[Event "2022 Washington Open, Open Section"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Dann, William"]
[Black "Scholz, Fritz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1400"]
[BlackElo "2000"]
[Annotator "William Dann"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,73,25,16,58,64,59,45,65,29,24,-13,-14,-9,2,-11,39,23,23,21,132,137,
129,155,140,145,156,162,171,166,197,207,226,225,246,222,236,231,216,238,229,
201,209,202,204,188,203,183,176,112,201,240,247,252,252,80,344,380,456,365,547,
192,268,261,448,253,270,176,233,252,260,209,273,267,409,410] This game has
some significance to me - it was both my first time playing in the top section
of a tournament and my first time playing a player rated over 2000. I very
much wanted to win this game to prove to myself that the open section of the
tournament is where I belong as a player.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4.
Bxc6 bxc6 5. f4 Bg7 6. d3 d6 7. Nf3 e6 {The idea of playing this way is to
play Ne7 and control the f5 square. When I was researching my opponent on
Opening Tree (https://www.openingtree.com/) I saw that my opponent played
right into this ~160 or so times online and played nothing else. Josh and a
few other early arrivers at the tournament could see me frantically studying
this line in a book a few hours before the game. There is a really interesting
idea after Ne7 that I knew existed but I had never played.} 8. O-O Ne7 9. e5 $1
{This is the idea. White plays simply for control of the c5 square. This works
even better in this line because the e7 knight is not on a good circuit.} Nd5
$2 {I did not expect this move. My opponent commented after the game about the
speed at which I had blitzed out the opening - I suspect maybe this took him
by surprise and played a part in this mistake.} (9... d5 10. Na4 c4 11. Be3 {
This is the kind of position I was expecting to play. I think this is much
preferable to the 9...Ne5 line.}) 10. Ne4 dxe5 11. fxe5 O-O 12. Nxc5 Ne7 13. d4
h6 14. c4 Qc7 15. Qe1 Rd8 16. g4 $5 {No f5 square for you!} Qb6 {Black has a
sneaky idea with this move, can you spot it?} 17. Na4 (17. Bd2 $2 Rxd4 18. Nxd4
Qxc5 {This is the idea - this is not what white wants.}) 17... Qc7 18. Bd2 {
Notice the threat of a skewer on a5} a5 19. Nc5 Qb6 20. b4 {It was annoying to
play b4 right away because after a5 the Bishop is on c1 and a3 cannot be
played because of the Rook on a1. This way around none of that is an issue.}
axb4 21. Bxb4 Qa7 22. a3 g5 {It was a good thing that I was wearing a mask now
- because the smile on my face was unmistakable! I have a great position
against a strong player, this was my goal going into the game and achieving it
for the first time in my life felt very good. I still need to be careful to
finish the game though - so I had to keep my emotions in check here.} 23. Rd1
Ng6 24. h4 {No f4 square for you either!} gxh4 25. Nxh4 Ba6 26. Nxg6 fxg6 27.
Nxe6 $2 {Stockfish has pointed out to me after the game that Qd7 is very
strong for black. My earlier g4 h4 could come back to bite me now that the
position has opened up! I did not do a very good job of keeping my emotions in
check here, I think! Good thing it went unnoticed by us both.} Rd7 28. Bc5 Qb8
29. Nxg7 Kxg7 (29... Rxg7 30. Rf8+ Qxf8 31. Bxf8 Rxf8) 30. Qe4 Bxc4 31. Rf6 Bf7
32. Qxc6 Qb3 33. Qf3 {No checks allowed.} Bd5 34. Qxb3 Bxb3 35. Rdf1 Re8 36.
Rb6 Be6 37. Rf6 {My opponent resigned here. Winning this game was the
highlight of my tournament and cemented an idea in my mind: I need to keep
playing the difficult opponents in the top sections of tournaments! If I were
to take something away from this game aside from the chess: 1. Taking a
challenge about 110%-120% of your current skill level is the best way to
improve - so play up next time! 2. Opening Tree is a very powerful tool if you
can find your opponent's online accounts.} 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Open Section"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.29"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Velea, Anne-Marie"]
[Black "Gottumukkala, Ananth"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2207"]
[BlackElo "1948"]
[Annotator "Anath Gottumukkala"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,78,23,7,46,53,62,42,69,43,44,51,48,25,25,-9,-4,-15,-19,-16,-16,-26,
-24,-24,-24,-16,-10,-16,-10,-10,-19,-28,-7,-7,0,-53,0,-36,46,46,46,24,5,36,29,
29,87,38,38,-17,-21,0,54,72,85,55,63,68,69,63,123,123,365,320,320,340,342,343,
350,350,350,0,0,0,0,0,0,-389,-406,-29995,-29996] After a shaky first round, I
managed to stabilize and win my next two games without being in much danger.
My confidence was high so I entered round 4 in a very ambitious mood.} 1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {Moscow Variation. White usually plays this to avoid the
sharp theoretical battles in the Open Sicilian.} Nd7 4. d4 {One of White's
ambitious tries alongside 4.0-0 and 4.c3} cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 {
We have reached a very popular tabiya for the Moscow Variation. White has more
space and slight lead in development but Black has the bishop pair.} 7. Bg5 $5
{A rare sideline that lays a positional trap.} (7. c4 {Most common and looks
like a nice Maroczy Bind but Black has many ways to equalize including the
direct} b5 $5) (7. Nc3 e5 8. Qd3 Rc8 9. O-O h6 $13 {is another mainline. Black
stops Bg5 forever and finishes development smoothly.}) 7... h6 $1 {Luckily I
have faced this sideline in a few practice games so I knew how to respond.} (
7... Nf6 $6 {This is what White hopes for} 8. Nc3 {Now it's too late for e7-e5
because White always has Bxf6 and Nd5 later. This is why we insert h6 first.}
e6 {Covering the d5-square} 9. O-O-O Be7 10. e5 $1 {The key move} dxe5 11. Nxe5
$16 {Black loses the bishop pair and probably has his pawn structure ruined})
8. Bh4 Rc8 9. Nc3 e5 $1 {By provoking Nc3 with Rc8, we can liberate our
position with tactics} 10. Qd3 (10. Bxd8 $4 exd4 $19 {White loses a piece})
10... g5 11. Bg3 Nf6 {A lot of high-level games have been played from here.
Black has the bishop pair and potential queenside attack with the open c-file
but White can play for control of the d5-square and sometimes attack our loose
kingside pawns.} 12. O-O-O {My opponent chooses to castle straight into my
attack to finish development before playing Nd2-f1-e3. If 12.Nd2 immediately
then White has to worry about counterplay such as Qb6 and Be6-c4.} Be6 13. Nd2
Qa5 $5 {I chose to stay flexible with b5 but Black has many good choices.} (
13... b5 14. a3 Qb6 {In hindsight I think this plan is even stronger than the
game since b5-b4 is unstoppable on the next move. For example} 15. f3 b4 $5 16.
axb4 Be7 $1 {Now Qxb4 is a threat and we meet Qxa6 with 0-0} 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18.
exd5 Bd7 $15 {Black's attack is faster and he has the bishop pair to boot.})
14. a3 {During the game I thought it was premature to give me this hook but
it's not easy to exploit.} Be7 15. f3 O-O $5 {This isn't terrible but Rfd8/
d6-d5 is stopped by Nf1-e3 so I was better off prioritizing b5-b4 first.} (
15... b5 $1 {All the variations in the game work so much better for me if I
played this first.} 16. Nf1 Bc4 17. Qe3 b4 $15 {White has no time for Be1 like
in the game. I think Black wins most human games very smoothly from here.}) 16.
Nf1 b5 17. Be1 $1 {By exploiting the tempo I wasted on 0-0, White holds
everything together.} Bc4 18. Qe3 (18. Nd5 {I don't think my opponent was
interested in a draw.} Bxd3 19. Nxe7+ Kh7 20. Bxa5 Rxc2+ 21. Kb1 Rd2+ $11)
18... Bxf1 $6 {A terrible and antipositional move based on some calculation
errors} (18... b4 $5 {This was my original intention} 19. axb4 Qa1+ 20. Kd2
Qxb2 21. Rb1 {I didn't visualize this correctly and thought my queen was
trapped} Qa3 22. Nd5 Qxe3+ 23. Nfxe3 Nxd5 24. Nxd5 Bd8 $13) (18... Qc7 $1 {
I briefly considered this but didn't find it ambitious enough. We remove the
queen from the Be1's gaze and d6-d5 is coming next move since Ne3 is now
impossible} 19. Ng3 d5 $1 20. exd5 Bc5 {The bishops come alive and I prefer
Black}) 19. Rxf1 b4 20. axb4 Qxb4 {I was not happy about trading my bishop but
the upside is that Nd5 is impossible with the Qe3 now undefended. I was still
optimistic about my position with Rb8 coming until my opponent played her next
move.} 21. Qa7 $1 {Suddenly I'm in trouble. Now Nd5 is a threat, my Be7 is
hanging, and so is my a6-pawn.} Rfe8 $1 {This deals with the first 2 threats.}
22. Qxa6 $1 {This looks greedy but there is no way to exploit the open a-file.
If I'm not careful, White will even force a queen trade.} (22. Nd5 $4 Qa4 23.
Nxe7+ Rxe7 $19) 22... Qc5 $1 {The best chance, keeping queens on} (22... Rb8 $4
23. Na4 $18) (22... Ra8 23. Qb5 {Forces a queen trade}) 23. Qd3 (23. Bf2 $1 {
The only way to fight for an advantage} Qc7 24. h4 $14 {Stockfish gives White
an edge but this looks perfectly playable for Black}) 23... Rb8 $1 24. Nd5 Nxd5
25. Qxd5 {At this point we were both below 10 minutes so mistakes start piling
up.} Qb6 $6 (25... Qe3+ $1 26. Bd2 (26. Qd2 $2 Qb6 $19) 26... Qa7 27. Bc3 g4 $1
$13 {Black has at least a draw with Bg5 coming}) 26. Bc3 Rec8 27. g3 (27. Kd2
$1 {Very hard to play during time trouble} Rc5 28. Qd3 Rd8 29. Ke2 $1 $16)
27... Qe3+ 28. Qd2 Qa7 29. Qd3 d5 $5 {I was starting to get pessimistic about
my position for whatever reason} (29... Bd8 $44 {After Ba5 we trade off the
valuable Bc3 defender and have a good attack on the open files}) 30. exd5 $1 (
30. Qxd5 $4 Rxc3 $19) 30... f6 $4 {I started overthinking here and before I
knew it I went from about 3 minutes on the clock to 3 seconds! I played this
on reflex to avoid losing on time and the next second I realized to my horror
what I had done. White has about a dozen ways to win and I only have 3 seconds
for the remaining 10 moves until move 40 while my opponent still had a few
minutes. To say I was doomed would be an understatement.} (30... Bb4 $1 {
This was the obvious follow-up but I must have mistakenly been worried about
Bxe5 during the time trouble} 31. Bxb4 (31. Bxe5 $4 Qa1#) 31... Rxb4 $44 {
With bishops traded, this looks very scary for White in time trouble}) 31. Qg6+
{There are about 100 things wrong with 30. ..f6 but maybe the one good thing
is that it tempted my opponent to move her queen away from the defense of her
king.} Kf8 32. Qxh6+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Kf8 34. d6 Bd8 35. d7 $4 {Almost any move
wins for White but to my shock, I was allowed to play the one trick left in
the position.} Rxc3 $1 {I had no time to fully calculate this but I knew this
was my only chance} 36. bxc3 {My opponent hesitated to capture my rook so I
knew she realized something went wrong} Qe3+ {White should have brought her
queen back or played Re1 to stop my queen's invasion.} 37. Rd2 Ra8 {All of a
sudden things are very scary for White!} 38. Qe8+ $4 {Now we were both down to
seconds so nerves definitely played a role. Unfortunately this check costs
White the game since there is no more perpetual check.} (38. Kb2 Qb6+ 39. Kc1
Ra1#) (38. Qh6+ $11 {Probably White should bail out with perpetual check})
38... Kg7 39. Rfd1 Qxc3 {After a very topsy-turvy game I somehow survived the
time trouble with an unstoppable mate to follow so my opponent promptly
stopped the clock. This was definitely my toughest game and the only game in
the tournament where I was sure that I would lose after my horrendous move 30.
I think I had good chances to take over the initiative early on but after
missing them, Anne-Marie defended really well to get winning chances of her
own.} 0-1

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Open Section"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gottumukkala, Ananth"]
[Black "Jiang, Brandon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "1948"]
[BlackElo "2134"]
[Annotator "Anath Gottumukkala"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,91,27,43,11,21,22,18,14,-6,85,85,94,104,112,111,104,111,123,81,125,95,
110,75,146,109,97,102,117,89,130,103,103,50,124,95,111,82,104,73,108,44,74,85,
105,103,103,70,49,41,41,41,45,41,41,39,38,31,30,30,21,-44,-29,1,25,25,13,-20,
72,-99,-51,5,0,12,21,32,73,51,72,88,60,-44,-50,-29,-64,-1,-33,0,120,129,533,
594,888,462] After getting through the rollercoaser of round 4, I had nothing
to lose and realized I had chances to win the event if I kept playing
ambitiously.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Bb6 {Having seen some of
Brandon's games beforehand, I noticed that he plays very principled e4
openings as White but very dubious openings as Black like the Dutch and this
strange sideline.} 5. d4 Qe7 6. d5 Nd8 {Apparently this is the most popular
move but it makes no sense to me since the knight is very miserable and hard
to activate. I had no prior knowledge of this position but it's also very easy
to play with the superior pieces.} 7. O-O d6 8. a4 a6 9. Nbd2 g6 10. Bd3 $1 {
Discouraging f5 and preparing Nc4} Ba7 11. Nc4 Nf6 12. Bg5 {Provoking h6 will
discourage 0-0 and weaken the g6-square if Black ever plays f5.} h6 13. Be3 {
I wanted to neutralize the Ba7 to kill Black's attack before it starts.} (13.
