[Event "Central Chess Club International"]
[Site "Moscow URS"]
[Date "1960.05.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wolfgang Uhlmann"]
[Black "Ratmir Kholmov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A26"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "1960.??.??"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nge2 Nge7 7. d3 O-O 8. O-O
Be6 9. a3 Qd7 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd2 Rf7 12. Rb1 Raf8 13. f3 h6 14. b4 g5 15. b5
Nd8 16. f4 (16. Nec3 f4 17. Qa4) 16... gxf4 17. gxf4 Ng6 18. fxe5 Nxe5 19. Ndf4
fxe4 20. Bxe4 c6 21. bxc6 bxc6 22. Kh1 Bh3 23. Rf2 {[#]} (23. Rg1 Bg4 24. Rxg4)
23... d5 24. cxd5 cxd5 25. Bxd5 (25. Nxh3 dxe4 26. Nef4 e3 27. Bxe3 Ng4) 25...
Qxd5+ 26. Nxd5 Rxf2 27. Bf4 Nf3 28. Ne3 Rxf4 29. Qg1 Rxe2 0-1

[Event "Paris"]
[Site "Paris FRA"]
[Date "1929.06.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Georges Koltanowski"]
[Black "Marcel Duchamp"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A50"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "1929.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 b6 5. f4 Bb7 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. Nf3 e5 8. d5 g6
9. O-O exf4 10. Bxf4 Bg7 11. e5 dxe5 12. Nxe5 O-O 13. Qd2 {[#]} Nxd5 14. Nxd7 (
14. Nc6 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Bxc6 16. cxd5 Bxd5 17. Bg5) 14... Nxf4 15. Nxf8 Bd4+ 0-1

[Event "Mont La Joli"]
[Site "Mont La Joli"]
[Date "1924.03.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sergei Prokofiev"]
[Black "Maurice Ravel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E30"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1924.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bg5 Nc6 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5 7. Nge2 a5 8. Qc2
h6 9. h4 hxg5 10. hxg5 Re8 (10... Nd7 11. Bh7+ Kh8 12. Bg8+) (10... Ne4 11.
Bxe4 dxe4 12. Qxe4 f5) 11. gxf6 Qxf6 12. O-O-O dxc4 13. Bh7+ Kf8 14. Ne4 Qe7
15. Nf4 b5 16. Rh5 e5 17. Ng6+ fxg6 18. Bxg6 Be6 19. Rdh1 Rad8 20. Rf5+ Kg8 21.
Qe2 Bxf5 22. Rh8+ Kxh8 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Qh7+ Kf8 25. Qh8# 1-0

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Catalan Bay GIB"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "4.121"]
[White "Ashley Stewart"]
[Black "Ameyalli Avila Fraire"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "2120"]
[BlackElo "2014"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2018.01.23"]

1. c4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 e5 7. d3 d6 8. O-O c6
9. f4 Be6 10. b3 Re8 11. Qd2 e4 12. Nd4 d5 13. cxd5 Bxd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bb2
exd3 16. Rfe1 Nxe3 17. Qxd3 Nxg2 18. Qc4+ Kh8 19. Kxg2 b5 20. Qf7 Rf8 {[#]} 21.
Qxg7+ Kxg7 22. Nxf5+ Kg8 23. Nh6# 1-0

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Catalan Bay GIB"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Black "Valentina Gunina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2502"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "269"]
[EventDate "2018.01.23"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. Bg5 Qa5+ 8. Nd2
Ne7 9. Ngf3 Nf5 10. O-O Qa6 11. c4 Bb4 12. b3 Nd7 13. Rfc1 O-O 14. a3 Be7 15.
Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Nf1 Rad8 17. Ng3 dxc4 18. bxc4 c5 19. Qe3 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Ng6 21.
Nf3 Qa5 22. Re1 Rc8 23. Rad1 Nb6 24. Qg5 Rxc4 25. Qxh5 Qa4 26. Ne2 Nd5 27. g3
Re8 28. Ned4 Nf8 29. Ng5 Re7 30. Nf5 exf5 31. Rxd5 Rd4 32. e6 f6 33. Qf7+ Rxf7
34. exf7+ Kh8 35. Re8 Rd1+ 36. Kg2 fxg5 37. Rxd1 Kh7 38. Rxf8 Qc6+ 39. Kg1 Kg6
40. hxg5 f4 41. gxf4 Qe6 42. Rd3 Qg4+ 43. Rg3 Qxf4 44. Rd8 Kxf7 45. Rd7+ Kg6
46. Rxb7 Qc1+ 47. Kh2 Qf4 48. Rb2 Qh4+ 49. Kg1 Qd4 50. Rb1 Qd2 51. Rbb3 Qe1+
52. Kg2 Qe4+ 53. Kh2 Qe2 54. Rbf3 Qd2 55. Rf8 Qd6 56. Rc8 Qd4 57. Rc6+ Kf5 58.
Rf3+ Kxg5 59. Kg2 Qe4 60. Rc7 Kh6 61. Rcc3 Kh7 62. Rce3 Qd5 63. Kh2 Qd6+ 64.
Rg3 Kg8 65. Rc3 Qf4 66. Kg1 Qe5 67. Rc4 Qe1+ 68. Kg2 Qe5 69. Rcg4 Qd5+ 70. Kg1
Kf8 71. Rxg7 Qd1+ 72. Kh2 Qd2 73. Rg8+ Kf7 74. R3g7+ Kf6 75. Rg6+ Kf7 76. R6g7+
Kf6 77. Rg2 Qf4+ 78. R8g3 Qh6+ 79. Rh3 Qf4+ 80. Kh1 Qe4 81. Re3 Qd5 82. Kh2
Qh5+ 83. Rh3 Qe2 84. Rh4 Qf3 85. a4 a5 86. Rd4 Qf5 87. Kg3 Qc2 88. Rf4+ Ke6 89.
f3 Qg6+ 90. Rg4 Qb1 91. Re2+ Kf5 92. Kg2 Qd3 93. Rge4 Qd1 94. Rb2 Qc1 95. Rb5+
Kf6 96. Rd4 Ke6 97. Rdd5 Qc2+ 98. Kg3 Qxa4 99. Re5+ Kf6 100. Rf5+ Kg6 101. Rfc5
Kf7 102. Rxa5 Qd7 103. Rf5+ Kg6 104. Rfd5 Qe6 105. Re5 Qd6 106. Rad5 Qc7 107.
f4 Qc1 108. Re2 Qg1+ 109. Rg2 Qb1 110. Kg4 Kf6 111. Rd6+ Kf7 112. Rgd2 Qg1+
113. Kf5 Qb1+ 114. R2d3 Qc2 115. Rd7+ Kg8 116. Kf6 Qb2+ 117. R3d4 Qa1 118. Rd8+
Kh7 119. f5 Qc3 120. Kf7 Qh3 121. R4d5 Qg4 122. R8d7 Qh5+ 123. Ke7 Qh4+ 124.
Kf7 Qh5+ 125. Kf6+ Kh6 126. R5d6 Qe2 127. Kf7+ Kg5 128. f6 Qh5+ 129. Ke7 Qe2+
130. Kf8 Kg6 131. Rg7+ Kf5 132. f7 Qa2 133. Kg8 Ke5 {[#]} 134. Ra6 (134. Rd5+
Qxd5 (134... Kxd5 135. f8=Q) 135. Rg5+) 134... Qc4 135. Rgg6 1-0

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Catalan Bay GIB"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "1.38"]
[White "Mikhail Antipov"]
[Black "Ylon Schwartz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B81"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2018.01.23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. g4 h6 7. g5 hxg5 8. Bxg5
a6 9. f4 Qc7 10. Qd2 Nbd7 11. O-O-O b5 12. Bg2 Bb7 13. Rhe1 Rxh2 14. Nd5 Qc4
15. Re3 Nxe4 {[#]} 16. Nxe6 fxe6 (16... Nxd2 17. Ndc7+) 17. Bxe4 Rxd2 18. Bg6#
1-0

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Catalan Bay GIB"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "2.83"]
[White "Daniil Dubov"]
[Black "Jonathan Pein"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2694"]
[BlackElo "2153"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2018.01.23"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 c5 5. c4 Nc6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O b6 8. d4
cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bb7 10. Nc3 Rc8 11. Rc1 d6 12. Qd2 Qd7 13. Nf3 Rfd8 14. Nd5 Nxd5
15. cxd5 Ne5 16. Nd4 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Rc8 18. Rd1 Qc7 19. Bh3 Rd8 {[#]} 20. Rc1
Qb8 21. Nc6 Bxc6 (21... Nxc6 22. dxc6) 22. dxc6 Qc7 23. f4 Bh6 24. Qc3 1-0

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Catalan Bay GIB"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "1.24"]
[White "Nils Grandelius"]
[Black "Rodney Oscar Perez Garcia"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D16"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2018.01.23"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. O-O
cxd4 9. Nxd4 Qc7 10. Ncb5 Qb8 11. e4 Ne5 12. Bf4 a6 13. Rc1 axb5 14. Bxb5+ Bd7
15. Bxd7+ Nfxd7 16. Nb5 Ra5 {[#]} 17. Nc7+ Kd8 18. Qd2 Rc5 19. Bxe5 Rxe5 20.
Rfd1 1-0

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Catalan Bay GIB"]
[Date "2018.01.29"]
[Round "7.99"]
[White "Heather S Richards"]
[Black "Gilles Suez-Panama"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2223"]
[BlackElo "1959"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2018.01.23"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Qe2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. g3 c5 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O O-O 8. e5
Nd7 9. c4 Nb6 10. h4 dxc4 11. dxc4 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Na3 Rd8 14. Bf4 Na4 {
[#]} 15. Rad1 Qxb2 16. Rxd8+ Bxd8 17. Qd1 Bd7 18. Qxd7 Qxa3 19. Qe8# 1-0

