[Event "US Open"]
[Site "St. Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "1960.08.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Byrne, Robert"]
[Black "Contoski, Victor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1960.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 d5 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. O-O h6 10. Bh4 Nbd7 11. Ne5 Be7 12. f4 Ne4 13. Bxe4 dxe4 14. Bxe7 Qxe7
15. Nxd7 Qxd7 16. f5 Rac8 17. f6 g6 18. Qe1 Qe6 19. Qh4 Kh7 20. Rad1 Rfd8 21.
Rf2 Rd7 22. g4 c5 23. g5 h5 24. Rfd2 Rcd8 25. Qf4 {[#]} Bc6 26. Kf2 Qh3 27. d5
Qf5 28. Kg3 Bb7 29. Qxf5 gxf5 30. Kf4 Kg6 31. d6 Ba6 32. Nd5 Bd3 33. Ne7+ Kh7
34. Nxf5 Kg6 35. Rg1 Rxd6 36. Ne7+ Kh7 37. g6+ fxg6 38. Rxg6 Rf8 39. Rg7+ Kh6
40. Nf5# 1-0

[Event "Santa Monica Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1958.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lieber, Fritz"]
[Black "Kempner, Andy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A91"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "1960.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 Be7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nh3 d6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Nf4
Nb6 9. b3 Qe8 10. e4 fxe4 11. Nxe4 c6 12. Ng5 Bd8 13. Re1 e5 14. dxe5 dxe5 15.
Ba3 {[#]} Bc7 16. Bxf8 Kxf8 17. Qc2 g6 18. Qb2 Bf5 19. Qa3+ Kg7 20. Bh3 Bxh3
21. Nfxh3 Kh8 22. Rad1 h6 23. Ne4 Nh5 24. Kg2 Qf7 25. Qc1 g5 26. Qe3 Rf8 27.
Nd6 Qg6 28. Qxe5+ Rf6 29. Qe8+ 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Krasnaya Polyana"]
[Date "2021.07.18"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Tabatabaei, Mohammad Amin"]
[Black "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2705"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1kb4/1p3p2/2p5/pP2Q2p/P1P5/3R4/q2N1PPP/6K1 w - - 0 37"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2021.07.12"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 37. b6 $1 {[%cal Ye5f5]} 1-0

[Event "Chartres 2nd"]
[Site "Chartres"]
[Date "2021.05.20"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Vlachos, Anatole"]
[Black "Flear, Glenn C"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2438"]
[BlackElo "2431"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k3r1/Q1p2p2/1p2b3/1P1q4/2p3r1/2Pp1NP1/PKn4P/1R3R2 b - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2021.05.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "8"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 30... Kd7 0-1

[Event "Yasnaya Polyana Tolstoy Memorial"]
[Site "Yasnaya Polyana"]
[Date "2021.09.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2777"]
[BlackElo "2683"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2q1rk2/2pn1pp1/1pN1nr1p/pP1R1N2/P1P5/6P1/2Q2P1P/4R1K1 w - - 0 34"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2021.09.11"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 34. Nd6 (34. Nd6 cxd6 35. Qh7) 1-0

[Event "Budapest Vezerkepzo GM 5th"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "2021.05.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shahil, Dey"]
[Black "Gombocz, Ferenc Jr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2434"]
[BlackElo "2275"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r2k/1Q1bq3/p2p2pP/2p3N1/1p2P3/4BP2/PPP5/1K6 w - - 0 36"]
[PlyCount "6"]
[EventDate "2021.05.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[EventCategory "6"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 36. b3 (36. Qd5 Z0 37. Bd4+ cxd4 38. Qxd4+ Kg8 39. h7+) 36... Bc8 37. Qd5
Be6 38. Bd4+ Kg8 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup (Women)"]
[Site "Krasnaya Polyana"]
[Date "2021.07.23"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Muzychuk, Mariya"]
[Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2472"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5b1k/1pp4b/8/p1P2pqP/3Ppnn1/6N1/PP3P2/3RRK1Q b - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2021.07.12"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 32... Bg8 33. Nxe4 (33. b3 Bd5 34. Qg1 Nh3 35. Qh1 Nhxf2) 33... Bc4+ 34.
Kg1 fxe4 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Krasnaya Polyana"]
[Date "2021.07.14"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Fier, Alexandr"]
[Black "Pechac, Jergus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2569"]
[BlackElo "2523"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2r2/bp4k1/p3Bpn1/q1p3pR/3P1pP1/1QP2N2/1P1N1P2/2KR4 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2021.07.12"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 24. Rdh1 Rh8 25. Bg8 c4 26. Qxc4 Be6 27. Bxe6 1-0

[Event "Idaho Closed 2022"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.02.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wei, James"]
[Black "Kodihalli, Kaustubh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "1852"]
[BlackElo "1843"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
d6 9. c3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. a4
exd4 16. cxd4 c5 17. d5 Bg7 18. Bf4 Nb6 19. axb5 axb5 20. Rxa8 Bxa8 21. Qd2 Nc4
22. Qc1 Nd7 23. b3 Nce5 24. Nxe5 Nxe5 25. Qa3 Bb7 26. Qa7 Qc7 27. Qa3 {[#]}
Bxd5 $1 28. exd5 $2 Nf3+ 29. gxf3 Rxe1+ 30. Kg2 Ra1 31. Qxa1 Bxa1 32. Ne4 Qb7
33. Bxd6 Qxd5 34. Be7 f5 35. Ng3 Qd2 0-1

[Event "22nd ch-EUR Indiv 2022"]
[Site "Terme Catez SLO"]
[Date "2022.03.29"]
[Round "3.32"]
[White "Bluebaum, Matthias"]
[Black "Sebenik, Matej"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E61"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2510"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2022.03.27"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. d5 h6 7. Bh4 d6 8. Nd2
Qb6 9. Qc2 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. e4 f5 12. Be2 Nxg3 13. hxg3 e6 14. Bd3 Qd8 15.
dxe6 f4 16. gxf4 gxf4 17. e5 dxe5 18. Nf3 Nc6 19. Nh4 Rf6 20. Qe2 e4 21. Nxe4
Rxe6 22. O-O-O Qf8 23. Qh5 Ne5 24. Nf5 Nxd3+ 25. Rxd3 Bxb2+ 26. Kc2 Bg7 27. f3
Ra6 28. Nxg7 Kxg7 29. Qe5+ Kg8 30. Rh4 Be6 31. Nf6+ 1-0

[Event "22nd ch-EUR Indiv 2022"]
[Site "Terme Catez SLO"]
[Date "2022.03.31"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Bluebaum, Matthias"]
[Black "Ivic, Velimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2610"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2022.03.27"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8.
Bb5+ Nc6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qc2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Bg4 13. Ne5 Qxd4 14.
Bb2 Qb6 15. Rab1 Bxe5 16. Bxe5 Qa5 17. Bc3 Qc5 18. Qb2 a5 19. Bd4 Qb4 20. Qa1
Qd6 21. Qc3 Be2 22. Rfe1 Bb5 23. a4 Bxa4 24. Bh8 f6 {[#]} 25. e5 Qd8 26. exf6
exf6 27. Rb7 Rf7 28. Rxf7 Kxf7 29. h4 Qd6 30. Qc4+ Kf8 31. Re6 Qd5 32. Rxf6+
Ke7 33. Qe2+ Kd7 34. Qg4+ Ke7 35. Qxa4 Rxh8 36. Rf3 Rd8 37. Qa3+ Ke6 38. Qe3+
Qe5 39. Qb3+ Qd5 40. Qc3 Qd1+ 41. Kh2 Qd4 42. Qb3+ Rd5 43. g3 Qd1 44. Qc3 Rf5
45. Qxc6+ Kf7 46. Qc7+ Kf6 47. Qb6+ Kg7 48. Rxf5 gxf5 49. Qxa5 Qf3 50. Qe5+ Kf7
51. Kg1 h5 52. Kf1 Qd1+ 53. Kg2 Qd3 54. Qf4 Qc2 55. Qf3 Kg6 56. Qd5 Kf6 57.
Qd6+ Kf7 58. Qd7+ Kf6 59. Qe8 Qd1 60. Qf8+ Ke6 61. Qg8+ Ke5 62. Qg7+ Ke6 63.
Qg6+ Ke7 64. Qxf5 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.01.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "9.dxc5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D34"]
[Annotator "King"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Welcome back to my series on the Tarrasch Defense! In Part 2 last month, we
covered White's "main" main line against the Tarrasch. This month we will
examine various lines where White plays the move dxc5. This can occur as early
as move 4, but our coverage starts at move 9:} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4.
cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O {[#]} 9. dxc5 {An
alternative to last month's "main" main line 9.Bg5.} Bxc5 10. Bg5 {The most
natural developing move.} ({Another important option is} 10. Na4 Be7 11. Be3 {
as recommended by GM Boris Avrukh in his influential 2008 repertoire book on 1.
d4. In my experience this line tends to lead to similar positions to the 9.Bg5
lines covered last month.} Re8 12. Rc1 Bg4 13. Nc5 ({Less effective is} 13. Bc5
Bxc5 14. Nxc5 Qb6 {with immediate counterplay.}) ({After} 13. h3 Bxf3 $5 14.
Bxf3 Qd7 15. Bg2 Rad8 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. Bxc5 Ne4 {Black's harmonious setup held
comfortably in ½-½ (23) Polugaevsky,L-Lein,A Almaty 1969}) 13... Bxc5 14.
Bxc5 Qd7 15. Re1 Bh3 16. Bh1 Rac8 $5 {An improvement on Avrukh's main line.
Black is fully equal and can hope for} 17. Nd4 $2 b6 $1 18. Ba3 Nxd4 19. Qxd4
Rxe2 $1 {snatching a free pawn.}) {[#]} 10... d4 $1 {A common theme we have
already seen in Parts 1 and 2.} 11. Bxf6 ({Or} 11. Ne4 Be7 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13.
Rc1 (13. Nxf6+ {transposes to below.}) (13. b4 $5 Nxb4 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. Qxd4
{is a technical approach by White, aiming to put long-term pressure on Black's
queenside majority. But after the accurate} Qe7 $1 {Black is objectively fine,
and I even have a plus score over 12 online games from here as Black.}) 13...
Re8 14. Ne1 Be7 $1 {when Black retained the bishop pair and went on to win a
masterpiece in 0-1 (71) Nikolic,P (2490)-Kasparov,G (2690) Niksic 1983}) 11...
Qxf6 {[#]} 12. Nd5 $5 {A positional line developed by GM Jan Timman in the
late 1970s.} (12. Ne4 {is half as common in Mega Database, but equally common
in my own experience, probably because it is more immediately forcing. After}
Qe7 13. Nxc5 Qxc5 14. Rc1 Qb6 15. Qd2 Be6 16. b3 Rad8 17. Rfd1 Rfe8 {Black has
again achieved a completely harmonious development.}) 12... Qd8 13. Nd2 {
White has good control of the light squares but Black has various ways to
remain solid, e.g.} Re8 14. Rc1 Bf8 15. Nb3 Be6 16. Nf4 Qb6 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18.
Qxd4 Bxb3 19. Qxb6 axb6 20. axb3 g5 21. Nh5 {1-0 (42) Glimbrant,T (2195)-Lopez
Gonzalez,A (2355) Sitges 2019 - and here the accurate} Rxe2 $146 22. Rxc6 Rxb2
23. Rxb6 Ra3 $11 {wins back the pawn, reaching an equal endgame.} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.01.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "The \"Small Step\" a2-a3!?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D34"]
[Annotator "King"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Now we turn our attention to various lines where White employs the subtle
move a2-a3!?, which I have termed the "Small Step" since GM Sam Shankland 
(author of the 2018 pawn-play treatise "Small Steps to Giant Improvement")
recommends the main line of this section in his 2021 Chessable course on 1.d4.
To simplify your preparation, I propose a consistent policy of meeting a2-a3
with ...a7-a5:} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 {[#]} 4. cxd5 ({A modified version
of the "Small Step" where White postpones cxd5 was recommended in the revised
edition of GM Boris Avrukh's aforementioned 1.d4 repertoire books:} 4. g3 Nf6
5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Be7 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3 a5 9. Nc3 (9. cxd5 exd5 {transposes
to the main line below - see the note to 9...Ne4!?}) ({After} 9. Qc2 d4 $1 {
Black no longer has to worry about cxd5 or Nc3.}) 9... O-O 10. Bg5 d4 11. Ne4 (
11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Ne4 Qe7 13. Nxc5 Qxc5 14. b4 $5 {is similar to the 11.Ne4/13.
b4!? line from the previous section.} axb4 15. axb4 Rxa1 16. bxc5 Rxd1 17. Rxd1
e5 {with a solid position.}) 11... Be7 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 ({The riskier} 12... gxf6
$5 {is also playable.}) 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. b4 axb4 15. axb4 Rxa1 16. Qxa1 Nxb4
17. Nxd4 {and again Black has achieved a solid simplification.}) ({Lines with
White's other "small steps"} 4. e3 {and b2-b3 will be covered in Parts 4 and 5
respectively.}) 4... exd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a3 {
[#]} a5 ({In this specific position you may prefer to explore the alternative} 
9... Ne4 $5 {but for consistency's sake I have made 9...a5 the main line. (And
there are some tricky move orders by White which attempt to circumvent 9...Ne4
- see 4.g3/9.cxd5 above.)}) 10. Bg5 ({The immediate} 10. Qc2 {gives Black more
retreating flexibility:} Bb6 $5 11. Bg5 d4 {making it more difficult for White
to play Nc3-e4 as in the main line below.}) 10... O-O 11. Qc2 $5 {A subtle
move order.} (11. Nc3 d4 {leads to the same lines from the previous section
with the inclusion of a2-a3/...a7-a5, which doesn't make much difference, e.g.}
12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. Nxc5 Qxc5 15. Rc1 Qb6 {and already a draw was
agreed in ½-½ (15) Romanishin,O (2512)-Ehlvest,J (2600) Reykjavik 2010})
11... Be7 ({Now} 11... Bb6 {is less appealing due to} 12. Nc3 d4 13. Ne4 {
preparing to compromise Black's kingside structure.}) 12. Nc3 {[#] Shankland
describes this as "awful" for Black, but to me it looks like a relatively
normal Tarrasch position, and unless your opponent is Shankland himself, I
think you'll find it perfectly playable, e.g.} h6 13. Be3 {and now Black can
even mix things up with} d4 $5 14. Rfd1 dxe3 15. Rxd8 exf2+ 16. Kxf2 Ng4+ 17.
Ke1 Bxd8 {with dangerous practical compensation.} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.01.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Other dxc5 lines"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D34"]
[Annotator "King"]
[PlyCount "32"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{We wrap up this installment with an assortment of lines where White plays
dxc5 earlier in the move order:} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 {[#]} 3. Nc3 ({White can
also try to postpone Nc3 or even avoid it entirely:} 3. Nf3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qc2 (9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Nb3 {hopes
to reinforce White's blockade on d4, but this also puts less pressure on
Black's d5-pawn.} Bb6 11. Nbd4 Re8 12. Be3 {and here I played the typical
positional sacrifice} Rxe3 $3 13. fxe3 Ng4 14. Qd3 Qe7 {with strong
compensation in 0-1 (54) Baker,D (2157)-King,A (2369) Online 2020}) 9... Bb6
10. Nc3 O-O 11. Na4 {As with many other Tarrasch lines we have already seen,
when White spends multiple tempi to acquire the bishop pair, it allows us to
consolidate the rest of our position comfortably.} Re8 12. Nxb6 Qxb6 13. Bg5 {
This is another novelty recommended in Avrukh's books, which a certain
anonymous IM has repeatedly played against me in online blitz. I eventually
figured out a good solution:} Ng4 $5 14. h3 Nge5 15. Nxe5 Rxe5 $1 16. Qd2 {
0-1 (59) caraguru (2567)-King,A (2636) Online 2019} ({Or} 16. Bf4 $2 Nd4 $1 {
winning a pawn - 1-0 (20) caraguru (2565)-King,A (2596) Online 2019}) 16... d4
$5 $13 {with a normal enough Tarrasch middlegame.}) 3... c5 {[#]} 4. cxd5 (4.
dxc5 d4 $1 {forces White into an early decision:} 5. Nb5 (5. Ne4 Nf6 6. Bg5 Na6
$5 {is at least equal for Black.}) (5. Na4 $5 Bd7 6. b4 {is somewhat greedy,
and after} Bxa4 $5 7. Qxa4+ Nd7 {Black has good compensation.}) 5... Bxc5 {
and now you should definitely note the trap} 6. Bf4 $2 ({Better is} 6. e3 {
with equality.}) 6... e5 $1 7. Bxe5 Qa5+ $1 {winning material, since} 8. Qd2 {
runs into} Bb4) 4... exd5 {[#]} 5. Nf3 ({Again} 5. dxc5 {is met with} d4 $1 6.
Ne4 ({Now} 6. Nb5 $4 {loses immediately to} Qa5+) ({While} 6. Na4 $5 b5 $1 7.
cxb6 axb6 {leaves White's a4-knight uncomfortably placed.}) 6... Nc6 7. e3 (7.
Nf3 {transposes to the main line below.}) 7... Nf6 8. Nxf6+ Qxf6 9. exd4 Qxd4 {
followed by winning back the c5-pawn.}) 5... Nc6 6. dxc5 {In this line White
aims to acquire the bishop pair "for nothing". But as fond of bishops as I
myself am, I don't think this line is among Black's major worries in the
Tarrasch.} d4 {[#]} 7. Na4 (7. Ne4 {can also be met with} Bxc5 {transposing to
below.}) (7. Nb5 $4 {again simply loses a piece to} Qa5+) 7... Bxc5 $1 {
A neat mini-tactic to regain the pawn.} 8. Nxc5 Qa5+ 9. Bd2 {The more common
and dangerous line, hoping to make use of the bishop pair in the middlegame.} (
9. Qd2 {is less risky for both sides:} Qxc5 10. e3 (10. a3 $5 {Here this
"small step" prepares a rapid pile-up on our IQP.} Nge7 11. b4 Qb6 12. Bb2 O-O
$1 {Sacrificing the pawn for quick development.} 13. Bxd4 (13. Nxd4 Rd8 14. e3
Nf5 {wins back the pawn immediately, since} 15. Rd1 $6 Ncxd4 16. exd4 Re8+ {
is too dangerous for White.}) 13... Nxd4 14. Qxd4 Nc6 $1 15. Qb2 a5 $1 {
White's backward development and overextended queenside give Black good
compensation, e.g. the following recent elite encounter:} 16. b5 a4 $1 17. e3
Na5 18. Qb4 Rd8 19. Be2 Nb3 20. Rd1 Rxd1+ 21. Bxd1 Bd7 22. Be2 Qa5 23. Qxa5
Rxa5 {and the game was eventually drawn in ½-½ (33) So,W (2772)-Artemiev,V 
(2704) chess24.com INT 2021}) 10... dxe3 11. Qxe3+ Qxe3+ 12. Bxe3 Nge7 13. Bb5
O-O 14. O-O Be6 {and a draw was soon agreed in ½-½ (17) Alekhine,
A-Rubinstein,A Hastings 1922}) 9... Qxc5 10. Rc1 (10. b4 $5 Nxb4 11. Rc1 {
can be met solidly with} Qd6 12. e3 Ne7 13. Nxd4 O-O {1/2-1/2 (30) Kantor,G 
(2506)-Kosic,D (2493) Budapest 2017}) 10... Qb6 11. e3 Nf6 $5 {Since White is
not currently threatening to win the d4-pawn.} 12. Bc4 dxe3 13. Bxe3 Qb4+ 14.
Bd2 $5 {Still avoiding a trade of queens.} Qe7+ 15. Be2 O-O 16. O-O Be6 {
White does indeed have the bishop pair "for nothing", but Black managed to
hold firm in ½-½ (74) Wojtaszek,R (2737)-Nisipeanu,L (2672) Dortmund 2019
Best of luck with your ongoing Tarrasch practice, and I'll see you next month
for coverage of White's various lines with e3.} *

