[Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.03.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Knudsen, Martin"] [Black "Carr, Jay"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E14"] [WhiteElo "1969"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "86"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {[%evp 0,86,19,31,14,-14,12,12,27,27,32,7,28,26,30,18,-3,6,17,7,0,5,77,42,58, 45,6,10,10,-46,-4,-11,-6,-47,-47,-32,-29,-21,-42,-50,-11,-91,-49,-135,-66,-68, -54,-115,-32,-40,-38,-29,-50,-41,-5,-16,-19,-31,-18,-41,-22,-52,-19,-35,-35, -56,-94,-93,-23,-38,-37,-79,-37,-29,-6,-23,-49,-49,-50,-50,-56,-65,-20,-7,-12, -9,-9,-3,-10]} {My opponent was a nice guy from Denmark.He was rated 1969 on the wall chart, but has been over 2000 FIDE at times, which puts him in roughly a 2150-2200 USCF equivalent. We had a little pleasant conversation before the round. I'd looked him up in the databases in the morning and it seemed he played "everything" with white so I didn't do much prep before this game. I did figure it might be some kind of d-pawn opening, which is what happened. I saw he also had employed Bird's Opening a few times, which I wasn't really prepared to meet and would've just had to 'wing it' (Bird. Wing. Get it?) if that happened.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 {Seems I run into this move a lot. Locally, e3 setups are also a favorite of young Ruxiao Xia. I always felt like white has more ambitious ways to play against the Queen's Indian Defense, though.} Bb7 5. Bd3 Be7 {My main source on the QID recommends that black aim for the more active ...Bd6 in many variations including, I think, this one. At the board, I felt like I was "still in my preparation" though.} 6. Nc3 d5 7. O-O dxc4 ({Relevant:} 7... O-O 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 c5 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. Rc1 Qb6 14. b3 Rad8 15. Qc2 Rfe8 16. Rfd1 Qb7 17. Bf1 d4 18. Na4 d3 19. Qc4 Ne4 20. Nc3 Bf8 21. Nxe4 Rxe4 22. Qc3 Rg4 23. g3 Bf3 24. Re1 Qd5 25. Qa5 Rd7 26. Qb5 Rh4 27. Rc4 Rxc4 28. bxc4 Qe6 29. e4 a6 30. Qb3 g5 31. Bxg5 Qg4 32. Bd2 Bxe4 33. Bg2 Bxg2 34. Kxg2 Qd4 35. Qc3 Qxc3 36. Bxc3 f5 37. Bd2 {Timofeev,A (2594)-Marin,M (2502) Tornelo INT 2021 1/2-1/2 (77)}) 8. Bxc4 a6 {Black aims for a QGA-like expansion on the queenside. I was fairly comfortable with how the opening had gone.} 9. a3 (9. a4 {is another possibility, restricting black's ...b5 ideas, but ceding the b4 square which is sometimes useful for Black.}) 9... O-O 10. b4 {[#]} c5 $5 $146 {I had a bit of a long think here, as ...c5 felt a little 'unnatural' to me. I was, however, not unfamiliar with the idea of pushing ... c5 and delaying the recapture and taking advantage of the fact that the bishop on c4 is undefended.} 11. bxc5 (11. dxc5 {is another possibility, but it allows black the opportunity to hit the queen on the now open d-file.} Qc7) 11... Qc7 {Sometime around this point in the game, I did something that I've NEVER done before in a tournament game. I got up to stretch my legs at my normal half hour in "tv timeout" and when I returned to my row of tables I sat down AT THE WRONG BOARD(!) I quickly realized my mistake - as did an amused player on the board one more spot removed from mine. I got up shaking my head and sat down to a better position than the one on my left. Have YOU ever done this?} 12. Bb2 ({I did actually look at the possibility of} 12. Na4 $6 { during the game, but White is just worse after} b5 13. Nb6 bxc4 14. Nxa8 Bxa8 $17) 12... Nbd7 13. Rc1 {Establishing a "masked attack" on my queen on c7. There are "a lot of pieces in the way" for now, though. :-)} bxc5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Be2 {My first embarrassing oversight of the game was that I had kind of assumed (WHY?!) that the bishop would just retreat on the a2-g8 diagonal and I would plop down my ...Qh5 and feel really good about my position. When he played this I immediately thought, 'well, of course!'} Qf5 {So I chose f5 as my queen's new home. I liked that from there it also kept an eye on b1, which was a component in several 'tactics that didn't happen' but we looked at during the game nonetheless} 16. Nd4 Qg6 17. Bf3 {Yes, of course we QID players hate to part with the light-squared bishop but I felt black had gotten everything out of the opening one hopes for.} Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Ne5 {I felt I had a nice little "pull" here, as my pieces were active and good and his weren't earning their pay so much.} 19. Qe2 Rfc8 ({Yes, I could win the 'minor exchange' here immediately with} 19... Nd3 {but I wanted to if I could whip up any more substantial mischief with some good potential outposts in his position.}) 20. Na2 {A sad knight} Nd3 21. Rc6 {Black has to be careful about exchanging on c6, since after the knight recaptures, Nxe7+ with a nasty fork is threatened.} Rcb8 {After another long think. It felt weird to 'unchallenge' the control of the c-file but, by being on the b-file, black has ambitions too. On a good day I could maybe even invade on b2 or something.} 22. Bc3 {White decides to save the bishop from being exchanged for now.} Nd5 $6 ({The engine likes} 22... e5 $1 $17 {(or even ...Bxa3) better than my move. Of course, I'd had the ...e5 idea on my radar but disliked it as well since by advancing the e-pawn I pin my f6-knight. There's always a trade-off for good moves it seems. :-)}) 23. a4 Ba3 24. e4 N5f4 25. Qf3 Qg5 {Now I'm threatening to play the ... Ne5 forking move.} 26. Ne2 {Dang, he saw it.} Ne5 27. Bxe5 Nxe2+ 28. Qxe2 Qxe5 29. Qd3 Qb2 {I'd actually seen all of this pretty well when playing ...Ne5, thanks to many hours of hosting "Camp Calcuation!"} 30. Qc4 h6 31. h3 {It was kind of a funny moment in the game as we both, exasperatedly, spend a tempo making luft for our kings.} a5 {Didn't want to forget and drop the a-pawn after a series of exchanges. Plus, on a5, it can be protected by my bishop.} 32. Rd1 Rd8 33. Nc3 Rd2 {I couldn't resist doing a slight 'fake out' move here, lifting up my rook with the accompanying body language of going 'all the way' to d1 and exchanging but 'stopping short' on d2. It's not the best move though. } (33... Bb4 $142) 34. Rxd2 Qxd2 35. Qe2 Qc1+ 36. Qd1 Qg5 {The time control was 40/90 with a 30 second increment, then 30 addition minutes (also with increment) after move forty. I was down to 10 minutes or so around move thirty and had to pick up my pace. I still felt I was slightly better and maybe pushing him around a little bit.