Bc1 $1 {In hindsight it's even better to kill Black's attack without trading
pieces since I have the space advantage. For example} Nh5 14. b4 Qf6 15. g3 $1
Bg4 16. Kg2 $16 {Black has no counterplay and terrible coordination so White
should win pretty easily even after a queen trade.}) 13... Nh5 14. Re1 {
I just improve my pieces while I'm waiting to see what plan my opponent
commits to} (14. Bxa7 $1 {This is more direct and convincing} Rxa7 15. a5 O-O
16. g3 Ng7 17. Nh4 $16 {A typical plan to stop f7-f5, especially in King's
Indian structures. Black's position looks hopeless}) 14... f6 $2 {Brandon said
afterwards that he wanted to get Nf7 quickly but I think he needed to be more
patient.} 15. Nh4 Qh7 16. Qf3 $2 {I rushed this decision and kept playing
good-looking moves when direct action was called for the past few moves. This
does not even discourage Nf7 since the f6-pawn cannot be easily targeted.} (16.
Bxa7 $1 Rxa7 17. g3 $1 Nf7 18. f4 Ng7 19. f5 $18 {Black is suffocated and
White can slowly open the queenside to win.}) 16... Ke7 $2 {I don't understand
this at all} (16... Bxe3 17. fxe3 $14 {Another idea behind Qf3 is to form a
battery with Rf1 here}) (16... Nf7 17. g3 $14 {Black is still suffering but
some of the advantage has slipped}) 17. b4 {With Black no longer castling, it
makes sense to open lines on the queenside to attack it.} Bd7 18. Na5 $5 {
I want to play b5 without letting Black take twice on b5 but it's a little
slow.} (18. b5 $1 {This was my initial intent} Bxe3 19. fxe3 axb5 20. axb5 Rxa1
21. Rxa1 Bxb5 22. Qg4 $1 {I totally missed this from afar} (22. Nxe5 fxe5 23.
Bxb5 $16 {I saw this position and thought I could get more by avoiding trades.}
) 22... Rg8 (22... Bd7 23. Nxg6+ $18) 23. Qc8 Ke8 24. Nxd6+ cxd6 25. Bxb5+ $18)
18... Ng7 19. b5 (19. c4 $1 {A much simpler way to win. c4-c5 is unstoppable
and now it's impossible for Black to close the queenside.} b6 20. Nb3 $18)
19... Bxe3 20. fxe3 b6 21. Nc6+ Bxc6 22. bxc6 g5 $1 {My opponent found the
best chance to survive. By this point I was furiously trying to sacrifice a
piece with Rf1 or Qh3 to avoid closing the kingside.} 23. Nf5+ $2 {I was
running out of time on the clock and resigned myself to the game being drawn
but apparently I still had a few winning continuations.} (23. Qh3 gxh4 24. Qd7+
Kf8 25. Qxc7 Ne8 26. Qxb6 $44 {White has strong pawns but I'm not sure if I
have any advantage}) (23. a5 $5 {I never considered this plan} gxh4 (23... b5
24. Rf1 $18 (24. Nf5+ $18 {Now this works since we can open the queenside with
c4 at any time})) 24. axb6 cxb6 25. Rxa6 Rxa6 26. Bxa6 Nf7 27. Ra1 Ra8 (27...
Ng5 28. Qg4 f5 29. Qxh4 $18) 28. c7 Ng5 29. Qg4 Qxe4 30. Qxe4 Nxe4 31. c4 $18)
(23. Rf1 $1 {I should have made this work} gxh4 24. Qxf6+ Ke8 25. Rf3 {I
either missed or underestimated the plan of doubling rooks because now it's
obvious that White is winning} Nh5 26. Qxh4 Qg6 {Hoping for Rf8 or Nf7 but
it's too late} 27. Raf1 $18 {Qh3 will be crushing. With the Nd8 and Ra8
completely paralyzed, it's irrelevant that we are a piece down. Black can
resign.}) 23... Nxf5 24. exf5 a5 $1 {After missing many winning lines, the
position is suddenly very closed and drawish.} 25. Qh5 Qf7 26. Qf3 h5 27. e4
Qg7 28. Rab1 Nf7 29. Qe2 g4 30. Ba6 $5 {I probably should have forced a draw
before the game got out of control but I kept playing ambitiously.} (30. Qe3 $1
$11 {This pretty much kills the game. Black can only make progress with Qg5 or
Qh6 and after trading queens, a draw is inevitable.}) 30... Ng5 31. Bb7 Rag8
32. Kh1 {Avoiding Nf3+} Qf8 {I think my opponent started getting worried about
Qa6 and brought back the queen for defense just in case.} (32... g3 $1 {
This would put me under serious pressure} 33. c4 $1 (33. h3 $4 {There's a
decent chance I could blunder this since we were both in time trouble} Nxh3 34.
gxh3 g2+ 35. Kg1 Qg3 36. Qe3 Qh4 $19 {Rg3 is unstoppable and White collapses})
33... gxh2 (33... Nf7 34. h3 $13) 34. c5 $1 bxc5 35. Ba6 $13 {Rb7 is coming})
33. Qa6 {In hindsight this is a waste of time} (33. c4 $1 {I should have
started the attack immediately} h4 {Black had to retreat with Nf7 which is
almost impossible to play in severe time trouble} 34. c5 h3 35. g3 {White
crashes through much more quickly than in the game} Qd8 36. cxb6 cxb6 37. Qa6
Nf3 38. Rec1 $18) 33... h4 34. c4 {This is very ugly and slow compared to 33.
c4 and my queen is cut off from defending the king.} Qd8 (34... g3 $5 {This
creates a crazy mess} 35. h3 Nxh3 36. gxh3 g2+ 37. Kg1 Rg3 38. Qa7 Rxh3 39. Ba6
Qd8 40. Rxb6 Rg8 41. Kf2 $13) 35. c5 $1 h3 36. g3 dxc5 $1 {My opponent found a
brilliant defensive resource} 37. d6+ Qxd6 $1 38. Rbd1 Rd8 $1 39. Rxd6 Rxd6 {
To my shock, even though Black only has a rook for queen, he will form a
deadly mating net in 2 moves. Unfortunately I had barely any time to make this
critical 40th move.} 40. Bc8 $4 {The classic move 40 blunder. This prepares
Qb7 or Qa7 and if Black ever tries Rhd8, then Bd7 jams the d-file. It sounds
good conceptually but there is a concrete refutation} (40. Qa7 $1 {The only
defense. It's better to send the bishop to a6 where it defends my kingside} Nf3
41. Ba6 $1 Rc8 42. Qb7 $1 Rd2 (42... Nxe1 43. Qxc8 $18) (42... Rdd8 43. Rf1 $18
) 43. Be2 $1 Rxe2 $1 (43... Nxe1 44. Qxc8 $18) 44. Rxe2 Rd8 $11) 40... Nf3 (
40... Rd2 $1 41. Rf1 {Stopping Nf3} c4 $1 42. Kg1 c3 $19 {The pawn will
promote after we are forced to give the Rf1 for the black knight.}) 41. Rf1 Rd2
$4 {The final mistake} (41... b5 $1 {The key winning move, once again cutting
off our queen from communicating with the kingside.} 42. Qxb5 (42. axb5 Rd2 43.
Rxf3 Rd1+ {Unlike the game, our queen doesn't guard f1 anymore.} 44. Rf1 Rxf1#)
42... Rxc8 43. Rxf3 Rb8 $1 44. Rf1 Rxb5 45. axb5 Rd4 $19 {The rook ending is
hopeless}) 42. Rxf3 gxf3 (42... Rd1+ 43. Rf1 $18) 43. Kg1 {Now my king is out
of the mating net and during the game I was sure that I'm winning again.} Rg2+
44. Kf1 Rxh2 45. Qc4 $1 {My opponent probably assumed I would invade with Qb7
and missed this entry point.} Rh6 {A decent practical try, stopping Qxf6 and
dreaming of promoting the h-pawn.} (45... Rxc8 46. Qe6+ Kd8 47. Qd7#) 46. Qg8
$1 {By far the simplest. I thought for about 7-10 minutes and was relieved to
finally find this. In most variations I wanted Qe6+ first but in this special
case I have a quicker invasion. Shortly after seeing this move, my opponent
resigned.} (46. Qe6+ {I was unable to find a forced win here} Kf8 47. Ba6 $1 {
A very strong computer move. The obvious point is preparing a battery with Bc4
in some lines. However there is a deeper point. When Black plays h2 and Rf1+
to quickly promote, we can now play Bxf1 so the promotion doesn't come with
check! For example:} Rh1+ 48. Kf2 h2 {Rf1+ is a threat} 49. Qc8+ $1 (49. Bc4 $2
Rf1+ 50. Ke3 Re1+ 51. Kd2 Rd1+ $11 {Unfortunately the Bc4 jams our escape
route!}) 49... Kg7 50. Qxc7+ Kf8 51. Qd8+ Kg7 52. Qe7+ Kh8 53. c7 Rf1+ 54. Bxf1
$1 h1=Q 55. c8=Q#) (46. Qg8 c4 $1 {My opponent could have forced me to find
one more good move. Black tries to run his king to c5.} (46... Rh1+ 47. Kf2 h2
48. Qg7+ Kd6 49. Qd7#) 47. Bd7 $1 {The cleanest win} Rh1+ 48. Kf2 h2 49. Qe8+
Kd6 50. Qf8#) 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Open Section"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.29"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Whale, Nicholas"]
[Black "Wang, Felicity"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A42"]
[WhiteElo "2036"]
[BlackElo "1755"]
[Annotator "Nicholas Whale"]
[PlyCount "167"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,167,32,32,74,37,37,37,32,30,48,23,37,20,17,-3,-12,11,13,-3,0,4,24,16,
25,29,47,40,46,43,68,61,61,35,38,38,37,13,28,11,17,22,52,-2,-1,-5,-4,-31,-20,
-26,17,17,26,10,25,11,10,2,53,27,25,23,57,72,57,66,51,48,51,37,33,34,106,118,
144,164,152,130,154,116,138,117,117,95,213,52,105,94,87,41,99,64,75,71,141,144,
144,119,120,113,152,156,185,159,197,156,195,180,198,203,286,187,220,220,206,
171,221,194,193,222,323,202,176,172,251,95,101,101,101,92,87,80,70,77,72,71,
134,14,151,156,151,165,184,176,228,231,231,46,28,168,24,49,169,171,171,171,192,
240,256,254,219,58,26,16,354,401,483,972,982,1002] This game was certainly the
most exciting one that I played this year. Felicity gets a lot for resisting
very stubbornly in a very tough situation for a long time. I get credit for
taking a great position with a large time advantage and transforming it into...
not a smooth victory, but the madness that was the final 20 moves or so.} 1. d4
g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 Nd7 5. Be3 (5. Nf3 {is of course the main line,
but I didn't feel like playing it.}) 5... e5 6. d5 Ne7 7. Qd2 (7. g4 $5 {
simply directly playing against Black's... f5 is interesting too.}) 7... O-O 8.
f3 f5 9. O-O-O f4 10. Bf2 {As usual, Stockfish is not a fan of the King's
Indian-esque setup for Black. Proving this means anything in the real world is
a different matter, though.} Nf6 11. Bd3 $6 ({Here Stockfish really likes} 11.
g4 $1 {and if} fxg3 $2 12. hxg3 {I can attack down the h-file, one of the
points of castling queenside. If she doesn't take, I gain valuable kingside
space and can switch plans to squeezing her to death. But I chose to not rock
the boat like this.}) 11... Bd7 12. Nge2 Nh5 $6 {I didn't really understand
this move.} 13. Kb1 a6 (13... b6 {to slow down my c5 break is worth
considering too.}) 14. c5 Nc8 $1 {A clever defensive move.} (14... dxc5 $2 15.
Bxc5 {is awful for Black, and on other moves I can simply keep building up
behind my c5-pawn.}) 15. Bc4 Kh8 ({A careless move like} 15... Nf6 $4 {loses to
} 16. c6 $1) 16. Rc1 dxc5 17. Bxc5 Nd6 18. Bb3 b6 {Now I had a surprisingly
hard choice to make about what to do with my bishop, and chose wrongly.} 19.
Ba3 $6 ({The subtle} 19. Bb4 $1 {is better, trying to provoke} a5 20. Bxd6 $1
cxd6 {in much more favorable circumstances than the game.}) 19... Qb8 ({
The oddball} 19... Rf6 {is what Stockfish likes.}) 20. Nd1 $6 {I realized my
pieces are just not working well together, but this maneuver is too slow to
fix the problem.} Re8 21. Bxd6 {Otherwise the knight is free and can do some
damage.} cxd6 22. Nf2 a5 $1 {Suddenly I'm the one being attacked.} 23. a4 b5 $1
24. Nc3 bxa4 $6 (24... b4 $1 25. Ne2 Nf6 {would be a role reversal from about
10 moves ago- Black is the one able to slowly improve her position while I
have to sit and wait.}) 25. Bxa4 Bxa4 26. Nxa4 {The Black light-squared bishop
is always very dangerous in KID-type positions, so now I could breathe a
little easier.} Qb5 27. Nc3 ({Apparently stronger is} 27. Qc2 $1 {, a move I
never considered.}) 27... Qb7 (27... Qd7 $1 {to cover the d-pawn. It's always
the little details...}) 28. Na2 {Trying to double up my rooks.} Nf6 29. Rc6 $1
{And now we see why 27...Qd7 was better.} Bf8 ({A cool but very difficult to
find idea is} 29... Nd7 $1 30. Nd3 $1 ({I would surely have played} 30. Rxd6 $6
{which is met by a knight's tour:} Nc5 $1 31. Rc6 Nb3 $1 32. Qc3 Nd4 {and
Black gets a lot of very tricky counterplay. Of course this whole concept is
not at all easy for a human to appreciate several moves back.}) 30... Bf8 {
when Black is worse but the game goes on.}) 30. Rhc1 Red8 (30... Rec8 $2 31.
Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rxc8 Qxc8 33. Qxa5 {wins me a pawn.}) 31. Rc7 Qb8 32. Qc3 Ne8 33.
Rc6 Qb7 34. Rc2 Rdb8 35. Nd3 Be7 $4 {An unfortunate move, forgetting about my
threat for a moment.} (35... Bg7 {is much tougher to break down.}) 36. Nxf4 Bd8
37. Ne6 Kg8 {Now obviously my position is very close to winning. But the
problem is that there are so many moves and plans to choose from, and instead
of being patient and calculating the best one, I wanted to get finish the game
and get out of there as soon as possible. In a few moves, this comes back to
bite me.} 38. g4 $6 (38. Qe3 {followed by bringing my wayward a2-knight back
into action was the calmer and better approach.}) 38... Qd7 39. g5 Bb6 40. f4
$6 {Another very impulsive move, even though the computer doesn't hate this.} (
40. h4 {would have been very helpful a few moves later.}) 40... exf4 41. Qf3 $2
{Another quickly made, and mistaken, move.} ({I didn't want to trade queens
after} 41. Nxf4 Qg4 42. Qg3 Qxg3 43. hxg3 {but this endgame is much better for
White.}) 41... Ng7 $2 {This should have lost on the spot, but I started
tilting.} 42. Nxf4 $2 ({I calculated} 42. Rc7 $1 Bxc7 43. Rxc7 Rxb2+ $5 44.
Kxb2 Qb5+ {but for some reason, here I only saw} 45. Ka1 $4 ({Literally any
other reasonable move wins, with the coolest looking being} 45. Ka3 $1) 45...
Rb8 {when Black is winning.}) 42... Bd4 {Even though I'm still objectively
better, Black evidently has some hopes now, and I burned through nearly all of
my time advantage in the next few moves.} 43. R6c4 ({At least I managed to
avoid losing instantly myself with} 43. Rc7 $4 Rxb2+) 43... Bb6 44. Qh3 $2 {
When things start to go south, simplifying is very tempting but often very
wrong.} (44. Qg3 {or}) (44. h4 {are far better.}) 44... Qe7 $2 {So hard to
choose...} (44... Qxh3 $1 45. Nxh3 Rf8 $1 {and both my knights on the rim are
very grim. Stockfish thinks Black has enough counterplay for the missing pawn.}
) 45. Qg4 Rf8 46. h4 Qe5 $6 {This looks good but after} 47. Nd3 $1 {she has to
beat a hasty retreat and I thought the situation was looking good again.} Qe7
48. Rc8 {Not the best, but as I said, simplifying is easy.} Raxc8 49. Rxc8 Bd8
50. Nc3 {Finally back from the queenside vacation.} Qf7 {Black's position is
passive but not so easy to break down, and both of us were getting into time
pressure, so I shuffled a bit.} 51. Qh3 (51. Ra8 {threatening Qc8 to
infiltrate, but it never occurred to me.}) 51... Qe7 (51... Qb7 {prevents the
Ra8 move.}) 52. Qg4 Qf7 53. Kc2 Qe7 54. Nb5 Kh8 55. Nd4 {Nc6 would be nasty
for Black.} Bb6 {Now it should be winning for me again.} ({The tricky computer
defense is} 55... Qb7 $1 56. Nc6 Nf5 $3) 56. Rxf8+ Qxf8 57. Nc6 Nh5 58. Qd7 $6
(58. Qe6 {gains a tempo on the game.}) 58... Ng3 59. Qe6 Nf1 60. Ne7 Ne3+ 61.
Kb3 Bc7 {The critical moment. I have a lot of good looking moves but only one
way to crash through. Despite still having six minutes left, I couldn't work
it out and instead made an objectively drawing ( $1) move.} 62. Qf6+ $4 ({
The winning move is} 62. Nf4 $3 {which I rejected because I couldn't see
anything after} Kg7 {However, the silent but deadly} 63. Qd7 $3 {forces mate:}
Qxf4 64. Nf5+ Kf8 65. Qe7+ Kg8 66. Qg7#) 62... Qxf6 63. gxf6 Ng4 $1 {Uh-oh.
The rest of the game was played in full time scramble mode; I think we had
maybe two or three minutes left each. I tried reconstructing it after the game,
but I'm not sure if what follows is accurate. In any case, there's not much
positive that can be said for our play, so I'll just defer to the computer
moves.} 64. Nf4 Nxf6 65. Ne6 Bb6 (65... Bb8 $4 66. Nc6) 66. Nc8 Bf2 67. Nxd6
Bxh4 68. Nc5 Be1 $2 (68... h5 $1) 69. Kc4 Ng4 70. Nd3 Bg3 71. Nb7 $2 (71. e5 $1
) 71... Ne5+ $2 (71... h5) 72. Nxe5 Bxe5 73. b3 $4 (73. d6 $1 h5 74. d7 Bf6 75.
e5 $1 Be7 76. d8=Q+ $1 Bxd8 77. Nxd8 h4 78. e6 Kg7 79. e7) 73... h5 74. Kd3 $4
(74. d6 $1 Bxd6 75. Nxd6 Kg7 76. e5 $1) 74... h4 75. Ke2 g5 76. d6 g4 $4 (76...
h3 77. d7 Bc7) 77. d7 Bc7 78. d8=Q+ Bxd8 79. Nxd8 Kg7 80. Nb7 $4 (80. Nc6 $1
Kf6 81. Nd4 $1 Ke5 82. Ke3 $1 h3 83. Ne2 h2 84. Ng3) 80... Kf6 81. Nxa5 Ke5 $4
(81... h3 $1) 82. Ke3 $1 h3 83. Nc4+ Ke6 84. Kf2 {At the end, we both had
about 20 seconds left. What a hard game this is sometimes.} 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Open Section"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Lee, WIM Megan"]
[Black "Razmov, Valentin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2350"]
[BlackElo "1828"]
[Annotator "Valentin Razmov"]
[PlyCount "183"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]
[TimeControl "40/120:0"]

{[%evp 0,183,18,11,22,14,14,25,25,3,9,12,23,0,6,8,16,-20,-13,-24,55,67,60,11,
58,-11,5,-10,-10,-14,-5,-6,0,22,8,14,7,-29,-17,-6,-8,2,14,-4,13,3,30,39,33,39,
40,68,65,8,51,36,27,-10,-30,-23,78,84,73,83,75,8,32,-8,66,70,116,142,141,100,
100,105,92,71,71,71,116,107,113,87,113,54,68,48,50,43,133,23,16,30,59,38,103,
94,93,97,99,104,110,112,105,88,94,57,57,66,175,183,183,175,184,185,193,138,132,
134,158,143,376,145,158,158,165,166,157,166,157,149,192,193,249,208,203,180,
174,133,154,133,133,6,133,131,133,146,124,124,124,125,120,120,143,124,124,124,
120,130,143,143,143,143,125,116,125,82,122,127,127,123,123,123,1012,1032,1460,
1462,29973,29974,29979,29980,29981,29982,29987,29988] This was a game of
Goliath vs David: White was the current WA State Champion, rated over 500
points higher. Black, however, had resolved to give it all and derive the most
learning benefit from the experience. It worked. The game's annotations
capture some of those lessons worth keeping - for both sides! See a summary of
the lessons at the very end.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O
Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. a4 $5 {Up to here, it is a main line of
Ruy Lopez, and now White picks a rare yet decent line, likely intending to
avoid much theory.} Rb8 $6 {Theoretically speaking, this is not the best
option, but it is not a mistake either. At this point, Black's decisions
revolve around what to do with the b5-pawn, how to improve the position of Nc6,
and how/where to develop the light-squared bishop, and above all how not to
make concessions. As it turned out, the move in the game apparently surprised
White, so it had the effect of both players no longer playing from memory.
Reasonable alternatives include: 9...b4, 9...Bb7, 9...Bd7, and 9...Na5.} 10.
axb5 axb5 11. h3 (11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 d5 13. e5 Ne4 14. Nc3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bf5
{is another alternative. In many Ruy Lopez variations, as in this game too,
White delays pushing d4, seeking a better moment for that central thrust.})
11... h6 12. Bd5 $6 {A rushed move. Black has several decent responses, all
with little risk. Perhaps White was hoping for a quick win resulting from poor
play or blunders, given the huge rating difference. This was not about to
happen.} (12. d4 {is a common and far better move instead:} exd4 (12... Rb6 $6
{is not so good here, unlike in the game itself, due to} 13. Bd2 exd4 14. cxd4
d5 15. e5 Ne4 16. Ra8 {⩲}) 13. cxd4 d5 14. e5 (14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nc3 Be6)
14... Ne4) 12... Rb6 $5 {An interesting move that attracted me because it
solves several of Black's challenges: defending Nc6, making room for that
knight to improve (Nc6-Nb8-Nd7), creating the possibility for counterplay
along the a-file (via Ra6), and expelling (or exchanging) the white Bd5. Plus,
there's the psychological effect of refusing to concede any ground to White,
instead putting counterpressure.} (12... Bb7 {would be a fine and expected
alternative, e.g.,} 13. d4 (13. d3 Qd7 14. Qb3 Bc8) 13... exd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd5
15. Nxc6 Bxc6 16. exd5 Bd7 {and Black is quite well.}) 13. Bxc6 $6 {A somewhat
unexpected decision, but perhaps White didn't like admitting the earlier
mistake by returning Bd5-Bb3.} (13. Na3 {would have been a reasonable
alternative, e.g.,} Nxd5 14. exd5 Nb8 15. d4 {putting some pressure on Black's
center: what to do with the e5-pawn.} Nd7 16. dxe5 dxe5 {and now another
potential benefit of that earlier ...Rb6 is revealed:} 17. Nxe5 $6 Nxe5 18.
Rxe5 Rg6 {- a rook lift straight into White's king-side as compensation for
the sacrificed pawn.}) 13... Rxc6 14. d4 Nd7 $6 {The desire was to keep the
e5-pawn solid, but the cost of doing it this way was a concession to White.} (
14... Bb7 {would be a good developing move, which also offers to exchange the
e-pawns, if White is too eager to capture twice on e5:} 15. d5 (15. Nbd2 Re8)
15... Ra6) 15. Qe2 Ra6 $1 {An intermediate move with the idea to improve the
black rook's placement while also gaining a tempo to defend the b5-pawn.} 16.
Na3 c6 17. Bd2 Bb7 (17... Qc7 {looks worthwhile too, with the goal of adding
pressure along the a-file via Qc7-Qa7.}) 18. Rad1 (18. c4 $5 {creates
complications, which can fit certain game situations and playing styles but
maybe it was not to White's taste and strategy for this game, e.g.,} exd4 19.
Nxd4 (19. cxb5 d3 $5 20. Qxd3 Nc5 21. Qb1 cxb5 22. b4 Nxe4 23. Rxe4 Bxe4 24.
Qxe4 Bf6 25. Ra2 Qa8 {=}) 19... b4 {and the b-pawn is immune due to the threat
of c6-c5.}) 18... Qb8 {A move that did not feel quite right even during the
game, but I didn't see a better alternative. Black's goal was to remove the
queen from potential discovered attacks along the d-file, while also
reinforcing e5 and making room for the rook on f8.} (18... Re8 {is a normal
move, activating the rook while remaining prepared to move the black queen.})
19. dxe5 $6 {Rushing a bit once again. Such simplifications often favor Black.}
(19. c4 $5 {was once again a sharp option, requiring utmost precision from
both sides, e.g.,} Ra4 20. Nc2 (20. cxb5 exd4 21. Bxh6 $1 {- only move! -} gxh6
22. Nxd4 Rxd4 23. Rxd4 Ne5 {with a dynamic balance}) 20... c5 (20... Rxc4 $4 {
would give White a huge initiative and attack after} 21. Ne3 Ra4 22. Nf5 Re8
23. Bxh6 {etc.}) 21. dxe5 Rxc4 22. exd6 Bxd6 23. Bc3 Rxe4 24. Qxb5 Rxe1+ 25.
Ncxe1 Bxf3 26. Qxb8 Bxb8 27. Nxf3 Nb6 {with a slightly better endgame for
White.}) 19... Nxe5 20. Nd4 Re8 21. Nf5 Bf8 22. Bf4 Bc8 {Aiming to remove the
intruder on f5 soon, while also creating room along the 7th rank for the
transfer of heavy pieces. By this point, the black Ra6 was seeking a better
future.} 23. Nc2 Bxf5 {If this exchange isn't done quickly, White will bring
the other knight to f5 (via Nc2-Ne3-Nf5).} (23... c5 {looks scary for Black,
even if objectively okay according to the engines:} 24. Nce3 Nc4 25. Qg4 (25.
Nxc4 $6 Bxf5) 25... Nxe3 26. Rxe3 Re6) 24. exf5 Ra8 25. Nd4 Qb7 26. b3 $6 {
Commentators often call such moves \"too soft\". It is not clear that the
c4-square is a high priority for White at this point.} (26. Bg3 {preserves the
bishop and better chances for White}) 26... Ng6 $1 27. Be3 Ne5 (27... Nf4 $6 {
is an alternative I decided against as it doesn't gain much but invites
White's queen to improve its position with tempo.} 28. Qf3 Nd5 29. Nxc6 Qxc6
30. Rxd5 Qxc3 31. Rb1 {⩲}) 28. Qd2 $6 (28. f6 $5 g6 29. Bf4) 28... c5 {⩱}
29. Ne2 Qc8 $2 {For a moment missing White's threat. (I noticed f5-f6 but only
after I had made my move.) At this point, White had 18 minutes left compared
to Black's 3 minutes for the remaining 11 moves till the time control.} (29...
