[Event "Marshall CC Ch."]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1964.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Popovych, Orest"]
[Black "Soltis, Andy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B77"]
[Annotator "Jack Peters"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "1964.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,89,26,19,68,53,54,11,9,13,43,39,49,41,51,35,36,17,25,16,37,7,22,0,5,
-10,0,-54,0,3,58,45,119,143,143,139,139,139,139,176,176,168,203,208,294,316,
316,319,148,411,442,449,449,140,140,134,140,140,140,132,132,141,140,125,146,
136,136,131,131,140,144,147,147,133,133,140,147,151,151,156,175,174,253,393,
394,423,423,611,611,878,1016,878]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5.
Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Ne5 11. h4 Rc8 ({
Later Soltis popularized} 11... h5 {, now known as the Soltis variation.}) 12.
h5 Nxh5 $11 13. O-O-O Qa5 14. g4 Nxf3 $2 {Thematic, clever, and ... unsound.} (
{Black must settle for} 14... Nf6 $11) 15. Nxf3 Bxg4 $2 ({A little better is} 
15... Bxc3 16. bxc3 Bxg4 {, but Black is suffering after} 17. Qf2 Nf6 18. Rdg1
$16) 16. Qg2 $18 Bxf3 ({After} 16... Rxc3 17. bxc3 Qxc3 18. Rd3 Qf6 19. Nd4 $18
{, Black's four pawns won't save him, as White will attack relentlessly.}) 17.
Qxf3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Qxc3 {[#]} 19. Rxh5 $1 gxh5 20. Rg1+ Kh8 21. Qf2 Qa1+ 22.
Kd2 Qc3+ 23. Kd1 Qc7 24. Bd4+ f6 25. Be6 $1 {Preventing ...e7-e5 and
threatening 26. Qg2.} ({The hasty} 25. Qg3 $6 e5 {allows more resistance.})
25... Qd8 26. Qf4 $6 {White's only slip in a well-conducted attack.} ({The
knockout blow is} 26. Be3 $1 {, planning 27. Bh6.}) 26... Qe8 27. Qh6 Rf7 28.
Bxc8 Qxc8 29. Qxh5 Rg7 30. Rxg7 Kxg7 31. Be3 $1 {Still eyeing Black's King.} ({
Black would get a bit of counterplay from} 31. Bxa7 $6 Qc3) 31... Qe6 32. Bh6+
Kh8 33. Qe8+ Qg8 {[#]} 34. Qf8 $1 {The only way to win.} ({Not} 34. Qxe7 $4 {
because of} Qg1+ 35. Kd2 Qh2+ 36. Kd3 Qxh6 $11) 34... Qxf8 35. Bxf8 $18 e5 36.
Bxd6 Kg7 37. Ke2 Kg6 38. Kf3 {White has the "wrong" Bishop for the a-pawn, and
Black can trade off the pawn at e4, but he cannot draw. White will eliminate
all the Kingside pawns and win with the c-pawn.} Kg5 39. a4 h5 40. a5 h4 ({
Against the tougher} 40... a6 {, White brings his Bishop to e3 or g3 to make
Black's King retreat. For example,} 41. Bc7 h4 42. Bb6 h3 43. Kg3 h2 44. Be3+
Kh5 45. Kxh2 Kg4 46. Kg2 f5 47. exf5 Kxf5 48. Kf3 $18) 41. a6 bxa6 42. c4 Kg6
43. c5 Kf7 44. c6 Ke8 45. Kg4 1-0