[Event "1969 gnyhs"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "DePalma"]
[Black "Farber, John Matthew"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B96"]
[WhiteElo "1530"]
[BlackElo "1716"]
[Annotator "Alburt, Lev"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2018.06.02"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 {[#]} b5 8.
e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 {Diagram [#]} 10. Nf3 (10. exf6 Qe5+ 11. Be2 Qxg5) 10...
Nfd7 11. Be2 (11. Ne4 Bb7 12. Nd6+ Bxd6 13. exd6 (13. Qxd6) 13... Qc5 14. Qd4)
11... Bb4 12. Bd2 Bb7 13. O-O {Diagram [#]} Nxe5 14. Nxb5 Nxf3+ 15. gxf3 (15.
Bxf3 Bc5+ 16. Kh1 $19 {[%eval -356,19]} axb5) (15. Rxf3 Bc5+ 16. Kh1 (16. Be3
$19 {[%eval -322,19]}) 16... axb5 $19 {[%eval -326,20]}) 15... Qc5+ 16. Kh1
Bxd2 17. Qxd2 axb5 18. Rad1 O-O 19. Bd3 {Diagram [#]} Bc6 20. a3 Nd7 21. Qf4
Nf6 (21... g6) 22. Rg1 {Diagram [#]} Kh8 (22... Nh5) 23. Rxg7 Qh5 (23... Rg8
24. Rxf7) (23... Ne4 24. Rxh7+ Kxh7 25. Qh4+ Kg7 26. Rg1+ Qxg1+ 27. Kxg1 Rh8
28. Qg4+ Kf8 29. Qf4) (23... Qe7 24. Rdg1 (24. Qh6 Bxf3+ 25. Kg1 Rg8) 24... Rg8
25. Qxf6 Bxf3+ 26. Qxf3 Rxg7 27. Qxa8+) 24. Qxf6 {[#]} (24. Rg3 Nd5) (24. Rf1
Rg8) 24... Qxf3+ 25. Qxf3 Bxf3+ 26. Kg1 Kxg7 27. Rf1 0-1

[Event "New York International"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.07.25"]
[Round "2"]
[White "GM Robert Hess"]
[Black "FM Brandon Jacobson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "2659"]
[BlackElo "2449"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[SourceDate "2018.08.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bf4 Bb7 4. e3 g6 5. Bd3 (5. Be2) (5. h3) 5... Bg7 6. O-O
d6 7. Nbd2 O-O {[#]} 8. c3 (8. e4 c5 9. c3 e5 10. dxe5 (10. Be3 cxd4 11. cxd4
exd4 12. Bxd4 Nbd7) 10... dxe5 11. Nxe5 Nh5) 8... Nbd7 9. Qe2 (9. e4 e5 10. Bg5
(10. Bg3 Nh5) 10... h6 11. Bh4 exd4 12. cxd4 c5 13. Nc4 d5 (13... Qc7 14. Bg3
Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Bxe4 16. Bxd6 Qc6 17. Bxf8 Rxf8) 14. Nd6 dxe4 15. Nxb7 Qc7 {[#]}
16. Ba6 exf3 17. Bg3 Qc6 18. Nd6 fxg2 19. Re1) 9... a5 (9... Re8 10. Ba6 Qc8
11. Bxb7 Qxb7) 10. Rfd1 Re8 11. Bg5 e5 12. dxe5 dxe5 {[#]} 13. Be4 (13. Bb5 c6
14. Ne4 Qc7 (14... cxb5 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 (15... Qc7 16. Bxg7 Bxe4) 16. Rxd7)) (13.
Ne4 Qc8 14. Nfd2) 13... Qc8 14. Bxb7 Qxb7 15. Nc4 (15. Bxf6 Bxf6 (15... Nxf6)
16. Ne4 Qxe4 17. Rxd7 Qc6 18. Rdd1) 15... Qc6 16. Na3 (16. Bxf6 Bxf6 (16...
Nxf6 17. Ncxe5) 17. e4 Nc5 (17... Bg7 18. Ne3) 18. Rd5 Rad8 19. Rad1) 16... Nc5
(16... Ne4 17. Qb5 Nb8) 17. Bh4 Nfe4 18. Nb5 a4 19. Rac1 (19. c4 f5) (19. Nd2
Nxd2 (19... Nd6 20. Nxd6 cxd6 21. e4) 20. Rxd2 g5 21. Bg3 Ne4 22. Rdd1 h5 (
22... f5 23. h3 (23. f3 Nxg3 24. hxg3 f4) 23... Nxg3 24. fxg3 f4) 23. h3 (23.
f3 Nxg3 24. hxg3)) 19... h6 20. Ne1 g5 21. Bg3 {[#]} h5 22. f3 (22. h3 Nxg3 23.
fxg3 Ne4) 22... Nxg3 23. hxg3 g4 (23... e4 24. Nd4 (24. c4 Rad8 25. Rxd8 Rxd8
26. Rd1 Rd7 27. f4 Nd3) 24... Qf6 25. f4 (25. g4 exf3 26. gxf3 hxg4 27. fxg4
Ne4) 25... h4) 24. e4 (24. fxg4 hxg4 (24... Ne4 25. gxh5 Nxg3 26. Qg4 Nxh5 27.
Qxh5 Qxb5 28. Nf3) 25. Nc2 f5 26. Nb4 Qh6 27. Nxc7 Ne4) 24... Rad8 25. Nc2 (25.
c4 Ne6 26. Nd3) 25... Bh6 26. Rb1 gxf3 27. gxf3 Kh7 28. Nb4 Qg6 29. Nxc7 Qxg3+
30. Qg2 {[#]} Rg8 31. Qxg3 Rxg3+ 32. Kh2 (32. Kf2 Rdg8 33. Rh1 Rg2+ 34. Kf1
R8g3) 32... Rxd1 33. Rxd1 Rxf3 34. Kg2 Rf4 35. Nbd5 Rg4+ 36. Kf3 Nxe4 37. Ne8
Bg5 38. Nxb6 a3 (38... Rf4+ 39. Ke2 Rf2+ 40. Kd3) 39. bxa3 Rf4+ 40. Kg2 Rf2+
41. Kg1 Be3 42. Nd5 Bc5 0-1

[Event "Die Schwalbe"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Minski"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Kislik, Erik"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k5/3b4/8/RP6/6r1/p1p5/3PK1B1/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