} 37. Nb5 Rd8 38. Qb1 ({I thought he might try to 'block' on the d-file with} 38. Nd6 $4 Qe7 $2 ({but} 38... Qe5 $1 {instead is winning} 39. Rc8 Rxc8 40. Nxc8 Qc7 {and the knight is trapped}) 39. e5 $11) 38... Bb4 {Part of my 'dream plan' for this endgame(?) was to somehow get my bishop on the a7-g1 diagonal, but I never do.} 39. Rc2 Rd2 40. Qc1 Qf4 41. Rxd2 Bxd2 {Of course black could also trade queens and be 'slightly' better with B vs. N, but I still wanted to keep the queens on. But I was also tired after only 3.5 hours of sleep the night before and didn't have the energy to try to grind it out for another hour so and still only get a draw so I offered one in a couple moves and he took it.} 42. Qc8+ Kh7 43. Qc2 Bb4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.03.30"] [Round "2"] [White "Carr, Jay"] [Black "Wallasch, Stefan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A06"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "101"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {Outside of the host country, Germany is the most well-represented country in terms of number of participants. We're number 3. U! S! A! U! S! A! (This statistical information is courtesy of Lester Van Meter)} 1. Nf3 {My opponent said after the game that he was "So disappointed" in my opening. Seems he had looked me up and had been studying 1. c4 all night :-)} d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 Bf5 {Slav player alert! Slav player alert!} 4. Bb2 (4. Ba3 $5 {is an idea I've heard about in this position, but haven't ventured to try out yet}) 4... e6 5. Nh4 $5 {Only the fifth most popular choice for white here in the database. I prefer to see if black will cede the bishop pair or not. If white delays with Be2 or one of the more common choices, black has the popular option of playing ...h6 to preserve his "Slav Bishop"} Bg4 {Sensible.} ({Relevant:} 5... Be4 6. d3 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Nd2 a5 9. a3 Nbd7 10. g3 Bd6 11. Bg2 c6 12. Qe2 e5 13. e4 Qe7 14. O-O dxe4 15. dxe4 O-O 16. a4 Nb6 17. Rfd1 Rfd8 18. h3 Bb4 19. Nf3 Nfd7 20. h4 f6 21. Bh3 Nf8 22. Kg2 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Rd8 24. Bc1 Kf7 25. Be3 Rxd1 26. Qxd1 Bc5 27. Bd2 Bb4 28. c3 Bc5 29. b4 axb4 30. cxb4 Bd6 31. a5 Nbd7 32. b5 cxb5 33. Qb3+ Ne6 34. Be3 Ndc5 35. Bxc5 {Nakamura,H (2768)-Nihal,S (2670) Chess.com INT 2022 1-0}) 6. Be2 Bxe2 7. Qxe2 Bd6 ({My sources only give} 7... Be7 {so does that mean ...Bd6 instead is bad? I don't see how it could be.}) 8. f4 Nbd7 9. Nf3 Qe7 {[#] Black now threatens to push ...e5} 10. Ne5 $146 { I'd prefer black NOT to push ...e5 just yet. There's only one game in the chessbase online database that reached the position after 9...Qe7 and white played 10. c4 and lost.} Nc5 11. d3 Ncd7 {This was very strange - just ceding a tempo like that. I guess it's true, though, that in a closed position tempi aren't as critical.} 12. Nd2 $2 Ba3 {I totally overlooked this. Fortunately it's not fatal, but I think any hopes I had for a significant advantage just kind of evaporated.} 13. Bxa3 (13. Bc3 {and I still have to trade off my favorite bishop after.} Qc5 14. Nb1 Bb4 15. Qd2 $11) 13... Qxa3 14. Ndf3 O-O 15. O-O Rad8 16. Kh1 {White's e-pawn is often tender in these positions after, say, ...Ng4 and ...Qb6 or something. I may also entertain plans at some point of maybe playing g4 and Rg1 to try to attack black's castled king.} Ne8 17. Nxd7 Rxd7 18. Ne5 Rd8 {Another free tempo. "Free tempi! Get your free tempi here!" Again, though, it's not that bad a deal for black.} 19. c3 {I am thinking that maybe one factor in my favor is that the black queen is - at least temporarily - out of place and far from the action on a3. It's kind of hard to take advantage of that, though. One thought I had was that if I had the resource of playing b4 and cutoff the queen's retreat to the 'action' it might prove useful. I also had ideas of - if I pushed the f-pawn to f5 at some point - I open up the possibility of a very rare species of rook lift with Rf4-a4, hitting the queen on a3 and the pawn on a7. Just some general ideas that were running through my head.} Nd6 {f5 is an attractive outpost for the knight but it would be unstable.} 20. Qd2 Nf5 21. g4 $5 {Always a pretty committal decision to push the pawns in front of one's king...} f6 $2 22. gxf5 {I spent a long time on my reply, but eventually decided to 'trust my instincts' that ...f6 was bad. It's not as bad as I thought, but the direction of the game certainly changed after this move.} fxe5 23. fxe6 exf4 24. exf4 Rf5 {I spent a lot of time trying to calculate this position when deciding to play 22. gxf5 and I thought Rf5 would appear on the board. Black hopes to cut off white's e-pawn's potential support from it's comrade on the f-file.} 25. b4 Qa6 26. Rae1 Qd6 (26... Re8 $142 {to eventually round up the e6 pawn. The 'good news' for me was that, even if I lost this pawn - which would take black some time to win - it's my EXTRA pawn so theoretically I can make other improvements to my position in the meantime. Turns out he doesn't win back the pawn and things go bad quickly when he can't.}) 27. Qe3 d4 $2 $16 {I thought he might try this, but had seen my reply in advance. He's in big trouble now.} 28. Qe4 Qd5 29. c4 {I think white's nearly/probably winning now. Now I'm going to encirle and win his d-pawn if necessary} Qxe4+ 30. Rxe4 ({I spent/wasted a lot of time looking at} 30. dxe4 {which I figured must be winning also after the black rook moves and white plays f5, e5, f6, etc to overwhelm black, but why give black a passed d-pawn and a hint (even if it's just a hint) of counterplay.} Rh5 31. f5 d3 32. e5 d2 33. Rd1 Rd4 $1 {is still a little problematic to convert, I thought.}) 30... b6 31. b5 $1 {No, the c-pawn won't be supporting the d4-pawn} Re8 32. Rfe1 Rf6 33. Kg2 Kf8 34. Kg3 Ke7 {Planning to move to d6 and finally take the e6-pawn, but now I just win the d-pawn and force simplification} 35. Rxd4 {After the game, I was rather proud of myself for the 'mature decision' to simplify into a winning endgame rather than "go for 'more'" immediately.