558,1437,1563,1392,1637,2391,2825,2927,2516,1524,1825,1311,2433,1657,2088,
2239,2751,29980,29981,29982,29983,29984,29985,29982,29985,29988,29989,29992,
29993,29992,29993,29992,29993,29994,29995,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,
-30000] This game was played in the last round of the NW Chess Winter Open. I
had 2.5/4 with two wins against lower-rated opposition and a draw with a
2000-rated player, and here I was playing a well-known opponent ~130 points
higher than my rating. I prepared a quiet line against his expected KID,
mostly because I was not as familiar with the mainlines. I practiced and
looked it up over and over until I was sure I could play it with eyes closed.} 
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. g3 {A relatively quiet line, where
typical KID moves like ...f7-f5 don't work so well. This also helps White
worry less, if at all, about a king-side attack by Black.} (5. e4 d6 6. h3 e5
7. d5 {is another, well-known, line.}) 5... d6 6. e4 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg2 Na6 9.
O-O Nc5 10. Re1 {Not the most common move, but playable still. My pre-game
preparation ended about here, and I started wondering what I'm in for - what
he might play and what I might respond with.} Nh5 $6 {Signals an intent by
Black to play ...f5, but I already knew that ...f5 was not as good for Black
in such positions. I decided to simply prevent it.} 11. Be3 (11. Bg5 {is
another possibility, where} Qe8 12. Qd2 Bd7 {might follow.}) 11... f5 $2 {
This is simply not a correct idea for the variation we're playing. Black will
not get the attack they expect, and on top of that White will win material. My
response might have been unexpected because it isn't as typical of KID play
for White.} 12. Bxc5 dxc5 (12... fxe4 13. Nxe4 dxc5 14. Nxc5 {still wins a
pawn.}) 13. exf5 e4 $6 ({I honestly expected} 13... Bxf5 {, when} 14. Nxe5 {
and I am only up a pawn, as opposed to the two extra pawns I get in the game.})
14. Nxe4 {Around here I realized he didn't have much indeed, so my confidence
level rose.} (14. Nh4 {is apparently just as good, because the f-pawn is
immune:} Bxf5 $2 (14... gxf5 $4 15. Qxh5) 15. Nxf5 Bxc3 (15... Rxf5 $6 {and now
} 16. Nxe4 (16. g4 $2 Nf4 $3 {What a surprise that would be - Black's rook is
now immune, since after} 17. gxf5 $4 Qg5 {Black suddenly wins!})) 16. Nh6+ Kg7
17. bxc3 Kxh6 18. Rxe4 {+-}) 14... Bxf5 15. Nxc5 $1 {A nice exchange sacrifice,
which to my surprise he didn't accept.} b6 $6 (15... Bxb2 {I intended} 16. Ne6
Bxe6 17. Rb1 {±}) 16. Na4 $6 {I intended to defend the b2-pawn and return to
c3, but apparently I went astray here due to a miscalculation.} (16. Ne6 {
and White initiates more beneficial trades.} Bxe6 17. dxe6) 16... Qf6 {Now,
White must pay attention to the threat of ...Bg4.} (16... Bg4 {immediately may
be better, although after} 17. h3 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Qf6 19. Kg2 {Still, I can't
say that this is much easier to play compared to the game.}) 17. Qd2 Bg4 $6 {
Not nearly as effective due to...} 18. Ne5 {Simple and strong.} Bc8 19. d6 {
Now White wins material due to tactics.} Ra7 $6 (19... Rb8 $2 20. dxc7) (19...
Ra6 $2 20. d7) (19... cxd6 {could be played, though after} 20. Bxa8 dxe5 {
White is still easily winning.}) 20. Nc6 {The rest was easy to convert.} Ra6
21. Ne7+ Kh8 22. Nxc8 Rxc8 23. Bb7 Raa8 24. Bxc8 Rxc8 25. d7 Rd8 26. Re8+ Bf8
27. Rxd8 Qxd8 28. Re1 Ng7 29. Qd4 Kg8 30. Qd5+ Kh8 31. Qf7 h5 32. Re8 {The
game is practically over.} Nxe8 33. dxe8=R Qxe8 34. Qxe8 Kg7 35. Nc3 Bd6 36.
Nd5 h4 37. Qd7+ Kh6 38. gxh4 Be5 39. f4 Bxb2 40. Qg4 c6 41. Ne7 Kg7 42. Qxg6+
Kf8 43. Nf5 b5 44. cxb5 cxb5 45. Qh7 Bf6 46. Nd6 Bd4+ 47. Kg2 Bg7 48. Qg6 Ke7
49. Qxg7+ Kxd6 50. Qe5+ Kc6 51. f5 b4 52. f6 b3 53. axb3 a4 54. bxa4 Kb6 55. f7
Kc6 56. f8=R Kd7 57. Rf6 Kd8 58. Rf7 Kc8 59. Qh8# 1-0