[Event "Montreal Winter"]
[Site "Montreal"]
[Date "2020.03.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Ragnarsson, Dagur"]
[Black "Eckert, Doug D"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D39"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[BlackElo "2139"]
[Annotator "Eckert"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2020.03.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[EventCategory "2"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 ({The famous
Vienna variation with} 6... c5 {is better theoretically, but it requires
significantly more preparation. With 6...b5 I get complex strategic positions
where I can fight for wins against higher rated players.}) 7. e5 h6 8. Bd2 $6
Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nd5 10. Be2 $6 ({Preferable is} 10. a4 b4 {although Black is
better.}) 10... Nd7 $6 11. O-O $6 N7b6 {Strategically, the game is over.
White's a2-a4 pawn break is eliminated, Black castles queenside and then
builds an attack on the White king with impunity.} 12. Qc2 Bb7 13. Rab1 Qd7 14.
Bc1 O-O-O 15. Nd2 Nf4 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 Nfd5 18. Nd2 Na4 19. Ne4 Qc6 20. f4
f5 21. exf6 gxf6 22. Rf3 Rhg8 23. Kh1 f5 24. Ng3 h5 25. Bd2 h4 26. Ne2 Nf6 27.
Ng1 Rg4 28. Re1 Rdg8 29. Re2 h3 30. g3 Ne4 31. Rxe4 Qxe4 32. Qxe4 fxe4 33. Re3
c5 34. Nxh3 cxd4 35. cxd4 R4g6 36. Ng5 Rd8 37. Rxe4 c3 38. Be3 Rd6 39. Nf7 Ra6
40. Ne5 Rg8 41. Bc1 Nb2 42. Kg2 Rxa2 43. Kf3 Ra1 44. Re1 Kc7 45. Ke2 b4 46. g4
Kd6 47. h4 Kd5 48. h5 Nc4 49. Kd3 Nxe5+ 50. Rxe5+ Kd6 51. Be3 Rxg4 52. h6 Rh4
53. Rb5 Rh3 54. h7 Rxh7 55. Rxb4 Rh3 56. Ke2 c2 57. Rc4 Rxe3+ 0-1

[Event "Charlotte CCCSA Holiday IM"]
[Site "Charlotte"]
[Date "2021.12.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Antova, Gabriela"]
[Black "Eckert, Doug D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D39"]
[WhiteElo "2288"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[Annotator "Eckert"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2021.12.19"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. a4 c5 8. axb5
cxd4 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Qxd4 {While still theory, this position is unpleasant
for Black. Black is playing for a draw. This was the first of five straight
losses with the Ragozin for me. After reviewing my games, I decided to not
play 6...b5 in the next event, but the more solid 5...h6.} Qxd4 11. Nxd4 Bb7
12. Bxc4 Bxe4 13. O-O Bb7 14. Be2 O-O 15. Bf3 Bxf3 16. Nxf3 Nd7 17. Rfd1 Nb6
18. Ne5 f6 19. Nc6 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Rf7 21. Ra6 Rb7 22. Rda1 Nc8 23. c4 Nb6 24.
Rc1 Nd7 25. Rca1 Nb6 26. c5 Nd7 27. b6 Nxc5 28. R6a5 Rxb6 29. Rxc5 a6 30. h4
Kf8 31. Na5 e5 32. Rc7 Rd8 33. Nc4 Re6 34. Ne3 h5 35. Ra7 Rd4 36. Nf5 Rg4 37.
Rb1 1-0

[Event "New York Winter IM-C"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2022.01.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Rahul, Srivatshav P"]
[Black "Eckert, Doug D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2466"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[Annotator "Eckert"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2022.01.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "2"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1
dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 $6 ({Things would have been equal after the
subtle} 10... Nd7 11. c6 bxc6 {. Because I was not familiar with this position,
I did not understand that Black could take on the isolated pawn in this static
position.}) 11. Qc2 Nc6 12. Ne4 Bb4+ ({It's equal after} 12... Qe7 {.}) 13. Ke2
Qe7 $2 $16 {I understood what was coming - g2-g4 with that big juicy hook
sitting on h6. Here I had a long think: 13...Qe7 or 13...Qg6? I remember
thinking "I couldn’t have done anything that wrong yet, could I? Why risk
the exposed queen on g6?" Whoops. This was loss four of five.} (13... Qg6 $1 {
was, of course, equal.}) 14. a3 Ba5 15. g4 Bd7 16. b4 Rac8 17. Qb2 Bd8 18. Rhg1
f6 19. h4 Kh8 20. g5 fxg5 21. hxg5 Qf7 22. Rg3 h5 23. Nd6 1-0

[Event "New York Winter IM-C"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2022.01.17"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Zeltsan, Joseph"]
[Black "Eckert, Doug D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2325"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[Annotator "Eckert"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2022.01.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "2"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bd2 {4. e3 0-0 5. Bd2 or
4. Bd2 are recently popular against the Nimzo-Indian. The added idea for White
here is the hook on h6.} c5 7. a3 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 Ne4 9. Qc2 Nxc3 10. Qxc3 cxd4
11. Qxd4 O-O 12. e3 Nc6 13. Qc3 dxc4 14. Bxc4 {Stockfish will tell you this is
0.00, and objectively, it's probably equal. However, it is very annoying to
play as Black. The position is cramped, and it's definitely practically
simpler to play for White. This was loss number five.} Bd7 15. O-O Rc8 16. Rfd1
Qc7 17. Be2 Rfd8 18. b4 Nb8 19. Qb2 Be8 20. Rxd8 Qxd8 21. Rc1 Rxc1+ 22. Qxc1
Nc6 23. h3 Qd6 24. Qc3 a6 25. Nd2 Qe5 26. Qxe5 Nxe5 27. f4 Nc6 28. Ne4 Nd8 29.
Kf2 Kf8 30. g4 Bc6 31. Nd2 g5 32. Nb3 Ke7 33. Nc5 f5 34. Bf3 Kd6 35. Bxc6 Kxc6
36. Ke2 a5 37. Kd3 axb4 38. axb4 b6 39. Nb3 Kb5 40. Nd4+ Kxb4 41. gxf5 exf5 42.
Nxf5 Nf7 43. fxg5 hxg5 44. Kd4 Nh8 45. Ne7 Nf7 46. e4 b5 47. e5 Nd8 48. Kd5 Kc3
49. Nc6 Nxc6 50. Kxc6 b4 51. e6 b3 52. e7 b2 53. e8=Q b1=Q 54. Qe5+ Kd2 55.
Qxg5+ Ke2 56. h4 Qc2+ 57. Kd6 Qd3+ 58. Ke6 Qc4+ 59. Kd7 Qa4+ 60. Ke7 Qe4+ 61.
Kf7 Qc4+ 62. Kg7 Qc7+ 63. Kg6 Qc6+ 64. Qf6 Qe8+ 65. Kg7 Qd7+ 66. Kh6 Qd2+ 67.
Kg6 Qc2+ 68. Qf5 Qc6+ 69. Kg5 Qc1+ 70. Kg4 Qg1+ 71. Kh5 Qa7 72. Qe4+ Kf1 73.
Kg6 Qb6+ 74. Kf5 Qb5+ 75. Kg4 Qb6 76. h5 Qg1+ 77. Kh3 Qg5 78. Qf3+ 1-0

[Event "2022 US Amateur Team North"]
[Site "Schaumburg, IL"]
[Date "2022.02.20"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ladan, Nicholas"]
[Black "Auger, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D79"]
[WhiteElo "2256"]
[BlackElo "2250"]
[Annotator "JJ Lang"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "GM Wannabes"]
[BlackTeam "Stimulus Checks"]

{[%evp 0,73,19,34,29,0,43,5,12,12,11,0,13,17,11,3,10,10,19,17,21,-30,-20,-28,
-26,-21,-25,-30,-34,-58,-32,-45,-55,-53,-41,-80,-68,-81,-116,-93,3,-31,-94,-68,
-51,-40,-25,-181,-129,-160,-138,-175,-39,-39,79,28,0,0,410,410,405,413,531,541,
541,518,515,377,377,317,366,381,384,395,403,413]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6
4. Bg2 d5 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Ne4 9. Ng5 $6 {An
unnecessarily provocative move that allows Black to take control of the
situation in the center.} ({The most common move is} 9. Ne5 {where after} Nxc3
10. bxc3 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Qa4 Qb6 {the position is equal.}) ({White's
other main choice is} 9. Qb3 Nc6 10. e3 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 Bf5 {but there's nothing
here.}) 9... f5 10. Qb3 e6 11. Nf3 {This move doubles down on White's
indecisive play, although perhaps Ladan is also waiting to discover whether
Auger's teammates will force him to play for more than a draw.} ({After} 11.
Ngxe4 fxe4 {White can keep the possibility of dynamics alive by preparing the
f2-f3 break in the future.}) 11... Nc6 12. Rd1 Na5 13. Qc2 Bd7 14. Bf4 Rc8 15.
Rac1 g5 $1 {Auger plays principled chess, viewing the closed, stable center as
an opportunity to start pushing directly against white's king} 16. Be5 Bh6 17.
e3 Nc4 18. Qe2 g4 19. Ne1 {[#]} Nxf2 $5 {A difficult move to resist, but it is
not the clearest path to the advantage.} ({I'd prefer} 19... Nxe5 $1 20. dxe5
Bg7 {when White would suffer from an unpleasant position after either} 21. Nxe4
({or} 21. Nd3 Nxc3 22. Rxc3 Rxc3 23. bxc3 Qc7 {where the g2-bishop is caged
and White's dark-squared pawns are vulnerable.}) 21... dxe4) 20. Kxf2 Bxe3+ 21.
Qxe3 (21. Kf1 Qg5 22. Nd3 Nxe5) 21... Nxe3 22. Kxe3 f4+ 23. gxf4 Qh4 24. Nd3 $1
{A deceptively strong move that begins to coordinate White's pieces,
demonstrating the safety of the king on the e3-square.} Qxh2 25. Rg1 Qg3+ 26.
Kd2 Rxc3 $6 {This does not work, but Black had ran out of time to coordinate
pieces before White's king found safety.} 27. Rxc3 Rf5 28. Rcc1 Bb5 $4 ({
Black's only chance here was} 28... Qh2 {with the threat of ...h7-h5 to follow.
}) 29. Be4 {Having seen this resource in advance, Ladan can breathe easy.} Qh2+
30. Rg2 Qh3 31. Rh1 $1 Kf8 32. Rxh3 gxh3 33. Rh2 dxe4 34. Nf2 Bf1 35. Nxe4 Bg2
36. Ng5 h6 37. Nxh3 1-0