Nd7 30. Nf4 Re5 {and Black stands better.}) 30. f6 $1 Qe6 $1 {Precision is now
required.} 31. fxg7 Bxg7 32. Nf4 $6 {Going to where?} (32. Qxd6 Qxb3 33. Bxc5 {
looks attractive instead.}) 32... Qxb3 33. Rb1 Qc4 34. Qxd6 Rac8 ({It was also
possible to trade c-pawns} 34... Qxc3 35. Qxc5 Qxc5 36. Bxc5 Rab8 {but I
intuitively wanted to preserve my queen-side pawn majority as a potential
source of counterplay.}) 35. Nd5 $6 {White likely wanted to use the time
factor (Black had under 2 minutes for the remaining 5 moves), so opted for a
move that creates some complications but also takes risk. Generally, it is not
a good idea to play quickly purely because the opponent is low on time, yet so
many players do so and many come to regret the consequences. Here too, White's
chosen move is a mistake, shedding all of their advantage and giving Black
counterplay. Even though the play requires some precision, it is not an
impossible task even in low time due to the forcing and concrete moves.} (35.
Red1) 35... Rcd8 {Simple and strong. White must now play precisely themselves
or risk even losing!} (35... Re6 {was apparently even stronger for Black,
according to the engines, but seeing the nuanced difference with the game
continuation is not easy:} 36. Ne7+ Kh7 37. Nxc8 Rxd6 38. Nxd6 Qxc3 39. Nxb5
Qc2 40. Rec1 Qa2 {=}) 36. Nf6+ $1 {An only move, on which White spent 5 of
their remaining 12 minutes.} (36. Ne7+ $4 {loses instead after} Kh7 37. Qxc5
Qxc5 38. Bxc5 Nd3 {-+}) 36... Kh8 37. Nxe8 (37. Qb6 Rb8 38. Qd6 Rbd8 {brings
nothing more than a repetition of moves}) 37... Rxd6 38. Nxd6 Qxc3 39. Nxb5 {
A complex endgame has emerged, where White's goal is to win the passed c-pawn
and then to mobilize its rooks to overpower Black's queen, if possible by
capturing the f7-pawn too. If successful, this would win for White. Black's
goal is to not give ground and use their active queen and two light pieces to
tie up White's pieces (some of which are also loose). Objectively, there is a
state of dynamic equilibrium on the board, and in the next 50 moves the
players manage to a considerable degree and with few exceptions to demonstrate
this balance despite the complexity of choices ahead.} Qc4 $2 {Correct idea,
but an incorrect choice of which white piece to latch onto.} (39... Qc2 {
does not allow White the pawn winning combination, which they missed on the
next move:} 40. Rbc1 Qb3 41. Rxc5 Nd3 42. Nd4 Qa4 43. Rc8+ (43. Nf3 Nxc5 44.
Bxc5 Bc3) 43... Kh7 44. Nf3 Nxe1 45. Nxe1) 40. Rec1 $2 {Although White had 6
minutes left for 1 move till the time control, this move was rushed, perhaps
on the hopes that Black might make an error with only 20 seconds left for
their remaining move 40.} (40. Bxh6 Bxh6 41. Rxe5 {simply wins a pawn for
White.}) 40... Qa2 {Precise and on time.} 41. Nc3 Qa3 $6 {Defends the c-pawn,
but leaves White with a more flexible hand on how to continue.} (41... Qc4 {
would instead deny any useful squares to the white knight.} 42. Nd1 Qa2 43. Rb2
(43. Rb8+ Kh7 44. Rxc5 (44. Bxc5 $4 Nd3) 44... Nd3 45. Rf5 Qc2 46. Rxf7 Qxd1+
47. Kh2 Ne5) 43... Nf3+ 44. gxf3 Bxb2 45. Nxb2 Qxb2 46. Rxc5 {=}) 42. Rb8+ Kh7
43. Nb1 $6 {Attempting to connect and solidify the loose White pieces, but
unsuccessfully.} (43. Ne4 c4 44. Rb6 {⩲}) 43... Qa7 $6 (43... Qa2 {would
once again be stronger for Black.}) 44. Rb3 Qa4 45. Ra3 (45. Nd2 $5 {poses
bigger challenges before Black:} c4 $1 {- the only good response -} 46. Rbc3
Qd7 47. R1c2 Qd5 48. Nxc4 Nd3 49. Nb6 (49. Rb3 $4 Ne1) 49... Qb5) 45... Qb5 46.
Nd2 c4 47. Kh1 $1 {A good practical decision - moving away from discovered
checks, while making a move that forces Black to evaluate a lot of options
with relatively little time on the clock. White had 7 minute left and Black
had 5 for the remainder of the game.} f5 $2 {While considering my options I
felt that Black had to put pressure on White's position, but this move
contains a serious weakness - exposing the 7th rank to the power of White's
rooks.} (47... Bf8 {was instead a normal, activating move without
uncontrollable consequences, preserving the dynamic balance status quo:} 48.
Rac3 Bb4 49. R3c2 Nd3) 48. f4 $2 {White didn't find the strongest continuation:
placing rooks on the 7th rank.} (48. Ra7 $1 Qd5 49. Rb1 f4 $5 {\"muddying\"
the waters...} 50. Rbb7 $1 {±} ({if} 50. Bxf4 $6 c3 $1 51. Nf1 (51. Rbb7 $6
cxd2 52. Rxg7+ Kh8 53. Rh7+ Kg8 54. Rag7+ Kf8 55. Bxd2 Qxd2 {=}) 51... Nc6 52.
Rc7 Nd8 53. Be3 Qd6 54. Ra7 c2 55. Rc1 Nc6 56. Ra6 Qg6 57. Rb6 $1 Qe4 {±}))
48... Qb2 $1 {Possibly the intermediate move that White missed...} 49. Rac3 Nd3
$1 {Finally forcing much needed simplifications into an easier drawn ending.
White has no choice but to go along.} 50. Nxc4 Qxc3 51. Rxc3 Bxc3 52. Nd6 Kg6 {
Objectively, this endgame should be a draw, despite the extra pawn for White,
given the overall balance of forces, the active black pieces, and all pieces
being concentrated on one flank.} 53. g4 fxg4 54. hxg4 Bg7 $6 {Unnecessarily
passive. The motivation was to add extra protection to the h6-pawn and thus
free up Black's king, while still keeping the bishop along the main diagonal.
But Black's king doesn't actually gain additional freedom in reality, and the
bishop becomes more constrained on g7. Instead, Black has a brilliant way to
force a draw here. Can you find it?} (54... Nxf4 $1 {The idea is that if White
runs out of pawns and Black still has one piece (knight or bishop) on the
board, it's a simple theoretical draw. Or if Black manages to exchange one of
White's pieces and eliminate the pawns, it's a draw too.} 55. Bxf4 h5 56. g5 {
In the 2 minutes I spent contemplating move 54, I did consider the line up to
here, but didn't foresee the following game-saving continuation:} Ba5 $1 ({not
} 56... Bb4 $2 57. Nc8 {guarding the e7 square}) 57. Kg2 Bc7 (57... Bd8 58. Ne4
Kf5 59. Kf3 Be7 $3 {Zugzwang in a very unusual context - the side with more
pieces is in zugzwang! White has to give up their only pawn or repeat moves,
in both cases leading to an instant draw.})) 55. f5+ Kh7 56. Kg2 Ne5 57. Kg3
Nd7 $6 {The knight aims to create a blockade on f6 and e5 - which eventually
works out. But more powerful in this moment is to stop the White king even
earlier (e.g., if the black knight arrives on d5), while also putting pressure
on the f5-pawn (from e7). Hence the alternative maneuver Ne5-Nc6-Ne7.} (57...
Nc6 $1 58. Nf7 (58. Ne4 Ne7) 58... Ne7 59. Bd2 {and here once again Black can
force a draw in composition style:} h5 $1 60. Bg5 Bf8 61. Bxe7 Bxe7 62. g5 (62.
gxh5 Kg7 63. Ne5 Bd6 {=}) 62... Kg7 63. g6 Kf6 $1 {- only move! -} (63... Bf6
$2 {loses after} 64. Kf4 Kg8 65. Ng5 Kg7 66. Ne4 Be7 (66... Bb2 67. Kg5 {+-})
67. Ke5 h4 68. Kf4) 64. Ng5 $5 (64. Kf4 Bb4 {=}) 64... Bd6+ 65. Kh4 Be5 $1 {
- only move, covering the main diagonal -} 66. Nf7 Bd4 67. Nh6 Bc5 68. Kxh5 (
68. Nf7 Bf8) 68... Bf8 {White is in zugzwang again! A draw follows instantly.})
58. Ne8 $6 (58. Ne4 Ne5 59. Kh4 Nc4 60. Bf2 Be5 61. Kh5 Kg7) 58... Be5+ 59. Bf4
Bc3 $6 (59... Bxf4+ {leads to an easier endgame to defend} 60. Kxf4 Kg8 $1 {=})
60. Kh4 Nf6 $2 {Trading knights can lose due to a subtle zugzwang, while
trading bishops (but preserving the knight(s)) is a relatively easy draw.} (
60... Be5 $1) (60... Nc5 61. Kh5 Ne4) 61. Nd6 $2 {With less than 2 minutes on
the clock, White misses their chance.} (61. Nxf6+ Bxf6+ 62. Kh5 Bg7 63. Be3 Bf8
64. f6 $1 {is the game winning zugzwang.}) 61... Be1+ 62. Kh3 Bc3 63. Nf7 Ng8
64. Nd6 Nf6 65. Kg3 Be1+ $6 (65... Kg7 {is, at least, more useful, bringing
the black king to a more active square.}) 66. Kf3 Bc3 $2 {A second invitation
for White to trade knights, if interested.} (66... Bb4 {maintains the status
quo instead.}) 67. Nf7 $2 {The knight trade offer is again rejected,
incorrectly.} (67. Ne4 $1 {simplifies into a winning bishop endgame due to the
same zugzwang idea.}) 67... Ng8 68. Ke3 Bb2 69. Be5 $1 {Not strictly necessary,
but a good practical decision to change the scene, since White no longer sees
how to make progress with both light pieces on the board, plus the 50-move
rule has been \"ticking\" since move 55.} Bxe5 70. Nxe5 Kg7 {Black's defensive
stance here is easier: keep the White king out of e5 and e6 (e.g., via Nd7),
while regularly attacking the weaker g4-pawn (via Nf6). The complicating
factor is that both sides have less than 1 minute on the clock, so each player
has to consistently make moves within the 10-second delay given per move.} 71.
Kd4 Nf6 72. Ke3 Ne8 73. Kf4 Nf6 74. Nd3 Kf7 75. Nf2 Nd7 76. Ne4 Kg7 77. Ke3 Ne5
78. Nf2 Kf6 79. Kf4 Nd7 80. Ne4+ Kf7 81. Nd6+ Ke7 82. Nc4 Kf6 83. Ne3 Kf7 84.
Nd5 Kg7 85. Ke4 Kf7 86. Kd4 Nf6 $4 {A sudden and critical miscalculation borne
out of the time pressure and the excitement of perhaps ending this arduous
endgame defense by forcing simplifications and a draw.} (86... Kg7 {would
correctly continue the patient defense, while awaiting the moment when White's
king ventures further out or the 50-move limit is reached to claim a draw} 87.
