[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.05.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gibbins, Wilson"]
[Black "Bourne, Darrel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2200"]
[BlackElo "1875"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[GameId "498468821818"]
[EventDate "2024.05.04"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,61,40,-9,0,3,-2,-18,26,15,14,8,19,19,19,19,19,-2,24,28,63,56,59,37,58,70,67,36,38,46,50,41,61,57,65,63,58,43,81,69,132,84,134,64,54,-136,-102,-198,217,195,182,183,217,215,247,245,281,300,302,302,314,217,322,302]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. Nc3 Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 d6 9. Rd1 a6 10. b3 Nbd7 11. e4 e5 $5 {Darrel was proud of this move, and rightfully so. It looks ugly and Stockfish is unimpressed. But from a practical perspective, the resulting position gives Black lots of mini plans from which to choose, while in the short run White's main advantage is the opportunity to gloat over the weak d5 square. White now has the burden of checking to see if the advance b6-b5 is playable every move. The threat is stronger than the execution.} 12. Qe3 O-O 13. h3 Qc7 14. Bb2 Rac8 15. Rac1 Qb8 16. Qe2 Nc5 {Maybe this knight will go back to e6 then bounce to d4. White has his advantage to defend.} 17. Ne1 Qa8 18. f3 $2 {I thought I had to protect the e-pawn. I was more-or-less forced to take this uncomfortable approach in round 4, but here I should be working harder to avoid blocking my bishop and weakening the squares around my king. The pawn on g3 is less well defended after my move. It doesn't look like it will be too much of a problem, but check back on move 23.} (18. b4 Ncxe4 19. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 20. Qxe4) 18... Nh5 {already targeting the weak g3 pawn, as well as clearing the way for the advance of the f-pawn.} (18... b5 {is also interesting.}) 19. Kh2 Ne6 20. Nc2 $2 {Dragging a piece away from my king. Zoey Tang would take this as an invitation to attack. So would Darrel Bourne.} (20. Nd5 $16 {keeps the advantage.}) 20... f5 21. exf5 (21. Nd5 $11 {is still best, but now only gives White equality.}) 21... Rxf5 (21... Nxg3 $5 {can be played as a speculative sacrifice.} 22. Kxg3 Nf4 23. Qf2 Rxf5 24. Ne3 Rg5+ 25. Kh2 Nxg2 26. Nxg2 Bxf3 27. Nh4 Bxd1 28. Rxd1 $13) 22. Nd5 $2 {I played this quickly, as I felt the need to clog the long diagonal.} (22. Ne3 $1 $14 Bxf3 $2 (22... Nxg3 {is best, but not as strong as it would have been in the game continuation.}) 23. Nxf5 Bxe2 24. Nxe7+) 22... Bxd5 23. cxd5 Nef4 $2 ({After I made my 23rd move I noticed that} 23... Nxg3 $1 {is winning for Black. My opponent used roughly 15 of his remaining 20 minutes on this move, so I assumed he would find it. I missed wearing a COVID mask - it would have helped cover my emotional reaction.} 24. Kxg3 Nf4 25. Qf1 Rg5+) 24. gxf4 Nxf4 25. Qe4 Rg5 26. Bf1 Rc5 27. Ne3 Qc8 28. b4 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Qe8 30. Bc3 Qh5 31. Be1 1-0

[Event "Oregon Senior Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.05.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gibbins, Wilson"]
[Black "Morris, Mike"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E63"]
[WhiteElo "2200"]
[BlackElo "1900"]
[Annotator "Wilson Gibbins"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[GameId "498544731349"]