{[#]} {Here is a study that was used during the world solving championship of
2015 and stumped some of the best solvers in the world. One might assume that
the position is illogical and has an irrational solution because some elite
chess solvers struggled with it. This position is actually not as random as
you might imagine. The way I arrived at the correct solution was by realizing
that Black has two unique threats: taking on g2 and playing ...c2. There is
actually only one move that stops both of those threats:} 1. Be4 $3 {White
gives up a bishop, but uses the tempo effectively to trade off a bunch of
pawns.} ({JH: Why isn't} 1. Bd5 $2 {, playing for mate, 'logical?'} c2 $1 2. b6
{(with the idea of Ra8#)} Kd8 3. Rc5 {appears to save the bishop and stop the
c-pawns. Only calculation exposes the flaw in this plan:} Ba4 {(holding the
pawn)} 4. Kd3 (4. b7 Rb4 5. Kd3 a2 $1 6. Rc8+ Ke7 $1 7. Bxa2 Rxb7 $19) 4...
Rg3+ $1 5. Kd4 (5. Ke2 Rg6 6. b7 Rb6 $19) 5... Rg6 6. Kd3 a2 (6... Rxb6 $2 7.
Rxc2 Bxc2+ 8. Kxc2 Rb2+ 9. Kc1 $11) 7. b7 (7. Bxa2 Rxb6 8. Rc3 Rg6 $19) 7...
Rb6 8. Rc8+ Ke7 $1 9. Bxa2 Rxb7 10. Bd5 (10. Rc3 Kd8 $1 11. Rxc2 Rd7+ 12. Kc3
Rc7+ 13. Bc4 Bxc2 $19) (10. Rxc2 $2 Rd7+) 10... Rd7 11. Ke4 (11. Kd4 Bb3 $19)
11... Kd6 12. Rc3 Rg7 $1 13. Kd4 Rg3 $1 (13... Rg1 $2 14. Bc6 $1 Bb3 15. Bd5
Ba4 16. Bc6 $11) 14. Rc4 (14. Rxg3 c1=Q) 14... Rg1 $19) 1... Rxe4+ 2. Kd3 {
White hits the black rook with tempo and attempts to capture the two remaining
pawns as quickly as possible.} Ra4 $1 ({After} 2... Rc4 {,} 3. dxc3 {draws.})
3. Rxa4 Bxb5+ 4. Rc4+ $1 {This distracts the bishop.} (4. Kxc3 $4 Bxa4 {
leaves the white king cut off because it cannot come to c2 to get in front of
the a-pawn.}) 4... Bxc4+ ({If} 4... Kb7 5. Kxc3 Bxc4 6. Kc2) 5. Kxc3 Kd7 ({
After} 5... a2 6. Kb2 {White draws by giving up the d-pawn.}) 6. Kc2 Kc6 (6...
Ba2 7. Kc3 {, intending Kb4, is an important point.}) 7. Kb1 {White gives up
the d-pawn to achieve a simple theoretically drawn position in which Black can
never make progress if White just keeps the king in the corner behind the
a-pawn.   The logic behind the solution to this study is clear: by discerning
Black’s threats, White was able to figure out the only ways to stop them
that would allow favourable simplification.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "29th NATO Chess Championship"]
[Site "Lubbock"]
[Date "2018.06.05"]
[Round "2.14"]
[White "Schott, Guido"]
[Black "Kraft, Chip"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "2127"]
[BlackElo "1950"]
[Annotator "Kraft, Chip"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2018.06.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[WhiteTeam "NATO B"]
[BlackTeam "UNITED STATES"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. c4 e5 {I play the English myself for white and have always answered c4 with
c5 until now. This was one of the 2 opening changes that I made for the NATO
tournament. I also gave up my Scandinavian with Qd6 for the Accelerated Dragon,
which I would try out for the first time in a tournament in round 6 of the
NATO. Nc3 Nf6} 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. Bg2 Bxc3 {If white had played Nd5
instead of Bg2, I was going to take the knight, play d6, O-O, Ba5, and Bb6. I
watch a lot of Roman’s Labs and he suggests that line.} 5. bxc3 Nc6 {This
was the line that I wanted. White maintains the 2 bishops, but with the
doubled c pawns.} 6. e4 d6 7. d3 O-O 8. Ne2 {With this move, white declares
his intentions to play an eventual f4.} Ne8 {I am simply planning to meet f4
with f5. What I am seeing with the pawn structure here is that after white
castles and black plays f5, if exf5 and my Bxf5, I have an excellent diagonal
for my light squared B. Also, if white allows black to play fxe4, after dxe4,
white is saddled with double isolated c pawns. Recapturing Bxe4 in that
position allows black to play Bh3 and I am more than happy to exchange light
squared bishops.} 9. Rb1 Rb8 10. O-O f5 11. Be3 {The computer suggests exf5
and after Bxf5 then f4 with a slight advantage for white.} Nf6 {The computer
says better is fxe4 Bxe4 (else the double isolated c pawns) Bh3 Bd5+ Kh8 Bg2
BxB KxB Qd7 with a half point advantage for black. With my move of my knight
back to f6, I am keeping pressure on e4, desiring exf5 and Bxf5, which I
thought was better for black, but the computer states is equal.} (11... fxe4
12. Bxe4 Bh3 13. Bd5+ Kh8 14. Bg2 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Qd7) 12. h3 $2 {This moves
immediately gives black a full point advantage states Stockfish. Obviously
with his bishop on e3, he must have been concerned with Ng4 ideas, but this
leads to a fatal pawn weakening.} fxe4 13. dxe4 {Stockfish suggests c5 here in
a bad position for white, with a possible line of 13. ... exd3 14. Qxd3, Be6
15. cxd6 Qxd6 16. Qxd6 cxd6 and black is a full pawn up with a strong center.}
(13. c5 exd3 14. Qxd3 Be6 15. cxd6 Qxd6 16. Qxd6 cxd6) 13... b6 {Preventing c5.
I am very pleased at this point as black.} 14. f4 {The only move. White has
nothing on the queenside.} Be6 15. Qa4 {Stockfish suggests just letting the c
pawn go and playing f5, Bxc4, and then Qc2 followed by g4. This would have
made for an interesting game.} (15. f5 Bxc4 16. Qc2) 15... Na5 {The correct
move. The c4 pawn is clearly in my sites and c5 is met by Nc4 anyway, hitting
the B on e3, followed by bxc5.} 16. fxe5 (16. c5 Nc4) 16... dxe5 {Stockfish
scores this at -2.05 right now.} 17. Rfd1 {The wrong rook to d1.} Qc8 {Qe7 was
far superior according to computer. I was seeking the tempo gained by
attacking the h3 pawn.} (17... Qe7) 18. Kh2 Nxc4 {I did not hesitate on this
move, but better was Bd7 Qc2 Qe8 threatening Ba4. Stockfish says white has
nothing better than Rxd7 in that position. The c4 pawn can be captured on my
terms.} (18... Bd7 19. Qc2 Qe8 20. Rxd7) 19. Bg5 h6 {b5 was better, as white
gets into problems after Rxb5 and Qe8 (ie Rb4 Qxa4 Rxa4 and Nb2 or Rdb1 Nd6
Bxf6 gxf6 c4 a6 Qxa6 Ra8 winning), so in that line after b5 Qc2 and Na3 -4.00.
Bc1 (BxN RxB no better) a6. My plan is simple: to cement the outpost on c4
with b5. But Nd7 was a better move, threatening Rf2 and Nc5 at the same time.}
(19... b5 20. Rxb5 (20. Qc2) 20... Qe8 21. Rb4 (21. Rdb1 Nd6 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23.
c4 a6 24. Qxa6 Ra8) 21... Qxa4 22. Rxa4 Nb2) (19... Nd7) 20. Bc1 a6 21. Ng1 b5
{Nxe4 apparently did work here after Bxe4, Rf2+, Kh1 (Bg2 Qb7 mates) now b5,
Qb3 Bf5 with a winning pin, as white will have fatal light square weaknesses
and get mated on g2 if he trades the bishops.} (21... Nxe4 22. Bxe4 Rf2+ 23.
Kh1 (23. Bg2 Qb7) 23... b5 24. Qb3 Bf5) 22. Qc2 g5 $6 {[#] Qe8 was better.} (
22... Qe8) 23. Rf1 Qe8 24. Qe2 Qg6 25. a4 Nd6 $1 {My opponent was very low on
time here and missed the Bc4 move.} 26. axb5 Bc4 27. Rxf6 Rxf6 {Black is -4.66
now Stockfish} 28. Qe3 axb5 {up the exchange and a pawn now} 29. Ba3 Ra8 30.
Bxd6 cxd6 31. Rb2 Raf8 {It seemed to me like domination of the f file was a
quick way to victory here. But Qf7 and then Qa7 was the correct play.} (31...
Qf7) 32. Nf3 R8f7 {Qh5 was better} (32... Qh5) 33. Rd2 Qg7 {Bf1! was a tricky
piece exchange to amplify the pressure on the f file} (33... Bf1) 34. Rb2 Qf8
35. Nd2 Qc8 36. Bf3 Be6 {eyeing the h3 P} 37. Bh5 Rc7 38. h4 $4 {but all is
lost anyway} Rxc3 39. Qb6 gxh4 40. Qxb5 {whites make time control on move 40
here, but position deteriorated greatly in the last few moves} hxg3+ 41. Kg1
Rf2 42. Nf1 Bc4 {Fitting that the game should end with a piece move to the
weakened c4 square, which was set in motion many moves ago when white’s c
pawns became doubled and isolated. 2-0 start. I was thrilled at this point!}
0-1

[Event "29th NATO Chess Championship"]
[Site "Lubbock"]
[Date "2018.06.07"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Pavlidis, Anastasios"]
[Black "Helbig, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2357"]
[BlackElo "2361"]
[Annotator "Ipatov, Alexander"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2018.06.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[WhiteTeam "GREECE"]
[BlackTeam "GERMANY"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GRE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 (4... Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 (5... g6 6. Qc2 Bxf3
7. gxf3 Nc6 8. e3 Bg7 9. Bd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nh5 11. h4 d5 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Kb1
Ne7 14. e4) 6. Qc2 (6. cxd5) (6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qa4+ c6 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. cxd5 exd5
10. g3 O-O 11. Bg2 Re8 12. O-O Na6 13. Rae1)) 5. Qc2 (5. e3 d5 6. Nbd2 Be7 7.
b4 O-O 8. Bb2 c5 (8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 Bxc4 10. Nxc4 a5 11. bxa5 (11. b5 Qd5 12.
Qa4 Nc6) 11... b5 12. Ncd2 Rxa5) 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. b5 Bb7 11. Be2 a6 12. a4 dxc4
13. O-O axb5 14. axb5 Nbd7 15. Nxc4) 5... c5 (5... Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. d5 (7. e4)
(7. dxc5 bxc5 8. Bf4) 7... exd5 8. cxd5 Nxd5) 6. d5 exd5 7. cxd5 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7
{[#]} 9. g3 (9. Bf4 d6 10. h4 h6 (10... O-O 11. h5 Nxh5 12. Rxh5 gxh5 13. Ng5
f5 14. Ne6) (10... h5 11. e4 Bxf1 12. Kxf1 O-O 13. Nd2 a6 14. a4 Ng4 15. Nc4
Bd4 16. f3 Ne5 17. Bxe5 dxe5 18. g3 Nd7 19. Kg2 Rb8 20. Qd2 b5 21. axb5 axb5
22. Na5) 11. e3 (11. g3 Qe7 12. Qa4+ b5 13. Nxb5 O-O 14. Nxd6 Nxd5) 11... Bxf1
12. Kxf1 O-O 13. h5 Nxh5 (13... g5 14. Bxg5 hxg5 15. h6 Bh8 16. h7+ Kg7 17. Qf5
Re8 18. Qxg5+ Kf8 19. Qf4) 14. Rxh5 gxh5 15. Ne4) (9. e4 Bxf1 10. Kxf1 d6 11.
Qa4+ Qd7 12. Qxd7+ Nbxd7 13. Bf4 Ke7) 9... O-O 10. Bg2 d6 11. O-O b5 12. b4
Nbd7 13. Bf4 (13. Bb2) 13... Qb6 {[#]} 14. Rac1 (14. bxc5 dxc5 (14... Qxc5 15.
Be3 Qc7 16. Rac1 Rac8 17. Qb3 Nc5 18. Qb4) (14... Nxc5 15. Nd4 Nce4 16. Nxe4
Nxe4 17. e3 f5 (17... Bxd4 18. exd4) 18. Qc6) 15. Rab1 Rfe8 (15... b4 16. axb4
cxb4 17. Na4 Qb5 18. Nd4) 16. Rfc1) 14... Rac8 15. Qa2 Rfe8 16. Bh3 h5 (16...
h6) 17. Ng5 Rc7 (17... Ng4 18. Nce4) 18. Qd2 cxb4 19. axb4 Ne5 20. Be3 Qb8 21.
Qa2 Bc8 22. Bg2 Bf5 23. Bf4 Rc4 24. Qa5 Bd7 25. Nb1 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Nc4 27. Qa2
Ng4 28. h3 {[#]} Nge5 (28... Nxf2 29. Kxf2 Qb6+ 30. Kf1 Ne3+ 31. Kg1 (31. Bxe3
Qxe3 32. Qd2 Qxg3) 31... f6 32. Ne6 (32. Nf3 g5 33. Rc6 Bxc6 34. dxc6+ Nc4+ 35.
Kh1 gxf4) 32... g5 33. Qa5 Qxa5 34. bxa5 gxf4 35. Nxg7 Kxg7 36. Rc7 Re7 37. Bf3
(37. gxf4 Nxg2 38. Kxg2 Bxh3+ 39. Kxh3 Rxc7) 37... a6 38. gxf4) 29. Nd2 Nxd2
30. Bxd2 Rc8 31. Rxc8+ Bxc8 32. Qa5 Bd7 33. Be3 Nc4 34. Qxa7 Qxa7 35. Bxa7 {[#]
} Bc3 (35... Kf8) 36. Ne4 Bg7 (36... Bxb4 37. Nf6+) (36... Bb2 37. Bb8 Kf8 38.
Nxd6 Ba3 39. Ne4 (39. Nxc4 bxc4 40. Bf4 c3 41. Be4 Ba4) 39... Bxb4 40. Ba7 f5
41. Nc5 Ke7) 37. Bb8 Be5 38. f4 Bd4+ 39. Kh2 f5 40. Nxd6 Bc3 41. Nxc4 bxc4 42.
d6 {[#]} Kf7 (42... Kf8 43. Bd5 Bb5 44. Bc7 (44. e4 fxe4 45. Bxe4 Kf7 46. Bd5+
Ke8) 44... Bxb4 45. d7 Bxd7 46. Bxc4 Bc6) 43. Bd5+ Be6 44. d7 Bf6 45. Be5 Bd8
46. Bc6 Ke7 47. Bb5 Bb6 48. Kg2 Bxd7 49. Bxc4 Bc6+ 50. Kf1 Be3 51. h4 Bb7 52.
Bc3 Be4 53. Be1 Bb7 54. Bf2 Bd2 55. Bc5+ Ke8 56. b5 Ba5 57. Kf2 Bd2 58. e3 Ba5
59. Be2 Kd7 60. Bd4 Kd6 61. Bc4 Ke7 62. Bc5+ Kf6 63. Bd6 Bb6 64. Be5+ Ke7 65.
Bd4 Ba5 66. Bc5+ Ke8 67. b6 Bc3 68. Be2 Kd7 69. Bb5+ Kd8 70. Bd4 Ke7 1-0