[Event "2022 US Amateur Team North"]
[Site "Schaumburg, IL"]
[Date "2022.02.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Chandran, Kapil"]
[Black "Ladan, Nicholas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "2445"]
[BlackElo "2256"]
[Annotator "JJ Lang"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "UChicago A"]
[BlackTeam "GM Wannabes"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Qf6 6. d4 exd4 7. Bg5 Qe6 ({
This move is less accurate than the standard} 7... Qd6 {as it allows White to
centralize the queen, preserving hopes for an attack rather than trading into
an endgame.}) 8. Qxd4 Bd7 9. c4 ({Simple development with} 9. Nc3 {may be
preferable.}) 9... f6 10. Bf4 c5 11. Qd3 O-O-O 12. Nc3 g5 13. Bg3 Ne7 14. Rfe1
{[#]} Rg8 ({It would be more accurate to begin with} 14... h5 $1 15. Nd5 ({
The alternative} 15. h4 g4 16. Nd2 Ng6 {followed by ...Bf8-d6 would pinpoint
White's weakened kingside}) 15... Nxd5 16. cxd5 Qf7 {and Black has attacking
chances.}) 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. cxd5 Qb6 17. Nd2 ({If} 17. e5 f5 $1 18. Qc2 (18. e6
$2 Bxe6 19. d6 Bxd6 20. Rxe6 f4 $1) 18... f4 19. e6 Be8 $1 20. e7 Bxe7 21. Rxe7
fxg3 22. hxg3 Bg6 {the position is unclear.}) 17... h5 $5 {What a difference a
few tempi make. With the queen further from the kingside and the white pieces
closer to the queenside, this attack is too slow.} ({Grabbing the pawn with} 
17... Qxb2 {gives White good play after} 18. a4 $1 ({worse is} 18. Nc4 Qd4 19.
Qxd4 cxd4 20. Rec1 Kb8 21. Rab1 {and now} b5 $5) 18... Qd4 19. Qxd4 cxd4 20.
Rec1 c5 21. Nb3 $1) 18. Nc4 Qb5 {[#]} 19. f3 ({White missed the neat shot} 19.
b4 $1 {(with the idea of a2-a4 on the next move)} Qxb4 (19... cxb4 20. a4 bxa3
21. Rec1) 20. Reb1 Qa4 21. d6 $1 {and the attack should crash through.}) 19...
h4 20. Bf2 h3 21. g4 $1 {Wonderful prophylaxis: there is no way for Black to
exploit the b8-h2 diagonal, so it is not actually a weakness.} ({Equally
strong would have been} 21. a4 Qb4 22. Reb1 $1 Bxa4 23. b3 Be8 24. Ra5 $1 {
and now Bf2-e1 wins heavy material.}) 21... Be8 22. Rec1 Bd6 23. a4 Qd7 24. b4
Bf4 25. Be3 f5 26. gxf5 Bh5 27. bxc5 Qg7 28. c6 {White's attack gets there
first.} Bxh2+ 29. Kxh2 g4 30. cxb7+ Kd7 31. Bf4 g3+ 32. Kg1 Bxf3 33. Qxf3 Qd4+
34. Qe3 Qh8 35. Ne5+ 1-0

[Event "2022 US Amateur Team North"]
[Site "Schaumburg, IL"]
[Date "2022.02.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gupta, Aditya"]
[Black "Eichinger, Christoph"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2208"]
[BlackElo "2252"]
[Annotator "Christoph Eichinger"]
[PlyCount "176"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "UChicago A"]
[BlackTeam "GM Wannabes"]

{[%evp 0,176,31,15,41,51,36,40,74,69,69,65,55,53,86,50,68,31,15,1,6,10,9,4,22,
11,35,21,30,27,37,39,39,13,13,-5,4,-41,-87,-89,-93,-121,-151,-101,-79,-79,-79,
-205,-243,-275,-276,-274,-267,-273,-268,-288,-219,-244,-206,-202,-202,-210,
-185,-245,-242,-280,-170,-187,-208,-196,-169,-185,-155,-221,-163,-138,-151,
-153,-115,-151,-166,-188,-197,-171,-181,-213,-183,-198,-201,-216,-192,-216,
-203,-212,-211,-211,-207,-207,-218,-225,-244,-252,-228,-235,-239,-245,-243,
-245,-245,-243,-247,-250,-217,-228,-216,-225,-234,-234,-249,-278,-290,-307,
-320,-344,-320,-330,-304,-320,-320,-376,-307,-396,-384,-414,-388,-404,-311,
-404,-291,-316,-309,-307,-291,-295,-301,-305,-298,-301,-314,-320,-320,-333,
-329,-334,-330,-328,-326,-346,-351,-393,-393,-396,-396,-396,-403,-423,-431,
-1022,-1032,-2370,-1196,-29991,-29992,-29993,-29994,-29997,-29998,-29999,
-30000]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nge2 a6 4. g3 b5 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Qc7 7. d3 d6
8. Be3 Nf6 9. h3 Nc6 10. a3 Be7 {In the Closed Sicilian, White is typically
looking to attack on the kingside, while Black seeks counterplay on the
queenside and/or in the centre.} 11. f4 O-O 12. g4 Rfe8 13. g5 Nd7 14. Qd2 Bf8
15. h4 ({White should have played} 15. f5 Nde5 16. Nf4 Rad8 {and now a more
principled continuation would be} 17. Qf2 {as the h4-square would still be
vacant for the queen to enter the attack.}) 15... Rac8 16. Bf2 Ne7 17. Ng3 d5 {
[#]} 18. f5 $2 ({Better was} 18. e5 Nb6 19. h5 d4 20. Nce4 Nf5 {when the
battle over central squares should lead to dynamic equality.}) 18... d4 $1 {
This intermediate move was probably missed by my opponent. It enables Black to
open the h1-a8 diagonal, which leaves the White king very vulnerable.} 19. Nce2
exf5 20. exf5 ({To limit the damage, it might have been preferable to try} 20.
h5 fxe4 21. Nxe4 Nd5 {.}) 20... Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Qc6+ 22. Kh3 Ne5 23. Ng1 $2 {
This makes White's life even harder.} Qd7 24. Rae1 Nxf5 25. Nxf5 Qxf5+ 26. Kg2
Ng4 27. c3 Qd5+ {After playing well up until here, I miss several
opportunities to end the game quickly. The game continuation does not spoil
anything, but I missed the very natural} (27... Bd6 {(which, frustratingly, I
actually spent quite some time!)} 28. Rxe8+ ({or} 28. Bxd4 Qd5+ 29. Kh3 Rxe1
30. Rxe1 cxd4 31. Kxg4 f5+ 32. gxf6 (32. Kh5 g6+ 33. Kh6 Bf8#) 32... h5+ 33.
Kh3 Qh1+ 34. Qh2 Qxh2#) 28... Rxe8 29. Bxd4 Qd5+ 30. Kh3 cxd4 31. Kxg4 {
. I calculated to this position, but I did not see one of the straightforward
knockouts like} Re3 {with mate soon to follow.}) 28. Nf3 Nxf2 ({Another way to
capitalize on Black's overwhelming position would be} 28... Ne5 29. Qe2 dxc3
30. bxc3 Re6 31. Qe4 Nxd3 32. Qxd5 Nf4+ 33. Kg3 Nxd5) 29. Kxf2 dxc3 30. bxc3
Bd6 31. c4 Qf5 32. Rg1 Bf4 33. Rxe8+ Rxe8 34. Re1 Rd8 35. Qe2 g6 36. cxb5 axb5
({It would have been better to keep the queens on with} 36... Qh3 37. Rg1 (37.
bxa6 Bg3+) 37... axb5 {.}) 37. Qe4 Qxe4 38. Rxe4 Bd6 {This endgame should be
technically winning for Black, but it still requires some care.} ({Winning
another pawn immediately with} 38... Bc1 {was more precise:} 39. a4 bxa4 40.
Rxa4 Rxd3) 39. Re2 Ra8 40. Rb2 Rxa3 41. Rxb5 Rxd3 42. Ke2 Rd5 43. Nd2 Rd4 44.
Nf3 Rb4 45. Ra5 Kg7 46. Ra6 Bg3 47. Rc6 Bxh4 48. Rxc5 Bg3 49. Ra5 h6 50. Ra7
Bf4 51. gxh6+ Bxh6 52. Kd3 Rb3+ 53. Ke2 Rb2+ 54. Kd3 Rb3+ 55. Ke2 Bf4 56. Nd4
Re3+ 57. Kf1 Re4 58. Ne2 Be5 59. Rb7 g5 60. Kf2 Kg6 61. Rb3 f6 62. Rd3 Ra4 63.
Rb3 g4 64. Rd3 Kg5 65. Kg2 Ra2 66. Re3 Kf5 67. Kf1 Ra1+ 68. Kg2 Rb1 69. Kf2 Rb2
70. Kf1 {[#]} Bf4 {I played this move with the intention of pushing the White
rook away, but completely missed White's reply.} ({Instead,} 70... Ra2 71. Kg2
Kg5 72. Kf1 Ra5 73. Kg2 f5 {would have saved my team colleagues and me some
nerves.}) 71. Nd4+ {This came as a cold shower. At first glance it looks like
White wins the g4-pawn, thereby holding a draw. Only after internally cursing
myself for a minute I realized that Black has a tactical resource to save the
win.} Kg6 $1 72. Re4 Be5 73. Nc6 ({The point here is that Black has} 73. Rxg4+
Kh5 74. Re4 Rb4 {to bail him out!}) 73... Kf5 74. Re1 Rb5 75. Ne7+ Kg5 76. Nc6
Rc5 77. Nd8 Kf5 78. Nf7 Rd5 79. Nh6+ Kg5 80. Ng8 Rd7 81. Rc1 f5 82. Re1 Kf4 83.
Kg2 Rd2+ 84. Kh1 Kg3 85. Re3+ Kf2 86. Rxe5 Rd1+ 87. Kh2 g3+ 88. Kh3 Rh1# 0-1

[Event "2022 US Amateur Team North"]
[Site "Schaumburg, IL"]
[Date "2022.02.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Wan, Joseph"]
[Black "Liang, Awonder"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2294"]
[BlackElo "2701"]
[Annotator "Awonder Liang"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "dreamy knights"]
[BlackTeam "UChicago A"]

{[%evp 0,136,36,18,25,17,45,49,51,41,46,28,20,32,32,16,24,5,62,61,60,45,47,37,
18,25,18,19,16,0,18,-17,-1,-13,12,-11,13,-5,-14,-6,-1,2,-2,-2,0,-5,6,0,-20,-54,
-54,-65,-67,-67,-51,-64,-70,-99,-40,-63,-71,-66,-65,-64,-54,-95,-56,-81,-27,
-25,-49,-52,0,0,0,0,-10,-11,-25,-45,-32,-55,-45,-59,-59,-46,-33,-25,0,-41,0,-5,
0,0,-26,-26,-15,-18,-27,-21,-34,-16,0,0,20,9,19,-4,-17,0,0,0,19,-114,-111,-99,
-159,-196,-126,-232,-232,-254,-274,-272,-240,-275,-275,-282,-280,-304,-308,
-361,-359,-361,-364,-368,-367,-372,-389]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Nf3
O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Qb6 8. Nc3 a6 $2 ({A very strange oversight. How
could I miss} 8... Qxb2 9. Nb5 Na6 10. Rb1 Qxa2 11. Ra1 Qd5 {with an advantage
to Black? The answer, of course, was that it wasn't even calculated...}) 9. Rb1
cxd4 10. exd4 Qc7 11. Re1 $6 ({Better was} 11. a4 $1) 11... b5 12. a3 Nbd7 13.
Bd3 Nb6 14. Ne4 Bb7 15. Bh2 $6 {It's not clear what the bishop is doing on
this diagonal.} Rfe8 16. c3 Bc6 ({An alternative is} 16... Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Nxe4
18. Rxe4 e5 {with the edge to Black.}) 17. Qe2 Qb7 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Be4 Bxe4
20. Qxe4 Qxe4 21. Rxe4 a5 22. Rbe1 Red8 {Prophylaxis against Re4xe7, but
perhaps unnecessary.} ({I think} 22... Rec8 $1 {was preferable, i.e.,} 23. Rxe7
Bxe7 24. Rxe7 Nd5 25. Rd7 b4 26. axb4 axb4 27. Bxd6 bxc3 28. bxc3 Rd8 29. Rxd8+
Rxd8 30. c4 Rxd6 31. cxd5 Rxd5 {. It's hard to say if such a position is won
or not, but it was probably better than the game}) 23. Bf4 b4 24. axb4 axb4 25.
cxb4 Nd5 26. Bd2 Rab8 $6 ({Right square, wrong rook: preferable was} 26... Rdb8
27. g4 e6 28. g5 Be7 29. Rc1 Nxb4 {with advantage.}) 27. g4 e6 28. g5 Be7 29.
Ra1 Rd7 30. Ra4 Rdb7 31. h4 {[#] With a few inaccuracies, Black's advantage
has started to dwindle.} Kf8 32. Kf1 Nb6 33. Ra6 Nc4 $2 34. Bc3 d5 35. Rf4 Ke8
36. b3 Nd6 37. Ne5 {My opponent offered a draw with this move, which I
declined without a thought. Only afterwards did I realize that White has
Nd3-c5, when there is no reason he is worse at all.} Rc8 38. Be1 Nf5 39. Nd3 h6
40. gxh6 ({Here} 40. Rxf5 gxf5 41. gxh6 Bxh4 42. Nc5 Rbb8 43. Ra7 {would have
led to a complicated position, but it's still probably drawn. Black has to
watch out for} Bg5 $2 (43... Kf8 44. Nd7+ Kg8 45. Nxb8 Rxb8 {is roughly equal})
44. Bd2 $1 {.}) 40... Nxh6 41. Kg2 Nf5 42. Kh3 Rc2 43. Ra8+ Bd8 44. Ne5 Ke7 45.
Nxf7 Bc7 ({Another path was} 45... Kxf7 46. Rxd8 Rc1 47. Bd2 Rh1+ 48. Kg2 Rxh4
49. Rxh4 Nxh4+ 50. Kf1 Nf3 51. Ke2 Nxd4+ {. This, too, is probably drawn.}) 46.
Ne5 Bxe5 47. dxe5 d4 48. Rh8 Rb5 49. Rh7+ Kf8 50. Re4 {This is a very
difficult position to make progress in. Just as in round three, I had a
massive time advantage in a dead drawn position, and had to look for any trick
to keep the game going...} Kg8 $6 ({Other ideas:} 50... d3 51. Rc4 Ne7 52. Rh8+
Kg7 53. Rd8 Rd5 54. Rxd5 Nxd5 55. Rxc2 dxc2 56. Bd2 {would lead to a
straightforward draw}) ({while after} 50... Rd5 51. b5 $1 Rxb5 52. Kg4 Rxb3 53.
Kg5 {Black even risks something here.}) 51. Ra7 Kf8 {Admitting to the mistake.}
52. Kg4 d3 53. Kg5 $6 {A good move, to be sure, but impractical with one
minute on the clock.} ({White should have considered} 53. Rc4 Rxc4+ 54. bxc4
Rxe5 55. Bc3 Re4+ {(this was the idea of provoking Kh3-g4, but in truth it's
not very impressive)} 56. Kg5 Rxc4 57. Bf6 {and a perpetual is imminent.})
53... d2 54. Bxd2 Rxd2 55. Kf6 Rb8 {[#]} 56. Rc4 $4 ({After} 56. Rf4 Kg8 57.
Kxg6 Re8 58. b5 {Black has too few pawns to have any advantage, but I would
have continued trying}) 56... Rxf2 $1 {Suddenly, the white king is caught in a
net. A strange turn of events.} 57. Kxg6 ({Or} 57. Kxe6 Re8+ 58. Kd5 Ne3+ {.})
57... Ne7+ 58. Kg5 Kf7 59. Rf4+ Rxf4 60. Kxf4 Rxb4+ 61. Kg5 Rb5 62. Kf4 Rxb3
63. h5 Rb4+ 64. Kf3 Rh4 65. Ra6 Rxh5 66. Ke4 Rh4+ 67. Kf3 Nd5 68. Rc6 Rf4+ 0-1