[EventDate "2024.05.04"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,113,19,30,15,27,41,43,32,18,16,27,16,11,17,2,46,32,37,40,63,82,64,36,99,14,28,37,-1,-30,70,36,38,0,0,13,12,-65,-48,-45,-63,-40,-52,-51,-30,-57,-34,-77,50,-22,1,22,45,72,108,108,118,90,82,86,81,76,101,23,71,58,34,13,13,-21,-35,39,40,45,103,75,155,67,366,366,366,316,390,429,518,337,348,357,376,189,212,209,209,209,213,173,451,115,98,110,187,206,203,211,219,229,251,205,228,239,234,230,220,213,217,215]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 d6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O a6 8. h3 Rb8 9. e4 h6 {Not in the books, but Mike wanted to stop White's Nf3-g5 ideas after White pushes the e-pawn to e5 and e6.} 10. Be3 b5 11. cxb5 axb5 12. d5 $2 ({I should sacrifice a pawn to damage Black's pawn structure.} 12. e5 dxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. e6 fxe6 15. Qe2) 12... Na5 (12... b4 13. Ne2 (13. dxc6 bxc3 14. bxc3 Nxe4 $15) 13... Na5 $13 14. Nfd4 e5) 13. Nd4 {I have burned a lot of clock to get to this mediocre position - I have about 50 minutes left. I will be behind on the clock for the rest of the game.} b4 14. Nce2 Bd7 15. Rc1 Qc8 ({After the game, Mike pointed out that his move prepares 16...e5. Playing it now leads to} 15... e5 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Nf4 {and White is threatening to take on e6 or g6. Mike's move over-protects the e6 pawn square so when we play out this sequence he only needs to protect the g6 pawn.}) 16. Kh2 e5 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. b3 ({I should play} 18. f4 {but I am keeping the option to defend the e-pawn with f2-f3, which as we learned from the previous game rarely works out well for me.}) 18... e5 19. Nc2 $2 {creating knight disharmony, Notice how Black's pawns on b4 and e5 dominate my knights.} (19. Nf3 $1 $14 Nxe4 $2 20. Qd5+) 19... Kh7 20. Qd2 $2 (20. Bd2 Nc6 21. f4 $11) 20... Qb7 21. f3 {I am using the same kingside approach that led to my disastrous position in round 2.} Rfd8 (21... c5 $5 22. Qxd6 c4 {gives Black plenty of play for the pawn}) 22. Rfd1 $2 (22. g4 $13) 22... Be6 23. Qe1 {I am down to about 35 minutes.} d5 $6 (23... c5 {and Black will play Nc6 and Nd4}) 24. exd5 (24. f4 $5) 24... Nxd5 $2 ({Best is} 24... Bxd5 {I thought White was worse, but it turns out that White is fine if he is tactically alert} 25. Nxb4 $1 Qxb4 (25... Bxf3 26. Na6 Qxa6 27. Bxf3 e4 $13) 26. Bd2 {wins the piece back.}) 25. Bf2 (25. f4 $1 $16) 25... h5 (25... Nc6) 26. f4 $1 {I thought I might have some kingside threats, as many of his pieces are scattered on the queenside. Check back at move 33 when many of Mike's pieces have found their way back to take aim at my king.} Nc6 27. fxe5 $2 (27. Ne3 $1 $16) 27... Nxe5 28. Nf4 Bf7 29. Ne3 $2 (29. Rxd5 $1 Bxd5 30. Nxd5 Rxd5 31. Nxb4) 29... c6 30. Nexd5 cxd5 31. Qh1 $2 {too clever by half.} (31. Rc5 $14) 31... Qa6 $11 32. Rc2 Rbc8 33. Rcd2 Qf6 34. Bd4 (34. Nxd5 Bxd5 35. Bxd5 Rc3 {Black's pawn deficit will be irrelevant in short term, but his active pieces will give White plenty to worry about.} {The only move that keeps White even is} 36. Bd4) 34... h4 35. Qe1 Qf5 36. Re2 hxg3+ $2 ({after} 36... g5 {the only move White has to maintain equality is} 37. Ne6) 37. Qxg3 $16 g5 38. Nd3 (38. Rf1 $1 gxf4 39. Rxf4 Qg6 (39... Qe6 40. Rxe5) 40. Bxe5) 38... Ng6 $2 (38... Nxd3 39. Rxd3 $14) (38... Nf3+ 39. Bxf3 Bxd4 40. Bg4 Qf6 41. Bxc8 Rxc8 {is better for White, but Black has plenty of cheapo potential, just what King's Indian Defense players live for.