[Event "Classical Game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2026.03.31"] [Round "?"] [White "BXBCChess"] [Black "Harwood"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2087"] [BlackElo "2088"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "103"] [GameId "2293743430995968"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [TimeControl "1800+10"] {[%evp 0,103,24,12,22,15,26,26,21,19,12,-2,1,5,-6,10,17,-22,-27,-21,5,-29,32767,7,20,4,-2,-3,-18,32767,-13,-9,1,7,33,10,32,33,16,53,69,54,48,33,111,92,51,52,43,50,140,109,134,156,153,153,152,32767,123,124,139,122,120,117,191,177,194,188,200,195,191,183,200,237,237,209,174,213,181,207,175,32767,109,98,102,96,204,32767,133,115,148,87,121,132,140,-29,-1,-46,-1,-1,1,-1,-1,-72,-68,-294] Playing slow chess is essential for real improvement — a lesson I've been ignoring lately by defaulting to blitz and bullet. To get back on track, I'm shifting into tournament mode. With two upcoming tournaments on my schedule, this is the first in a series of preparation games.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {The normal reply but I was contemplating g6 too. The reason is that I wasn't sure if my opponent would play the typical d4 or try to hit me with a sideline like the Rossolimo.} 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) lets White sidestep the heavily theoretical Open Sicilian while still fighting for an advantage. The idea is to pressure or trade off the bishop for the knight on c6, disrupting Black's pawn structure and limiting counterplay before it starts.} g6 {The most popular reply - B31 Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack, Fianchetto Variation} 4. Bxc6 {Trading the bishop for the knight on c6 doubles Black's pawns, giving White a long-term structural advantage — Black ends up with an inferior pawn structure while White retains a solid, easy-to-play position.} bxc6 {The consensus is that bxc6 is the better recapture. It keeps Black's central pawn structure more intact and opens the b-file for potential counterplay. dxc6 is also playable but leaves Black with less central influence.} 5. d3 {The second most popular try. O-O is number one and my guess is because it allows for the most flexibility in the position.} (5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 d6 9. d3 f6 10. Na3 Rb8 11. Qa4 Qb6 12. Be3 Qa6 13. Qc2 g5 14. Qd2 Nf7 15. d4 cxd4 16. Nxd4 e6 17. Rab1 h6 18. Ne2 d5 19. Ng3 Rd8 20. Qc2 Ne5 21. Rbd1 Bd7 22. Bd4 Be8 23. Bxe5 fxe5 24. Qc1 Bg6 25. Rd2 Rf8 26. Qd1 Rf4 27. exd5 cxd5 28. Nh5 Bxh5 29. Qxh5 e4 30. Qe2 Qb6 31. Qe3 Qa6 32. Qe2 Qb6 33. Qe3 Qa5 34. Qg3 Rbf8 {0-1 Caruana,F (2795)-Bacrot,E (2631) 1st Thursday Jan 29th Chess.com INT blitz 2026 (6)}) 5... Bg7 6. Nbd2 Nf6 (6... e5 $5 {[%CAl Ga8b8,Gb8b1,Gg8e7]} 7. Nc4 {The knight has a nice outpost here but after proper developmenting moves, Black is fine.} d6 8. Bd2 h6 {Stopping Bg5 or even Ng5. Covering this square allows either Nbd7 or Be6 without any concerns.} 9. a3 $11 {?b4 to open up the b-file and create activity on the queenside.}) 7. O-O O-O ({The idea to play} 7... Nh5 {[%csl Yb2,Rf4][%CAl Gh5f4,Gg7b2] was something I did later in the game but it makes sense here. Nf4-e6 is a reasonable idea as well as keeping pressure on the b2 pawn.