[Event "North Central Open"]
[Site "Milwaukee"]
[Date "1970.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Evans, Larry D."]
[Black "Popovych, Orest"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B86"]
[Annotator "Jack Peters"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "1970.??.??"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,56,33,5,54,54,82,63,62,48,29,42,43,32,61,30,31,17,18,5,10,-14,-20,-4,
19,4,9,6,46,53,53,39,43,32,39,-97,-89,-30,-73,-150,-152,-147,-158,-73,-113,
-113,-26,-697,-1012,-1012,-1109,-1109,-1111,-1111,-1129,-2098,-2645,-3055,
-3141]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. a3 b5
$11 8. Ba2 Bb7 9. Qe2 Nbd7 10. g4 Nc5 $6 ({Black solves all his problems with} 
10... Rc8 {(threatening 11...Rxc3)} 11. f3 h6 $11) 11. f3 Be7 12. Be3 O-O $6 {
Castling into White's attack.} 13. g5 Nh5 14. Rg1 g6 15. O-O-O Qa5 $2 ({
Stockfish suggests} 15... Qc7 16. Kb1 Rfe8) 16. Qg2 $2 {Too slow.} ({White
obtains a winning attack from} 16. f4 $1 b4 ({not} 16... Bxe4 $2 17. Nxe4 Nxe4
18. Nxe6 $18) 17. axb4 Qxb4 18. f5 $18) 16... Rfc8 $11 17. f4 $2 ({White's
last chance to maintain equality is} 17. Qd2 b4 18. Nce2 d5 19. exd5 $11) 17...
b4 18. axb4 Qxb4 $19 19. f5 ({Also useless is} 19. Qd2 Rab8 $19) 19... Rab8 $1
{[#] A sensational counterattack.} 20. fxe6 f5 $3 $19 ({White could tolerate} 
20... Nxe6 $2 21. Bb3) 21. Nxf5 ({Shielding the b2-square with} 21. Nb3 {
lasts longer, but Black gains a pawn by} Nxb3+ 22. Bxb3 Bxe4 23. Qf2 Bxc2 $1
24. Qxc2 Qxb3 $19) ({Against} 21. Bd5 {, best appears} Bxd5 22. Nxd5 $8 Qxb2+
23. Kd2 Bxg5 $1 $19) 21... gxf5 22. g6 h6 23. g7 $6 ({Black handles} 23. Rd4
Qb6 24. b4 {convincingly by} Nb3+ 25. Bxb3 Rxc3 26. Qd2 Rxb3 27. cxb3 f4 28.
Bf2 {and soon ...Qb5-e5.} Qb5 $19) 23... Bxe4 24. Qg6 Qxb2+ 25. Kd2 Qxc2+ 26.
Ke1 Qxc3+ 27. Kf1 ({Or} 27. Bd2 Bh4+) 27... Bd3+ 28. Rxd3 Qxd3+ 0-1

[Event "Aimchess US Rapid Prelim"]
[Site "Chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2021.08.28"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2847"]
[BlackElo "2623"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2021.08.28"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Qg4 Nd7 6. Nf3 Nxc5 7. Be2 Ne7 8. O-O
Nf5 9. c4 dxc4 10. Rd1 Bd7 11. Bxc4 Qb6 12. Nc3 Be7 13. Nd4 h5 14. Qe2 Nxd4 15.
Rxd4 Bc6 16. Be3 a5 17. Rad1 O-O 18. Qxh5 Qxb2 19. Rg4 g6 20. Bh6 Be8 21. Nd5
exd5 22. Bxd5 Kh7 23. Qh3 Rh8 24. Bf8+ Kg8 25. Rxg6+ Kxf8 26. Qxh8# 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 16th"]
[Site "Jerusalem"]
[Date "2015.02.27"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Navara, David"]
[Black "Najer, Evgeniy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2634"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2015.02.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ISR"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,56,19,25,29,-3,6,6,35,16,36,26,18,30,40,52,48,19,20,-57,15,20,35,4,
-19,-8,14,6,-13,-10,-10,-84,-85,-12,-5,-5,19,20,20,31,31,31,9,-1,0,0,0,0,0,-26,
-28,-19,-18,-32,0,-3,7,5,2]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3
Be7 6. e4 d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. h4 g6 10. h5 cxd4 11. Qc2 Nc5 12. Bf1 a5
13. Nxd4 dxc4 14. N2f3 g5 15. Bxc4 g4 16. Ba2 Nbd7 {[#]} 17. Ng5 (17. Bb1 f5
18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Ng5 Qxd4 20. Nxh7 Qe4+) 17... Bxg5 18. Bb1 f5 19. exf6 Nxf6
20. Bxg5 Qxd4 21. Be3 Qe4 22. Qxc5 Qxg2 23. Rf1 Qd5 24. f3 b6 25. Qxd5 Nxd5 26.
Bh6 Rf6 27. Bg5 Rxf3 28. Rxf3 gxf3 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Anand-Kramnik +3-1=8"]
[Site "Bonn"]
[Date "2008.10.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D49"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2008.10.14"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3
a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 cxd4 11. Nxb5 axb5 12. exf6 gxf6 13. O-O Qb6 14. Qe2 Bb7 15.
Bxb5 Bd6 16. Rd1 Rg8 17. g3 Rg4 18. Bf4 Bxf4 19. Nxd4 h5 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rxd7
Kf8 22. Qd3 Rg7 23. Rxg7 Kxg7 24. gxf4 Rd8 25. Qe2 Kh6 26. Kf1 Rg8 27. a4 Bg2+
28. Ke1 Bh3 29. Ra3 Rg1+ 30. Kd2 Qd4+ 31. Kc2 Bg4 32. f3 Bf5+ 33. Bd3 Bh3 34.
a5 Rg2 35. a6 Rxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Bf5+ 37. Kb3 Qe3+ 38. Ka2 Qxe2 39. a7 Qc4+ 40. Ka1
Qf1+ 41. Ka2 Bb1+ 0-1