}) 39. Bxg7 Kxg7 40. Rf1 ({With all the action occurring on the kingside, snapping a pawn on the queenside seems to miss the point.} 40. Nxb4 {But check back with me later, say around move 53.}) 40... Qd7 41. Qxg5 $18 Re8 42. Qf6+ Kg8 43. Ref2 Re7 44. Nf4 Rc6 45. Qg5 Re5 46. Qg3 Qe7 (46... Rc3 47. Rf3 Rxf3 48. Bxf3 Qd6 49. Rg1 Kf8 50. Bh5 $14) 47. Nd3 Re3 48. Rxf7 $2 (48. Qb8+ $1 Qe8 (48... Kg7 49. Rxf7+) 49. Qxe8+ Bxe8 50. Bxd5+) 48... Rxg3 49. Rxe7 Rxg2+ $2 {gaining time, but eliminating the less dangerous minor piece.} (49... Rxd3 $14) 50. Kxg2 Nxe7 51. Nxb4 Rc3 52. Rf3 Rc1 53. Rd3 Kf7 54. Nxd5 Nxd5 55. Rxd5 Rc2+ 56. Kg3 Rxa2 57. Rd3 {and White carefully advanced his pawns to secure the win on move 82.} 1-0

[Event "2nd Annual Bellingham Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.04.21"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wang, Leonardo"]
[Black "Colombo, Dominic"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D87"]
[WhiteElo "1795"]
[BlackElo "1907"]
[Annotator "Dominic Colombo"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[GameId "2057233218674700"]
[EventDate "2024.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,57,25,26,18,-17,37,33,59,58,50,51,51,51,51,51,51,43,47,52,51,46,50,48,49,46,45,-20,-29,-46,-23,-10,5,1,26,27,2,11,13,-25,-13,-25,17,24,7,7,-4,0,0,12,-6,9,33,38,21,31,46,46,53,16]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Qc7 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. Qa4 Bd7 13. dxc5 Ne5 {Gave up the c5 pawn for activity and pawn structure advantages. This idea is usually good in the Gruenfeld} 14. Bb5 Bxb5 15. Qxb5 Ng4 16. Bf4 Be5 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Ng3 Rab8 19. Qe2 Nf6 20. Qe3 Nd7 21. c6 {Nd7 reroutes the knight to attack the c5 pawn. c6 is an interesting response which I did not consider} bxc6 22. Qxa7 Ra8 23. Qb7 Qe6 24. Qb3 Nc5 (24... Rxa2 25. Qxe6 fxe6 26. Rfd1 {This line may have been interesting, but the best it achieves is a draw where black has slightly worse pawn structure for some activity. At the time I was also worried about the knight being temporarily pinned}) 25. Qxe6 fxe6 {I wanted to keep the knight able to go to a4 to get the pawn back and keep pressure on e4} 26. Rc2 Ra3 27. f3 Rd3 28. Rfc1 Na4 29. c4 {Due to quick chess time pressure the notations is a bit mixed up here and at the end. The position ended up looking similar to this. I was lower on time and agreed to a draw since I was down a pawn and a draw was going to be the best result} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Bellingham Open"]
[Site "Bellingham, WA"]
[Date "2024.04.21"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Black "Juchau, Dave"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1947"]
[BlackElo "1672"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[GameId "2058505408438721"]
[EventDate "2024.04.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,79,37,23,32,-20,-26,-63,-16,-16,6,6,-8,-36,-34,-22,-6,-4,12,7,0,13,13,13,13,6,3,0,0,0,126,118,116,74,74,66,120,120,126,92,92,126,127,95,95,49,78,81,92,90,92,92,92,88,116,127,135,135,135,135,135,135,135,125,125,167,181,120,181,107,181,181,236,239,261,300,341,417,418,465,679,803] The third round. Also, the third time playing Dave so far. I knew that my opponent had had a major upset in the previous round against a player 300 points higher rated than him so I knew I needed to be cautious.