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.21"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Swiercz, Dariusz"]
[Black "O'Connor, Derek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A63"]
[WhiteElo "2657"]
[BlackElo "2245"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. g3 Bg7 8. Bg2
O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 a6 11. a4 Nbd7 12. Bf4 Nh5 13. Bg5 Bf6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15.
e4 Rb8 16. Bf1 Ng7 17. Re3 Ne5 18. Nxe5 Qxe5 {[#] After not the best opening
plat by black, white has a clear edge and a comfortable middlegame. Black's
knight on g7 is an issue here and black should solve its problem at any cost.
That is something Swiercz understood well and managed to take advantage of
while black player with less experience did not sense the danger and lost due
to this small positional fact.} 19. a5 $5 b5 20. axb6 Rxb6 21. b3 Re7 (21... f5
{Or Nh5 with Nf6 is a must!}) (21... Nh5) 22. Ra2 g5 $6 {only weakens the
king! f4 is not easy to prevent!} 23. Na4 Rb4 24. Bc4 f6 25. Rd2 Ra7 26. Nb2 $1
{The knight will eventually land on c4!} Rbb7 27. Bf1 Bd7 28. Nc4 Qe7 29. f4
gxf4 30. gxf4 Kh8 31. Rg2 Rb8 32. Reg3 Rg8 33. Bd3 Bb5 34. e5 $1 {An obvious
but beautiful finess!} Bxc4 35. bxc4 fxe5 36. Qh5 e4 37. Qxh7+ 1-0

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.22"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Rohde, Michael"]
[Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2489"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. e5
Nd5 9. Bb3 Nb6 10. c3 O-O 11. cxd4 d6 12. exd6 (12. Nc3 dxe5 13. dxe5 Qxd1 14.
Rxd1 Bg4 15. Bf4 Na5 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. Bxd5 c6 18. Be4 Rac8 19. h3 Bxf3 20. Bxf3
g5 21. Rd7 Rfe8 22. Bc1 Bf8 23. Bxg5 Nc4 24. e6 Rxe6 25. Ra7 Rg6 26. Bf4 Bd6
27. Bxd6 Rxd6 28. Bh5 Nxb2 29. Bxf7+ Kh8 30. Re1 Rd1 31. Rxd1 Nxd1 32. Rxa6 Nc3
33. Ra7 c5 34. Bb3 Ne2+ 35. Kf1 Nd4 36. Rd7 h6 37. f3 Nf5 38. Kf2 Ra8 39. Rd5 {
1-0 (39) Zapata,A (2510)-Armas,J (2395) Cienfuegos 1991}) 12... cxd6 13. Nc3
Bg4 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Rc8 16. h3 Bh5 17. Be3 Nb4 18. Bb3 Bg6 19. Rc1 Qd7
20. Qd2 Nd3 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Rd1 Be4 23. Nh2 d5 24. a3 Bd6 25. Nf1 Qe6 26. f3
Bg6 {[#]} 27. Ba2 $1 {A strong move, threatening Bb1 and the knight on d3 is
feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden.} Qf6 28. Bxd5 Nf4 29. Be4 Re8 30. Bxf4
$6 {This move does not lose but throws away white's slight edge and gives
black some dangerous practical initiative.} (30. Rc1 {would have maintained
the tension.} h6 31. Bxg6 Nxg6 32. Re1 {While black definitely has enough
compensation white is far from any danger of losing.}) 30... Bxf4 31. Qd3 Qg5
32. Re1 Rd8 33. Bxg6 hxg6 34. Re4 Bc7 35. Qc3 $2 {an unfortunate blunder which
gives away the d4 pawn which was shielding white's king against black's
dangerous dark-square bishop.} (35. Qe3 Qd5 36. Nd2 {and the position is
balanced.}) 35... Bb6 36. Kh1 Qf6 37. Qe1 Bxd4 {Now black's bishop is much
stronger than white's knight. The outcome of the game is imminent.} 38. Re8+
Rxe8 39. Qxe8+ Kh7 40. b3 Bc5 41. b4 Bb6 42. Qe1 Qb2 43. Ne3 Qe5 44. Nc2 Qf4
45. Qe2 Qc1+ 46. Ne1 Bc7 47. Qf2 Qxa3 48. Nc2 Qc1+ 49. Ne1 Qf4 50. g4 Qxb4 51.
Kg2 Qf4 52. Kf1 a5 53. Nd3 Qc4 54. Qe3 a4 0-1

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.22"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Chirila, Ioan"]
[Black "Wang, Annie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2384"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. b3 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. d4
Bb7 9. Bb2 Nd7 10. Re1 c5 11. e4 N5f6 12. Nc3 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Ne5 {[#] This is
an interesting theoretical position from 2017 US championship between the 2017
US champion and his main rival at the event. GM Wesley So chose the best
continuation, I wonder if either of players had any preparation in that regard.
} 14. f4 $5 {This is a normal reaction.} (14. Qe2 $1 {This is the strongest
move which avoids the queen exchance and prepares white for some activity in
the center.} Bc5 (14... Qxd4 15. Nd5 Qc5 16. Rac1 Qd6 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Nxe7+
Kh8 19. Qc2 {leads to white advantage as he comfortably would penetrate in
black's position via c7.}) 15. Red1 Qe7 16. Na4 Bxd4 17. Bxd4 {And Wesley So
won in the ensuing complex battle. 1-0 (45) So,W (2822)-Onischuk,A (2667)
Saint Louis 2017}) 14... Nc6 {This requires some accuracy and puts the 'burden
of proof' on black.} (14... Ng6 15. f5 {seems scary and in fact proved
fruitful for white in the past, however, with concrete play black should be
fine. After} exf5 16. Nxf5 Bc5+ 17. Kh1 Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Ng4 19. Rf1 Nf2+ 20.
Rxf2 Bxf2 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. exd5 f6 23. d6 {white only has sufficient
initiative for the exchance and not more!}) 15. Nxc6 Bxc6 16. Qe2 b5 $5 {
vacating b6 square.} 17. e5 Qb6+ 18. Kh1 Nd7 19. Ne4 Rac8 20. Red1 Qb7 21. Rac1
Rfd8 22. Nd6 Bxg2+ 23. Qxg2 Qxg2+ $2 {A serious mistake. The endgame is very
bad for black. Annie should have kept the queens on the board.} (23... Rxc1 $1
{an important nuance!} 24. Rxc1 Qb8 25. Qc6 Bxd6 26. exd6 Nb6 27. Qc7 Qa8+ 28.
Kg1 Rc8 29. Qe7 Rxc1+ 30. Bxc1 Nd5 $1 {A very difficult move to see in advance.
Now after} 31. Qd7 b4 32. f5 exf5 33. Bg5 Nb6 34. Qxf5 Qc6 {Black's pieces are
active and white's exposed king gives black enough play to hold comfortably.})
24. Kxg2 Rxc1 (24... Bxd6 25. exd6 f6 {was the last chance but the position is
already very difficult if not lost.}) 25. Rxc1 Bxd6 26. exd6 {The position is
practically lost now.} h6 27. Bd4 Nf6 28. Rc6 Ne4 29. Be5 {unnecessary but it
won't cause any harm.} ({After} 29. Bxa7 Nxd6 (29... Rxd6 30. Rxd6 Nxd6 31. a4
{The a-pawn will at least cost the knight and the game later.}) 30. Bb6 Rd7 31.
a4 {and the a-pawn is unstoppable.}) 29... f6 30. Kf3 Nd2+ 31. Ke2 fxe5 32.
Kxd2 exf4 33. gxf4 Kf7 34. Ke3 Kf6 35. Kd4 g5 36. fxg5+ hxg5 {Chirila is in
complete control and is on his way for a smooth win until...} 37. h3 $4 {
One of those moments when we all think a porphylactic move decides!} (37. Kc5 {
is fast enough!} Ke5 38. b4 {and black is in Zugzwang!}) 37... Rd7 $4 {returns
the favor in a difficult position!} ({I think both players calculated the
following line and deducted that white should be winning:} 37... b4 $1 38. Kc4
({Black would not fall in a Zugzwang anymore!} 38. Ke4 Rd7 39. Ra6 Rh7 {
and neither side can improve!}) 38... Ke5 39. Kxb4 (39. Kc5 Rd7 {Now white is
in Zugzwang!} 40. Ra6 Rd8 41. Rxa7 Rxd6 42. Kxb4 Kd4 43. Rg7 e5 44. Rxg5 e4 {
and black activity and advanced e-pawn secures a draw for her.}) 39... Rxd6 40.
Rxd6 Kxd6 41. Kc3 {White will have a farther past pawn but things are more
complicated than that!} Ke5 42. a4 Kf4 43. b4 e5 $1 44. a5 e4 45. Kd2 Kg3 $1 {
n important tempo threatening Kf2.} 46. Ke3 Kxh3 47. b5 g4 48. b6 g3 {with
eventual draw!}) 38. b4 $1 {an important move!} Rh7 39. Rc3 {prohylactic!} Rh4+
40. Kc5 e5 41. Rd3 Rh8 42. d7 Ke7 43. d8=Q+ $1 {Elegant! The pawn endgame is
winning for white.} Rxd8 44. Rxd8 Kxd8 45. Kd5 Kd7 46. Kxe5 1-0