[Event "2022 US Amateur Team North"]
[Site "Schaumburg, IL"]
[Date "2022.02.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Balakrishnan, Praveen"]
[Black "Neal II, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2604"]
[BlackElo "2207"]
[Annotator "JJ Lang"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,81,39,26,23,15,8,0,-6,-21,-1,-12,-8,-2,46,5,26,26,47,37,40,6,44,44,51,
51,52,52,67,68,61,51,57,63,58,68,104,78,67,94,100,84,97,75,102,124,109,100,95,
115,111,80,95,69,113,102,150,105,124,121,129,124,211,216,217,109,110,109,122,
120,119,110,130,152,173,179,177,147,167,165,192,181,339,332]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4
e6 3. c4 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O a6 7. e3 Rb8 8. Nfd2 Bd7 9. Nxc4 b5
10. Ncd2 {Up until this point, the game has been following Leko - Karpov,
Moscow (blitz) 2007, when the former world champion preferred 10...Nb4.} Bd6
11. Nc3 O-O 12. Nde4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Ne7 14. Qc2 b4 15. b3 Bb5 16. Rd1 Nd5 17.
Bb2 Nf6 $6 {Black's position shifts from solidity into passivity almost
imperceptibly.} ({The committal} 17... f5 18. Nc5 Qe7 {would dare White to
push e3-e4, creating imbalances and an open file for the black pieces to find
counterplay.}) 18. Nc5 Qe7 19. Nd3 Nd7 20. Rac1 Rfc8 21. Nc5 Rd8 22. Nb7 Rdc8
23. Nxd6 Qxd6 24. e4 ({The thematic break} 24. d5 {was also playable
immediately. After} e5 25. Be4 Nf6 26. Bf5 Rd8 {White can dominate the center
with} 27. e4 {.}) 24... c6 25. Qd2 h6 26. Qe3 Re8 27. e5 Qc7 28. a4 bxa3 29.
Bxa3 Qb7 30. Be4 f5 {This move was Black's last chance of achieving
counterplay on the kingside, but after...} 31. exf6 {...his position is frozen.
} Nxf6 32. Bg2 Qf7 33. Re1 Nd5 34. Qd2 Rbd8 35. Re5 Rd7 36. Rce1 Nc7 37. Bc5
Kh8 38. R1e4 Qg6 39. Bf3 Qh7 40. Re1 Qd3 41. Qxd3 1-0

[Event "2022 US Amateur Team North"]
[Site "Schaumburg, IL"]
[Date "2022.02.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Lang, Jonathan J"]
[Black "Bernal, Andrew"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2093"]
[BlackElo "1919"]
[Annotator "JJ Lang"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,70,39,25,37,29,14,14,20,22,40,23,48,20,20,2,5,7,4,-12,9,-28,-42,-42,
-9,-47,-21,-52,-59,-53,-58,-54,-46,-47,-7,-37,-32,-28,-36,-42,0,-23,-7,-49,-9,
-40,-41,-77,-65,-52,-34,-40,-27,-26,-16,-55,-46,-49,2,-64,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-27,
-25,-66,-91,-210,-213]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 {I was delighted to hear my opponent
laugh to himself after playing this move. I figured he expected a dull game.
At the very least, my Jobava London made him exercise his mind a bit more than
the traditional variations.} d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nf3 h6 6. Ne5 e6 7. g4
Bh7 8. h4 Nbd7 9. Nd3 $6 ({It would be more consistent to follow through with
my intentions and play} 9. g5 {although after} Nxe5 {none of White's captures
go anywhere. Best is admitting equality with} 10. Bxe5 Nd7 11. Bf4 hxg5 12.
Bxg5 Nf6 13. Bd3 {.}) 9... Ne4 $5 {[#]} ({Black had an opportunity to seize
the center with} 9... c5 $5 {but} 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Nxc5 Bxc5 12. Be5 {offered
mutual chances.}) 10. f3 $2 {This is a complete misdiagnosis of the position.
After} (10. Nxe4 Bxe4 11. f3 Bh7 12. Qd2 c5 {we would reach a similar
variation to 9...c5 with an extra tempo for white.}) 10... Nxc3 11. bxc3 Be7
12. Bg3 O-O 13. Nf4 c5 14. Qd2 cxd4 15. cxd4 Rc8 16. Bd3 Nb6 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.
Qd3+ ({White would have had better practical chances after} 18. g5 {but black
had again planned the excellent} Kh8 $1 {preparing ...Nb6-c4 and seizing the
initiative despite the artificial weakness of his kingside.}) 18... Kh8 19. Rb1
Na4 20. Rb3 $6 ({An odd mutual oversight: we both thought that} 20. Rxb7 {
was not in the spirit of the position during the game. But afterwards I found
nothing better than mutual chances after} Rc3 21. Qxa6 Rxc2 22. O-O Rxa2 23.
Rc1 $13 {.}) 20... Qa5+ {[#]} 21. Kf2 $2 ({My last chance to salvage anything
required finding the subtle} 21. Kf1 $1 Rc3 22. Qe2 b5 {because} 23. Be1 {
would be available here, but not with my king on f2.}) 21... Rc3 22. Rxc3 Qxc3
23. Rb1 b5 24. Ne2 Qc6 25. g5 Bd6 26. gxh6 Bxg3+ 27. Nxg3 gxh6 28. e4 Qc3 29.
exd5 exd5 30. Nf5 {In time trouble, activating the rook with 30.Re1 would have
provided better chances to save the match. Instead I activating the knight to
go after a pawn that Black realized was poisoned.} Qxd3 31. cxd3 Nc3 32. Rc1 $2
b4 $1 33. a3 a5 34. axb4 axb4 35. Nxh6 $4 f5 0-1

[Event "Spring Chess Classic A"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2022.03.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Antipov, Mikhail"]
[Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2615"]
[BlackElo "2656"]
[Annotator "Swiercz"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2022.03.02"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{After an upsetting loss the day before, I wanted to strike back, but I also
wanted to avoid a huge theoretical clash. So I went for a playable position,
hoping for a long game.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6.
c3 a6 7. a4 h6 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. Re1 Be6 {[#] Repeating a line that I played in
the first round against GM Kamil Dragun. Black goes for a position with
doubled pawns on e6 and e5, with the idea of making use of the f-file for
counterplay. As we'll see, this strategy proved really successful in this game!
} 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. b4 O-O 12. h3 {My opponent played this move (which
transposes back into well-known positions) quickly, having clearly prepared
well for the game. I was not fully sure which plan I should choose.} Nh5 {
A logical move, going for ...Nh5-f4 ideas.} (12... Ne7 {is possible too,
bringing the knight to the kingside.}) 13. Nf1 Qf6 14. Ra2 $1 {A typical move
in such positions - from the a2-square, the rook secures in advance the soft
f2-pawn.} Ne7 {New, although it had been tried in correspondence play. I
intend to bring my knight to g6 and only then play ...Nh5-f4, where Bc1xf4 can
be met by another knight landing on f4. However, it is a little bit too slow.}
(14... Nf4 {was perhaps best.}) 15. N1h2 Ng6 16. Ng4 {This tempo-gaining move
is the most logical, but White had other options as well.} ({During the game I
was slightly worried about} 16. d4 {at first, as Nh2-g4 is still in reserve.
But now} Qf7 $5 {is good, preparing to drop a knight on f4, or just the more
solid ...Nh5-f6. Now, after} 17. Ng4 {Black can play either} Nhf4 $5 {leading
to a complicated play, or the simple} (17... Nf6 {which is similar to what
happened in the game.})) ({However, the next day Mikhail told me that} 16. Kh1
$5 {was very interesting, with the point being that after} Nhf4 $2 (16... Qf7 {
is better but now White can play} 17. g3 {with some edge as Black's knight
cannot access the f4-square.}) 17. Ng1 $3 {is suddenly extremely strong, as
the threat of g2-g3 is really serious and the knight on f4 is nearly trapped!})
16... Qe7 17. d4 Nf6 {Happily trading the active knight on g4.} 18. Nxf6+ Qxf6
19. Be3 {I think that White is slightly better here but Black's position is
very solid and the open f-file should give me decent counterplay.} Rf7 $5 {
Following the plan!} 20. Rd2 (20. b5 $1 {was more worrisome. I cannot trade
pawns on b5 due to the ensuing pin, but I think that my position would be
quite OK after} exd4 21. cxd4 Raf8 22. bxa6 bxa6 {; however, my queenside pawn
structure would be worse than occured in the game.}) 20... exd4 21. cxd4 Raf8
22. Nh2 {[#] In this position I went slightly wrong.} Ne7 $6 {I had a bunch of
ideas in my mind connected with this move, e.g. ...Ne7-c6!?, ...d6-d5 followed
by ...Ne7-f5 or even ...Qf6-g6. But it looks somewhat unnatural, and there was
something better.} (22... Nf4 $1 {is what I should have played. It was my main
idea since bringing the knight to g6, but I missed one important detail in my
thinking process.} 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 24. Nf3 {Here, I thought my bishop on a7 is
bad and that White could neutralize Black's play on the kingside, but I missed
a very strong idea:} e5 $1 {and now White cannot play} 25. dxe5 $2 {due to} ({
Instead} 25. Ree2 {must be played, but after} exd4 26. Nxd4 Qe5 {the a7-bishop
is pretty strong.}) 25... Qg3 $3 {with crushing pressure on the kingside.}) 23.
b5 $6 {Slightly mistimed - now I can take on b5 and (unlike after 20.b5!)
there is no pin!} (23. Qg4 {was slightly better for White.}) 23... axb5 24.
axb5 Bb6 {Now the b5-pawn becomes a potential weakness while my queenside is
very well guarded.} 25. Ra2 Qg6 26. Qg4 d5 27. Qxg6 $6 {I was really happy to
see this.} (27. Nf3 {is quite testing too. After} Qxg4 28. hxg4 dxe4 29. Ne5 {
White wins an exchange, but} Nd5 $1 30. Nxf7 Kxf7 {gives Black sufficient
compensation.}) ({I was worried about} 27. e5 $5 {but after} Qd3 $1 28. Qxe6
Bxd4 $1 29. Rd2 Qc3 $3 {Black tactically maintains the material balance with
an unclear position.}) 27... Nxg6 28. e5 Nh4 $1 {Actively rerouting the knight
to the f5-square.} 29. Rb1 Nf5 30. Nf3 g5 31. Rb4 Kg7 32. Nh2 Kg6 33. Rba4 Kg7
{Around here we were both getting low on time so, not seeing anything better,
I decided to play a waiting move and see what he did in response. I thought
the position is equal and a draw would be a normal result.} 34. g3 Kg6 {[#]}
35. Ng4 $6 {Full of ambition, my opponent decided to play on. The idea of
bringing the knight to f6 definitely looks appealing.} Nxe3 $1 {A strong move,
after which Black takes over the initiative.} 36. Nxe3 ({Note that after} 36.
fxe3 $2 Rf3 $1 37. Kg2 h5 {the e3-pawn falls.}) 36... h5 $1 37. Kg2 Rf3 38. Rd2
h4 $5 {Aggressive, provoking a weakening of White's position, but also giving
away the g4-square. With this move I sensed that I could play it for win, and
that it was my opponent who needed to be more careful.} 39. Ng4 $2 {A major
mistake - now, I can go after his b5-pawn!} (39. Re2 {was a good move,
supporting the knight and keeping the game equal.}) 39... hxg3 $6 {Careless,
spoiling my advantage right before the time control.} (39... Rb3 $1 {
immediately was much stronger as I keep the kingside relatively closed and
White does not have counterplay like in the game.}) 40. fxg3 Rb3 {Reaching
move 40, and feeling comfortable. But the position is far from easy, as White
has decent counterplay.} 41. Nf6 Rxb5 42. h4 $1 {Accentuating my weak king and
White's strong knight.} Ra5 ({The inclusion of} 42... gxh4 43. gxh4 {does not
give Black anything. In fact, it only further weakens my king.}) 43. h5+ Kh6
44. Rb4 $6 {A strange decision as his rook is misplaced on b4.} (44. Rxa5 Bxa5
45. Ra2 {was equal thanks to White's activity.}) 44... Rfa8 $1 45. Kh3 Ra4 $6 {
I tried going after the weak d4-pawn, but I underestimated my opponent's
counterplay.} (45... Ra3 $1 {was strong, keeping all rooks on the board and
trying to double on the third rank to pressure the g3-pawn. Black has decent
winning chances.}) 46. Rxa4 Rxa4 47. Rf2 $1 Ra8 {My king can end up in serious
danger so I decided to drop back my rook:} ({after} 47... Rxd4 48. Ra2 $1 {
followed by Ra2-a8 White keeps an active balance.}) 48. Nd7 {This move nearly
forces a draw.} ({There was nothing wrong with} 48. Rd2 {either.}) 48... Kxh5
49. g4+ Kh6 {[#] A critical position. I expected the game to end with a draw
in short order, but the unexpected happened.} 50. Nf8 $4 {Mikhail plays for a
win, but he missed my reply.} (50. Nxb6 {was an immediate draw after} cxb6 51.
Rf6+ Kg7 52. Rxe6 Ra4 53. Rxb6 Rxd4 54. Rxb7+ $11) 50... Rxf8 $1 {I had to
give up the exchange as the knight was causing too much damage. Now I collect
the pawns on d4 and e5, giving me renewed winning chances.} (50... Kg7 51.
Nxe6+ Kg8 52. Rf6 {looks tricky for Black.}) 51. Rxf8 Bxd4 52. Re8 Kg7 ({
Slightly more accurate was} 52... Kg6 {White cannot play Re8-e7 with check and
Re8xe6 is forced, transposing back to the game.}) 53. Re7+ Kg6 54. Rxe6+ $6 {
Capturing the wrong pawn!} (54. Rxc7 {was right and after} Bxe5 55. Rxb7 Bf4 {
I thought I had decent winning chances, but the truth was that it is just a
draw:} 56. Kg2 Kf6 57. Rb5 Ke5 58. Rb6 {and it is not possible for Black to
make progress.}) 54... Kf7 55. Rf6+ Ke7 56. Rf5 $4 {The last, and fatal,
mistake.} ({With} 56. Rg6 $1 {my opponent should have saved the game, even
though things get really tactical and White needs to be extremely precise. The
difference between this move and the text is that now my king can reach the
e6-square.}) 56... Be3 $1 {Now the game is over. The g5-pawn is defended, the
king comes to e6, and the queenside pawns are rolling forward.} 57. Kg3 Ke6 58.
Kf3 Bf4 59. Ke2 b5 60. Kd3 c5 61. Kc2 c4 62. Rf6+ Kxe5 63. Rb6 Ke4 64. Rxb5 d4
65. Rc5 c3 66. Rc8 Kf3 67. Kd3 Be3 {As the g4-pawn falls and then my g-pawn
goes forward, my opponent resigned. It was a huge fight, and one that I am
happy to have won after losing the previous game.} 0-1

