[Event "EU-ch 25th"] [White "Bluebaum,Matthias"] [Black "Yuffa,Daniil"] [Site "Eforie Nord"] [Round "7"] [Annotator "Bluebaum,Matthias"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2025.03.22"] [WhiteElo "2643"] [BlackElo "2654"] [PlyCount "81"] {[%evp 0,81,26,20,34,-29,-11,-22,-9,-35,-21,-46,-27,-31,-26,-32,11,-13,5,-24,16,24,8,-19,13,2,4,-11,-13,-3,19,20,40,58,74,8,-5,16,151,121,119,101,101,96,96,65,79,21,48,-31,17,-71,6,9,9,-22,2,2,51,86,82,109,109,118,126,119,130,141,152,126,264,236,228,367,367,367,433,525,535,548,895,1023,1023,1052]} 1. d4 { In round 7, I played with White against Daniil Yuffa, who had played a very strong tournament up to that point and was alone in the lead with . My tournament had been going quite well up to this point and of course I wanted to try and get a game with White.} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 { The first little surprise on my part, because lately I've been playing mainly the Nimzoindian with 4. e3.} O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6 7. e3 c5 {A somewhat unusual but interesting sequence of moves by my opponent.} 8. Nf3 {I decided to go for a non-committal move in the game with Nf3, as I couldn't assess whether my opponent had possibly prepared this idea with an early c5.} (8. dxc5 bxc5 9. b4 {would have been the principled continuation , because now the dark-squared bishop on b2 would become a very strong piece in the future. However, Black has an interesting, concrete way to equalize with} d5 $5 {. .} 10. Bb2 Nbd7 11. Nf3 (11. cxd5 exd5 12. bxc5 Rb8 13. c6 Nc5 $1 $11 {and Black has enough counterplay.} )Ba6 $11 )Bb7 9. Be2 $6 ({Here} 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. b4 {would have been necessary after all to try to get an opening advantage. Black has some activity, but no very clear way to equalize against the bishop pair, and White should be slightly more comfortable at least practically everywhere.} Ne4 (10... d5 11. Bb2 )11. Qc2 d5 12. Bd3 )cxd4 10. exd4 Nc6 $6 (10... d5 $5 {would have been absolutely necessary here. I wasn't quite sure in the game how to assess the position, but I was expecting d5 and the position now becomes very double-edged after} 11. c5 (11. b3 { gives Black easy play against the hanging pawns, because the knight can be developed directly to a5, e.g.} dxc4 12. bxc4 Nc6 13. O-O Rc8 14. Bb2 Na5 $11 )Ne4 12. Qc2 bxc5 13. dxc5 a5 $1 {Black must absolutely prevent White from getting to play b4.} 14. O-O a4 15. Be3 $11 )11. b4 {From now on I felt very comfortable in the position, because Black can no longer really play d5, as White always reacts with c5 and the pawn chain on the queenside is too strong. Now I have enough time to finish developing and consolidate my position and I'm just a bit better with the bishop pair and the center.} Ne7 12. O-O Rc8 13. Qb3 Nf5 14. Bb2 {The last few moves were all quite natural.} Ne4 (14... b5 $5 {would have been an interesting positional pawn sacrifice. In the game I didn't believe Black had enough compensation, but it doesn't seem so clear.} 15. cxb5 Bd5 16. Qd1 (16. Qa4 {looks principled, but allows Black to counterplay with} Nh5 $1 {The bishop on b2 is somewhat out of play and Black brings all his pieces into the attack.} 17. g3 Qf6 $11 {[%cal Gf6g6]} )Qb6 $44 {Black places the queen on b7 and it's not at all easy to find a good plan for White.} (16... Nh5 $6 17. Qd2 $14 ))15. d5 {After my opponent gives me the opportunity to further open my bishop on b2, I immediately take it.} b5 {My opponent wants to create counterplay, which makes perfect sense.