Annotated Game #365: Saving the last round

Having lost in the first three rounds of this tournament, and at this point possessing an extended five-game losing streak including the previous tournament, it was about time to pull out a victory. Having a "must-win" mentality can be a positive or negative - generally I view it as a negative, since a self-generated spike in pressure/anxiety levels rarely benefits your mental state, including the ability to maintain objective assessments during a game. That said, if you are in an excellent tournament situation and have a "must-win" game for a prize, as long as it acts as a motivational force that gives you more energy and focus, then why not?

For this last-round game, I chose to view it as a chance for a reset and to remain calm while playing better chess, which I feel is the best path to actually achieving victory. I've noticed that I generally seem to have a better attitude towards the end of a Swiss-type tournament than my opponents when things haven't gone well. This has repeatedly helped me achieve a more positive and perhaps slightly redemptive result. While the below final-round game is not necessarily a masterpiece, I was able to keep posing enough problems to my opponent for him to finally go astray. This is in fact one of the key "tricks" to winning: always keeping in mind that your opponent has to make a significant error for you to win, so you should always give him more chances to do so, whenever possible.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Dragon 3.2"] [ECO "D12"] [PlyCount "107"] [GameId "2345579122020422"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5 4. Nh4 Bg6 5. Nxg6 hxg6 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 {played in all of the (small) sample of database games. Logical development and postpones resolving the central tension until White sees what Black does.} (7. cxd5 $5 {alternatively, making this favorable pawn exchange can't be wrong, if White wants to do it immediately.}) 7... c6 $11 {a solid choice.} 8. cxd5 {this is a very equal continuation.} (8. Qb3 $5 {should always come into consideration when Black's light-square bishop is no longer on the board.}) 8... exd5 9. Bd2 {there is no better place for developing the bishop in this structure.} Bd6 {threatening the h2 pawn. The engine is not concerned about this at all, since the pawn is tactically defended, but I decide to eliminate the threat.} 10. g3 (10. Qb3 {and now if} Rxh2 $2 (10... b5 $11) 11. Rxh2 Bxh2 12. Qxb7 $1 Nbd7 13. Qxc6 $18) 10... O-O 11. Bg2 Re8 {my opponent has easy equality with normal-looking, natural moves.} 12. O-O Nbd7 13. a4 {in this very equal position, there is no obvious plan for White to follow. I eventually decided to simply gain space on the queenside and restrain my opponent's ...b5 idea.} (13. Qb3) (13. a3 {preparing b2-b4-b5 with Rb1 would be a standard plan.}) 13... Ne4 $6 {my opponent must also have found it difficult to find a particularly good plan. The knight jump to e4 seems logical, clearing f6 either for the Nd7 or to push f7-f5. However, I am able to make a positionally favorable exchange as well, given taht the Nc3 was doing very little.} 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. b4 $14 {a natural and good follow-up, gaining space and controlling c5.} Nb6 $6 {while it makes some sense for Black to dedicate more forces to the queenside, his play is more naturally on the kingside. The knight move does not slow down my advance, however, and the piece is now a target.} 16. Qb3 {It's obviously good for the queen to get into action, but it was not clear to me what the best square was.} (16. Qc2 {is evaluated as stronger by the engine.} Qe7 17. a5 Nd5 18. a6 $1 $16 {now undermines Black's queenside, for example} Bxb4 19. axb7 Rab8 20. Qxc6 $1 Qxb7 21. Qxb7 Rxb7 22. Bxb4 Nxb4 23. Rfb1 $16 {and after all the exchanges Black cannot solve all the problems of his multiple weaknesses - the pinned Nb4 and the pressured a- and e-pawns.}) 16... Nd5 17. Rfc1 {activating the rook on the important c-file. Now the b-pawn advance will carry a little more punch.} a6 18. Rab1 {too cautious. I did not calculate the consequences of b4-b5 properly.} (18. b5 {immediately works well.