[Event "Rated Rapid game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.29"] [Round "?"] [White "greg_sarg"] [Black "Paul H."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D32"] [WhiteElo "2391"] [BlackElo "2242"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [EventType "rapid"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] [TimeControl "900+10"] {[%evp 0,155,27,29,23,7,-6,10,45,39,22,38,20,7,79,-8,10,37,124,48,48,26,49,38, 38,35,87,14,23,26,47,21,8,15,36,8,12,-13,-2,-2,20,-99,-111,-102,-105,-228,-95, -100,-92,-88,-99,-99,-100,-107,-103,-124,-133,-135,-115,-132,-121,-121,-132, -167,-182,-205,-134,-136,-135,-138,-120,-163,-44,-49,-46,-40,-42,-42,-42,-41, -20,-41,0,-82,-82,-103,-110,-107,-123,-119,-116,-123,-32,-177,2,-14,60,19,0,0, 61,32,39,45,37,45,152,140,334,387,395,383,390,434,584,640,962,848,1002,1032, 1460,29972,29973,434,409,41,41,40,40,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16, 16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16]} {This is the first time I have played a rapid game with someone rated 2391. In fact, it is the hightest rated opponent I have played at any time control. My goal was to play as solidly as I could, make good moves and learn from my mistakes. Things turned out better than expected.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 {The Tarrasch Defense. Not as popular as the Queen's Gambit Declined which is why I like it. Black has to play aggressively to seize the initiative and keep White on his heels.} 4. cxd5 {The most common move. White wants to create an isolated d-pawn to target.} exd5 5. Nc3 {D32 Tarrasch Defense: Two Knights Variation} Nc6 (5... Nf6 $6 { Listed as dubious in Chessbase's Opening Encyclopedia. Stockfish disagrees giving it equal weighting to Nc6.} 6. Bg5 c4 (6... Be6 7. e4 dxe4 8. Nxe4 cxd4 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. O-O Be7 11. Bxf6 Bxb5 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Re1 O-O 14. Nc3 Qb4 $16 )) 6. Bg5 Qa5 (6... Be7 {was the first move I considered but I was afraid of} 7. Bxe7 Ngxe7 8. dxc5 {which I assumed was good for White. It turns out the position is just equal.} d4 9. Ne4 O-O 10. Rc1 Qd5 11. Nd6 Qxa2 12. Qd2 Be6 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 b6 {to dislodge the knight.} 15. cxb6 $6 Qa5+ $1 16. b4 Qa3 {[%csl Rc1][%CAl Ga3c1]} 17. Qc3 Qxc3+ 18. Rxc3 axb6 $44) 7. Qd2 {I spent a lot of time on this move. White wants to capture on c5 to put pressure on my isolated d5 pawn. Playing c4 seemed reasonable as it closed the center but I was worried about e4, breaking things open.} Be6 {A logical move to defend d5 and continue my development. The bishop on g5 is misplaced.} (7... c4 8. e4 dxe4 9. Qe3 {An interesting move designed to take the pawn with check.} Be6 10. Nd2 {It's interesting how White can surround the pawn before taking it. This move also creates the threat of taking on c4 too. Very nice!} Be7 (10... f5 $2 11. d5 Bxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Bxc4 $18)) 8. e3 (8. e4 $1 {The right way to undermine the center. Watch how crazy this line gets.