[Event "2023 World Chess Festival"] [Site "Honolulu"] [Date "2023.12.29"] [Round "4"] [White "Chen, Kevin E."] [Black "Singer, Frank"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1800"] [BlackElo "1806"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2023.12.28"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.07"] {[%evp 0,79,25,20,5,38,8,40,40,41,31,24,40,46,47,15,25,1,31,1,26,17,26,26,25, 14,33,6,28,-10,56,57,103,41,57,59,68,3,10,1,2,14,39,42,66,60,105,105,110,110, 110,99,121,115,111,106,98,102,97,114,192,193,185,188,305,222,209,209,287,231, 319,288,287,232,273,121,90,86,460,586,891,519]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 {I wanted to try my hand at one of the most popular variations vs the Petroff - opposite side castling} Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 10. Bd3 c5 11. h3 Be6 12. c4 a6 13. Ng5 Bd7 14. Ne4 $2 Nxe4 (14... Bc6 15. Nxf6+ (15. f3 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. fxe4 {And White has an isolated pawn he could have avoided having.}) 15... Bxf6 {Suddenly Black's Bishops are active.}) 15. Bxe4 Bc6 16. Bd5 {I didn't like Black getting some easy counterplay if I took the d6 pawn prematurely.} ({Stockfish 16:} 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Bf4 Re8 18. Rhe1 Bf8 19. Rxe8 Qxe8 20. Bxd6 Qe4 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Qe3 Qxg2 23. b3 Qg6 24. Qxc5 Qf6 25. Kb1 g6 26. Qb6 Re8 27. Qxa6 Qf3 28. Rd3 Re1+ 29. Kb2 Qf6+ 30. Ka3 Re8 31. c5 Re2 32. Qc8+ Kg7 {[%eval 196,29]}) 16... Qc7 17. Rhe1 Rfe8 (17... Rae8) (17... Rad8) 18. Bg5 {I didn't want him playing ... Bf6} Bxd5 19. Qxd5 Bxg5+ 20. Qxg5 Re5 {this moves makes sense had the other moved to e8 & left f7 covered. I now see a Rd7 possibility coming.} 21. Rxe5 ( 21. Qd2 Rae8 22. Rxe5 dxe5 23. Qd7) 21... dxe5 22. Qf5 {looking for Rd7} Rd8 ( 22... f6 23. Qe6+ Kf8 (23... Kh8 24. Rd7 Qc6 25. Qf7) (23... Qf7 24. Qxf7+ Kxf7 25. Rd7+) 24. Rd7) 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Qxe5 {I do have an extra pawn, but more importantly, my Queen dominates Black's Queen} b6 25. b3 g5 26. a4 a5 27. f3 { I am trying to set my pawns up in a way that are easy for my Queen to take his pawn & then retreat to cover my pawns.} h6 {I'm laughing right now at the Engine as Stockfish gives two variations that indicate equality (0.00). I do not want to be Black's position here as his pawns are harder to defend than mine.} 28. g4 Qa8 29. Qf6 Qb7 30. Qxh6 Qxf3 31. Qxg5+ Kf8 32. h4 {opting to protect the h-pawn & see if I can win the f pawn outright.} ({Stockfish 16: 1) } 32. Qd8+ Kg7 33. Qg5+ Kf8 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. Qxb6 Qe3+ 36. Kb1 Qg1+ 37. Kb2 Qd4+ 38. Ka2 Qd2 39. Qb8+ Kg7 40. Qe5+ Kg8 41. Kb2 Qf2 42. Qc3 Kf8 43. Qxa5 Qd4+ 44. Ka2 Kg7 45. Qe1 Kf8 46. Qf1 Ke8 47. Qf5 Qd6 48. Qe4+ Qe6 49. Qa8+ ({ I think more certain is} 49. Qxe6+ fxe6 50. Kb2 {when White stops the e-pawn from queening easily while Black cannot stop both Rook pawns.} e5 (50... Ke7 51. Kc3 Kf6 52. Kd3 Ke5 53. Ke3) 51. Kc1 e4 52. Kd2) 49... Ke7 50. Qd5 Qf6 51. Qf5 Qg6 52. h4 f6 53. Qxc5+ Kd7 54. Qf5+ Qxf5 55. gxf5 Kd6 56. h5 {[%eval 3177, 37]}) ({Stockfish 16: 2)} 32. Qh6+ Ke7 33. Qxb6 Qe3+ 34. Kb2 Qd4+ 35. Ka2 Qf2 36. Qc7+ Ke6 37. Qc6+ Ke5 38. Qd5+ Kf6 39. Qd8+ Kg6 40. Kb2 f6 41. Qxa5 Kg5 42. Qd8 Qf4 43. Qd5+ Kh4 44. Qxc5 Qe5+ 45. Qxe5 fxe5 46. a5 e4 47. a6 e3 48. a7 e2 49. a8=Q e1=Q 50. Qh8+ Kg5 51. Qg7+ Kh4 52. Qf6+ Kg3 53. g5 Kh4 54. Qh6+ Kg3 55. Qh8 Qe4 56. Qf6 Kh4 57. Qh6+ Kg3 {[%eval 3177,37]}) 32... f6 33. Qh6+ Ke7 34. Qh7+ Ke6 35. Qg8+ {I was trying to set up a skewer of the King & Queen from behind.