[Event "2026 WA Senior Open"] [Site "Seattle"] [Date "2026.04.18"] [Round "3"] [Board "2"] [White "Harwood"] [Black "LaVoice, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Harwood,Paul"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "1847"] [BlackElo "1700"] [PlyCount "81"] [GameId "2300455140193351"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,81,14,24,26,3,0,0,0,0,7,7,6,12,27,10,19,-6,-2,-15,-3,-11,16,-12,28,33,22,-26,-22,-39,-28,-33,-14,18,-27,21,1,-115,-113,-106,-120,-96,-1,1,305,313,341,324,391,266,322,293,425,333,322,278,375,282,335,327,379,411,395,192,183,217,268,227,32767,251,270,213,248,251,287,139,107,182,810,371,453,537,1142,1093]} 1. e4 e6 2. d3 c5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Nge7 5. Bg2 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. c3 e5 8. Nbd2 d6 9. Re1 O-O 10. a4 Bg4 {[#]} ({Relevant:} 10... h6 11. Rb1 a6 12. b4 cxb4 13. cxb4 b5 14. Nf1 Be6 15. Be3 f5 16. a5 f4 17. Bb6 Qd7 18. d4 Bg4 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. f3 Be6 22. gxf4 Bxf4 23. Ng3 Rac8 24. Ne2 Be5 25. f4 Bg7 26. Qd2 Bc4 27. Ng3 Qg4 28. Qxd6 Nc6 29. f5 Ne5 30. Qd1 Qh4 31. Bf1 Ng4 32. Qe2 Bxe2 {0-1 Kovalev,V (2623)-Vitiugov,N (2724) Chess.com Rapid Wk12 Swiss Chess.com INT 2022 (6)}) 11. Nf1 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. h3 Bd7 12. Nc4 Be6 13. Ng5 Bc8 14. f4 h6 15. Nf3 Qc7 16. Be3 Na5 17. Nxa5 Qxa5 18. d4 Nc6 19. d5 Nb8 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Nd2 Nd7 22. Rf1 b6 23. Nc4 Qa6 24. b3 Qb7 25. Qd2 g5 26. h4 f6 27. Bh3 Qc7 28. Be6+ Kh8 29. hxg5 fxg5 30. Bxg5 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 Nf8 32. d6 Qc6 33. Bd5 Qe8 34. Bxh6 Be6 35. Bxg7+ Kxg7 36. Qg5+ Qg6 37. Qxg6+ Kxg6 38. Bxa8 {1-0 Lalic,K (2194)-Kovacic,F (1714) Podturen Mavrin Memorial 7th 2019 (1)}) 11... Qd7 12. Ne3 Bh3 13. Bh1 $2 {There is never a time when a chess engine approves of this move - never!} (13. Bxh3 Qxh3 14. b4 cxb4 15. cxb4 Nxb4 16. Rb1 a5 17. Ba3 $14) 13... h6 14. a5 $5 {Gaining space and vacating a4 for the queen.} Kh7 15. Nd2 f5 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Qh5 $5 {A combative move showing my intention to play for a win. There are all kinds of traps and tactics in his position but I was accurate in my assessment that the position is still equal.} f4 {[#]This was the most critical position of the game and where I did the most calculation.} 18. Be4+ $2 (18. Nf3 $1 {I saw this idea of Nf3-g5 winning back the bishop after fe3 but for some reason I kept thinking that after Nxh3, ef2 wins the rook. No, as the h3 knight captures on f2.} fxe3 (18... Kg8 {This is the narrow sequence of moves that holds the game.} 19. g4 fxe3 20. Qxh3 exf2+ 21. Kxf2 e4 22. dxe4 Ne5 23. Kg1 $11) 19. Ng5+ Kg8 20. Nxh3 Qe8 (20... exf2+ 21. Nxf2) 21. Qg4 exf2+ 22. Nxf2 $18) 18... Kh8 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. Bxd5 Ne7 $2 (20... Bg4 $1 21. Qh4 Ne7 22. h3 Bf5 23. Bg2 Bxd3 24. Qh5 fxg3 25. fxg3 $17) 21. Bf3 {[%csl Ra8,Rg4][%CAl Ga5a6,Ga6b7,Gf3a8] Stopping ideas of Bg4 and also preparing the dangerous a6.} Rab8 $4 22. g4 {And like that, White is now winning.} Bxg4 23. Bxg4 Qb5 {[%csl Gd3]} 24. Nc4 (24. c4 Qb4 25. Kh1 e4 26. dxe4 b5 27. axb6 Qxb6 28. Nf3 $18) 24... Rbd8 25. Bd2 Kh7 26. b4 cxb4 27. Rab1 Nd5 28. Bf5+ (28. Nxe5 {I liked this tactic but felt I could be missing something -- turns out, Ne5 wins.} dxe5 29. c4 Qxa5 30. cxd5 Qxd5 31. Bxb4 Rf6 32. Bf3 Qf7 33. Be4+ $18) 28... Kh8 29. Qg6 Nf6 30. Rxb4 Qc6 31. Be4 $2 (31. Bxf4 $1 {I saw this too! Idea of Re7 and then Rbb7 with an mating attack on the king.} exf4 (31... Rg8 32. Bxe5 (32. Bg3) 32... Rde8 33. Nxd6 Qxd6 34. Bxd6 Rxe1+ 35. Kg2 Bf8 36. Bxf8 $18) 32. Re7 Rg8 33. Rbxb7 Qxb7 34. Rxb7 Bf8 35. Qxg8+ Kxg8 36. Rxa7 Re8 37. Kf1) 31... Nxe4 32. dxe4 Rg8 {Rich is a fighter and does not give up easy.} 33. Kf1 Qd7 34. Qf5 Qe7 35. Qh3 Bf8 36. Reb1 d5 37. Rxb7 Qg5 38. exd5 Bc5 {[#]} 39. Qf3 (39. Nxe5 $3 {An almost impossible move to find but this wins immediately.} Qg1+ $2 40. Ke2 f3+ 41. Kd3 Rxd5+ 42. Kc4 Bf8 43. Nf7+ Kh7 44. Nxh6+ $18) 39... Qg1+ 40. Ke2 Qxh2 $2 41. Rh1 {Black resigned.} 1-0