[Event "HZ Toernooi 2025"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.08.09"] [Round "9"] [White "Lacrosse, Marc"] [Black "Grochal, Joey"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "JG"] [ECO "D39"] [WhiteElo "2079"] [BlackElo "2239"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "74"] [GameId "2209054331322878"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.08.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 {Marc is one the player's with the best opening repertoires on his level arguably. I don't think he does any actual preparation against opponents but he knows his repertoire really well... 18 (!) years ago in the HZ Tournament i exploited his somewhat rigged repertoire against the Botvinnik. By now Marc had patched that hole though so i pounced in the Vienna Game. A very sharp opening i had never played before. I found some games with 5. e3 and 6. a4?! which seemed appealing to me.} (4... c6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. exf6 $6 gxh4 10. Ne5 Qxf6 11. a4 a6 12. axb5 cxb5 13. Nxb5 $2 axb5 14. Rxa8 Bb4+ 15. Ke2 Bd6 16. Ng4 Qf4 {½-½ Lacrosse,M (2301)-Grochal,J (2152) Vlissingen HZ op 11th 2007 (4)} (16... Qg7 $19)) 5. e4 (5. e3 a6 6. a4 $5 {leaving a lot of squares weakened in the white camp a5/b4/b3 akin to a line the Slav. This is what i intended to play against but Marc went for the sharpest line. He did realize all the kids were going to prepare against this now though since it will be in chessbase now!} (6. Bxc4 {back in normal theory.})) 5... Bb4 6. Bg5 (6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 {is another mainline.} (7... Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 9. Ne5 O-O 10. f4 Nd7 11. Rf3 Nb6 {½-½ Grochal,J (2313)-Docx,S (2433) Brasschaat op 19th 2019 (4)})) 6... c5 7. e5 (7. Bxc4 {tends to be the true mainline, just about all the elite players have tried this as black with Aronian standing out in terms of quantity.} cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12. Kf1 gxf6 13. h4 a6 14. Rh3 Qb4 15. Rb1 $6 (15. Be2 $142 Ne5 (15... Nc5 $2 16. Rb1) 16. Rb1 Qd6 17. Rc3 {is a better move order not allowing Nc5...}) 15... Qd6 16. Be2 (16. Bxd7+ $142 Bxd7 17. Rd3 $11) 16... Ne5 (16... Nc5 $1 17. Rc3 Nxe4 18. Rd3 O-O {0-1 Karjakin,S (2763)-Aronian,L (2794) Candidates Tournament Berlin 2018 (4)}) 17. Rc3 Ke7 18. f4 Nc6 19. Nxc6+ bxc6 20. Qc1 Rb8 21. Rxb8 Qxb8 22. Rxc6 Rd8 23. Rc7+ Ke8 24. e5 fxe5 25. Qc5 Bd7 26. Qxe5 Rc8 27. Rxc8+ Qxc8 {½-½ Grochal,J (2255)-Gascon del Nogal,J (2496) Cappelle op 34th Cappelle la Grande 2018 (2.8)}) 7... cxd4 8. Qa4+ (8. Nxd4 Qa5 9. exf6 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qxg5 11. fxg7 Qxg7 $11 {½-½ Carlsen,M (2875)-Aronian,L (2752) Croatia GCT Zagreb 2019 (9) yet another ok line.}) 8... Nc6 9. O-O-O Bd7 {i was very happy i checked this line before departing in the morning just in case!} 10. Ne4 Be7 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Bh4 a6 (12... Rc8 13. Kb1 Na5 14. Qc2 e5 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Rxd4 Qb6 17. Rd6 Rc6 18. Rxc6 Qxc6 {½-½ Grischuk,A (2756)-Gelfand,B (2750) Amber-blindfold 19th Nice rapid 2010 (3)}) (12... Qc7 13. Kb1 Qf4 14. Re1 Nb4 15. Qxb4 Bxb4 16. Nxf6+ Kd8 17. Re4 Qf5 18. Ne5 Bc6 19. g4 Qxe5 20. Rxe5 Bxh1 21. Nd5+ Kd7 22. Nxb4 d3 {½-½ Riazantsev,A (2674)-Naiditsch,A (2686) Poikovsky Karpov 11th 2010 (4)}) (12... Ne5 $2 13. Qc2 d3 14. Qc3 $16 {[%csl Rf6]}) 13. Qxc4 (13. Qc2 $143 Nb4 $1 (13... b5 $2 14. Nxd4 Qc7 15. Bg3 Nxd4 16. Bxc7 Nxc2 17. Nd6+ $18) 14. Qd2 d3 15. Bxf6 Nxa2+ 16. Kb1 Bxf6 17. Qf4 $1 Nc3+ 18. bxc3 Be7 19. Ne5 f5 20. Nxc4 fxe4 21. Bxd3 $1 exd3 22. Rxd3 Rc8 23. Qg4 Rc5 24. Rhd1 Rd5 25. Rxd5 exd5 26. Qh5+ Kf8 27. Qxd5 Rg8 28. Qxd7 Qxd7 29. Rxd7 Rxg2 $11) 13... e5 14. Nxe5 $1 (14. Kb1 $2 Be6 15. Qe2 Nb4 16. b3 Rc8 $40) 14... Nxe5 (14... fxe5 $5 15. Nd6+ Bxd6 16. Bxd8 Rxd8 17. Qc2 $16 {seems like fun to try in a blitz game.