} Ke7 (35... Ke5 36. Qb8+ Ke6 (36... Ke4 37. Qb7+ Kf4 38. Qxf3+ Kxf3 39. h5) 37. Qxb6+ Ke5 38. Qxc5+ Ke6) 36. Kb2 Qf4 37. h5 Qd4+ 38. Ka2 { No more checks for now. Black has to pick his next move carefully.} f5 $2 { This was not that move.} 39. Qh7+ Ke8 40. Qxf5 {I now have connected passers & am guarding Black's only way to give me checks.} 1-0 [Event "2023 World Chess Festival"] [Site "Honolulu"] [Date "2023.12.30"] [Round "5"] [White "Dimitriev, Igor"] [Black "Chen, Kevin E."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1902"] [BlackElo "1800"] [Annotator "Chen, Kevin E."] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2023.12.28"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.07"] {[%evp 0,111,34,28,24,18,18,19,27,13,8,5,7,11,5,-6,-1,-13,-1,5,8,-4,6,3,4,0,0, -9,0,5,18,-4,-8,0,7,-18,-9,-50,-21,-21,-21,-21,0,0,-30,-43,-38,-59,-67,-110, -103,-110,-110,-117,-66,-141,-77,-115,-114,-112,-90,-135,-141,-134,-128,-126, -130,-155,-163,-281,-162,-179,-170,-383,-152,-150,-153,-151,-194,-227,98,99, 125,108,122,117,119,112,115,102,102,102,109,114,114,102,105,104,103,77,107,107, 114,114,118,119,181,133,143,137,223,194,1275,1405]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. cxd3 Bd6 {I can't allow White to play e4.} 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. d4 Be7 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. O-O O-O 13. h3 Rc8 14. Rc1 a6 15. Nd2 Na5 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. b4 Nc4 18. b5 $2 {Opponent wanted to create chaos on the Queenside, but this seems premature} axb5 19. Nxb5 Qa5 20. Nxc4 ( 20. Nc3 Rc7 {preparing to double on the c-file}) 20... Rxc4 21. Rxc4 dxc4 22. Qb1 Be7 {Stopping Nd6 attacking c4 c8 & b7} 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. Nc3 Bb4 25. Ne2 b5 26. Rc2 c3 27. Nc1 Rc4 {I was trying to precent Nc5 Bxc5 Rc3 pinning the Bishop to the Rook, but I think this is a waste of time.} (27... Bd6 28. Nd3 b4 ) 28. Nd3 Bd6 29. Qb3 Rc7 30. f4 b4 31. Ne5 Bxe5 32. fxe5 Qb5 33. Kf2 (33. a3 Qd3) 33... Qd3 34. g4 (34. Qxb4 $4 Qxc2+) 34... Ra7 35. Re2 Ra3 36. Qc2 Qc4 37. Qb1 b3 38. axb3 Rxb3 39. Qa1 c2 $4 {and I throw away a certain win with tactical carelessness.} (39... g6 {Stops the Qa8+/Qe4+ combination by providing the g7-escape square} 40. Rc2 Qd3 {is decisive.} 41. Qc1 (41. Rc1 c2 42. Re1 Rb1 43. Rxb1 cxb1=Q 44. Qxb1 Qxb1) 41... Qxc2+ 42. Qxc2 Rb2 {& White's King is too far away to protect his Queen} 43. Qe2 (43. Qxb2 cxb2) 43... c2 44. Qxc2 Rxc2+) 40. Qa8+ Kh7 41. Qe4+ g6 42. Rxc2 Rc3 43. Rxc3 Qxc3 {I didn't do a good job of playing this Queen ending, as I self-trapped my own Queen.} 44. Qb1 Qd2+ 45. Kf3 Qh2 46. Qf1 Qd2 47. Qf2 Qd1+ 48. Kg3 Kg8 49. h4 h5 $2 50. gxh5 Qxh5 (50... gxh5) 51. Qf3 Qh7 ({Stockfish 16:} 51... Qh6 52. Qf4 Qf8 53. h5 gxh5 54. Qg5+ Kh7 55. Qxh5+ Kg8 56. Qg5+ Kh8 57. Qg4 Qa8 58. Qh4+ Kg7 59. Qg5+ Kf8 60. Qh6+ Kg8 61. Qh3 Qf8 62. Qf1 Qb4 63. Qf3 Qe1+ 64. Qf2 {[%eval 14,29]}) 52. e4 Kf8 53. Qf6 Ke8 54. d5 exd5 55. exd5 Qh5 56. d6 1-0