[Event "2022 Washington Senior Open"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2022.04.17"] [Round "5"] [White "Harwood"] [Black "Schill, William"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B26"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [EventType "simul"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {This is the final round of the Senior Championship. I felt very calm during this game. Why? Well, given my poor performance in the previous rounds, my expectations were low. Being paired against FM William Schill was probably going to be another loss but that didn't matter to me. My goal was to play, have fun and learn from a stronger player. I also didn't want to implode the way I did in my first round game against John Readey.} 1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 e5 {This commitment by Black seals the center and changes White's normal strategic ideas of playing c4, d4.} 6. O-O Nge7 7. Nc3 $6 {is not wrong but it's less flexible. Better would be to stay with the accepted norms of c3, a3 and expansion on the queenside.} ({The typical plan for white after Black plays e5 is to expand on the queenside with} 7. c3 O-O 8. a3 {followed by b4.} a5 9. a4 d5 10. Na3 h6 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Qb3 Nde7 13. Be3 Be6 14. Nc4 Qxd3 15. Nfd2 Bd5 16. Bxd5 Qxd5 17. Nb6 Qxb3 18. Nxb3 Rad8 19. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Rd8 21. Rxd8+ Nxd8 22. Nxa5 Nec6 23. Nxc6 Nxc6 24. Bxc5 Bf8 25. Nd7 Be7 26. Bxe7 Nxe7 27. Nxe5 Kf8 28. Kf1 Nd5 29. Ke2 Ke7 30. Kd3 Ke6 31. Nf3 f5 32. a5 Nf6 33. Nd4+ Kd5 34. f3 Nd7 35. c4+ Kd6 36. b4 Ne5+ 37. Kc3 Kc7 38. c5 h5 39. h4 Nf7 40. f4 {1-0 (40) Amin,B (2635)-Moiseenko,A (2707) Dubai 2014}) (7. c4 {was an idea too, locking the center.} d6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. Rb1 Be6 10. Bd2 Rb8 11. a3 a5 12. Ne1 Nd4 13. Nc2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 Nc6 15. Be3 $11) 7... O-O 8. Be3 {Attacking c5 but this can easily be defended. Better was preparing the queenside attack with a3.} (8. Rb1 d6 9. a3 b6 10. Nd2 Be6 11. Nd5 Qd7 12. b4 Bg4 13. f3 Be6 14. c4 Rab8 15. b5 Nd4 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. Rxb3 $11) (8. Nd2 {a good move preparing to bring pieces to the queenside.} d6 9. Nc4 Be6 10. Ne3 {[%csl Rd5] and White has a firm grip on d5.} f5 11. Ned5 Qd7 12. Bg5 Rae8 13. Nb5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Nd8 15. a4 Nf7 16. Bd2 a6 17. Nc3 $11) 8... d6 9. Nd2 $6 {This is now awkward and Black has f5-f4 as a threat.