[Event "Spring Chess Classic B"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.03.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Khanin, Semen"]
[Black "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2509"]
[BlackElo "2505"]
[Annotator "Mishra"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Qc2 Nbd7 6. b3 b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. Nbd2
Be7 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. bxc4 c5 11. O-O cxd4 12. exd4 O-O {After a relatively
unambitious opening by White, we get a complex hanging pawns structure.} 13.
Rfe1 (13. Ne5 {was another option. Black maintains relative equality after the
simple} h6 {.} ({If} 13... Nxe5 $2 14. dxe5 {and White wins the h7-pawn.}))
13... Rc8 {Activating the a8-rook and putting some slight pressure on the
c4-pawn.} 14. Qb3 Qc7 15. Rac1 Rfe8 {Preventing any white dreams of d5
somewhere.} 16. Bb1 Bf8 $1 {This is a very standard regrouping in this
structure. From the g7-square, the bishop defends the king and exerts pressure
on the white center.} 17. a4 g6 18. Ba2 $6 {Somewhat mysterious, as it
misplaces the bishop. But it was not easy to come up with a plan for white
here.} ({Perhaps White should have tried} 18. h3 Bg7 19. Rcd1 {with near
equality.}) 18... Bg7 19. h3 Bc6 {Just slowly improving my pieces. Nothing
much is going on, so both sides should make minor improvements to their
positions.} 20. Bc3 a5 $5 {This is a double-edged positional decision. From
one point of view, I prevent White's plan of a4-a5; but I also weaken the
b5-square and b6-pawn.} 21. Rb1 $2 {[#] Missing my reply.} ({Better was} 21.
Bb2 {with an equal position.}) 21... Nd5 $1 {Black activates his passive
knight, almost out of nowhere!} 22. Ba1 $2 {Giving the knight the b4-square
was not wise.} (22. Ne4 {was the best choice but the ending after} Nxc3 23.
Nxc3 Bxf3 24. Nb5 Qf4 25. Qxf3 Qxf3 26. gxf3 Bf8 {does not look appetizing at
all for White, who has a bad a2-bishop and a shattered kingside pawn structure.
}) 22... Nb4 {Black now has a threat of 23. ... Nxa2 24. Qxa2 Bxf3, after
which 25. Nxf3 is impossible due to the hanging c4-pawn.} 23. Rbc1 e5 $1 {
White is very uncoordinated. Therefore it is the correct time to open the
center.} 24. Nxe5 ({After} 24. d5 Nc5 25. Qa3 Bxa4 {Black is up a clean pawn
and winning.}) 24... Nxe5 25. dxe5 Bxe5 $6 {Imprecise, but it gets the job
done.} (25... Rcd8 $1 {was a bit stronger as here ...Nb4-d3 is very difficult 
(if not impossible) to prevent and} 26. Rcd1 Bxe5 {is an improved version of
the game as Black's ...Rc8-d8 is much more beneficial than White's Rc1-d1.})
26. Bxe5 Rxe5 27. Bb1 Rce8 {The most natural move, forcing White to make a
concession on the e-file.} 28. Nf3 (28. Rxe5 Qxe5 {is also winning for Black
due to his better pawn structure and much better piece activity}) 28... Rxe1+
29. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 30. Nxe1 Qd7 $5 {Threatening ...Bc6xa4 and ...Qd7-d2
simultaneously.} 31. Qe3 Qe8 $1 {[#] There's no hope in the endgame for White
-- the passed a-pawn would decide the game in Black's favor.} 32. Qc3 Bxa4 33.
Nf3 Qe2 {Threatening ...Qe2-d1+. The b1-bishop has no squares.} 34. Kh2 ({After
} 34. Qf6 Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Qxb1 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qd4+ f6 {the checks run out.})
34... Qxf2 {Picking up another pawn.} 35. Qf6 Bc6 {Now ...Bc6xf3 is an
unstoppable threat.} 36. Qe5 ({If} 36. Qd8+ Kg7 {shatters White's hopes.})
36... Bxf3 37. Qe8+ Kg7 38. Qe5+ f6 39. Qc7+ Kh6 40. Qf4+ Kh5 {White has no
more meaningful checks, so he resigned because after 41.Qxf3 then 41. ...Qxf3
42. gxf3 a4 wins for Black. There is no stopping a4-a3-a2 winning the bishop.
A very smooth win with the black pieces!} 0-1

[Event "Spring Chess Classic B"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.03.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Mikaelyan, Arman"]
[Black "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D24"]
[WhiteElo "2497"]
[BlackElo "2540"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,84,22,26,25,6,6,26,6,6,45,51,18,2,7,15,47,19,11,6,95,30,25,25,32,33,
33,23,23,18,13,16,44,16,12,3,-8,-13,46,-15,54,26,68,67,55,55,55,12,13,5,5,17,
18,18,21,0,30,-75,-35,-45,283,-133,-146,-146,-155,-166,-306,-379,-401,-420,
-254,-254,-268,-258,-248,-258,-62,-62,-36,-45,-55,-44,0,0,0,0,-22]} {I came to
this game with one strategy: I wanted to provoke my opponent into a fight. As
you will see, I succeeded a little bit too much in this!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.
Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 {I play this on and off, so it did not came as a surprise
to my opponent.} 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 {A topical pawn sacrifice in the Vienna.}
Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 $5 {I started becoming interested in this move after I watched
a game between Mamedyarov and Caruana.} 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 a5 $5 ({Caruana's
choice} 9... Rb8 {is also playable, but it is not something I feel totally
comfortable playing over the board. What was so interesting in Caruana's game
was seeing how active play made it relatively easy for him to compensate for
his weak pawn structure and multiple pawn islands.} 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5
12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qxc6+ Qd7 14. Qxd5 O-O 15. Qxd7 Bxd7 16. Rd1 Bg4 17. f3 Bc5+
18. Kf1 Be6 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. b3 Bd6 21. h3 Rf5 22. Bd2 Rd5 23. Be1 Bf4 24. g3
Bd6 25. f4 h5 26. h4 Kf7 27. Ke2 Rbb5 28. Kf3 Rf5 29. Rac1 e5 30. Rc4 exf4 31.
gxf4 {, draw. Mamedyarov - Caruana, Germany 2019.}) 10. Nxc6 {The first time
I've faced this. My experience with the alternative, leading to a neutral
endgame, was rather uneventful.} (10. d5 exd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13.
Qxc6+ Bd7 14. Qxd5 O-O 15. Bf4 Be6 16. Qxd8 Raxd8 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Be3 Rd5 19.
Rac1 Bd6 20. Rc4 Rb5 21. b3 Ra8 22. Rd1 a4 23. bxa4 Rb2 24. a3 Ra2 25. Bc5 Bxc5
26. Rxc5 Rxa3 27. Rxc7 R3xa4 28. g3 Ra1 29. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 30. Kg2 Kf8 {, draw.
Nesterov - Moradiabadi, Stockholm 2020.}) 10... bxc6 11. Qxc6+ Bd7 12. Qf3 O-O
13. Bg5 ({I tested} 13. Bf4 {in a correspondence game, and the game was
quickly drawn after} a4 14. Be5 Bd6 15. Rad1 Qe7 16. Rfe1 Rab8 17. Re2 Rb6 18.
Qg3 Rfb8 19. Rdd2 h6 20. f4 {(Ristea - Moradiabadi, ICCF 2021). After moves
like ...Rb6-c6, provoking b2-b3, it is hard to imagine White can make much
progress.}) 13... h6 14. Bf4 (14. Bh4 {is another try, which I will probably
face the next time someone tries to take me down in this line!}) 14... Bd6 {
Following the same setup from my correspondence game.} 15. Be5 a4 16. Rad1 Rb8
17. Qe2 Bc6 18. f4 Qe7 $6 {This is the beginning of a hallucination.} ({
An interesting continuation is} 18... Nd5 {leading to a crazy draw, but Black
has more than one way to equalize.} 19. f5 a3 $5 ({after} 19... Nxc3 20. bxc3
exf5 21. Rxf5 Bd7 22. Rf3 Bg4 23. Rxf7 Bxe2 24. Rxg7+ Kh8 25. Rg8+ Kh7 {
it's a draw.}) 20. Bxd5 Bxd5 21. Nxd5 exd5 22. bxa3 f6 {and Black is just fine.
}) 19. Rd3 Rfd8 $6 {The hallucination continues.} 20. Rg3 Bxe5 $4 {[#] And now
Black is dead lost.} 21. fxe5 {for some reason unbeknownst to me, I thought I
can play 21... Rxd4 here and after 22.exf6 Qc5 I am winning. Once I played
Bxe5, I realized that after Rxd4 White has 22.Rxg7! winning on the spot not to
mention that the engine showed after the game that even after 22...Qc5 White
can win with 23.Rxg7+ Kf8 and 24.Rf2 . A truly bad day at the office for me.}
Ne8 ({For some reason I thought I could play} 21... Rxd4 {and after} 22. exf6
Qc5 {I thought I was winning. But once I played my 20th move, I realized that
after 21...Rxd4 White has 22.Rxg7! winning on the spot. After the game the
engine pointed out my second mistake: after 22.Qc5 White can win with} 23.
Rxg7+ $1 Kh8 24. Rf2 $1 {.}) 22. Rf4 $1 {White gradually builds his attack.
Black has no counterplay and is completely lost.} Rd7 23. Rfg4 $6 ({Here} 23.
a3 $1 {followed by h2-h3 would have put an end to all the tricks Black had in
this game. But I kept on trying to make life as hard for my opponent as I
could.}) 23... Qb4 $2 {Sliding back into a losing position again.} ({During
the game} 23... g6 24. Rxg6+ fxg6 25. Rxg6+ Ng7 26. Bxe6+ Kh7 27. Bxd7 Bxd7 28.
Rf6 {looked dead lost to me, but the engines think that Black can 'easily'
hold with the ...Bd7-f5-Bg6 plan. What can I say? That was not my evaluation!})
24. b3 $4 {Now Black is back.} (24. h3 $1 Qxb2 25. Qe3 {would have sealed the
deal.}) 24... axb3 25. axb3 Ra8 26. h3 Ra1+ 27. Kh2 Qa3 $1 {White missed this
move. His idea to play Qe2-e3 is now strongly met with ...Qa3-c1.} 28. d5 $5 {
Judging by my opponent's body language, and considering the lines I was
looking at, it seemed that we both thought we each had the initiative. The
following tragicomedy is a result of our mutual misevaluations of the position!
} Qc1 29. Re3 {[#]} h5 $4 {The first blunder.} ({I had to find} 29... g5 $1 {
to stay alive. It restricts White's king and frees the g7-square for the
e8-knight, i.e.,} 30. dxc6 ({not} 30. dxe6 $4 Qg1+ 31. Kg3 Ng7 {and Black wins}
) 30... Rd2 {and compared to the actual game you can see why this works now:}
31. Qf1 Qxf1 32. Bxf1 Rxf1 33. Rb4 Kf8 34. Rb8 Ke7 35. b4 Rff2 36. Rg3 Rf5 37.
Re3 {with equality. The move I played is simply a waste of a full tempo.}) 30.
Rd4 $4 {Repaying my mistake with one in kind.} ({The right way was} 30. dxe6 $1
{when} Rd2 {does not work due to} 31. exf7+ Kf8 32. e6 {and Black is mated.} ({
During the game I thought that I was being smart because after} 32. fxe8=Q+ {
I saw that after} Kxe8 33. Rxg7 Qg1+ ({or} 33... Rxe2 34. Rg8+ Ke7 35. Rg7+ {
draw by perpetual.}) 34. Kg3 Qxg2+ 35. Qxg2 Rxg2+ 36. Kh4 Rxg7 {I get a
pleasant endgame.})) 30... Qg1+ 31. Kg3 g5 $1 {Finally one of us does the
right thing!} 32. Ne4 $2 {White is losing, but this only exacerbates his
problems.} Ng7 33. Nf6+ Kf8 34. Bd3 {[#]} Rxd5 $6 ({Sadly I only saw the
correct} 34... Ra2 {right after I played my move. The idea is} 35. Qxa2 ({or} 
35. Nxd7+ Bxd7 36. Qxa2 Qxe3+ 37. Kh2 Qxe5+ 38. Kh1 Qxd4 {winning}) 35... Qxe3+
36. Kh2 Qxe5+ 37. Kh1 Qxf6 {. Instead the dual effects of my self-reproachment
and time pressure led me to start making poor moves as we approached the time
control.}) 35. Rxd5 Bxd5 36. Qd2 c5 {Black is still winning, but inside I was
raging about my missed opportunity on move 34.} 37. Nh7+ Ke7 $4 {There goes
the win.} 38. Re2 h4+ 39. Kg4 Qd4+ 40. Kxg5 Rf1 {At least the final move
before time control was accurate. Whtie's king is awkwardly placed, but he
needs to make a leap of faith and push on to the h6-square. Then a series of
trades would lead to a managable endgame for White.} 41. Nf6 $2 {Starting up
another set of blunders after the end of time pressure.} ({It might be
practically uncomfortable after} 41. Kh6 Nf5+ 42. Bxf5 Qxd2+ 43. Rxd2 Rxf5 44.
Rc2 $1 Rxe5 45. Rxc5 Rf5 46. b4 {but White had the worst behind him.}) 41...
Rxf6 {What else?} 42. exf6+ Qxf6+ 43. Kg4 Qd4+ 44. Kg5 Qf6+ $6 45. Kg4 Qd4+ 46.
Kg5 {[#]} Qf6+ $6 {We both though this was a draw.} (46... f5 $4 {was my
initial intention, but luckily I realized that White has} 47. Qb2 {after which
Black is lost!}) ({But} 46... e5 $1 {was the way to go. After} 47. Qe3 Ne6+ 48.
Kh6 Bxb3 49. Bf5 Bc4 50. Re1 Kf6 {an unpleasant ending is waiting for White
after ...Qd4xe3. Overall this was not a quality game, but it helped me
understand some of my greatest fears when I play chess. I think I am ready to
work on them!}) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Spring Chess Classic A"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.03.06"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Lenderman, Alexander"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2600"]
[BlackElo "2684"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{Lenderman is not an 1.e4 player. I think his choice of opening relied
entirely on the fact that Sevian hardly deviates from responding with 1...e5.} 
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 {This move
soared in popularity after Anand successfully employed it at the 2016
Candidates tournament.} Ba7 8. Re1 ({Here} 8. h3 h6 {forces White into playing
Bc1-e3, as ...g5-g4 is an annoying plan to face.}) 8... Ng4 $5 {With this move
Sevian decides to test the depth of Lenderman's knowledge.} 9. Re2 {[#]} (9.
Rf1 {would have been an interesting psychological play: Does Black play ...
Ng4-f6 or continue with castling?}) 9... Qf6 $2 {An objectively risky move,
but only if White knows how to handle it.} 10. Nbd2 {Lenderman takes a less
principled path.} ({Instead I think the correct answer is} 10. b4 $1 Qg6 $1 (
10... O-O $2 {was tried in Antipov - Adhiban, Moscow 2019, but White can
improve on Antipov's play there:} 11. h3 Nh6 12. b5 $1 axb5 $2 13. Bg5 $1 {
The power of threats!} Qg6 14. axb5 Bxf2+ 15. Rxf2 Rxa1 16. bxc6 bxc6 17. Be7
$1 {and White wins material.}) 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nf1 Be6 $5 (12... Kh8 {as in
Libisewski - Moroni, Stockholm 2018, and also the Antipov game by
transposition; here I suggest} 13. h3 $1) 13. Bb3 f5 $2 {Too aggressive.} (
13... Bxb3 14. Qxb3 Qe6 {would probably suffice for equality.}) 14. exf5 Rxf5 {
and White had a significant edge in Brodsky - Swiercz, Greensboro 2019.}) 10...
g5 $5 {Sharp, but not risky at all.} 11. d4 $1 {Lenderman correctly counters
in the center.} Rg8 {Engines do not like this move, but Sevian follows
Mamedyarov's path, relying on having more knowledge of the position than his
opponent.} (11... Bd7 {or 11...Qg7 are Stockfish's choices..}) 12. b4 $1 {
Lenderman does not get rattled and finds the best move.} ({Jakovenko tried} 12.
Nf1 $6 exd4 13. e5 dxe5 14. cxd4 Kf8 $2 (14... Be6 $1 {with an edge}) 15. h3
Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. hxg4 Bxg4 18. Be3 $1 $16 {and was rewarded with victory
in Jakovenko - Mamedyarov, Jerusalem 2019.}) 12... Nd8 {[#] Logical, but it
does not work because of its timing.} 13. Nf1 $6 {This is a bit slow.} ({After
} 13. b5 $1 Ne6 14. Bd5 $1 exd4 15. e5 $1 dxe5 16. Ne4 Qd8 17. c4 $1 Rb8 18. h3
Nf6 19. Nxe5 {and White is completely winning. Of course, this is another
engine-manufactured line that is impossible to humans to fathom unless they
have prior knowledge of this idea (b4-b5 and Bc4-d5).}) 13... Ne6 14. Ne3 $2 {
Throwing away all of White's initiative.} ({Alex should have tried} 14. h3 Nh6
15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Qd5 g4 (16... Nf4 17. Bxf4 gxf4 18. Kh2 Qg6 {looks scary but
after} 19. g3 {it looks completely winnning for White.}) 17. Qxe5 Qxe5 18. Nxe5
Ng5 19. Kh2 gxh3 20. gxh3 {and Black's pieces are more awkward than active.})
14... Nf4 $2 {Another oversight in a complex position.} (14... Nxe3 15. Bxe3 g4
{was required.}) 15. Rd2 $2 (15. Nd5 $1 {would have put White back on a
winning path:} Nxd5 (15... Nxe2+ 16. Qxe2 Qd8 17. b5 axb5 18. axb5 Be6 19. h3
Nh6 20. Bxg5 $1 {is crushing}) 16. Bxd5 c6 17. Bc4 Nh6 18. b5 g4 19. Ne1 {
and White's attack on the queenside is far more effective than Black's on the
kingside.}) 15... Nxe3 16. fxe3 g4 $1 {From this point forward, Sevian shows
an engine-like choice of plan. His execution, on the other hand, is naturally
not as ruthless as his choice of plan. None of us can match the engines in
these kinds of positions.} 17. Ng5 Nh3+ 18. Nxh3 gxh3 19. Raa2 Qh6 ({Here} 
19... Bg4 {may be better, but the game continuation still puts Black on the
right path.}) 20. Rf2 Be6 21. Bxe6 $6 {A step too far. Now Black has a growing
initiative.} ({The right way was} 21. Bd5 O-O-O 22. b5 a5 23. g3 {when White
keeps the d8-rook at bay.}) 21... fxe6 22. g3 O-O-O 23. Qf1 {[#]} Rdf8 $6 {
The right plan, but not the best move order.} ({Black should have started with
} 23... Kb8 24. Rf7 Qg6 25. b5 h5 {.}) 24. b5 ({After} 24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25. Rf2 {
the placement of the king on c8 gives White's queen enough activity to
maintain the balance:} Rxf2 26. Kxf2 $1 d5 27. Ke2 dxe4 28. Qf7 {and Black
needs to bail out with a queen trade.}) 24... a5 25. Rae2 $2 {Wasting time.
White should have tried with Rf2xf8 and Re2-f2, when he had enough time to
save the day due to Black's back-rank issues.} Kb8 $2 {Right plan, wrong
execution.} ({Correct was} 25... Re8 $1 26. Rf6 Qh5 {and after consolidating
with Ba7-b6 and Kc8-b8-a7, Black opens up the center and plays for the win.})
26. Bd2 $2 {Additional loss of time. Now Black has the chance to achieve the
optimal set up, after which ... h5-h4 is impossible to meet.} ({With} 26. Rxf8+
Rxf8 27. Rf2 Rxf2 28. Kxf2 Bb6 29. Ke2 Qg6 30. Qf3 d5 31. dxe5 dxe4 32. Qf8+
Ka7 33. Qf4 Bc5 {Black is better but it is hard to show how he can make
progress.}) 26... Bb6 $1 27. Bc1 Ka7 {Strong prophylaxis. The king is entirely
safe.} 28. Bd2 Kb8 29. Bc1 Ka7 30. Bd2 Qh5 {Black has many choices here. This
works well enough.} 31. Bc1 Qg4 32. Ra2 Rxf2 33. Rxf2 h5 $1 {[#] White's
position begins to disintegrate in just a few moves.} 34. Qe2 Qg6 (34... Qxe4 {
was also good.}) 35. Qf3 h4 36. Bd2 exd4 $1 {Straightforward. Just open the
game and see how weak White's king is.} 37. cxd4 e5 38. Kh1 exd4 39. exd4 hxg3
40. hxg3 Qxg3 {White is not going to get mated, but he will loses most of his
pawns. This was not Sevian's best game in this event, but it marked an
important turning point, giving him his first victory and putting him on the
right path to win the A group. While luck is always a factor, Sevian
definitely made the most of his!} 0-1

