[Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.21"] [Round "1"] [White "Berube, Max"] [Black "Spencer, Aaron"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1986"] [BlackElo "2000"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] 1. d4 {Before this game it had been 10 years since these 2 players had played a rated game. In a conversation at the Maine State Championship Max had mentioned this, and it's true. Their last game was at the fall chess at UMA back in the Autumn of 2012, in Quad #1. Both players were rated about 1850 at the time and that game was won by Aaron.} Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 {Max is a firm believer in this system, which seems to get a lot of attention nowadays, albeit half of it in a meme format.} d5 4. c3 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Qb6 { Not the most common move, but very reasonable.} 7. Qb3 c4 $6 {It's a good moment to point out that Max, whether by design or by chance, has "move-ordered" Aaron slightly by playing 2.Nf3 causing Aaron to play 2...e6. This ...Qb6 and ...c4 set-up is very common when the black pawn is on e7, and Aaron enjoys playing it, but here the key is that since the bishop cannot jump over said pawn to go to f5 black is not able to prevent e3-e4.} (7... Be7 { Is much more common here, and for good reason as outlined above. When black can quickly expand with b5 followed by b4 this can be playable, even if white can play e3-e4, but here black is too slow as ...Qd8 or something must be played first.}) 8. Qc2 {At first it may look like white has simply lost a tempo, but c5-c4 is not worth a full move and will actually be weakening in the future.} Be7 (8... Qd8 $2 {Trying to play ...b5 is way too slow} 9. b3 cxb3 (9... b5 $2 10. a4 b4 11. bxc4 {and black's structure is just getting ripped apart.}) 10. axb3 $16) 9. h3 {I don't love this. The move has clear ideas, most notably facilitating Bh2 after ...Nh5, but white did have at least one much stronger option.} (9. e4 $1 {Is a common idea against this d5-c4 pawns structure since black's ...dxe4 capture often drops the c4 pawn, and here it looks rather strong.} O-O (9... Qd8 $1 {is probably best here but after:} 10. Be2 b5 11. e5 Nd7 12. a3 $1 {Black's queenside play seems to be slowed and white can develop a kingside initiative} (12. h4 $1 {is also strong} b4 13. Rh3 $1 a5 14. Rg3 $16 {is a nice idea the computer comes up with and white seems to have a huge kingside initiative})) 10. Be2 Bd7 (10... Nh5 {Trying to play similarly to the game would fail to} 11. Be3 f5 12. exd5 exd5 13. Nxc4 $1 dxc4 14. d5 $16) 11. e5 $16 {Seems to be good for white, for example it just looks like a french where black has released the central tension too soon with c5-c4. To be more concrete:} Ne8 (11... Nh5 12. Ng5 $1 Bxg5 (12... g6 $4 13. Bxh5 $18) 13. Bxg5 f6 $8 14. Bxh5 fxg5 15. Nf3 {with a serious kingside initiative}) 12. b3 cxb3 13. axb3 Rc8 14. Qd3 {14...Nxd4 was threatened} f6 15. O-O a6 16. Rfe1 {Black looks awfully cramped and it seems that white will get solid control of e5, which is very important in this structure.}) (9. b3 {is also thematic} cxb3 10. axb3 Bd7 11. Be2 {white should have a slight edge here, but not much}) (9. Be2 Nh5 10. Bg5 {is also a bit better for white as black's queenside play is just rather slow, while white will strike with e3-e4 etc.}) 9... O-O 10. Be2 Nh5 $6 {This is a common idea but I don't think this was the best plan here} ( 10... Bd7 {would have been better, just completing development. Which is easier said than done of course, but black needs to get some queenside play going quickly.}) 11. Bh2 $16 (11. Ng5 $1 {Would have just forced the knight to go back to f6 with a near decisive loss of time} Nf6 {completely forced} (11... Bxg5 $2 {isn't serious} 12. Bxg5 Nf6 13. Bxf6 $18 {and this just looks awful} gxf6 14. Nf1 {looks good to me with the idea of Ng3-h5}) 12. e4 $1 h6 13. h4 $1 {This may have been what was missed} dxe4 {forced, but now black's c4 pawn will just drop off} (13... hxg5 $4 14. hxg5 {is just over as white will win back the piece one way or another and black's king will simply be mated.} Ne8 15. exd5 $18) 14. Ngxe4 {or Nxc4 first. Either way it's a clean pawn and more for white}) 11... f5 $2 {A common idea but here it's not so good} 12. g4 $2 { I think this is kind of the wrong plan. With the pawn on f5 black's kingside is actually reasonably stable for the moment, but I think plans based around the undermining b2-b3 are still strong.} (12. Ne5 Nf6 13. O-O Nxe5 {It's hard to suggest much else as black needs to develop} (13... Bd6 14. Bxc4 $5 (14. b3 $16) 14... dxc4 15. Ndxc4 Qd8 16. Nxd6 Qxd6 17. Ng6 $16) 14. Bxe5 Bd7 15. b3 cxb3 16. axb3 {White is positionally dominating, a knight will go to e5, white can play c3-c4, and black's bishops look rather useless.}) (12. b3 $1 {first may be even stronger}) 12... Nf6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Ne4 15. gxf5 {The computer doesn't love this as it still wants white to castle kingside actually, but the position is very complicated and at this point I doubt white wanted to castle still.} (15. b3 {is still good}) 15... exf5 16. Rg1 Bf6 17. Bf4 Kh8 { This is natural, but Bh6 wasn't a serious threat yet so I think this wastes a little bit of time.} 18. Nxe4 $2 {The resulting pawn structure, where white is cramped and black has pressure down the semi-open f-file, is not great for white.} fxe4 19. Bg4 Qa5 $2 (19... Bxg4 $1 {is a strong positional idea, preventing white from playing f2-f3 and liquidating his weakness on f2. I suggested this during an analysis session but it was eventually rejected as folks felt it would help white's structure (that opening the h-file would give white an attack) but there's not any serious play on the h-file, while removing the light-squared bishops is very undesirable for white} 20. Rxg4 (20. hxg4 Kg8 $1 21. Rh1 g6 {black prepares ...Rf7} 22. O-O-O Rf7 $17 {Black has defended his kingside efficiently and white's king will be vulnerable to a pawn storm while black will also set-up serious pressure against the pawn on f2 which has been unable to be liquadated with f2-f3 without white having his light-squared bishop.}) 20... a5 $17 {black seems to be developing his queenside play rather quickly} 21. h4 (21. f3 $2 {as a pawn sac never really works} exf3 22. Qf2 {and it's just taking too much time, plus it's hard to actually take on f3 due to things like the hanging pawn on b2}) 21... Qe6 22. Qe2 {Notice how akward it is for white to start an attack with this weird pawn on f2} b5 $17) (19... a5 $6 20. O-O-O Qc6 $6 {preparing ...b5} (20... Bxg4 { should still be played}) 21. f3 $1 {and now white is fine structurally, plus it totally frees his position, now the queen can go directly to g2 or h2 etc} exf3 (21... Bxg4 22. hxg4 (22. fxg4 $2 {is awful}) 22... g5 $1 {is mandatory} 23. Bg3 exf3 24. Rh1 Qd7 25. Rdf1 Kg8 $3 (25... Rf7 $4 26. Qg6 $18) 26. Rxf3 Bh8 $1 $11) 22. Bxf3 b5 23. Qg2 $1 Be6 24. e4 Qd7 $1 {and the game is roughly balanced, so to me white is getting a lot more counterplay here than after the opening of the h-file after 19...Bxg4.}) 20. a3 Bxd4 $4 (20... Qd8 $1 {getting the queen out of the way to start the queenside counterplay would have been best}) 21. Bd6 (21. exd4 $4 Rxf4 $19 {was the point, but Bd6-b4 seemed to have been missed}) 21... Rf6 22. Bb4 Qc7 23. cxd4 Qh2 $6 (23... a5 24. Bc3 b5 { looks much more tenacious, and the game doesn't seem to be quite over yet as black has some real ideas here. I won't give much more here, but it might be interesting to play this against someone in a few friendly blitz games as I think the position is pretty instructive. White has this extra piece but it's kind of just this rather poor bishop on c3.}) 24. Rf1 Bxg4 25. hxg4 a5 26. Be7 Rg6 (26... Rf3 $5) 27. O-O-O b5 $6 28. f4 $1 Qg3 29. f5 Qxe3+ 30. Qd2 $2 (30. Kb1 $1 {and white is actually just going to break through to black's king quickly, and wouldn't have to go through the process of converting the ending} Rxg4 31. f6 $1 $18) 30... Qxd2+ 31. Kxd2 Rxg4 32. f6 {white has to find some accurate moves in order to keep the winning advantage after this, so despite the computer eval I don't think this was best practically.} (32. Rg1 $1 { I think is simplest.} Rf4 33. Rdf1 Rxf1 34. Rxf1 Kg8 35. Ke3 {It will take time, but I think white will convert this. Regardless, the win with 30.Kb1 would have been much easier.}) 32... gxf6 33. Bxf6+ {Imagine if the queens were on how weak black's king would look} Kg8 34. Rg1 $2 (34. Rf5 $1 Rg2+ 35. Ke3 $1 Rg3+ (35... Rxb2 $4 36. Rg1+ {with a mating attack is the point}) 36. Kf2 Rg4 37. Rf1 $1) 34... Rxg1 35. Rxg1+ Kf7 36. Be5 Rg8 $6 {The concept behind this move is correct, the problem is white can just avoid the rook exchange and leave black wondering why he didn't take the opportunity to play 36...b4} (36... b4 $1 37. Rg7+ Ke6 38. Rxh7 Rg8 39. Rh6+ Kf5 40. Rf6+ (40. Ra6 Rg2+ $15) 40... Kg4 41. Ra6 Kf3 {white now has to force the king back} 42. Rf6+ Kg4 43. Ke2 b3 $3 44. Rd6 c3 $1 45. bxc3 Rb8 46. Rg6+ Kf5 $1 47. Rg1) 37. Rxg8 $2 (37. Rf1+ $1 {keeping the rooks on would have likely won. At the risk of sounding too general the point is black can no longer activate his king in the same way} Ke7 38. Bc7 a4 (38... h5 39. Bxa5 $18) (38... b4 39. Bxa5) 39. Kc3 $18) 37... Kxg8 {Now it's actually a draw} 38. Bc7 a4 39. Ba5 (39. Kc3 $4 Kf7 40. Kb4 h5 $1 41. Kxb5 (41. Bg3 Kg6 42. Kc5 b4 $1 {was what we found during analysis} 43. Kxb4 Kg5 $19) (41. Kc3 h4) 41... e3 $1 42. Bg3) 39... Kf7 40. Ke3 h5 41. Kf4 Kf6 42. Be1 Ke6 43. Kg5 e3 44. Kf4 e2 45. Ke3 Kf5 46. Kxe2 Ke4 $4 ( 46... Kg4 {and black advances the h-pawn which will either cost white his bishop or misplace his king} 47. Kf2 (47. Kd2 h4 48. Kc3 $4 (48. Bxh4 $4 Kxh4 49. Kc3 {doesn't work out} Kg4 50. Kb4 Kf4 51. Kxb5 Ke3 $1 (51... Ke4 $4 52. Kc5 {and whiet wins}) 52. Kxa4 Kd2 $3 (52... Kxd4 53. Kb5 Ke3 54. a4 d4 { is a draw}) 53. Kb5 Kc2 54. a4 Kxb2 $19 {black's c-pawn is too fast and so he wins}) 48... h3 $19) 47... h4 48. Kg2 Kf4 {now white's king is far enough away and so black can make a draw on the queenside} 49. Kh3 Ke4 50. Bc3 Kd3 $11) 47. Bf2 b4 (47... h4 $1 {is amazingly a draw because black can reach a wrong colored bishop vs rook's pawn ending, but there are some weird ideas that white has with black's b-pawn still alive} 48. Bxh4 Kxd4 49. Kd2 Ke4 50. Kc3 d4+ 51. Kb4 c3 52. bxc3 dxc3 53. Kxc3 Kd5 {black's king runs to the corner and so all seems well but it's very tricky still} 54. Bf2 Kc6 55. Kd4 Kb7 56. Kd5 { and there are still some ideas as white can actually zugzwang black (by putting him in stalemate) and force him to play ...b4 when white will capture with the a-pawn and win because it is now a knight's pawn. Black can avoid this but he can't just blidnly run into the corner as he would like to.