[Event "CCCR Wed"] [White "Oliver Valenti"] [Black "Jamshed Ahmed"] [Site "RCC"] [Round "1"] [Annotator ""] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2021.07.28"] [WhiteElo "1706"] [BlackElo "1782"] [PlyCount "101"] [TimeControl "80"] {Hello everyone! This is TJ going over the Game of the Month for July. This game was very instructive and both Jamshed and Oliver played energetic and dynamic chess. Let's take a look.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 {Jamshed chooses the classical way to play the Sicilian defense.} 6. Bg5 e6 {This sharp variation, the Richter Rauzer, offers good chances to both sides. White will often castle queenside. Meanwhile Black will sometimes go kingside, sometimes queenside, or may even leave the king in the middle.} 7. f4 {This isn't very common here, white usually leads with Qd2 and castles queenside and only later plays f4 and potentially opens the center, but f4 right away gaining more control of the center is still a fine way for white (Oliver) to play} h6 8. Bh4 Be7 9. Qd2 $6 {Oliver misses a tactic here, Jamshed can now win a free pawn} a6 $6 {Jamshed misses the same tactic, he could have won a free pawn here, although some calculation is required} (9... Nxe4 $1 10. Bxe7 (10. Nxe4 Bxh4+ )Nxd2 11. Bxd8 Nxf1 12. Rxf1 (12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bc7 Ne3 14. Bxd6 (14. Kf2 Nc4 )Nxc2+ )Kxd8 )10. 0-0-0 Qb6 $6 {Qb6 in these types of positions is a very common move. The idea is to force the d4 knight to either trade for the c6 knight or move back to a worse square, and if white leaves the knight on d4 there will follow a lot of exchanges which is good for black because it neutralizes white's attack and blacks 2 center pawns are strong in the endgame. However, in this case Nxc6 is actually good for white because white can force open the center where the black king is. As a result Qb6 actually isn't so good, instead black should have castled to get his king safe.} 11. Nf3 $6 {White had a strong chance there to open the center where the black king was by taking on c6 and playing e5. Now the position is once again balanced.} (11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. e5 dxe5 13. fxe5 Nd5 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 {The black king is stuck in the center, better for white} (14... Nxe7 15. Na4 Qc7 16. Qd6 {Better for white} )15. Bc4 )e5 $2 {Jamshed makes a mistake here, black can't afford to give up the f5 and d5 squares like this, white will now be able to place his own pieces on strong squares and constrict the black pieces. The way that Oliver plays here is extremely instructive.} 12. Bxf6 $1 {Removing an important defender of the d5 square, which white would like to occupy with a knight.} gxf6 13. Nd5 $1 {This strong move gives white a big advantage, Oliver has places his pieces to control the center and his knight is on the dream square d5 where it is very difficult for black to remove.} Qd8 14. f5 {Constricting black's lightsquare bishop, and preventing black from playing Be6 and exchanging the super-knight on d5.} b5 15. Kb1 {There is no need for white to rush, instead Oliver makes sure his king is completely secure} Bb7 16. c4 {White is trying to open the position because his pieces are better placed than black's. Whites pieces are more centrally placed and can manuver much more easily, meanwhile black is cramped.} bxc4 17. Bxc4 Na5 18. Be2 Rc8 19. Rc1 Nc6 20. Rhd1 {White brings all of his pieces to good squares} Qa5 21. Qxa5 {This is a strong move for white with a tactic behind it, but white had an even stronger tactical shot. As the old adage goes 'if you see a good move look for a better one'. Qxa5 is still good enough to win, but Rxc6 is even stronger.} (21. Rxc6 $1 {Winning a piece by removing the defender of the queen on a5} Bxc6 $4 (21... Qxd2 22. Rxc8+ $1 Bxc8 23. Nxd2 )22. Qxa5 )Nxa5 22. Rxc8+ Bxc8 23. Rc1 {Before winning a free pawn, Oliver gets his rook to the c file with tempo} Bb7 24. Bxa6 $1 {Winning a pawn for free, by trading queens white removed the defender of the c7 square, so now Bxc6 is met with Nc7+} Bd8 (24... Bxa6 25. Nc7+ Kd8 26. Nxa6 )25. Bxb7 Nxb7 26. Nd2 Kd7 27. Nc4 Nc5 28. Ncb6+ Ke8 29. Rc4 Rg8 30. b4 Nd7 31. Nxd7 Kxd7 32. Rc7+ $1 {If Black takes back with the bishop white playes Nxf6+winning back material with a winning endgame} Ke8 (32... Bxc7 33. Nxf6+ $1 Kc6 34. Nxg8 )33. Rc2 Rg4 34. Re2 Kd7 35. Kc2 Kc6 36. a4 Bb6 37. h3 Rg3 38. Nxb6 {White is still completely winning with two outside passed pawns, but white gives Black a little bit more hope than necessary by trading off his strong knight} Kxb6 39. Rd2 Kc7 40. a5 Re3 41. Rd3 Rxe4 42. b5 {Black has won a pawn back, but the outside passers are just too strong} Rc4+ 43. Kb3 Rc5 44. Kb4 e4 45. Re3 $6 {White makes things more difficult for himself with this move, the Rook on e3 is just waiting to be tempo-ed by d5 and d4, and it is better placed on a3 where it supports white's own passed pawn} (45. Ra3 Re5 46. b6+ Kb7 47. a6+ Kxb6 48. a7 {With an easy win for white} )Re5 46. g4 d5 47. Rc3+ $6 {The Black king already needs to get back to help defend the pawns, and the white rook on c3 will need to move again after black plays d5, so Rc3+ just loses an important tempo. All of a sudden black just might be ok if he plays accurately.} Kb7 $2 {This move allows white to move forward with tempo, which makes the postion winning for white once again. Jamshed could have held a draw with Kb8 followed by a string of perfect moves} (47... Kb8 $1 48. Kc5 e3 49. Rc1 d4+ $1 {Diverting the king from the defense of the b5 pawn} 50. Kxd4 e2 51. Re1 h5 {Black must pull apart white's pawn chain at this moment in order to draw} 52. gxh5 Rxb5 53. Ke4 Rxa5 54. Rxe2 Re5+ 55. Kf3 Rxf5+ 56. Kg4 Rg5+ 57. Kh4 Kc7 58. Rf2 Kd7 59. Rxf6 Rg8 60. Rxf7+ Ke6 61. Rf3 Ke7 62. h6 Rf8 63. Rg3 Kf6 64. Kh5 Rf7 65. h4 Kf5 66. Rf3+ Ke6 {According to the tablebase white has no good way to make progress, this is just a draw, if the rooks come off blacks king can come over in time to hold the draw, and if the rooks don't come off black can keep the white king and pawns restricted by using his king to restrict the white king and his rook to prevent the h6 pawn from advancing} 67. Rg3 Kf5 68. Rg7 Kf6 69. Rg2 Kf5 70. Rb2 Kf6 71. Rb5 Rh7 72. Rg5 Rf7 )48. a6+ $1 Kb8 49. b6 $1 {Passed pawns should be pushed} e3 50. a7+ Kb7 {Notation stops here and white won, so perhaps Jamshed resigned here or a few moves later. White has many ways to win here but the most spectacular is Rc8!! Note that if Black were a tempo up (the black pawn were on e2) he could simply queen with check after Rc8, but now black is a move too slow.} 51. Rc8 $3 {Both players played good instructive chess. Aside from a slip up near the start and end of the game, Oliver played a wonderful game, slowly building up his advantage and converting it to a full point.} 1-0