[Event "Spring Chess Classic A"]
[Site "Saint Louis, MO, United State"]
[Date "2022.03.07"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Lenderman, Alex"]
[Black "Dragun, Kamil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2600"]
[BlackElo "2586"]
[Annotator "Lenderman"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,87,23,14,15,12,10,18,12,14,17,-6,-2,5,19,18,18,24,19,13,12,21,26,7,23,
-1,14,8,16,13,7,8,4,-2,7,9,2,9,-6,-6,10,-12,-9,-20,-6,-3,-9,-44,-35,-61,-45,
-96,-88,-27,46,66,80,68,84,55,55,45,128,126,108,109,102,121,124,116,116,125,
120,119,119,172,175,179,170,169,184,193,203,189,194,198,267,207,222,213] After
a very difficult start in the tournament, sitting at 1/5 and having lost two
games in a row, I just wanted to focus on thinking positively for this game.
So I decided to treat it like the first round of a brand-new four round
tournament where I would just try to play a good game and do my best.} 1. Nf3
d5 2. e3 {This is sort of my pet system, which I like to play when I am
looking for an interesting fight.} Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 b6
7. cxd5 exd5 8. d4 Bb7 9. Bd3 ({I've also had experience with} 9. g3 {here.})
9... Nbd7 10. O-O a6 11. Ne2 ({I could also have tried} 11. Ne5 {and if} Nxe5
$2 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. f4 {gives me a significant advantage.}) 11... Re8 12. Ng3
Bd6 {A very interesting idea, trying to induce Ng3-f5 first, and then playing .
..g7-g6 to regain the tempo by attacking the knight on f5.} 13. Nf5 Bf8 14. Ne5
{The typical way to fight for initiative here.} g6 15. Ng3 Ne4 16. Qc2 Nxg3 17.
hxg3 Nxe5 $6 ({A better alternative for Black was} 17... Bg7 18. f4 c5 {.}) 18.
dxe5 Bg7 19. f4 c5 20. Qf2 Rc8 21. Rad1 Rc7 22. g4 {Going for the initiative.}
Qe7 23. g5 $6 {So tempting, but it would have been better to play something
prophylactic against ...c5-c4 first, not allowing the pawn to get to c3 where
it would block my bishop.} ({Perhaps} 23. Be2 c4 24. Bd4) ({or} 23. Bc2 c4 (
23... b5 24. g5 a5) 24. Bd4) 23... c4 24. Bc2 c3 25. Bc1 b5 26. Qg3 {[%cal
Gg1f2,Gf1h1,Gg3h4] [#] Preparing Kg1-f2, Rf1-h1, and Qg3-h4.} ({Note that I
couldn't play} 26. Qh4 $2 {immediately due to} h6 {. And now comes the
critical moment where my opponent panicked a bit.}) 26... Bc8 $2 {Here my
opponent decided to sacrifice the d5-pawn in order to try to bring his bishop
into defence. Why doesn't this positional pawn sacrifice doesn't work so well?
The d-pawn is not only an important central pawn, but on d5, it prevents me
from playing e3-e4, keeping my c1-bishop obstructed. Now I do more than win a
pawn - it helped bolster my center and, most importantly, activate my bad
bishop on c1. That was a big relief for me.} ({Both} 26... Bf8 27. Kf2 a5 28.
Rh1 b4 29. Qh3 h5 30. gxh6 a4 $132) ({and} 26... b4 27. Kf2 Qe6 28. Rh1 Rc5 $1
(28... Bc8 $5 29. Qh4 h5 30. gxh6 Bf8 31. g4 Kh7) 29. Qh4 Ra5 {were some
options for Black. Giving up the h7-pawn wasn't the end of the world, and
queenside counterplay is available thanks to the powerful c3-pawn, and my
c1-bishop being restricted.}) 27. Rxd5 b4 28. e4 Rd7 29. Rfd1 Red8 30. Be3 Bb7
$6 {Not the most tenacious.} (30... Qe6 {would still require overcoming a
number of technical difficulties to convert. But my opponent was also getting
low on time.}) 31. Bc5 $1 Rxd5 32. Rxd5 Qc7 33. Rxd8+ Qxd8 34. Qd3 $1 {[#]
Forcing a transposition into a winning endgame - not only because I'm up a
pawn, but more importantly, because my king will be able to become an asset
rather than a liability. Without the queens it can become active in the center.
Meanwhile, Black's "safe" king will now become a liability as it is hard to
activate it.} Qxd3 35. Bxd3 a5 36. Bb6 {Winning a second pawn.} (36. Kf2 {
was also possible.} Bf8 (36... Bc6 37. Ke3) 37. Bxf8 Kxf8 38. Ke3 {winning.})
36... h6 37. Bxa5 Bf8 38. gxh6 Bc5+ 39. Kh2 Kh7 40. Bc7 Ba6 41. Bc2 {The last
important accurate move.} Kxh6 42. Bd6 Be3 43. g3 g5 44. f5 {Here my opponent
resigned in a hopeless endgame. I was happy with getting at least one win in a
difficult tournament where things weren't going my way, and now I looking
forward to continue to battle the rest of the tournament. While I strugged in
this event, ending up at 3/9 (-3 score), I want to thank the organizers for
making this event possible. Times have been difficult between COVID and now
the war. Playing a tournament was definitely a good escape from a
heartbreaking global situation, and I tried to be very thankful for the
opportunity. It's wonderful just getting to play a good tournament with great
players and great conditions, even when I was not getting the kind of result I
was looking for.} 1-0