} Kc7 ( 56... Ka8 $4 57. Kc6 {is similar to 58...Kb8?? below}) 57. Kc5 Kc8 58. Kc6 Kd8 $1 (58... Kb8 $4 {would look best at first but after:} 59. Bg3+ Ka7 60. Be5 Ka8 (60... Ka6 61. Bd4 Ka5 62. Be3 Ka6 63. Bb6 b4 64. axb4 a3 65. b5#) 61. Kc7 Ka7 62. Bd4+ Ka8 (62... Ka6 63. Kc6 $1 (63. Bb2 {is also a win because the black king gets forced out of the corner} Ka5 64. Bc3+ b4 65. Bxb4+ Ka6 66. Bc5 Kb5 67. Be3 Ka5 68. Kb7 $18 {and white will pick up the pawn without black being able to get back to the corner in time.}) 63... Ka5 64. Bf2 b4 65. Bb6+ Ka6 66. axb4 a3 67. b5#))) 48. axb4 c3 49. Kd1 $1 Kd3 50. Kc1 $1 {this had been missed} cxb2+ 51. Kxb2 h4 52. Bxh4 Kxd4 53. Ka3 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Hendrix, Wyatt"] [Black "Eaton, Gabe"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2028"] [BlackElo "1720"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] 1. d4 {This was the first round in the classical portion of the tournament, and actually it seemed that everyone was tired from the rapid and blitz portion even. For this game I had rechecked the line we had in our previous classical encounter, and I also elected to go for that rather than 1.e4, though I got 2 great positions in my blitz and rapid games against him with 1. e4.} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 {One of many moves here, and I didn't really expect the Ragozin so I just went for this since it's relatively solid} exd5 6. Bg5 c6 {a pretty rare move. Black seems to just be getting a weird version of the exchange QGD where the bishop is on b4 for some reason. My opponent doesn't typically play this opening, but he was having problems in his more usual stuff, so I think he didn't know the theory quite yet. Regardless, this move isn't that bad but white secures an opening edge it seems, though of course I didn't play it well.} (6... h6 {is the mainline with like a billion games in the database}) (6... Nbd7 {is also very common, black will play ...c5 in one go} 7. e3 c5) 7. Qb3 Bd6 8. e3 (8. e4 $1 {it's inexcusable for me to miss such a thematic move, but I just didn't expect that I'd have such an opportunity so soon.} dxe4 9. Nxe4 Be7 10. Nxf6+ (10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Bc4 O-O 12. O-O {is also just very good for white}) 10... Bxf6 11. Qe3+ Qe7 12. Bxf6 {black doesn't have nearly enough compensation for the bad structure}) 8... Nbd7 9. Bd3 h6 10. Bh4 O-O 11. O-O Qb6 12. Qxb6 (12. Qc2 $16) 12... axb6 13. Bf5 {I got too fancy around here. The point with this move is that ...c5 can't be played now, but I underestimated 13...g6.} Re8 (13... c5 $2 14. Bxd7 Nxd7 (14... Bxd7 $6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Nxd5) 15. Nxd5 $16) (13... g6 14. Bxf6 (14. Bh3 $2 g5 $15) 14... Nxf6 15. Bxc8 Rfxc8 16. Rfc1 {I'd probably slightly prefer black}) 14. Nd2 Be7 15. f3 Ne4 $2 16. Ndxe4 $2 (16. fxe4 Bxh4 17. e5 {I saw, but I thought 16.Ndxe4 was working even better. An indicator that I was off-form this round and for much of the tournament.}) 16... Bxh4 17. Nd6 Rd8 18. g3 Be7 19. Nxc8 Raxc8 20. Bxd7 Rxd7 21. Na4 Bd8 $11 22. Rfc1 Re7 23. Kf2 Ra8 24. b3 b5 25. Nc5 Ba5 26. Rc2 f5 $6 {This is far too weakening, and now the knight going to e5 will completely plug the e-file.} 27. Nd3 Rae8 28. Ne5 $14 Bc7 29. f4 Bxe5 $6 {I think my opponent thought white would be unable to make progress in this rook ending, but white has some ideas, and so I think it was a mistake to allow this strong pawn on e5.} 30. fxe5 Ra8 31. a4 Kf7 32. a5 Rc7 33. b4 h5 34. h4 $6 {I thought I had to prevent ...g5, but ideas with g4 would still work there} g6 35. Kf3 Ra6 36. Kf4 Re7 37. Kg5 (37. g4 $1 {Would have been best right now, but I wanted to improve my position first.}) 37... Re6 $6 (37... Re8 $1 38. g4 hxg4 39. h5 gxh5 40. Rh1 Rh8 { and black is ok}) 38. Rf1 $1 Kg7 39. g4 $1 hxg4 $2 40. Ra2 (40. h5 Ra8 41. Rh2 $1 {is missed} Rh8 42. h6+ Kh7 43. a6 bxa6 44. Ra1 $18) 40... Ra8 $1 41. a6 $5 Rxa6 $2 (41... bxa6 {I thought was much better}) 42. Rxa6 bxa6 43. Ra1 c5 $2 ( 43... Kf7 $1 44. Rxa6 $2 (44. Kf4 c5 45. bxc5 Rc6 $11) 44... c5 $1 {and there's a specific line where white holds but it's a little tough to find}) 44. bxc5 b4 $2 (44... Rc6 45. h5 {is still good for white}) 45. Ra4 $18 Re8 46. Rxb4 g3 47. Rb7+ Kf8 48. Kf4 g2 49. Rb1 Re7 50. Kf3 $4 Rb7 $1 51. Rc1 (51. Rg1 {is apparently best, but I didn't understand it because after ...Rb2 I still can't take on g2 because the a-pawn queens. I think the point is black no longer gets to play ...Rc2 or something with a tempo.}) 51... Rb2 52. Kg3 Rc2 53. Ra1 Ra2 $2 (53... Ke7 {would have been best, and black should be able to hold}) 54. Rg1 a5 $2 55. Kh2 $1 $18 Rf2 56. Rb1 $1 {Now the white king controls the g2-pawn, and white can win with the passed c and e-pawns.} Rf1 $2 {I didn't understand this, I think black kind of panicked. It doesn't change anything, but makes things easier.} 57. Rb8+ Ke7 58. Kxg2 {Now it's just easy} Rc1 59. Ra8 Ra1 60. Ra7+ Kd8 61. Rg7 a4 62. Rxg6 a3 63. Ra6 Ra2+ 64. Kg3 Ra1 65. h5 a2 66. Kg2 Ke7 67. h6 Kf7 68. h7 Kg7 69. e6 Re1 70. Rxa2 Rxe3 71. Ra7+ Kh8 72. e7 f4 73. Ra8+ Kxh7 74. e8=Q Rg3+ 75. Kf2 Rg5 76. Qh8+ Kg6 77. Ra6+ Kf5 78. Qe5+ Kg4 79. Qe2+ f3 80. Qxf3+ Kh4 81. Rh6+ 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Fishbein, Matthew"] [Black "Ravn, Will"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "2273"] [BlackElo "1848"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "177"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,177,40,20,11,-17,32,-29,-5,-30,17,-12,17,0,15,12,10,10,1,-5,37,31,31, 37,43,31,65,63,61,69,80,81,81,68,71,65,58,56,58,43,43,40,42,42,61,62,54,54,63, 64,64,61,123,132,150,150,150,157,157,157,130,118,117,167,124,112,122,122,115, 103,139,138,151,151,151,159,158,120,116,116,108,113,108,108,132,127,132,83,120, 64,83,90,100,46,43,26,20,20,49,21,78,0,44,0,0,0,72,32,72,79,79,42,72,72,79,79, 79,76,76,77,77,76,76,76,76,76,77,76,76,76,79,79,94,95,94,107,86,87,87,92,116, 116,116,116,142,142,170,170,186,190,198,136,200,136,200,25,116,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 388,505,507,507,537,505,506,505,527,505,537,537,29969,557,567,567]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 {Mattew played 1.Nf3 2.c4 3 times this tournament, and every player responded with 1...d5 2...c6. I'm not quite sure why this was the case.} 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 g6 {This move was repeated by Max Berube against Matthew in the very next round.} 5. O-O Bg7 6. d4 {Now we have transposed to a line of the fianchetto grunfeld where black has gone for the solid set-up with c7-c6. This line is normally reached with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. 0-0, but I should add that options for white on the fifth move such as the topical 5.Qa4!? have been avoided.} O-O 7. b3 {One of a few options here} Bf5 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 Ne4 (9... a5 $1 {has gotten some play and is a bit simpler actually I think} 10. Nh4 Be6 11. Qc2 a4 12. e3 b5 $132) 10. Nh4 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Be6 12. e4 {This has all been mainline theory actually but now black deviates} Nb6 $2 (12... dxc4 $2 13. d5 $1 Bxb2 14. Qxb2 cxd5 15. exd5 Bg4 16. bxc4 $16 { and white is a bit better for example:} Nc5 $6 {might seem natural but} 17. Qd4 $1 (17. h3 $2 Bd7 18. Qd4 Qc7 $14) 17... Qc8 18. Rae1 $18) (12... dxe4 $1 13. Bxe4 Bh3 {has been the most popular way, and black is doing ok as white isn't dominating the center in the same way as in the game} 14. Rfe1 $14 e5 $6 (14... Nf6) 15. d5 f5 $6 16. Bg2 Bxg2 17. Nxg2 $16) 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. e5 $16 Qd7 15. a4 Rac8 16. Ba3 Rc6 17. Rfc1 $6 {I think this is the wrong plan, as the rook should stay on f1} (17. f4 $1 Rfc8 18. f5 gxf5 $6 (18... Bxf5 19. Nxf5 gxf5 20. a5 Na8 21. Bh3 $18) 19. Bh3 $18) 17... Rfc8 18. Rxc6 Rxc6 19. Bf1 a6 20. Ng2 Bf5 21. Ne3 Bh6 22. Bc5 Be4 23. Qe2 Qc7 24. a5 Nd7 25. b4 Nf8 26. Bh3 (26. f3 $1 Bxe3+ 27. Qxe3 Bf5 28. b5 $18 {wins the exchange} axb5 29. Bxb5 Re6 30. g4 Bc2 31. Qc3 $18 b6 32. a6) 26... Nd7 27. f3 Bxe3+ 28. Qxe3 Nxc5 29. bxc5 Bc2 30. Ra2 $6 {played with the wrong idea} Bb1 31. Rb2 $2 (31. Ra1 {returning would be best, the rook shouldn't leave the a-file yet because of problems with the hanging a-pawn.} Bc2 32. g4 $1 $18 {threatens to trap the bishop actually which will force ... g5 with an obviously winning position for white}) 31... Bf5 {Now black gets some chances as the major piece ending isn't so easy} 32. Bxf5 (32. Bg2 $2 Qxa5 {is a problem}) 32... gxf5 33. Qb3 $2 {This is just totally wrong, I think white thought he was just crashing through but all this does is give black counterplay.} (33. Qd2 $16 {Keeping the a-pawn, and thefore a total bind on the position was much better. Conversion will take awhile as black doesn't have too many easy to attack weaknesses, but white can improve his position slowly and I think should win.