[Event "Chess World Cup 2023 - Round 1"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.07.30"] [Round "?"] [White "Luijo47"] [Black "Harwood"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "1735"] [BlackElo "2029"] [Annotator "pharwood"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] [EventType "simul"] [EventRounds "4"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,86,25,16,58,64,59,12,57,20,53,63,45,47,47,16,35,-24,55,-9,-25,-18,-36,-36,-14,-23,-11,-31,-41,2,-5,6,34,50,50,8,33,31,33,19,13,9,9,3,0,23,-13,-10,-10,-14,-14,-17,-7,-58,-35,-42,-38,-39,13,-19,-15,-44,-33,-35,-29,-20,-26,-126,-145,-152,-147,-159,-160,-165,-165,-170,-186,-205,-203,-775,-881,-881,-894,-1022,-1002,-1024,-1032,-1032,-1032]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {This early move states White's intentions early on. The focus on the f7 square and an eventual c3, followed by d4 is imminent.} g6 (3... e6 {is a better move as it challenges the bishop's diagonal and prepared d5.}) 4. c3 {This is the problem with g6 - it now gives White an extra tempo to gain control of the center.} Bg7 ({It's still not too late for} 4... e6 {although I didn't like the weakened dark squares around my king.} 5. Bb5 Qb6 6. a4 Bg7 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nxd4 9. Na3 Qc5 10. O-O Nxf3+ 11. Qxf3 Nf6 12. Nc4 O-O 13. Bf4 $11 {[%csl Rd6] and Black has some problems defending the dark squares.}) 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 {White has a nice center and because I didn't play e6, playing d5 is not an option.} d6 7. h3 $6 {Too slow. Just Nc3, continue develop and await future events.} Nf6 8. Nc3 O-O $6 (8... Nxe4 {is the best move. I saw this but was worried about Bf7+ with my king subject to attack.} 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Nxe4 d5 11. Nc5 Rf8 12. O-O Kg8 $11 {It turns out that Black's king is safe and the position is just equal.}) 9. O-O {With my king castled, I now felt comfortable taking the pawn.} Nxe4 10. Bxf7+ Rxf7 11. Nxe4 h6 $2 {I was worried about Ng5 ideas and felt that is would be best to cover this square.} (11... d5 12. Ng3 Qb6 13. Re1 $11) 12. Be3 $2 {[#]} ({Relevant:} 12. Re1 Qb6 13. d5 Nb4 14. a3 Na6 15. Be3 Qxb2 16. Bd4 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Nc5 18. Nxc5 Qxf2+ 19. Kh1 Bxh3 20. gxh3 dxc5 21. Qg4 cxd4 22. Rf1 Qe3 23. Qxg6+ Rg7 24. Qe6+ Qxe6 25. d6 Rd8 {0-1 Goldin,R (2294)-Bagrationi,A (2454) Titled Tuesday intern op 06th Sep Early Chess.com INT blitz 2022 (1)}) (12. d5 {White reclaims the center and cramps Black's pieces.} Ne5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Be3 Bf5 15. f3 e6 16. d6 Rc8 17. Qa4 Rd7 $14) 12... d5 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12... Bf5 13. Ng3 Bd7 14. Kh2 b6 15. Qd3 Kh7 16. Nh4 Rf6 17. Nh5 e5 18. d5 Ne7 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Nf3 Nf5 21. Nd2 Nxe3 22. fxe3 e4 23. Qxe4 Be5+ 24. g3 Bf5 25. Rxf5 gxf5 26. Qxf5+ Kh8 27. Nc4 Bg7 28. Qf4 Qc7 29. Rg1 Rf8 30. Qe4 b5 31. Na3 a6 32. Rg2 Qc1 33. h4 Be5 34. Nc2 Rf1 35. Kh3 Qd1 36. Nd4 Rh1+ 37. Rh2 Rg1 38. Rg2 Qf1 39. Qf3 Bxd4 40. Qxf1 Rxf1 41. exd4 Rd1 42. Rc2 {½-½ Moudallal,T (1976)-Maasarani,M (2104) Mediterranean-ch 10th Beirut 2015 (7)}) 13. Nc5 b6 $6 {Kicking the knight would normally make sense but this just helps it to a better square.} (13... g5 $1 {Not obvious to me, but this starts to open activity on the g-file. Notice how the knight on c5 looks misplaced now.} 14. Re1 g4 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 gxh3 17. e6 Rf6 18. Bd4 Rg6 19. Re3 Qd6 20. Rxh3 Bxe6 $11) 14. Nd3 {For a 1700, my opponent is playing pretty well. But as things get more complex, let's see how he transitions into a late middlegame.} Ba6 {I liked the idea of pinning the knight, but Bf5, putting direct pressure on the center is probably best.} (14... Bf5 15. Nfe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Kh7 18. e6 Bxe6 19. Qd2 g5 20. Bd4 $14) 15. Re1 Bxd3 (15... Rxf3 $5 16. gxf3 Qd7 17. Rc1 Rf8 18. Nf4 Bb7 19. Nxg6 Rf6 20. Qd3 Qxh3 $16) 16. Qxd3 Qd6 17. a3 Re8 {Preparing an e5 push.} (17... Kh7 {Stockfish likes this move but I don't like my king pinned behind the g6 square.} 18. Rac1 e5 19. Qb5 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 exd4 21. Rc6 Qf8 22. Ree6 $11) 18. Rac1 e5 $1 {After this move, Black has equalized. Why? His pieces are all active and control as much of the center as White.} 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Rxe5 21. Bd4 (21. Rcd1 {to pressure d5 makes more sense.} Rfe7 22. Re2 Qe6 23. Rc2 $11) 21... Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1 Qf4 23. Be3 Qf5 24. Qxf5 Rxf5 {The position is now dead equal but let's see how my opponent plays the ending.} 25. b3 d4 26. Bc1 $2 (26. Bd2 {is more flexible and fully equal.}) 26... Kf7 (26... Rc5 $1 {a nice move that forces the rook to safeguard the bishop as well as preparing Rc3, threatening to capture the b3 pawn.} 27. g3 Rc3 28. b4 Kf7 29. Kg2 g5 $15) 27. Bb2 $2 Rd5 $2 {Getting behind the pawn but not the best move.} (27... Rb5 $1 28. b4 a5 $1 29. Ba1 axb4 30. axb4 Rxb4 $19) 28. Kf1 Be5 29. Rd1 Ke6 30. Rd3 Kf5 {The next several moves are all about trying to get my King to e4 which supports the d4 pawn.} 31. Ke2 h5 32. g3 g5 33. Kf3 $4 {This loses. Now my king gets to e4 where it cannot be contested.} g4+ 34. hxg4+ hxg4+ 35. Kg2 Ke4 36. Rd1 d3 37. Re1+ Kf5 38. Bxe5 Rxe5 39. Kf1 Rxe1+ $1 {Black is in a won ending.} 40. Kxe1 Ke4 41. a4 Kf3 42. Kd2 Kxf2 43. Kxd3 Kxg3 {White resigns.} 0-1