} Rxe6 36. Rxe6+ Kxe6 37. Re4+ Kf7 38. Rxe8 Kxe8 39. Kg4 $18 Ke7 40. Kf5 Kd6 41. d4 Ke7 42. h4 Kd6 43. h5 Ke7 44. Ke5 Kd7 45. a4 Ke7 46. Kd5 Kd7 47. c5 bxc5 48. dxc5 h6 ({I thought his plan might be} 48... c6+ 49. bxc6+ Kc7 {where i have to give up the c-pawn, but I just run over and collect the kingside and queen the f-pawn} 50. Ke6) 49. a5 g6 50. hxg6 h5 51. g7 1-0 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.03.30"] [Round "3"] [White "Kalla, Christian"] [Black "Carr, Jay"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "1998"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "59"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {After my win in round 2, I was back up out of the 'steerage' section on board 101 (out of 203?) for the second round of the day. I get my second German opponent in a row. We talked a little before the game. He was from Hamburg (home of Chessbase, if I'm not mistaken) and said he'd visited the U.S. a couple times, including a trip to Las Vegas, which he found weirdly 'artificial.' Anyway, nice guy. He catches me a little of guard in the opening, but I end up surving it. He said he'd seen "a bunch of Scandinavian defenses" in the database that I had played but hadn't really prepared anything for me.} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 {Hadn't faced this yet in a "Classical" game since my latest flirtation with playing the Sicilian Defense began. I'd studied it a little of course, but I was very uncertain if I was remembering the lines correctly.} Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 ({Taking back immediately usually transposes back into the path this game takes.} 5. cxd4) 5... e6 6. cxd4 ({Actually, it turns out I lied and I HAVE faced this line (via transposition from an attempted Morra Gambit) recently vs. Jim Mills, who played} 6. Bd3 {back in a BC Chess Club "Super Saturday" event in January. That game continued} Be7 7. O-O dxc3 { after which I went on to win an ugly back & forth struggle.}) 6... Be7 ({ The line I "thought" I was remembering at the board (see comment after move 8) actually runs} 6... d6 7. Nc3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Qc7 9. Bd2 Nd7 {but the ideas are similar to what happened in the game (but I'm not sure if there is any critical independent significance to playing this order). In this line black keeps the dark squared bishop at home for a while longer. At this point, GM Harikrishna notes that "Now we just develop naturally with ...b6 and ...Bb7 followed by ...Be7 and castling, with easy play. Black is scoring well above average in similar structures."}) 7. Nc3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Qc7 {While at the board, I had some kind of vague memory of studying a position where it is recommended that if white plays Nc3, black just captures and then hits c3 with the queen.} 9. Bd2 d6 10. Bd3 Nd7 11. exd6 (11. Qe2 {allows me to get the long term advantage of a better pawn structure after ...dxe5}) 11... Bxd6 12. Qe2 { I knew it was a common plan for Alapin players to go for the straightforward Bd3, Qe2, Qe4 with the idea of delivering checkmate to a castled king. This is the first time I'd faced the possibility at the board though, and I have to admit it did cause a bit of anxiety.} (12. Ng5 $5 h6 13. Qh5 Nf6 14. Bb5+ { is an idea he showed me in the post-mortem (at least I think it was at this point). He presented it as kind of a known trap, the key being that black cannot block the Bb5+ with Bd7 since that would block the queen's defense of f7.}) 12... b6 {a very long think for me. I was especially worried about his responding with Qe4 and if ...Bb7 then Qg4 harrassing my kingside.} 13. O-O { He responded by also taking a very long thing here (18 minutes). It was one of those times that I had gotten up to stretch and each time I circled back close to the board he looked like he was about to move, so I stayed away as I've found that often my opponents will think a very long time if you're not there to remind them that they actually have to move.} (13. Qe4 Bb7 14. Qg4 {where} g6 ({or} 14... Bf8 {both seem to hold things together})) 13... Bb7 {I felt comfortable now} 14. Rfe1 h6 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Bc5 {When playing this move, I had a moment of panic as I thought, 'uh oh, am I allowing a tactic?' The tactic doesn't win material, but it does stop the possibility of black castling queenside (or so I thought), which is a worthwhile achievement I think.} 17. Bb5+ Bc6 18. Qe4 Rc8 ({It was left to the engine to point out to me that} 18... O-O-O {actually IS possible due to the bishop being undefended on d2. Totally missed that one!}) 19. Bxc6+ Qxc6 20. Qg4 g6 21. Rad1 Be7 { I'm worried about an invasion of my dark squares and also have ideas of playing ...h5 at some point. I thought if I could trade dark-squared bishops as a defense against an invasion, I'd be much better long term due to white's structural deficiencies.} 22. Be3 h5 23. Qf4 O-O ({I seriously looked at the crazy move} 23... g5 {with ideas of pushing my h-pawn to h3, etc, which - with my queen on the long diagonal - might cause white problems, but that line of play was just too loose to consider seriously.}) 24. Bd4 {I underestimated this move, as white's long-term worries about the ending are significantly decreased now that he has stabilized his pawn structgure a bit.} Rfd8 25. Rd3 ( {The attempt to trade queens (but why would he!?) is disastrous after} 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. Rxe4 Rxc3) 25... Rc7 {Should've moved ...Rd7 instead, as this leaves the d8-rook undefended when black wants to play his ...Bf8, ...Bg7 defensive setup} 26. Rf3 Bf8 ({As my opponent suggested in the post-mortem,} 26... Bc5 $1 {is a better - and less passive! - way to defend f7.}) 27. Rh3 Qd5 {My main idea was, although I'm hitting the a2-pawn, just get my queen to c2, where it could come back and play defense or offer an exchage on f5.} (27... Qa4 $1 $17 {an even quicker path to c2!}) 28. g4 hxg4 29. Qxg4 Qxa2 $4 ({I had intended to play} 29... Bg7 $15 {before my queen sortie, but somehow in time pressure (only MILD time pressure though) I got my moves out of order and it's immediately fatal. My opponent said he would have accepted a draw offer if I had played ...Bg7}) 30. Qh4 {Horrible. I thought I had played another solid game except for that last move.} 1-0 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.03.31"] [Round "4"] [White "Carr, Jay"] [Black "Heidarsson, Arnar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D04"] [BlackElo "2075"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "77"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {My opponent was a young Icelander (born in 2003) who played a little too fast and carelessly at times. Probably figured he didn't have to worry too much about an old-timer like me.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 g6 4. Bb2 Bg7 5. d4 O-O 6. c4 b6 {I need to review this position, as it occurs much more often than the 6...c5!? lines, which I am more familiar with.