Ne3 (87. Kc4 $2 Ne5+ {=}) 87... Kf6 88. Kd5 Ne5 89. Ke4 Nf7 {=}) 87. Nxf6 $1
Kxf6 88. Ke4 Kg5 89. Ke5 $1 {The winning move for White, which Black missed in
the few seconds of calculating the consequences of move 86.} Kxg4 90. f6 h5 91.
f7 h4 92. f8=Q {and Black resigned. To summarize the lessons: (1) A
higher-rated player isn't necessarily much stronger, and a lower-rated player
isn't to be underestimated. A well played game (even if eventually lost)
builds your confidence and puts you one step closer to attaining a higher
level. You can do it!; (2) Playing quickly in the opponent's time trouble -
when you have enough time yourself - could spell trouble for you in the end.; 
(3) The effect of a surprise can be a powerful tool psychologically, even
against strong opponents. People of all levels tend to err more when put under
pressure.;(4) Be patient, especially when the opponent is provoking you toward
rash actions.; (5) If time permits, seek out zugzwang ideas in an endgame --
they are common in that stage and are very powerful.} 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Reserve"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Ferreira, Rodrigo Roim"]
[Black "Wilbur, Marvin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[BlackElo "1125"]
[Annotator "Rodrigo Roim Ferreira"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,71,18,18,18,18,27,17,23,30,30,12,29,7,20,21,31,26,21,4,-1,-44,-21,-19,
-20,-21,-4,-17,-6,-4,-7,-6,-5,-12,-10,-10,-6,-10,-7,-65,-70,-70,-72,-59,-66,
-106,-58,5,10,23,28,11,12,4,40,5,61,70,125,62,77,68,68,-12,-8,-5,70,73,121,115,
29997,29998,29999,-30000]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nc6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 {White
transposes into a London system where Nc6 prevents the common response c5,
made popular recently by Agadmator in a YouTube video on how to beat the
London.} e6 5. Bd3 Be7 $140 {Black wants to castle short. Bd6 is a common move
leading to the opening of the h file. To avoid that, black plays the passive
Be7.} (5... Bd6 6. Bg3 Bxg3 7. hxg3) 6. O-O O-O 7. Ne5 Nxe5 $140 8. dxe5 $140 {
White damages his structure to align his bishops towards the black King. Ne4
would lead to trades giving up the structural advantage, so Black plays the
passive Nd7, blocking his white square bishop from developing.} Nd7 (8... Ne4
9. Bxe4 dxe4 10. Nc3) 9. Qh5 $140 {Baits the pawn to weaken Black's king.} g6
10. Qe2 Nc5 11. Nd2 $6 {White can play Bg6 to continue their attack, but
prefers to activate their knight and connect rooks.} (11. Bh6 Re8 12. Nd2 Nxd3
13. cxd3) 11... Nxd3 12. cxd3 {Black can now play Kg7 to prevent Bh6, which is
why 11. Bg6 would have been more accurate.} c5 $2 13. d4 $5 {Bh6 is still an
option. White baits 13..cxd4 14.exd4. g5 is a defense, but makes Black's king
look very weak. Other options look very passive.} c4 {Inaccuracy. g5 was best.}
(13... cxd4 14. exd4) (13... g5 14. Bg3 cxd4 15. exd4) 14. Nf3 $6 {Similar to
move 12, Black can now play 14..Kg7, so Bh6 would be more accurate. However,
Black already chose not to play Kg7, and Kg7 wouldn't help with Black's lack
of development.} b5 $2 {White tries to help their white square bishop develop,
but allows Bh6.} 15. Bh6 Re8 16. a3 {White wants to attack King side, but is
afraid of b4 leading to 5 connected pawns, or opening up the queen side.} (16.
g3 b4 17. a3 b3) (16. h3 b4 17. a3 bxa3 18. bxa3) 16... a5 $132 {Black decide
to counter attack queen side, hopefully activating his bishops.} 17. g3 $6 {
Prepares h4, but is a slow move and black can counter attack queen side with
Ba6 and c3.} Bd7 18. h4 b4 19. Kg2 $5 {White wants to open the back rank for
his rooks, but oversees Bb5 x-raying queen and rook which leads to several
tactical ideas, but requires calculation.} bxa3 {Inaccuracy. Bb5 was best.} (
19... Bb5 20. Rh1 c3 {Black can even sacrifice the white square bishop,
locking white's rook in place and threatening a promotion.} 21. Qxb5 cxb2 22.
Ra2 bxa3) 20. bxa3 Rb8 21. Rh1 Rb3 22. h5 $36 {White plays for initiative,
trusting their attack is faster than Black's threats on the queen side.} g5 {
g5 is the best move, but allows for a tactical sequence weakening Black's king,
which requires precise play to defend.} 23. Nxg5 $1 Bxg5 24. Qg4 f6 25. exf6
Qxf6 26. Bxg5 {White doesn't want the endgame after a queen trade, thinking
black can take their king to safety and take advantage of their c pawn.} Qg7 $2
{Black can force a queen trade with Qf5, but doesn't.} (26... Qf5 27. Qf4) 27.
h6 $5 {White attacks the queen and uses the pawn to cut g7 from Black's king.
Black can counter-attack with e5, but White argues that their king safety is
an advantage.} Qg6 $2 {Too slow, allows white to keep the initiative.} (27...
e5 28. Qh4 Qg6) 28. Rh4 Rb2 $5 {Black tries to counter attack by aiming f2.}
29. Bf6 $2 {White is setting up a mating net. Bf6 and Bf4 both look promising,
but Bf6 is much stronger.} (29. Bf4 Qxg4 30. Rxg4+ Kf8 31. Bd6+ Kf7 32. Rg7+
Kf6 33. Be5+ Kf5 34. Kf3) 29... Qxg4 30. Rxg4+ Kf7 31. Rg7+ $6 {White trades
bishops while luring Black's king into a mating net, but now Black can
equalize with their c pawn after 32..Rc8.} Kxf6 32. Rxd7 Kg6 $4 {Afraid of a
promotion, Black decides to deal with the h file instead of equalizing with
counterplay on the c file, which loses the game.} (32... Rc8 33. Rc1 c3) 33.
Rh1 Rh8 {Defends the pawn to free up his King.} 34. Rh4 Ra2 {Mate in 2.} 35.
Rg7+ Kf5 36. Rf4# {1-0 White wins by checkmate.} 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Reserve"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Boulanger, Valentin"]
[Black "Nakura-Fan, Maxwell"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1112"]
[Annotator "Maxwell Nakura-Fan"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,86,18,22,65,65,68,66,69,57,54,17,51,22,48,37,26,29,55,55,55,66,67,68,
70,60,73,51,53,-14,-24,-25,-31,-26,-21,-109,-103,-126,-127,-118,-118,-139,-136,
-176,-100,-101,-83,-112,-81,-88,-70,-85,-85,-74,-71,-76,-85,-110,-84,-141,-103,
-227,-202,-229,-208,-202,-96,-104,-103,-887,-907,-945,-953,-957,-893,-1036,
-1512,-29987,-29988,-29991,-29992,-29993,-29994,-29995,-29996,-29997,-29998,
-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nf3 $6 {not the most
challenging move. g4! would have been theory i knew.} Ne7 $6 {walking right
into a pin, although Qb6 would have been an interesting reply.} (5... c5) 6.
Bg5 $1 a6 {preventing Bb5 and preparing c4-c5, but I'm not so sure it was
necessary.} (6... Qb6 {Question: Is Qb6 a good move? Answer: It is not a good
move due to Na4!} 7. Na4 $1 (7. Be2 Qxb2 8. Rb1 Qxc3+) 7... Qb4+ 8. c3 Qa5 9.
b4 Qc7 {why allow this queenside expansion?}) 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 Qb6 $2 {
not as bad as 6... Nb6 since the white queen is no longer on d1, but still a
waste of a few moves.} (8... Qc7 9. Na4 (9. Bxe7 Bxe7) 9... Nf5 (9... Ng6) 10.
g4) 9. Na4 Qb4+ 10. Nc3 Ng6 11. O-O h6 12. Bd2 Qb6 13. Na4 Qc7 14. Qb3 b5 $1
15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. dxc5 Nd7 17. Be3 Ngxe5 18. Bf4 Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 e5 20. Bg3 O-O (
20... e4 {Question: is e4 a good move? Answer: It's interesting at best, and I
think it might even be slightly dubious because you allow white a good amount
of counterplay.} 21. Qxe4+ $3 {this is an incredible queen sack! I didn't even
notice it comes with check. They don't win back a pawn but black looks
over-extended, and white's rooks are more active} (21. Bxc7 exf3 22. gxf3 Nxc5
23. Bd6 Ne6) 21... dxe4 22. Bxc7 Nxc5 23. Bd6 Ne6 24. Rfe1 f5 25. Rad1 (25. f3
Ng5 26. h4 (26. f4) 26... Nxf3+ 27. gxf3)) (20... Nxc5 $4 21. Bxe5 (21. Qf5 Nd7
22. Rfe1 O-O) 21... Qxe5 (21... Qd7 22. Bxg7 Rg8 23. Rfe1+ Kd8 24. Bf6+ Kc8)
22. Rfe1) 21. b4 Qd8 22. Qf5 Re8 23. Rfe1 e4 24. Bd6 Nf6 25. a4 Qc8 26. Qxc8
Rexc8 (26... Raxc8 27. axb5 axb5 28. Ra6) 27. a5 Re8 28. c3 Re6 29. Bc7 Rae8
30. f4 exf3 31. Rxe6 Rxe6 32. gxf3 Nd7 33. Kf2 Ne5 34. Re1 $4 Nd3+ 35. Kf1
Rxe1+ 36. Kg2 f5 37. c4 dxc4 38. f4 c3 39. h4 c2 40. h5 c1=Q 41. Be5 Qd2+ 42.
Kh3 Rh1+ 43. Kg3 Qf2# 0-1

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Reserve"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Burchall, Laurion"]
[Black "Nakura-Fan, Maxwell"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "1102"]
[Annotator "Maxwell Nakura-Fan"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8.
Qc2 Re8+ 9. Ne2 h5 {I think my prep I remember ended here. Next few things are
still prep though I think?} 10. Be3 Nd7 11. O-O-O Nf8 12. h3 {Question: How
would I have dealt with h4 instead? Answer: h4 is not scary if f3 is played to
support a g4 push, but that hangs the e3 bishop which can be exploited. Rhg1
is a bit more scary as it seems white can sack their rook for the bishop and
open up the g-file. Question: How would I deal with Nf4? Answer:} (12. h4 Be6
13. Rhg1 (13. f3 $4 {e3 hangs so we can win a pawn or two}) (13. g4 Bxg4 14. f3
Bxf3 15. Rhg1 Rxe3) 13... Bg4 (13... Bxa2 $4 14. g4 (14. b3) 14... hxg4 (14...
a5 15. b3) 15. Rxg4 (15. b3 Ba3+ 16. Kd2) 15... Be6 16. Rg2 Bh3 17. Rgg1) (
13... Bh2 14. Rh1 Bd6 15. Rhg1) (13... Qa5) (13... b5 14. g4 Bxg4 15. Rxg4 hxg4
16. Rg1 b4 17. c4) 14. f3 $4 (14. Bd2 Bxe2 15. Bxe2 Rxe2) (14. Bf4 Bxe2 (14...
Bxf4+ 15. Nxf4 Bxd1 16. Qxd1 Qa5 (16... Qd6 17. Nxh5) (16... g6 17. Nxh5 gxh5
18. Qxh5 Qd5 19. Qg4+ Kh8 20. h5 Qg5+ 21. Qxg5 fxg5) 17. g4) 15. Bxd6 Bxd1 16.
Rxd1 Qxd6) (14. Nf4 $4 Bxd1 15. Kxd1) 14... Rxe3 (14... Bxf3 $4 {this is bad
because it opens up the g-file for the rooks and queen. The extra pawn is not
worth it.} 15. gxf3 Rxe3) 15. fxg4 hxg4 16. h5) (12. Nf4 h4 13. g3 (13. g4 g5)
(13. Nh5 Qc7 14. Nxg7 Kxg7) 13... h3) 12... Be6 13. g4 h4 $1 14. Rhg1 g5 $1 {
thought pushing my kingside pawn was brave, but it turned out alright.} 15. Qd2
Be7 16. f4 Bxa2 {Been stubbornly defending, but this seems like the right
moment to take the a2 pawn.} 17. fxg5 fxg5 18. Rdf1 a5 {Rfd1 allows me a
momentary turn to continue my attack before I have to return to defending.} 19.
Rf5 Ne6 20. Rgf1 Rf8 {some more stubborn defending.} 21. Qc2 {threatening to
trap the bishop...} a4 22. Ng1 {Ng1 allows me another opportunity to continue
my attack.} Bb3 (22... a3 23. bxa3 Bxa3+ 24. Kd2 {and my attack disappears?})
23. Qf2 Ng7 {I think Qf2 traps the f5 rook with Ng7, which is also a cheeky
attempt to trick the opponent.. Ng7 simultaneously attacks the rook on f5 and
defends f7 with the bishop on b3.} 24. Rxf7 (24. Rf3 Bd5) (24. Re5 f6 25. Rxe7
Qxe7) 24... Rxf7 25. Qxf7+ Bxf7 {White resigns. Black wins.} 0-1

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Premier"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.30"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Mohan, Aarav Sai Bharathy"]
[Black "Li, Emma"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "1178"]
[BlackElo "1568"]
[Annotator "Aarav Sai Bharathy Mohan"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,79,18,39,11,25,15,7,9,3,61,59,66,73,107,52,39,55,407,394,417,426,455,
479,540,530,517,528,514,522,537,407,427,381,394,371,374,354,370,366,375,331,
332,336,386,394,389,324,331,339,336,350,344,357,384,418,429,423,507,412,464,
436,437,437,435,453,494,435,510,513,538,560,580,456,529,567,568,567,568,597,
597,615]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 d6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ $5 {
My opponent played an inaccuracy move here. The best move is Bd6. After Bb4+,
we get out of the opening (Giuoco Piano Game: Main Line).} 7. Nbd2 $5 {I
played Nbd2, which is an inaccurate move where Nc3 would be better.} Bg4 8. d5
Ne5 $4 {A very quick blunder of a bishop from the opponent.} 9. Qa4+ $1 {
I took advantage of the blunder by playing Qa4+ $1 (a great moveas per
stockfish) that will win the bishop. From this point onwards, I continued to
play with 93\% accuracy trying to capitalize on the bishop that I took.} Qd7
10. Qxb4 Bxf3 11. Qxb7 Rc8 12. Bb5 c6 13. dxc6 Nxc6 14. Qxd7+ Kxd7 15. Bxc6+
Rxc6 16. Nxf3 Nf6 17. e5 Re8 18. Bf4 Ng4 19. O-O Nxe5 20. Nxe5+ dxe5 21. Rfd1+
Kc7 22. Be3 a6 23. Rac1 Rb8 24. b3 Rxc1 25. Rxc1+ Kd6 26. f4 e4 27. Bd4 Rd8 28.
Bxg7 Ke6 29. Be5 Ke7 30. Re1 f5 31. Kf2 Rd2+ 32. Re2 Rd3 33. g3 Ke6 34. Rc2 Kd5
35. Ke2 h5 36. Rd2 Rxd2+ 37. Kxd2 Kc5 38. Bc3 Kd5 39. Ke3 Kc5 {And the way to
close everything up.} 40. a4 {And black resigns} (40. a4 Kc6 41. Kd4 Kd6 42.
