[Event "Crossroads Invitational XXXIV Arena"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.11.07"] [Round "?"] [White "Paul H."] [Black "FritzScholz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "2100"] [BlackElo "1927"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "180+2"] {[%evp 0,129,19,38,40,11,19,18,46,15,8,10,9,9,45,13,43,41,91,40,49,49,55,57,64, 69,70,57,81,52,67,26,191,50,54,95,339,-7,393,381,414,414,409,407,409,362,374, 338,373,366,380,359,383,1,13,-83,-85,-155,-62,-66,-62,-156,-75,-64,-55,-150, -99,-87,-88,-97,-97,-91,2,26,9,32,60,42,80,0,0,-29,-19,-25,-19,-70,-23,-19,0, -21,0,0,99,49,50,50,61,55,55,6,120,46,60,49,107,53,85,76,147,172,276,269,334, 358,380,390,410,309,324,311,464,525,1297,1428,1354,1482,29983,29984,29995, 29994,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c5 {B20 Sicilian Defense} 2. d3 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. g3 e5 5. Bg2 h6 6. O-O g5 $6 {As in previous games, Fritz starts his attack early. Technically speaking, Black is way worse after this, but this is a blitz game.} 7. c3 Bg4 8. h3 {It's better to kick the bishop away now rather than waiting for Qd7 which would prevent h3.} Bh5 9. a3 $6 {Too slow. White is correct to expand on the queenside but a3 is not necessary.} ({Instead, White can play the immediate} 9. b4 Bg7 (9... cxb4 10. cxb4 Nxb4 11. Nc3 Nc6 12. Rb1 Rb8 13. Be3 Bg7 14. Nb5 $16 {and Black is completely defensive.})) 9... Be7 10. b4 Nf6 (10... g4 11. Ne1 gxh3 12. Qxh5 hxg2 13. Nxg2 $16) 11. b5 Nb8 12. Nbd2 Nbd7 13. Qb3 $6 ({It's typical to play} 13. Nc4 {here. The knight post is both powerful and flexible. Ideas like Ne3-f5 are possible and Black has a hard time dislodging it.} a6 14. Qb3 axb5 15. Qxb5 O-O 16. a4 b6 17. Bd2 Ra7 18. Rfb1 $16 ) 13... g4 14. Nh4 $1 {Eyeing the f5 square.} gxh3 15. Bxh3 Bg4 16. Bg2 $2 ({ Trading with} 16. Bxg4 {makes more sense.} Nxg4 17. Nf5 h5 18. Qd5 {White is winning here. He will continue to create threats by occupying the c4 square with his knight not to mention the monster knight occupying f5.} Nh6 19. Nxe7 Kxe7 20. Nc4 Nb6 21. Bg5+ f6 22. Qxb7+ Qd7 23. Qxd7+ Kxd7 24. Bxf6 $18) 16... Be2 $2 {This looks like a simple move to win the d3 pawn but Black has to look deeper. How does he get his bishop to safety?} 17. Re1 (17. Nf5 Bxf1 18. Nxf1 Ng4 $16) 17... Bxd3 18. Nf5 $2 (18. c4 Ng4 19. Nf5 d5 20. Qxd3 $18) 18... Qc7 19. c4 {And now the bishop is trapped. White will soon be up a piece.} Bxe4 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 21. Bxe4 Nf6 22. Qf3 (22. Bg2 Rg8 23. a4 Qd7 24. Qd3 h5 25. a5 $18) 22... O-O-O 23. Bxh6 $6 {Grabbing material is not important here.} ({Instead,} 23. Bc2 {supporting a4 is the right idea.}) 23... Nxe4 24. Qxe4 Bf6 25. Rad1 { Putting pressure on the weak d6 square. This is not a bad move but a4-a5 makes more sense first.