} 1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 $5 {An unusual surprise move already. I wanted to throw my opponent off early. With this being a rapid game, this could be to my benefit.} d4 3. Nb1 $5 {What sort of blasphemous heresy is this? Is this a farce? Nope. This is a real line where white brings the knight back to its starting square on move 3. Again, I used my rapid time to blitz out an unorthodox line to try and confuse my opponent.} c5 4. Bc4 e5 5. d3 Nf6 6. f4 {Now we've transposed to a Vienna game structure for white. However, black doesn't have the same options with the pawns on d4, e5, and c5 with the dark square bishop on f8.} Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 b5 $6 {Already complications are introduced. I spent some time calculating here and concluded that I'm fine allowing Qa5+ since I'll either win the piece back or get a massive attack either way.} (9... Bd6 $10) 10. Bxb5 $1 Qa5+ 11. Nc3 $3 Rc8 12. O-O dxc3 13. Bxc6+ Rxc6 14. fxe5 Be7 {Black has to give back the piece or else} (14... Nd7 15. Qxf7+ Kd8 16. Bg5+) 15. exf6 Rxf6 16. Qe2 Rxf1+ 17. Qxf1 Bf6 $6 (17... c4 18. d4 Qb4 {was better trying to disput white's queenside.}) 18. b3 O-O $6 (18... Bd4+ 19. Kh1 h6 20. Qf5 Qa6 21. Bf4 Qe6 22. g4 Kd7 23. Rf1 Qxf5 24. gxf5 Rg8 25. Kg2 {is the line given by the engine but white is still comfortably better.}) 19. Be3 Bd4 20. Qf2 Qa3 $6 21. Bxd4 cxd4 22. Qf4 $6 (22. Rf1 Qd6 23. Qf4 Qe7 24. Qf5 Rd8 25. a4 h6 26. Qa5 g6 27. e5 Rd7 28. Qb5 h5) 22... Qb2 $6 (22... f6 23. Qf2) 23. Qc1 Qxc1+ (23... Rc8 {was a better try since} 24. Qxb2 cxb2 25. Rb1 Rxc2 {is winning for black.}) 24. Rxc1 f6 25. a4 Kf7 26. Rf1 Ke6 $2 {The final nail. After my next move converting this with a clean pawn up was fairly easy and was without incident.} (26... g6 27. b4 a6 28. g4 Rb8 29. Rb1 Ra8 30. Kf2 h6 31. Ke2 Ke7 32. Kf3 Ke6 33. Kg3) 27. Rf5 Rd8 28. Kf2 g6 29. Rb5 h5 30. Rb7 Rd7 31. Rxd7 Kxd7 32. b4 Kd6 33. Ke2 Kc6 34. Kd1 a6 $6 35. Kc1 Kd6 36. Kb1 f5 37. exf5 gxf5 38. h4 Kc6 39. Ka2 f4 40. Kb3 1-0

[Event "Bellingham Open"]
[Site "Bellingham, WA"]
[Date "2024.04.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gao, Justin"]
[Black "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1795"]
[BlackElo "1947"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[GameId "497483932938"]
[EventDate "2024.04.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,63,32,42,51,51,53,39,36,22,26,18,6,-11,-9,-22,-22,-34,-30,-39,-41,-34,-33,-62,-53,-54,-71,-67,-65,-50,-47,-47,-47,-66,0,5,-14,26,100,106,134,147,138,78,84,80,122,122,150,149,188,176,178,214,214,145,134,155,135,140,363,355,885,902,29987,29988]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qe1 Nd4 {Too early. Better was the immediate} (8... d5 9. Bb3 Nd4 10. Nxd4 cxd4 11. Ne2 dxe4 12. dxe4 a5 13. a4 d3 $1 14. Nc3 (14. cxd3 $4 Qb6+ $19) 14... Nc6 15. Be3 Nd4 $10) 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. Ne2 d5 11. exd5 exd5 12. Bb3 Nf5 13. Qf2 Re8 14. Bd2 a5 15. a4 Ne3 16. Rfe1 Ng4 $6 17. Qf3 Be6 $6 {Inaccuracy. Bd7 was best. Here my position is already unpleasant. After the next few moves the weakness on e6 and d5 will become too much for black to handle.} (17... Bd7 18. Bxd5 Rc8 19. c4 dxc3 20. bxc3 Nf6 21. Bxb7 Qb6+ 22. d4 Rc7) 18. h3 Nh6 $4 {Blunder. Ne3 was best.} (18... Ne3 19. Bxe3 dxe3 20. d4 Bf6 21. Qxe3 Bh4 22. g3 Bf6 23. Qf3 Qb6 24. Rad1 Bd7 25. Kg2) 19. g4 f5 $6 20. g5 Nf7 21. Ng3 $2 (21. Qf2 $1) 21... Qd7 22. Re2 Kf8 23. Rae1 Nh8 $6 {Just admitting a bad position.} 24. h4 Bf7 $6 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27. Bxd5 $6 Qxa4 $6 28. Bxf7 Nxf7 29. Qxb7 Qxc2 $2 {Mistake. Kg8 was best.} (29... Kg8 30. b3) 30. Bxa5 Qa4 $6 31. Bb4+ Kg8 $4 {Checkmate is now unavoidable. Nd6 was best.} (31... Nd6 32. Bxd6+ Kg8 33. Nf1 Qe8 34. Qd5+ Qf7 35. Qa8+ Bf8 36. h5 gxh5 37. Bxf8 Qxf8 38. Qd5+) 32. Qb8+ 1-0