} 8. Re1 O-O 9. e5 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 $11) 8. c3 $5 {This move worried me because I thought my opponent was paused to take control of the center with d4 but it's just equal.} d6 ({I considered} 8... a5 {but thought I might need to a5 square for my queen at some point.} 9. e5 Nd5 10. h3 a4 11. Re1 d6 12. a3 Nc7 13. Ne4 Ne6 $11) 9. Re1 {[#]} Bg4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 9... e5 10. Nc4 Be6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Be3 Ng4 13. h3 Nxe3 14. fxe3 f5 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Ncd2 d5 17. e4 Qc7 18. Qe2 fxe4 19. dxe4 d4 20. c4 a5 21. a4 Qe7 22. Rf1 Kh7 23. b3 Rf4 24. Ne1 Rxf1+ 25. Nxf1 Rb8 26. Nd2 Qg5 27. Ndf3 Qg3 28. Rb1 Bxh3 29. Nd3 Bg4 30. Nxc5 Rf8 31. Rf1 h5 32. Nd3 Bh6 33. Qe1 Be3+ 34. Kh1 Qxe1 35. Rxe1 Bxf3 36. gxf3 Rxf3 37. Nxe5 Rf2 38. Nxc6 Rb2 39. e5 {1-0 Xie,I (1864)-D'Arruda,R (2271) Titled Tuesday intern op 31st Dec Early Chess.com INT blitz 2024 (11)}) (9... Nd7 $5 {[%CAl Gd8c7,Gc8b7] This is an interesting waiting move to slowly reinforce the center while continuing development.} 10. d4 $6 (10. h3 a5 11. Nc4 Qc7 12. Bg5 Re8 13. Qd2 Ba6 14. Bh6 Bxc4 15. dxc4 Reb8 $11) 10... cxd4 11. cxd4 c5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 $15) 10. Qe2 {Perhaps to reinforce an e5 push?} Re8 {A slower move but still equal. I'm preparing for the e-file to be opened and also providing protection to the e7 pawn.} (10... e5 {Locking the position. Now the queen on e2 looks weird.} 11. h3 Be6 12. Ng5 Bc8 $11) 11. h3 {[#]This more was where I took the most amount of time to consider. Should I take on f3? Should I retreat to e6, d7 or c8? On Be6, isn't Ng5 an issue?} Bd7 (11... Bxf3 12. Nxf3 Nd7 13. Qc2 a5 14. Rb1 a4 15. Bf4 $11) 12. d4 cxd4 13. cxd4 Qc7 {Somewhat passive but the position remains dead equal with chance for both sides.} (13... a5 {makes sense but I was worried about a4, freezing my pawn on a5 where it can later be pressure by Bd2 and a later Nb3.} 14. e5 (14. a4 {[%CAl Gd7c8,Gc8a6,Ga6f1]} Bc8 15. Ra3 Ba6 16. Qe3 Qc8 17. Nb3 Bb7 $11) 14... Nd5 15. Nc4 a4 $11) 14. b3 {[%csl Ga3,Gb2,Gc1][%CAl Rc1h6,Gc1b2,Gb2h8,Gc1a3,Ga3c5] A good move. White sees his future on the c1-h6 diagonal is not very promising so he elects to redeploy the bishop to b2 or a3.} c5 {Almost 15 moves in and both players have create an equilibrium where neither side has an advantage. This is the goal of a perfect chess game - both sides have neutralized their opponent and a draw is the likely outcome.} 15. Bb2 Nh5 $5 {[%csl Rb2,Rd4,Re2,Gf4][%CAl Gh5f4,Gg7a1,Yf4e2] This is equally as good as cd4. I played it because I liked that it put indirect pressure on the hanging b2 bishop and allowed the flexibility of a future Nf4.} (15... cxd4 16. e5 dxe5 17. Nxe5 Be6 18. Rac1 Qb7 19. Bxd4 $11) 16. Qe3 a5 $6 (16... cxd4 17. Nxd4 e5 $5 18. Ne2 Be6 19. Nc4 Rad8 20. Rac1 Qb8 $11) 17. e5 $1 {[%csl Yc5,Yd6,Ge4,Gg5][%CAl Gd2e4,Ge4c5,Ge4g5,Ge4d6] Accurate moves to disrupt the center but also to vacate the e4 square for the knight.} cxd4 {Simplest and best. There is no other realistic answer to the position.} 18. Bxd4 dxe5 19. Nxe5 {[#]Things are still equal but White's activity cannot be ignored. My h5 knight is not in its best square and my rooks still need to be centralized.