Bd2 Ke6 43. Bb4 Kd7 44. Ke5 {[%eval 817,0]}) 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Reserve"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Ferreira, Rodrigo Roim"]
[Black "Smith, Andrew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A38"]
[BlackElo "1233"]
[Annotator "Rodrigo Roim Ferreira"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,67,18,18,40,22,19,14,18,9,9,9,14,0,15,11,7,15,13,-2,19,15,25,13,19,
-11,34,32,37,29,20,40,105,42,37,23,23,2,24,24,27,22,23,30,38,38,34,-3,338,349,
380,386,377,389,538,465,559,482,559,559,573,610,643,527,29995,29986,29995,948,
29999,-30000]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 {Nf3 was played with the intent of avoiding a
Sicilian defense, so White transposes to the English.} Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7
5. O-O Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Rb1 $5 {d4 is the most popular option, with ~250
Master games in the database and a 28% win rate for White. Rb1 has 11 games
with a 45% win rate, and is an interesting sideline.} Bf5 8. d3 O-O 9. b3 {
Last move in the database (Samame Jose 2215 - IM Maharramzade Javad 2415, 1996)
. a3 is the more popular option.} Rb8 10. Bb2 a6 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxg7 $6 {
Gets rid of the g7 bishop, hoping to weaken Black's king. Works, except for 12.
.Ne3!} (12. cxd5 Nd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 $10) 12... Kxg7 $2 (12... Ne3 $1 $132 {
Black can attempt a win with counterplay. After 13.fxe3 White has a damaged
structure and a weaker king.} 13. Qc1 $3 (13. fxe3 Kxg7 $17) 13... Nxf1 14. Qh6
{White threatens mate, equalizing the position.} f6 $7 15. Bxf8 Qxf8 16. Qxf8+
Kxf8 17. Kxf1 $10) 13. cxd5 Nd4 14. Nxd4 cxd4 15. Qd2 Rc8 16. Rbc1 $2 {White
hopes for 16..Rxc1 fixing his structure. Qb4 is the strongest move as it wins
the pawn immediately.} (16. Qb4 Rc2 17. Qxd4+ Kg8 18. Rb2 $16) 16... Qb6 (16...
Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Qb6 18. Qb2 Rc8 19. Rc4 Rxc4 20. dxc4 $14 {White has more
control of the board and can win the d4 pawn, but Black might play Bb1
attacking the pawn chain.}) 17. h4 $6 $40 {White attempts to attack with h4 h5
while Black's queen is taking a stroll. Attacking d4 is more precise as it
wins the pawn.} (17. Rc4 Rxc4 18. dxc4 a5 19. Rd1 a4 20. Qxd4+ Qxd4 21. Rxd4
axb3 22. axb3 Bc2 23. b4 $18) 17... h6 {Prepares for 18..g5} 18. Qf4 (18. h5 g5
$10 {White's attack halts. There are tricks such as 19.f4 gxf4, but they
damage White's king and Black can punish it (19.f4 g4).} 19. f4 gxf4 (19... g4
20. Be4 Bxe4 21. dxe4 Rc3 $17) 20. Qxf4 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Bd7 22. Rf1 $18) 18...
Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 20. Rc4 $5 {Not as strong as 17.Rc4 since no rooks are left,
making an attack harder.} (20. Rxc8 Bxc8 21. Qe4 Kf8 22. g4 Qc5 23. Kh2 $14)
20... Rxc4 21. dxc4 d3 $6 {Black doesn't want to use his queen to defend a
pawn, so decides to trade. However, after 22.exd3 Bxd3, Black now has a
vulnerable bishop, and still needs his queen for defense.} 22. exd3 Bxd3 23. g4
$5 {Attempts to trap the bishop by targeting the g5 square. Black has to
protect with the queen, which is contrary to piece activity, or give up a pawn.
} (23. Qd2 $36 Bf5 24. b4 $16 {Black is running out of moves while White can
make progress.}) 23... Qb4 $4 {Loses the game. Black might have thought his
bishop was already trapped.} (23... Qc5 {Waiting.} 24. Qd2 Qd4 $10 {Looks like
a draw. Black's queen is skewered, but can escape with checks and force a
queen trade.}) (23... a5 $1 {An improvement over Qc5. Uses the tempo to defend
b4, making a draw easier.} 24. Qd2 Qd4 25. Qxa5 Qa1+ 26. Kh2 Qe5+ 27. Kg1 Qa1+
$10) (23... Bb1 $4 {White's trap, winning the bishop.} 24. Qc1 Bxa2 25. Qb2+
$18) (23... Be2 $6 24. Qe4 Bd1 25. Bh3 h5 26. gxh5 Bxh5 27. Qxe7 $16) (23... h5
$6 24. gxh5 gxh5 25. Qg5+ Kf8 26. Qxh5 Qd4 27. Qh6+ Ke8 $16) (23... g5 $2 24.
hxg5 hxg5 25. Qxg5+ $18) 24. Qd4+ f6 25. Qxd3 Qe1+ 26. Bf1 Qa5 27. Qe2 Qc7 28.
h5 Qd7 29. hxg6 Qe8 30. Qe6 Kxg6 31. Bd3+ Kg5 $6 {Black's king is trapped and
there are several mating ideas, most precise is 32.Qe3+.} 32. Kg2 (32. Qe3+ Kh4
33. Qg3+ Kg5 34. f4#) 32... Kh4 33. g5 hxg5 34. Qh3# {1-0 White wins.} 1-0

[Event "2022 Washington Open, Reserve"]
[Site "Redmond"]
[Date "2022.05.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Zhang, Michael"]
[Black "Roim Ferreira, Rodrigo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "1178"]
[Annotator "Rodrigo Roim Ferreira"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2022.05.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,138,18,39,68,66,66,36,92,68,79,89,89,102,107,111,91,-10,-11,-21,44,10,
40,19,8,0,-6,-56,-33,-149,-93,-123,-31,-71,-54,-185,-197,-194,-200,-200,-170,
-167,-83,-73,-65,-68,-76,-79,-90,-97,-90,-104,-95,-112,-105,-124,-124,-128,
-123,-136,-138,-138,-72,-94,-94,-68,-78,-79,-59,-52,-52,-82,-59,-86,-115,-154,
-164,-299,-163,-161,-170,-317,-351,-444,-466,-508,-602,-634,-519,-843,-972,
-992,-992,-1002,-1002,-1012,-1012,-1012,-1012,-1012,-1012,-1022,-1022,-1022,
-1022,-1022,-1022,-29975,-1022,-1022,-1032,-29971,-29970,-29971,-29968,-29971,
-29964,-29965,-29966,-29967,-29966,-29969,-29984,-29985,-29984,-29987,-29976,
-29989,-29988,-29991,-29990,-29991,-29992,-29993,-29994,-29995,-29994,-29995,
-29996,-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 g6 $5 {Interestingly, this is
2nd most common move in the database, but modern engines say White is already
winning after 4. h4 or 4.Bd3, both of which have bad results in human play.} 4.
Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 dxe4 $4 {A strategic blunder (played twice in Master games, and
leading to a loss both times).} 6. Nxe4 $4 {Brings the game back to equality.}
(6. hxg4 exf3 7. Qxf3 $18 {White has a lead in development, better control of
the center, and an open h file.} Qxd4 8. Be3 Qf6 9. Qg3 Qd6 10. Bf4 Qe6+ 11.
Be2 $18 {A sample variation (the engine's top line after 7..Qxd4) which makes
White's advantage clearer.}) 6... Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Qxd4 8. Bd3 $2 (8. Ng5 {White
could have threatened mate to win a pawn and weaken Black's structure.} Nf6 9.
Qb3 e6 10. Qxb7) 8... Bg7 {Last move in the database. Present in 2 games both
of which went 9.O-O} 9. c3 Qb6 $6 {Black attacks the b2 pawn to prevent White
from developing their bishop. White's best option is to gambit that pawn,
which leads to a winning position.} (9... Qd5 {Qd5 is the more accurate option.
It pins White's knight and keeps the attack on the bishop.}) 10. O-O (10. Be3
Qxb2 $4 11. O-O Nf6 12. Rfb1 Qa3 13. Bc5 Qa5 14. Rxb7 $18 {Recovers the pawn
with a massive lead in development and a strong pair of bishops in an open
board.}) 10... Nf6 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. Re1 Nd7 13. Bh6 $1 {Prevents castling.}
Qxb2 14. Bc4 $6 $19 {White played for tactics. There are several options to
sacrifice with Check, and Black has to be careful. However, with precise play
Black will win too much material and get a winning endgame. The key for Black
is that Long Castling is an option for safety, and White has no option to
prevent that in the future.} Qxc3 15. Qf4 $6 {Avoids a trade of queens which
would damage White's structure.} Rg8 $4 {Black was winning (see notes on 15..
Qd4), but now equalizes the position after 16.Rac1.} (15... Qd4 16. Qxd4 Bxd4
17. Rad1 c5 {Black should have offered a queen trade again and gone for the
winning endgame.}) 16. Bg5 $2 {Black can now long castle to safety, and play a
game where they're simply up 2 pawns. White should have played for initiative
with 16.Rac1.} (16. Rac1 $36 Qa5 (16... Qd4 17. Re4 Qc5 18. Bxf7+ Kxf7 19. Rxc5
Nxc5 $16 {A fun line that uses the tactics White put on the board. Objectively
white has a small advantage due to the safer king and piece activity. In
practice, the queen also makes the game much easier to play for White.}) 17.
Rcd1 Ne5 {The correct defense, leading to an equal but imbalanced position.})
16... O-O-O 17. Bxf6 $4 {Leads to a losing endgame. 17.Bxf7 is still losing,
but gives White more options to equalize.} (17. Bxf7 Rgf8 18. Be6 Bxg5 19. Qxg5
Qf6 20. Qe3 Kb8 $17) 17... Qxf6 18. Qxf6 exf6 19. Bxf7 Rgf8 20. Re7 Nb6 $2 {
White can now check with tempo and win a pawn. Black could have prevented this
with 20..Nc5.} (20... Nc5 21. Rc1 Rd7 22. Re8+ Rxe8 23. Bxe8 Rd5 24. Bf7 Nd3
$19) 21. Be6+ Kb8 22. Rxh7 Rd6 23. Bf7 g5 24. Bb3 Rd7 25. Rxd7 Nxd7 26. Rb1 Nc5
27. Bd1 Rd8 28. Bf3 Kc7 29. Rd1 Rxd1+ 30. Bxd1 a5 31. g3 Kd6 32. h4 gxh4 33.
gxh4 Ke7 34. Kg2 Kf8 $2 {White can now equalize with Kf3. The key is noticing
that White can threaten the queen side pawns, and Black has to use their
Knight to defend, which halts progress.} 35. Kg3 $2 {White decides to defend
their king side pawns instead, which loses the endgame.} Kg7 36. Kg4 $4 $19 {
White commits to the queen side and now has lost the game.} Ne4 37. Bf3 Nxf2+
38. Kh5 Nh3 {Attempts a mating trick if 39.Bg4, while also bringing the game
closer to the 40th move time increment.} 39. Kg4 (39. Bg4 Nf4#) 39... Nf2+ 40.
Kh5 Nd3 41. Kg4 Ne5+ 42. Kf4 Nxf3 43. Kxf3 b5 44. Ke3 Kg6 45. Kd4 Kh5 $19 46.
Kc5 Kxh4 47. Kxc6 f5 48. Kxb5 f4 49. Kxa5 f3 50. a4 f2 51. Kb6 f1=Q 52. a5 Qb1+
53. Ka7 Qh7+ 54. Kb6 Qg6+ 55. Ka7 Qf7+ 56. Kb6 Qe6+ 57. Kb5 Kg4 58. a6 Qd5+ 59.
Kb6 Qa8 60. a7 Kf5 61. Ka6 Ke6 62. Kb5 Kd6 63. Ka5 Qxa7+ 64. Kb4 Qc5+ 65. Kb3
Kd5 66. Ka2 Qb4 67. Ka1 Qb8 68. Ka2 Kc4 69. Ka3 Qb3# 0-1

[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "Portland"]
[Date "2022.05.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Black "Dwyer, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2458"]
[BlackElo "1798"]
[Annotator "Jim Tarjan"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2022.05.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,65,31,12,74,70,74,76,76,68,61,52,48,29,55,52,87,87,80,35,35,35,35,30,
56,45,69,39,69,45,57,56,75,68,111,110,107,74,138,114,114,101,104,117,111,111,
149,151,209,173,226,166,209,205,194,205,289,284,291,293,293,299,360,333,379,
379,739,739]} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 Nf6 5. f3 ({Gawain Jones says
} 5. Qd2 {with more flexibility: f3 may not be needed.}) 5... c6 6. Qd2 h5 {
not so common, but also not unreasonable} 7. Bd3 (7. O-O-O) (7. h4) ({I wonder
about the position after} 7. Nh3 $5 Bxh3 8. gxh3) 7... Qa5 8. Nge2 Nbd7 9. Nd1
$5 {Far away from any sort of specific preparation, not comfortable with my
last couple of routine moves nor with the usual lines after castling on one
side or the other, I cop out in a sense, trading queens and entirely altering
the course of the game. But practically speaking the decision worked well. He
did not adjust to the new situation, and in any case the proper plans in the
queenless middlegame are far from obvious. After some moves I stood clearly
better.} Qxd2+ 10. Kxd2 e5 11. c3 h4 (11... d5) 12. Nf2 Bh6 13. f4 exf4 14.
Nxf4 Nf8 15. Rae1 g5 16. Ne2 Ng4 17. Nxg4 Bxg4 18. Rhf1 Bh5 19. g3 {a good
move, the computer's first choice.} ({I considered} 19. Rf6 {which almost wins
a pawn by force, but then saw} Nd7 $1 20. Rxd6 $2 Bf8 {which is far from clear
and a bad choice to make in a clearly superior position}) (19. d5 $5 {is a
strong alternative I saw just after moving. The N is coming to d4 and again
looks to be likely winning a pawn, but White would have to calculate
accurately -- he is giving up the e5 square. The way I played it is
straightforward and one-sided: no counterplay.}) 19... O-O-O 20. gxh4 gxh4 21.