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.22"]
[Round "3.5"]
[White "Bitoon, Richard"]
[Black "Chirila, Ioan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "2503"]
[BlackElo "2637"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qd8 5. Nf3 g6 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Qe2 Bg7 8.
Ne5 a6 9. Bc4 Nh6 10. d3 Nc6 11. Be3 Nd4 12. Qf2 Bc8 13. O-O-O O-O {[#] The
Philippinese GM is already playing with fire, opting for an overly ambitious
set up with long castle. White is already worse but Chirila puts an end to
white's hope with accurate play} 14. h4 (14. Bb3 b5 {Is bad but more resilient
at least.}) 14... Ng4 15. Nxg4 Bxg4 16. h5 b5 17. Bd5 b4 $1 18. hxg6 bxc3 19.
Bxd4 cxd4 $1 {This move seals the deal.} (19... Bxd4 $6 {causes black some
hassle.} 20. Qh4 h5 21. Qg5 e6 22. Qh6 fxg6 23. Qxg6+ Bg7 24. Bxe6+ Bxe6 25.
Qxe6+ Rf7 26. Rxh5) 20. Bb3 (20. Qh4 h5) 20... h5 21. Rde1 Qd6 22. f5 e5 $1 {
Chirila avoids any final trick with Re6.} 23. gxf7+ Rxf7 24. Kb1 Kf8 25. Bxf7
Kxf7 26. f6 Qb4 27. fxg7+ Kxg7 28. b3 Qa3 {Brutally executed!} 0-1

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.23"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Li, Ruifeng"]
[Black "Chirila, Ioan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2692"]
[BlackElo "2637"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. Nbd2 a5 {The new trend.}
7. Nf1 {Less common but original and interesting. Ruifeng Li is known for his
lack of interest in opening debates.} (7. Bb3 O-O 8. O-O (8. h3 d5 9. Qe2 b5
10. Nf1 Be6 11. Bg5 d4 12. Ng3 dxc3 13. bxc3 b4 14. c4 h6 15. Be3 Nd4 16. Qd1
Re8 17. O-O Ra6 18. Bxd4 Bxd4 19. Nxd4 Kh7 {0-1 (19) Heberla,B (2555)-Dragnev,
V (2458) Katowice 2017}) 8... Be6 9. h3 Bxb3 10. Nxb3 Bb6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4
Qe7 13. Nbd2 Qe6 14. Nc4 Ba7 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Ne3 Ne7 17. g3 Qe6 18. Kg2 d5
19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Qxd5 21. Qe2 Rfe8 22. Qe4 Rad8 23. Rad1 c6 24. Qxd5 cxd5
25. Rfe1 f6 26. Nh4 Kf7 27. Nf5 h5 28. d4 e4 29. Ne3 g6 30. f4 h4 31. g4 Bb8
32. f5 g5 33. Re2 Bf4 34. Kf2 Ke7 35. Ke1 Kd6 36. Kd2 Rc8 37. Kc2 b5 38. a3 b4
39. axb4 axb4 40. Ra1 bxc3 41. Ra6+ Rc6 42. Rxc6+ Kxc6 43. bxc3 Bxe3 44. Rxe3
Ra8 45. Kb2 Kb5 46. Re1 Kc4 47. Re3 Rb8+ 48. Kc2 Rb3 {0-1 (48) Miton,K (2584)
-Sargissian,G (2672) Riadh 2017}) 7... h6 8. Ng3 O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Bb5 Bd7 11.
Ba4 Re8 12. Re1 Qb8 13. d4 Ba7 14. d5 Ne7 15. Bxd7 Nxd7 16. Nh4 Qd8 17. Nh5 Kh7
18. Qg4 (18. Qf3 Rf8 19. Qh3) 18... Ng6 19. Nf5 Nf6 20. Qh3 Nxh5 21. Qxh5 Qf6
22. Bxh6 $5 {Best practical try} ({Even this seemingly strong move would not
yield anything for white. After} 22. g4 Nf4 23. Bxf4 exf4 24. h4 Re5 25. Kg2
Rae8 26. f3 Bc5 27. g5 Qg6 28. Qg4 Be3 {and the position is unclear but
balanced.}) (22. Be3 {Is another solid choice but black is still in control.}
Nf4 23. Bxf4 exf4 24. g3 fxg3 25. hxg3 Qg5 26. Qf3 (26. Qxf7 {loses to} Rf8 27.
Qd7 Rad8 28. Qe6 Rf6 {and next move Rxf5.} 29. Qe7 Rxf5)) 22... gxh6 23. Qxh6+
Kg8 24. Re3 $5 {Forced! Now white will be down a rook for two pawns but the
open f-file and the monster knight on f5 gives white more than enough
compensation.} Bxe3 25. fxe3 c6 $5 {Provocative but playable. Chirila
challenges the pawn on d5 rightaway.} 26. Rf1 cxd5 27. exd5 e4 {maybe a little
risky but accurate.} ({another option could be} 27... Rac8 28. Qh3 (28. Qh5 Kf8
29. h4 Rc4 30. Qh6+ Kg8 31. h5 Rg4 {and black should be able to control
white's initiative.}) 28... Kf8 29. Nh6 {runs into} Nf4 30. exf4 exf4 31. Ng4
Qg7 32. Nh6 Qf6) 28. Qh3 Kf8 29. Qh6+ Kg8 30. Qh3 Kf8 31. Nh6 Qg7 32. Rxf7+
Qxf7 33. Nxf7 Kxf7 34. Qd7+ Re7 35. Qxd6 {[#] A complex position has ensued.
White has a bit more material but black's pieces find perfect harmony almost
instantly!} Ra6 $1 {simple and effective!} 36. Qd8 Ne5 37. Qh8 {This move is
ok but Ruifeng Li shows signs of overpushing in this position.} (37. h3 a4 38.
Kh2 {was safer.}) 37... Rg6 38. Qh5 $2 {White traps his queen voluntarily!} Kg7
39. h3 $4 {loses the queen on spot!} (39. d6 Rxd6 40. h3 {was a must!}) 39...
Nf3+ (39... Nf3+ 40. Kf1 Rg5 {Or Re5.The queen is trapped!} (40... Re5)) 0-1

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.24"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Chirila, Ioan"]
[Black "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2624"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3k1nr/pp2bppp/1qp1n3/3pN2b/3P4/4Q1PP/PP2PPB1/RNBR2K1 b kq - 0 12"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[#]} 12... Nh6 $2 {Black's last move is serious mistake. A knight on the rim
is indeed dim!} 13. g4 $5 {enterprising and principled.} Bg5 $2 {Serious
blunder.} (13... Bg6 14. f4 Rd8 15. Nc3 O-O {and f5 is not really dangerous
because black can take on f5 with the bishop.} 16. f5) 14. Qa3 $1 {I totally
missed it! Now I cannot castle!} Be7 $4 {A blunder that loses on spot! I
completely missed white's reply!} (14... Bxc1 15. Rxc1 Bg6 16. e3 {Is really
bad but far from lost.}) 15. Qa4 $1 {Here is the point! The pawn on d5 is
hanging.} f6 16. Bxd5 fxe5 17. Bxe6 Bf7 18. Qc4 Bxe6 19. Qxe6 exd4 20. Bg5 Ng8
(20... Qc5 21. Bxe7 Qxe7 22. Qxe7+ Kxe7 23. Rxd4 {is a healthy pawn up in the
endgame but I lacked the motivation to defend this so I let the eventual
champion to brutally checkmate my king!}) 21. Nd2 c5 22. Qe5 Nf6 23. Ne4 Qc6
24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qh5+ Kf8 26. Ng3 Qe8 27. Qh6+ Kg8 28. Nf5 Qf7 29. e3 Bf8 30.
exd4 Qg6 31. Qf4 h5 32. dxc5 hxg4 33. hxg4 {Flawless play by Chirila.} 1-0

[Event "National Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.24"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Swiercz, Dariusz"]
[Black "Chirila, Ioan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C48"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2637"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[PlyCount "158"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 $5 {A bit of change on Chirila's part. He opts for super
solid, Petroff or Russian defense. This might have come as a surprise to
Swiercz.} 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bd6 $5 {Either this is Chirila's main choice or he
was not prepared for this but lines line Nd4 or Bc5 with Nd4 or even Bb4 are
somewhat considered more solid.} (4... Nd4) (4... Bc5) 5. d3 a6 6. Bxc6 $5 {
Swiercz decides to play a long game.} (6. Ba4 h6 7. a3 O-O 8. g4 $5 {is a
risky line which Swiercz may have been interested in but Chirila could have
gone down a different path.}) 6... dxc6 7. h3 Nd7 {A standard way to play in
such positions. The knight wants to go to f8 and then e6 and black would love
to place his pawn on f6. A well protected center is what black wants in here!}
8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O c5 {avoiding d4 and preparing the Nb8-c6 maneuver which is a
bit ambitious but typical for such positions.} 10. Nd2 Re8 (10... Nb8 11. Nc4
Nc6 12. Nxd6 cxd6 13. f4 {is not what Chirila really wants.}) 11. Nc4 Nf8 12.
Nxd6 cxd6 13. f4 {Compared to the other line, the knight o f8 is placed much
nicer and offers black better defensive possiblities. White has a small but
long-lasting initiative.} exf4 14. Bxf4 Ng6 15. Bg3 Be6 16. Qf3 {stops d5.} Qd7
17. Rae1 (17. a4 Rad8 18. Qf2 f6 19. b3 b6 {is similar to the game.}) 17...
Rad8 18. b3 f6 19. Re3 Ne7 ({I am really curious to know why Chirila did not
play} 19... Ne5) 20. Rfe1 Nc6 {Now the knight wants to land on d4.} 21. Qf2 Nd4
$6 {A bit reckless} 22. Nd5 $1 {now the knight on d4 is going to feel very
uncomfortable. d6 is a target and now white can claim his advantage.} Nc6 $2 {
This is too much!} (22... Qf7 23. c3 Nc6 24. c4 b5 {and black should be able
to hold this position.}) 23. Nf4 (23. Nxf6+ gxf6 24. Bh4 {is what engines cry
for!} Bf7 25. Bxf6 Bg6 ({Otherwise.} 25... Rc8 26. h4 Bg6 27. Rg3 Re6 28. Bb2 {
and it seems white will recoup the sacrificed pawn and remains a pawn up.}) 26.
Bxd8 Qxd8 27. Rf1 Ne5 {and white is better but practically black is not
without a chance.}) 23... Bf7 24. Qd2 Ne5 25. Rf1 Ng6 26. c4 Ne5 27. Ne2 b5 28.
Nc3 bxc4 29. bxc4 Rb8 30. Bxe5 Rxe5 31. Rg3 Qe7 {black has completley
equalized.} 32. Nd1 Rb4 33. Qf4 Rg5 34. Rxg5 fxg5 35. Qf2 Be6 36. Ne3 h6 $6 {
unnecessary but understandable in time pressure.} (36... Rb8 {and black should
hold without any difficultly.}) 37. Nf5 Qd7 $2 {a serious blunder.} (37... Bxf5
38. Qxf5 Rb8 {and black is still fine!}) 38. Nxh6+ $1 {Now the king is weak!}
gxh6 39. Qf8+ Kh7 40. Rf6 Qg7 {A sad necessity!} 41. Qxg7+ Kxg7 42. Rxe6 Ra4
43. Kf2 Rxa2+ 44. Kf3 a5 45. Rxd6 a4 {[#] This endgame is difficult but indeed
winning for white.} 46. e5 $1 {passed pawn should be pushed!} Rd2 47. g4 a3 48.
Rd7+ Kf8 49. Ke4 a2 50. Ra7 Ke8 51. Kd5 $1 {Activity is more important than
material in the rook endgames!} Rxd3+ 52. Ke6 Kf8 53. Rxa2 Rxh3 {Now black is
totally busted but Chirila is showing perseverance and Swiercz is getting too
comfortable!} 54. Ra5 $2 {this does not throw the win but it is already a bad
sign!} (54. Ra8+ Kg7 55. Ra7+ Kg6 56. Ra6 Kg7 57. Kd7 {and the e-pawn will
easily be promoted.}) 54... Rg3 55. Kf5 $2 {Another bad move but white is
still within the realm of "winning"!} (55. Kd6 Rxg4 56. Ra8+ Kg7 57. e6 {
Is indeed winning!}) 55... Rf3+ 56. Ke6 Rf4 57. Rxc5 Rxg4 58. Rc7 $4 {This is
impossible to explain!} (58. Rc8+ Kg7 59. c5 {and the c-pawn and e-pawn are
way too fast!} Rg1 60. Rd8 g4 61. Rd4 h5 62. c6 g3 63. Rc4 g2 64. c7 Rf1 65.
c8=Q g1=Q {and both players manage to promote but it is white to move and he
wins!} 66. Rc7+ Kh6 67. Qh8+ Kg5 68. Rg7+) 58... Rf4 $1 {controlling key
square on f6! Black is safe now!} 59. c5 g4 60. Rh7 g3 61. Rxh6 Rg4 62. Rh1 g2
63. Rg1 Ke8 64. c6 Kd8 65. Kd6 Rd4+ 66. Kc5 Rg4 67. Kd6 Rd4+ 68. Ke6 Rd2 69.
Ra1 Kc7 70. Ra7+ Kxc6 71. Rg7 {Swiercz tries in vain! The position is simply
drawn!} Kc5 72. Rg4 Rf2 73. Kd7 Rf7+ 74. Ke8 Ra7 $1 ({Even} 74... Rf2 75. e6
Kd6 76. e7 Rd2 {is a draw but Chirila puts an end to Swiercz hopes!}) 75. Rxg2
Kd5 76. Re2 Ke6 77. Kd8 Ra5 78. Kc7 Rxe5 79. Rxe5+ Kxe5 1/2-1/2