[Event "Bellingham Open"]
[Site "Bellingham, WA"]
[Date "2024.04.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Toppen-Ryan, Harrison"]
[Black "Taitano, Judah"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D34"]
[WhiteElo "1947"]
[BlackElo "1287"]
[Annotator "Harrison Toppen-Ryan"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[GameId "2058505629688280"]
[EventDate "2024.04.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,101,32,26,28,-4,-4,-14,18,12,31,40,13,10,2,8,20,22,30,24,37,35,35,6,11,26,29,33,57,9,18,31,37,7,22,4,24,66,81,62,70,60,70,92,92,63,61,0,79,79,87,26,0,-73,-40,-122,0,0,109,172,167,181,174,172,180,146,140,88,196,197,201,206,218,222,259,196,648,743,765,765,765,397,397,411,411,440,444,459,471,543,587,587,624,672,672,767,1400,1616,1888,1759,1888,2184,29977,2373] Don't be fooled by my opponent's rating. In the previous rounds, he had beaten three 1700-rated players. Three major upsets. I knew I had to be careful and not underestimate him.} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 c5 {Tarrasch Defense} 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 c4 10. Ne5 $1 Be6 {We've played the most popular moves so far. I believe my opponent knew these kinds of positions better than I did so I decided to play some less popular moves here to try and exploit black's weaknesses on d5 and the e5 square.} 11. Qd2 h6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. f4 $1 {Playing this like a stonewall structure. I like white better since black can't access the e4 square as easily as the e5 square.} Rb8 14. Kh1 $6 (14. Rf2 Ne7) 14... Qa5 $2 {My opponent almost reached and touched the b7 pawn to play 14.b5. He realized his mistake at the last moment and quickly played this move instead.} (14... Bxe5 15. dxe5 d4 16. Ne4 Qd7 17. Qc2 Bd5 18. Nd6 Nb4 19. Qd2 Qc6 20. Bf3 c3 21. Qxd4 $13) 15. Rad1 Rfd8 $2 (15... Rbd8 16. a3) 16. e3 $4 {A lazy move. Better was the aggressive but tricky} (16. f5 $1 Bc8 17. Ng4 Bxd4 18. Nxh6+ $3 Kf8 19. Nxf7 $3 Kxf7 20. Qg5 Rd6 $3 21. Rxd4 Nxd4 22. f6 gxf6 23. Bxd5+ Ke7 24. Qg7+ $16) 16... Bf5 $2 (16... Bxe5) 17. a3 $6 {Stopping Nb4 Ne3 ideas but the comp liked a pawn storm on the kingside.} (17. g4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 Be6 19. Qe2 Nb4 20. g5 hxg5 21. Qh5 Nd3 22. Qxg5 Nxb2 23. Rc1 Nd3 $16) 17... Bxe5 18. fxe5 Bd3 19. Rf4 Rd7 20. Bh3 Re7 21. b4 $2 (21. Qg2 Ree8 22. Qxd5 Qxd5+ 23. Nxd5 Ne7 24. Bg2 b5 25. Nb4 Bg6 26. d5 Bd3 27. d6 Ng6) 21... Qxa3 22. Nxd5 Ree8 23. Bf1 Bxf1 $6 24. Rdxf1 Rbd8 25. Rxf7 $6 {Here I was getting low on time and decided I needed to gamble a bit if I wanted to go for the win. This position is equal according to the engine but that will soon change as the next few moves were played quickly due to time trouble, and hence won't be the most accurate.} (25. Qf2) 25... Rxd5 26. Rxb7 $2 (26. Qe2) 26... Nxe5 27. Qf2 $6 Qd3 $2 (27... Qa6 $1 28. Rc7 Qb6 29. Rf7 Qc6 30. dxe5 Rd2+ 31. Qf3 Qxf3+ 32. R7xf3 c3 33. R3f2 Rc8 34. Rg2 $17) 28. dxe5 Qg6 $4 {Black panics here. Allowing the two rooks on the 7th rank turns the tide in white's favor. Better was either} (28... Rd7 29. Rxd7 Qxd7 $10) 29. Qf7+ Qxf7 30. Rfxf7 Rdxe5 31. Rxg7+ Kh8 32. Rgc7 $6 Rxe3 33. Rxc4 $6 (33. Kg2 a6) 33... Ra3 $4 (33... R3e7 34. Rxe7 Rxe7) 34. Kg2 Ra2+ 35. Kh3 a5 36. b5 Rb2 37. b6 Rb4 $6 38. Rxb4 axb4 39. Rc7 b3 40. Rc3 Rb8 41. Rxb3 Rb7 42. Kg4 Kg7 43. Kf5 Kf7 44. g4 Ke7 45. Kg6 Kf8 46. Kxh6 Kg8 47. g5 Kf7 48. g6+ Kg8 $4 (48... Kf6) 49. Rc3 Kf8 50. g7+ Ke7 51. Rc7+ {Black resigned here.} 1-0