} (15... exd5 16. cxd5 $16 {is simply very unpleasant for Black. White has the bishop pair, a space advantage and Black has no real activity.} )(15... Re8 $5 {would have been better than the continuation of the game with the idea} 16. Rad1 $6 (16. Rfe1 {White has to cover the bishop on e2 instead, but b5 is better in this version than in the game.} b5 17. dxe6 Rxe6 $1 18. c5 (18. cxb5 $4 {would show how dangerous the black attack can be, because Black wins here directly with} Qb6 19. Rf1 Nxf2 $19 )Nh4 {and here too Black gets a lot of play.} )exd5 17. cxd5 Nc3 $1 $11 )16. dxe6 fxe6 ({I saw in the game that after} 16... dxe6 $6 {I have} 17. c5 $1 {when White should be clearly better. It's important that the rook on c8 doesn't play along now and White gets enough time to control the position with a rook on d1.} (17. cxb5 $6 { gives Black counterplay with} Nd2 18. Nxd2 Qxd2 )Ng5 (17... Nd2 18. Nxd2 Qxd2 19. Bxb5 Qg5 20. Qh3 $18 )18. Rfd1 $18 )17. Rad1 {My focus during the game was to give my opponent as little counterplay as possible and I thought I should be much better after Rad1 as well. I just didn't like giving my opponent the initiative, but in the end cxb5 would have been objectively correct, even if the variations aren't all straightforward.} (17. cxb5 $1 { White can actually take the pawn. I was afraid during the game that Black could launch an attack, but there's nothing convincing for Black, even if White has to watch out for some tricks and play very accurately.} Ng5 18. Rad1 (18. Rac1 $2 {would run into a nice tactic.} Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Nd4 $1 21. Bxd4 Nxf3+ 22. gxf3 Qg5+ $17 )(18. Qd1 $1 {is probably the strongest move, but difficult for a human to find. The idea is to prepare Rac1 and Black can't really do anything about it. However, it's quite difficult to convince yourself as a human to put the already developed queen back, as it looks like it's wasting time.} h6 {Black doesn't really have anything better.} 19. Rc1 Rxc1 20. Bxc1 Nh3+ $5 {For a human, the position is not easily won, at least visually, but for example,} (20... Nxf3+ 21. Bxf3 Bxf3 22. Qxf3 $18 )21. gxh3 Qf6 22. Qxd7 Qg6+ 23. Ng5 Bd5 24. Rd1 hxg5 25. Rxd5 exd5 26. Qxd5+ $18 { and White should probably win with the strong pair of bishops and the queenside passed pawns.} )Be4 19. Ne1 {The knight on e1 prevents Bc2 and White wants to free himself with f3. White's pieces are all passive for the moment, but Black cannot exploit this properly, for example,} Qe8 {allows} 20. h4 $1 {zu.} Nf7 (20... Nxh4 $2 21. Qg3 $18 )21. Qh3 $16 )bxc4 18. Bxc4 Rxc4 $5 {A very interesting exchange sacrifice by my opponent, which I hadn't expected at all.} (18... Ng5 19. Ne5 d5 {was what I expected during the game and I thought White was clearly better, but again I underestimated some of the tactical motifs for Black.} (19... Rxc4 {would lead to the game, but here too I completely overlooked the motif Rxc4.} 20. Qxc4 Bxg2 )20. Bd3 (20. Be2 $2 { would give Black a lot of counterplay with} d4 {since the bishop on b7 is now playing again.} 21. Bc4 (21. f4 $6 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Rc2 $1 23. Kf2 Ne4+ 24. Kg1 Rxe2 $13 )Qf6 22. f4 Ne3 $13 )Nh3+ $5 {I hadn't seen it, for example. White looks better, but it's not all that easy.} (20... d4 $2 { does not work here because of} 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. Bxd4 $18 )21. gxh3 Qg5+ 22. Ng4 (22. Kh1 $4 d4+ 23. f3 Bd5 24. Qa4 Ne3 $19 )h5 23. Bc1 Qh4 (23... Qg6 24. f3 $16 )24. Ne5 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Qg5+ 26. Ng4 hxg4 27. Bxf5 gxh3+ 28. Bg4 $1 { White has to lure the black queen to g4, where it is worse, but the variations show how complicated the position is.