[Event "US Women's Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.20"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Zhou, Zijun"]
[Black "Heredia, Carla"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "1963"]
[BlackElo "2268"]
[Annotator "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1p2kp2/7p/7P/1P1Npq2/1KPn4/P1Q5/8 b - - 0 45"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{In this position, with the e and f pawns passed connected, black is close to
winning, but unexpectedly, Carla with the wish of starting to push her f pawn,
placed her queen on a fork pattern.} 45... Qe3 $4 {and after} 46. Nf5+ {
she resigned. I remember having had these blind sides myself, so as an advice,
when winning, be sure to stay extra alert} 1-0

[Event "US Women's Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.20"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Norovsambuu, Badamkhand"]
[Black "Foisor, Sabina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2076"]
[BlackElo "2394"]
[Annotator "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qk2r/pp3pp1/1np1b2p/3pP3/8/2NBP3/PP3PPP/2RQ1RK1 b kq - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[#] This position happened after a queen's gambit and instead of following my
development, I chose to play on the queen side without a proper development
and without taking care of my king's safety. My game from here on is a perfect
example of how not to play, so I will let you see it until the end although it
is shameful for me} 15... Nd7 $2 (15... O-O {would have led to a normal
position}) 16. f4 g6 17. Kh1 Qb6 18. e4 d4 19. Na4 Qb4 20. a3 Qb3 {probably
the final mistake which traps my queen. I would be worse even if I retreat to
e7, but at least I could try to come back into the game.} 21. Bc2 Qe3 22. Bd3 {
now white's idea is to trap my queen either withRc2-e2 or with Qc2 and Re1,
and I can't really escape ...} f5 23. exf5 gxf5 24. Qc2 (24. Bxf5 {would have
led to a faster win for white} Bxf5 25. Qh5+ Kd8 26. Qxf5 {and aside from the
pawn down black's king is out in the open and all pieces out of play.}) {
but this worked, just as nice and my opponent played without giving me any
chance to come back into the game.} 24... Bd5 25. Rce1 Qh3 26. Bxf5 d3 27. Bxh3
dxc2 28. Rc1 b5 29. Bxd7+ Kxd7 30. Nc5+ Kc7 31. Rxc2 Rhg8 32. Kg1 h5 33. g3 h4
34. Kf2 hxg3+ 35. hxg3 Rh8 36. Ke3 Rh3 37. Rg1 Rg8 38. Ne4 Bxe4 39. Kxe4 Rgxg3
40. Rxg3 Rxg3 41. Kf5 a5 42. e6 b4 43. axb4 axb4 44. Kf6 Re3 45. f5 b3 46. Rd2
c5 47. e7 c4 48. Kf7 c3 49. bxc3 1-0

[Event "US Women's Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.21"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Norovsambuu, Badamkhand"]
[Black "Wu, Rochelle"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2076"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[Annotator "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"]
[PlyCount "159"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3
Be6 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bh4 Nbd7 11. O-O Rc8 12. Ne5 $6 {[#] I think this is a
dubious choice by white in this position. White should instead focus on the
queen side preparing the minority attack. Rochelle continued very well with}
Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4 {Now the e5 pawn is hard to protect} 14. Bg3 Bh4 $1 {trying
to undermine the defense of the e5 pawn as white is unable to support it with
f4} 15. Bf4 g5 16. f3 gxf4 17. fxg4 Qb6 18. Rf3 {This is probably the first
moment where Rochelle hurried thinking she might be winning an exchange} Bxg4 (
18... fxe3 {would have given her a nail in her opponent's position as g4 can
be captured later} 19. Ne2 Bf2+ 20. Kh1 Qc7 $1 21. h3 Qxe5 {now white's Rf3 is
dead and black's central pawn will start marching}) {Following her opponent's
inaccuracy, Badamkhand focuses on saving e3.} 19. Na4 $1 Qc7 20. Rxf4 h5 21.
Bf5 Bg5 22. Bxg4 Bxf4 23. Bxc8 $6 {White tries to equalize a little too soon
and fails to see a winning continuation for black.} (23. exf4 $1 hxg4 {and} 24.
Qf5 {would have given white sufficient compensation as black's king is weak
and pieces can't get active easily.}) 23... Bxe3+ 24. Kh1 Qxc8 ({while it
might not seem natural} 24... Rxc8 {was the way to go, bringing the rook to
support its majority and keeping the queen attacking e5. The attempt to defend
isn't going to last long as after} 25. Qf5 (25. e6 {an attempt to perpetual
can be stopped with} Qe7 26. exf7+ Qxf7 {and again black has an extra pawn and
much better bishop}) 25... Re8 {white loses e5 and with an extra pawn and much
stronger bishop, black would most likely win the game.}) {the game continued}
25. Qe2 d4 26. Qxh5 Qe6 27. Nc5 {now white managed to bring their knight into
play and while there were still a few mistakes on both sides} Qg6 28. Qf3 Re8
29. Nd7 Re7 30. Nf6+ Kg7 31. Ng4 Bg5 32. Rd1 c5 33. Rd3 Rd7 (33... f5 {would
have posed white some serious troubles}) 34. b3 {the following part was played
brilliantly by Rochelle} b5 $1 35. Qd1 c4 36. bxc4 bxc4 37. e6 Rb7 38. Ne5 Qxe6
39. Nxc4 Qxc4 40. h4 Qxa2 $2 {and now unexpectedly, she gave up the piece back
probably scared of some perpetual check, but 40...Be3 keeps the rook closed
and after 41.Qg4+ Kh6 the king is safe from checks, plus, there's no way for
white to activate the rook after} (40... Be3 41. Qg4+ Kh6) 41. Qg4 {Badamkhand
got her piece back and fought back to save the game leaving her countryman and
friend, Sana (Tsogtsaikhan Saikhanchimeg) take the sole lead:} Qb1+ $2 {
Throws away most of black's advantage} ({After} 41... Qd5 42. hxg5 Rb1+ 43. Kh2
Qd6+ 44. g3 Rb4 {Blacks endgame should be winning after few consolidating move.
}) 42. Rd1 Qg6 43. hxg5 Qd6 44. Qxd4+ Qxd4 45. Rxd4 Rb5 46. Rd6 a5 47. Ra6 Rxg5
48. Kg1 Rf5 49. Kh2 f6 50. Kg3 Kg6 51. Kg4 Rb5 52. Kh4 Kf5 53. g4+ Ke5 54. Kh5
Kf4+ 55. Kh4 f5 56. g5 Rb1 57. Kh5 Rg1 (57... Rh1+ 58. Kg6 Rg1 59. Rxa5 Rxg5+
60. Kf6 $1 $11 Rh5 61. Ra4+ Kg3 62. Kg6) 58. Rxa5 Rxg5+ 59. Kh4 Rg4+ 60. Kh3
Kg5 61. Ra3 Rb4 62. Kg3 Rg4+ 63. Kh3 Rh4+ 64. Kg3 f4+ 65. Kg2 Kg4 66. Ra8 f3+
67. Kf2 Rh2+ 68. Kf1 Rh4 69. Rg8+ Kf4 70. Rf8+ Kg3 71. Rg8+ Rg4 72. Rxg4+ Kxg4
73. Kf2 Kf4 74. Kf1 Ke3 75. Ke1 Kf4 76. Kf2 Kg4 77. Kf1 Kg3 78. Kg1 f2+ 79. Kf1
Kg4 80. Kxf2 1/2-1/2