Nf4 Bxf4 22. Rxf4 $16 Ng6 23. Rf6 Rhe8 (23... Nf8) 24. Bg5 Rd7 25. Ref1 {
Maybe not the best but White's position is overwhelming now and my moves were
good enough to finish the job.} (25. e5 dxe5 26. Bf5) 25... Bg4 26. Rxf7 Rxf7
27. Rxf7 Be6 28. Rf6 Nf8 29. Bxh4 Nd7 30. Rh6 c5 31. a3 c4 32. Be2 Nb6 33. Rxe6
1-0

[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "Portland"]
[Date "2022.05.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Black "Haessler, Carl"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E14"]
[WhiteElo "2458"]
[BlackElo "2200"]
[Annotator "Jim Tarjan"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2022.05.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,64,19,-18,30,19,47,43,38,43,43,34,39,39,77,70,83,64,89,73,64,47,43,43,
53,53,63,63,71,46,34,40,32,32,38,38,38,38,50,44,38,19,19,19,19,27,8,6,0,-24,29,
31,26,36,59,51,213,203,203,203,203,203,221,195,234,144,309]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 b6
3. e3 Nf6 4. d4 e6 5. d5 exd5 6. cxd5 d6 7. Nc3 g6 8. h3 {Believe it or not,
the position is already new in Megabase.} (8. Bb5+ $5) 8... Bg7 9. Bd3 O-O 10.
O-O {Now we have transposed into many games. Looks like Black most often plays
...g6, ...Bg7, and ...0-0 before ...e6.} Ba6 11. e4 {This position is far more
often seen with White to move, having played e2-e4 in one move.} c4 {A
double-edged decision, but my computer's first choice} 12. Bc2 b5 $6 {Probably
it is this one that is doubtful?} (12... Nbd7) 13. a3 Nbd7 14. Nd4 Qb6 15. Be3
(15. Nc6 $5 Nc5 (15... Bb7 16. Bf4) 16. Bf4 Rfe8 17. Re1 $5 {All this is
predicated on the B being better on f4, rather than e3}) 15... Nc5 16. Qd2 Rfe8
17. f3 Nfd7 18. Kh1 Qb7 (18... Rac8) 19. Nc6 Qb6 20. Rab1 Bb7 21. Nd4 (21. b4
$5 cxb3 22. Bxb3) 21... a6 {I have allowed him to normalize his arrangement on
the queenside, but the game continues with somewhere around even chances} 22.
Rfd1 Rac8 23. Bg1 Qd8 24. f4 Nf6 (24... Nb3 $5 {Slight edge for Black says the
computer.} {WG - my computer says the game is about equal after} 25. Qe1) 25.
Re1 Rc7 {This is where Black starts to lose the thread.} 26. Rbd1 Qa8 {Trying
to justify 25....Rc8, he misplaces his queen as well} ({Clearly he did not
anticipate} 26... Rce7 27. Nc6 $16 {so the plan of piling up on the e pawn
does not work, and the Rc7 is simply misplaced}) 27. Nf3 Ncd7 $2 {but this is
the big mistake} 28. e5 dxe5 29. fxe5 Nh5 30. Bh2 $1 {I did a decent job in
this tournament of being patient and careful} (30. g4 {is possible, but what I
played is better. No counterplay!}) 30... Nb6 31. Be4 Rce7 32. g4 $2 {but not
this move!} (32. d6 $18) (32. Qf2 $18) 32... f5 $2 {I figured this was his
idea, and he played it at once.} ({But he has a better try:} 32... Nf6 $1 33.
exf6 Bxf6 {One pawn for the piece so far, a second if d5 falls, and no
weaknesses. And the White king's pawn cover has been blown.} {The computer
manages to keep White's advantage, but would I have?} 34. Bg1 $1 Bxc3 35. bxc3
Na4 $1 36. Qd4 $1 Nb2 (36... Nxc3 37. Qxc3 Rxe4 38. Rxe4 Rxe4 39. Be3 $18) 37.
Rd2 $18 ({or} 37. Ng5 $18)) 33. gxf5 gxf5 34. Bxf5 {Now his tactics fall short.
} Rd8 35. Qg5 Nxd5 36. Nxd5 Rxd5 (36... Bxd5 37. Rxd5 Qxd5 38. Qxh5) 37. Rxd5
Bxd5 38. Qxe7 Bxf3+ 39. Kg1 {He resigned.} (39. Kg1 Bf8 {might introduce some
chaos, if not for} 40. Qxh7#) 1-0

[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "Portland"]
[Date "2022.05.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gibbins, Wilson"]
[Black "Bjorksten, Lennart"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2215"]
[BlackElo "2111"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2022.05.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,111,27,-20,-16,3,4,-30,-23,-63,-27,-44,-40,-8,13,15,19,14,45,24,42,46,
52,26,26,9,32,30,106,81,81,81,83,100,94,88,84,76,77,64,75,63,70,57,50,31,59,22,
65,65,67,72,91,82,87,91,93,99,116,87,91,87,87,0,0,0,68,73,106,106,106,106,101,
103,103,103,139,139,147,176,176,126,186,186,186,186,229,184,176,176,164,164,
172,180,183,170,233,294,326,332,332,332,401,295,293,250,289,291,375,291,924,
972,1146,1161]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. b3 Be7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Bg2 Nbd7
7. O-O c6 {Black's moves are natural, and White's moves are natural if you are
a crazy Reti player, yet this position is nowhere to be found in "The English
Opening, Volume Two" by Marin. But it appears over 500 times in my database.}
8. d3 Qc7 9. Nc3 Re8 10. Rc1 dxc4 {This gives White more center pawns than
Black, which I hoped was a strategic advantage. But unfortunately for me, the
pawns are not easily advanced, so they are not a real advantage. I should not
have been surprised, as my wife keeps telling me that hope is not a strategy.}
11. bxc4 e5 12. Qc2 ({Stockfish and Leela prefer} 12. e3 {to my move, though
they still rate the position as equal.}) 12... Bf8 (12... Nc5 $11) 13. e3 e4 $6
{After the game Lennart told me that he knew this sacrifice wasn't fully sound.
But he thought he would get some play for it, and knew that if he could
convert that play into recovering the pawn he would stand better due to his
better pawn structure. In the game he never recovered the pawn but he did
reach equality.} 14. Nxe4 (14. dxe4 {Is a little better than what I played
according to the Stockfish.}) 14... Nxe4 15. dxe4 Nc5 16. Nd4 Bg4 17. f3 Bh5
18. Nf5 Rad8 19. Rcd1 $6 {I am methodically hacking material off the board to
make my extra pawn count, but this is plan will get me into trouble. As pieces
come off the board, my soft underbelly (the squares e2, d2, e1, d1) becomes
harder to defend and Lennart's queenside majority becomes more significant.} ({
Perhaps the right plan is to keep pieces on and advance on the side of the
board where I have extra pawns.} 19. g4 Bg6 20. Bd4) 19... f6 20. Rd4 Ne6 21.
Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Rd1 $2 {Continuing my bad plan of hacking pieces.} (22. Nd4)
22... Bf7 $2 (22... Rxd1+ $1 23. Qxd1 Qa5 $11 {Though White still has an extra
pawn and his queen controls the only open file, Black's queen controls the
queenside and the soft underbelly squares on d2 and e1. Black is fully equal.})
23. Bf1 $2 (23. Nd4 $14) 23... Rd7 $2 (23... Rxd1 24. Qxd1 Qa5 $11) 24. Rxd7
Qxd7 25. e5 fxe5 26. Bxe5 g6 27. Nd4 Bc5 28. Qc3 Nxd4 29. Bxd4 Qf5 30. Bxc5 $2
{Yet more misguided piece hacking to enhance Black's queenside majority and
superior pawn structure.} (30. Kg2 Bxd4 {best says Stockfish} 31. exd4 {
improves my pawn structure.}) 30... Qxc5 31. Qd3 b5 $11 32. cxb5 cxb5 {Black's
queenside majority is rolling fast. I wondered if I was losing. Luckily
Black's kingside dark squares are sufficiently weak so his pieces can't
simultaneously defend his king and support the advance of his queenside pawns,
Stockfish says 0.00 for White's five best alternatives.} 33. a3 a5 34. Qd8+ {
White's best try to keep the game alive is to eliminate Black's queenside
majority, but his weak kingside pawn cover means that he has no legitimate
winning chances.} Kg7 35. Qxa5 Qxe3+ 36. Kg2 Bd5 37. Qc7+ Kh6 $2 (37... Bf7 $11
38. Bxb5 Qd2+ {and Black has a perpetual.}) 38. Qf4+ $1 Qxf4 39. gxf4 {I
wasn't sure if this was winning since I end up with four isolated pawns, two
of them doubled. But I hoped for the best, as I can use the principle of two
weaknesses to stretch the defense. Weakness 1 - his isolated pawn on b5 is
fixed on an attackable light square, while my isolated pawn on a3 is not
easily attacked. Weakness 2 - he must defend against me playing f4-f5 and
undoubling my pawns at a time when I can recapture after g6xf5. Lucky for me
there is no principle of four weaknesses :-)} Bc6 40. Bd3 Bd7 41. Kf2 Kh5 42.
Ke3 Kh4 43. Bf1 {As Dan Voje back in Minnesota would say, "Access Denied"} ({
But stronger is} 43. f5 gxf5 44. Kf4) 43... Bc6 44. Bg2 Bd7 45. Ke4 {My
original plan was to take my King towards his b-pawn, but I started to see
greener pastures on the kingside.} Bf5+ 46. Ke5 Bd3 47. Kf6 Be2 48. Kg7 Bd3 49.
Kh6 {a mean-spirited move.} (49. Kxh7 {allows} g5+ {but after} 50. Kg7 gxf4 51.
Kf6 Kh5 52. Bh3 {White is still winning}) 49... Bf5 50. Bf1 Bd7 51. Kxh7 g5 52.
fxg5 Kxg5 {even here I wondered if his superior king placement might allow him
to hold, but two pawns is too many.} 53. Bd3 Kf4 54. Be4 Ke3 55. h4 Kd4 56. h5
1-0

[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "Portland"]
[Date "2022.05.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nelson, James"]
[Black "Dywer, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "1680"]
[BlackElo "1798"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2022.05.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,99,19,31,76,52,53,27,14,23,23,11,47,-6,9,6,13,5,31,42,30,55,39,17,46,
52,52,0,51,46,64,60,58,33,27,29,-9,-68,6,12,29,31,63,-95,22,37,27,42,30,19,31,
35,46,75,75,104,172,158,133,146,146,138,211,142,130,156,149,150,350,357,642,
303,490,561,564,405,404,424,420,428,427,452,457,367,363,382,376,397,398,432,
442,451,467,538,674,649,660,923,1128,738,1157,1185]} {This game determined 3rd
place in the tournament. Bill Dwyer had a great result in the 2021 Oregon
Senior Open, playing for the championship in the final round and gaining 98
rating points in the process. This year he proved it was no fluke, gaining a
few more rating points while facing a brutal schedule (see game one against
James Tarjan). But in this game he runs into James Nelson who through
perseverance holds off Black's dangerous queenside activity to notch the win.} 
1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. b3 c5 7. Bb2 Na6 8. Nbd2
Qc7 9. c4 Rb8 10. d5 b5 {White is doing his best to obtain a solid position,
and Black is doing his best to create dynamic chances. An immovable object vs.
irresistible force game.} 11. Ne1 Bg4 12. f3 Bd7 13. Rb1 Rb7 14. e4 bxc4 15.
Nxc4 Bb5 16. Nd3 Bxc4 17. bxc4 Rfb8 {In spite of White's best efforts to keep
the game under control, Black has reached a good Benoni position. White's
defensive task will not be easy.} 18. Qe2 Nb4 19. Bc3 Qa5 (19... Nxd3 20. Qxd3
Nd7 $17 {Black should be able to use his control of the b-file and the weak
dark squares to wreak havoc on the queenside before White can get sufficient
kingside play.}) 20. Nc1 $11 Qa4 21. Rf2 $2 (21. Rb3 $1 $14) 21... Nd7 $2 (
21... Nxe4 $1 22. fxe4 (22. Bxg7 Nxf2 23. Bh6 Nd1 $17) 22... Bxc3 $19) (21...
Ng4 $1 {is also strong.}) 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. f4 Na6 24. Rxb7 Rxb7 25. Nb3 Nb6 (
25... Nb4 $11) 26. Bf1 $16 {White has survived the queenside onslaught. The
counterattack in the center begins.} Nb4 27. e5 Qd7 28. a3 Na6 29. Na5 Rc7 30.
Qb2 dxe5 31. Nc6 Rxc6 {Not forced, but it is unpleasant to leave the knight on
c6, patiently waiting for the right moment to inflict damage. White is winning
even if Black does not sacrifice the exchange.} 32. dxc6 Qxc6 33. Qxe5+ Kg8 34.
