[Event "2024 WA Senior Chess Championship"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2024.05.18"] [Round "3"] [White "Anthony, Ralph"] [Black "Harwood"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B38"] [WhiteElo "1623"] [BlackElo "1873"] [Annotator "Harwood,Paul"] [PlyCount "58"] [GameId "2046807425184089"] [EventDate "2024.05.17"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,58,26,15,40,42,44,9,11,7,64,25,33,13,26,24,34,30,34,25,41,42,44,49,43,37,50,44,76,20,11,16,9,8,9,14,45,39,43,38,53,54,61,10,22,22,28,28,20,14,37,35,32,0,-12,-34,-28,-19,-2,-3,8]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 d6 9. f3 Bd7 {This normal developing move seems to lead to a slight advantage for White.} (9... Nh5 {only a chess engine like Stockfish could consider such a move. Nh5 is listed in Chessbase's opening encyclopedia but it is the ninth best move and played only eight times.} 10. Qd2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bxd4 12. Qxd4 Qa5 $11 {I guess the idea is to relieve the tension in the center and leave white with his hemmed in bishop?}) 10. O-O Rc8 {I spent quite a while on this move as I was worried about an exchange on c6 and hanging my a-pawn. This doesn't work but it still caught my attention.} 11. Qd2 (11. Nxc6 {I spent a lot of time calculating this.} bxc6 ({This line was easier to see.} 11... Bxc6 12. Bxa7 $2 b6 13. Qb3) 12. Bxa7 c5 13. Qb3 Rc6 14. Nd5 Ra6 15. Bb6 Qb8 16. Bc7 Qa8 $17) 11... Re8 $6 {This is slow. I played it to cover e7 as Nd5 could be a future threat. It was probably better to play something more constructive like a6 or just Nxd4 to relieve some pressure in the center.} 12. Rac1 a6 $5 {I felt like I had no moves.} (12... Nxd4 13. Bxd4 a5 14. b3 Bc6 15. Rc2 Nd7 16. Bf2 $14) 13. Rfd1 {Ralph is playing very solidly but he is not initiating an attack that is customary from the White side of an Accelerated Dragon..} (13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Rc2 Nd7 15. b3 b6 16. Rfc1 Qc7 $14) 13... h5 $6 {Another random move to gain space but it doesn't do much to improve my position.} ({Relevant:} 13... Qa5 14. Nb3 Qc7 15. Nd5 Qb8 16. Nb6 Rcd8 17. Qe1 Be6 18. Qf2 Nd7 19. Rd2 Nxb6 20. Bxb6 Rc8 21. f4 Bd7 22. c5 Be6 23. Rcd1 Bxb3 24. axb3 dxc5 25. Bxc5 Na5 26. Ba7 Qa8 27. e5 Nxb3 28. Rd7 Na5 29. Bb6 Nc4 30. Bf3 Nxb6 31. Qxb6 Bf8 32. e6 f5 33. Qe3 Rcd8 34. g4 fxg4 35. Bxg4 Bg7 36. f5 Qc8 37. fxg6 hxg6 38. Bf3 Rf8 39. Be4 Rxd7 40. exd7 Qc7 41. Qb3+ Kh7 42. Qh3+ Bh6 43. Qe6 {1-0 Vidit,S (2707)-Quizon,D (2351) Asian Continental blitz op Xingtai 2019 (2)}) (13... Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Qa5 15. b3 b5 16. Qb2 Nh5 17. Bxg7 Nxg7 18. Nd5 bxc4 19. Bxc4 Be6 $14) 14. a3 $2 {The first real mistake that I found a way to capitalize on.} Na5 $1 {[%csl Gb3,Yc1,Yc4,Yd2][%CAl Ga5b3]} 15. Nd5 {A solid move leading to an equal position.} e5 {[#]} (15... Ba4 {it was important to insert this move to kick the rook off the d-file and take control of the light squares.} 16. Re1 Nd7 17. Rb1 Bxd4 18. Bxd4 Nb3 19. Qc3 Nxd4 20. Qxd4 Bb3 21. Rbc1 e6 22. Ne3 Rc6 $11) 16. Bg5 $146 {a tough move to find and the only one that equalizes.} ({Predecessor:} 16. Nc2 Nb3 17. Qb4 Nxc1 18. Bxc1 Nxd5 19. Rxd5 Be6 20. Rd1 Qc7 21. b3 Qc5+ 22. Be3 Qxb4 23. Nxb4 Bf8 24. Nd5 Bxd5 25. Rxd5 Re6 26. Bd3 Kh7 27. Kf2 Bh6 28. Bb6 Bc1 29. a4 Ba3 30. Ba5 Rc5 31. Bd2 Rxd5 32. cxd5 Bc5+ 33. Ke2 Re7 34. Bc4 f5 35. Bg5 Re8 36. Kd3 Kg7 37. h3 Rb8 38. a5 Bb4 39. Bd2 Bxd2 40. Kxd2 fxe4 41. fxe4 h4 42. Ke3 b5 43. axb6 Rxb6 44. Kf3 Kf6 45. b4 Rxb4 {0-1 Rodrigues,R (2004)-De Souza,A (2103) Joao Pessoa op 08 2013 (3)}) 16... exd4 (16... Ba4 $5 {once again, this move is important to restrain White's piece coordination.} 17. Re1 exd4 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Qxa5 d3 21. Bxd3 Qxb2 {similar to what happened in the game.} 22. Qxa4 Qd4+ 23. Kh1 Qxd3 $11) 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxa5 d3 20. Bxd3 Qxb2 21. Rb1 Qd4+ 22. Kh1 Bc6 (22... Rc5 {the rook lift is more flexible for Black but the position is still equal.} 23. Qb4 Bc6 $11) 23. Bf1 Qc5 24. Qb4 Rcd8 25. Rd2 a5 26. Qxc5 dxc5 27. Rbd1 Rxd2 28. Rxd2 Kf8 29. Kg1 Ke7 {Draw agreed.} 1/2-1/2