[Event "188th GK tournament"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.08.02"] [Round "2"] [White "duoduo"] [Black "Paul H."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B26"] [WhiteElo "1835"] [BlackElo "1911"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [TimeControl "1/172800:0"] {[%evp 0,68,44,32,41,38,81,14,22,18,2,1,40,15,12,5,5,-8,61,1,6,-19,-23,-4,-4, -47,20,31,29,29,72,66,78,59,62,45,48,54,33,14,48,-37,-46,-41,-41,-40,-30,-37, -33,-36,0,0,0,0,0,-11,35,-47,-35,-71,-78,-68,-62,-114,-116,-146,-150,-208,-208, -556,-542]} {The second round of the 188th GK tourney. I won all my games in round one but I don't expect that streak to continue.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Nge2 Nc6 5. Bg2 e6 6. O-O Nge7 7. d3 O-O 8. Be3 Nd4 {Stopping d4 is critical.} 9. Qd2 d6 10. Nd1 Bd7 (10... Nxe2+ 11. Qxe2 b6 12. h4 h5 13. Nc3 Bb7 $11) 11. c3 Ndc6 ({An interesting GM match continued} 11... Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Rc8 13. f4 b5 14. Nf2 a5 15. Rac1 b4 16. c4 Nc6 17. g4 Nd4 18. Qd1 f5 19. g5 Bc6 20. h4 e5 21. h5 Qd7 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Bxd4 cxd4 24. exf5 Rxf5 25. Bxc6 Qxc6 26. Ne4 Rcf8 27. Qg4 exf4 28. Qf3 Qd7 29. Rc2 Kf7 30. Rh2 Rh8 31. Rxh8 Bxh8 32. Kg2 Bg7 33. Rh1 d5 34. cxd5 Qxd5 35. b3 a4 36. Rc1 axb3 37. Rc7+ Kf8 38. axb3 Qxb3 39. Rc8+ Ke7 40. Rc7+ Kf8 41. Ng3 {Ponomariov,R (2631)-Efimenko,Z (2602) chess.com INT 2020 1-0}) 12. Bh6 Rc8 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Ne3 $1 {[%csl Yc4,Yd5] [%CAl Ge3d5,Ge3c4] [#]Stopping any ideas of d5 and eyeing the c4 square.} b5 $6 $146 {Continuing to gain space on the queenside. Playing d5 to get rid of the d6 weakness might have been a better option though.} (14... e5 15. f4 f5 16. Rad1 Qc7 17. d4 Rcd8 18. d5 exf4 19. gxf4 Nb8 20. e5 b5 21. Qe1 Be8 22. Qg3 Nd7 23. Bh3 Kh8 24. Kh1 Nb6 25. Bg2 a5 26. Ng1 Bf7 27. Nh3 dxe5 28. fxe5 Nbxd5 29. Ng5 Nxe3 30. Rxd8 Qxd8 31. Qxe3 Bd5 32. Qxc5 Bxg2+ 33. Kxg2 Qd2+ 34. Kh1 Qxg5 35. Rg1 Qh4 36. e6 Qe4+ 37. Rg2 {0-1 (37) Flecker,W (2115)-Vlasak,R (2230) Werfen 1994}) (14... d5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Rad1 (16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Bxd5 Bh3 18. Bg2 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Ne5 {[%csl Yg2][%CAl Gd8d5,Yd5g2]} 20. Rad1 Qd5+ 21. f3 Qxa2 $11)) 15. Rad1 {[%csl Rd6] Black's d6 pawn is a liability and White will work to keep it that way.} (15. d4 Qb6 16. b3 cxd4 17. cxd4 d5 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Bxd5 exd5 20. Nxd5) 15... Qb6 16. d4 cxd4 17. Nxd4 Rfd8 18. Qd3 ({Missing an opportunity to grab the center with} 18. f4 d5 19. exd5 exd5 20. Nxc6 Rxc6 21. Qd4+ Qxd4 22. Rxd4 Be6 23. g4 Rcd6 $14 {and Black is on the defensive.}) 18... Ne5 19. Qe2 Nc4 20. h4 {I struggled for a long time on this move but finally decided on...} e5 {This makes sense to open the d7 bishop and prepare an eventual d5 push. e5 also locks out the g2 bishop.} 21. Nxc4 bxc4 {[%csl Yb2] [%CAl Gb6b2] Opening the b-file for additional action.} 22. Nf3 h6 {A waiting move to keep the knight out g5 and prepare Be6.} 23. Rd2 {Sensible. Doubling rooks on the weak d-pawn seems the way to go here but Black can defend this with relative ease.} Bg4 {I changed my mind about Be6 since this pin looks very nice and hinders White's plans somewhat.} {And this is why, White has to play the awkward} 24. Qe1 (24. Kh2 {Preparing Bh3 to trade off the meddlesome bishop.} Ng8 25. Bh3 Bxf3 26. Qxf3 Rc5 27. h5 g5 $11) 24... Qc7 25. Qe3 Rb8 { Chess is often about subtlties, not bold actions. Rb8 pressures b2, prepares Rb6 which will begin to double rooks and cover d6.} 26. Nh2 {Another way to kick the bishop but it displaces the knight.