} (28. Qg3 Rxf5 $14 )Qxg4+ 29. Qg3 Qd4 30. Rfd1 Qf6 31. Re1 $16 {White should now have everything under control, but from a human point of view the white king still looks very vulnerable.} )19. Qxc4 Ng5 20. Ne5 $2 {I completely overlooked my opponent's next idea.} (20. Nxg5 $1 {would have won. Since I hadn't seen the black idea after 20. Ne5, I didn't think too much about Nxg5. The attack looks dangerous, but in the end it doesn't work.} Qxg5 21. g3 Qe7 (21... Ne3 $2 22. Qc1 $18 )(21... Nxg3 $2 22. hxg3 Qh5 23. Qh4 Qf3 24. Qh2 $18 )22. Qc7 $18 )Bxg2 $3 {This move completely shocked me and I was lucky not to lose immediately.} 21. Kxg2 Qa8+ 22. Nc6 {Only move.} dxc6 {Here I thought for quite a while. I still have an extra exchange, but my king is very insecure and there are a lot of knight checks to watch out for. I'm very happy that I defended correctly here in the next few moves.} 23. Rd3 $1 {It is very important to control the e3-square.} (23. Bc1 $6 {I considered too, with the idea of controlling the e3-square, but then I saw that after} c5+ 24. f3 Nxf3 25. Qxe6+ Kh8 26. Qd5 $2 Qb8 $1 $19 { Black wins because I have a very hard time defending h2.} )c5+ 24. f3 cxb4 25. Bc1 $1 {is very precise, since by attacking the knight on g5 I give Black no time to consolidate his position.} Rc8 26. Qxb4 Rc2+ 27. Bd2 {White does stand in some pins and I also took a few minutes to make sure I wasn't missing a trick here, but little by little I understood that I should still stand well.} h6 28. Kh1 Qe8 29. Bxg5 hxg5 30. Rd2 Rxd2 31. Qxd2 {The last moves were all more or less forced, but after the shock of 20. ... Bxg2, I relaxed for the first time again, because from this point on it was clear to me that I at least shouldn't lose the game and that if in doubt I still have a good chance of winning.} Qh5 {Black threatens Ng3+ and wants to exchange an important pawn with g4. It is surprisingly difficult to fend off both threats, as Qg2 and Rg1 are both impossible.} 32. Qe1 Kf7 (32... Kh8 $1 $11 {would have given Black excellent chances of a draw. My opponent played only on increment here, and of course it's not easy to find the right square for the king. Here, however, there is no move for White to prevent g4.} )(32... Kh7 33. Qe4 $1 $18 {was my idea to exploit the knight's pin.} )33. Qe5 {I played for tricks in the time trouble phase and wanted to tactically prevent g4.} (33. Qf2 $1 { would have won, because White wins a tempo with the attack on the pawn a7 and can then prevent g4.} a6 34. Rg1 $18 )Qh3 (33... g4 $2 34. Re1 $1 $18 { and similarly to the game Black can't cover the e6-pawn well.} )(33... Qh4 $1 { was objectively Black's last chance.} 34. Re1 Qc4 $16 )34. Kg1 g4 $2 { Overlooking my idea.} (34... Nh4 {would have been even trickier.} 35. Rf2 $1 { wins, but is of course not easy to find in a time crunch.} (35. Qg3 Qf5 $14 )Nxf3+ 36. Kh1 g4 37. Qg3 Qh5 38. h3 $1 $18 )35. Re1 $1 {Suddenly Black can't cover the e6-pawn and, above all, is directly in a mating net.} g6 36. Qxe6+ Kg7 37. Qe5+ Kf7 38. Qc7+ Kf6 39. Qc3+ Kg5 40. f4+ Kxf4 41. Qd2+ { and my opponent resigned because I win the knight after Ne3 Qd4+. A very important win for me, after which I was able to take the lead for the first time in the tournament. My opponent played very creatively and interestingly and I was lucky that despite overlooking 20... Bxg2 I didn't lose directly. Nevertheless, I'm very happy with the way I defended after 23. Rd3. That won me the game and should ultimately help me win my second European Championship title!} (41. Qd2+ Ne3 42. Qd4+ )1-0