} (9. Qd2 Rb8 10. a4 b6 11. Nh4 Nb4 12. f4 d5 13. exd5 Nexd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. fxe5 Bxe5 16. Bg5 Qd7 17. c3 $11) 9... f5 (9... b6 10. a4 Nb4 11. Nc4 Be6 12. Qd2 $11) {I felt it was time to counterattack with} 10. f4 (10. exf5 Bxf5 11. Bg5 Qd7 12. Bxe7 Nxe7 13. Nd5 Nc6 14. Ne3 Kh8 15. Ne4 Be6 $11) 10... Nd4 (10... exf4 11. Bxf4 Be6 12. Nf3 h6 13. h4 Qd7 14. Qd2 Kh7 15. Rae1 Rae8 $11) 11. a4 Bd7 12. Nc4 $1 Bc6 (12... Be6 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Nb5 fxe4 15. Rxf8+ Qxf8 16. Bxe4 Nd5 (16... Bxc4 $2 17. dxc4 Rd8 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Bg5 Re8 20. Qg4 Nf5 21. Rf1 $16) 17. c3 $11) 13. Nd5 Ne6 14. fxe5 (14. Qe2 exf4 15. Nxf4 Qd7 16. Rae1 $11) 14... dxe5 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 $11 {I spent a lot of time on this move and came up with Stockfish's 3rd and lesser choice. My reason for playing this was to unseat the c6 bishop and after ef5, the b7 pawn would be under attack as well.} 16. Na5 $6 f4 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. Bd2 c4 $1 {liquidating his backward pawn.} 19. Kh1 {The right move but at the wrong time. I had to play Ra3 and recapture cd3 with the rook. White is slightly worse but the position is still holdable.} ( 19. Ra3 Rad8 20. Kh1 c5 21. Bh3 $15) 19... Rad8 (19... cxd3 20. cxd3 Nd4 21. gxf4 Bh6 22. Be3 Bxf4 23. Bxd4 exd4 24. Qg4 $1 $15) 20. Ra3 cxd3 21. cxd3 $2 { Creating a permanent weakness on d3. My reasoning was that I wanted to open the c-file and bring pressure on the c6 pawn.} (21. Rxd3 Rxd3 22. cxd3 h5 23. d4 Nxd4 24. gxf4 exf4 25. Bxf4 $11) 21... fxg3 22. Rxf8+ (22. hxg3 Rxf1+ 23. Bxf1 h5 24. b4 Kh7 25. Ra2 Nd4 26. Be3 Bh6 27. Bxd4 Rxd4 $17) 22... Rxf8 ({ An alternative is} 22... Bxf8 $5 {, keeping pressure on the d3 pawn.} 23. hxg3 Qf7 24. Ba5 Bxa3 25. Bxd8 Bxb2 26. Bg5 Bd4 27. Bd2 $17) 23. hxg3 Nd4 $6 { A seemingly logical move but Black has to expand with h5.} 24. Be3 Rd8 $2 { Black loses the thread and decides to concentrate his forces on the weak d pawn. The problem is that White has a lot of ways to defend it!} (24... h5 $1 { Controlling g4 but also expanding towards the White king.} 25. Ra2 Kh7 26. b3 Bh6 27. Bf2 c5 $17) 25. Rc3 c5 26. Rc4 $1 Bf8 27. Qd2 $2 {Threatening Bg5 and possibly b4 when the time is right.} ({Apparently, I need to stay on the light squares with} 27. Qg4 Qe8 28. Bh3 Qf7 29. Bxd4 Rxd4 30. Rxd4 cxd4 $11) 27... Ne6 $2 (27... Qe6 28. Bf1 Bd6 29. Qh2 Rb8 30. Bh3 Qf7 $15) 28. Bh3 $1 { Redeploying the bishop to an open diagonal.} Qd6 29. Bf1 $2 (29. Kg2 Rb8 30. Bxe6+ Qxe6 31. Bxc5 Bxc5 32. Rxc5 $11) 29... Be7 30. a5 h5 31. b4 $4 { Impatience. I thought I had correctly calculated this next sequence, but I missed something as we will see.} (31. Bh3 {The theme of this position continues to be control of the light squares.} Rf8 32. Rc1 Nd4 33. Rf1 Rf6 34. Rxf6 Qxf6 35. Bxd4 cxd4 $11) 31... cxb4 32. Bxa7 Qa6 $4 (32... Kg7 33. Be3 b3 34. Rc1 h4 $1 {and the white position is falling apart.}) 33. Bb6 Rf8 (33... Qxc4 34. Bxd8 Qc5 35. d4 Nxd4 36. Bb6 Qc6 $11) 34. Kg2 $2 (34. Bh3 Ng5 35. Rc7 Nxh3 36. Rxe7 Nf2+ 37. Bxf2 Qf6 38. Bc5 h4 39. Qa2+ Kh8 40. Qg2 b3 41. Rb7 $18) 34... Qa8 35. Qb2 Bd6 36. Be2 Qe8 37. Be3 $11 g5 $4 38. d4 (38. a6 $1 g4 39. a7 Kh7 40. Rc1 Qf7 41. Rc6 Qd7 42. Ra6 Nc7 43. Ra1 $18) 38... exd4 39. Rxd4 Be5 40. Qxb4 {Draw agreed.} 1/2-1/2