[Event "2024 WA Barber Closed"]
[Site "Greenlake, WA"]
[Date "2024.04.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Cheng, Selina"]
[Black "Frederick, Benjamin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "1603"]
[BlackElo "1501"]
[Annotator "Selina Cheng"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[GameId "2057140909015073"]
[EventDate "2024.04.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,91,19,38,25,16,14,23,25,0,35,4,4,-1,4,6,9,11,39,22,29,9,17,0,11,4,279,270,335,329,333,328,332,345,344,344,346,362,350,351,351,338,347,341,348,380,392,348,353,349,396,415,434,434,401,460,477,435,463,360,538,504,579,492,533,523,538,543,552,535,540,549,557,552,1205,1329,1332,1780,1862,2002,2159,1421,29987,29988,29989,29990,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,29999]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Ruy López} a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. h3 Be7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 $6 {Inaccuracy. c3 was best.} (7. c3 O-O 8. O-O Re8 9. Re1 b5 10. Bc2 h6 11. a4 Bd7) 7... b5 8. Bb3 h6 9. a3 Be6 10. Nd5 O-O (10... Nxd5 11. exd5 {Fork}) 11. Be3 Na5 12. Ba2 $6 {Inaccuracy. Nxf6+ was best.} (12. Nxf6+ Bxf6) 12... c6 $4 {Blunder. Nxd5 was best. A blunder. Bb6 is coming, winning the knight} (12... Nxd5 13. exd5 Bf5 14. b4 Nb7 15. c4 Bg6 16. O-O Bh5 17. g4 Bg6 18. Kh2 Qe8 19. Rg1) 13. Bb6 Qd7 $6 {Inaccuracy. cxd5 was best.} (13... cxd5 14. Bxd8 Bxd8 15. exd5 Bf5 16. O-O Bb6 17. b4 Nb7 18. c4 bxc4 19. Bxc4 Rfc8 20. Re1) 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Bxa5 Qf7 17. O-O Nh5 18. Bd2 Nf4 19. Bxf4 Qxf4 20. Qd2 {I want to trade queens since I'm up a knight.} Qf6 21. c4 Qg6 {Qg6 has the idea of Rxf3, taking the knight back.} 22. Qe3 {I defend my knight.} Rf4 23. cxb5 axb5 24. Nd2 Raf8 25. Rac1 c5 26. b4 {I want to open the c-file.} cxb4 27. axb4 d5 28. Rc7 d4 29. Qg3 {I try to trade queens.} Qf6 30. f3 h5 $6 {I think this move doesn't help him.} 31. Ra1 $140 {Ra1 with the idea of doubling on the 7th rank.} h4 32. Qe1 Rf7 33. Rxf7 {I simplify.} Qxf7 34. Nb3 Qg6 35. Ra8+ Kh7 36. Nc5 {I want him to take the f-pawn, as I can play Qxh4 and win the rook.} Rxf3 $4 {Checkmate is now unavoidable. Qh6 was best. A fatal blunder. He will lose his rook.} (36... Qh6 37. Ra1 Rf7 38. Qc1 Qf6 39. Qd2 Rc7 40. Rf1 Rf7 41. Qa2 Re7 42. Kh1 Qf4 43. Nxe6) 37. Qxh4+ Qh6 38. Qxh6+ Kxh6 39. gxf3 {And I capture his rook.} g5 40. Nxe6 g4 41. hxg4 Kg6 42. Rf8 Kh6 43. Rf6+ Kh7 44. g5 Kh8 $4 {Checkmate is now unavoidable. Kg8 was best.} (44... Kg8 45. g6 Kh8 46. Rf8#) 45. g6 Kg8 46. Rf8# {Checkmate.} 1-0

[Event "SCC Friday Night Playoff Armageddon Game"]
[Site "Seattle, WA"]
[Date "2024.05.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Loving, Jason"]
[Black "van Eerde, Matthew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B94"]
[WhiteElo "2067"]
[BlackElo "1798"]
[Annotator "Jason Loving"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[GameId "2055220698821436"]