} 7. Nbd2 ({Relevant:} 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. e4 Nf6 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bd3 Nf4 11. Be4 Nxg2+ 12. Kf1 Nf4 13. Bxa8 Ba6+ 14. Kg1 Nh3+ 15. Kg2 Nf4+ 16. Kg3 Nh5+ 17. Kg2 Nf4+ 18. Kg1 Nh3+ 19. Kg2 Nf4+ {1/2-1/2 (19) Nakamura,H (2766)-Dubov,D (2702) Chess.com INT 2022}) 7... e6 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Bb7 10. O-O {[#]} Nbd7 $146 11. Rc2 {I was familiar with this maneuver from my recent study of the QID Reversed. My opponent's body language and time consumption indicated that he was taken by surprise.} Re8 12. Qa1 Rc8 13. Rfc1 a6 14. Be2 {My inclination was more toward Bd3 here, but the bishop would be undefended there, which concerned me as my d-pawn would be pinned.} Nd5 15. a3 b5 {I didn't really expect this, but I had only seen the possible follow up of ..Nb6-c4 and not the dangerous ...Nb6-a4 idea.} 16. b4 N5b6 17. Nb3 Be4 18. Rd2 Qe7 ({I expected - and feared, quite honestly - } 18... Na4 {but the engine evaluates it as equal}) 19. Nc5 Nxc5 20. dxc5 Bxb2 21. Qxb2 Bxf3 22. cxb6 $2 ({I must admit I rejected} 22. gxf3 {rather out of hand, but the engine says it's fine - and much better than cxb6.}) 22... Bxe2 23. Rxe2 c5 {I hadn't really considered this possibility. Fortunately, it's much worse than the simple ...cxb6, where I thought I would still have excellent drawing chances.} (23... cxb6 $142 $15) 24. bxc5 Rxc5 25. Rec2 Rxc2 26. Qxc2 Qb7 27. Qc7 Rb8 28. Rc6 a5 29. Kf1 $4 (29. Qd6 $18) 29... b4 (29... Qa6 30. Qa7 Qxa7 31. bxa7 Ra8 32. Ra6) 30. Qxb7 Rxb7 31. axb4 axb4 ({I think my opponent originally intended} 31... a4 $5 {but white remains a pawn up after } 32. Rc8+ Kg7 33. Ra8) 32. Ke2 Kf8 33. Kd3 Ke8 34. Kc4 Kd7 $4 (34... b3 $1 $11 ) 35. Kb5 $18 {And now white can round up the pawn with the rook without giving up his own b-pawn. When this appeared on the board my opponent began shaking his head and was clearly in psychic agony as he realized the position was now lost. I felt bad for him, but why not play a little more slowly to make sure you have a handle on the subtleties in the position?} Rb8 36. Rc4 b3 37. Rb4 Kc8 38. Rxb3 Kb7 39. Rc3 1-0 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.04.01"] [Round "5"] [White "Johansson, Jukka"] [Black "Carr, Jay"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2106"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "76"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {My opponent was from Finland. About 45 years old. We didn't talk much. At the end of the game when he was in a difficult position and got lost in thought and let his flag fell I said something like, "Sorry..." (to win the game that way) and he said "Oh, no problem" - I think I was much much better on the board (winning?) when that happened though.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. a3 {I will dub this variation "The Accelerated El Shazly" Indy local player, Mohammed El Shazly always gets this in against me (with both colors even, if I play my 1. Nf3 2. b3 stuff he plays ...a6 early. That said, I was on my own already on move THREE! I think I choose a wrong path quickly.} Bb7 4. Nc3 e6 5. d5 { This came as a rude awakening. In theory, it's bad for black to allow the queen bishop to get blocked in like this (even though it can often re-deploy via ...Bc8 and try to find life on that different diagonal)} d6 {kind of a weird setup for black, allowing the strange pawn structure if white were to play dxe6, but on the plus side, that would re-open my bishop's long diagonal, which is desirable.} ({Relevant:} 5... Na6 6. Nf3 Nc5 7. g3 a5 8. Bg2 g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Bf4 d6 11. Be3 O-O 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Rc1 Nfe4 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Qc2 Nf6 16. b4 axb4 17. axb4 Ra3 18. Bd4 Qa8 19. Ra1 Be4 20. Qb2 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 Qb7 22. Qa2 Ra8 23. Qxa8+ Qxa8 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8 25. Ng5 Bxg2 26. Kxg2 e5 27. Bb2 Ne8 28. b5 Bh6 29. Ne4 Kf7 30. Nc3 Nf6 31. Nd5 Ne8 32. Kf3 Bg5 33. h4 Bd8 34. Bc1 Ke6 35. Bh6 {Praggnanandhaa,R (2691)-Adhiban,B (2589) Pune 2023 1-0}) 6. g3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. e4 {[#] Establishing a formidable pawn center.} a5 $146 {We're now in a never-reached position in chess - at least according to the chessbase online databse. I attempt to stake my claim to the c5 square for my pieces. Not uncommon in these QID/NID structures. I was generally unhappy with my position at this point though.} ({Predecessor:} 8... O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Nd4 Ne5 12. b3 c5 13. Nc2 exd5 14. exd5 Bc8 15. h3 Bf5 16. Ne3 h6 17. Nxf5 gxf5 18. Rb1 Ng6 19. Qd3 Qd7 20. a4 Re7 21. Bd2 Rae8 22. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 24. Bxe1 f4 25. Bd2 fxg3 26. fxg3 Ne5 27. Qf1 a6 28. Kh2 Nh7 29. Ne4 f5 30. Nc3 Qf7 31. Ne2 Nf8 32. Nf4 Neg6 33. Ne6 Nxe6 34. dxe6 Qf6 35. Qd3 Qe5 36. Bd5 Kf8 37. Kg2 Ke7 38. h4 {Gritsenko,V (2257)-Stepanischev,A (1910) Voronezh 2013 1-0}) 9. Nge2 Nbd7 10. O-O O-O $4 {I get careless. I'd spent so much time on looking at exotic stuff trying to attack the c4 pawn (none of which satisfied me) that finally I thought, 'well, I'll just castle' without really analyzing the position after castling. Stupid.} 11. dxe6 {He thought a very long time here and it dawned on me that he could play this move and I was in big trouble} Nc5 {I had to think a long time here too to try and make the best of the situation. I was forced to employ my mantra of "stay focused and don't get discouraged if things are going badly" I kept my head in the game pretty well I think.} ({The long sequence with} 11... fxe6 12. e5 Bxg2 13. exf6 Bxf1 14. fxg7 Bxe2 {is bad because} 15. gxf8=Q+ {naturally comes with check. Dammit.}) (11... Ne5 12. f4 Nxc4 13. e5 {is no better}) 12. exf7+ Rxf7 13. Qc2 Qe8 {I was reminded of the line in the great movie, Apollo 13, when - just after the Houston, we've got a problem stuff begins - Gene Krantz (memorably portrayed by Ed Harris) says something like "Let's look at this from a standpoint of status. What've we got on the spacecraft that's GOOD?" Same with this position. Yes, I've lost a pawn, but ... What do I have that's good. My pieces are good (at the bargain price of a pawn!) and his c4 pawn is a potential target. I may also be able to use the b3 square for a piece or an knight invasion if I secure it with ...a4. I had enough on my spacecraft that was good to be hopeful about returning to Earth... :-)} 14. f3 {Step one was complete - I've prompted this move which lessens the danger on the long diagonal for now.