[Event "Corus-B"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2005.01.29"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Nielsen, Peter Heine"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2648"]
[BlackElo "2599"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "201"]
[EventDate "2005.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "13"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,97,18,22,22,18,43,32,18,26,45,17,29,-26,-25,-26,-30,-15,-9,-49,-13,
-42,16,28,50,53,87,95,89,79,73,58,45,45,48,49,107,84,107,115,107,129,138,146,
148,108,107,99,74,79,90,81,65,29,116,93,102,92,97,79,181,173,177,175,181,182,
184,170,182,182,183,171,201,196,183,179,175,185,185,187,194,194,187,169,187,
136,136,139,141,127,161,177,171,138,171,171,180,139,180,162]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6
3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Nbd7 10.
d5 cxd5 11. exd5 Nb6 12. dxe6 Qxd1+ 13. Rxd1 Bxe6 14. Nd4 a6 15. Bf3 O-O-O 16.
O-O Bc5 17. Nc6 Rxd1 18. Rxd1 Nbd7 19. Na5 Kd8 20. Nb7+ Kc8 21. Nxc5 Nxc5 22.
Be5 Ncd7 23. Rxd7 Bxd7 24. Bxf6 Re8 25. h3 Re6 26. Nd5 a5 27. a3 b4 28. axb4
axb4 29. Bd4 c3 30. Nxb4 cxb2 31. Bxb2 Kd8 32. Nd3 Ke7 33. Nc5 Rb6 34. Ba3 Rb1+
35. Kh2 Ra1 36. Bb4 Rb1 37. Ba3 Ra1 38. Bb4 Rb1 39. Nd3+ Ke8 40. Bd6 Rb6 41.
Bc7 Rb5 42. Ne5 Ke7 43. Nc4 Be6 44. Bd6+ Kf6 45. Ne3 Rb2 46. Nd1 Rb3 47. Ne3
Rb2 48. Nd1 Rb3 49. Bh5 Kg7 50. Ne3 Rd3 51. Bc5 f6 52. Bd1 Rd2 53. Kg1 Ra2 54.
Bd4 Rd2 55. Bc5 Ra2 56. Bc2 h5 57. Bd4 h4 58. Kf1 Kf7 59. Ke1 Kg7 60. Kd1 Kf7
61. Kc1 Kg7 62. Bb2 Kf7 63. Bd3 Ra4 64. f3 Ra8 65. Nc2 Rc8 66. Kb1 Bc4 67. Be4
Rd8 68. Kc1 Bd3 69. Bxd3 Rxd3 70. Nd4 Kg6 71. Kc2 Re3 72. Kd2 Re8 73. f4 gxf4
74. Nf3 Kh5 75. Ne1 Kg5 76. Bd4 Rd8 77. Ke2 Re8+ 78. Kf2 Re6 79. Nf3+ Kh5 80.
Kg1 Ra6 81. Bf2 Ra1+ 82. Kh2 Ra2 83. Bxh4 Kg6 84. Be1 Kf5 85. Bc3 Ra3 86. Bd4
Rd3 87. Kg1 Ra3 88. Kf1 Ra2 89. Bc3 Ra3 90. Bd2 Ra2 91. Ke2 Ra3 92. Nd4+ Ke5
93. Nc2 Rb3 94. Ne1 Ke4 95. Nf3 Ra3 96. Bb4 Ra2+ 97. Nd2+ Kf5 98. Kf3 Ra4 99.
Bc5 Ra1 100. Nb3 {[#]} Kg5 101. Nxa1 1-0