[Event "Year-End Scholastic Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wang, Ted"]
[Black "Razmov, Gabriel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1731"]
[BlackElo "1647"]
[Annotator "Ted Wang"]
[PlyCount "35"]

{[%evp 0,35,20,18,40,48,71,71,61,61,60,49,78,56,56,27,34,28,28,28,235,235,235,
186,282,286,322,289,333,354,336,273,372,302,411,428,884,883]} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5
Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Bc4 Bf5 {This is Scandinavian Defense}
7. Ne5 {The intention of this move is to attack f7 and support the g4 move
next. This sets up double threats.} e6 {This is a great move to defend the
attack to f7.} 8. g4 {White focuses on the other attack to the bishop at f5.}
Bg6 9. h4 {White continues to put pressure on the bishop after its retreat to
g6.} h6 {This is a natural move to protect the bishop at g6, but allows White
to destroy Black’s pawn structure.} 10. Nxg6 fxg6 11. Qe2 {This is an
inaccuracy, Qd3 is the best move because it attacks the g6 pawn.} Be7 {This
move protects the check against the king.} 12. Bd2 {White could have taken the
pawn at e6, but this move allows White to castle, opening up the space for the
rook to enter the game with an open file for later attack.} Qd8 13. Qxe6 Qd7
14. Qf7+ Kd8 15. O-O-O Qxg4 16. Rhe1 {Rook is in position to attack the e7
bishop.} Qd7 17. Qxg7 Qe8 18. Rxe7 {White is up by a minor piece and in good
attack position.} 1-0

[Event "51st Continental Open"]
[Site "Sturbridge, MA"]
[Date "2021.08.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Amar, Benjamin"]
[Black "Seshadri, Sridhar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D08"]
[WhiteElo "2002"]
[BlackElo "1600"]
[Annotator "Ralph Dubisch"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,44,34,32,30,-12,22,22,22,22,52,55,55,34,58,39,45,9,83,94,82,59,72,22,
72,80,80,80,191,-207,-224,-224,-243,-226,-226,-766,-723,-720,-762,-743,-765,
-961,-993,-2122,-2455,-29983,-1336]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 c5 (
4... Nc6) 5. e3 Nc6 6. Be2 (6. exd4) 6... Bf5 7. Qa4 (7. Bd3 $5) 7... d3 8. Bd1
Qd7 9. Nc3 Nge7 10. b3 $2 (10. O-O $16) 10... Ng6 11. Bb2 d2+ 12. Nxd2 Ngxe5
13. Be2 Bd3 $4 (13... Nd3+ 14. Bxd3 Qxd3 15. Rd1 O-O-O 16. Nd5 Bd6 $13) 14.
O-O-O $4 (14. Nf3 Bxe2 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxd7+ Nxd7 17. Kxe2 $16 {White is
essentially winning with an extra pawn and more active pieces.}) 14... Bxe2 15.
Nxe2 Nd3+ 16. Kb1 Nxf2 17. Rhf1 Nxd1 18. Rxd1 Qd3+ 19. Kc1 Qxe2 20. Qb5 O-O-O
21. Bxg7 Bxg7 22. Qxc5 Bc3 $19 ({Or} 22... Qd3 {, which leaves White with only
delaying moves (such as the obviously hopeless Qf5+ or Qd4) against the threat
of ...Qc3+ and ...Qb2#.} 23. Qa3 Qc3+ 24. Kb1 Nb4 {and mate next.}) 0-1