} Be6 $6 (19... Nf6 {maintaining central control is important. Nf6 doesn't look like a sexy move but it's an important move to play.}) 20. Rac1 {The first of several strong moves. There's nothing more rewarding than making a developing move to take the file and threatening the queen at the same time.} Qb7 21. Ne4 $1 {[%csl Rb7,Gc5,Re6][%CAl Ge4c5,Yc5e6,Yc5b7]} Qb8 $2 (21... Bd5 22. Nc5 Qb4 {a hard move to find as it looks to put the queen in a precarious position, but - white only has a slight edge here.} 23. Ncd7 Nf6 $14) 22. Nc5 Bd5 23. Ned7 $6 {Right idea, wrong knight.} (23. Ncd7 {[%csl Gb6][%CAl Gd7b6,Yb6d5,Yb6a8]} Qb7 24. Nb6 Rad8 25. Nxd5 Qxd5 26. Rc4 $16) 23... Qd6 (23... Qf4 $1 {My original idea that looked to equalize, and it does, but I felt trading off material would lead to a draw. Maybe, but given i was worse, a draw is not a terrible outcome.} 24. Rcd1 Bc6 25. Qc3 Rac8 26. Bxg7 Qg5 27. g3 Nxg7 $11) 24. Bxg7 Nxg7 $2 {What looks like a simple capture to get the knight back in the game is in fact, a blunder.} (24... Kxg7 25. Rcd1 Nf6 {to protect the bishop.} 26. Ne5 Qb6 $11) 25. Red1 Ne6 $1 {A good move in a position where I am almost lost.} 26. Nxe6 Qxe6 27. Nb6 Rad8 {Accurate but Black is struggling with his buried rooks and weak a5 pawn.} 28. Nxd5 $2 (28. Qc5 $1 {attacking a5 as well as threatening to win the bisop.} Ba8 29. Qxa5 Rxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Bc6 31. Re1 Qd6 32. Nc4 $18) 28... Rxd5 29. Qxe6 fxe6 30. Rxd5 exd5 31. Rc5 Rd8 $2 (31... a4 32. Rxd5 Rc8 33. bxa4 Rc2 34. a3 Rc1+ {Pushing the king further away.} 35. Kh2 Rc3 $11 {and now winning the a3 pawn.}) 32. Rxa5 {[#]This is a very tricking ending. White is almost winning but he has to contend with a passed d5 pawn and a Black king that has yet to get into the action.} Kf7 $1 {A good move in a lost position. The only chance is for me to march my king to the center to help escort the pawns.} 33. Kf1 Ke6 34. Ke2 Ke5 (34... Rb8 $18 {is a good move to stop the advancing b-pawn that should have been pushed but Black is still lost.}) 35. Ke3 e6 36. f4+ $6 {The b4 pawn is what should be pushed. f4 doesn't help the position.} Kf5 37. g4+ Kf6 {Now White is clearly winning. The White king is about to blockade the pawns and Black will slowly run out of moves.} 38. Kd4 Rc8 {Rb8 is better but White is still winning.} 39. Rc5 Rb8 40. Ke3 $4 {And like that, the game is almost equal.} (40. Kc3 Rd8 41. Rc6 h5 42. b4 hxg4 43. hxg4 Ra8 44. Kb3 $18) 40... Rb4 41. Rc7 h6 42. Rh7 Rb8 $2 {I thought that Rxh6 Kg7 and the white rook is out of the game.} 43. Rc7 $4 (43. h4 $1 {The idea is to wait and NOT capture on h6 but slowly advance first.} Rb4 44. Rxh6 e5 45. fxe5+ Kg7 46. g5 Re4+ 47. Kd3 Kf7 48. e6+ Rxe6 49. h5 $18) 43... g5 $1 44. fxg5+ Kxg5 $2 45. Rc5 Kh4 (45... Rb4 {To stop the b-pawn from advancing and keeping the White king off the 4th rank.}) 46. Rc6 Re8 47. Kd4 $4 $11 (47. b4 $1 {passed pawns should be pushed.}) 47... Kxh3 48. a4 Kxg4 49. a5 h5 50. a6 h4 51. Ke5 h3 52. Rxe6 $4 {White offered me a draw and I accepted but this is a win for Black now!} (52. Rxe6 h2 $1 53. Rxe8 h1=Q 54. Re6 Qe4+ 55. Kd6 Qd4 56. a7 Qxa7 57. Kxd5 Qf7 $19) 1/2-1/2