[Event "76th ch-AZE Prelim 2022"]
[Site "Nakhchivan AZE"]
[Date "2022.02.09"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Ahmadzada, Ahmad"]
[Black "Durarbayli, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2467"]
[BlackElo "2615"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r1k2r/1b1n1ppp/pq2pn2/1pb5/4N3/2N3P1/PPQ1PPBP/R1B2RK1 b k - 0 13"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2022.02.05"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,28,26,22,22,22,21,18,6,-25,-15,-7,9,9,16,-41,-33,-61,-53,-42,-32,-42,
-53,-49,-55,-85,-64,-260,-284,-263,-277] [#]} 13... Bxe4 14. Bxe4 b4 0-1

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]
[Site "Chennai IND"]
[Date "2022.08.03"]
[Round "6.57"]
[White "BuKhalaf, Hussain"]
[Black "Boshra, Alshaeby"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "1813"]
[BlackElo "1854"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qkb1r/ppp2ppp/8/8/2p5/P2nP1Pb/1P1PNPBP/R1BQ1K1R b kq - 0 11"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2022.07.29"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Bahrain"]
[BlackTeam "Jordan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "JOR"]

{[%evp 0,24,26,-20,-24,-51,-51,-44,-44,-108,-101,-115,-30,-91,-64,-62,-60,-130,
-68,-75,-53,-64,-49,-668,-719,-1399,-1400] [#]} 11... Qd5 12. Bxh3 Qf3 0-1

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]
[Site "Chennai IND"]
[Date "2022.08.08"]
[Round "10.68"]
[White "Mannhart, M."]
[Black "Van der Brink, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2110"]
[BlackElo "2167"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2kr3r/pp2pp1p/2n1bnp1/q2N4/4P3/5P2/PPPQ2PP/1K1R1BNR b - - 0 13"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2022.07.29"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Liechtenstein"]
[BlackTeam "Aruba"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "LIE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARN"]

{[%evp 0,28,21,20,47,50,76,38,38,35,47,35,35,35,38,29,30,-6,1,-9,3,-29,-9,-3,
-3,-180,-139,-348,-348,-806,-806] [#]} 13... Nxd5 14. Qxa5 Nc3+ 0-1

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]
[Site "Chennai IND"]
[Date "2022.08.09"]
[Round "11.17"]
[White "Dobrovoljc, Vid"]
[Black "Diamant, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2398"]
[BlackElo "2538"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2rk1/1pq1bppp/p1n1p3/6B1/2P1N1n1/5N1P/PPQ2PP1/R3RBK1 b - - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2022.07.29"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Slovenia"]
[BlackTeam "Brazil"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SLO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BRA"]

{[%evp 0,30,21,26,44,44,40,35,54,39,45,23,30,5,9,15,23,8,33,23,25,26,11,12,20,
16,25,16,17,36,5,-630,-627] [#]} 15... Nd4 0-1

[Event "108th ch-GBR 2022"]
[Site "Torquay ENG"]
[Date "2022.08.20"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Emms, J."]
[Black "Gormally, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2474"]
[BlackElo "2466"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3kb1r/pp1bpp1p/1qn3p1/4P3/5P2/2P5/PPB1Q1Pn/RNB1K1NR w KQkq - 0 12"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "2022.08.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,23,26,26,44,13,30,47,52,52,29,33,33,10,36,-7,53,29,39,41,37,64,50,93,
233,250] [#]} 12. Bb3 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]
[Site "Chennai IND"]
[Date "2022.07.31"]
[Round "3.28"]
[White "Kakulidis, Ellen"]
[Black "Banda Natalie Katlo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2057"]
[BlackElo "1688"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qkb1r/1b2pppp/p1p2n2/1p6/n2P4/1N3NP1/2Q1PPBP/R1B2RK1 w kq - 0 12"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2022.07.29"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Denmark"]
[BlackTeam "Botswana"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "DEN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BOT"]

{[%evp 0,31,26,21,21,6,45,17,26,2,8,-7,4,4,7,4,19,-27,-26,-54,50,55,77,49,44,
81,90,180,262,287,1072,1117,1232,1255] [#]} 12. Rxa4 bxa4 13. Nc5 Ra7 14. Ne5
Nd5 15. Nxb7 Rxb7 16. Qxc6+ 1-0