Qxe7 Nc8 35. Qe5 Nd6 36. Rd2 Ne8 37. Bg2 Qe6 38. Qxe6 fxe6 39. Rd7 Nac7 40. Bc6
h6 41. Rd8 Kf7 42. Bxe8+ Nxe8 43. Rd7+ Kf6 44. Rxa7 Nd6 45. a4 Nxc4 46. a5 g5
47. fxg5+ hxg5 48. a6 Ke5 49. Rg7 Kf6 50. Rg8 1-0

[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "Portland"]
[Date "2022.05.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gatica, Jose"]
[Black "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D58"]
[WhiteElo "2104"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[Annotator "Jim Tarjan"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2022.05.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,71,19,31,19,0,4,4,21,24,22,20,37,11,17,23,33,8,23,10,22,4,-6,21,21,0,
2,-9,1,-8,-6,-11,-11,-19,7,13,6,-3,-3,-14,-1,-20,-20,-18,-20,-18,-4,0,3,-15,-6,
-5,-15,-20,-19,-16,-20,-15,-22,-37,-40,-33,-30,-40,-39,-41,-36,-50,-32,-28,-4,
-17,-26,-74] This last round game was for me in part an attempt to answer a
question on my mind for a long time. Playing Black against 1.d4, is it
possible, or sensible, to play for a win with the solid, old school Queens
Gambit Declined that I have studied, and often use against strong players? Or
is White's position simply too solid for Black to create any sort of real
winning chances? By way of contrast, one might note that my prior game with
Black in this event began 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5 g6 3.Nc3 Nh6.  There are many Black
wins in the QGD, even against the strongest opposition, by such as Short,
Vaganian, Beliavsky, Geller. And now I see Andrew Tang among many others
playing his same solid openings against all levels of players, including the
QGD.  Perhaps this entire concept of "sharp, double-edged" Black openings vs.
"solid, drawish" Black openings is a thing of the past? Players are so much
better prepared in the openings now, and, regardless of the opening, things
often come down to a close-to-equal endgame that one manages to win, or not.} 
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Rc1 (10. Qe2 {as Novikov, a lifelong specialist on the
White side, played against me in the US Senior}) (10. Bg3) 10... c5 11. cxd5
Nxd5 12. Bg3 Nxc3 {The third most popular choice in this position.} ({at
Gronigen 1993 Beliavsky played} 12... cxd4 {and eventually won the game --
against Yermolinsky!}) (12... N7f6 {is logical}) 13. bxc3 {Now the results,
and the computer, start to slightly favor White, with the pawn center. But, I
was thinking, at least I have permanently unbalanced the pawn structure. A
draw by attrition that much farther away...} Nf6 14. Qe2 Qd5 15. Bc4 Qc6 (15...
Qh5 $5) 16. Ba6 (16. Bb5 {I was thinking to avoid the repetition by} Qc8 ({
Probably I need to go back} 16... Qd5 {and then to h5}) {but the computer
rightly does not think much of it} 17. Ne5 $14) 16... Bxa6 17. Qxa6 Qc8 {
This reflects my understanding of the position, for better or worse: if Black
is going to win this, it will be in an endgame.} 18. Qe2 Qb7 19. Nd2 (19. Bh4)
19... Rac8 20. Rfd1 Rfd8 21. Be5 Nd7 22. Bg3 Nb8 {Overly elaborate} (22... b5)
23. Nf3 Nc6 24. Ne5 Nxe5 25. Bxe5 Qc6 ({On} 25... Bd6 {right away} {I was
unhappy with} 26. Bxd6 Rxd6 27. dxc5 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Rxc5 29. Rd8+ Kh7 30. Qd3+
f5) 26. Qb2 {passive} (26. Qg4) 26... Bd6 27. Bxd6 Rxd6 {So here we are. For
the first time in the game, I was content with my prospects. Though, even so,
a long way away from victory.} 28. h3 Rd7 29. Rb1 cxd4 30. cxd4 Rdc7 31. Rd2 {
I got this far, but now...how to play? I couldn't figure it out and made a few
random moves. Should Black trade queens, and if possible a pair of rooks as
well, to a position with White's rook tied down to an a pawn (or b pawn, if a
trade of queens on b3)? Then bring the king to the center, push the queenside
majority, and win?? Or keep all the major pieces on, just to make it
complicated?  It seems my shuffling back and forth for a couple of moves did
not diminish my chances, at least in practice.} Qd5 (31... Qe4) (31... Qa4) 32.
Rbd1 Rc3 33. Re2 ({One thing for sure: White cannot wait forever; at some
point, preferably soon, he needs to push his central majority, and make a
passed pawn of his own, or at least some rook activity.} 33. Qb1) 33... Qc4 34.
Red2 ({Here if} 34. e4 Rc2) 34... Qa4 35. d5 {The first choice of my computer;
but as is sometimes the case with computer moves, when one looks at the
details, one wonders whether in practical terms it was in fact a mistake.} Rc2
36. Qa1 $2 {His first clear error of the game.} ({The computer claims equality
with} 36. Qb3 Qxb3 37. axb3 exd5 (37... Rxd2 38. Rxd2 exd5 39. Rxd5 $11) 38.
Rxd5 Rb2 39. Rd8+ Rxd8 40. Rxd8+ Kh7 41. Rd7 a5 {But this is at a minimum
scary for White: I saw this position at the board and wondered about the two
passed pawns} 42. Rxf7 (42. Rd3 Kg6 $15) 42... Rxb3 43. Ra7 {the computer
blithely claims equality; maybe so, but I would not want to go here
voluntarily as White.}) 36... exd5 {Now White is losing a pawn, without clear
compensation. Whatever he had planned or calculated, it is not there.} 37. Rxd5
Qxa2 38. Rd8+ Rxd8 39. Rxd8+ Kh7 40. Qd4 Qb1+ 41. Kh2 Rxf2 {Now suddenly
completely over: two pawns down, and White's king more exposed than Black's.}
42. Rd7 Qg6 43. Qd5 a5 44. Rd6 Rxg2+ 45. Qxg2 Qxd6+ 0-1

[Event "Oregon Senior Playoff"]
[Site "Portland"]
[Date "2022.06.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Black "Gibbins, Wilson"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2458"]
[BlackElo "2215"]
[Annotator "Jim Tarjan"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2022.06.06"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.09"]

{[%evp 0,59,19,38,43,18,28,11,-4,-1,-6,13,-9,-2,7,7,-3,-10,33,16,26,18,1,-4,
-10,-10,42,41,29,-15,-29,-28,-2,-20,-23,-34,-46,-113,-111,-111,-64,-68,35,14,
12,25,26,27,78,18,201,65,139,94,321,383,391,442,442,436,407,412]} 1. e4 e6 {
WG - I had three weeks to prepare for this game, so I had good intentions
about making the most of my opportunity to play a Grandmaster. In reality, I
didn't start preparing until the day before it was played. My guidelines were 
(1) try to avoid his preparation by playing something that he wouldn't expect 
(probably a mistake), (2) play something that I had at least studied before -
so no Petroffs or Berlins, (3) avoid memorizing any long forcing lines that I
would forget immediately after the game, to maximize the chance of  some
lasting value from the effort.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {WG - One of the reasons I
chose the French is that I had noticed Jim played the Advance Variation. I
figured Black must have an easy to route to equality in the Advance French.} c5
4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. O-O Ng6 8. g3 (8. Na3 {JT- Tarjan vs. L.
Ming Redmond 2022}) 8... f6 ({WG - I was working from the book "Playing the
French" by Aagaard & Ntirlis, who recommended} 8... Be7 9. h4 cxd4 10. cxd4 O-O
11. h5 Nh8 {WG - with the idea of unwinding with ...f7-f6 and Nh8-f7. But when
I actually started looking at this position with Chessbase at 11:00pm the
night before, I noticed that Stockfish shows a clear edge for White, and the
game statistics concur. At this point it dawned on me that perhaps there was
no easy route to equality for Black in the Advance variation of the French.
But I noticed Rapport had won a rapid game against Shevchenko in 2022 with 8...
f6, so I decided to give it a try if this position came up. But I could not
absorb all the nuances in the small amount of prep time I had remaining.}) 9.
exf6 Qxf6 10. Bg5 ({JT - In this position Jones recommends instead} 10. Be3 $5
cxd4 11. Nxd4 {JT - He has some tactical reasons in mind as to why he prefers
Black's queen on f6 rather than f7.} {His main line of analysis goes:} Bd6 12.
Nb5 Bb8 13. Nd2 (13. c4 $5 a6 14. cxd5 exd5 {JT - and White is already
practically forced to sacrifice a piece, which should be playable actually:}
15. N1c3 {Shevkenko vs. Rapport, 2022: 0-1 eventually}) 13... a6 (13... O-O 14.
Ne4 $1 {JT - One of the reasons Jones wants Black's queen on f6} Qd8 15. Nc5
Bc8 16. Nd4 $14 {Jones}) 14. Nd4 e5 15. Nxc6 bxc6 (15... Bxc6 16. Bc5 Ba7 17.
Bxa7 Rxa7 18. c4 $14 {Jones}) 16. c4 {JT - and Jones claims a slight edge} ({
the only game so far:} 16. Bc5 Ba7 {JT - Nasuta vs. Piorun 2022: 0-1
eventually; so the score so far for Jones' analysis is 0-2, though both White
players varied from his exact line})) 10... Qf7 11. h4 ({JT - Looking at it
now I would play} 11. Be3 cxd4 12. cxd4 {intending Ng5 and f4}) 11... Bd6 12.
Na3 ({JT -} 12. Be3 $5) 12... cxd4 (12... a6 $5) 13. Nb5 Bb8 14. cxd4 ({JT -} 
14. Nbxd4 $5) 14... O-O $11 {JT - White has accomplished nothing in the last
few moves} 15. Rc1 ({JT -} 15. Be3) 15... a6 16. Nc3 b5 {WG - I was pleased to
gain some space and prevent the White knight from invading on c5 or b6.} ({
WG - but} 16... h6 {is a little safer, discouraging White knights from hitting
the g5 square. I didn't want to weaken the g6 square and the b1-h7 diagonal,
but defending the g5 square is often more important. Skip ahead to move 27 if
you want to see why.}) 17. h5 $2 ({JT -} 17. Be3 $1 Nge7 (17... h6 18. h5 Nge7
19. Nh4 {and for example} Ba7 20. Bg4 Qf6 21. Ne2) 18. Ng5 Qf6 19. Bd3 Nf5 20.
Ne2 {close to equal}) 17... Nge7 18. Nh4 Ba7 $17 {JT - Black has not had to
stop for ...h6, and the extra tempo renders White's position very doubtful} 19.
Be3 ({WG - Stockfish suggests} 19. Bg4 Bxd4 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21. Nf3 {WG - but I
don't think many players would choose these artificial moves just to drop the
d-pawn.}) 19... e5 $6 {WG - This move identifies me as a Sicilian player, not
a French player. French players would automatically look to attack White's
isolated d-pawn (see Jim's notes below). Sicilian players look for central
pawn breaks when White decentralizes his pieces.} ({JT -} 19... Qf6 $1 {
is strong, and simple: Black is piling up on the d pawn} 20. Nf3 Nf5 $17) 20.
dxe5 Nxe5 $2 {JT- but the two tactical lines are indeed very complicated and
difficult, and not better for Black in a clearcut way} (20... Bh3 21. Bxa7 Bxf1
22. Bc5 Bxe2 23. Qxe2 {JT - My computer finds resources for White, and says
the game is equal} Rad8 (23... d4 24. Ne4 Qxa2 $2 25. Bxe7 Nxe7 26. Qg4 $18) (
23... Qe6 24. f4 $11) 24. h6 $1 $11) (20... d4 21. Bf4 dxc3 $1 (21... Bh3 22.
Ne4 Bxf1 23. Bxf1 $16 {JT - clear advantage to White according to my Deep Fritz
}) 22. Qxd7 Rad8 $1 {developing} 23. Qb7 (23. Qg4 cxb2 24. e6 (24. Rb1 Qxa2 $17
) 24... Qf6 25. Rb1 {JT - The computer prefers Black in this position, but all
is far from obvious}) 23... cxb2 24. Rxc6 Nxc6 25. Qxc6 Qxa2 26. Bg4 $1 {
JT - enormous complications} Bxf2+ $1 27. Kg2 $1 Kh8 $1 28. Rxf2 b1=Q 29. Rxa2
Qxa2+ 30. Kh3 $15 {JT - "Black is slightly better" says the oracle!}) ({JT -} 
20... Bxe3 $1 21. fxe3 Qe6 $15 22. Bf3 Qxe5 23. Bxd5+ Kh8 24. Bg2 Qxe3+ 25. Kh2
) 21. Bxa7 Rxa7 22. f4 $14 {WG - White is now in control.} N5c6 ({JT -} 22...
Nc4 23. Qd4 $1 Nc6 24. Qc5 $5 (24. Qxd5 Qxd5 25. Nxd5 Nxb2 $14) 24... Nxb2 25.
Nf3 $1 $14) 23. Bf3 d4 $2 {WG - gives White's knight access to the e4 square
followed by the g5 square.} (23... Be6 $2 24. f5 $1 Nxf5 $2 25. Bxd5 Nce7 26.
Nxf5 Nxf5 27. g4 $18) (23... Rd8 $16) 24. Ne4 Rc7 $2 (24... Qxa2 25. b3 $14 (
25. Rf2 $14)) 25. a3 $6 {JT - an unnecessary precaution, though apparently it
does not spoil White's advantage.} (25. Ng5 Qf6 (25... Qxa2 26. Qd3 $18) 26.
Be4 $1 Nf5 (26... Bf5 27. Nxf5 Nxf5 28. Qf3 $1 $18 Rfc8 29. Rxc6 Rxc6 30. Bxc6
Qxc6 31. Qb3+ Qc4 32. Rc1 $1) 27. Nxf5 Bxf5 28. Qf3 $1 $18) 25... Kh8 {JT -
not a good move, though the more the computer thinks about the position, the
more lost for Black it finds it, regardless of what move is played here.} ({
JT -} 25... h6 26. Re1) 26. Re1 Rd8 27. Ng5 Qf6 28. Qd3 g6 29. hxg6 Nxg6 30.
Bxc6 1-0

