[Event "Washington Open 2022"] [Site "Redmond, WA"] [Date "2022.05.30"] [Round "5"] [White "LaVoice, Richard"] [Black "Harwood"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [Annotator "Harwood,Paul"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,137,27,10,46,61,68,46,40,50,41,25,26,30,34,42,21,21,28,3,5,-7,3,4,-4,-7,27,26,42,45,69,84,91,88,136,131,194,102,114,117,117,114,114,125,113,101,202,84,108,63,69,63,83,-30,60,-33,-36,-55,-46,-193,60,52,62,56,68,64,88,20,123,92,132,139,149,158,154,148,194,217,398,354,428,455,446,464,548,544,578,507,549,549,621,598,697,625,637,637,1339,657,657,657,657,657,657,657,667,657,667,677,677,697,697,29976,29977,29978,29981,29982,29985,29986,29989,29986,29987,29988,29989,29986,29987,29986,29987,29988,29989,29990,29993,29994,29995,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3 {At first I thought this was some home preparation but it wasn't. This is main line theory!} g6 6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. Ne2 Bg7 8. c3 dxc3 9. bxc3 Nf6 ({The immediate} 9... d5 {looks promising but it isn't as simple as it looks. AFter Rb1, if I take on e4, the bishop and rook threaten to capture on b7. The odd-looking Ra7 is playable but leads to lots of exchanges and a drawn position.} 10. Rb1 Ra7 $5 11. exd5 b5 12. c4 Nf6 13. O-O bxc4 14. Qa4+ Bd7 15. Qxc4 Bb5 16. Qd4 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Nxd5 $11) (9... Qc7 {This quiet move prepares Nf6 as it prevents e5 from being played.} 10. O-O Nf6 11. f4 O-O 12. Bc2 b5 13. h3 Qc5+ 14. Kh2 Bb7 15. d3 e5 16. f5 d5 17. Ng3 dxe4 18. dxe4 Qxc3 19. Bg5 Rac8 20. Rc1 Rfd8 $11) 10. O-O O-O 11. Bc2 {This is the idea behind Bd3. After White castles, he will play Bc2 and then d4 with a powerful center.} d5 $2 {An overreach. After e5 I will have a hard time controlling the center. Less commital moves like d6 or Qc7 were in order.} (11... Qc7 {with the same idea as before - stopping e5.} 12. d4 d6 13. h3 Be6 14. d5 Bd7 15. Be3 Bb5 $11) 12. e5 Ne8 (12... Nh5 13. d4 f6 14. exf6 Nxf6 15. Re1 Qc7 16. Bf4 Qc6 17. f3 Ne8 18. Bb3 Nd6 19. Qd2 b5 $16) 13. f4 (13. d4 {is better as it doesn't close the c1 bishop's diagonal.} f6 14. f4 Bd7 15. Rb1 Qc8 16. h3 $14) 13... Bg4 $6 (13... f6 {is critical as Black's center must be challenged.} 14. d4 Bd7 15. a4 Rf7 {A deep move from Stockfish to prepare Bf8 freeing g7 for the knight.} 16. Bd2 Bf8 17. Bd3 Ng7 $14) (13... f6 {It is more important to chip away at White's strong center than anything else.} 14. d4 Bd7 15. Qe1 Rf7 $5 {a sophisticated idea to play Bf8 and then Ng7, getting the knight back into play.