[Event "George Davison Shield"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.10.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Ducker, Harry"] [Black "Dawson, Phil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [Annotator "McCarthy,Damian"] [PlyCount "79"] {[%evp 0,79,19,38,60,60,69,67,76,56,47,47,51,42,36,49,61,-45,-28,-56,-33,-42,-18,-18,-8,-1,14,-2,22,24,24,15,53,40,54,49,48,49,184,110,139,69,176,195,205,217,248,118,109,123,120,113,118,116,131,130,124,132,223,167,211,217,224,232,232,230,248,242,271,255,255,260,257,302,311,317,344,280,318,312,404,418]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bd3 {The oldest move in the Advance Caro Kann and one which was the reason grandmaster's of the early 20th Century did not think the move 3.e5 was very good against the Caro Kann. Strategically speaking Black has achieved a light square pawn structure without the "bad" bishop on c8 which you would get in a French Defence. Modern players tend to avoid Bd3 here and are more likely to tolorate the Bishop on f5 with moves like Nf3 and Be2.} Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Nf3 c5 7. Be3 {An interesting decision, deciding not to defend the d4 pawn in the most natural way with c2-c3, which would have been the choice of most players here I think.} Nc6 {[%csl Gd3][%CAl Gd3d1]} 8. Qd1 {I was a bit baffled here as to why this move was played, speaking to Harry however after the game it seems that he managed to accidentally touch his Queen on this move, which was why he was obliged to move it!} Nge7 9. Nbd2 Nf5 (9... cxd4 {would have been very tempting if I were playing Black here as White is forced to recapture with the Bishop (due to not having a pawn on c3)} 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 {g5, instead trying to remove the Nf3 from defending the e5 pawn may be a more advanced option. But this simple plan also gives Black a good game I think.} 11. Nxd4 Qb6 {Black has good play}) 10. Nb3 Nxe3 $2 {I think this capture helps White solve a few problems with the d4 pawn. We will also see later that the open F-file become beneficial} 11. fxe3 c4 12. Nbd2 Rc8 13. O-O Bb4 14. c3 Be7 15. Qc2 Bg5 16. Nxg5 Qxg5 17. Rae1 Ne7 18. e4 {The natural pan break, over the past few moves Harry has played very nicely and all his pieces occupy good squares.} Ng6 $4 {Black really had to castle here} (18... O-O 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Ne4 Ne3 {would fail tactically because of} 21. Qd2) 19. Nf3 (19. exd5 exd5 20. Qa4+ {catching the King} Rc6 21. Nxc4 dxc4 22. d5 {would have punished Black, the a4-e8 light squared diagonal can often be a weakness for Black in the Caro Advance if Black neglects development.}) 19... Qd8 20. Qa4+ {That diagonal again!} Qd7 21. Qxd7+ Kxd7 22. Ng5 {The culmination of some nice strategic play. Black now has no way to defend the weakness on f7.} Rhf8 23. Rxf7+ {Nxh7 was also good.} Rxf7 24. Nxf7 Rf8 25. Nd6 b6 26. g3 Rf3 27. Rf1 {Trading down to a winning endgame.} Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 dxe4 29. Nxe4 Ne7 30. Nd6 Nd5 31. Nxc4 Kc6 32. Ke2 b5 33. Nd6 b4 34. Kd3 {Nice technique again from Harry} bxc3 35. bxc3 Nb6 36. Ne8 g6 37. Nf6 h5 38. Ng8 Nd5 39. Nf6 g5 40. Nxh5 {Now 3 pawns down and without a hint of counterplay, Black resigns.} 1-0