} h6 9. exd5 hxg5 10. dxe6 O-O-O $1 11. exf7 cxd4 12. Qxg5 (12. fxg8=Q Rxg8 13. Qxg5 Bb4 14. Qxa5 Bxa5 15. O-O-O dxc3 16. Bb5 cxb2+ 17. Kxb2 Bb6 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Rc1 Rd6 $14) 12... Bc5 13. fxg8=R Rdxg8 14. Nxd4 Re8+ 15. Be2 Nxd4 $14) 8... Bd6 $4 {Played quickly but not calculating White's follow-up. I have to get myself out of the habit of ignoring White's counterplay. No move is ever obvious!} (8... h6 {putting the question to the bishop right away.} 9. Bf4 c4 10. Be2 Bb4 {Playing c4 locked the center but also opened the diagonal for Bb4.} 11. O-O Nf6 12. Qc2 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ne4 14. Rfc1 Bf5 15. Qb2 O-O 16. h3 (16. Qxb7 $2 Nxc3 17. Bf1 Rac8) 16... Qb6 17. Qa3 a5 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Qg6 20. Bg4 Bxg4 21. hxg4 Ra6 22. f3 Ng5 23. Qc5 h5 24. Bf4 hxg4 25. Qxd5 Nxf3+ 26. gxf3 gxf3+ 27. Qg5 Qxg5+ 28. Bxg5 Rg6 {[%eval -24,34]}) (8... c4 9. Be2 h6 10. Bf4 Nf6 11. O-O Bb4 12. Qc2 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ne4 14. Rfc1 Bf5 15. Qb2 O-O 16. h3 Qb6 17. Qa3 a5 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Qg6 20. Bg4 Bxg4 21. hxg4 Ra6 22. f3 Ng5 23. Rf1 h5 24. gxh5 Nh3+ 25. Kh1 Qxh5 26. gxh3 Qxh3+ 27. Bh2 Re8 28. Qb2 Rxe3 29. Qg2 Qxg2+ 30. Kxg2 { [%eval -18,33]}) (8... f6 9. Bf4 c4 {Locking the center and preventing Nb5 ideas.} 10. Be2 g5 11. Bg3 Nge7 12. O-O Nf5 13. Qc2 O-O-O 14. b3 Bb4 15. Na4 h5 16. a3 Be7 17. b4 Qa6 18. Nc3 h4 19. b5 Qa5 20. Nxd5 Nxg3 21. hxg3 Bxd5 22. bxc6 Bxc6 23. Qxc4 Kb8 24. Qe6 Bd6 25. gxh4 gxh4 26. Rfc1 h3 27. Rxc6 bxc6 28. g3 Qd5 29. Qxf6 Rdf8 30. Rb1+ Ka8 {[%eval 6,33]}) 9. Bb5 $6 {Right square, wrong piece!} (9. Nb5 $1 {Forcing the queens off.} Qxd2+ 10. Kxd2 Bb8 {The only safe retreating square as Be7 leads to Nc7, forking the king and rook.} 11. dxc5 {White not only wins a pawn but creates a huge weakness on d6.} a6 12. Nbd4 {A beautiful centralizing of the knight. White is just up a clean pawn and dominating the position.} h6 13. Bh4 g5 14. Bg3 Nf6 15. Bd3 a5 16. Rac1 Ke7 17. b3 Ne4+ 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Nxc6+ bxc6 20. Nd4 Bxg3 21. hxg3 Rac8 (21... Bd5 22. g4 $1 $18 {[%csl Yf5,Rh6][%CAl Gd4f5,Rf5e7,Rf5h6]} Kf6 23. a3 Rad8 24. Kc3 $18)) 9... Nge7 10. O-O O-O 11. dxc5 {Opening up the d-file to pressure the d5 pawn. That black pawn is well defended but it requires a lot of attention.} Bxc5 12. a3 Qb6 13. b4 Bd6 14. Bd3 f6 15. Bh4 (15. Na4 $5 Qd8 16. Bf4 Bg4 17. Bg3 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Qd7 19. Be2 $1 $16 {An important move to deal with Ne5, which threatens Nf3 and Qxa4.} (19. Rac1 Ne5 20. Qd1 Nxd3 21. Qxd3 Bxg3 22. Nc5 Bxf2+ $15)) ({White has the very unintuitive} 15. Bf4 $5 Ne5 16. Nd4 Bf7 17. Na4 Qd8 18. Nc5 Qb6 19. Rab1 Nxd3 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21. Nxd3 Rfc8 $14) 15... Ne5 { A good centralizing move.} 16. Nd4 {One good centralizing move deserves another.} Bf7 17. Na4 Qd8 18. Rfc1 {Taking the c-file and strenghening his Nc5 idea.} (18. Bg3 Nxd3 19. Bxd6 Ne5 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 $14) 18... Nxd3 $11 {Trading off White's powerful light-squared bishop.} 19. Qxd3 Bg6 20. Qb5 $4 {I couldn't believe my eyes. After Be8, doesn't he just hang his knight. I thought long and hard...