[Event "US Women's Open"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2018.06.21"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Wu, Rochelle"]
[Black "Tsogtsaikhan, Saikhan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "2185"]
[Annotator "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"]
[PlyCount "170"]
[EventDate "2018.06.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 b6 5. e4 Bb7 ({I believe} 5... c5 {
is a slightly better move order to avoid the e5 lines, but Sana chose Bb7 first
}) 6. Bd3 (6. e5 {is my personal preference for white as it leads to a pretty
confortable position after} Ne4 7. Nf3 f5 8. Bd3 O-O 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 d6
11. O-O {and the Ne4 will eventually be chased away and white will remain with
the pair of bishops}) {Rochelle chose another interesting idea} 6... c5 7. d5
d6 8. Nge2 Nbd7 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Nxc3 Ne5 11. Be2 Bc8 12. f4 Ng6 13. O-O O-O 14.
Be3 ({I would have preferred} 14. dxe6 {first to leave black with the d6
weakness} fxe6 15. Be3 {followed by Rad1 and putting pressure on the d file})
14... exd5 15. cxd5 a6 {while} 16. a4 {seems to natural approach to stop b5,} (
16. b4 {was the alternative for white, to stop the b5 idea by keeping the
pressure in c5 and then improve the position placing the rooks on the central
files and eventually push e5 when ready.}) 16... Re8 17. Rae1 Bd7 18. Bd3 b5 {
after a slightly difficult opening where white seemed to have had the
advantage, Sana managed to equalize} 19. axb5 (19. b3 {seems more reasonable
not to open black's rook}) 19... axb5 {now black's threat is b4 and} 20. e5 {
seems the way to go, but unfortunately while loses a pawn after the
complications end} dxe5 21. fxe5 Rxe5 22. Bxc5 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 b4 24. Ne4 Nxd5
25. Bc4 Be6 26. Rd1 {seeking the compensation by putting the pressure on the d
file} Qh4 27. g3 Qh5 28. Be2 Qf5 29. Bd4 b3 30. Qb1 h6 31. Rf1 Qh3 32. Qd1 Rd8
33. Qd2 Nde7 34. Qc3 Rc8 35. Qd3 {a mistake by white which would have allowed
35...Bc4 36. Qf3 and now 36...Bd5 adding the queen to the tactical mating
ideas on the long diagonal followed by Rc2} Bd5 (35... Bc4 36. Qf3 Bd5) 36. Bc3
Qe6 {a strange retreat by the Mongolian player,} (36... f5 {would have brought
her closer to the win after} 37. Qd4 Rxc3 38. bxc3 Bxe4 39. Bf3 Bxf3 40. Rxf3
b2 {the knights and the b pawn are killing}) 37. Qd4 f6 {Although white has to
try to defend their king after weakening it with g3, I think white should take
the chance to weaken black's king as well and try the following idea} 38. Bf3 (
38. Nxf6+ gxf6 39. Bg4 {forcing black to trade queens or else the attack on g7
could not be saved} Qe4 40. Qxe4 Bxe4 41. Bxc8 Nxc8 42. Rxf6 {which would
probably lead to a draw}) 38... Rc4 ({now} 38... Ne5 {first and then Rc4 would
have stopped the sacrifices in f6 and continue the piece improvement for black}
) 39. Nc5 (39. Nxf6+ {was again possible} gxf6 40. Bxd5 Qxd5 41. Qxf6 Qc5+ 42.
Rf2 {and white is threatening mate, which can only be stopped by} Rxc3 {
but after} 43. Qf7+ {white has perpetual}) {Rochelle chose Nc5 instead trying
to trade queens another way, but Sana could have avoided it by playing Qd6,
instead she chose} 39... Rxd4 {which led to an even position} 40. Nxe6 Rd3 41.
Bxd5 Nxd5 42. Nc5 Re3 43. Bd4 Re2 44. Nxb3 {After a difficult position,
Rochelle was able to recapture her pawn and was close to drawing the game.
Although, at this point Ramya had already won her game and with a draw Sana
would have been first, she decided to continue to fight. Last year, although
she had a perfect score after four rounds, she lost her last round, and it was
Nazi Paikidze who brought home the trophy. This year, she put it in her mind
that she would be the one winning it and she wanted to do it in style} Ne5 45.
Rf2 Re1+ 46. Kg2 Ng4 47. Rd2 Nde3+ 48. Bxe3 Rxe3 49. Nc5 Re1 50. h3 Ne5 51. Rc2
Rb1 52. g4 Kf7 53. b3 Nc6 54. Rd2 Ne5 55. Ra2 Nc6 56. Rd2 Ne5 57. Kg3 Kg6 58.
Rc2 Rg1+ 59. Kf2 Rb1 60. Rc3 Rb2+ 61. Kg3 h5 62. Ne6 hxg4 63. hxg4 Rb1 64. Nf4+
Kh6 65. Ng2 Rb2 66. Nh4 g6 67. Nf3 Nxf3 68. Kxf3 Kg5 69. Rd3 Rb1 70. Rd5+ Kh4 {
[#] After a gruelling over four hours play and after saving the game a few
times, Rochelle succumbed to the pressure and panicked in this position trying
to save her b pawn and not realizing that the g pawn is more important to be
kept on the board.} 71. Rd3 $4 (71. Rd6 {would have saved the game as} Rxb3+
72. Kg2 Kg5 73. Rd4 {and there's no way for black to progress the position
unless she plays f5, but in that case we'll have a simple Phillidor position.})
{Sana answered} 71... Rf1+ {immediately winning the g pawn, the game, and
tournament.} 72. Kg2 Rf4 73. Rd6 Kxg4 74. b4 g5 75. b5 f5 76. b6 Rb4 77. Kf2 f4
78. Kg2 Rb2+ 79. Kf1 Kg3 80. Rd3+ f3 81. Rd1 Rxb6 82. Rc1 g4 83. Rd1 Rh6 84.
Kg1 f2+ 85. Kf1 Rh1+ 0-1

[Event "Puerto Rico"]
[Site "Puerto Rico"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nicolas Rossolimo"]
[Black "Paul Reissmann"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1967.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 {[#]} 6. cxd4 Bb4+ (6...
Bb6) (6... Be7) 7. Bd2 (7. Nc3) (7. Nbd2) 7... Bxd2+ (7... Nxe4) (7... d5) 8.
Nbxd2 (8. Qxd2) (8. Nfxd2) 8... d5 (8... Nxe4 9. Nxe4 d5) 9. exd5 (9. Bd3) 9...
Nxd5 (9... Ne7) (9... Nb4 10. Qa4+) 10. Qb3 (10. O-O) 10... Nce7 (10... Na5 11.
Qa4+ Nc6) 11. O-O c6 12. Rfe1 O-O 13. a4 (13. Ne4) (13. Rac1) 13... b6 (13...
Rb8) 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. a5 Rc8 16. Ne4 Qc7 17. a6 Ba8 18. Qh3 Nf4 19. Qg4 Ned5 20.
Ra3 Ne6 21. Bxd5 cxd5 22. Nf6+ Kh8 23. Qg6 Qc2 (23... hxg6 24. Rh3#) (23...
fxg6 24. Nxg6+ hxg6 25. Rh3#) (23... gxf6 24. Qxf6+ Ng7 25. Rg3) (23... Ng5 24.
Qxg5) 24. Rh3 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM I"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r7/6k1/8/4q3/8/3N4/4nPPP/3Q1R1K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Qxh2+ $8 2. Kxh2 Rh8# {[%eval -32767,0]} 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM II"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1k6/8/7q/1r6/5P2/3Q1P1P/5R1K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Qxf3+ 2. Kg1 Rg4# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM III"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r2/8/8/8/3nn3/8/3k2PP/R4RK1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "5"]

{[#]} 1... Ne2+ 2. Kh1 N4g3+ 3. hxg3 Rh8# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM IV"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/6b1/5r2/8/8/PP1n4/K1R4R b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Nb3+ 2. axb3 (2. Kb1 Rf1#) 2... Ra5# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM V"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2q2r1r/p1b5/k1B5/p1QP4/8/8/5PP1/R4RK1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "9"]

{[#]} 1... Rh1+ 2. Kxh1 Rh8+ 3. Kg1 Rh1+ 4. Kxh1 Qh8+ 5. Kg1 Qh2# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM VI"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r2/6k1/8/3n1q2/8/6PP/3N2K1/2Q2RR1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "5"]

{[#]} 1... Ne3+ 2. Kh2 (2. Kh1 Qxh3#) 2... Qxh3+ 3. Kxh3 Rh8# 0-1

[Event "Zurich Candidates"]
[Site "Zurich SUI"]
[Date "1953.10.10"]
[Round "22"]
[White "David Bronstein"]
[Black "Gideon Stahlberg"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D36"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "1953.08.30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. e3 c6 8.
Qc2 Nf8 9. Bd3 Ne6 10. h4 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. O-O-O Nc7 13. h5 Bg4 14. Kb1 O-O
15. Ne2 Nb5 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Qb6 18. Bxb5 Qxb5 19. f3 Bf5 20. Qxf5 Qxe2
21. Rhe1 Qf2 22. Qg4 f5 23. Qh3 Rad8 24. f4 d4 25. exd4 Qxf4 26. Qb3+ Rf7 27.
d5 cxd5 28. e6 Re7 29. Rxd5 Rxd5 30. Qxd5 Qh4 31. Qe5 Qxh5 32. Qb8+ Kh7 33. Qd6
Qg5 34. g3 Qf6 35. a3 h5 36. Ka2 g5 37. Qd5 Kg6 38. Qd8 Kg7 39. Qd6 Kg6 40. Qd8
Kh6 41. Qd5 f4 42. gxf4 Qxf4 43. Re5 Qf6 44. Qe4 b5 45. Qe2 a6 46. a4 bxa4 47.
Qe3 h4 48. Re4 Kg6 49. Qe2 h3 50. Re3 Kg7 51. Qh2 Rb7 52. Qe2 Re7 53. Qh2 a3
54. Kxa3 {[#]} Rxe6 (54... g4 55. Qd6 Rb7 56. Re2 (56. Qd2 Qxb2+ 57. Qxb2+ Rxb2
58. Kxb2 (58. e7 Rb8) (58. Re4 g3 59. Rg4+ Kf6 60. Rxg3 Rh2 (60... h2 61. Rh3
Rg2 62. Rh6+ Ke7 63. Kb3) 61. Kb3 Kxe6 {[#]}) 58... Kf8 59. Re2 g3 60. Re1 h2)
56... Qf3+) 55. Qc7+ (55. Qxh3 Qe7+) (55. Rxh3 Re1 56. Qc7+ (56. Ka2 Qe6+ 57.
Rb3 Re3) 56... Qe7+ 57. Qxe7+ Rxe7) 55... Qf7 (55... Kg6 56. Qc2+ (56. Rxh3
Qe7+) 56... Kf7 57. Rxh3 Re1 58. Qh7+ Kf8 59. Qh5 Qe7+ (59... Ra1+ 60. Kb3 Qe6+
61. Kc2) 60. Kb3 Re3+ 61. Rxe3 Qxe3+ 62. Kb4) 56. Qc3+ Rf6 (56... Kf8) 57. Rxh3
Qe7+ 58. Ka2 Qe6+ 59. Ka1 Kg8 60. Rh1 Qc6 61. Qh3 Qa4+ 62. Kb1 Qe4+ 63. Ka1
1/2-1/2