}) (33. Rb6 {(Spencer) is also good, as now the a-pawn won't be taken} Rxb6 $6 {Does not lead to any sort of fortress} (33... e6 $2 34. Qb3 $2 (34. Rb3 $1 $18) 34... Rxb6 35. axb6 (35. Qxb6 $2 Qe7 (35... Qd7 36. Qd6 (36. h4 Kg7 37. h5 Qc6 (37... Kh6 38. g4 $6 fxg4 39. fxg4 Kg5 (39... Qc6 $4 40. Qd8 $18) 40. Qd6 $4 Qc6 $2 (40... Qa4 $1 $19) 41. Qe7+ Kxg4 42. Qxf7 Kh4 $11 (42... Qb5 $4 43. Qxe6+ $18))) 36... Qc8 (36... Qb5 37. Qd8+ (37. Qb6) 37... Kg7 38. Qg5+ Kf8 39. h4 Qxa5))) 35... Qc6 36. Qb4 $3 $18 {preventing the advance of the a-pawn}) 34. axb6 Qd7 35. Kg2 $5 { There are other ways to win but this starts a very interesting plan} (35. e6 $2 {We spent some time analyzing this by hand, I've included the complete session in the notes here because there were quite some amazing resources.} fxe6 36. Qe5 Kf7 $1 (36... Qa4 $4 37. Qxe6+ $18) (36... a5 {we also analyzed as a possible defense} 37. Qc7 Qa4 {we analyzed 3 ways for white to attempt progress } (37... Qb5 $4 {was the first idea, but this is just wrong} 38. Qxe7 Qb1+ 39. Kg2 Qc2+ 40. Kh3 $18) 38. Qxe7 {At one point we believed this to be a good solution} (38. Qxb7 Qxd4+ 39. Kg2 Qd2+ 40. Kh3 Qh6+ $11) (38. c6 Qxd4+ (38... Qd1+ $4 39. Kg2 Qe2+ 40. Kh3 Qxf3 41. Qf4 Qh5+ 42. Qh4 $18 {Black runs out of checks}) 39. Kg2 Qd2+) 38... Qxd4+ 39. Kg2 Qd2+ 40. Kh3 Qh6+ 41. Qh4 Qc1 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. f4 $4 (43. Qd7+ Kf6 44. Qd8+ $11) 43... Qxc5 44. Qc7+ Qe7 $19) 37. Kg2 $1 (37. Qc7 Qa4 38. Qxb7 Qxd4+ 39. Kg2 Qd2+ $11) (37. h4 Qa4 38. h5 { doesn't change anything} Qd1+ 39. Kg2 Qd2+ 40. Kh3 Qd1 41. Kg2 (41. Kh4 $4 { would win except for the brutal} h6 {and white is just lost} 42. g4 Qxf3 $19) 41... Qd2+ $11) (37. Qh8 Qa4 38. Qxh7+ Ke8 39. Qh8+ Kd7 40. Qe5 Qd1+ 41. Kg2 Qd2+ 42. Kf1 Qd1+ 43. Kf2 Qd2+ 44. Kf1 $11 (44. Qe2 $4 Qxd4+ 45. Qe3 Qxe3+ $1 { It's easy to misevaulate this pawn endging at first glance and believe that white's h pawn will win as when the black kings runs to the kingside white plays c6, but black actually wins due to his a and d-pawns} (45... Qb2+ 46. Kg1 Qb1+ 47. Kg2 Qc2+ 48. Kh3 a5 {is also good for black}) 46. Kxe3 a5 47. h4 (47. Kd3 a4 48. Kc3 e5 $19 (48... a3 $4 49. Kb3 d4 50. Kxa3 $18)) 47... a4 48. Kd3 a3 49. Kc2 d4 50. h5 a2 (50... Ke8 $4 51. h6 $4 Kf7 $4 (51... d3+ $19) 52. c6 $4 (52. h7 Kg7 53. c6 $18) 52... a2 53. Kb2 d3 54. cxb7 d2 55. b8=Q d1=Q 56. Kxa2 Qa4+ {with a perpetual}) 51. Kb2 d3 52. h6 d2 $19)) 37... Qa4 38. Kh3 Qd1 39. Qf4 Qb3 $3 (39... a5 $2 40. c6 $18) (39... Qb1 $2 40. Kh4 a5 41. Qh6 $18 ( 41. Qc7 $2 Qg1 (41... Qc1 42. f4 $4 Qg1 $1 43. h3 Qxd4 44. Qxb7 $6 Qf6+ { black mates is the point}) (41... Qh1 42. h3 Qxf3 43. Qf4 (43. c6 $4 Kg6 { black mates}) 43... Qxf4+ 44. gxf4 a4 $11) 42. h3 $4 (42. Kh3 {is a draw} Qf1+ 43. Kh4 Qxf3 44. Qf4 Qxf4+ 45. gxf4 a4 $11) 42... Qxd4+ 43. Kh5 (43. f4 Qf6+ 44. Kh5 Qg6+) (43. g4 f4 44. c6 (44. g5 Kg6 45. Qxe7 Qf2+ 46. Kg4 Qg2+ (46... Qg3#) 47. Kxf4 Qxg5+) 44... Qf6+ (44... Kg6 45. Qxe7 Qf2#) (44... h6 45. cxb7 Qf6+ 46. Kh5 Qg6+ 47. Kh4 Qg5#) 45. Kh5 (45. g5 h6 46. gxf6) 45... Qg6+ 46. Kh4 Qh6#) 43... Qf6 {The white king will be mated} 44. Qf4 {is the most amazing line in the whole ending} (44. g4 f4 45. g5 Qf5 (45... Qg6+ 46. Kh4 Qf5 $19 ( 46... h6 $4 47. Qxf4+)) 46. h4 (46. Kh4 h6 (46... Kg6 $4 47. Qxe7) 47. g6+ (47. gxh6 Kg6) 47... Kxg6 48. Qxe7 Qh5#) 46... h6 $19) 44... a4 45. c6 a3 46. cxb7 ( 46. c7 a2 47. c8=Q a1=Q {is the same}) 46... a2 47. b8=Q a1=Q {and despite the fact that it is white's move he can't prevent mate} 48. g4 (48. Qh6 Qxh6+ 49. Kxh6 Qg7+ 50. Kh5 Qg6+ 51. Kh4 Qh6#) 48... Qg6+ 49. Kh4 Qe1+ 50. Qg3 Qh6#) 41... Qh1 42. Kg5 $18) 40. Kh4 a5 $8 41. Qh6 Qxf3 $11 {illustrates the point}) 35... e6 36. Kh3 {and for example:} Qe7 37. Qc1 Qd7 38. Kh4 Qc8 39. Kh5 Qe8 40. Qg5+ Kh8 41. Qf6+ Kg8 42. c6 Qxc6 43. Kh6 $18) 33... Qxa5 34. Qxb7 Qe1+ (34... Qa1+ {saves a tempo basically} 35. Kg2 Kg7 $1 {and the king on g7 helps black, though white still has good chances}) 35. Kg2 Qc3 36. Rf2 (36. Qxc6 $2 Qxb2+ 37. Kh3 e6 $1 {and black is ok because he will take on d4} (37... Qxd4 $4 38. Qe8+ Kg7 39. Qxe7 $18)) 36... Re6 37. Qxd5 {It looks like white is making a lot of progress, but white's pawns are a bit frozen by black's well placed pieces, and the a-pawn can be a bit annoying.} (37. Qb2 $1 {would have probably won, white's idea is to put a major piece on c2 to support the push of the c-pawn} Qe3 38. Rc2 Rc6 39. Qc3 {this forces the exchange of queens} Qxc3 (39... Qh6 $2 40. Rb2 $18) 40. Rxc3 a5 41. Kf2 {This rook ending is winning but requires some technique}) 37... a5 38. Qd7 Qc4 39. c6 (39. Rd2 { was my idea, with the point that now in the line after 40. c6 Qxc6 41.Qd8+ Kg7 42.d5 Qb6 43.dxe6 works because the queen doesn't hang on d8} Kg7 $1 {seems to hold however} (39... Qa6 $4 40. c6 Qxc6 (40... Rxc6 41. Qxe7 $18) 41. Qd8+ Kg7 42. d5 Qb6 43. dxe6 Qxd8 44. Rxd8 $18) (39... Qc3 $4 40. Ra2 $18 {and white wins with the strong Qa4, Rc2 set-up}) 40. Qb7 (40. d5 Rxe5 41. c6 Re2+ $11) 40... a4 $1 {it's still complex but white can't really make progress while having to deal with the a-pawn}) (39. d5 Rxe5 40. c6 Rxd5) 39... Qxc6 40. Qd8+ Kg7 41. Qxa5 (41. d5 $6 Qb6 $11 {is the point}) 41... Qb7 42. Qa2 Ra6 43. Qc4 e6 {Now things are suddenly looking ok, as with black having such control of d5 it's starting to seem like white's pawn doesn't matter. White still has chances though, black's structure remains rather weird.} 44. Rd2 (44. Qc1 $1 { would have been best as it discorrdinates black a little and seems to force some sort of rook edning where white can press} Qe7 45. Qc8 Ra5 46. Rb2 Qf8 $8 47. Qxf8+ (47. Qc7 Rd5 48. Qa7 {followed by Rb7 is interesting as well but black should hold}) 47... Kxf8 48. Kf2 {and white can press for a bit I think}) 44... Ra5 {Now black has a complete bind on d5} 45. Qc3 Rd5 46. h4 h6 47. Kh3 Qb1 48. Kh2 Qe1 49. Qd3 h5 50. Kg2 f4 {I think this is a little risky, the computer says it's fine but black has to make a couple non-obvious moves} ( 50... Qa1 {just maintaning the position is best, white has no realistic way to make progress}) 51. gxf4 Qxh4 52. f5 $1 Qg5+ 53. Kh3 Qxf5+ $6 {Black should draw this ending, but it's annoying and black should have just maintained his fortress} (53... Kh8 $1 {getting the king out of the Rg2 threat} 54. fxe6 fxe6 55. Ra2 Rd7 $1 {and black holds but I think this is all unnecessary}) 54. Qxf5 exf5 55. Kh4 Kg6 56. f4 Kh6 57. Rd3 Kg6 58. Rg3+ Kh6 59. Rg5 Rxd4 60. Rxh5+ Kg7 61. Kg5 Rd1 62. Kxf5 Re1 63. Rg5+ Kf8 64. Rg2 Rf1 65. Rb2 Rf3 66. Rb8+ Ke7 67. Rb7+ Kf8 68. Kg4 Re3 69. Rb5 Ke7 70. f5 Re1 71. Rb7+ Ke8 $4 (71... Kf8 $11 72. Kg5 Rxe5 73. Kf6 Re1 74. Rxf7+ Kg8 75. Ra7 Rb1 {black makes a draw}) 72. Kg5 Rxe5 73. Kf6 Rc5 (73... Re1 {Now doesn't work as the king is forced to the wrong side} 74. Rb8+ Kd7 75. Kxf7 $18) 74. Rb8+ Kd7 75. Rh8 (75. Rf8 {just instantly wins the pawn} Ra5 76. Rxf7+ Ke8 77. Rb7 $18) 75... Ra5 76. Rh5 Ke8 77. Kg7 $4 (77. Rh1 {or similar and now the king doesn't get to e7/get around to f5} Ra6+ 78. Kg7 Ke7 79. Re1+ $18) 77... Ra1 78. Rh8+ Ke7 79. f6+ Ke6 80. Re8+ Kf5 81. Re7 Rg1+ $4 (81... Ra2 {or other waiting moves on the a-file draw, as pointed out by Fishbein after.} 82. Rb7 (82. Rxf7 Rg2+ 83. Kf8 Rc2 $11 { or any square but g3 and e2 draws} (83... Rg3 $4 84. Rg7 $18) (83... Re2 $4 84. Re7 $18)) (82. Kxf7 Ra6 {wins the pawn with a draw}) 82... Ra6 $1 83. Rb5+ Ke6 84. Rb7 Kf5 $11) 82. Kxf7 Rg4 (82... Ra1 {now black is a crucial tempo behind} 83. Rb7 Ra6 84. Rb5+ {now the king can't go into e6} Ke4 85. Kg7 $18) 83. Ra7 $18 Ke5 84. Ra5+ Kd6 85. Kf8 Kd7 86. f7 Rf4 87. Ra7+ Kd8 88. Ra6 Kd7 89. Kg7 { A very interesting game and instructive ending. This would seem to foreshadow developments in the rest of the tournament as no less than 7 (or just under half) of the games resulted in rook endings, and 2 more games were Rook and piece vs Rook and extra pawns. Granted a few of these were easy wins that were converted without much trouble, 2 crucial endings where fishbein was held to a draw later in the tournament ended up deciding the outcome.} 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "2"] [White "Spencer, Aaron"] [Black "Hendrix, Wyatt"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D14"] [WhiteElo "2000"] [BlackElo "2028"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,64,30,29,20,-16,21,31,44,18,16,30,19,12,25,6,10,16,19,-9,-10,-14,-18, -10,12,-32,-23,-23,-23,-23,-30,-28,-22,-11,-11,-19,-17,-70,-69,-88,-55,-45,-51, -65,-53,-61,-15,-15,0,-105,-90,-127,0,0,0,-92,-87,-107,-108,-136,-125,-125, -135,-375,-375,-375,-409]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 {I bounce around between openings a lot, but I wanted to play something solid. Aaron and I have also collaborated extensively on systems against the KID, Grunfeld, QGA, and QGD (Catalan) so I wanted to go for something else.} 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. cxd5 {Aaron repeats the system he played against me at the Massachusetts Open 2 weeks prior.} cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bf5 7. e3 e6 8. Bb5 {Aaron tried out something different this game though} Bb4 (8... Nd7 {is the theory, but I didn't know it} 9. O-O Be7 {blah blah blah read an opening book or check a database if you want to explore this dull position that badly. I had to of course so next time Aaron plays this against me I'll know it, but it was borderline torture.}) 9. Qa4 (9. Ne5 {Aaron suggested this after the game, and said he sort of just mixed up his lines.} Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. O-O (12. Nxc6 $6 Qe8 (12... Qb6 $2 13. Ne7+ Kh8 14. Nxf5 $14) 13. Ne5 Ne4 $11 {Black gets back the c-pawn}) 12... Rc8) 9... Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 O-O $1 {Since taking on c6 yields no advantage to white it makes the Qa4 concept look somewhat wrong} 11. O-O Na5 { Knights on the rim are dim but not if they are going to the strong c4 square in a couple of moves} (11... Ne4 {is also fine}) 12. Nh4 a6 $1 {Wthout this the bishop wouldn't hang on e2 so these ...Ne4 tactics wouldn't work out so well} 13. Be2 Ne4 14. Nxf5 {The knight on h4 was hanging so this has to be played.