[EventDate "2024.05.10"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.12.21"]

{[%evp 0,53,19,38,40,41,66,66,57,33,33,38,58,65,49,50,71,62,65,65,66,74,82,98,121,94,140,130,133,144,137,115,126,137,148,136,159,165,184,193,191,196,283,246,246,332,332,332,353,282,324,235,531,691,1088,628] Matt had held me to a draw in an earlier game, leading to us tying for first place and playing this Armageddon game for first. [The rules specified a single winner of the Championship. – JS] Initially, I had planned to bid an hour and fifteen minutes to take Black and get draw odds, but after more reflection I realized both Matt and I played the Najdorf Sicilian exclusively as Black (a fighting and double-edged opening). So instead I bid an hour and 43 minutes (which was almost certain to give me the white side). By taking White, I would be forcing him to either choose an opening he didn't know as well as the Najdorf, or he would play the double-edged Najdorf (not ideal when all you need is a draw).} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {The Najdorf Sicilian. Black plays 5...a6 with the plan to play ...e5 in the near future. While the d6-pawn is a backwards pawn, Black’s activity compensates.} 6. Bg5 {The “old” mainline (More common is Be3 nowadays). As I understand it, this isn’t played at the highest levels anymore as after 6...e6 7.f4 Qb6!? 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3, Black has played the “Poison Pawn Variation” which has been analyzed extensively to be a draw with accurate play. However, I haven’t yet run into anyone who has found it valuable enough to memorize 30 moves for a forced draw, so I still play it.} e5 {Against Be3, Be2, and other common tries by white, this is the "automatic" move. As I understand it, it's not preferred against Bc4 or Bg5 because white already has extra control over the d5 square.} 7. Bxf6 {This was where my preparation ended. The idea is that while I’m giving up the bishop pair, my control over d5 is going to be unparalleled (making the weakness on d6 very aggravating for Black) and Black will almost be required to give up his light-squared Bishop for my Knight.} gxf6 {Avoiding moving the Queen twice. The move ...gxf6 looks odd, but it often is played in different lines.} (7... Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. Nf5 Bxf5 10. exf5 {is a position I’ve had before. The computer rates it as roughly equal, though I’d prefer the white side.}) 8. Nf5 Bxf5 {The knight on f5 is too strong to be ignored with its pressure on d6 and caging effect on the f8-Bishop.} 9. exf5 {Black is slightly behind in development and doesn’t have control over d5, but given a few turns, can fix these problems; so White needs to play actively.} Nd7 10. Bc4 Nb6 11. Bb3 Qd7 12. Qh5 d5 13. O-O-O {The last few moves have been very natural from both sides. Both are looking to develop and castle as quickly as possible, while trying to contest the d5-square.} d4 {An unfortunate necessity. Black would love to castle queenside, but then d5 falls. While this move keeps the d-pawn, it releases White’s bishop.} 14. Ne4 Qe7 {I thought 14...Bg7 was a try, but Matt pointed out after the game that it loses immediately to 15.Bxf7+!, as if 15...Qxf7 16.Nd6+ wins.} 15. Rhe1 {A soft move by me that doesn’t contest Black’s lack of development enough. Instead, 15.Be6! prevents Black from castling, e.g., 15.Be6 Nd7 16.Bxd7+ Kxd7 17.c3 Rc8 18.Kb1 Kc7 19.cxd4 exd4 20.Rxd4. Compared to the game, Black still needs one more turn to get his King to safety and I’ve claimed the central pawns, instead of the measly f7-pawn.