[Event "Holiday Invitational 2020"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.03.01"] [Round "9"] [White "Paul H."] [Black "Chessmaster XI (Turk)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [PlyCount "171"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [EventRounds "1"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2013.12.29"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Round 9. I started this game playing e4, hoping for an advantage out of the opening. It turns out, CM could have a comfortable draw had it traded down some of its pieces early. This is an instructive game for players wanting to improve their endgame play.} 1. e4 Nc6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 e5 5. g3 $6 Bg4 (5... Bc5 6. Bg2 (6. exd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O Re8 (8... Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. c3 Bg6 11. Nh4 Bxd3 12. Nb3 Bxf1 13. Kxf1 Bxf2 14. Kxf2 e4 $14))) (5... dxe4 6. dxe4 Bc5 7. h3 a5 8. c3 O-O 9. a4 Ne8 $1 10. Qe2 (10. Bg2 Be6 11. Qe2 Nd6 12. O-O f6 $15)) 6. Bg2 ({An early} 6. h3 {was something I pondered.} Bh5 ( 6... Be6 7. Bg2 dxe4 8. dxe4 Bc5 9. Qe2 Qe7 10. c3 $11) 7. Bg2 dxe4 8. dxe4 Nd7 9. O-O Nc5 10. Re1 Be7 $11) 6... dxe4 ({Relevant:} 6... d4 7. h3 Be6 8. a3 Nd7 9. O-O Be7 10. Ne1 O-O 11. Kh2 a5 12. a4 Nc5 13. Ndf3 Kh8 14. Qe2 Ra6 15. b3 Nd7 16. Nd2 Nb4 17. f4 exf4 18. gxf4 f5 19. e5 Bd5 20. Bxd5 Nxd5 21. Nc4 Rh6 22. Nf3 c5 23. Bd2 b6 24. Rg1 Re8 25. Qg2 Rg6 26. Ng5 Qa8 27. Rae1 Bxg5 28. fxg5 Rge6 29. Nd6 Rf8 30. Nc4 Ne7 31. Qxa8 Rxa8 32. Rgf1 g6 33. Bf4 Nd5 34. Kg3 Kg7 35. h4 Nf8 36. Re2 {Huss,B (2143)-Filipovic,B (2378) Lenzerheide 2018 0-1 (99)}) 7. dxe4 Be7 8. O-O {[#]} Nd7 $6 $146 {A move that confused me. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Perhaps Black wanted to play Nc5-e6?} 9. c3 { Keeping the knight out of d4 and preparing Re1, Nf1 and the other KIA typical maneuvers. However, note the weak d3 square.} O-O 10. Re1 {This "typical" move is not good. My d3 square is a problem which Black pounces on.} (10. Nc4 { is the move here. It pins the d7 knight so that if it moves, I trade queens and take on e5. Additionally, I have the option of Ne3, evicting the g4 bishop and popping into d5 or f5.} a5 11. Qe2 h6 12. Ne3 Be6 13. Rd1 $11) 10... Nc5 $1 $15 {Now Nd3 is a problem giving Black a small but lasting advantage.} 11. Qc2 (11. b4 Nd3 12. Re2 a5 13. b5 Na7 14. a4 Nxc1 15. Qxc1 f6 16. Nf1 Bc5 17. Ne3 Be6 18. Nd2 $11) 11... Qd3 {This practically forces a queen trade and the game is likely headed for a draw. Black is still better though so it is White who has to find a way to equalize.} 12. Qxd3 Nxd3 {The weak square I forgot about. Black gets to harrass my rook and make it difficult to develop my c1 bishop.} 13. Re3 Nxc1 (13... Rfd8 {is another idea but after} 14. Bf1 Nxc1 15. Rxc1 { This is similar to what happened in the game. White is worse and needs to coordinate his pieces.}) 14. Rxc1 {I was mindful of the g5-c1 diagonal and wanted to make sure I didn't fall for the skewer Bg5.} a6 15. Nc4 ({Gaining space with a4 made some sense too but I was more focused on getting my rooks aligned.} 15. a4 Rfd8 16. Bf1 Kf8 17. Kg2 $15) ({Another idea is} 15. Bf1 { improving the scope of my bad bishop.} Rfd8 16. a4 Kf8 $15) 15... f6 {A good move to solidify the center and free the c6 knight from defense. Be6 is a possibility too.