} axb5 19. axb5 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Nf6 21. Bb4 Bxb4 22. Qxb4 {and my pieces have much better play on the queenside, although it is not necessarily decisive.}) (18. Bf1 $5 {would be a better way to add power to the b5 push.}) 18... Bf8 19. Qc2 {played to add pressure to e4 and clear the b-file for the rook.} f5 {the natural reaction, solidifying e4.} 20. Bf1 {now it is clear the bishop has no future on g2 but can be useful on the f1-a6 diagonal.} Rc8 21. Qb3 {moving the queen off the c-file now that Black's rook is there, while also pinning the Nd5, a result of Black's f-pawn leaving its home.} Qd6 22. b5 {the only way to make progress, although White still has only a small advantage.} Rb8 $2 {my opponent now goes astray in the face of a more complex situation to resolve.} 23. Bc4 {a "good enough" move which should give White a winning advantage, although the path is not as clear as after} (23. bxa6 bxa6 24. Qc4 $1 $18 {and White will pick up a key queenside pawn.}) 23... Kh7 24. Qc2 $6 {while not losing, this gives up most of the pressure and advantage.} (24. bxa6 bxa6 25. Qd1 $18 {and although this is a retreat, Black's situation on the queenside is untenable with the weak a- and c-pawns.}) (24. Qa2 $5 {this was a much better queen retreat idea.} Qa3 {is what I was concerned about, but White is fine again after} 25. bxa6 $18) 24... axb5 25. axb5 Rec8 {Black continues to oppose rook and queen, prompting another inaccuracy from me.} 26. Bxd5 $6 (26. Ba2 {is a better bishop move. White would be happy to trade the queen for two rooks after ...cxb5.}) (26. Qb3 $5) 26... Qxd5 {while this is also equal, it gave me a bit of hope for winning chances, since there is still a pawn structure imbalance and potential tactics in play.} 27. bxc6 Ba3 $6 {apparently my opponent thought he would recover the c-pawn with advantage after this aggressive move.} (27... Rxc6 $11) 28. Qc4 {I was pleased to be able to find this intermediate move, taking advantage of Black's undefended queen to counterattack and give him more problems to solve.} (28. c7 {I also considered, but it is not as favorable to White after} Bxc1 29. cxb8=Q Rxc2 30. Rxc1 Rxc1+ (30... Rxd2 $2 {I thought would have been fine for Black, not calculating further, but} 31. Rc8 $1 g5 32. Rh8+ Kg6 33. h4 $1 $18 {gives White a won position.}) 31. Bxc1 Qb3 $11) 28... Qxc4 $2 (28... bxc6 {was likely rejected by my opponent because of} 29. Rxb8 Rxb8 30. Qxc6 $14 {with an extra passed d-pawn for White, but Black's pieces are very active and the engine only gives a slight advantage to White.}) 29. Rxc4 b6 $2 {this move however has several flaws, and I find the best exploitation of it with} 30. Bb4 $1 $18 {now Black's bishop must be exchanged, leaving him in a pawn-down endgame with my pieces dominating the queenside.} Bxb4 31. Rbxb4 Rc7 32. d5 {now that I have two connected advanced passed pawns backed by active rooks, the rest is "a matter of technique" but my opponent to his credit fights the full distance.} Rd8 {the problem of course is that the rook cannot protect the b-pawn and try to stop the central pawn roller at the same time.} (32... b5 33. Rc5 Rd8 34. Rbxb5 $18) 33. Rd4 Kg8 34. Rxb6 Rd6 35. Rb7 Rc8 {exchanging on b7 does not work, as the remaining Black rook would have to sacrifice itself for the advancing d-pawn.} 36. Kf1 {after some thought, I decided the easiest strategy to win would be to bring my king decisively into the queenside mix. Black cannot oppose its march and between the Rd4, pawns and centralized king, I can handle any attempt at counterplay on the kingside.} Kf8 37. Ke2 g5 38. Kd2 g6 39. Kc3 Ke8 40. Rh7 {again going for "easy mode" and looking to trade rooks.} Kd8 41. Rh8+ Kc7 42. Rxc8+ Kxc8 43. Kb4 Kc7 44. Kc5 g4 45. Rb4 {now the end appears in sight.} Rd8 46. Rb7+ Kc8 47. d6 Rh8 48. Ra7 (48. d7+ {is a forced mate, but I was tired and not looking to calculate more than I had to by this point.} Kd8 49. Kd6 {with mate in 1.}) 48... Kb8 49. Kb6 Rd8 50. c7+ Kc8 51. cxd8=Q+ Kxd8 {when one of my opponents decides to play the game out until mate, I used to become upset at the imagined affront to my chess skill. Nowadays I just enjoy the sensation of being completely winning and make moves guaranteed to reach a win without having to think too much.} 52. Kc6 Ke8 53. Ra8+ Kf7 54. d7 {now my opponent decided to call it a day and resigned.} 1-0