In this next first-round tournament game, there are some adventures in the opening, where Black directly challenges my Stonewall Attack with 3...Bg4 and non-standard positions are a result. After analysis, I feel I better understand key ideas for White such as exchanging on d5 followed by Qb3, for more active play. However, most of the adventures occur in the endgame, which livens up what I assessed (correctly) should have been a straightforward draw. In addition to some of the winning ideas found, I also think simple ideas like the move 26 one of just keeping the rooks on the board for an easier draw, are valuable to understand for future play.
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| Move | N | Result | Elo | Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.Bd3 Bg4 a critical and independent reply to the Stonewall Attack. 4.f3 Bh5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Nge2 one main idea here is to chase the Bh5. 7.cxd5 is the engine's favorite idea. exd5 8.Qb3 7...0-0 8.Nf4 Bg6 9.Nxg6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bxg6 now the engine considers the knight more valuable than the bishop. hxg6 11.Qb3 White is more active and is pressuring both d5 and b7. 9...hxg6= 10.Bd2?! I am still not picking up on the cxd5 idea and this also leaves my king in the center longer. c5 an excellent move, I did not anticipate the break. 11.Ne2?! it would be better to resolve the central tension one way or another. dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nc6 the ugliness of White's position and piece placement is obvious, compared to Black's more harmonious development. 13.Bc3 cxd4 this releases the tension and helps reduce the positional deficit for White. 13...Rc8!? 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Black still has an advantage, but here I was feeling better about my position, with two active bishops. Nd7?! this is too slow and cedes the initiative. 15...Qa5+ would take advantage of the White king's placement. 16.Kf2 16.Bc3?! is worse after Bb4 17.Qd2 Bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 19.bxc3 inflicting an isolated c-pawn on White. 16.Kf2= Bf6 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Qxd8 with the queens off, this should be a draw. Rfxd8 19.Rhd1 Rac8 20.Rxd8+ here my draw offer was rejected, so I did not make another one. Rxd8 21.Ke2 Kf8 22.h4 prophylaxis against a Black g-pawn advance. Ke7 23.Bb3 Nd7 24.Rc1 Nb6 25.Rc7+ nothing better is available. Rd7 forced. 26.Rxd7+ transforming the endgame into BvN, which should still be drawn. 26.Rc2 simply retreating the rook and repeating the idea as needed was another option that I admit I did not consider. 26...Nxd7 27.Bc2 while still an even draw, with the rooks off, the limits of White's bishop are more evident now. Kd6 28.g4 still completely drawn, although I might have kept this in reserve. Nf6 29.Kd3 centralizing the king. Nd5 30.a3 remembering that the way to combat the knight is to take away as many squares as possible. Ke5 31.f4+ Kf6?! 32.Kd4 all Black's maneuvering has done is improve my relative king position. Ke7?? a typical endgame blunder, where the punishment is not obvious. 33.g5? the second-best move. 33.Be4! is what I missed here, although I eventually recognized the pin the knight idea. The point is Kd6 34.Bxd5 exd5 and only now 35.g5! leads to a won K+P endgame, due to Black's flawed pawn structure on the kingside and with the isolated d-pawn. 33...Kd6 34.Ba4?!= 34.Be4 is still winning. 34...f6? another non-obvious error. It seems logical to un-double Black's pawns, but that makes clearing the way for the h-pawn more of a threat. 35.Bb3= keeping the draw in hand. 35.gxf6! gxf6 35...Nxf6? 36.Bc2+- collecting the g6 pawn. 36.Be8! Ne7+- I calculated this far and did not see a benefit to White. However after 37.e4!+- the engine calculates White will eventually break through, with ideas like Bf7 a threat. 35...Ne7 36.e4 Nc6+ 37.Ke3 e5 38.Bd5 exf4+ 39.Kxf4 Ne5 40.Bxb7 unfortunately Black can immediately regain the pawn. Nd3+ 41.Ke3 Nxb2 42.Bd5 Nd1+ 43.Kf4 Ke7 44.e5 Nc3 45.Bc6 Ke6 46.exf6 gxf6 47.gxf6 Kxf6 48.Be8 Nd5+ 49.Kg4 this starts a long maneuvering sequence. White cannot escape the knight's checks or trap it unless Black blunders. Ne7 50.Bb5 Nf5 51.Bd3 Ng7 52.Bc2 Ne6 53.Bb1 Nd4 54.Bd3 Nc6 55.Bb5 Ne5+ 56.Kf4 Ke6 57.Ba4 Kf6 58.Bb3 Nd3+ 59.Kg4 Nc5 60.Bc4 Nd7 61.Kf4 avoiding the fork on e5 Nc5 62.Ba2 Nd3+ 63.Kg4 Ne1 64.Bb3 Ng2 65.Kg3 Ne3 66.Kf4 Nf5 67.Kg4 Nd4 68.Bd1 showing the long-range power of the bishop Nb5 69.a4 Nc3 70.Bb3 a5 this was unnecessary and allows me to threaten to trap the knight, although it's still drawn. 71.Kf3 Ke5 72.Kg4 Ne4 73.Bc2 now I find this pinning idea, which has only one defense. Nc5?? this should lose, but in time trouble I am unable to find the full winning sequence, after starting it correctly. 73...Nd2 is the only move that still works for Black. 74.Bxg6 Kf6 75.Bc2 Nc4= 74.Kg5! Ke6 75.Kxg6+- Ke7 76.h5 Kf8 77.Kf6 Kg8 78.h6? normally it's a good idea to have a more advanced passed pawn, but in this case now it's a draw. The pawn is too close to the Black king, once the White one moves off to threaten the Black knight. 78.Ke5! Nxa4 this trick no longer works. 79.Bxa4 Kh7 80.Be8 and the White king is in the square of the Black pawn, while the bishop and h-pawn can protect each other. Kh6 81.Kd4+- White eliminates the last Black pawn while maintaining his own. 78...Kh8 79.Ke7 Nxa4 80.Bxa4 Kh7 81.Kd6 ½–½
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| White | EloW | Black | EloB | Res | ECO | Rnd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChessAdmin | - | Class B | - | ½–½ | D00 |
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