[Event "Holiday Invitational 2020"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02.22"] [Round "8"] [White "Chessmaster XI (Turk)"] [Black "Paul H."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2038"] [BlackElo "1867"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [EventRounds "1"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,138,27,-35,7,0,8,-15,13,-29,6,-9,-14,-42,-50,-35,-37,-41,-27,-41,-23, -32,-15,-8,-7,-36,-63,-60,-70,-95,-54,-58,-55,-49,-49,-51,-51,-37,-54,-68,-58, -38,-20,-57,-65,-89,-53,-73,-87,-66,-73,-76,-47,-74,-82,-82,-47,-56,-60,-70, -85,-85,-84,-83,-56,-144,-79,-121,-96,-101,-101,-129,-167,-175,-169,-220,-155, -148,-163,-195,-200,-271,-461,-535,-357,-651,-710,-890,-918,-986,-1069,-1240, -1317,-1745,-1343,-3123,-1315,-1240,-1496,-1781,-2009,-2128,-1166,-1406,-2108, -2521,-28155,-29971,-29972,-29981,-2115,-3307,-29784,-3232,-29974,-29975, -29976,-29983,-29982,-29987,-29984,-29985,-29986,-29987,-29988,-29989,-29990, -29991,-29992,-29993,-29994,-29995,-29994,-29995,-29994,-29995,-29996,-29997, -29998,-29999,-30000]} {Round 8. With an overwhelming score in the match, I was happy to draw with the Black pieces. Turk played relatively well this game. There were no unexpected piece or pawn sacrifices until the very end. With the exception of game two, this was its best performance.} 1. g3 {Turk loves unorthodox openings and has chosen g3 consistently throughout the match.} c5 2. Bg2 Nc6 3. d3 (3. e4 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. Ne2 e5 6. d3 Nge7 7. Be3 d6 8. a4 O-O 9. Na3 Be6 10. O-O b6 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 Bg4 13. f3 Bd7 14. Qd2 cxd4 15. Nxd4 d5 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Bg5 Re8 18. Nb5 dxe4 19. Nd6 e3 20. Bxe3 Rf8 21. Rac1 Qd7 22. Bg5 Nd5 23. Ne4 f6 24. Bh6 Bxh6 25. Qxh6 Bxa4 26. Rf2 Rac8 27. Ra1 Bc6 28. Rd2 a5 29. Rad1 Qe6 30. Bh3 f5 31. Qxh7+ Kxh7 32. Ng5+ Kh6 {Jones,G (2670) -Donchenko,A (2657) chess.com INT 2020 1-0 (65)}) 3... g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. c3 $6 {Taking away c3 from the knight is looking for problems. Black is already better.} d5 {[#]} 7. Be3 $6 $146 {A strange move attacking c5 and preparing d4 which would help White's development problems. This is bad though as it walks into d4.} ({Predecessor:} 7. O-O O-O 8. Na3 Rb8 9. Ne5 Nd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Bg4 14. Re1 Rfd8 15. f5 gxf5 16. h3 Bd1 17. Bf4 e5 18. Bg5 f6 19. Raxd1 fxg5 20. exf5 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Rd8 22. Rd5 b6 23. Rxd8+ Nxd8 24. Bd5+ Kf8 25. Kf2 e4 26. Ke3 Be5 27. g4 Bf4+ 28. Kxe4 Bc1 29. Nc4 b5 30. Nd6 Bxb2 31. Nxb5 a6 32. Nc7 Bxc3 33. Nxa6 Bd4 34. a4 Ke7 35. Nc7 Bc3 36. Nb5 Bb4 {Nakamura,H (2741)-Lagno,K (2522) Oslo 2010 1-0}) 7... d4 {Obvious and strong. Black will now control the center and dictate the pace of the game. } 8. Bd2 (8. Bf2 $6 Ng4 {Threatening to take the f2 bishop giving Black the bishop pair.}) 8... O-O 9. cxd4 (9. Na3 Be6 10. O-O Rc8 11. Ng5 Bf5 (11... Bd5 12. Bh3 $1 $11 {threatening c4.} Rc7 13. c4 Be6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Nxe6 $18)) 9... cxd4 10. O-O Re8 11. Na3 Be6 12. Ne1 $2 {A mystery move that I can't figure out. White opens his bishop diagonal but this only helps me try and trade off this strong piece.