[Event "Ringwood W&S ve Southbourne Seagulls"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.10.16"] [Round "?"] [White "Rushworth, Tim"] [Black "Edwards, Will"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D06"] [Annotator "Martin Clancy / Stockfish 16 (15m)"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.03.01"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 {The Queen's Gambit.} Nf6 $6 (2... e6 {The classical/orthodox defence to the Queen's Gambit is a good option}) (2... c6 {The Slav defence to the Queen's Gambit is also solid}) (2... dxc4 {The Queen's Gambit accepted can be solid or very sharp depending on how play goes}) 3. Nc3 (3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. Nf3 {is the strongest way for White to play, intending to follow up with 5.e4 against most replies, grabbing contrrol of the centre}) 3... Be6 $6 {Breaks a few opening principles. 1) Makes moving the e pawn difficult, which usually usually moves to e6 to support the d pawn. 2) Restricts the development of the bishop on f8. 3) Whilst there are many exceptions, a good general principle to to develop knights before bishops (The knight's initial destination is more predictable than the bishops.)} (3... e6 {As White missed his chance to play 3. cxd5, Black should play this or 3...c6}) (3... c6) 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 {Last book move according to my database, but it is already +/- for White. His centre is solid and ready to expand and he has natural places for his pieces.} Nc6 $4 {A lemon.} (6... g6 $142 7. d5 Bc8 $16 {is the computer recomendation but the position is clearly much better for White}) 7. d5 $18 { wins a piece} Bd7 8. dxc6 Bxc6 9. Bd3 e5 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. O-O O-O 12. Bb2 (12. Qe2 {makes it even easier for White} b6 $18) 12... Qf6 13. Qe2 a6 14. a4 Rad8 15. Rfd1 Bc5 16. Ba3 Qe7 17. Bxc5 Qxc5 18. c4 Rfe8 19. Bc2 Bd7 20. Rd5 Qc6 21. Nxe5 (21. Rad1 {are other options. it is difficult to move any of Black's pieces with the bishop pinned against the rook and the queen and rook protecting it.} f6 $18 22. c5 Re7 23. Qd3 h6 24. h3 Kh7 25. Nh4 g6) 21... Qe6 22. Nxd7 (22. Rad1 {is even better, but can't be wrong to swop pieces when a piece up.} Qxe5 23. Rxe5 Rxe5 $18) 22... Rxd7 23. a5 (23. Rad1 {might be the shorter path but swapping the pieces is the right strategy.} Rxd5 24. cxd5 Qe5 $18) 23... Rxd5 24. cxd5 Qe5 25. Rc1 c6 26. dxc6 bxc6 27. Qxa6 Qb2 28. Qf1 Qc3 29. Ba4 (29. a6 $142 {Highlights how in control White is and reminds Black he has a passer to deal with. A bit of a hammer blow when already a piece down. Most experienced players would give up at this point.} g6 $18) 29... Qf6 (29... Qxa5 {is not much help but he should get rid of the passed pawn.} 30. Bxc6 Rf8 31. Bd5 $18) 30. Bxc6 Rc8 31. Bd5 Rd8 32. Rc7 Rf8 33. a6 Qb6 34. Rb7 Qc5 35. Qc4 Qa3 36. Bxf7+ Kh8 37. h3 {A relief to see it played and another likely spot for an opponent to resign as the hope of a back rank mate has gone. h3 is right here, but it was an eye opener for me when I realised it shouldn't be played automatically and g3 is also to be considered, especially when you have a bishop protecting white squares when g2 is a cosy safe place for the King and more escape routes are open than via h2 if it all goes wrong.} h6 38. a7 Qd6 39. Bd5 ({The Engine gives a quicker mate :-)} 39. Qb4 Qxb4 40. Rxb4 g5 41. Rb8 Kg7 42. Be8 g4 43. a8=Q g3 44. Rb7+ Rf7 45. Rxf7+ Kg6 46. Qa6+ Kh5 47. Rg7+ Kh4 48. Rg4#) 39... Qf6 40. f3 Qa1+ 41. Kf2 Qe5 42. Qc7 Qd4+ 43. Kg3 Qf6 44. Rb8 Qg6+ 45. Kh2 {The natural move for a human} ({The engine wants everything and wants to move the king topwards the centre!} 45. Kf2) 45... Qe8 46. Rxe8 Rxe8 47. a8=Q Rxa8 48. Bxa8 Kh7 49. e5 h5 50. Be4+ Kh6 51. Qc6+ Kg5 52. g3 g6 53. Qxg6# {The engine (Stockfish 16) normally quibbles quite strongly about some moves but didn't in this game which is quite an achievement. To not make a serious error for 40+ moves since winning the piece is not easy. Well done, Tim, and you got brownie points for looking after your opponent!} 1-0