} O-O-O $1 {It’s important to understand that Black can’t stay in the center any longer due to threats of Rxd4, Be6, c3, or f4. This gives up the f7-pawn, but resolves Black’s biggest concern, the lack of development.} 16. Bxf7 Bg7 {Analyzing afterwards, Matt was self-critical about this move. While it’s not an ideal square for the bishop, it does allow Black to complete development; so I’m inclined to think it’s fine.} 17. Kb1 {The most pressing continuation is the immediate f4 to challenge Black’s center, but without immediate threats from Black, I took the time to better protect my king.} Kb8 {Clearly Matt had the same idea.} 18. f4 {If not this, it’s hard to find another path forward for White. Black’s center is strong and, given a few spare moves, he could begin a queenside attack (his pawns are pointing there) with doubling the Rooks on the c-file, ...Nc4, and ...Qb4.} Rd7 {Freeing up squares for the h8-rook and preparing to put pressure on the c-file.} 19. Be6 Rc7 20. Qh4 {This move was difficult for me to decide on. There seemed to be many options - 20.Rd3 or 20.g4 both seemed like plausible ideas, but I wanted to remain flexible. My Queen is far away from the rest of the army and not contributing. This puts pressure on Black’s center and gives the ability to swing to the queenside via g3 quickly, if needed.} Na4 $2 {Black has a difficult position after a more pedestrian 20...h5, but the text makes the position much harder, as now the Bishop can come to b3 with tempo after 21.fxe5 fxe5 22.Qxe7. After 20...h5 21.fxe5 fxe5 22.Qxe7 Rxe7 23.Rf1 Rh6, White’s got the upper hand with the extra passed f-pawn, but Black isn’t in immediate danger.} 21. fxe5 Qb4 {A necessity, as Black loses material with 21...fxe5? 22.Qxe7 Rxe7 23.Bb3 and, after the knight moves, 24.f6.} 22. Bb3 fxe5 23. f6 {Pushing the passed pawn and burying Black’s Bishop and Rook, which slows down my opponent’s potential attack on the queenside.} Bf8 24. Qg3 {Threatening e5, keeping Black’s h8-Rook holed in, and adding another defender to c3 to avoid sacrifices by Black.} Qb5 {Protecting e5.} 25. f7 {Threatening Qg8, if Black isn’t careful. Matt pointed out after the game that White can immediately cash in with 25.Bxa4 Qxa4 26.Qxe5. In the game, I didn’t like that Black would be able to get in ...Qxc2+, but Black is in a difficult position afterwards. Matt pointed out that this was still good for White. After 27.Ka1, Black has to play 27...Bh6 to prevent Rc1, e.g., 28.Qxd4 Rhc8 29.a3 and White is up two pawns.} Bh6 $4 {This forfeits control over d6. Before this, Black’s position was tough, but playable. Now, it’s no longer playable. 25...Bb4 26.Rf1 Rhc8 was what I had calculated, thinking that 27.Qg8 might be a shot, but after 27...Bf8!, Black is still in the game: White’s Queen is misplaced and Black has finished development to target White’s queenside. Instead, 27.Rf5 is the right idea to keep pressing Black’s center.} 26. Nd6 {This forks Black’s Queen and c8. While there’s nothing on c8 currently, Black needs to be able to play ...Rcc8 to defend against Qg8. Now that’s no longer an option.} Qc5 27. Qg8+ {And Black is losing at least a rook. If the King moves, the Rook on h8 falls. If 27...Rcc8, then 28.Nxc8 Qxc8 29.Rxe5! and Black is down an exchange and will lose significantly more material after Re8 is played.} 1-0