} 16. Rd3 Rfd8 17. Rcd1 Rxd3 18. Rxd3 {Black trades down more. He has the two bishops and a nice-looking endgame.} Bc5 {Getting on a good diagonal and exerting some pressure on the center.} 19. Ne3 Bxf3 $2 $15 { With this one move, Black throws away his entire advantage. There was no reason to relinquish the bishop pair with this capture.} ({Instead} 19... Bxe3 {makes more sense.} 20. Rxe3 Rd8 21. Kf1 Be6 {Hitting the a2 pawn.} 22. b3 a5 23. Ke1 Ra8 $15 {Black has a lasting initiative.}) 20. Bxf3 Kh8 $4 {Another blunder. Moving the King away from the center makes no sense.} 21. Nd5 $6 (21. Rd7 Rc8 (21... Bxe3 {I was afraid of the bad pawn structure after} 22. fxe3 { but White is actually winning here!} Rc8 23. Bg4 h6 24. Rf7 Re8 25. Rxc7 $18) 22. Bg4 Bxe3 23. fxe3 h6 24. Rxg7 Kxg7 25. Bxc8 $18) 21... Rd8 22. Kf1 (22. b4 Bd6 $14) 22... Ne7 23. Ke2 a5 $2 {This hangs the c7 pawn but my f2 pawn hangs as well. The difference though is that my king gets to penetrate with Kc4.} ( 23... Nxd5 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. exd5 f5 $11) 24. Nxe7 $2 (24. Nxc7 Rxd3 25. Kxd3 Bxf2 26. Ne8) 24... Bxe7 25. Rxd8+ {A basic recapture that misplaces the bishop and allows my King to enter the game.} Bxd8 26. Kd3 $1 Be7 27. Bg4 (27. Kc4 {is a bit more direct} c6 28. Bg4 Kg8 29. Bc8 b6 30. Kd3 Kf7 31. Bb7 Bc5 32. Ke2 g6 $14) 27... a4 $2 {The last thing Black wants to do is place his pawn on light squares.} 28. Kc4 c6 29. Be6 $6 {Locking out the king from g8 but this wasn't needed.} (29. a3 {This secures the a4 pawn on a light square which is a permanent weakness that Black has to manage.} Kg8 30. Bc8 b5+ 31. Kd3 c5 32. Bd7 b4 33. Kc4 $18) 29... b5+ 30. Kd3 b4 31. Bd7 bxc3 (31... a3 32. bxa3 bxc3 33. a4 Bb4 34. Bxc6 Kg8 35. Bd5+ Kf8 36. Bb3 Bc5 37. Kxc3 Bxf2 38. Kc4 $14) 32. Kxc3 Bc5 33. f3 Bd4+ 34. Kc2 g6 $2 (34... Kg8 35. Bxc6 a3 36. b4 Kf8 37. Kb3 Bb2 38. Bd5 $14) 35. Bxc6 f5 $4 {Black's game has fallen apart.} 36. Bxa4 Kg7 37. b4 fxe4 38. fxe4 Kf8 39. g4 {Ok but I should play Kd3-c4 and penetrate with my king.} Ke7 40. Bb3 Kd7 41. a4 {These passers will be too much to handle.} g5 $4 {The final mistake that seals Black's fate. Now there is no way for the Black king to enter on the queenside. Not that it mattered anyway but this is as close to a resignation as you will get from CM.} 42. Kd3 Kd6 43. Bd5 Kc7 44. Kc4 Bf2 45. a5 Be1 46. a6 $6 (46. Kb5 Kd6 47. Ka4 Bd2 48. b5 Kc7 49. b6+ Kd6 50. a6 {#9}) 46... Bf2 47. Bg8 {Attack h7 but the main idea is to allow the King to occupy d5.} (47. b5) 47... h6 48. Kd5 Bd4 49. Ke6 (49. Be6 Kb6 50. Bc8 Kb5 51. Ke6 Kxb4 52. Kf6 $18 {Similar to the game.}) 49... Kb6 50. a7 Kxa7 51. Kf6 Kb6 52. Bc4 {Keeping the king out of b5.} Bg1 53. h3 Bd4 54. Kg6 Kc6 55. Kxh6 Be3 56. Kh5 {I have one passed that he can blockade with his bishop. I need a second passer which will be too much for him to defend.} Kd7 57. h4 gxh4 58. Kxh4 Ke8 59. g5 Kf8 60. Kg4 Bd2 61. b5 Be3 62. Kf5 Kg7 63. g6 Bf2 64. Bf7 Bd4 65. Ke6 Bc3 66. b6 Ba5 67. b7 Bc7 68. Kd7 Bb8 69. Kc8 Ba7 70. b8=Q Bxb8 71. Kxb8 Kf6 72. Kc7 Ke7 73. Kc6 Kf6 74. Kd6 Kg7 75. Kxe5 Kf8 76. Kd6 Kg7 77. e5 Kh6 78. e6 Kg5 79. e7 Kf4 80. e8=Q Kf3 81. g7 Kf2 82. Qe4 Kf1 83. Qc2 Ke1 84. g8=Q Kf1 85. Bc4+ Ke1 86. Qg1# {This marks my 7th win in a row with CM (Turk) with one more game left in the match.} 1-0