[Event "DCL Div 1"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.03.31"] [Round "?"] [White "Stanciu, Ciprian"] [Black "Pleasants, Allan J"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [Annotator "Allan"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.03.01"] 1. d4 g6 2. e4 d6 3. Be3 Bg7 4. f3 Nc6 5. c3 {This looks a very artifical way of defending the centre pawns and shouldn't cause black any problems. A plan of Ne2 and g4 would be more to the point.} e5 6. d5 Nce7 7. Nd2 f5 8. Bd3 Nf6 9. c4 O-O 10. Qb3 Kh8 $6 {This may be a little too cautious and black should probably hit white's centre immediately and before the white knight can reach c3} (10... fxe4 11. Bxe4 c6) 11. Ne2 c6 12. Bg5 c5 {I now realised I had left it late for playing c6. So decided to just accept a space advantage.} 13. O-O-O h6 14. Be3 f4 15. Bf2 Rf7 16. g3 Nh5 17. g4 Nf6 18. Bh4 Ne8 19. Kb1 Rb8 20. Nc3 Nc7 21. Nb5 a6 22. Nxc7 (22. Na7 Bd7 {leaves the a7 knight offside and in danger}) 22... Qxc7 23. Qc3 {Black now prepares for the b5 pawn break, but first needs to sort his pieces out. White has no breaks and the centre is closed to prevent this slow manoeuvring.} Bd7 24. Nb3 Be8 25. Bxe7 {White decides to have a knight rather than bishop in the closed position, but I think he should keep the defender of the dark squares so Bf2 seems better.} Rxe7 26. h4 Qc8 27. Rh2 b6 28. Na1 Reb7 29. b3 Bf8 30. h5 {As is often the case the player with a passive position makes a commital move. I have no doubt that Ciprian expected me to play g5 and close the kingside so that I could concentrate on the attack on the opposite wing. Indeed this was my initial thought, but after a little consideration I decided the open g-file could give me two fronts to operate on.} gxh5 31. gxh5 Rg7 32. Rdh1 Be7 33. Bf1 Bd7 34. Nc2 b5 35. Ne1 Qb7 36. Ng2 Rbg8 37. cxb5 ({Perhaps white's best chance was} 37. Nh4 Bxh4 38. Rxh4 b4 39. Qc2 Rg3 $17 {but black is dominating the position}) 37... axb5 38. Ne1 Qb8 39. Qb2 Qe8 40. Bh3 Bd8 {The bishop will soon be free} 41. Bxd7 Qxd7 42. Rg2 Ba5 43. Rxg7 Qxg7 44. Qe2 c4 $1 {Opening lines in front of the white king.} 45. Nc2 (45. bxc4 bxc4 46. Qxc4 Qb7+ 47. Qb3 Qc7 {wins due to the threat of Rb8}) 45... Bc3 46. b4 $2 {In a difficult position white fails to find the best move. He has to play Qf2 to control the a7 square.} (46. Qf2 Qg3 47. Qf1 cxb3 48. axb3 b4 {but black is in total control}) 46... Qg1+ { The immediate Qa7 also wins, but the move played is insurance. White cannot take the queen as the simplification leads to an easy endgame a piece down. So he is forced to put the queen on the back rank which means the second rank and a2 pawn are less well undefended.} 47. Qf1 Qa7 {After this switch back white cannot defend the a2 pawn} 48. a3 Qa4 49. Kc1 Qb3 {mate is unavoidable} 0-1