}) 15. Qxd4 {over here i was not sure anymore and just played the position.} Qc7+ (15... Rc8+ 16. Kb1 O-O 17. Be2 Bf5 18. Qxd8 Rfxd8 19. f3 Kg7 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Ng4 $1 23. Kc1 Ne3 24. g4 Nxg4 25. Ng3 Nh6 26. Nxf5+ Nxf5 27. Bf2 Bd6 28. Bc2 Bf4+ 29. Kd1 Ne3+ 30. Bxe3 {½-½ Van Wely,L (2697)-Morozevich,A (2742) Amber-blindfold 11th Monte Carlo rapid 2002 (11)}) (15... O-O 16. Be2 Qc8+ 17. Kb1 Bf5 18. f3 Qe6 19. Ka1 Rac8 20. g4 Bg6 21. f4 Rfd8 22. Qe3 {0-1 Koneru,H (2581)-Dzagnidze,N (2570) Beijing Sportaccord blitz (Women) 2014 (8)}) 16. Kb1 (16. Qc3 Rc8 17. Qxc7 Rxc7+ 18. Kb1 Bf5 {½-½ Wojtaszek,R (2614)-Naiditsch,A (2638) FRA-chT Top 16 GpA France 2008 (6)}) 16... Bf5 17. f3 $6 $146 {Seemed like a very natural move to me.} (17. Qa4+ Kf8 18. f3 Kg7 19. Be2 b5 20. Qd4 Rhd8 21. Qe3 Nc4 22. Bxc4 Qxc4 {0-1 Zhou,J (2652)-Wang,H (2722) CHN-ch Xinghua 2010 (8)}) 17... Rc8 (17... Rd8 $5 18. Qa4+ b5 19. Rxd8+ Qxd8 20. Qc2 O-O 21. Be2 Kg7 $15 {i definitely did not evaluate something like this as better for black.}) 18. Bd3 Rd8 19. Qa4+ Kf8 $1 (19... b5 $6 20. Qc2 Qb6 21. Bf2 $16) 20. Qc2 (20. Bc2 $5 Kg7 21. Ng3 $5 Bg6 (21... Bxc2+ 22. Qxc2 Qxc2+ 23. Kxc2 Kg6 $11) 22. Nf5+ Bxf5 23. Bxf5 $11 {is what i was afraid of in the game. The engine is not impressed.}) 20... Qa5 21. Be2 $6 (21. Be1 Bb4 22. Bh4 Be7 23. Be1 Bb4 $11) 21... Kg7 $15 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rd1 $2 {The losing mistake. Unlike in the other main summertime chess tournament of Zeeland Oostkapelle no checkers is played!} (23. Be1 Bb4 24. Bxb4 (24. Bh4 $2 Rd2 $1) 24... Qxb4 25. a3 Qb6 $17) 23... Rc8 $1 $19 24. Qd2 Qa4 $1 {and the white stronghold on e4 collapses. Now Marc used nearly all his time but could not find anything better than Bg3.} 25. Bg3 (25. b3 Bxe4+ 26. Ka1 Qc6 27. fxe4 Qxe4 28. Bg3 Rc2 $19) (25. Bd3 Nxd3 26. b3 Qc6 27. Qxd3 Rd8 28. Qe2 Rxd1+ 29. Qxd1 Bxe4+ 30. fxe4 Qxe4+ 31. Kb2 Qxh4 $19) (25. Qe3 Qc2+ 26. Ka1 Nc4 27. Qc3 Bxe4 28. fxe4 Qxe2 $19) 25... Bxe4+ 26. fxe4 Qxe4+ $6 {Black's only real mistake in the game as far as i can tell but it's just winning a bit less fast than the tactical shot i missed:} (26... Bb4 $1 27. Qe3 Qc2+ 28. Ka1 Bd2 $1 29. Qg1 Bc1 $1 {i completely missed.}) 27. Bd3 Nxd3 28. Qxd3 Qxg2 $19 {No matter this is a winning endgame. How big a mistake is it when you play something that is -3 rather than -5?} 29. Qf5 Rc4 {A nice move quickly ending white's counterchances. My initial intention Rc5 might allow a bit more from white.} 30. a3 (30. Re1 Bb4 31. Rf1 Qe4+ $19) 30... Qe4+ 31. Qxe4 Rxe4 32. Rd7 b5 {and the rook can protect a6. The perfect set-up.} 33. Kc2 f5 34. Kd3 Bf6 35. b3 Be5 36. Bxe5+ Rxe5 37. Rd6 Re6 {0-1 Lacrosse,M (2079)-Grochal,J (2239) HZ University of Applied Sciences Chess Vlissingen, Netherlands 2025 (9.14) and Marc resigned. The king is cut and the f7-pawn can serve as an 'umbrella' for the other f-pawn and king. Hans was not familiar with this term apparently!} 0-1