[Event "Crossroads Invitational XV Arena"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.06.27"] [Round "?"] [White "levined"] [Black "Paul H."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D34"] [WhiteElo "2203"] [BlackElo "2100"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "180+2"] {[%evp 0,75,27,27,27,4,4,-32,6,-24,21,19,19,12,12,10,28,28,35,35,35,14,28,16, 30,20,18,-20,-6,0,1,-21,16,-16,-58,-49,-4,-51,27,29,186,15,15,-3,55,44,52,36, 46,39,34,40,36,37,48,59,124,124,449,427,462,469,505,496,520,520,638,572,757, 440,439,424,436,437,443,448,486,506]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 $6 {Played mechanically but this is the least favorable response. Nf6 or c6 are the mainline moves here. c5 is not wrong but it's uncommon. White wants to play the Catalan. It's important for me to research the best way to play against this opening.} 4. cxd5 {The Tarrasch Defense. An aggressive reply to the Queen's Gambit.} exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Na4 $5 {An odd-looking move but this is main line theory.} Be7 {The best place fo the bishop as it prepares to deal with Bg5.} 11. Be3 {Still theory.} Bf5 $6 {Not wrong but this walks into Nd4 which either forces trades or moving the bishop again. Subtle mistakes like this are important to avoid. Bg4 was better.} 12. Rc1 {[%csl Rc5][%CAl Gc1c5,Ge3c5,Ga4c5] Securing the c5 square.} Rc8 $6 (12... Re8 13. Nd4 Bd7 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Bd4 Ne4 16. Nc3 Bf8 17. e3 Qg5 18. Rc2 Qf5 19. Qe2 a6 20. Rfc1 Rad8 21. Qf3 Qg6 22. Qd1 Qf5 23. Qf3 Qg6 24. Qd1 Qf5 25. Qf3 {1/2-1/2 (25) Schreiner,P (2452)-Vazquez Igarza,R (2588) Warsaw 2013}) (12... Qd7 {Protecting the bishop on f5 and covering b7. It also allows the rooks to move freely on the back rank.} 13. Nc5 {That's why I was afraid to play Qd7, but there's nothing to be afraid of.} Bxc5 14. Rxc5 Rfe8 15. Bg5 b6 16. Rb5 {Staying on the d5 pawn.} Rad8 $14 {Bringing more protection to d5 but this looks scary, doesn't it? What if White takes on f6?} 17. Bxf6 gxf6 $11 {The f6 pawn is weak but it's hard to get to. Additionally, the pawn covers e5 and g5, two important squares that would allow White to infiltrate.}) 13. Bc5 {[#]} b6 $146 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. e3 (15. Rxc6 $1 {Yet another reason why Bf5 is not a good move.} Rxc6 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 $14) 15... Rfd8 (15... Be4 16. Nd4 Bxg2 $11) 16. Nd4 $6 {White should get his a4 knight back in the game with Nc3.} (16. Rxc6 {The same tactic as before.}) 16... Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Be4 $2 (17... Rc4 $1 18. Qd1 Bg4 {Harassing the queen which is tied to the defense of the a4 knight.} 19. Qb3 Be6 $15) 18. f3 Bc2 $6 {Hitting the knight but why? This just helps it get back into the game.} 19. Nc3 Rc4 $4 20. Qd2 $2 (20. Nxd5 $1 Rxd5 21. Qxc4 Qxe3+ 22. Kh1 Rc5 23. Qb4 $18) 20... Bg6 21. Ne2 Rxc1 $2 {Abandoning the nice post on c4 and allowing White to bring his other rook to the open file.} (21... Re8 {Hitting e3. Moves should have purpose. e3 is weak so Re8 creates a threat.} 22. Kf2 Rc5 23. Rc3 $14) 22. Rxc1 $2 Re8 {Better late than never. Re8 needed earlier.} 23. Kf2 h5 $2 {Senseless and played for lack of not knowing what to play. When positions like this happen, it is important to improve the position of your pieces. Here, Bf5-d7 helps to defend the queenside.} 24. h4 Bf5 25. Nd4 Bc8 (25... Bd7 26. Bf1 a5 $14) 26. Rc3 Ba6 (26... Bd7 {This felt awkward at the time because of Rc7 but it's not the end of the world.} 27. Rc7 a5 28. Bf1 Qd6 29. Qc3 Rd8 $14) 27. Qc1 (27. Bh3 $1 Qd8 28. Qc1 Bb7 29. Qc2 $16 (29. Rc7 Re7)) 27... Bc4 $4 { It is senseless moves like this that I need to improve on.} (27... Nd7 28. Rc7 Qd6 29. Rxa7 Nc5 $132) 28. b3 Bb5 $4 {Simply a blunder that hangs a piece.} ( 28... Ba6 29. Rc7 Qe5 30. Rxa7 $18) 29. Nxb5 a6 30. Nd4 Qe5 31. Rc8 {My opponent does a nice job of trading off pieces here. This simplification will magnify his piece advantage.} Rxc8 32. Qxc8+ Ne8 33. Bh3 Kh7 34. Qf5+ Qxf5 35. Bxf5+ g6 36. Bc8 a5 37. Bb7 Nd6 {A lost position but Nc7 defends d5 at least.} 38. Bxd5 {Black resigns.} 1-0