} Nxc3 (14... exf5 {is also reasonable, black's structure is a bit better but white does have a bishop pair.}) 15. Nh6+ gxh6 16. Qc2 Nxe2+ 17. Qxe2 {White has chucked a pawn but has reasonable compensation. One could say black's pawn on say h7 doesn't really count, but black's extra pawn is counted in black's 2 on 1 queenside majority so it does matter here.} Qf6 18. Be5 { White played with the wrong plan here, focusing on the weakened kingside, but instead should have seeked almost benko-like compensation on the queenside with his well placed rooks.} (18. Rfb1 $1 b5 19. a4 {Now white is getting some serious play} bxa4 20. Rxa4 Nc4 $13) (18. a4 {first is also ok}) 18... Qg6 19. f4 f6 {This creates an escape on f7} (19... Nc6 $4 20. Rf3 $18 {gg as there's no defense to Rg3}) 20. f5 $1 exf5 21. Rf3 Kh8 (21... Kf7 $4 {woudn't be so good as now the queen has nowhere to go. You always have to be flexible with your plans in chess.}) 22. Bf4 (22. Bd6 {is better but} Rfe8 {black is still to be preferred}) 22... Rg8 (22... Nc4 {would have been more useful}) 23. Rh3 Qg4 24. Rf3 $2 (24. Qxg4 $1 Rxg4 $6 {we both totally blanked about the rook going to h5} (24... fxg4 25. Rxh6 Kg7 26. Rh5 Kg6 27. Rxd5 Nc4 $13) 25. Rh5 $1 (25. Rxh6 Kg7 26. Rh5 $11)) 24... Rac8 {I had some fancy play syndrome here, the rook would just be better on e8} 25. Qf2 Rc2 26. Qxc2 Qxf3 27. Rf1 $2 (27. g3 Qe4 $2 (27... Nc4 28. Qxf5 Rf8 29. Rf1 Qe2 30. Qxd5 Nxe3 31. Bxe3 Qxe3+ $11) 28. Qc7 Nc4 29. Qf7 $16) (27. Bg5 $1 {forces a draw immediately} Rxg5 28. Qc8+ Kg7 29. Qd7+ $11) 27... Qe4 28. Qxe4 (28. Qe2 {is more tenacious}) 28... fxe4 29. Bc7 Nc4 30. Rxf6 Nxe3 31. Rf7 (31. Be5 {looks tricky but simply} Rxg2+ 32. Kh1 Kg8 {and now that the g8 square was opened up there are no more tricks}) 31... Rxg2+ 32. Kh1 Kg8 0-1 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "2"] [White "Ravn, Will"] [Black "Eaton, Gabe"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A84"] [WhiteElo "1848"] [BlackElo "1720"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,50,28,-17,15,17,46,38,27,17,25,15,36,14,27,48,30,30,56,9,9,-29,-36, -36,-36,-38,-48,-60,-52,-52,-37,-40,-49,-80,-134,-200,-196,-268,-231,-305,-340, -501,-501,-512,-512,-483,-500,-501,-509,-539,-412,-1656,-1625]} 1. c4 {Going into this game Will had a 2-0 record against Gabe. In round 4 of the Maine State Championship this year it was Will who put an end to Gabe's streak (he had betaen Berube and Spencer previously). Will then won the 5th round against NM Ted Belanoff to win the state title with a perfect 5/5. In the Skowhegan Open just a little bit after, their game was much less smooth and Gabe had quite some chances before Will prevailed in an ending. In the blitz and Rapid Will also got the better of him, but in this game the tables turned.} b6 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. g3 f5 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 {My feeling was that this was a touch weird, as actually in some lines of the Bogo where this happens black can usually play ...f5 as the lack of white's queenside knight means black can set up a bit of a bind on e4. With black having already commited to ...f5 I think white could just get a dutch where the bishop has weirdly gone to b4 by playing Bd2 and black doesn't have the same bind. With this all said white still remains better as the bishop pair matters and ...f5 is potnetially weakening still.} Nf6 7. a3 Bxd2+ 8. Bxd2 Ne4 {This seems wrongly timed to me, and I don't think black really wanted to take on d2} (8... O-O {was better, black has a very reasonable position}) 9. Ng5 $6 {The players thought this was just a blunder, and it's not great at all but white can save himself} (9. O-O O-O 10. Bf4 {we're not so concerned about preserving the bishop as much as we are about playing Nd2 or d5} d6 11. Nd2 $16) 9... Nc3 10. bxc3 $2 (10. Bxc3 Bxg2 11. Rg1 Qxg5 (11... Bb7 12. Qd2 $16) 12. Rxg2 $14 {and everything is okay, white will just castle queenside (as compared to the game where this was less safe) and his position is even to be preferred}) 10... Bxg2 11. Rg1 Bb7 12. Qc2 $2 (12. g4 {would have been the best try} Qf6 13. gxf5 Qxf5 14. Be3 {now white maybe has soem ideas of his own connected with the semi-open g-file}) 12... h6 13. Nh3 Qf6 14. f3 $6 g5 15. Nf2 Nc6 16. e4 $6 (16. Nd3 {or other moves are more tenacious as white isn't opening up the position immediately}) 16... Na5 17. Qa4 fxe4 $19 {Now it's just all over} 18. fxe4 Rf8 19. Be3 Qf3 20. Kd2 Ba6 21. Rae1 Nxc4+ 22. Kc1 Nxe3 23. Qxa6 Qxf2 24. Qd3 Ng2 25. Rgf1 Nxe1 {Gabe avenges himself from his previously 0-2 record against Will.} 0-1 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "2"] [White "Fishbein, Matthew"] [Black "Berube, Max"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "2278"] [BlackElo "1986"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 g6 5. d4 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. b3 {As I mentioned in a previous game, Matthew played this 7.b3 system twice this tournament. Neither of his opponents found a good way to equalize and they got cramped positions right out of the opening.} Nbd7 {I'm not sure if Max prepared this, or was just improvising, but I prefer Will's interpretation of the position.} (7... Bf5 {was what Will played in the previous round} 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 Ne4 {and you can see Fishbein - Ravn for what happened in that game.}) 8. Bb2 Ne4 {I don't believe that this is the most reliable or practical line, but it has been played by some strong players. Still I'll cite 2 numbers: 65%, white's score in this line; and .5, the computer evaluation.} 9. Nbd2 Ndf6 10. Ne5 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 Ng4 $6 (11... Bf5 {was played in some previous games and is more reasonable}) (11... Ne4 $6 12. Qc2 f6 (12... Bf5 { doesn't really work because of} 13. g4 $16) 13. Nd3 {is much much better for white, for example} Bd7 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Nc5 {winning a clean pawn is simplest }) 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Rac1 Bh6 14. e3 Nxe5 $6 15. dxe5 $16 e6 16. f4 b6 17. Ba3 Re8 18. e4 Bb7 19. exd5 Bxd5 20. Bxd5 Bf8 $4 (20... exd5 21. Bd6 $1 (21. Rfd1 $2 Rxe5 $1) 21... Rc8 $1 22. Rxc8 Qxc8 23. Qxd5 {is definetely a big advantage for white but the game isn't over yet} Rd8 24. Rd1 Qh3) 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Rfd1 exd5 23. Qxd5 $18 Qxd5 24. Rxd5 Rac8 25. Rcd1 Rc2 26. R1d2 Rfc8 27. Rd7 $2 (27. Kf2 $18 a5 {is now just so slow} 28. Ke3 Rxd2 29. Rxd2 Rc3+ 30. Kd4 $18) 27... Rxd2 $2 (27... a5 $1 28. Kf2 (28. Kg2 {similar to below is met now by} a4 $1 29. bxa4 R8c4 $1 {with enough play} 30. Rd8+ Kg7 31. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 32. Kf3 Rxa2 33. Ra8 Rxh2) 28... Rxd2+ 29. Rxd2 Rc3 $1 {The concept is .. .a4 and ...Ra3} 30. g4 $1 {preventing the ideal ...h5 set-up (which is known to be black's best defensive structure in the 4 on 3 rook endgame.} (30. Rd8+ {allows black to show his idea perfectly} Kg7 31. Ke2 {everything else is mostly the same} ( 31. Rd7 Kf8 32. e6 fxe6 33. Rxh7 a4 34. bxa4 Ra3 35. Ra7 Rxa2+ 36. Kg1) 31... a4 $1 (31... Rc2+ $6 32. Rd2) 32. bxa4 (32. Rb8 axb3 $11) (32. Rd3 Rc2+ 33. Rd2 Rc3) 32... Ra3 (32... Rc4 $4 33. Ra8 $18) 33. Rd4 Rxa2+ {black holds}) 30... Kf8 $1 {black has to be careful, ...a4 is an idea but that doesn't mean it works immediately, or in every line.} (30... a4 $2 31. bxa4 Ra3 32. f5 $1 $18 { and white just crashes through}) 31. h4 Ke7 (31... Rh3 $4 32. Rd8+ Ke7 33. Rb8 $18) 32. Rd6 b5 33. Rb6 a4 $1 34. Rxb5 Rc2+ 35. Ke3 Rxa2 36. f5 axb3 37. Rb7+ Ke8 38. Rxb3 {These endings are generelly obnoxious to hold for black, but here there is a concrete idea:} Ra4 $1 39. Rb8+ (39. Kf3 gxf5 $11 {is the problem}) 39... Ke7 40. f6+ {I'll show the only real attempt to win} Ke6 41. Re8+ Kd5 42. Kf3 h6 43. e6 $5 Ra6 $1 44. g5 hxg5 45. hxg5 Rxe6 {and black holds }) 28. Rxd2 Rc7 $2 {The final mistake} (28... a5 {is still best but now after} 29. Kg2 $1 a4 $2 (29... Rc3 $1 {is the best attempt but now white is better placed so it isn't quite enough to hold probably but it is still hard} 30. Rd8+ Kg7 31. Rd7 {and black doesn't have time for a4 because of e6} Kf8 32. e6 fxe6 33. Rxh7 Rc2+ (33... a4 34. bxa4 Ra3 35. Ra7 Rxa2+ 36. Kh3) 34. Kf3 Rxa2 35. Kg4) 30. bxa4 {with only one rook on black no longer has a well-timed . ..Rxd2 so white can just play this} Rc4 (30... Rc3 31. Rd8+ Kg7 32. Rd7 {is the same}) 31. Rd8+ Kg7 32. Ra8 Rc2+ 33. Kf3 Rxa2 34. Ra7 Kf8 35. Ra6 h5 36. h4 Ra3+ 37. Ke4) (28... Rc3 $4 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. Rd7 $18) 29. Kf2 Kf8 30. Kf3 h5 31. f5 gxf5 32. Kf4 h4 33. gxh4 Kg7 34. Kxf5 Rc6 35. h5 Rh6 36. Rg2+ Kh7 37. Rg5 Rc6 38. h4 a6 39. Ke4 {The king can just run to the queenside so there is no hope} Rh6 40. Rf5 Kg7 41. Kd5 b5 42. Kc5 Re6 43. Kb4 Rh6 44. Rg5+ Kh7 45. Kc5 Re6 46. b4 Rh6 47. Kd5 Kh8 48. a3 Kh7 49. Rf5 Kg7 50. Kd4 Kg8 51. Rf6 Rxh5 52. Rxa6 Rxh4+ 53. Kc5 Re4 54. Ra8+ Kh7 55. Re8 f5 56. e6 Re5+ 57. Kd6 Re3 58. e7 Kg7 59. Rf8 Rd3+ 60. Kc5 {A good game by Matthew, and he starts off with 2/2.} 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Eaton, Gabe"] [Black "Spencer, Aaron"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C29"] [WhiteElo "1720"] [BlackElo "2000"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,96,30,10,12,13,10,25,25,-30,-24,-36,-1,9,9,18,5,1,22,10,10,0,18,3,37, 44,-6,2,3,-26,-26,-70,-56,-58,-69,-63,-63,-91,-96,-89,-144,-164,-177,-163,-172, -158,-62,-62,-157,-170,-122,-116,-133,-129,-132,-117,-113,-141,-135,-138,-130, -130,-130,-138,-117,-109,-68,-63,-71,-79,-92,-101,-118,-138,-144,-152,-158, -158,-168,-165,-176,-204,-202,-209,-221,-216,-171,-134,-96,-96,-96,-53,-40,-40, -43,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 Nxc3 {In round 5 Berube selected 5...Nc6 in his game against Gabe. Either is fine.