[Event "Eastside Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.03.01"] [Round "2"] [White "Shankaranand, Deeksha"] [Black "Harwood"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Harwood,Paul"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "1688"] [BlackElo "1861"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "122"] [GameId "2151009160249519"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] [EventType "simul"] [EventRounds "5"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,122,9,27,21,54,18,22,6,57,2,25,26,11,29,21,36,37,32,22,42,1,21,4,18,-4,78,31,123,65,4,-15,-56,-80,-218,-92,-100,-84,-168,-344,-398,-345,-344,-429,-497,-405,-429,-463,-449,-501,-445,-504,-541,-549,-423,-572,-334,-513,-441,-449,-481,-515,-582,-549,-424,-534,-536,-577,-552,-557,-495,-568,-542,-572,-594,-562,-580,-628,-528,-640,-636,-552,-642,-699,-657,-733,-587,-743,-660,-547,-711,-603,-729,-508,-733,-716,-572,-838,-691,-791,-668,-786,-722,-989,-790,-931,-965,-2077,-2026,-29985,-29986,-29987,-29988,-29995,-29992,-29993,-29992,-29997,-29996,-29997,-29996,-29997,-29998,-29999,-29999]} {Round 2 had me paired against a 1688 rated player. She was tough, playing the Alapin Sicilian - an opening I encounted several times in the tournament. I need to do some work to make sure I understand the plans from the Black side of the board.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 {Again, the weapon of choice for many young players.} Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 e6 {Slightly inaccurate. Probably because Black locks in his c8 bishop. Instead, d6 is recommended.} (6... d6 7. Bc4 Nb6 8. Bb5 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Bd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. Nc3 e6 $11) (6... d6 7. Bc4 Nb6 8. Bb5 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Bd7 10. Nc3 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Bxb5 12. Nxb5 Qxd1+ 13. Kxd1 O-O-O+ $11) 7. Bc4 Nb6 (7... d6 {the best move but I was worried about Bxd5. However, objectively this is good for Black as I have the bishop pair and an open c8-h3 diagonal.} 8. Bxd5 exd5 9. O-O Be7 10. Bf4 dxe5 11. Nxe5 O-O $11 {[%CAl Gc8h3]}) 8. Bb3 d6 9. Nc3 Be7 $6 (9... dxe5 10. dxe5 Qxd1+ 11. Bxd1 Be7 12. Bf4 Nb4 13. O-O Nd3 14. Bc1 $15) 10. Bf4 ({My opponent missed} 10. exd6 Bxd6 11. O-O O-O 12. a3 Nd5 13. Re1 Nce7 14. Qd3 Bd7 15. Bg5 Nf4 16. Qd2 Qb6 $14 {Black is playing defense.}) 10... O-O 11. O-O dxe5 12. dxe5 Bd7 $2 $16 (12... Qxd1 13. Bxd1 Bd7 14. Be2 Rfc8 15. Rfd1 Nb4 16. Rac1 h6 17. g3 N6d5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Bd2 $11) 13. Qd2 Rc8 (13... Na5 {Eyeing c4 for a knight outpost.}) 14. Rfd1 Na5 $1 15. Be3 Bc6 (15... Nxb3 {Stockfish 17 likes this but I wasn't thrilled about opening up the a-file.} 16. axb3 Bc6 17. Qxd8 Rfxd8 18. Nd4 (18. Rxd8+ Bxd8 19. Rxa7 Nd5 20. Bd2 Bb6 $11) 18... a6) 16. Qxd8 $6 (16. Qe1 Qc7 17. Nb5 $1 Bxb5 18. Qxa5 $11) 16... Rfxd8 17. Bxb6 {Giving the bishop pair for a damaged pawn structure.} axb6 18. Nd4 Be8 $1 {There is no reason to give up this good piece, so I tucked away on e8 for safekeeping and future deployment.} 19. Na4 $4 {I calculated this but thought that the simple Bxa4 keeps the game equal, until I looked a little deeper and saw a winning tactic.} Bxa4 20. Bxa4 Rc4 $1 {[%csl Ra4,Rd4] Both pieces cannot be saved.} 21. Nb5 (21. Nxe6 {still lost but at least she gets a pawn for her troubles.} Rxd1+ (21... Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Rxa4 23. Rd7 $6 Nc6 24. Nc7 Kf8 $19) 22. Rxd1 Rxa4 23. Nd4 (23. Rd7 Nc6 24. Nc7 Kf8 25. e6 Rd4 $19)) 21... Rxa4 22. Rxd8+ {I am up a full piece but I still need to convert this advantage. The plan is to bring my King to the center and slowly take control of the position.} Bxd8 23. Rd1 Nc6 24. a3 Ra5 $1 {Correct. The knight has to move and the e pawn is weak.} 25. Nd6 (25. Nc3 g5 26. Rd7 Rxe5 $19) 25... Rxe5 26. Nxb7 Rd5 27. Rc1 Kf8 {The king its journey to the center.} 28. f4 Nd4 (28... Ne7 {I considered this move for a while. It keeps the rook out of c8 and helps to get my king closer to the center.} 29. Kf2 Rd7 30. Nxd8 Rxd8 31. Ke3 Nd5+ $19) 29. Rc4 Ke8 30. Nxd8 Kxd8 31. Kf2 b5 32. Rc3 Kd7 33. g4 Nc6 34. Ke3 h5 {It's time to break up the pawn structure which will show the power of my extra piece.} 35. h3 hxg4 (35... h4) 36. hxg4 g5 (36... Kd6 37. g5 g6 38. Rc2 e5 $19) 37. fxg5 Rxg5 38. Kf4 f6 {Protecting the rook and slowly grabbing control of the center.} 39. Rh3 e5+ 40. Kg3 f5 $1 41. Rh7+ Ne7 (41... Ke6 {was fine too but I wanted to limit her counterplay.}) 42. Rh5 Rxg4+ 43. Kf3 Kd6 44. Rh6+ Rg6 45. Rh8 Rg8 46. Rh6+ Kd5 47. Rb6 e4+ (47... Kc5 48. Ra6 Nc6 $19) 48. Ke3 Rg3+ 49. Kf2 Rb3 {defending the loose pawn and preparing the roll the dual connected passers.} 50. Rb7 Nc6 51. Rf7 Ke5 52. Rc7 Nd4 53. Rc5+ Kf4 54. Rc3 Rxb2+ 55. Ke1 e3 56. Kf1 Kf3 57. Kg1 Ne2+ {There are faster ways for mate but this is the easiest.} 58. Kh1 Nxc3 59. Kg1 Rf2 60. Kh1 e2 61. Kg1 e1=Q# 0-1