[Event "New York Manhattan"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1956.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Robert James Fischer"]
[Black "Samuel Baron"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C98"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "1956.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Nf1 Be6 15.
Ne3 Rad8 16. Qe2 Rd7 17. Ng5 Rfd8 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. a4 c4 20. axb5 axb5 21. b3
Nd4 22. cxd4 exd4 23. bxc4 dxe3 24. Bxe3 bxc4 25. Ra6 e5 26. Bb6 Qc8 27. Ra4
Rd2 28. Qxc4+ Qxc4 29. Rxc4 Rb8 30. Be3 Rd7 31. Ra1 Rbb7 32. Ra5 Bd6 33. Rc6
Bb8 34. Rb6 h6 35. g3 Kf7 36. Rxb7 Rxb7 37. Kg2 Rb2 38. Bd3 Rb4 39. Kf3 Rb2 40.
Bc4+ Kg6 41. Ra6 Rb4 42. Rc6 Ra4 43. Be6 Rxe4 {[#]} 44. Bc4 Rxe3+ 45. Kxe3 Ba7+
46. Kf3 e4+ 47. Ke2 Bd4 48. Rc7 h5 49. Bb3 Bb6 50. Rb7 Bc5 51. Bc2 Kh6 52. Rc7
Bf8 53. Rc4 1-0

[Event "World Championship 34th-KK4"]
[Site "Seville"]
[Date "1987.12.16"]
[Round "23"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2740"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "1987.10.12"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "24"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "MainBase"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. d4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. e3 Bg7 8.
Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Qc7 10. Rb1 b6 11. Qe2 Rd8 12. Be4 Ba6 (12... Nc6 13. d5 f5 14.
dxc6 fxe4 15. Qc4+) (12... Bb7 13. Bxb7 Qxb7 14. dxc5 Bxc3 15. e4) 13. c4 Nc6
14. d5 f5 15. Bd3 e5 16. e4 Nd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Bg5 Rf8 19. Rfc1 Rac8 (19...
f4 20. c5) 20. Bd2 Rf7 21. a4 fxe4 (21... f4) 22. Qxe4 Rcf8 23. f3 Bc8 24. a5 (
24. d6) 24... Bf5 25. Qe2 Re8 26. Be4 Bf8 27. Qd3 Bc5 28. Ra1 Qd7 29. Re1 Qc8
30. Kh1 Rc7 31. Rab1 Kg7 32. Rec1 Bxe4 (32... Rf7) 33. fxe4 Rf7 34. Qg3 bxa5
35. Bxa5 Rf4 36. Re1 Qa6 37. Bd2 Rf7 38. Qd3 Ref8 39. h3 Rf2 40. Ra1 Qf6 41.
Rg1 (41. Reb1) 41... h5 (41... Rb8 42. Ra5 Rb2 43. Bc1 Bb6 (43... Qb6 44. Rxc5
Qxc5 45. Bxb2 Rxb2 46. Qg3) 44. Bxb2 Bxa5 45. Ba3 Rd2 46. Qb3 d3 47. Bc1) (
41... g5 42. Be1 Rb2 43. Bg3 h5 44. Rgf1) 42. Ra5 (42. Be1 Rf1 43. Bg3 Rxg1+
44. Rxg1 h4 45. Bh2 Kh7) 42... Qe7 43. Rb1 (43. Be1 Rb2 (43... R8f3 44. gxf3
Qh4 45. f4) 44. Bg3 h4 (44... Bb6 45. d6 (45. Qa3)) 45. Bh2 (45. Bxe5+ Qxe5 46.
Rxc5 Rbf2) (45. Rxc5 hxg3 46. d6 Qh4) 45... Rc8 46. Rf1 Qg5) 43... h4 44. Ra6
R8f7 45. Rc6 (45. Re6 Qf8 46. Rg1 Kh7 47. Be1 Rf1 48. Rxe5 (48. Bxh4 Rxg1+ 49.
Kxg1 Qh6) 48... Rxg1+ 49. Kxg1 Rf1+ 50. Qxf1 d3+ 51. Bf2 d2 52. Rf5 gxf5) 45...
Qf8 46. Rg1 Be7 47. Re6 Kh7 48. Be1 (48. Rxe5 Bd6 49. Rh5+ gxh5 50. e5+ Kg8 51.
exd6 Qxd6 52. Qxd4 Qf6) 48... Rf1 49. Bd2 Bc5 50. Rc6 R7f3 (50... a5 51. Bxa5
R7f3 52. gxf3 Rxf3 53. Rc7+ Kh8 54. Rc8 Rxd3 55. Rxf8+ Bxf8 56. Kh2 (56. Bc7))
(50... Bb4 51. Ra6 (51. Qe2 Bxd2 52. Qxd2 Rxg1+ 53. Kxg1 Rf1+ 54. Kh2 Qa3 55.
Rc7+ Kg8 56. Qg5 Qg3+ 57. Qxg3 hxg3+ 58. Kxg3 d3) (51. Bg5 Be1 52. Ra6 (52. c5
Rxg1+ 53. Kxg1 Bf2+ 54. Kh1 Bg3) 52... Rxg1+ 53. Kxg1 Bf2+ 54. Kh1 Bg3 55. Ra1
Rf2 56. Rg1 Qb4) 51... Bc5) 51. gxf3 Rxf3 {[#]} 52. Rc7+ (52. Qe2) 52... Kh8
53. Bh6 Rxd3 54. Bxf8 Rxh3+ 55. Kg2 Rg3+ 56. Kh2 Rxg1 57. Bxc5 (57. Kxg1) 57...
d3 (57... d3 58. Be3) 58. Be3 (58. Bb4) 1-0

[Event "Foxwoods Open"]
[Site "Ledyard, CT"]
[Date "2009.04.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Black "Robert Lee Hess"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A19"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2545"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2009.04.??"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 c5 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nxe5 8.
Ndb5 f6 9. Bf4 a6 10. Nd6+ Bxd6 11. Qxd6 Nf7 12. Qa3 Ne7 13. Nb5 e5 14. Bd2 d6
15. Bb4 Nf5 16. O-O-O Be6 17. Nxd6+ N7xd6 18. Bxd6 Nxd6 19. Rxd6 Qe7 20. Be2
Rc8 21. b3 Kf7 22. Kb2 Rhd8 23. Rhd1 Rxd6 24. Rxd6 Rd8 25. c5 {[#]} a5 (25...
Qc7) 26. Bh5+ (26. Qxa5 Rxd6 27. cxd6 Qxd6 28. Qc3) (26. Bc4 Bxc4 27. bxc4 Qc7
(27... e4 28. Qxa5 Rc8) 28. Qd3 Rxd6 29. cxd6 Qc5) 26... g6 27. Bf3 Qc7 28.
Rxd8 Qxd8 29. Kc1 Bf5 30. b4 (30. g4 Qd3 (30... Bd3 31. Qa4 Qc7 32. Kd2 Ba6 33.
Bd5+ Kf8 34. c6 Qd8 35. Qa3+ Ke8 36. Qc5 b6) 31. gxf5 Qc3+ 32. Kb1 Qxf3) (30.
Qa4 Qd3 31. Qc4+ Qxc4+ 32. bxc4 e4) 30... Qd4 31. bxa5 Qxf2 32. Qb3+ Kg7 33.
Qxb7+ Kh6 34. Qb2 Qxc5+ 35. Kd1 e4 (35... Qxa5 36. Qd2+ Qxd2+ 37. Kxd2) 36. Be2
e3 37. Ke1 Qxa5+ 38. Kf1 Qc7 39. Qd4 Qc1+ 40. Qd1 Qb2 41. a4 Qb4 42. Kg1 Bd7
43. Qa1 Qf4 44. Qf1 Qxf1+ 45. Kxf1 Bxa4 46. Bd3 Bd1 47. Be2 Bc2 48. Bb5 f5 49.
g3 g5 0-1

[Event "Seattle Spring Open "]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2000.03.25"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bryan Black"]
[Black "William Schill"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1876"]
[BlackElo "2276"]
[Annotator "Schill, William"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[SourceDate "2018.08.09"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6 6. O-O Nge7 7. e5 O-O 8. d3
d5 9. exd6 Nf5 10. Ne4 Nxd6 11. Nxd6 Qxd6 12. c3 b6 13. Be3 Bb7 14. Qe2 Rad8
15. Rad1 Na5 (15... Qc7) 16. d4 Nxc4 17. Qxc4 Bd5 18. Qe2 c4 19. Ne5 b5 20. Bd2
f6 21. Ng4 Qc6 22. Rfe1 Rfe8 23. Qf2 Kf7 24. Bc1 h5 25. Ne3 Be4 26. a4 a6 27.
axb5 axb5 28. Nc2 Bf8 29. Re3 Bd5 30. Rf1 Bd6 31. Ne1 Kg7 32. Qd2 Rh8 33. Qe2
Rde8 34. Qf2 h4 35. Rh3 Qc7 36. Rxh4 Rxh4 37. Qxh4 Rh8 38. Qf2 g5 39. g3 g4 40.
f5 e5 41. Qe2 exd4 42. Qxg4+ Kf8 43. Nf3 d3 (43... Rg8) 44. Be3 Rg8 45. Qd4
Bxf3 46. Qxf6+ Ke8 47. Qe6+ Kf8 48. Bh6+ Rg7 49. Bxg7+ Kxg7 50. f6+ Kf8 51.
Rxf3 Qc6 52. Qg4 Bc5+ 53. Kg2 0-1