} a4 {making the c4 a more attractive target by preventing its support by a timely b3.} 15. Bg5 Nfd7 16. Rad1 (16. f4 $5) 16... Ne5 17. Nb5 {I anticipated this possible method of 'defending' c4 but thought it was good for me} Ba6 {with the simple idea of ...Nxc4 followed by ...Bxb5 and material equality is restored.} 18. Ned4 {Defending b5 again but it doesn't work after} Nxc4 19. Qxc4 Bxd4+ {I was very reluctant to part with my dark-squared bishop with his still on the board, but it turns out I get to exchange that too, unless he wasn't to sacrifice the exchange.} 20. Qxd4 Bxb5 21. Rf2 {After a long thought. I'm sure he was considering giving up the exchange and preserving both bishops. I honestly think that might be quite good for him} (21. Be3 Bxf1 22. Bxf1 Ne6 $17 {and black could have some trouble on the a2-g8 diagonal but maybe my resources are adequate(?) Maybe I can play ...Qe5 and ...Ra5 as part of my defensive scheme. The engine thinks I'm okay at least, but there are practical problems that might be hard to navigate with the clock ticking.}) ({If he tries} 21. Bd2 {With the terrifying idea of a B+Q battery on the long diagonal, I still get to trade it off with} Nb3) 21... Ne6 {Feeling good now. All I have to worry about now it a pawn storm against my king. No big deal, right? :-)} 22. Qd2 Nxg5 23. Qxg5 Bc4 { I wondered at the board if the engine would scoff at this move, but I think it's important for the bishop to occupy this useful diagonal. I was surprised to see it's also the first choice of the engine.} 24. f4 {Incoming!} Ra5 { I'd had this defensive idea in mind back when I played ...a4. From a5, the rook controls a lot of important squares and harrasses the white queen.} 25. f5 Re5 {Home sweet home. The rook is unassailable here with no knights or dark-squared bishop on the board} 26. g4 Qe7 27. Qh6 Qf8 {I felt like I was treading a tightrope here as I thought a mis-step might prove fatal. Indeed, I 'almost' made a blunder or two over the next few moves but caught myself in time before doing so. Very nerve-wracking position to be in with only a few minutes on the clock to make the next 12 moves.} 28. Qf4 Qe7 29. Qg3 Qd7 30. h4 Qb5 31. Rdd2 Qc5 {I thought it might be useful to pin his rook.} 32. Kh1 { Apparently he thought so too.} Bb3 {To give me access to ...Qc1+} 33. Rd3 Ree7 {vacating the e5 square for my queen if needed} 34. f6 Re6 {Yes, this looks quite scary, but I thought I could weather the storm as if he plays g5 to support f6, I have ...h6 to undermine the support (if he takes on h6) and if he didn't take on h6, then I take on g5 and attack that pawn} 35. g5 h6 36. Bh3 $6 ({I thought he would likely play} 36. Rc3) 36... Rxe4 37. gxh6 $2 $17 (37. h5 $142 $1 $11 {is the correct way for white to stay in the game.}) 37... Qc1+ 38. Kh2 $2 $19 {I wondered if he overlooked the long queen move ...Qxh6. Surely not? It was nice to have my opponent be the one who goes wrong in time pressure. Usually I'm the one. :-)} (38. Kg2 $142 {It's important to keep the king off the h-file, avoiding potential pins}) 38... Qxh6 $19 {This maneuver reminded of FM Jim Dean's last round game in the 1994 Indiana State Championship, where his queen also issued a check (or series of checks?) only to plop down in a defensive position at the end of them. My opponent thought for most of his remaining minute or two here and I took a sidelong glance at the clock and it was down to 10 seconds or so and my opponent's body language gave no sign that he was aware he was that close to overstepping, which he eventually did. I was sky high after this win, as it put me at 3.5/5 (which I would never have thought possible) and likely to play a titled player in round 6. It's one thing to get randomly paired with a GM in round 1, but to "earn" a pairing with a GM deep into a tournament due to a good score was, naturally, quite satisfying.} 0-1 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.04.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Carr, Jay"] [Black "Erdos, Viktor"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A47"] [BlackElo "2587"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "106"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {[%evp 0,106,19,29,71,48,43,2,14,14,13,13,7,13,4,9,11,-2,10,-25,-21,-35,-29, -39,-20,-30,-17,-25,-12,-21,-24,-36,-7,-2,-8,-16,0,1,-13,-30,-34,-20,-23,-23, -20,0,0,14,13,12,0,0,10,11,-6,0,0,0,20,-26,-28,-34,-38,-40,-39,-64,-59,-71,-50, -48,-60,-74,-91,-102,-71,-120,-103,-120,-120,-126,-126,-131,-139,-137,-140, -145,-145,-149,-145,-150,-155,-154,-152,-164,-167,-183,-163,-199,-203,-207, -203,-219,-222,-235,-254,-236,-250,-256,-254]} {The second time I've gotten to face a Grandmaster in the Reykjavik Open. The first time was vs. Dmitry Andreikin (2700+ - a 'super' grandmaster!) in 2017, but that was in the first round and as luck would have it my rating placed me just at the top of the bottom half of the starting ranks (they didn't use accelerated pairings back then), but this time I 'earned' it by getting 3.5/5 in spite of being paired up (way up) four times so far. I gotta say it felt a little weird sitting on the high boards among all the GMs while I am "just an amateur." I felt a little like an impostor so I was especially pleased that I gave him a good game. Hey, I made a grandmaster take a 29 minute think on a single move against me. That's something, right?} 1. Nf3 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 b6 { Locally, young Evan Koehl has played this way against me a couple of times. It's a challenging reaction to the Reversed QID.} 5. e3 Bb7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Bd3 c5 8. O-O ({Relevant:} 8. dxc5 bxc5 9. O-O Qc7 10. Re1 Nc6 11. e4 e5 12. Nf1 d6 13. Ne3 Nb4 14. Nd2 a5 15. a3 Nxd3 16. cxd3 a4 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 d5 19. Rxa4 dxe4 20. Ndc4 exd3 21. Bxe5 Qd8 22. Rxa8 Bxa8 23. Bd6 Re8 24. Qxd3 Ne4 25. Rd1 h5 26. f3 Nc3 27. Rd2 Qg5 28. f4 Qh4 29. g3 Qf6 30. Be5 Qc6 31. Qxc3 Qh1+ 32. Kf2 Qxh2+ 33. Ke1 Qxg3+ 34. Kd1 Be4 35. Kc1 Bxe5 36. fxe5 Qe1+ 37. Kb2 Kh7 { Nakamura,H (2754)-Mamedyarov,S (2765) Paris 2019 1-0}) 8... cxd4 {[#]} 9. Bxd4 $6 $146 ({Predecessor:} 9. exd4 $142 {My opponent said after the game, "Or you can just play 9. exd4" when I asked if I should've just played dxc5 (as Nakamura did in the other game referenced. I may have been a little gun shy of exd4, because I've run into trouble in the past (as Stuart Tolliver can tell you) with losing control of the f4 in this opening.