[Event "Spring Chess Classic - Group B"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2023.04.09"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Dudin, Gleb"]
[Black "Daggupati, Balaji"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2505"]
[Annotator "Tatev"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/p2R3p/2q3p1/1p6/6Q1/1P2PNP1/P1r1nPKP/5R2 w - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "FID"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{Here White played the very natural-looking} {[#]} 27. Rfd1 $4 {but after} h5
$1 {Dudin felt that "cold shower" - the queen cannot defend the f3-knight. But
White kept his cool.} 28. Qg5 Qxf3+ 29. Kh3 Qf5+ $2 {A natural move, offering
to exchange queens in light of the material advantage and Black's vulnerable
king. Looks pretty bad for White, right?} 30. Qxf5 Rxf5 31. Rxa7 Rxf2 32. Rd8+
Rf8 33. Rxf8+ $1 Kxf8 34. g4 {White's play might seem counterintuitive, as
we're taught not to exchange material when we're down material. The point is
that rook and knight versus rook endings are easy draws for experienced
players.} Nc3 35. gxh5 gxh5 36. a4 {Exchanging more pawns. I won't show the
rest of the game, but the game was drawn on move 91. Kudos to Dudin for
keeping his head!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "URS-ch18"]
[Site "Moskva"]
[Date "1950.12.11"]
[Round "17"]
[White "Lipnitsky, I."]
[Black "Geller, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E71"]
[Annotator "Lipnitsky"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[EventDate "1950.11.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Be3 d6 6. h3 e5 7. d5 c6 {In reply
to the crossing by the white pawn of the demarcation line Black carries out an
exchange, opening the c-file for himself.} 8. Bd3 Na6 9. Nge2 cxd5 10. cxd5 Nc5
11. Bc2 Nh5 12. O-O ({Probably, more accurate was} 12. Qd2 {, preventing the
move of the black queen to h4 (in view of Bg5), and also ...h7-h6.}) 12... h6 {
Diagram [#] White's plan forsees the full development of his forces and the
later creation of an initiative on the queen's wing, where White has a spatial
advantage. In such positions Black often develops counterplay on the king's
flank by means of ...f7-f5, but in this precise situation this advance is not
disadvantageous for White, since he exchanges at f5 and (after ...gxf5) plays
f2-f4!. Taking account of this circumstance, Geller for the time being
refrains from the advance ...f7-f5, and in place of this manouvres on both the
queen's and king's flanks. With the move in the text he prepares the exit of
his queen to h4.} 13. Rc1 {Later the rook is forced to return to a1, and the
move in the text proves to be a waste of time.} ({Better was} 13. Qd2 {.}) ({
Deserving attention is} 13. b4 {. It should be noted that had he wished to
prevent this move, Black could have long ago played ...a7-a5.}) 13... a5 14.
Kh2 Bd7 15. a4 {It is essential to prevent ...b7-b5.} Kh7 {Sooner or later a
forced move. The advance ...f7-f5 now becomes unattractive, in view of the
presence of the bishop on c2.} 16. Qd2 Rc8 17. Ra1 {White has two pieces tied
to the defence of the a4-pawn. In returning the rook to a1, White not only
creates an extra defence of the a4-pawn, but also intends to include the rook
in operations on the 3rd rank.} Qh4 18. Ra3 {A useful move. Up to this point
both sides have been consoliding their positions, not proceeding to decisive
operations. But inevitably the first skirmishes must soon happen, and in this
case the position of the rook on proves to be very appropriate. In passing the
fork by the c5-knight at b3, possible in some cases, is prevented.} b6 {
Diagram [#]} 19. Ng1 {White wants to drive back the black queen with the move
g2-g3, and for this it is necessary to defend the square h3. Moreover, in
freeing the e2-square, White is thinking of carrying out the manoeuvre
Bd1-e2-b5 with the exchange of the light-squared bishops, which would have
permitted him to gradually go over to the capture of important squared on the
queen-side and to attack the b6- and a5-pawns. The position that has been
created is very instructive: while Black experiences difficulty in finding a