[Event "Spring Chess Classic B"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.03.10"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Khanin, Semen"]
[Black "Hungaski, Robert"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2509"]
[BlackElo "2554"]
[Annotator "Hungaski"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Having made some poor decisions throughout the event, I chose this long
theoretical line to keep me in line in the hopes or getting a reasonable
position out of the opening. Often when having a bad event, it's useful to
have opening theory "carry you".} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4
c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Bb5 Nxd4 12.
Bxd4 a6 13. Bxd7+ Bxd7 14. Rb3 ({Better than} 14. Rxb7 $6 Bb4 {.}) 14... Qe7 ({
Avoiding the 'Botez Gambit' with} 14... Qa5 $4 15. Bb6 {.}) 15. Rxb7 Rc8 $5 {
The new trend in the line. Black's plan is simple: get the bishop to c5,
castle and bring pressure along the c-file. White's plan is also quite simple:
play f4-f5 and mate the black king!} ({Both} 15... Qh4+) ({and} 15... Qd8 {
are also known to theory.}) 16. O-O ({Nepomniachtchi has tried} 16. f5 exf5 17.
O-O {with compensation for the pawn.}) 16... Qd8 {[#]} 17. Kh1 {There have
been a number of moves tried in this position.} ({The critical test revolves
around preventing Black's ...Bf8-c5 idea:} 17. Qe3 $5 Rc4 18. Rfb1 (18. f5 Qc8
19. Rfb1 Rxd4 20. Rb8 Bc5 21. Rxc8+ Bxc8) 18... Be7 19. f5 Bg5 (19... exf5 20.
Nxd5) (19... Bc8 20. Ra7 Bg5 21. Qf2 O-O 22. f6) 20. Qd3 O-O {and the position
is unclear. Black makes it out of the opening in one piece, but White retains
some pressure.} (20... exf5 21. Nxd5)) (17. Qf2 Rxc3 18. Bxc3 Qc8 19. Rb3 Ba4)
(17. Nd1 Bc5 18. Ne3 O-O) 17... Bc5 18. Bxc5 Rxc5 19. f5 exf5 20. Nxd5 Be6 21.
Re7+ Kf8 22. Qb4 Qa5 $2 {[#] A tricky move, somewhat speculating on my
opponent's time trouble.} ({Black would have been fine after} 22... Bxd5 $1 23.
Qxc5 Qxe7 (23... Bxg2+ $5 24. Kxg2 Qxe7 25. Qc8+ Qe8 26. Qxf5 Qc6+ $11 {
[%cal Gc6g6]}) 24. Qxd5 g6 {[%cal Gf8g7,Gh8e8] with equality;}) ({but
definitely not} 22... Rxd5 $2 23. Rxe6+ Kg8 24. Rd6 Rxd6 25. exd6 {and White
wins.}) 23. Qb8+ $3 {A powerful in-between move that misplaces the black rook,
making the sacrifice on f7 nearly devastating} ({Here} 23. Rxf7+ $2 {
immediately is too hasty: after} Kxf7 24. Qb7+ Kg8 (24... Kg6 $2 25. Nf4+ Kh6
26. Qf3 $18 {with mate to follow}) 25. Ne7+ Kf8 26. Nxf5 Rc7 {White
surprisingly does not have any good discoveries and remains down a rook.}) (23.
Rd7 {is met with} g5 $1) (23. Ra7 $2 Qxb4 24. Ra8+ (24. Nxb4 g5 $17) 24... Rc8
25. Rxc8+ Bxc8 26. Nxb4 g5 $1 {and Black is for choice.}) (23. Qxa5 $2 Rxa5 {
and White's queenside is falling apart.}) 23... Rc8 24. Rxf7+ $1 ({Better than
} 24. Qd6 Qxd5 25. Rxe6+ Qxd6 26. Rxd6 Ke7 {with a level position.}) 24... Kxf7
25. Qb7+ {Now the king cannot retreat to g8 because of the knight fork on e7.}
Rc7 {The only defense. Black manages to cut his losses down to a pawn, which
will be difficult for White to mobilize due to the queenside weaknesses. Other
moves lose:} (25... Kg6 $2 26. Nf4+ Kh6 27. Qf3) (25... Kf8 $2 26. Qe7+) (25...
Kg8 $2 26. Ne7+ Kf8 27. Nxc8) 26. Nxc7 Qxe5 27. Nd5+ ({Perhaps stronger is} 27.
Nxe6+ Kxe6 28. Qxa6+ Kf7 {.}) 27... Kg6 28. Nf4+ Kf6 29. Qb4 $6 {White
prepares Rf1-e1 and an attack along the dark squares, but he misses an
important resource based on his back rank weakness.} ({Better is} 29. h3 $1 {
[%csl Gh1] giving luft!}) 29... Rb8 30. Qd2 Bxa2 $1 {Now Black is back in the
game!} 31. Nd3 ({Not} 31. Re1 $2 Qxe1+ 32. Qxe1 Rb1 {.}) 31... Qd4 32. c3 ({
Black has counterplay after} 32. Qa5 Bd5 33. Qxa6+ Rb6 34. Qc8 Be4 {with very
active pieces.}) 32... Qd6 33. c4 {[%cal Rd2c3]} Rb3 $1 {Now the game
simplifies and dwindles into a draw. Black might be up a pawn, but the king is
too exposed to actually make use of it.} 34. Qxa2 Rxd3 35. Qf2 g6 36. c5 Qd4
37. Qe2 Qe3 38. Qb2+ Kg5 39. c6 Rc3 40. Qb7 Rc1 41. Qxa6 Qf4 42. Kg1 Qd4+ 43.
Kh1 Qa4 44. Qe2 Rxf1+ 45. Qxf1 Qxc6 46. h3 f4 47. Qd1 h5 48. Qd3 Qf6 49. Qe4
Kh6 50. Kh2 g5 51. Qe2 Qd6 52. Kh1 Qf6 53. Kh2 g4 54. hxg4 Qh4+ 55. Kg1 Qxg4
56. Qe5 h4 57. Qh8+ Kg5 58. Qg7+ Kh5 59. Qh7+ Kg5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Spring Chess Classic B"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.03.12"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Black "Yoo, Christopher"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[WhiteElo "2505"]
[BlackElo "2534"]
[Annotator "Mishra"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 $5 {This move is a bit rare.} (3... c5) (3... Nf6)
(3... dxe4 {are the main lines, but of course this is a playable move.}) 4.
Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. O-O g5 {Immediately starting
counterplay. Black's plan involves a timely ...g5-g4 (perhaps after ...h7-h5)
after which he forces the f3-knight to move, leaving the d4-pawn hanging.} 9.
Nb1 $1 {Uncommon, but the idea is very simple: White does not care about the
tempi wasted and wants to play Bc1-e3 to defend d4.} b6 $6 {I don't think
mixing plans - allowing White to maintain control over the d4-square after
playing the committal move 8...g5 - is correct.} ({Note that} 9... g4 {does
not win a pawn as after} 10. Ne1 cxd4 11. cxd4 Nxd4 {the g4-pawn hangs.}) (9...
Qb6 $5 {was an interesting move, pressuring the d4-pawn and preventing Bc1-e3.}
) 10. Be3 Bb7 11. a3 {Intending b2-b4 to gain some space on the queenside.} (
11. Ne1 $5 {was another possible move, intending f2-f4.}) 11... c4 ({Here} 
11... g4 12. Ne1 h5 13. b4 $5 {is slightly better for White.} ({or} 13. f3 $5))
12. Bc2 h5 {[#]} 13. Ne1 $6 {It was better to wait for ...g5-g4 before moving
the knight, as in that case, White would force Black to waste a tempo with the
pawn push.} ({Better was} 13. Qe2 $1 g4 14. Nfd2 {. The knight pressures the
queenside from this square. After} Qc7 15. a4 $5 {(followed by b2-b3) is good
for White.}) 13... Qc7 14. f4 gxf4 $2 {Now the f7-pawn is now a permanent
weakness.} ({In this position} 14... g4 $1 {was a much better choice as the
f7-square remains safer:} 15. f5 O-O-O 16. Nd2 {and now Black even has the
surprising sacrifice} Ndxe5 $5 17. dxe5 Qxe5 18. Bf4 Qg7 {with compensation
due to his very strong center pawns and the lack of coordination between the
white pieces.}) 15. Bxf4 $1 ({Capturing with the rook is the wrong way to go:} 
15. Rxf4 $2 {lets Black get rid of his weakness via} f5 $1 16. exf6 Nxf6 {
with a slight edge.}) 15... O-O-O 16. Nd2 Rdf8 17. Qe2 {Simply activating my
pieces.} f6 {A desperate attempt to trade the f7-pawn, but it does not work.} (
{Admittedly} 17... Kb8 18. Nef3 Qd8 19. Qe3 {didn't look appetizing either.})
18. exf6 Bd6 19. Bxd6 ({If} 19. g3 $2 {Black breaks with} e5 $1 {and is not
much worse anymore.}) 19... Qxd6 20. Nef3 {Activating my knight, discouraging .
..e7-e5, and preparing Ra1-e1/Nf3-g5 next.} Rxf6 21. Ng5 {[%csl Re6,Rh5][%cal
Rf1f6,Rg5f7] Threatening Ng5-f7 and pressuring the e6-pawn. Now Black has not
just one but two weak pawns on e6 and h5.} ({Also winning was} 21. Rae1 {
simply preventing ...e7-e5, leaving black with some bad pieces on the
queenside. I preferred my game continuation as ...e7-e5 never seemed to work
for tactical reasons.}) 21... Qe7 {[#]} 22. Ndf3 $6 ({I missed the stronger} 
22. h4 $1 {, which is an improved version of the game continuation because
White doesn't waste two tempi moving the knight! Now} e5 {still loses to} 23.
Bf5 {because of the pressure on the black center:} e4 24. Bxd7+ Kxd7 25. Rxf6
Qxf6 26. Rf1 Qg6 27. Rf7+ Kc8 28. Qf2 {and White is winning.}) 22... Re8 ({Now
} 22... e5 $1 {was Black's chance to break out, as there is no Bc2-f5. After}
23. dxe5 Ncxe5 24. Nxe5 Nxe5 25. Bf5+ Kb8 26. Rae1 {White is much better, but
the game goes on and Black can dream about an eventual d5-d4}) 23. h4 $1 {
Solidifying my g5-knight.} ({I disliked} 23. Rae1 {due to the fact that after}
e5 24. dxe5 ({note that after} 24. Nxe5 $2 Ncxe5 25. dxe5 Rxf1+ {the g5-knight
hangs}) 24... Ncxe5 25. Nxe5 Qc5+ 26. Qe3 Rxe5 27. Qxc5+ bxc5 {I thought this
position would be a bit difficult to win in my over-the-board calculations.})
23... Qd6 ({If} 23... e5 {I could now play} 24. Nxe5 $1 {and I do not have to
worry about the g5-knight hanging. After} Ncxe5 25. Rxf6 Qxf6 26. Rf1 $1 {
is an important extra tempo. White is winning here due to the h5-pawn weakness
and the fact that Black did not get his desired counterplay after the ...e6-e5
break.}) 24. Nd2 $1 {Attacking the h5-pawn.} e5 25. Bf5 $1 {The d7-knight
seemed like a good defender of the center/kingside, so I decided to trade it
off.} Rff8 (25... Kc7 26. Qxh5 Ref8 27. Bxd7 {was also just winning for White.}
) 26. Bxd7+ Kxd7 ({White also wins after} 26... Qxd7 27. Rxf8 Rxf8 28. dxe5 {
[%csl Gg5] .}) 27. Qxh5 Rxf1+ 28. Rxf1 exd4 29. cxd4 {[#]} b5 {This loses
without a fight.} ({Black had to try} 29... Nxd4 {but I had seen that after}
30. Qg4+ Ne6 31. h5 ({Playing for fancy tactics with} 31. Nde4 {is also
possible, though less convincing. After} dxe4 32. Rd1 Bd5 33. Nxe4 Qf4 34.
Rxd5+ Kc6 {Black should lose but is clearly much more active}) 31... Kc7 32.
Nf7 {the h-pawn is unstoppable. White wins.}) 30. Ndf3 $18 {The b7-bishop is a
terrible piece, and White is up a clean pawn.} Qe7 31. Re1 {Winning material
now.} Qxe1+ ({Or} 31... Qf8 32. Qg4+ Kc7 33. Ne6+ {.}) 32. Nxe1 Rxe1+ 33. Kf2
Re8 ({Worse is} 33... Rb1 34. Qh7+ {.}) 34. Qf7+ Re7 35. Qxd5+ Kc8 36. Qf5+ Kc7
37. Qf4+ Kc8 38. Ne4 Nd8 39. Nd6+ Kd7 40. Nf5 Rf7 41. g4 Nc6 42. d5 Ne7 43.
Qd6+ Ke8 44. Qb8+ Nc8 45. Kg3 a5 46. Nd6+ {This win gave me clear first place!}
1-0

[Event "New Orleans (informal)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.04.06"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Acers, Jude"]
[Black "Foxx, Jamie"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r3k/5pp1/7p/pp2P3/4BP2/6P1/nPP1NK1P/R7 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#] Black to move} {Judging by the photographic evidence, Foxx was on move
here, and correctly decided on} 1... Nb4 {to save his knight. Unfortunately we
do not know what Acers played, but it's clear that Black is in trouble.} ({
After} 1... Nb4 {play might continue with the obvious} 2. Rxa5 {when Black has
to be careful to avoid a back-rank mate, i.e.,} Rd2 $4 3. Ra8+ {. With the
wily veteran up a piece, two pawns, and having the initiative, it looks like a
tough day at the office for the Hollywood legend.}) *

[Event "TCh-ISL Premier 2021-22"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2022.03.05"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "5.1 Pakleza, Z."]
[Black "Bromann, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "2500"]
[BlackElo "2376"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3b1k1/pq3p1p/2n1r1p1/1p6/1P1R3Q/2B1PB1P/P4PP1/2R3K1 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2021.09.30"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Vikingaklubburinn"]
[BlackTeam "Skakfelag Akureyrar"]

{[%evp 0,59,38,11,71,36,36,36,36,36,38,37,48,46,73,23,23,28,34,39,39,39,39,29,
81,52,87,48,51,42,46,12,12,65,94,151,160,84,118,124,165,118,118,150,359,394,
394,386,385,385,385,385,378,467,484,409,790,867,29997,29998,29999,-30000] [#]} 
28. Qxh7+ $1 Kxh7 ({Black could, of course, survive bit longer with} 28... Kf8
{but realizes that the game is hopelessly lost and lets White checkmate him.})
29. Rh4+ Kg8 30. Rh8# {A standard checkmating pattern.} 1-0

[Event "TCh-ISR 2022"]
[Site "Israel ISR"]
[Date "2022.01.21"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "5.2 Nabaty, T."]
[Black "Globus, Or"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E03"]
[WhiteElo "2643"]
[BlackElo "2425"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1rb2rk1/2p2p1p/p2b4/1pnN1p2/4P3/1P4PN/P4PBP/3R1R1K w - - 0 20"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2022.01.14"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ISR"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Beer Sheva A"]
[BlackTeam "Etude Ramat Gan"]

{[%evp 0,39,20,13,27,16,18,-19,-26,-26,-17,-7,20,-18,-32,-6,-6,1,14,13,20,-10,
-10,-55,-35,-27,-28,7,61,29,32,15,16,24,9,9,30,27,92,95,265,266] [#]} 20. e5 $1
({Black resigned as he realized that he would lose material after} 20. e5 $1
Bxe5 21. b4 ({or} 21. Ne7+ Kh8 22. b4 {which leads to the same position}) 21...
Ne4 22. Ne7+ Kg7 23. Nc6 {and Black loses one of his unprotected pieces.}) 1-0

[Event "FSGM March 2022"]
[Site "Budapest HUN"]
[Date "2022.03.14"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "5.3 Rathanvel, V."]
[Black "Bhakti, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C07"]
[WhiteElo "2477"]
[BlackElo "2388"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k1r3r/1p3ppp/p3pn2/4q3/b1BN4/2R2Q2/PPP2PPP/3R2K1 w - - 0 20"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2022.03.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[EventCategory "6"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,57,27,29,49,35,45,24,15,10,8,36,24,64,64,60,18,16,26,22,19,13,20,9,29,
6,22,22,46,44,44,45,44,38,38,39,37,25,39,52,162,162,243,251,361,201,464,473,
473,485,486,483,486,490,490,492,491,492,491,490] [#]} 20. Bxa6 $1 {White rips
Black's king shelter apart.} Ne4 ({The alternatives do not work for Black
either, for instance,} 20... bxa6 21. Rb3+ $1 Bxb3 {(both 21...Qb5 and 21...
Bb5 also run into 22.Nc6+)} 22. Nc6+ Kc8 23. Nxe5 Rxd1+ 24. Qxd1 Rd8 25. Qe2 {
and White is winning.}) (20... Qe4 21. Qg3+ e5 22. f3 Qf4 23. Qxf4 exf4 24. Bc4
) 21. Rc4 Qa5 22. Qa3 ({Several other moves win as well, for example} 22. Bxb7)
({and} 22. b3) 22... Qxa6 23. Rxa4 Qb6 24. Ra8+ Kc7 25. Qe7+ Rd7 26. Nxe6+ Qxe6
27. Rxd7+ Qxd7 28. Qxd7+ Kxd7 29. Rxh8 {and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "ch-ROU Rapid 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.03.12"]
[Round "7"]
[White "5.4 Manolache, M."]
[Black "Grigore, N."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D26"]
[WhiteElo "2485"]
[BlackElo "2390"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2rk1/3n1ppp/pq2pn2/2b5/PpQN4/1P2PB2/1B3PPP/2R2RK1 w - - 0 18"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2022.03.11"]
[EventType "swiss (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ROU"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,57,27,22,21,-6,29,34,40,60,53,34,19,41,46,53,59,54,40,44,39,35,52,48,
31,39,21,35,54,60,52,47,42,46,82,84,127,89,136,4,45,22,27,41,87,76,83,103,216,
256,215,208,216,217,240,262,374,176,208,154] [#]} 18. a5 $1 Qxa5 ({Not taking
the pawn also leads to a decisive advantage for White:} 18... Qd6 19. Ne2 $1 (
19. Bb7 {is also possible but less precise as the bishop is poorly placed on a6
}) 19... e5 ({or} 19... h6 20. Rfd1 Qe7 21. Qxa6) 20. Ng3 Qe6 21. Rfd1 Qxc4 22.
Rxc4 Rfe8 23. Ne4 Be7 24. Nxf6+ Nxf6 25. Be2 {and Black loses at least one of
his pawns on the queenside}) ({or} 18... Qa7 19. Nc6 Qc7 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Ne7+
{and White is winning material.}) 19. Nc6 $1 ({In the game, White played the
less accurate} 19. Ra1 $2 Qc7 $2 (19... Qb6 $1 20. Rxa6 Ne5 $1 {would have
been fine for Black}) 20. Qxa6 Ne5 21. Rfc1 Qb8 22. Be2 Neg4 23. g3 e5 24. Nf5
g6 25. Nh6+ Nxh6 26. Qxf6 Bd6 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Bc4 Qc7 29. Rd1) 19... Qb6 20.
Bd4 $1 Rxc6 ({Or} 20... Bxd4 21. Ne7+ {and White is winning.}) 21. Bxc6 Bxd4
22. Qxd4 Qxd4 23. exd4 {and White is winning.} 1-0