} d5 10. Ne5 Nc6 11. Re1 Nb4 12. Bf1 Rc8 13. c3 Nc6 14. Rc1 Qc7 15. Bd3 Rfe8 16. Qe2 e6 17. h3 Ne7 18. Ba3 Nf5 19. g4 Nd6 20. f3 Nd7 21. Nf1 f6 22. Nxd7 Qxd7 23. Qf2 e5 24. dxe5 fxe5 25. Ng3 e4 26. Bxd6 exd3 27. Rxe8+ Qxe8 28. Qd2 d4 29. Qxd3 dxc3 30. Ne4 Rd8 31. Rd1 Qe6 32. Qc4 Qxc4 33. bxc4 c2 34. Rc1 Bxe4 {0-1 (34) Garagulya,K (2389) -Oparin,G (2674) Chess.com INT 2022}) 9... d6 $1 {With the threat of ...e5 threatening the bishop, then after the bishop moves...e4, forking the pieces on f3 & d3. Can't get much more straightforward than that. I was feeling kinda stupid for the Bxd4 move now.} 10. Bb2 Nbd7 11. c4 Rc8 12. Re1 {Making room for the bishop on f1, as the g2 square will likely need protection. If unprotected, the f3-knight is essentially pinned to the g2 square.} Rc7 { The maneuver initiated by this move is not unknown to me. I inwardly grinned when he played it, as I had used it to good effect (albeit with colors reversed) in my round 3 win of this tournament. I love a good Q+B battery on the long diagonal.} 13. Rc1 Qa8 14. Bf1 Rfc8 15. b4 {My former teammate, Master John Langreck, pointed out that this pawn move (and later e4) were unnecessarily weakening, saying that "These strong players are ruthless at exploiting weaknesses." I played b4 here to make a home for my queen on b3 and 'complete my development' and also to be able to challenge black's rooks on the c-file if my c4 pawn were to be traded off.} d5 16. Qb3 Ne8 {He spent 29 minutes on this move!!} (16... dxc4 17. Bxc4 e6 $11) 17. a3 $2 $15 {A strange move to play, yes. I wouldn't mind defusing the position with wholesale exchanges on the c-file at somepoint (say after cxd5 by me), and in a lot of variations I tried to calculate, I ended up dropping the a2 pawn at the end of a series of exchanges on b2 then "everything" on c1.} (17. Bxg7 $5 $11) (17. Red1 $5 $11) 17... Bxb2 $1 {distracting my queen's defense of c4, which is critical as it allows my pawn structure to be spoilt.} 18. Qxb2 dxc4 19. Rxc4 ( 19. Bxc4 Bxf3 20. gxf3 Nd6 $15 {is similar, but without a pair of rooks being traded.}) 19... Rxc4 20. Bxc4 Bxf3 21. gxf3 {Okay so my position is now slightly worse, but not yet critical. I do at least have B+N vs. two knights, so if we were to reach an endgame maybe my bishop could stretch its legs to good effect. Sadly that never happens.} Nd6 22. Ba6 {Bam! I could tell by his body language that this move frustrated him. In our brief conversation after the game he kind of shook his head and said "after ...Ba6 you're even fighting for the initiative!" In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit my confidence was surging unreasonably at this point. I kept hearing Rocky Balboa's voice in my head "C'mon. You ain't so bad! Ain't so bad!" Hahaha. I never can get my confidence level right during games, I'm either irrationally underconfident or overconfident. Something to work on.} Rd8 23. e4 {I think I was worried about the maneuver Nf5-h4 to zoom in on my f3 weakness.} Nf8 24. Rc1 Ne6 25. Qe5 {I felt my last few moves had really improved my chances. I began to entertain hopes of scoring at least a draw in the game. BUT, as one of the best pieces of chess advice I know goes, "Do not think about the result" during the game. Focuse on the position and best move at hand. The result will take care of itself.} Ne8 26. Nf1 Qb8 27. Qxb8 {I was reluctant to exchange queens but I think it's pretty much forced. In our discussion after the game I said, "I guess I have to trade here," and he said "Yes. Right."} ({ I wondered if I could play} 27. Qg3 {saying, "If you want to trade queens, you can do so at the cost of my being able to repair my pawn structure," but of course he won't trade and do something else like ...Nf4 or ...b5 with ideas of trapping the bishop.}) 27... Rxb8 28. Ne3 Nf4 29. Rc8 {He said after the game that this was a mistake and "illogical." I guess my concrerns should have been more focused on trying to improve my kingside situation somehow.} Rxc8 30. Bxc8 Nd6 31. Ba6 f6 (31... b5 32. e5 Nc4) 32. Bf1 Kf7 33. Nc2 Ke6 34. Nd4+ {I foolishly was thinking that he was going to invade with his king via e5 which I can stop with the perpetual Nc6+, Nd4+ etc. Of course, he "just goes around" instead.} Kd7 35. Ne2 $19 (35. h4 {is a more fighting try and not defined (by the engine) as completely lost yet}) 35... Nxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Kc6 37. Kf1 Nb5 38. a4 Nc3 {This is the problem that I failed to see "from afar' - I cannot defend the a4 pawn with Bd1 since the knight on c3 covers that square too. The rest is a routine matter of technique for him.} 39. Bc4 Nxa4 40. Ke1 Nb2 41. Be2 a5 42. bxa5 bxa5 43. Kd2 Kc5 44. Kc3 Na4+ 45. Kb3 Nb6 46. Kc3 g5 47. Bf1 h6 48. Bh3 Nc4 49. Bf1 Ne5 50. Be2 Nc6 51. Bd1 Nd4 52. Kd3 e5 53. Kc3 Kb5 {Proud of putting up a good fight and giving him a sweat. He was a really nice guy too and we spoke a bit after the game. He said, "You put up quite good resistance!" Generally, with the kind of rating disparity as there was between us, the higher rated player has a walkover. My new friend from the pub quiz the prior evening, Ukrainian-Italian GM Danyyil Dvirniyy, (I'm probably spelling that wrong) came over too and was saying how good I did, saying "You're playing incredible this tournament!" which made me feel great of course.} 0-1 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.04.02"] [Round "7"] [White "Garbuz, Vitaliy"] [Black "Carr, Jay"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [WhiteElo "2155"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "95"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {My third German this tournament. Vitaliy was a really nice young man (21 I think) and we talked quite a bit after the game.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {I wasn't sure what to expect out of him - even after a little research the morning of this game. He's frequently played the Morra Gambit, so I reviewed my stuff on that and he's also played the Wing Gambit, which I didn't have time to review.} e6 3. f4 d5 4. Nf3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nc6 {This was at least an opening position I've been in before, even if I don't think I know or remember it that well yet, not having much experience.} 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. c3 {7.Qe2 is a critical line.