} 6. bxc3 c5 {Aaron repeats the line he played against Gabe from the Maine State Championship. Aaron got a winning position by move 10 so this is understandable.} 7. Bb5+ (7. Qg3 {was their previous game}) 7... Nc6 8. Ne2 (8. Qg3 {is a little more uncomfortable for black as it's preventing the bishop development to e7.} Qb6 (8... Be6 $6 {is instead the wrong move order as now:} 9. Bxc6+ $14 {will make castling queenside undesirable}) 9. a4 Be6 {and black will likely castle queenside with a very imbalanced position}) 8... Be7 { Now black has no problems whatsoever and can start to play for an edge with his various static advantages (better structure, slightly safer king).} 9. O-O O-O 10. d4 f6 $2 (10... Qb6 {is simple and safe} 11. Bxc6 Qxc6 12. Be3 cxd4 13. Bxd4 Be6 {is about equal}) (10... cxd4 $1 {is best, immediately making white cede the bishop pair.} 11. Bxc6 (11. cxd4 Nxe5 $1 12. dxe5 Qb6+ $15) 11... bxc6 12. Nxd4 (12. cxd4 $6 f6 $1 $17) 12... Bd7 {and black is a touch better}) 11. Nf4 $6 (11. Qg3 $1 fxe5 (11... Kh8 12. exf6 Rxf6 13. Bg5 Rxf1+ 14. Rxf1) 12. Bh6 Rxf1+ 13. Rxf1 Bf8 (13... g6 $4 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Qxe5 $18) 14. dxe5 a6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Nf4 {with a bit of an initiative for white}) 11... fxe5 $1 12. Qxd5+ Qxd5 13. Nxd5 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 Bd6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. dxe5 Ba6+ $1 (16... Bxe5 $2 17. Ne7+ Kf7 18. Nxc8 Rxc8 {and white has elimnated black's bishop pair. It should be ok after:} 19. Be3 c4 20. Rb1 Bxc3 21. Bxa7) 17. Kg1 Bxe5 $6 (17... Bb8 $1 {is a strong intermezzo, the knight will have to move and then black will take on e5 while if:} 18. Ne7+ $6 (18. Nf4 Bxe5 $17) 18... Kf7 19. Nxc6 $2 Bc7 {black actually wins a piece} 20. Bg5 Bb7 21. Ne7 h6 22. e6+ $5 Ke8 $1 23. Bh4 g5 $19) 18. Ne7+ $4 (18. Bf4 $1 Re8 (18... Bxf4 19. Nxf4 {is close to equal}) (18... cxd5 19. Bxe5 {and white is totally fine}) 19. Re1 Bd4+ 20. Be3 $1 $11 cxd5 21. cxd4 cxd4 22. Bf2 Rxe1+ (22... Rc8 23. Bxd4 Rxc2 24. Re7 $132) 23. Bxe1 $11) 18... Kf7 19. Nxc6 Bxc3 {The knight is now completely trapped} 20. Rb1 Rc8 21. Rb3 Bf6 22. Na5 Bd4+ 23. Be3 c4 $1 24. Ra3 Bxe3+ { Now white will get too many pawns for the piece and will have good chances to draw} (24... Bb2 $1 {There are actually some motifs with trapping the rook, and black will win the piece much more cleanly} 25. Ra4 Rc7 26. h3 (26. Rb4 $6 Bc3 27. Ra4 Bb5 28. Ra3 Bb4 29. Nxc4 Bxc4 $19) 26... Bf6 $1 27. Kh2 Be7 28. g4 (28. Nb3 {is better but now there's nothing for the piece as compared to the game}) 28... Bb5 $19) 25. Rxe3 Rc5 26. Ra3 Ke7 27. Kf2 Kd7 28. Ke3 Kc7 29. Nxc4 Bxc4 30. Rxa7+ {Black still has some winning chances here but a lot of pawns are coming off the board now} Kc6 $6 {I was puzzled by this move, I think black wanted to stay flexible (for example now the king could even go to b5) but this doesn't work out great} (30... Kd6 31. Rxg7 (31. Kd4 $2 {is now not good} g6 32. Ra8 $2 (32. Rxh7 Bxa2 $19) 32... Be6 $19) 31... Rh5 32. h3 Bxa2 { Black maintains good winning chances as he can start hunting down the pawns and hoping to win with his h-pawn, and i will say that practically a Rook and bishop vs Rook is hard to hold even though theoretically drawn.}) 31. Kd4 $1 { White avoids the impulsive Rxg7 and makes his task even easier!} (31. Rxg7 Rh5 32. h3 Bxa2) 31... Bf1 (31... g6 $6 32. Ra8 $1 $11 {Rc8+ is threatened and black is so akwardly placed he must give back material}) (31... Bb5 32. Rxg7 { now with the a-pawn staying alive white should be able to draw easily}) 32. Rxg7 Rh5 33. h3 Rh4+ 34. Ke5 Be2 35. Kf6 {Now it's clear that white will be ok} Bd1 36. Rg3 Rc4 37. c3 Ra4 38. Rd3 Bc2 39. Rd2 Rxa2 40. h4 Kc5 41. h5 Kc4 42. g4 Ra6+ 43. Kg7 Ra7+ 44. Kh6 Ra6+ 45. Kg7 Ra7+ 46. Kh6 Kxc3 47. Rxc2+ Kxc2 48. g5 Kd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Berube, Max"] [Black "Ravn, Will"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "1986"] [BlackElo "1848"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,103,31,12,75,75,61,50,64,19,48,37,36,43,43,37,36,23,73,81,81,81,95,56, 27,-15,8,-14,2,-6,1,1,-5,-31,-19,-31,-11,-18,-21,-20,34,43,70,55,58,0,62,66,67, 96,126,6,18,7,11,40,25,17,34,34,49,48,46,49,97,98,141,134,121,70,67,67,88,79, 87,87,71,63,258,55,86,94,148,148,127,127,160,194,272,281,292,301,342,388,416, 479,504,499,504,577,640,673,962,662,692,573]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 {A tricky little variation, threatening g4.} h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. Bg5 Qb6 8. Nd2 {This has all been theory so far} Qxb2 $4 {This, however, deviates and should have cost black the game already} 9. Rb1 Qxa2 10. Rxb7 Be7 11. c4 $4 (11. Nb3 $1 $18 Nd7 (11... Qb1+ 12. Bc1 {achieves nothing for black}) (11... Bxg5 12. hxg5 Ne7 {doesn't change much} 13. Ne2 Qa4 14. Nc3 Qc4 15. Qxc4 dxc4 16. Na5) 12. Ne2 $1 {White actually threatens to trap the Queen with Nc3, forcing black to take desperate measures} Qa4 13. Nc3 Qc4 14. Qxc4 dxc4 15. Na5 $18 {and it's clear white has a decisive advantage}) 11... Qa6 12. Rb1 Nd7 13. Ne2 (13. Ngf3 {should be preffered so as to capture on g5 with the knight}) 13... Bxg5 14. hxg5 Ne7 15. Nf4 g6 16. g4 $1 h4 $2 {This pawn should get picked off now} 17. Rh3 $2 (17. c5 $1 Qxd3 (17... Qa5 18. O-O $1 {White will win either qith a rook invasion to b7 or by picking off the a-pawn}) 18. Nxd3 $16 {This seems practically very tough to hold, if holdable at all. White has plans connected to winning either the weak pawn on h4 or a7, and his pieces are better placed.}) 17... c5 $1 (17... Nb6 $1 {was even stronger, now after} 18. c5 Qxd3 19. Nxd3 Nc4 {and now with the strong knight on c4 things are very different}) (17... Kf8 $6 {or another lazy move would allow 18.c5}) 18. cxd5 Qxd3 19. Nxd3 Nxd5 (19... exd5 {I slightly prefer, thought objectively there is little difference. I'd just rather have a passed d-pawn as well.} 20. dxc5 a5) 20. dxc5 Rc8 $2 (20... a5 {or ...Ke7 needed to happen. Black just wastes too much time with ...Rc8 and gives white time to consolidate his static advantages.}) 21. Ne4 Ke7 22. Kf1 {I'm not 100% sure the knig wanted to go this way, but white is trying to use the knig to stop the h-pawn and release the rook. This reasoning is often enough to convince folks a move is reasonable, but reasonable isn't always good.} Rb8 23. Ra1 Ra8 {This makes ... Rc8 look rather bad} 24. Ra5 Nb8 25. Nd6 (25. Nf6 $1 {forces:} Nc7 {and now} 26. c6 $1 {is good} Rd8 (26... Nxc6 $4 27. Rc5 $18) 27. Rf3) 25... Nc6 26. Ra6 Ndb4 27. Nxb4 Nxb4 28. Ra4 Nc6 29. f4 a5 30. Rb3 Rhb8 31. Rb6 Rxb6 32. cxb6 Rb8 33. b7 Kd7 34. Ne4 Rxb7 $5 35. Nc5+ Kc7 36. Nxb7 Kxb7 37. Ke2 Kb6 38. Kd3 h3 $4 (38... Kb5) 39. Ra1 $4 (39. Kc4 Nb4 40. Ra3 $18 {and siince white hits the pawn immediately black is one tempo too short to play ...Nd5 ...Nxf4}) 39... Nb4+ $1 40. Ke4 (40. Kc4 Nd5 41. Rh1 Nxf4 $11) 40... Kb5 $4 (40... h2 $1 41. Rh1 a4 {and now the black pawn a-pawn isn't stopped the same way because the black knight controls the a2 square} 42. Kd4 (42. Rxh2 $4 a3 {and black wins} 43. Rh1 a2 44. Ra1 (44. Rg1 Nc2 $19) 44... Ka5 {and white can play neither Kd4 or Ke3 due to the fork on c2 and so loses}) 42... a3 43. Kc4 Ka5 44. Kb3 a2 45. Kb2 Nd3+ 46. Kxa2 Nxf4 $11) 41. Rh1 $18 {Now it's all over} a4 42. Rxh3 Nc6 43. Kd3 Kb4 44. Kc2 Nd4+ 45. Kb2 Nb5 46. Rh7 a3+ 47. Ka1 Nd4 48. Rxf7 Nb3+ 49. Kb1 Nc5 50. Ka2 Nd3 51. Rb7+ Kc4 52. Kxa3 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Hendrix, Wyatt"] [Black "Fishbein, Matthew"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D55"] [WhiteElo "2028"] [BlackElo "2278"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,153,26,18,18,6,15,18,6,17,23,14,36,21,37,30,36,35,35,30,35,50,39,48, 47,39,48,51,58,52,58,71,67,72,71,79,109,109,109,110,110,67,63,73,80,61,92,90, 92,84,88,0,0,0,0,0,54,57,57,57,35,0,2,25,24,-1,0,0,81,0,0,-52,-52,-48,-49,-48, -48,-49,-48,-48,-29,-20,-20,-20,-20,-27,-20,-20,-20,-13,0,-20,-9,-5,-5,-67,-66, -66,-66,-69,-69,-72,-74,-74,-66,-69,-68,-50,-48,-48,-48,-67,-56,-78,-104,-101, -80,-93,-83,-108,-137,-150,-83,-84,-83,-75,-83,-83,-62,-72,-72,-101,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 {I really wasn't sure what Matthew was going to play, especially as this was his first game with the black pieces in the classical portion. In the blitz portion he played the Grunfeld (he was white in our game in the Rapid portion), and I think I liked the position I got there so I was happy to repeat that.} Nf6 2. c4 e6 {This time Matthew selects something different however.} 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 {Matthew plays a lot of Catalan or Neo-Catalan set-ups with white and so I decided not to go for that, despite it being a system I've enjoyed as well.} Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 b6 $6 {...h6 is usually inserted first, and if this had been played he would have basically been up a tempo compared to the game.} (6... h6 7. Bh4 (7. Bf4 {Alleviates some of the pressure and so:} c5 {works well}) (7. Bxf6 { is a line as well} Bxf6 8. Rc1 {and black has generally been fine here, but I will say that insisting on a set-up with:} b6 $6 {is now poor due simply to} 9. cxd5 {and since black must recapture with a pawn on d5 this structure is obviously not well-suited for a bishop on b7 and so ...b6 makes little sense.}) 7... b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 {and it's the game position after move 9 but where black has played ...h6 for free} 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. Bd3 { Trying to play similar to the game can now just be met with:} c5 {and black is ok, for example if we play} 13. Bb1 {as in the game, now Qc2 doesn't threaten a fork so simply:} Nd7 14. Qc2 Nf6 {and it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood}) 7. cxd5 Nxd5 (7... exd5 $6 {is strategically poor similar to the line with 7.Bxf6 above}) 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nxd5 exd5 {This would be an extremely common theoretical position, played by Karpov, Grischuk, So, and many others...were the pawn on h6. This is a more serious difference than you would think.