} (20. Qb3 Rf7 {The only move to get out of the fork.} 21. Nc5 Be5 22. Bg3 b6 23. Nce6 Qd7 24. a4 $14) 20... Be8 $19 21. Qxb7 Bxa4 22. Ne6 Qb6 $6 (22... Qb8 $1 {This is what I missed!} 23. Qxb8 Rfxb8 24. Bg3 Bxg3 25. hxg3 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 $19) 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Nxf8 Kxf8 25. Bg3 {My opponent (correctly) calculates that getting rid of my bishop pair will improve his chances.} Be5 {Hitting the a1 rook, but more importantly, uniting my pawns should he play Bxe5.} 26. Bxe5 fxe5 27. Kf1 Bb5+ {My idea was to play Bc4 and block the open c-file. White not wrong, this just helps the white king's journey to the center.} ({It's important to stop Rc7, so} 27... Ra7 { is the best move.} 28. Ke1 Ke8 29. b5 Kd7 30. Rab1 Ra5 $19) 28. Ke1 Bc4 (28... Nc6 {has the same effect and threatens e4, Ne5-d3.} 29. a4 Nxb4 $1 30. Kd2 Bc4 $19) 29. e4 b5 30. exd5 Nxd5 {[#]Black is winning. His pieces control all the open files and his rook has to defend the weak a3 pawn. My plan was to activate my King and slowly march it to the center of the board.} 31. g3 { Stopping Nf4-d3 ideas.} Ke7 32. Kd2 Nb6 (32... Rf8 {is what I wanted to play but was worried about a4, dislodging my c4 bishop.} 33. a4 $4 Rxf2+ 34. Ke1 Rf1+ 35. Kd2 Rf2+ 36. Ke1 Re2+ 37. Kf1 Ne3+ 38. Kg1 Rg2+ 39. Kh1 Bd5 40. Rc5 Ra2+ $19) 33. Ke3 Ke6 (33... Kd6 34. f4 Rf8 35. Rd1+ Nd5+ 36. Ke4 $19) 34. f4 Rd8 35. Rd1 {Trading off my rook will help get his a1 rook get more active.} Rd5 $2 {A critical misjudgment of the position. When you are up material, avoid trades!} (35... Nd5+ 36. Kf2 e4 37. Rd4 e3+ 38. Kf3 Ra8 {threatening Nb4. } 39. Re4+ Kd6 $19) 36. Rxd5 Bxd5 37. fxe5 Kxe5 38. Kd3 Be4+ 39. Kc3 Nd5+ 40. Kb3 Ne3 41. Re1 Kd4 {I offered a draw here which he declined.} 42. Re2 $4 { A hard move to criticize but this loses.} Bd5+ 43. Kb2 Kd3 {The king has infiltrated and it is hard for white to find good moves.} 44. Re1 Kd2 45. Rg1 Ke2 ({There is no reason to move the king any further. It's now time to start advancing the pawns and preparing for the endgame.} 45... h5 46. h4 Bf3 47. Kb1 Be4+ 48. Ka2 $19) 46. Kc3 Kf2 $2 $11 (46... Nf1 $1 {and the rook is trapped.} 47. Kd4 Bf3 48. g4 Kf2 $19) 47. Rb1 Nc4 48. Kd4 Be6 49. Ra1 Ne3 50. Kc5 Nc2 51. Rc1 Nxa3 52. Rc3 $11 Nc4 53. Kxb5 Kg2 $4 {Time trouble. Hanging the knight allows the white pawn to queen.} 54. Rxc4 Kxh2 55. Rc3 (55. g4 {and Black can resign.}) 55... h5 {If I can get my pawns rolling, I might be able to queen one and force a draw. Both of us were down to under a minute on the clock.} 56. Kc5 g5 57. b5 Bf5 58. Kd5 h4 59. gxh4 gxh4 60. b6 Bh3 61. Rc2+ (61. Ke4 Bg2+ 62. Rf3 $1 Kg1 63. b7 h3 64. b8=Q $18 {#4}) 61... Bg2+ 62. Rxg2+ $4 {My opponent forgets that after Kg2, I can just push my h-pawn to the queening square.} Kxg2 63. b7 h3 64. b8=Q h2 65. Qb2+ Kg1 {From here forward the game is a dead draw. The White king is too far away from the action to assist the Queen.} 66. Qc1+ Kg2 67. Qd2+ Kg1 68. Qe3+ Kg2 {Black offers draw} 69. Qe2+ Kg1 70. Qg4+ Kf2 71. Qh3 Kg1 72. Qg3+ Kh1 73. Qh3 Kg1 74. Qe3+ Kg2 75. Qe4+ Kg1 76. Qg4+ Kf2 77. Qe4 Kg1 78. Qe3+ {Game drawn due to repetition.} 1/2-1/2