} ({ Relevant:} 7. Qe2 a6 (7... Nf6 8. f5 e5 $6 {was an earlier game I had against Brody Bauml in one of BC Chess Clubs "Super Saturday" swisses.}) 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. Ne5 Bxe4 10. Qxe4 Qd5 11. Qe2 Nf6 12. d3 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. b3 Qd4+ 15. Be3 Qd6 16. a4 b6 17. Kh1 Nd5 18. Bd2 Bf6 19. Rf3 g6 20. Rh3 Bg7 21. Re1 Ne7 22. Bc3 Nd5 23. Bd2 Ne7 24. Bc3 Nd5 25. Bd2 Ne7 {½-½ (25) Maiwald,J (2441) -Dautov,R (2592) Germany 2022 I actually played Maiwald in the 1997 Bermuda International blitz event. Went 0-2 against him.}) (7. O-O {was played against me by Shouryesh Chandra just under a month ago. That game continued} Nf6 8. d3 Be7 9. a4 O-O 10. h3 a6 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. Qe1 b5 13. a5 $17) 7... Be7 8. Qe2 Nf6 {[#] I told my opponent after the game that I was really uneasy about my opening play, which is why I burned more time than usual. He said something like, "You played it fine. Trust me." Okay, if you say so.} 9. d3 $146 Qc7 10. Nxf6+ Bxf6 11. Be3 a6 12. Ba4 b5 13. Bc2 Ne7 (13... b4 $5 {is a move suggested by my opponent after the game} 14. Qd2 (14. Bd2 $6 bxc3 15. bxc3 Nb4 $17) 14... bxc3 15. bxc3 Qa5 16. d4 cxd4 17. cxd4 Qxd2+ 18. Kxd2 $15) 14. Qf2 Rc8 15. Ng5 {headed for e4 I presumed.} Nf5 16. Bd2 O-O 17. O-O ({During the game, I thought that} 17. Ne4 Be7 18. g4 Bh4 19. Ng3 Nh6 {would be okay for me.}) 17... Be7 18. Rae1 Bc6 19. g4 Nh6 20. h3 {I was really worried at this point. Talking to my opponent after the game, he revealed he didn't think he really had anything with his attack.} ({I thought that} 20. Qh4 {might be a more dangerous reply for me, but maybe not} Qd8 21. d4 cxd4 22. Bxh7+ Kh8 23. Be4 Bc5 $17) 20... Bd5 21. Be3 f5 {I was worried about discovered attacks on h7 after d4, etc. Maybe they weren't so dangerous as I thought, though.} (21... f6 $142 22. Nf3 Nf7 $15) 22. Qh4 Bd6 {I have designs on the f4 pawn, which is a defining feature of the struggle the rest of the way.} 23. gxf5 exf5 (23... Rxf5 $2 24. d4 $16) (23... Nxf5 $4 24. Qxh7#) 24. b3 Rf6 {initiating "Operation Un-tangle!"} 25. d4 c4 26. b4 Qc6 27. Kh2 $2 {He misses a tactic.} Ng4+ $1 $17 {Bam! Now my overconfidence kicks in again...} 28. Kg1 Rh6 29. Qg3 Nxe3 30. Rxe3 Rf6 31. Kh2 Rcf8 $2 ({Missed a win:} 31... h6 $1 {and the rout is on. Dammit.} 32. Nf3 Rg6 33. Qxg6 Bxf4+ 34. Qg3 Bxg3+ $19) {I could tell by his body language that he was really getting worried here. Also by the amount of time he was burning. (He had played most of the game at a rapid pace)} 32. Re5 (32. h4 $17 {is the engine's recommendation}) ({I thought he might try} 32. Qh4) 32... h6 33. Nf3 Be4 {I get to cute here trying to accept the sacrificed exchange in the most optimal way. In short, I outsmart myself.} 34. Rg1 R8f7 { Mustn't allow mate in one.} 35. Bd1 Qc7 36. Re8+ {In my time pressure I forgot he could simply give a check now, but he's not out of the woods yet.} Kh7 37. Re5 $1 ({White was good not to be tempted by the natural follow up} 37. Ne5 $4 {which loses immediately to} Bc6 $3 {and white loses a whole rook. I hadn't seen this at the board, but my opponent pointed it out to me after the game. I don't know if I would have found it if Ne5 appeared on the board, although I may have, as I was certainly working on trapping his rook...}) 37... Bxf3 { In time pressure I decide that I never want to see that knight appear on e5.} 38. Bxf3 Re6 $2 39. Bd5 ({Of course not} 39. Rxe6 $4 Bxf4 $19) 39... Ref6 $4 { I didn't have to go down the exchange. I am worse, but why give up the exchange. I'll blame time pressure.} (39... Bxe5 40. fxe5 Qd7 41. Qf3 $16) 40. Bxf7 Rxf7 41. Qg6+ Kh8 42. Re8+ Bf8 (42... Rf8 $2 43. Rxf8+ Bxf8 44. Qxf5) 43. Qg3 Qd7 44. Rge1 Rf6 45. Qe3 ({I expected} 45. R1e7 {which is still winning, but I suppose it was still too much work to do after} Qxe7 46. Rxe7 Bxe7) 45... Kh7 46. Re6 Bd6 47. Rxf6 g5 {I'd had enough at this point and fall on my sword. } 48. Rxd6 {Back to 50% with the mortals now. Missed an excellent opportunity to get back to +2 and maybe another matchup with a titled player. Alas...} 1-0 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.04.03"] [Round "8"] [White "Carr, Jay"] [Black "Verweij, Kees"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A06"] [BlackElo "2020"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "94"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {My opponent was a 55-year old Netherlander (Dutchman). He gave me the impression of being wealthy, perfectly groomed and dressed, nice watch, tanned, etc. I think his wife was at the tournament with him, as a similarly aged woman who was clearly not a participant would check on our game from time to time. He faced English IM Peter Large in the last round and lost, thus finishing the event with 4.5 points but a performance rating of only 1785. I also just noticed that his "K" factor for the rating adjustments for this event was 40, which I believe indicates he hasn't had a lot of FIDE games under his belt yet.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3 {He didn't seem thrilled or prepared for my opening choice. I always wonder if my opponents in 'major' FIDE-rated events have 'looked me up' in the time between when the pairings are released and the time the game begins. My impression was that he hadn't.} d5 3. Bb2 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. O-O e6 7. d3 Be7 8. Nbd2 {Up to this move, I'm on familiar territory and haven't spent much time.} b6 {He, however, spent a while on this move, which was new to me. It didn't take long to figure out his idea. If black were to castle here, white continues with the exchange on c6 then Ne5, when white doesn't have to give black the two bishops (unless black plays something weird like ...Bb5 then after white's a4 ...Ba6. Surely no one would play this way(?)} ({Relevant:} 8... O-O 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. Ne5 Be8 11. f4 Nd7 12. Qg4 f5 13. Qg3 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Rf7 15. Nf3 Bf8 16. Ng5 Re7 17. Rad1 b5 18. e4 h6 19. Nf3 Rf7 20. exf5 exf5 21. d4 c4 22. Rfe1 Qa5 23. Ra1 Bb4 24. Re3 Bd2 25. Nxd2 Qxd2 26. Qf2 Qxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Rd7 28. Rb1 a6 29. h3 Rc8 30. c3 cxb3 31. Rxb3 Kf7 32. Ra3 Rc6 33. g4 fxg4 34. hxg4 Rb7 35. f5 b4 36. Rb3 a5 37. a3 Rcb6 38. cxb4 {Lobanov,S (2531)-Jakubowski,K (2483) Chess.com INT 2022 1-0}) 9. Qe2 a6 10. Bxc6 Bxc6 {[#]} 11. Ne5 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. e4 d4 12. Ne5 Bb7 13. f4 Qc7 14. Ndf3 O-O 15. Bc1 b5 16. Bd2 Ne8 17. Ng4 Nd6 18. Qe1 f5 19. exf5 exf5 20. Nge5 b4 21. Qf2 Bf6 22. a4 Rae8 23. Rae1 Re7 24. Re2 Rfe8 25. Rfe1 Nf7 26. Nc4 g6 27. Kf1 Bg7 28. Rxe7 Rxe7 29. Rxe7 Qxe7 30. Qe2 Kf8 31. Qxe7+ Kxe7 32. Ke2 Ke6 33. g3 Bd5 34. Ng5+ Nxg5 35. fxg5 Bg2 36. Bf4 Bf8 37. Kf2 Bh3 38. Ke1 Bg4 39. Kd2 Bf3 40. Ke1 Bd5 {Li,Z-Veneracion,P (2159) Edmonton 2002 1/2-1/2 }) 11... Bb7 {His plan of securing the two bishops has succeeded, and the only cost is that he isn't castled yet. Why don't more players try this approach in this opening? What am I missing?