[Event "Grandiscacchi Cattolica"]
[Site "Cattolica ITA"]
[Date "2022.03.05"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "5.5 Kamalidenova, Meruert"]
[Black "Lodici, Lorenzo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B43"]
[WhiteElo "2362"]
[BlackElo "2537"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "R2r3r/1k1pbp2/8/1Nq1Pp1p/5pn1/7P/1PP1Q1P1/5R1K w - - 0 25"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2022.03.01"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ITA"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,53,25,18,43,36,38,28,32,32,81,68,73,52,53,49,51,66,67,30,46,26,58,69,
57,-54,-22,-17,18,9,112,102,148,141,169,59,88,42,81,35,144,61,25,0,0,0,0,0,149,
420,473,398,29991,29992,29993,29994] [#]} 25. Nd6+ $1 Kxa8 ({Or} 25... Kc7 26.
Ra7+ Qxa7 (26... Kb6 27. Qa6#) 27. Nb5+ {and Black is lost}) 26. Qf3+ Qc6 27.
Ra1+ {and Black resigned he would get mated.} 1-0

[Event "Polish Rapid Ekstraliga B"]
[Site "Bydgoszcz POL"]
[Date "2022.03.12"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "5.6 Psyk, Radoslaw"]
[Black "Szpar, Milosz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2411"]
[BlackElo "2434"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qk2r/1pp2ppp/p1bbp3/3n4/8/1PN2N2/PBPPQPPP/R4RK1 b kq - 0 10"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2022.03.11"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Strzelec Strzelce Opolskie"]
[BlackTeam "LKSz GCKIP Czarna"]

{[%evp 0,46,22,33,43,11,-5,-61,-29,-76,-12,-31,13,-52,-60,-44,-32,-46,-23,-26,
-26,-98,-93,-119,-77,-105,-46,-46,-19,-225,-268,-369,-369,-441,-364,-351,-555,
-555,-597,-586,-656,-1129,-1136,-1184,-1220,-1222,-1169,-29997,-29998] [#]} 
10... Nf4 $1 11. Qe3 ({After} 11. Qd1 {, Black once more wins after} Nxg2 12.
Kxg2 Qg5+ {and Black is forcing mate.}) 11... Nxg2 12. Kxg2 Qh4 {Exploiting
the pin to launch a decisive attack.} 13. h3 {This is more accurate than the
continuation chosen by Black in the game:} Bf4 $1 (13... g5 $6 14. Ne4 $4 ({
White should have played} 14. Rg1 O-O-O 15. d3 g4 16. hxg4 Qxg4+ 17. Kf1 Qxf3 {
with a clear advantage for Black}) 14... Bxe4 15. Bxh8 g4 16. Rh1 Bxf3+ 17. Kg1
O-O-O 18. Be5 Rg8 19. Bxd6 cxd6 20. Rh2 gxh3+ 21. Kf1 Qg4 22. Qc3+ Kb8 23. Rh1
Qg2+ {and White resigned before getting mated.}) 14. Qc5 Qf6 $1 15. Ne4 Qg6+
16. Ng3 h5 {and Black wins back the material back with interest.} 0-1

[Event "ch-ROU Rapid 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.03.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "5.7 Manea, Al"]
[Black "Nastore, Pavel-Alexandru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "2355"]
[BlackElo "2306"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1r3k1/p2n1ppp/1qN1p3/NQb5/Pp2n3/1P4P1/1B2PP1P/2R2RK1 w - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2022.03.11"]
[EventType "swiss (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ROU"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,51,27,23,24,22,22,15,24,32,31,48,52,30,30,-10,11,12,9,22,22,20,30,24,
34,34,66,66,72,58,76,52,63,49,53,50,54,34,50,23,29,50,76,93,78,69,46,-158,32,
29,187,173,346,356] [#]} 21. Bd4 $1 ({This is the same theme as we saw earlier
in puzzle 4. In the game, White played less accurately} 21. e3 $6 Rc7 22. Rfd1
Rac8 $2 23. Rxc5 Ndxc5 24. Be5 Nc3 $4 (24... h6 25. Bxc7 Rxc7 {would have been
okay for Black; now, on the other hand, White is winning}) 25. Bxc7 Qxb5 26.
axb5 {and, losing material, Black resigned.}) 21... Bxd4 $6 ({Or} 21... Qxb5
22. axb5 Bf8 23. Nxa7 {and White's strong passed b-pawn will win the game for
White in the long run.}) 22. Ne7+ $1 Kf8 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Nxc8 {and White is
winning.} 1-0

[Event "Third Saturday GM Mix 242"]
[Site "Novi Sad SRB"]
[Date "2022.02.25"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "5.8 Zakhartsov, Vl"]
[Black "Subelj, Jan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2531"]
[BlackElo "2468"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3q1rk1/p2n1ppp/2Q2n2/3Pp3/3P4/1N6/Pr2PPPP/R3KB1R b KQ - 0 14"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2022.02.22"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SRB"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,58,21,21,26,9,31,21,24,11,16,-8,53,-18,52,49,33,64,62,48,59,82,70,33,
33,-61,33,-45,25,-35,1,-42,-63,-217,-275,-313,105,-275,-272,-320,-332,-332,
-325,-325,-283,-283,-356,-343,-662,-687,-730,-806,-873,-887,-876,-916,-911,
-938,-969,-1033,-929] [#]} 14... Qb8 $3 {A nasty move that threatens ...Qb4+
and ...Rc8.} 15. Qc3 Ne4 $3 {A very unpleasant surprise for White.} 16. Qxb2 ({
Or} 16. Qa5 Rc8 17. f3 Nc3 18. g3 e4 $1 19. fxe4 Nf6 $1 20. e5 Nfe4 $3 21. d6
Rxa2 $1 {and Black's attack crashes through.}) 16... Qb4+ {Now, White's king
is being pulled out in the open.} 17. Kd1 Nc3+ 18. Ke1 Ne4+ 19. Kd1 Nxf2+ 20.
Kc2 Rc8+ 21. Nc5 Qa4+ $1 22. Kd2 Nxc5 23. dxc5 Qa5+ $1 {The only move that
wins.} 24. Ke3 ({Or} 24. Qc3 Ne4+ {, forking the king and queen.}) 24... Qxc5+
25. Kd2 Ne4+ 26. Kd3 Qxd5+ 27. Ke3 Rc3+ ({Strictly speaking} 27... Qc5+ {
is more accurate forcing mate faster, but, of course, the text move suffices.})
28. Qxc3 Nxc3 29. Kf2 Qd4+ {and White resigned. A beautifully conducted attack
by Black.} 0-1

[Event "FSGM March 2022"]
[Site "Budapest HUN"]
[Date "2022.03.08"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "5.9 Prraneeth, Vuppala"]
[Black "Seres, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2409"]
[BlackElo "2387"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2rk1/pp4pp/nq2pb1n/3p2PP/2pP4/2P1BPN1/PP1N1K2/R1Q4R b - - 0 17"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2022.03.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[EventCategory "6"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,59,27,29,67,76,70,83,69,25,53,46,72,7,20,19,22,3,-1,1,-21,22,83,64,63,
60,63,-6,97,92,88,51,43,89,75,47,79,88,45,104,73,84,128,147,154,154,166,113,
301,429,435,451,451,453,940,1200,1200,1197,1197,1361,29995,29996] [#]} 17...
Nb4 $3 ({In the game Black instead went for} 17... Ng4+ $4 {(an interesting
attempt, but also one that is not difficult to refute)} 18. fxg4 Bxd4+ 19. Nf3
Bxe3+ 20. Qxe3 Rxf3+ 21. Kxf3 Rf8+ 22. Nf5 Nc5 23. h6 exf5 24. hxg7 fxg4+ 25.
Kxg4 Rd8 26. Rxh7 Kxh7 27. Rh1+ Kg8 28. Rh8+ Kf7 29. Qf4+ Kxg7 30. Qe5+ {
and Black resigned.}) 18. cxb4 ({After the alternatives, Black is better in
spectacular fashion} 18. Kg2 Nf5 19. Nxf5 Nd3 20. Qd1 Bxg5 21. Bxg5 Rxf5 22.
Be3 Qxb2 {and Black has enough counterplay for the sacrificed piece}) (18. Qg1
Ng4+ {(now, this works)} 19. fxg4 Bxd4+ 20. Ke2 Bxe3 21. Qxe3 Qxe3+ 22. Kxe3
Nc2+ 23. Ke2 Nxa1 24. Rxa1 Rf4 {and Black is clearly better in the endgame.})
18... Bxd4 $1 19. Bxd4 ({Or} 19. gxh6 Bxe3+ 20. Kg2 Qxb4 {and Black has a
decisive advantage.}) 19... Qxd4+ 20. Kg2 Nf5 {and Black has excellent
compensation for the sacrificed piece.} 1-0

[Event "Gothenburg 1929"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Eero Einar Book"]
[Black "Vigge Ingerslev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 {[#]} 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd3 (4. a3 Bxc3 5. dxc3 dxe4 6. Qxd8+
Kxd8 7. Ng5) 4... c5 5. a3 Ba5 (5... Bxc3 6. dxc3 dxe4 7. Bxe4 Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1
Nf6 9. Bd3) 6. b4 cxb4 7. axb4 Bxb4 8. Bb2 (8. O-O Bxc3 9. dxc3 dxe4 10. Bxe4
Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Nf6) 8... Ne7 9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 b6 (10... Nbc6) 11. exd5 Nxd5
12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Nd4 (13. Ra4 Nc6 $2 14. Bb5) 13... Bb7 (13... Qg5) 14. Re3 (
14. Nf5 f6 15. Qg4) 14... Nd7 (14... g6) 15. Nc6 (15. Bxh7+) 15... Bxc6 16.
Bxh7+ Kxh7 (16... Kh8 17. Qh5 (17. Bxg7+)) 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 (18... f5
19. Bh6 (19. Qg6) (19. Rg3)) 19. Rg3+ Kf6 20. Re1 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "ABC-373"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r1kq/8/6r1/8/8/2p2K2/5Q1R/5R2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-373"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r4/2R5/8/k7/q7/2K5/1PQ5/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-373"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/8/8/8/5Pq1/6b1/3Q1BK1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-373"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/5k1q/5P2/6Pb/4QR1K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-373"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1q4k1/5pb1/8/8/2n5/1Q6/P1P5/1KRR4 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-373"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/5r2/5q2/5Q2/3kPK2/5R2/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "August Knights"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2011.08.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kummer, Mike"]
[Black "Nesham, Tim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1792"]
[BlackElo "1822"]
[Annotator "Mike Kummer"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL May 2022"]
[SourceDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.05.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,103,19,38,40,6,19,14,14,-2,-2,-91,-51,-37,-37,-79,-79,-71,-6,-27,-23,
-17,55,34,60,-45,-67,-55,-37,-13,-21,-31,-22,-22,-35,-35,-35,-35,-34,-35,-34,
-91,-104,-131,-131,-173,-105,-77,-51,-50,-21,-21,-12,5,-9,-39,174,59,59,73,54,
61,91,103,97,84,94,27,17,35,81,9,144,164,148,148,147,42,162,212,242,129,114,
135,186,186,188,193,205,215,218,224,252,224,402,265,605,459,1016,456,547,547,
656,653,692,692]} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 ({Not} 2. Nf3 {, obviously.}) 2... Nf6 3. e5
Nd5 4. Bc4 Nb6 5. b3 {I didn't want to retreat.} Nxc4 6. bxc4 Nc6 7. f4 d6 8.
d4 dxe5 9. d5 Na5 10. fxe5 e6 11. Nf3 b5 12. cxb5 exd5 13. Bg5 Qd7 14. O-O Qe6
{[#] I wrote his move down and then did a double-take, thinking that can't be
good. Sure enough, 10 seconds later, I found "My Best Move" and had so much
fun sticking it on the board.} 15. Bd8 $3 Nc4 ({If} 15... Kxd8 16. Ng5 {
is crushing.}) 16. Ng5 Qd7 17. Nxf7 Ne3 18. Qf3 Nxf1 19. Nxh8 Qf5 20. Bg5 $2 {
I couldn't resist putting my bishop en prise again.} ({Best is} 20. Qxf1) 20...
Qxf3 ({If} 20... Qxg5 21. Qf7+ Kd8 22. Qxf8+ Kd7 23. Qxf1) 21. gxf3 Bh3 22. Na3
c4 23. Nc2 Bc5+ 24. Nd4 Kf8 25. e6 Kg8 26. Nf7 h6 27. Bf4 {Play g5, I dare you.
} g5 28. Bxg5 {I took in a split second.} ({Obviously} 28. Nxh6+ {is crushing.}
) 28... Bxd4+ {Never capture a pinned piece.} 29. cxd4 hxg5 30. Nxg5 Nd2 31.
Nxh3 Nxf3+ 32. Kf2 Nxd4 33. Rd1 Rf8+ 34. Ke3 Nf5+ 35. Kf4 {Make that king a
warrior!} d4 36. Rg1+ {Get in the corner.} Kh8 37. Ke5 d3 38. Nf4 Nh4 39. e7 {
Desperation time.} Rc8 $4 {Re8 could hold, but now I calculate the win.} 40.
Ng6+ Nxg6+ 41. Rxg6 d2 42. Rd6 Re8 {a little late.} 43. Rxd2 $1 {So much glory!
} Rxe7+ 44. Kd4 Rd7+ 45. Kc3 Rc7 46. Rd4 Rc5 47. a4 Rh5 48. h4 a6 49. Kxc4
axb5+ 50. axb5 Kg8 51. Rf4 {No hope for you.} Re5 52. b6 1-0