} (12. Nc4 {At first this looks counterintuitive but White would like Black to take on c4 as it opens the d-file for added pressure on d4.} Bxc4 13. dxc4 Qc7 $15) 12... Bd5 13. Rc1 (13. Nc4 {The knight needs to come into the game.} e5 (13... Bxc4 $2 14. dxc4 e5 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. c5 Rc8 17. Rc1 $15) 14. Bxd5 Qxd5 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Rxe5 $17) 13... Rc8 14. f5 $1 {This was White's best move of the match. It opens up the d2 bishop's diagonal and activates the f1 rook.} Bxg2 15. Nxg2 Qd7 16. fxg6 hxg6 17. Qb3 e5 {Taking more control of the center.} 18. Nh4 {[%csl Rg6][%CAl Gh4g6, Rb3g8] Threatening Ng6.} Re6 19. Nf3 e4 $1 {White's pieces are scattered across the board and cannot regroup to defend the center from being ripped open.} 20. Ng5 Re7 (20... e3 $3 {I calculated this during the game but didn't see the point in introducing unneeded complexity into the position.} 21. Be1 ( 21. Nxe6 $4 exd2 22. Rc5 fxe6 23. Nc4 $19)) 21. dxe4 Rce8 {There is no rush to capture on e4. Doubling rooks, increasing the pressure makes sense first.} 22. Rf2 Nxe4 (22... Rxe4 $1 23. Rxf6 Bxf6 24. Nxe4 Rxe4 $19) 23. Nxe4 Rxe4 24. Rcf1 Nd8 $5 {A defensive move covering b7 and f7 with idea of going to e6 when appropriate.} (24... R8e7) 25. Qd3 Qe7 (25... f5 $6 26. h4 {/\h5, undermining f5.}) 26. Re1 (26. Nc4 {The knight needs to get into the game even at the expense of a pawn.} Qe6 (26... Rxe2 $2 27. Bg5 Qe6 28. Qxe2 Qxe2 29. Rxe2 Rxe2 30. Bxd8 $16) 27. h4 Rxe2 28. Qxe2 Qxe2 29. Rxe2 Rxe2 30. Rd1 $17) 26... a6 $6 27. Nc2 b5 $6 {My idea is to play Nb7 with thoughts of Nc5 or Nd6.} 28. a3 Nb7 29. Ref1 Nc5 $1 30. Qf3 f5 (30... Rxe2 31. Rxe2 Qxe2 32. Qxf7+ Kh7 33. Rf6 Qd1+ 34. Rf1 Qxc2 35. Qxe8 Qxd2 $19) 31. Bb4 Qe5 32. Kh1 Kh7 33. Rg2 Ne6 (33... a5 $5 34. Bxa5 (34. Bxc5 Qxc5 35. Qd3 Qc4 36. Rff2 Rc8 37. Ne1 Qc1 $19) 34... Rxe2 ) 34. Qd3 Nc7 35. g4 $2 fxg4 36. Re1 Nd5 $1 {[%csl Rd3,Gf4,Rg2][%CAl Gd5f4, Yf4d3,Yf4g2]} 37. Bd2 Nf4 (37... Bh6 $1 {I was very close to playing this move. Trading off this dark-squared bishop is critical to controlling e3 but I was worried about premature trading and taking away protection from the d4 pawn.} 38. Rf1 Bxd2 39. Qxd2 g5 40. Ne1 Ne3 41. Rf7+ Kg8 42. Rff2 (42. Rgf2 g3 $1 43. Nd3 Qh8 $1 44. Qb4 gxf2 $19) 42... Nxg2 43. Nxg2 $19) 38. Bxf4 Qxf4 39. Nb4 a5 40. Nc6 {Many players would be troubled about the prospect of losing their b5 or a5 pawns. But these pawns have no bearing on the outcome of the game. Black has astranglehold on the center and is about to play Re3 followed by d3 which cannot be stopped.} Re3 41. Qd2 Qe4 {Not needed but I wanted to place a pin on the g2 rook and triple up on the file.} 42. Nxa5 d3 $1 43. Nb3 Rxe2 44. Rexe2 dxe2 45. Qe1 Bxb2 {The simplest way to win. Black now threatens Bc3 winning the queen.} 46. Qh4+ Kg8 47. Qe1 Bc3 48. Qxe2 Qxe2 49. Rxe2 Rxe2 50. Kg1 Be5 51. Kf1 Rxh2 {Given that CM does not resign, the rest of the game is a onesided affair} 52. Nc5 g3 53. Nd3 Bd4 54. Nf4 g5 55. Ng2 Bc5 56. Ke2 Rxg2+ 57. Kf3 Rg1 58. a4 bxa4 59. Kg4 Be3 60. Kf3 Bf4 61. Ke2 a3 62. Kd3 a2 63. Ke4 a1=Q 64. Kd5 Re1 65. Kc4 Rd1 66. Kb4 Rc1 67. Kb3 Qc3+ 68. Ka4 Qb2 69. Ka5 Ra1# {A tough game where I played well and widened my score to 6.5 to 1.5.} 0-1