[Event "v Barry Groves - St Helens Peninsular C"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2023.09.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Jonathan Miller"] [Black "Barry Groves"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "1637"] [BlackElo "1807"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/jonmill"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.11.03"] [WhiteTeam "Culcheth PC 2nd"] [BlackTeam "St Helens"] [TimeControl "90"] {[%evp 0,45,58,6,69,69,88,108,114,96,96,44,48,42,67,52,51,27,23,-6,65,22,55,48, 62,48,83,43,118,27,215,138,189,122,134,56,112,90,205,236,223,152,659,367,591, 591,969,1042]} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 Nf6 5. f3 a6 {Trying to balance timing and aggression in this game.} 6. a4 {Probably not the best move but trying to slow down b5.} Nfd7 {I was surprised by this move - I was assuming Barry would play c5 next.} 7. Nge2 {Looking to over defend d4 and follow on with Qd2 and swap the dark squared bishop.} e5 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O { I struggled here for the right move - considering d5, Bh6 but thought that in needed extra support of d4before Bh6.} b5 10. Bg5 {I wanted to swap the bishops and provoke f6 so the bishop has to be swapped. I didnt imagine Barry's move.} Bf6 (10... f6 11. Bh6 O-O 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. h4 {This was my expected line...}) 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 {I didnt think this was the right move - but I spent a lot of time here on my next move...} 12. Nd5 {I spent a lot of time here looking for options and continuations...} Qd8 13. dxe5 {Not the best move - I thought that opening the diagonal without the bishops was in my favour with his queen tied to defending c7 and my knight strong on d5.I was considering Nec3 to support the knight and open the bishop to attack b5. I didnt consider Qc3 before the capture which was stronger.} (13. Qc3 Bb7 14. dxe5) 13... Ndxe5 {I realised straight away that this wasnt his best move - I looked at f4 but discounted it after Ng4 as it was blocking my check on f6 and also the risk of the fork on f2.} 14. Qc3 {I thought here that I had good tactics and a few threats - pin on the rook, threat to remove the defender of the knight on c6.} (14. f4 Ng4 15. h3 Nf2 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 {I didnt look far enough in this line...}) 14... Kd7 {I struggled working out the order of the combinations here again discounting f4 initially. I wanted to connect my rooks and also put the king back onto the 8th rank for the threat of the queen on h8.} 15. g3 {Looking at the obvious threat of Bh3 and limiting the scope of the knight.} (15. f4 Ng4 16. e5 Bb7 17. Qg3 h5 {Again to much depth for me...}) 15... Rf8 16. Nd4 {Opening the threat of axb and Bxb5.} Nxd4 17. Rxd4 {I wanted to be able to double my rooks and get at his king - I really thought there might have been some mate chances so I was looking at if I could sacrifice the rook on d6 and bring the other rook into the attack. I felt I was winning but couldnt quite see a plan but thought that my queen was really strong on c3 .} (17. Qxd4 c5 18. Qc3 f6 19. axb5 axb5 20. Bxb5+ Ke6) 17... c6 { I spent a lot of time examining many options - I started at Nb6 followed by Rxd6 but couldnt make it work! I looked at f4, Bh6. I struggled to find the best option. I thought about moving his knight and potentially Qg7, Bh6 exf to open up my other rook to e1. In the end I went for Nb4 to keep the pressure on c6 and c5 loses the pawn with Qxc5.} 18. Nb4 Qb6 {I think Barry was trying to support c5 and the fork but his position seemed to be struggling now - again I was trying to make Rxd6 work to get QxNe5 and the second rook in.} 19. Bh3+ { I thought that he would play f5 and then Rf6...I was also looking if I could create the fork on queen and king on d5.} f5 (19... Ke7 20. Rxd6 Kxd6 21. Rd1+ Ke7 22. Qxe5+ Be6 23. Qd6+ Kf6 24. Nd5+ cxd5 25. Qxb6) 20. Rhd1 Qc7 (20... c5 21. Rxd6+ Qxd6 22. Qxc5 Qxd1+ 23. Kxd1 Ke8 24. Qxe5+) 21. f4 Ng4 22. Rxd6+ Qxd6 23. Qxc6+ {resignation I was pleased with my win and pleased that my tactics around d6 paid off. I managed to keep Barry under pressure and managed to force some mistakes.} 1-0