} Be6 {This was the position I was hoping for earlier but now it looks even better with White's knight out of play on h2. The position is still equal though.} 27. Rfd1 (27. Qe2 Rb6 28. h5 Ng8 29. Bf3 Rdb8 30. Rfd1 Nf6 31. hxg6 fxg6 32. Bg4 Bf7 $11) 27... Nc8 $6 ( 27... Rb6 {My original plan but then I thought about the plan of Nc8-b6-a4, pressuring the b2 pawn.} 28. f4 Rdb8 29. h5 Rxb2 30. hxg6 Rxd2 31. Qxd2 Qb6+ 32. Kh1 fxg6 33. Qxd6 Qxd6 34. Rxd6 Rb1+ 35. Bf1 Bh3 36. Kg1 exf4 37. gxf4 Ng8 38. Kf2 Nf6 39. Rd4 Rb2+ $11) 28. Nf3 (28. h5 $1 {Needed to drum up some counterplay.} gxh5 29. Qf3 h4 30. Ng4 Qe7 31. Nxe5 Rb6 $13) 28... Nb6 { Continuing my plan to post a knight on a4.} 29. Bf1 $2 {Too passive. Better is} (29. h5 g5 30. Nh2 Na4 31. Rb1 Rb5 32. Bf3 Qb6 33. Qxb6 axb6 34. Bg4 Nxc3 35. Re1 Na4 36. b3 cxb3 37. Bxe6 fxe6 38. axb3 Nc5 $15) 29... Na4 30. Rb1 {The initiative is starting to shift from White attacking the weak d6 pawn to defending his queenside pawns.} Rb6 {Building up on the b2 pawn.} 31. Rc2 $2 { Once again, h5 is a possibility but White is already worse.} Rdb8 32. Qc1 Qb7 $1 {Maximizing pressure on b2.} {White is almost lost and now blunders by going after the c4 pawn.} 33. Nd2 $4 Nxb2 {Forgetting that this wins a pawn while covering c4.} 34. f3 $4 Nd3 $1 {White resigns. At first I didn't understand why he resigned but soon realized that after Bd3, I win at least a piece and if he captures with Rb6, Qb6 is check and the white queen is lost.} ( {Play might have continued} 34... Nd3 35. Bxd3 cxd3 36. Rxb6 Qxb6+ {This is the killer.} 37. Kg2 dxc2 38. Qxc2 Qe3 $19) 0-1 [Event "188th GK tournament"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/"] [Date "2020.07.29"] [Round "2"] [White "Paul H."] [Black "duoduo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C35"] [WhiteElo "1938"] [BlackElo "1809"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,71,19,38,25,-21,-16,-28,5,-10,45,29,31,41,27,24,90,86,104,94,72,78, 149,77,401,400,400,403,400,394,404,391,372,363,422,340,346,347,359,380,378,378, 391,363,366,376,385,320,322,302,323,324,381,379,381,381,417,396,394,406,408, 409,418,413,438,435,608,528,552,631,29989,29990,29999,-30000]} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Be7 {The Cunningham Variation of the King's Gambit.} 4. Bc4 Bh4+ ( 4... Nf6 5. d3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Bxf4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Qa5 10. a3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 O-O-O 13. O-O $11) 5. Kf1 {The King is misplaced but so is Black's h4 bishop.} d6 6. d4 Bg4 ({Black should try to protect the f4 pawn with} 6... Bg5 7. h4 Be7 8. Bxf4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Bg4 $11) 7. Bxf4 Qe7 $6 (7... Ne7 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 O-O 10. g3 $11) 8. Qd3 Bxf3 {A strange decision to trade pieces when Black has a ways to go to complete his development.} 9. Qxf3 Nc6 10. c3 O-O-O 11. Nd2 Bg5 $4 {Hanging a piece so early is odd particularly for someone rated 1800.} 12. Qg4+ Kb8 13. Bxg5 $18 f6 14. Bf4 h5 $2 15. Qe6 { Forcing a Queen trade.} Re8 16. Qxe7 Rxe7 17. Bxg8 {Simplying further.} Rxg8 18. Kf2 (18. h4 g5 19. hxg5 fxg5 20. Be3 h4 21. Ke2 Nd8 22. Raf1 $18) 18... g5 19. Be3 Rge8 20. Rhe1 Nd8 21. d5 $1 {[%csl Yc6,Ye6] Taking away e6 and c6 from the knight.} Nf7 {/\Ne5} 22. Bd4 Ne5 23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Re2 {Doubling rooks first before planning Nf3-d4-e6.} Kc8 25. Rae1 Kd7 26. Nf3 R5e7 27. Nd4 Rf7 28. c4 Re5 29. b4 a6 30. a4 {Black cannot stop the pawn storm.} Kc8 31. c5 Kd7 32. Rc1 Rfe7 33. cxd6 cxd6 34. Rec2 Rxe4 $4 35. Rc8 Rxd4 $4 {He simply didn't see the mate.} (35... Rf4+ 36. Nf3 {Black cannot stop R1c7#.}) 36. R1c7# 1-0