} 10. Rc1 Bb7 11. Bd3 {Suddenly, white is threatening Qc2 forking the pawn on c7 and the hanging pawn on h7! Now we see the value of ... h6 being inserted.} h6 $2 (11... Rc8 {needed to be played} 12. O-O c5 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Qc2 h6 {and the pawn duo is actually a little bit weak, for example white can play very strongly with:} 15. b4 $1 (15. Rfd1 $14) 15... c4 16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. Bf5 Rc7 18. Qc3 $14 {and since one of the pawns has been provoked forward white can blockade them and should have a stable edge.}) (11... c5 { first, is more or less the same}) (11... g6 {is also reasonable but is a clear concession due to the kingside weakening}) 12. Bb1 $1 $146 Qb4+ {Black tries to bail out by exchanging queens but this doesn't solve his problems.} (12... Rc8 13. Qd3 g6 {may be best but it looks very uncomfortable, for example:} 14. h4 $16) 13. Qd2 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 {Black's problem is that he hasn't been able to liquidate his weakness on c7. He is also a bit behind in development.} Na6 15. b4 $1 {White is playing against the ...c5 break.} c5 {Black plays this break anyways, but he has to make concessions inclduing allowing white a passed pawn. We now see the value of having played b4.} (15... Nxb4 $6 16. Rxc7 Bc8 (16... Ba6 {might seem ok at first, as it looks like black will play ...Rc8 and me more or less ok, but:} 17. a3 $18 {winning the knight is a major problem}) 17. Rhc1 $16) 16. b5 (16. dxc5 Nxb4 17. Nd4 {is also possible}) 16... Nc7 17. dxc5 Nxb5 18. c6 {Matthew felt this was poor} (18. Bd3 {is also good} Nc7 19. Nd4 { and white has a big edge here} (19. cxb6 $2 Ne6 20. bxa7 Rxa7 {Black is winning back the a2-pawn, unless white does soemthing stupid like play Bb1 which would give black too much activty even if he doesn't win back the pawn.}) ) 18... Ba6 19. Bd3 Nc7 20. Bxa6 Nxa6 21. Nd4 Rfc8 22. g4 $1 {White has placed his pieces well on the queenside, and so starts making progress on the kingside.} Nc5 23. h4 Ne6 $6 {The rook ending is actually quite bad, but we both missed the key move, so it's funny that this actually saved the game for him as otherwise I could have just slowly improved.} 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. f4 $2 { I played this move to quickly as I wanted to prevent ...e5 but I misssed something strong.} (25. c7 $1 $18 {of course it's natural to push passed pawns, but please don't insult us all by playing a move like this just for that reason. In many cases moves like this can toss the advantage as the pawn can become too overextended and be picked off. Here the problem is that black has trouble getting his a8 rook into play, for example:} a5 26. Rc6 b5 27. Kd3 $18 {Followed by an infiltration of the king to e5 with a win. I believe I simply didn't look at 25.c7 and thought I had to prevent ...e5, but I was just being stupid.}) 25... Rc7 {Now black is holding, but there are still ideas} 26. Rc2 Rac8 27. Rhc1 h5 28. gxh5 $1 {Yes, the h-pawns are weak but this opens the g-file and allows white ideas of hitting the pawn on g7. In addition, in order for black to attack the h-pawns he has to remove one of the blockading rooks which doesn't always work out.} Kf7 {The only move actually otherwise white infiltrates to e5 with the king} 29. Kd3 Rh8 {Also the only move, otherwise white attacks the g-pawn too quickly.} 30. a4 Rxh5 31. a5 bxa5 32. Rg1 Rh8 $2 ( 32... Rxh4 33. Kd4 Rh8 {is better} 34. Ke5 Rd8 $1) (32... Ke7 33. Rxg7+ Kd6 34. Rxc7 Kxc7 $11 {is probably simplest though}) 33. Kd4 Rhc8 34. Rgc1 $2 (34. Rcg2 {wasn't that hard to find and gives more chances} Kg8 $8 35. Rg6 Rxc6 $1 (35... a4 $6 36. f5 exf5 37. Kxd5 $16) 36. Rxg7+ Kh8 {black holds, but had to play a few accurate moves} (36... Kf8 $4 37. h5 $18)) 34... Kf6 {Now black isn't even worse} 35. e4 {I decided it was time to make a draw, and so went for some sort of fortress.} dxe4 36. Kxe4 a4 37. Kf3 a3 38. Kg4 a6 39. h5 a2 40. Rxa2 (40. Kh4 $4 Rxc6 $1 $19) 40... Rxc6 41. Rca1 Ra8 42. Ra5 {Black's rooks are rather passive and so the pawn edge for black isn't decisive. Black still has ideas though, but during the game I was very confident in holding the draw.} Rd6 43. R1a2 Kf7 44. Ra1 Rd4 45. R1a3 Rc8 46. Rxa6 Rcc4 47. Re3 Rxf4+ 48. Kg3 Rg4+ 49. Kh3 Rge4 50. Rf3+ Rf4 51. Re3 Rce4 52. Rxe4 Rxe4 53. Ra1 Rf4 54. Kg3 Rf5 55. Kg4 Kf6 56. Ra8 Rg5+ 57. Kh4 Rg1 {At first this might seem lost as the king is cut off but I have enough play against the g7-pawn becaise of h6 ideas.} 58. Rf8+ Ke5 59. Rg8 Kf4 60. Kh3 (60. Rf8+ {is similar and is ok as well}) 60... Kf3 61. Rf8+ Ke4 62. Rg8 Rg5 63. Kh4 Kf4 (63... Rg1 64. Kh3 (64. h6 $4 { here this doesn't work as now} Rh1+ 65. Kg3 {white isn't hitting the rook so white black can play} gxh6 $19) 64... e5 65. h6 {and white makes a draw for example:} g6 (65... Rh1+ 66. Kg2 Rxh6 67. Rxg7 {is a draw}) 66. h7 Rh1+ 67. Kg2 Rxh7 68. Rxg6 {is a draw.}) 64. Rf8+ Rf5 65. Re8 e5 66. Re7 e4 67. Rxg7 e3 68. Re7 Rf6 69. Re8 Ra6 70. Rf8+ Ke4 71. Re8+ Kf3 72. Kg5 e2 73. h6 Ra8 {a funny move} 74. Rxe2 (74. Rxa8 e1=Q 75. h7 {is actually still a draw because even after black wins the rook with check white gets a drawn rook pawn vs queen, but it's absolutely nuts to play like this.}) 74... Kxe2 75. h7 Rh8 76. Kg6 Rxh7 77. Kxh7 1/2-1/2 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.20"] [Round "4"] [White "Ravn, Will"] [Black "Spencer, Aaron"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "1848"] [BlackElo "2000"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,62,19,-12,-9,-58,-18,-15,-8,-36,-34,-16,-16,-35,-15,-17,-7,-20,-13, -56,-16,-102,-33,-104,-92,-71,-77,-218,-205,-223,-207,-247,-233,-232,-243,-218, -168,-184,-186,-183,-118,-155,-149,-141,-123,-203,-203,-255,-216,-232,-231, -224,-221,-221,-232,-233,-250,-262,-280,-649,-277,-442,-449,-29995,-29996]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. b3 g6 3. Bb2 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c5 6. e3 (6. Nf3 {seems better to me. I get that white wanted to support d4, but I actually think white will play d4 here anyways without weakening his light-squares. The knight also seems to be better on f3.} d5 {is critical} (6... Nc6 7. O-O e6 (7... d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. d4 $14) (7... Re8 8. d4 d5 9. dxc5 dxc4 10. Qc1 $1 ( 10. Qc2 $6 cxb3 11. axb3 Bf5) 10... cxb3 11. axb3 Bf5 $14) 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 { white seems a bit better to me, he is better developed and black is a touch cramped.} d5 {is critical} (9... Qb6 {is reasonable. Black is passive, but he's claiming that his position lacks weaknesses. I'm not sure which direction I would pick during the game. I think I would be concerned that white would just crush me with his big development lead and space, but if I didn't see anything immediate I'd probably go for 9...Qb6 and then finsih my development slowly with a fine position.} 10. Nxc6 dxc6 11. Qc2 Rd8 12. Nd2 Qc7 $1 (12... Bd7 $2 13. c5 $1 Qc7 14. Nc4 $18 {is problematic}) 13. c5 {can now be met by} e5 14. Nc4 Ne8 {and black is passive but ok, for example} 15. Rad1 Rxd1 16. Rxd1 Be6 17. b4 Bxc4 $1 18. Qxc4 Rd8 $14 {Black is a bit worse, but has solved some of his problems, and will survive to a worse ending.}) 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Qc2 $14 {Followed by Nd2, Rfd1, etc with a very pleasent position.}) 7. cxd5 Qxd5 $1 (7... Nxd5 $6 8. Bxg7 $14) 8. Nc3 Qd6 9. O-O Nc6 {and white has a slight edge, but it's basically just a game.}) 6... Nc6 (6... d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bxg7 Kxg7 9. Ne2 e5 {black seems to be for choice. Notice how compared to a line aboe where the knight was on f3, black can now secure the center with ... e5 immediately.}) 7. Ne2 d5 8. cxd5 Nb4 (8... Nxd5 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. O-O e5 { is similar to 6...d5 above}) 9. Nf4 (9. O-O Nbxd5 10. Na3 {is close to equal, but maybe a touch better for white}) 9... Bf5 $2 (9... Bg4 $3 {Is a deep intermediate move and simply wins. Though there is a deep idea, on principle since white has to play f2-f3 here, which is a very weakening move just in general, I think this definetely should have and could have been played.} 10. f3 (10. Qc1 $2 g5 11. Nh3 Nd3+ $19 {is a problem}) (10. Bf3 $2 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nc2+ $19) 10... Bf5 11. O-O Nfxd5 12. Bxg7 Nxf4 13. gxf4 (13. Bxf8 Bc2 $1 $19 { traps the queen is a very important point that would not exist if the pawn were on f2!}) 13... Kxg7 $19 {Black is just strategically winning here}) 10. d3 $4 (10. O-O {is now fine} Nfxd5 (10... Nc2 $4 11. e4 $1 $18 {is important}) 11. Bxg7 Nxf4 12. Bxf8 $1 Bc2 (12... Nxg2 13. Bh6 $1 $18) 13. Qf3 $18 {is the point as now that the pawn is not on f3 the white queen escapes}) 10... g5 $4 ( 10... Nfxd5 {just wins instantly} 11. Bxg7 Nxf4 $1 12. gxf4 Nxd3+ $19) 11. a3 gxf4 12. axb4 fxe3 13. fxe3 $4 (13. O-O {White should have taken the chance to get his king out of the center, though he still has a miserable, but not yet completely losing, position.} cxb4 14. fxe3 $15) 13... Nxd5 $19 14. Bxg7 Nxe3 15. Qd2 Nxg2+ 16. Qxg2 Kxg7 17. Qb2+ Qd4 18. Qxd4+ cxd4 19. Kd2 a6 20. Rf1 Be6 21. Rf4 Rfd8 22. Ra3 Rac8 23. Kd1 Rc6 24. Nd2 Rc3 25. Ke2 h5 26. Nf3 Bg4 27. Kd2 Bxf3 28. Rxf3 Rdc8 29. Rf4 e5 30. Re4 Rc2+ 31. Kd1 Rc1+ {White gets mated in 2 moves, and therefore resigned} 0-1 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.20"] [Round "4"] [White "Berube, Max"] [Black "Hendrix, Wyatt"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1986"] [BlackElo "2028"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] 1. d4 {In total I have now played 4 games with Max, 3 if you're only including games from when I was 1700+. Our first game was at the Saco Open back in 2017. I was I think just 1400 or so at the time, and he played the Vienna Gambit and beat me convincingly. 