[Event "Washington Open 2022"] [Site "Redmond, WA"] [Date "2022.05.30"] [Round "6"] [White "Harwood"] [Black "Liotta"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "1859"] [BlackElo "1643"] [Annotator "Harwood,Paul"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 {The great about the KIA is its flexibility. Even against the French Defense, the KIA has an answer.} Nf6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 e5 7. O-O $6 (7. exd5 Nxd5 8. O-O Be7 9. c3 O-O 10. Re1 $14) 7... d4 8. Nc4 Bd6 9. a4 $6 {A seemingly good move to secure the knight on the c4 square.} (9. Nxd6+ Qxd6 10. Nh4 a5 11. h3 {Now f4 is coming and Black is missing his dark-squared bishop.} a4 12. f4 h6 13. Qe1 Qd8 14. a3 Be6 15. Qf2 $14) 9... Be6 (9... Bc7 10. b3 Rb8 11. Nh4 O-O 12. Bd2 h6 $11) 10. b3 Bxc4 {Trading this powerful knight looks good on the surface but there are problems with this move. First, my opponent gives me the bishop pair. Second, I get a wide open b-file.} 11. bxc4 Bc7 12. Nh4 $5 {Bh3 is another idea; redeploying my bishop to an open diagonal.} Qd7 13. f4 exf4 $2 {This is giving me what I want - a massive pawn center that will grab space and march down the board.} 14. gxf4 Qg4 15. Qe1 Nb4 16. h3 (16. Qf2 {is a bit more accurate.} g6 17. Kh1 Nh5 18. Bf3 Qh3 19. Bg2 Qd7 20. a5 $16) 16... Qe6 17. Qf2 Rb8 18. Ba3 $2 {For some reason I was concerned with this knight. I shouldn't be though - it plays no role in the outcome of this game.} (18. e5 $1 Nd7 19. f5 Qa6 20. Bf4 Bxe5 21. Bxe5 Nxe5 22. Qg3 $18) 18... a5 $2 {Black replies be securing a knight that has no future in the game anyway.} (18... Nh5 19. e5 O-O 20. Rae1 Rbe8 $16) 19. Bxb4 (19. e5 O-O (19... Nd7 20. Bxb4 axb4 21. Qg3 $1 {with enormous pressure on the g-file.}) 20. Bxb4 axb4 21. exf6) 19... axb4 20. e5 Nd7 21. f5 $4 {A big blunder that levels the game.} ({Instead, White should continue to build and bring other pieces into the game; starting with....} 21. Qg3 Qh6 22. Rae1 Nf8 23. Bd5 Bd8 24. Nf5 Qg6 25. Nd6+ Ke7 26. Qg4 Qxg4+ 27. hxg4 Ne6 28. f5 Ng5 29. Nxb7 $18) 21... Qh6 $1 $11 22. e6 $6 Ne5 (22... Nf6 $11) 23. exf7+ Nxf7 24. Rae1+ $18 Kf8 25. Re6 Qg5 26. Ng6+ $3 Kg8 (26... hxg6 27. fxg6 $18 {and mate is coming.}) 27. Nxh8 Kxh8 28. Rfe1 Nh6 29. Kh1 Bg3 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Rxe8+ Ng8 32. Bd5 h5 33. Rxg8+ Kh7 34. Qf1 Qd2 35. Qg1 Be5 36. Qg6# 1-0