This first-round tournament game had two big lessons. First, it highlighted a hole in my repertoire involving the move-order used to reach a Dutch Stonewall; I'll have to fix that for the future. Second, it demonstrated why at the Class level one should always keep yourself alive with practical chances in an endgame. Here I reached a situation where my opponent was up the exchange and could have sacrificed it back to lock in a win, but instead I exploited the opening he gave me to threaten mate and collect most of his pieces, forcing a resignation. A good illustration of why materialism can lead to bad outcomes in all phases of the game.
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Class B"]
[Black "ChessAdmin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"]
[ECO "D31"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[GameId "2156548021522499"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 {the Triangle/Wedge formation.} 4. Nc3 Bd6 {I think I have to abandon this particular move-order to reach the Dutch Stonewall, since there are too many potential exploits by White to reach an easy and just better position.} (4... f5 {is the other route to the Stonewall, but again offers White better options such as 5. Bg5}) (4... Nf6 {is a Semi-Slav.}) (4... dxc4 {scores the best in the database.}) 5. Qc2 f5 6. Bg5 $16 {the engine now gives a significant plus to White. As we'll see, that does not immediately translate to a winning game in practical terms.} Nf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 h6 {so far a standard sequence and expected.} 9. Bf4 Ne4 (9... Bxf4 $5 10. exf4 Qd6 $14 {followed by ...dxc4 limits White's advantage, giving him an isolated d-pawn.}) 10. O-O {White is perfectly fine here, but I was pleased during the game that I could use a normal expansionary Stonewall strategy on the kingside now.} Be7 {played after long thought about my middlegame strategy.} (10... Bxf4 {is still the engine recommendation.} 11. exf4 Nd7) (10... a5 {was an idea I contemplated here and other times, but it seemed here like an unnecessary distraction from the kingside plan.}) (10... Nd7 {immediately is another choice.} 11. Bxd6 Nxd6 12. Ne2 Qf6 $16) 11. h3 {clearly aimed at preserving the bishop on the h2-b8 diagonal.} Nd7 {I wanted to get some more development in before advancing the g-pawn.} 12. Rac1 g5 13. Bh2 Qe8 {a standard idea in the Dutch, to move the queen to g6 or h5 for the attack. Also helps cover these otherwise weak squares, against penetration by White's pieces.} 14. Ne5 Nxe5 {no reason not to exchange.} 15. Bxe5 Bd7 {played to connect the rooks and get the bishop at least slightly more developed.} (15... Bf6 {immediately was my other option.}) 16. Qd1 {while this covers the h5 square and prevents my queen from going there, it seems a little slow.} Bf6 17. Bh2 {consistently preserving the bishop on the diagonal, also as a kingside defender with the possibility of reoccupying a central square.} Qg6 {Again a long think. I want to pursue pressure on the kingside. However, I underestimated White's next move in response.} (17... Nxc3 {it may now be time to liquidate the knights.} 18. Rxc3 Qe7 $16) 18. Ne2 Be7 {best according to the engine. The problem is that the Ne4 has no good retreat squares in response to f2-f3, now that it cannot exchange itself on c3.} 19. f3 Nf6 (19... dxc4 {this idea, played later in the game, may be a little more effective if executed now.}) 20. g4 {I found this unnecessarily provocative, although White still retains an edge. The point is that the f-pawn is pinned against the Qg6 and cannot capture on g4.} Rf7 $6 {played with the idea of dissolving the center and not having a bishop on c4 moving there with check in some variations, since the rook is blocking the diagonal. However, this ends up making the situation worse later, not better.} (20... dxc4 21. Bxc4 Nd5 22. Qd2 Rad8 $16) 21. Be5 dxc4 22. Bxc4 Nd5 {this move, threatening a fork on e3, appeared to be a surprise to my opponent, who nonetheless found the best response.} 23. Qd3 {protecting e3 while re-establishing the pin on the f-pawn.} Raf8 {getting the rook into play.} 24. Ng3 {I also underestimated the effectiveness of this move.} Qh7 $6 {played after a good deal of thought. This resolves the problem of the hanging queen, but allows White's next sequence.} (24... Kh7 $5 {may be simplest.}) (24... b5 {going after the bishop does not resolve the problem.} 25. Bb3 a5 26. a3 a4 27. Ba2 $18) 25. gxf5 $18 exf5 26. e4 {White's central pawn duo is now very strong, along with his centralized pieces.} f4 {Black is losing now, but this counterattack is still the best chance.} 27. exd5 Qxd3 28. Bxd3 fxg3 29. dxc6 Bxc6 30. Bc4 {and now the pin on the rook should win for White.} Kh7 31. Bxf7 Rxf7 {I'm now significant material down, with the only hope being to leverage the power of the two bishops.} 32. Kg2 h5 33. Kxg3 Kg6 (33... h4+ {I looked at this, which was objectively best according to the engine; however, I did not see any real practical benefit, since it fixed my pawns and reduced the potential threats they could make.} 34. Kh2 $18) 34. Kh2 (34. Rxc6+ {this exchange sacrifice, preferred by the engine, would give White a fully won endgame.} bxc6 35. Rc1) 34... Bxf3 35. Rc7 {my opponent played this as if it were crushing - and it mostly is - but I still can improve my position by} g4 {now things are stable on the kingside and the bishop on f3 also holds b7. White should still win, but there is no immediate knockout.} 36. hxg4 $6 {there is no reason to reduce the tension by the exchange, but my opponent evidently thought it would help simplify the situation.} hxg4 $14 {now the advanced passed g-pawn, coupled with the two bishops, gives me significantly more drawing chances. The newly opened h-file was ignored by my opponent, who tried to go for a knockout blow with} 37. d5 $2 {but after} Rh7+ {the king has only two squares, one of which loses:} 38. Kg1 $4 (38. Kg3 {this looks more risky, but White escapes at the end of the sequence.} Bh4+ 39. Kf4 Bg5+ 40. Kg3 Rh3+ 41. Kf2 Bh4+ (41... Bxd5 {may pose a few more problems for White but also draws.}) 42. Ke3 Bg2+ 43. Ke2 Bxf1+ 44. Kxf1 {with a draw.}) 38... Rh1+ $19 39. Kf2 Bh4+ 40. Ke3 Rxf1 41. d6 Re1+ 42. Kd2 Rxe5 {and my opponent resigned.} 0-1