2 rounds later he almost drew David Vigorito. I remember watching a lot of that game live. Although he won the game it was David's first adjournment, as the game had been going on for 6 hours or so and the next round needed to start, in 25 years (if I'm remembering right from his annotations to that game). Max after that tournament took some time away from chess and came back at the 2021 Maine State Championship, which he won. We played in the 4th round and so one could say that was our first serious game. I got a very good opening position but things became extremely complicated and Max made a couple very impressive defensive moves to gain a decisive advantage. Things then got complicated again and I basically equalized, before blundering horribly. Our next game was later that year, where we played another interesting game, though that one had less ups and downs, and I managed to win. So far our games tend to be quite interesting as we are both very concrete, and ambitious, players it seems.} d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c3 Bg4 {I was just improvising} 4. Ne5 Bf5 5. Qb3 {This is the best way to play, but black is still totally fine.} Qc8 6. c4 $6 e6 (6... c5 $1 {equalizes, but I would have had to have seen some key moves} 7. dxc5 Nc6 8. Nxc6 dxc4 9. Qb5 a6 $1 10. Qxc4 Qxc6 {and apparently I have compensation here}) 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nc3 c6 { Basically it's just a carlsbad now where some of the pieces are weirdly placed} 9. Bg5 Nbd7 $1 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 $1 (10... Nxd7 $2 11. e4 $1 $16) 11. Bxf6 gxf6 { I think many people would say black is totally lost here because of the bad structure, but both my opponent and I correctly believed in black's compensation mostly due to the 2 bishops.} 12. e3 Rg8 13. g3 b5 $2 {Yes this move looks ugly. Yes it ruins my stucture. Yes it's a bad move. Did I make the move for these reasons? No. I had some idea connected with ... b4 and queenside pawn play in general as I underestimated how safe white's king would be on the kingside, so I thought by creating a queenside offensive I was dooming white's king to a life on the lamb in the center.} 14. Rc1 (14. Nxb5 $2 {Doesn't work due to} Rb8 $19 {and for example} (14... Be4 {will be mentioned by your computer as also winning, but it's the same thing, the point is after Rg1 black still plays ...Rb8.}) 15. a4 a6 $19 {is simplest}) 14... a6 {There were some tactical ideas connected with piece sacs on b5} 15. Bg2 Bh3 {I of course had the Nxd5 trap in mind when playing this, but I showed a strategical misunderstanding here. I believed that exchanging off the light-squared bishops would weaken white's king, but actually keeping the bishop pair is more important. This is why playing chess on principles is hard, as sometimes there will be two principles in opposition to each other, (and half the people watching will think you're an idiot no matter what you do as they preffered the other postulate). With this all aside, after playing this move I could see my opponent staring in the direction of the d5 square, and Max is always one to try and play the most critical move. He rarely will play a "safe move" and is always trying to be concrete. He also loves to play beautiful moves it seems.} (15... Be7 $1 {was better with similar ideas, but black keeps his bishop pair.}) 16. Nxd5 $4 (16. O-O {was better} Rg6 17. Rfe1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 f5 {Black seems to be left without enough compensation for his weaknesses, but it's not over yet.}) 16... cxd5 17. Bxd5 Be6 $1 $19 {This was missed and now white is completely lost} (17... Rc8 $4 18. Rxc8+ Qxc8 19. Bxf7+ $18) (17... Rb8 $4 18. Bc6 $18) (17... Qa7 $2 {and black doesn't lose, but it's still good for white (or at the very least not winning for black like the game continuation).} 18. Qc2 $16) 18. Bxa8 Bxb3 19. Bc6 {There are multiple ways to finish it off here.} Bb4+ (19... Qxc6 20. Rxc6 Bd5 $19 {also works}) 20. Ke2 Bc4+ 21. Rxc4 bxc4 22. Bxd7+ Kxd7 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. Kf3 Ke6 25. Rc2 Kd5 26. Re2 a5 27. Kf4 a4 28. Kf5 Rc6 29. Rc2 a3 30. bxa3 Bxa3 31. Kf4 c3 32. Kf3 Kc4 33. Ke2 Bb2 34. h4 Ra6 35. d5 Rxa2 0-1 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.20"] [Round "4"] [White "Fishbein, Matthew"] [Black "Eaton, Gabe"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2278"] [BlackElo "1720"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,55,13,13,14,-16,19,-35,-30,-31,18,-11,15,-3,-12,-9,-21,-21,-24,-39,-4, -12,-31,-25,68,57,127,95,124,63,53,99,99,81,93,98,100,96,86,98,97,68,152,166, 225,225,225,241,242,242,582,572,29989,29990,29997,29998,29999,-30000]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. g3 dxc4 4. Qc2 b5 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. a4 Bb7 7. b3 cxb3 8. Qxb3 a6 9. Ba3 g6 $2 {This move puts black on the precipe of disaster} (9... Nbd7 { is a significantly better move order} 10. O-O e6 11. Bxf8 Kxf8 12. Rc1 Qb6 13. Na3 {and only now:} g6 {with an imbalanced, but level, position as in: 1/2-1/2 (27) Salov,V (2660)-Anand,V (2710) Linares 1993}) (9... e6 10. Bxf8 Kxf8 11. O-O Nbd7 {transposes}) 10. Ng5 (10. Ne5 $1 {is a bit more accurate, the knight is simply better placed here where it also pressurizes c6, but Matthew wanted to create Nxe6 ideas with the knight on g5}) 10... e6 11. Bxf8 Kxf8 (11... Rxf8 12. axb5 $2 Qb6 $13) 12. axb5 Qb6 $2 (12... Kg7 $1 {would have been best. Now the king is reasonably safe and since black had been up a pawn previously he's not going down material here. Play could continue} 13. bxa6 Bxa6 14. d3 { solving the problem of the hanging e2 pawn to prepare castling} (14. Qc3 $1 { would be a nice prophalactic move, directed against ...Bc4} h6 15. Ne4 Nbd7 16. Na3 Qe7 17. d3 Bb5 {and white is a bit better, but this is still a game}) 14... Bc4 $1 (14... h6 15. Nf3 Nbd7 {isn't over either}) 15. Qc3 Rxa1 16. Qxa1 Bd5 17. O-O {White's advantage looks to be limited, especially after:} h6 18. Ne4 Bxe4 19. Bxe4 c5 20. Nd2 Qd4 {White is still on top, but black has very reasonable drawing chances as a lot of the endgames are very holdable}) 13. Qa3+ Ke8 $2 (13... c5 {was mandatory, to keep the queen out of d6, still after: } 14. Bxb7 Qxb7 15. O-O h6 16. Qf3 $1 {White has a huge advantage}) 14. Qd6 Nbd7 15. bxc6 Rc8 16. O-O $6 (16. Ne4 $1 $18) (16. cxd7+ $2 {would be a funny mistake, as now the threat of mate on c1 causes problems} Nxd7 17. Qa3 (17. Bc6 $5 Rxc6 18. Qa3 $13) (17. O-O $4 {is not to be recomended due to the hanging queen on d6} Qxd6 $19) 17... Bxg2 $13) 16... Bxc6 17. Nc3 Bxg2 18. Qxb6 Nxb6 19. Kxg2 Ra8 20. Rfb1 $6 (20. Ra2 Ke7 21. Rfa1 {wins the a6 pawn immediately}) 20... Nbd5 $4 (20... Nbd7 $1 {is more tenacious} 21. Rb2 (21. Rb7 $6 Ke7 { and white's best plan is to just go back with the rook to pressure a6}) 21... Ke7 22. Rba2 Nb8 {hangs onto the pawn for now, but with black being so passive I think white should still have great winning chances here.}) 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Rb7 {Now white just penetrates to the 7th rank decisevely} Ne7 23. Rc1 h6 24. Ne4 Rd8 25. Rcc7 Nd5 26. Rxf7 Rf8 27. Nf6+ Nxf6 28. Rfe7# 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Hendrix, Wyatt"] [Black "Ravn, Will"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E09"] [WhiteElo "2028"] [BlackElo "1848"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,69,14,14,14,-13,3,-21,-9,-4,8,-14,8,-9,16,15,12,18,15,16,36,39,27,40, 33,20,65,58,65,65,92,74,80,99,92,56,145,17,-4,-29,10,19,-23,-36,-30,-42,-11, -14,-29,-58,0,15,41,63,79,35,53,42,97,106,95,183,194,218,435,444,454,453,463, 351,424,423]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 Nbd7 8. Nbd2 b6 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Bb7 12. Ne5 {This looked reasoanble to me. I didn't really know the theory as actually this system with ...c6 without ... Bb4+ isn't so popular now, so I wasn't really spending time on it. This is the reality of Amateur chess, with limited time to prepare due to chess not being your profession there's just going to be stuff you don't know.} (12. Rd1 {is the more normal theory, and white is considered to be doing well here}) 12... Nf6 $2 (12... Nxe5 13. dxe5 Qc7 {should have been preferred. Black should be fine, as though he looks a touch passive, he will free himself with . ..Ba8 and ...c5 in many lines. Still, white is for choice.} ) 13. Qe2 $1 {The pawn on d4 cannot be taken so white is able to place the queen well on this square.} (13. Qf3 $2 Qxd4 14. Nxc6 $6 Bxc6 15. Qxc6 Rac8 $17 ) 13... Qc8 (13... Qxd4 $2 14. Rd1 Qc5 15. Nd7 $1 Nxd7 16. Be3 $1 (16. Rxd7 $2 {Allows black to fight on with a queen sac} Bc8 17. Be3 Qxe3 (17... Qe5 $4 18. Rxe7 Qd6 19. Bg5 $1 $18) 18. Qxe3 Bxd7 19. Rd1 $16 {White is better but black has a lot for the queen}) 16... Qb4 17. Rxd7 Bc8 18. a3 Qb3 19. Rxe7 $18) ( 13... Qc7 {Isn't much better} 14. Bf4 Bd6 15. b4 {White is almost winning}) 14. Qf3 {This is very uncomfortable for black to meet} Rd8 15. Be3 Rd6 16. g4 { This isn't the best move in the position but it's fine} Qe8 $1 (16... h6 $6 { just gives white a hook to open the kingside}) 17. b4 $2 {This looks natural, but I should have just started my kingside ideas immediately.} Rc8 18. c5 $2 { I thought I was just fixing the weakness on c6 here, but It's too much to give black the d5 square.} Rdd8 19. Qh3 $6 Nd5 20. Be4 g6 21. a3 $6 (21. g5 $1 Nxb4 22. Ng4 $16) 21... f6 22. Nf3 Ba6 23. Rfe1 bxc5 24. bxc5 $2 (24. dxc5 $1 Nc3 25. Bc2 $16) 24... Rb8 $2 (24... Nc3 $1 25. Bc2 Rb8 {Now that the b1-square is hit by the knight black develops counterplay} 26. Bf4 $6 Rb2) 25. Bxd5 exd5 $2 (25... Rxd5 26. Bf4 $2 Rb3 $1 27. Rxe6 Qd7 (27... Bc8 28. Re3 Rxe3 29. fxe3 Bf8 {And the computer says black is better? Even if this can be understood from here, which is maybe reasonable, I think it's hard to find this whole line.