} Kb8 26. Ne3 $4 {I would like to say time pressure played a factor here but it didn't. The truth is I saw the juicy d5 square for my knight and forgot that it was protecting the bishop.} Rxh6 {I'm still winning here but now Nf5 makes the most sense but it is psychologically hard to return a piece to the square it came from.} 27. Nd5 $2 {And like that, the position is equal.} (27. Nf5 Rh5 28. Rd5 Be7 29. Red1 {with a build up on th weak d6 pawn.}) 27... Qd7 $1 {Fritz is quick to find attacking opportunities.} 28. a4 $4 {Slow and failing to assess the position.} (28. Kg2 {intending to swing the rooks to the h-file. This looks scary but a quick analysis shows that Qh3 is not a problem for White.} Qh3+ 29. Kf3 Qh5+ 30. Qg4 Qxg4+ 31. Kxg4 $11) 28... Qh3 $2 (28... Bg5 $1 {A hard move to find. Black clears the way for f5 while retaining his dark-squared bishop. f5 is coming and there isn't anything White can do about it.} 29. f4 $6 f5 30. Qf3 exf4 31. Nxf4 Rdh8 $19) 29. a5 Rdh8 30. Qg2 $2 ({The game is equal but a6 should be played to try and soften up the pawns surrounding the King.} 30. a6 Bg5 31. Ne3 Qh2+ 32. Kf1 Qh1+ 33. Qxh1 Rxh1+ $11) 30... Bd8 (30... Qf5 {Another very strong, hard to find move.} 31. Nxf6 Qxf6 32. a6 Rh1+ 33. Qxh1 Rxh1+ 34. Kxh1 Qxf2 35. Rf1 Qxg3 36. Rxd6 Qh3+ $19) 31. Qxh3 Rxh3 32. Ne3 Rh1+ 33. Kg2 R8h2+ 34. Kf3 Rxe1 35. Rxe1 Rh7 $2 ( 35... Bxa5 36. Rd1 Bc3 37. Ng4 Rh8 38. Rxd6 $11) 36. a6 {Softening up the King's pawn cover and making sure all pawns are on light squares.} bxa6 37. bxa6 {After all the trades we are now in an ending. White will target the weak d6 pawn and apply constant pressure to it. White's advantage is decisive but accurate play will be required to win.} Bb6 $2 {This doesn't do anything to improve Black's position. Fritz probably wanted to block the b-file so Rb1-b7 was possible. In doing so he has taken his bishop out of the game.} 38. Rd1 { Either this or Nf5 to begin pressure d6.} Kc7 39. Nd5+ $2 (39. Nf5 {And the d6 pawn is lost.} Ba5 40. Ke4 Rh2 41. Nxd6 Kb6 42. Rf1 f6 43. Kd5 $18) 39... Kc6 40. Nf6 Rh8 41. Ne4 Bc7 $11 {Now Black can play Kb6, threatening to take on a6. } 42. Rb1 f5 43. Nf6 e4+ 44. Kg2 $2 {Keeping the king near the center with Ke2 was needed.} Bb6 45. Nd5 Rb8 $2 46. Ne7+ Kd7 47. Nxf5 Ke6 48. Ne3 Ke5 49. Rd1 Rd8 50. Rd5+ Ke6 51. g4 Ba5 52. Nf5 Bc7 53. Ng3 Rg8 $2 54. g5 {Now White will capture the e4 pawn, play f4 and win.} Rg6 55. Nxe4 Ke7 56. f4 $1 $18 {The pawns cannot be stopped.} Rg8 57. f5 Rb8 58. Kf3 Rb3+ 59. Kf4 Rb4 {The e-pawn is not needed so this is an empty threat.} 60. g6 Rxc4 61. f6+ Ke6 62. g7 $1 Kf7 63. Rg5 Kg8 64. Kf5 {#3} (64. f7+ $1 Kxf7 65. g8=Q+ {is more precise.}) 64... d5 65. Kg6 {f7# is unstoppable.} 1-0