} 16. Rb1 b5 $16) 14. h3 Bxe2 15. Qxe2 {More trading helps White as his strong center only gets stronger with less pieces to attack it.} d4 16. Rb1 dxc3 (16... b5 17. Ba3 Nc7 18. c4 Rc8 19. Bd3 $16) 17. Rxb7 Qd5 $4 18. Rb3 $6 (18. Qf3 Qxa2 (18... Qc5+ 19. d4 $1 Qxd4+ 20. Be3 Qd8 21. Rd1 $18) 19. Qxc3 Qd5 20. Rxe7 Nd6 21. Qd3 Qc5+ 22. Kh2 Nb5 $18) 18... cxd2 19. Bxd2 Nc7 {The correct move. Black needs to unwind his pieces and get them active. The problem is that White has the bishop pair which are difficult to manage in an open position like this.} 20. Kh1 {Qc5+ wins a piece.} Rad8 21. Bb4 Rfe8 $2 {Rd7 was more active as it allows Rfd8, tripling up on the open d-file.} 22. Be4 Qb5 $2 {Trading queens is not the right idea here. Instead, a move like Qe6 is needed - curling up in a ball and defending.} (22... Qe6 23. Ba5 Rd4 24. Qf3 (24. Bxc7 $4 Qc4 $1 25. Qxc4 Rxc4 26. Bxg6 hxg6 $14)) 23. Qxb5 $4 {Giving me what I want but safer was Qf3, maintaining his advantage and continuing the pressure.} (23. Qf3 {[%csl Rb5,Re8][%CAl Ge4c6,Yc6b5,Yc6e8]} Qc4 24. Ba5 Ne6 25. Bxd8 $18) 23... Nxb5 24. a4 Nd4 25. Rd3 Ne2 26. Kh2 g5 $4 ({I couldn't find a way to make} 26... Nxf4 {work. Turns out, it does work!} 27. Rxf4 Bxe5 28. g3 Rxd3 29. Bxd3 Bxf4 30. gxf4 Rd8 31. Bxa6 Rd4 32. Bxe7 Rxa4 33. Bd3 Rd4 $15) 27. g3 $4 gxf4 28. gxf4 Nxf4 $1 29. Rxf4 Bxe5 $4 (29... Rxd3 30. e6 fxe6 31. Bxd3 Be5 32. Kg2 Bxf4 33. Bxa6 Kf7 $19) 30. Rg3+ $1 {I missed this.} Kf8 31. Rfg4 Bxg3+ 32. Kxg3 $4 $11 {It's hard to believe but this move loses the advantage and Black can make a draw.} (32. Rxg3 f6 33. Bc6 Kf7 34. Bxe8+ Rxe8 35. Rc3 $18) 32... Rd1 (32... h5 33. Rh4 Rd4 34. Bc5 Rc4 35. Rxh5 Kg7 36. Rg5+ $11) 33. Kf2 f6 $4 (33... h5 $1 34. Rg3 Rc8 35. Bh7 Ke8 36. Bd3 Rc6 37. a5 $11) 34. Bb7 Red8 (34... h5 35. Re4 a5 36. Bxa5 Rb8 37. Bc6 Rh1 38. Kg2 Rhb1 39. Kg3 R8b3+ 40. Kh4 $14) 35. Bxa6 R1d4 $2 {Trading makes things worse as White's bishop pair will dominate the open board.} 36. Ke3 Rxg4 37. hxg4 Kf7 38. a5 e5 39. Bc4+ {Trading down only makes things worse. My opponent does a good job of finishing the game using the bishop pair.} Ke8 40. Bb5+ Kf7 41. a6 Kg6 42. a7 Kg5 43. Kf3 e4+ 44. Kxe4 Kxg4 45. Bc6 f5+ 46. Ke3 f4+ 47. Kf2 h5 48. a8=Q Rxa8 49. Bxa8 h4 50. Bf3+ Kf5 51. Kg2 Ke5 52. Bd2 Kf5 53. Kh3 Kg5 54. Bg4 Kf6 55. Bxf4 Kg6 56. Kxh4 Kf6 57. Kh5 Kg7 58. Bg5 Kf7 59. Bd7 Kg7 60. Bd8 Kf7 61. Kg5 Kg7 62. Be8 Kf8 63. Bg6 Kg7 64. Be7 Kg8 65. Kh6 Kh8 66. Be8 Kg8 67. Kg6 Kh8 68. Bd6 Kg8 69. Bf7+ {Black resigns.} 1-0