}) 28. Re4 Rxd4 $11) 26. Bf4 $18 Rb7 27. Re3 Qf7 28. Rae1 Bf8 29. g5 Bg7 30. Bd6 Bf8 31. Re6 Bd3 32. Rxf6 Qd7 33. Qxd7 Rbxd7 34. Ne5 Bxd6 35. cxd6 1-0 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Eaton, Gabe"] [Black "Berube, Max"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C29"] [WhiteElo "1720"] [BlackElo "1986"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "141"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Nxc3 7. dxc3 Qh4+ { This variation is well known and recomended in a few books.} 8. g3 Qe4+ 9. Be3 (9. Qxe4 {is more normal}) 9... Qxc2 10. Ne2 Qe4 (10... Be7 $1 {trying to castle as quickly as possible is best. The pawns aren't really what matter here, it's going to be more about the difference in safety between the 2 kings. } 11. Nd4 (11. O-O $4 O-O 12. Nd4 $6 Nxd4 $19) 11... Qxb2 12. O-O O-O 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Bxc6 Rb8 (14... Be6 $1 {is strong, but not necessary} 15. Bxa8 Rxa8 { It looks like black will even win a 2nd pawn for the exchange and simply be a little better}) 15. Bxd5 Qxc3 {The computer gives 0.00 as white has some very accurate moves that hold the balance, but with this difference in king safety black is much better in a practical game}) 11. Qxe4 dxe4 12. Nd4 Bd7 $6 (12... Bc5 {Works out well} 13. Nxc6 Bxe3 14. Nxa7+ Bd7 15. Bxd7+ Kxd7 16. Nb5 Bb6 { preparing ...Ke6} 17. Rf1 Ke6 {and black is more than fine}) (12... a6 $1 13. Bxc6+ bxc6 14. Nxc6 Bd7 {and here it's easy to see the black is simply a little better with the uncomensated for bishop pair, but it's hard to look at variatiosn where you give back the pawn.}) 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 $6 (13... bxc6) 14. Bxc6+ bxc6 15. O-O-O Be7 16. Rd4 Bc5 17. Rxe4 Bxe3+ 18. Rxe3 Ke7 19. Rd1 (19. Re4 $1 {Would have been good as the rook is now going to slide along the 4th rank to target black's vaerious weaknesses. For example, the c6 pawn is somewhat hard to defend due to ...Kd7 being met by Rd1+.} h5 20. Rc4 Rh6 (20... Kd7 $4 21. Rd1+ $18) (20... Ke6 $4 21. Rxc6+ Kxe5 22. Rxc7 $18 {gg}) 21. Rf1 Re6 (21... a5) 22. Rc5 $16 {Black has had to place his rook pretty akwardly in order to protect the c6 pawn}) 19... Rad8 20. Rf1 Ke6 21. Rf4 Rd5 22. Kc2 Rhd8 23. Re2 R8d7 24. Ra4 Rxe5 25. Rxe5+ Kxe5 26. Rxa7 f5 27. a4 g5 28. Ra8 f4 29. Re8+ Kf5 30. a5 $4 (30. b4 $1 {Would win as black no longer has the same ...c5 move}) 30... c5 $13 31. gxf4 gxf4 32. a6 c6 33. Ra8 $6 (33. Rb8 $1 {seems much much safer as now the black rook has to go passive} Ra7 34. Rb6 {Now it seems white has no losing chances} Kg4 (34... f3 $2 35. Kd2 {the white king can step in front of the pawn easily now}) 35. Kd2 Kf3 36. b4 Kg2 37. Rxc6 f3 {should be a draw}) 33... Kg4 34. Kb3 Rf7 35. Kc4 $4 f3 $19 36. Rg8+ Kf4 $4 (36... Kh3 $1 {is just a simple win, but black needed to do some calculation. The threat is obviously ...f2 and ...f1=Q but can't white also promote?} 37. a7 f2 38. a8=Q f1=Q+ {Both sides have gotten their queen but since black has promoted with check and since his king is amazingly well placed he can simply hunt down the white king} 39. Kb3 Qb5+ 40. Ka2 Rb7 $1 41. Qc8+ {The only check} (41. Qa3 Qc4+ {picks up the rook on g8}) 41... Kxh2 {and now white would have to give up the rook in order to give more checks, and there is no perpetual as the king can run to b6, though it does take a little while}) 37. Rg1 $4 (37. Kd3 { the king needed to come closer} h5 (37... Rd7+ 38. Kc4 {and now with the rook not on the f-file white has saving checks, and otherwise ...Rf7 just repeats the position} f2 $6 {is already playing with fire} (38... Rf7 39. Kd3) 39. Rf8+ Ke3 40. Kxc5 Rd8 $1 41. Rf7 Ra8 42. Kb6 Rb8+ $1 43. Kxc6 Rxb2 44. a7 Ra2 45. Kb7 Rb2+ $11) 38. Kd2 c4 39. Ke1 {Now everything is safe}) 37... Ra7 $1 38. Rg8 f2 39. Rf8+ Ke3 40. Kxc5 Rxa6 41. Re8+ Kf3 42. Rf8+ Kg2 43. Rg8+ Kxh2 44. Rf8 Kg2 45. Rg8+ Kf1 46. Rh8 h5 $6 (46... Ra5+ 47. Kxc6 Rf5 {is what I expected to see when spectating. It's just game over.} 48. Ra8 Ke2 49. Ra1 f1=Q 50. Rxf1 Rxf1 {There are no chances with the passed pawns as black is too close, plus he still has the h-pawn.}) 47. b4 Ke2 48. Re8+ Kf1 49. Rh8 h4 $4 {Black gets to promote but now white can draw with the queenside pawns. When discussing this with a few folks after the game I learned that Max believed the ensuing Rook vs pawn ending to be winning, and so did Alex as well. However, white is in time to draw.} (49... Ke2 50. Re8+ Kd1 51. Rf8 Ra2 {is the way, now the king will just return to facilitate promotion and the rook will simply block the check on e2.} 52. Kxc6 Ke1 53. b5 (53. Re8+ Re2) 53... f1=Q 54. Rxf1+ Kxf1 {with the h-pawn still alive this is just trivial.}) 50. Rxh4 Kg2 51. Rf4 f1=Q 52. Rxf1 Kxf1 53. b5 {I won't give this any offensive puntuation as it doesn't matter and still draws but c4 followed by b5 would have been a tempo faster. I'd have played c4 just in case I had miscounted the tempi and I think it's a good practical decision.} cxb5 54. Kxb5 {The problem is the black king is just too far away.} Ra8 (54... Rh6 {Would be the winning move if the black king were just a step closer} 55. c4 Ke2 56. c5 Kd3 57. c6 Kd4 58. c7 Rh8 59. Kb6 { and if the black king could step to d6 here black would win} (59. Kc6 {is also possible now since the black king isn't on d5})) 55. c4 Rb8+ 56. Kc6 Rc8+ 57. Kd5 Rd8+ 58. Kc6 Rc8+ 59. Kd5 Rd8+ 60. Kc6 Ke2 61. Kc7 Rd1 62. c5 Ke3 63. c6 Ke4 64. Kb7 Rb1+ 65. Ka7 Rc1 66. Kb7 Kd5 67. c7 Rb1+ 68. Ka7 Rc1 69. Kb7 Kd6 70. c8=Q Rxc8 71. Kxc8 {and a draw, this game means that rook vs lone pawn came up an astonishing 4 times (!) this tournament in just 15 games. All 4 were draws.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2022 Roger J Morin Invitational"] [Site "Belgrade, ME"] [Date "2022.06.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Spencer, Aaron"] [Black "Fishbein, Matthew"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2000"] [BlackElo "2278"] [Annotator "Wyatt Hendrix"] [PlyCount "146"] [EventDate "2022.06.18"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.06.18"] {[%evp 0,146,19,34,29,1,39,31,48,50,44,50,51,51,51,25,15,13,5,8,1,4,-3,-6,59, 25,62,75,47,38,47,52,64,35,22,-32,-24,-9,-21,-7,-16,6,-12,-19,-42,-25,12,11,11, 4,4,21,0,-13,19,-39,14,21,47,47,28,12,25,36,31,-38,-23,-36,-42,-44,-24,-60,-71, -67,-13,-98,-105,-103,-40,-41,-49,-39,-48,-36,-40,-40,-18,-61,0,0,-5,-5,-46, -49,-49,-49,-52,-54,-62,-52,-49,-49,0,-58,-49,-67,-65,-69,-69,-71,-54,-78,-55, -56,-41,-47,-26,-19,-4,-4,-4,-44,-15,-3,-33,-31,-24,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Qa4+ Nd7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. cxd4 Nf6 (11... Nc5 {is the most popular move here, but nowadays it's been determined to be good for white} 12. dxc5 $1 Bxa1 13. e5 {White has excellent compensation, but the position is super complicated}) (11... Nb6 {is probably a little better, the knight looks less natural but it has ideas of going to c4 in the future and black keeps more pressure on the center by leaving the bishop on g7 unfurled.} 12. Qa3 Bg4 13. Rd1) 12. Bd3 $1 (12. e5 {would be a poor positional decision, giving up the d5 square is too much.}) 12... b6 $2 {Black would like to put some pressure on e4 but this is defended far too easily} (12... Bg4) 13. Bf4 $2 {This allowed a nice tactical opportunity} Nh5 $2 (13... Bg4 14. Nd2 Nh5 15. Be3 Bxd4 $1 16. Bxd4 e5 17. Bxe5 Qxd3 {black is fine}) 14. Be3 $16 {Black missed his chance and now white seems to consolidate a nice advantage} e5 15. d5 Nf4 16. Bb5 Bg4 17. Ne1 $2 {I believe the intention here was Ne1-c2-b4-c6.} (17. Nd2 {was much better, black doesn't get the same opportunity he got in the game}) 17... Ne2+ 18. Kh1 Nc3 19. Qb3 Nxb5 20. Qxb5 Bd7 $6 (20... Qd7 21. Qa6 (21. Qb3 Be2) (21. Qb2 f5 $15) 21... Qc8 22. Qb5 Qd7 $11) 21. Qe2 (21. Qb3 $1 f5 22. Nf3 $1 h6 (22... fxe4 $2 23. Ng5 $16) 23. Rac1 Qe7 (23... fxe4 $6 24. Nd2 $16) 24. Rfd1 $14) 21... f5 {Now it's clear that black is fine.} 22. f3 fxe4 $6 (22... Qh4 23. Bf2 Qh5 24. Qa6 Rf7 {and black seems to have a slight initiative. White has various trumps as well such as the passed d-pawn, but black's play seems much more natural to me. For example} 25. Bg1 (25. Rc1 $4 fxe4 26. fxe4 Bh6 27. Rc2 Raf8 $19) 25... Raf8 26. Nc2 {Forced} (26. Nd3 $4 fxe4 $19) 26... g5 27. Rac1 Qg6 $1 $36) 23. fxe4 Rxf1+ 24. Qxf1 Qe7 25. Rc1 Rf8 26. Qc4 $2 (26. Qd3 $1 $16) 26... Qa3 $6 (26... Rc8 $1 {This is why 26.Qd3 was to be preffered} 27. Qd3 Rxc1 28. Bxc1 Qc5 $11) 27. Rc3 (27. Nc2 $1 Qa4 28. Qxa4 {and now there's no akward check on the 1st rank} Bxa4 29. Nb4 $14 { Black does have a nice bishop pair but white will push due to teh strong d-pawn and control of the c-file}) 27... Qa4 28. Qxa4 Rf1+ 29. Bg1 Bxa4 30. Nf3 Bf8 $6 (30... Bh6) 31. Rc8 Kg7 32. Ng5 (32. h4 Bd1 (32... Bd6 33. Kh2) (32... h6 33. Kh2 $18) 33. Ng5 Be7 (33... Bd6 34. Kh2 h6 35. Ne6+)) 32... Bd6 33. h4 h6 34. Ne6+ Kf6 35. Rd8 Be7 36. Ra8 Bd7 $2 (36... Bc2 $1 {Black has an advantage (Aaron Spencer). Indeed, due to the capture on e4 white's position is falling apart.}) 37. Kh2 $2 (37. Nf8 {was best, and white doesn't lose a pawn}) 37... Bxe6 38. dxe6 Kxe6 $6 (38... Re1 $1 39. Rxa7 b5 $1 (39... Rxe4 $6 40. Bxb6 Rxh4+ 41. Kg3 {and most of black's winning chances are gone}) 40. Ra5 Rxe4 41. h5 $1 (41. Rxb5 $4 Rxh4+ 42. Kg3 Ra4 $19) 41... Rh4+ 42. Kg3 Rxh5 43. Rxb5 Kxe6 $17) 39. Rxa7 {Now the rest never deviates much from equality} Rf4 40. g3 Rxe4 41. Bxb6 Re2+ 42. Kh3 e4 43. Bd4 Rd2 44. Ra6+ Kd5 45. Bg7 Bd6 46. Ra5+ Kc6 47. Bxh6 Rd3 48. Kg2 Rxg3+ 49. Kf2 Rf3+ 50. Ke2 Rh3 51. Rg5 Rxh4 52. Rxg6 Kd5 53. a4 Rh2+ 54. Kd1 Bc5 55. Bf4 Rf2 56. Rg5+ Kd4 57. Rxc5 Rxf4 58. Rc8 Kd3 59. Rd8+ Ke3 60. Re8 Rf1+ 61. Kc2 Ra1 62. Kb3 Kd3 63. Kb4 e3 64. a5 e2 65. Rxe2 Kxe2 66. Kb5 Kd3 67. a6 Kd4 68. Kb6 Kd5 69. a7 Kd6 70. Kb7 Rb1+ 71. Ka8 Ra1 72. Kb7 Rb1+ 73. Ka8 Ke5 1/2-1/2