} 12. a4 {Maybe this isn't necessary, but I wanted to restrain ...b5 by black, and it isn't an uncommon idea in this variation.} O-O 13. f4 Nd7 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. Qg4 {Ceratinly a menacing post for the queen, but it seems everything can be defended if black exercises proper caution.} f6 16. Rf3 Rf7 17. Rg3 Raf8 ({if} 17... f5 18. Qxg7+ {doesn't work} Rxg7 19. Rxg7+ Kf8 {But black doesn't want to play ...f5 for other reasons, such as the hole it creates at e5 which white would like to occupy with a knight at some point.}) 18. Rf1 Bc8 {In a way I felt like this was a concession. He's getting his bishop off the long diagonal "just" to defend the queen on d7 for when he potentially goes ...e5 at some point.} (18... f5 $4 19. Qxg7+ Rxg7 20. Rxg7+ Kh8 21. Rxe7+) 19. h3 {This weird move doesn't appear to make much sense and maybe it really doesn't. It was kind of a 'waiting move' for me because I was curious as to what he would be able to do in this position.} g6 {Okay. I guess he can do that. :-)} 20. Qe2 Rg7 21. Nf3 ({ maybe now is the time for} 21. e4 $5 {and dialing back on my 'kingside attack!' plans.}) 21... Bd6 {now ...g5 becomes a possibility in the position, thus prompting my next move.} 22. h4 $2 $15 (22. Rg4 $142) 22... h6 23. Nh2 { Yes, I'd love to land this knight on g4} h5 {denied. (but expected)} 24. Nf3 d4 {things feel like they're starting to unravel for me. I knew this move was coming, but it was still hard to meet.} 25. Nd2 e5 $1 {Further opening up the game for his two bishops.} 26. Nc4 exf4 27. exf4 Re8 28. Qf3 $2 {based upon a missed calculation} Bb7 29. Nxb6 $2 $19 Qd8 ({Of course, the other point of Nxb6 was that} 29... Bxf3 30. Nxd7 $14 {is fine for white}) (29... Qc7 30. Nd5 Qc6 31. Nxf6+ $18 {Was the other line I saw that made me decide to play Nxb6}) 30. Nd5 Bb8 31. Rxg6 ({Here, in my erroneous calculation, i thought I had} 31. Nxf6+ Qxf6 32. Qxb7 {forgetting that the rook on g7 was ALSO defending b7.}) 31... Qxd5 (31... Rxg6 {is also fine as it threatens the further simplification tactic of Rxg2+ and Qxd5}) 32. Qxd5+ Bxd5 33. Rxg7+ Kxg7 34. Bc1 Re2 35. Rf2 Re1+ 36. Rf1 Rxf1+ 37. Kxf1 {I had a brief illusion here that I had some kind of fortress I could set up here, but I forgot I cannot both stop his bishop from reaching d1 and hold the kingside. I play on a few more moves but it's completely over.} Kg6 38. Kf2 Kf5 39. g3 Kg4 40. Bd2 Bc7 41. Be1 Bf3 42. c3 Bd1 43. cxd4 cxd4 44. a5 Bxb3 45. Bb4 Bc2 46. Bc5 Bxa5 47. Bxd4 f5 0-1 [Event "Reykjavik Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.04.04"] [Round "9"] [White "Schaefer, Kay"] [Black "Carr, Jay"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1919"] [Annotator "Carr, Jay"] [PlyCount "45"] [SourceVersionDate "2016.11.11"] {My opponent (my fourth German in this year's event!) was a nice young man whose father was also playing in the event. "Schaefer Pere" defeated an FM in the last round to tie for the U2200 prize. We had some pleasant conversation before and after the game, and then again at the prize giving ceremonies where I congratulated 'dad.'} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 ({Based on my pre-game research and preparation for him, I expected} 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bb5 {(In this event he had played 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 twice, I knew that didn't matter so much to my repertoire, as I generally play 2...e6 against Nc3, but I assumed he would play a line where he played Bb5 in Rossolimo fashion.}) 3... d5 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ {He spent a long time on this move, which got me thinking 'did I fall into some book move-order trap or something?'} Qxd7 6. Nf3 (6. d3) 6... dxe4 7. Nxe4 {A position known to me and "not feared." I was happy with the result of the opening.} Nc6 8. d3 (8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 Nf6 10. Nf2 O-O {is fine for black, according to Harikrisha}) 8... Be7 9. O-O Nf6 10. Qe2 O-O {[#]} 11. h3 $146 {I interpreted this move as broadcasting his intent to push g4 and storm my kingside. I thought my position had adequate resources to meet any such aggression, as I hadn't really created any weaknesses yet.} ({Relevant:} 11. Kh1 Qc7 12. Be3 b6 13. g3 Rad8 14. b3 Qb7 15. a4 Rfe8 16. Qg2 Nd5 17. Rae1 f5 18. Ned2 Bf6 19. Nc4 a6 20. Bd2 b5 21. axb5 axb5 22. Nce5 Nd4 23. c4 Ne7 24. Ba5 Rd6 25. Nxd4 Qxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rxd4 27. cxb5 Bxe5 28. Rxe5 Nd5 29. Rd1 Kf7 30. Be1 Rb8 31. Ra1 Rxb5 32. Ra7+ Kf6 33. Ra6 Rxd3 34. Raxe6+ Kf7 35. Ra6 Rbxb3 36. Rxf5+ Ke7 37. Ra7+ Ke6 38. Re5+ Kd6 39. Rxg7 Rb2+ 40. Kh1 Ne3 {Alonso Moyano,J (2378)-Felgaer,R (2636) Sao Paulo 2005 1/2-1/2}) 11... Rfd8 12. g3 {But now this was a bit puzzling. Did he want to swing his queen along the second rank behind the pawns to support them?} b6 {preparing a liquidation beginning with . ..Nd4, or at least making that an option. The idea is if he exchanges knights on d4, and I capture with ...Qxd4+ answering with Be3 would drop the b-pawn (since now white can't just win back MY b-pawn with Rb1)} 13. Kh2 Nd4 14. Qg2 Nxf3+ {I wanted to make this trade so I wouldn't have to keep calculating 'what happens if white plays Ne5?"} 15. Qxf3 Qd4 {this move has a bit of a paralyzing effect on white's position. He can't do many of the things he'd like to do (Bb2, c3, Rd1)} 16. Nc3 Nd5 17. Ne2 Qa4 18. b3 Qa5 19. Bb2 $15 Qd2 $2 {I felt a little like I was playing with fire here. A queen waltzing around behind enemy lines can sometimes get trapped there. I was careful to make sure I was avoided that fate for her.} 20. Rac1 (20. Rf2 $11 Qe3 (20... Qa5) 21. Qg2 Bf6 22. Bc1 Qxf2 23. Qxf2 Bxa1) 20... Bf6 21. Rfd1 Qa5 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. a4 { He offered a draw here. I thought about five minutes and finally accepted. I felt like I should play on, but also would like to end the tournament on a non-losing note after the last couple days...} 1/2-1/2