suitable plan of play that does not involve the advance ...f7-f5, White has
clear play on the queen's flank. Geller, who is not the type to patiently
await the realisation of the opponent's plan, resorts to the move ...f7-f5,
from which he had long been refraining.} f5 20. g3 {Had White first exchanged
on f5 and then played g2-g3, the black queen could have moved away to c4.} Qe7
21. exf5 Bxf5 ({On} 21... gxf5 {there would have followed} 22. Nge2 {and then
f2-f4 or g2-g4.}) 22. Nge2 Bxc2 {Black could have delayed this exchange, since
it helps White to take possesion of the light squares.} ({For the time being
Black was not threatened with the continuation (} 22... Z0 {)} 23. Bxf5 gxf5
24. f4 {, since in this case he could have replied} exf4 25. Nxf4 {then} Bxc3
$1 {followed by 26...Ne4.}) 23. Qxc2 Nf6 ({While now Black already ought to
have tried to exploit the weakness of the d3- and f3-squares with the move} 
23... e4 {, since with his following move White prevents this advance.}) 24. f3
Qf7 {Black deflects the white queen from the diagonal b1-h7.} ({Also now} 24...
e4 25. f4 Nd3 {led to very confused play. It must be remarked however, that
already Black was experiencing shortage of time for thought.}) 25. Qd2 g5 {
Diagram [#]} 26. g4 $1 {An important moment! White is in time to occupy the
central e4-square, which creates for him the later prospect of obtaining an
advantageous ending with a knight on e4 against the bishop on g7.} Ng8 ({After
} 26... e4 {White could have continued} 27. f4 {with an excellent game. For
instance,} h5 28. Ng3 hxg4 29. fxg5 {etc.}) 27. Ng3 Ne7 28. Bxc5 bxc5 ({
Naturally, not} 28... Rxc5 29. Nge4 {and 29.Nxd6.}) 29. Nge4 Rb8 ({Black does
not fear the capture at d6 due to the possibility (} 29... Rb8 30. Nxd6 {)}
Qf4+ 31. Qxf4 Rxb2+ {and 32...exf4.}) 30. Rf2 Rfd8 31. Ra1 Qf4+ 32. Qxf4 {
Due to the presence for Black of the manoeuvre ...Ne7-g6-h4 White does not
avoid taking the queen on f4, which opens up the black bishop.} ({On} 32. Kg1 {
there could have followed} Ng6 $1 33. Nb5 Nh4 34. Qxf4 (34. Raf1 Nxf3+ 35. Rxf3
Qxe4) 34... exf4 {and impossible is} 35. Nexd6 {on account of} Rxd6 $1 36. Nxd6
Bd4 $1 {with the threats of 37...Rxb2, 37...Nxf3+ and 37...Rd8.}) 32... exf4
33. Re1 Ng6 34. Nb5 Ne5 35. Rd1 Rb6 36. b3 Kg6 37. Kg2 ({White cannot now
prevent the move 37...c4, since on} 37. Nd2 {unpleasant is} Re8 {with the
threat of ...Nd3.}) 37... Bf8 ({In serious time-trouble Geller, probably,
could not calculate all the variations after the sharp} 37... c4 {.}) 38. Rc2
Bg7 39. Kf2 Bf8 40. Kg2 Re8 41. Rc3 {Diagram [#] The sealed move. White has a
definite advantage in view of the weakness of Black's a5- and d6-pawns, and
also the presence of a 'bad' bishop. If it were possible to remove from the
board both pairs of rooks and the knights, Black would have a completely lost
endgame. In many variations decisive would be the march of the white king from
the d3-square along the itinerary d3-c4-b5, or d3-e4-f5.} Nf7 42. Rd2 Ne5 {
Were Black to now sacrifice the exchange on e4 in order to consolidate by
means of the transfer of the bishop to e5, White wins after carrying out the
break h3-h4 on the king's flank.} 43. Re2 Nf7 {Black is very restricted in his
manoeuvres. He must not only look after the d6-pawn, but also prevent the
possible sacrifice at d6 followed by taking at e5 (in the case of the
departure of the rook from e8), and also the manoeuvre Ne4-d2-c4!} 44. Rcc2 Bg7
(44... Ne5 45. Nd2 Rbb8 46. Nc4 $1 Nxc4 47. bxc4 Kf7 48. Re6 $1 Rxe6 49. dxe6+
Ke7 (49... Kxe6) 50. Re2 Bg7 51. Na7 $1 {.}) 45. Kf1 Re5 {Black is unable to
avoid the exchange of rooks after the retreat of the knight from e4.} 46. Nec3
Rxe2 47. Nxe2 Rb7 48. Nc1 Re7 49. Re2 Ne5 {Clearly, the exchange of rooks
would only have hastened defeat. However, to save the game is already
impossible.} 50. Re4 ({Clearly,} 50. Nxd6 {would have permitted Black to
obtain counter-play after} Rd7 {.}) 50... Rd7 51. Ke2 Bf6 52. Nd3 h5 53. Nxe5+
Bxe5 ({Of little comfort too is} 53... dxe5 54. d6 {.}) 54. Kd3 hxg4 55. hxg4
Re7 ({Black cannot exploit the h-file. On} 55... Rh7 {there follows} 56. Nxd6
Bxd6 57. Re6+ {etc.}) 56. Re2 Rd7 57. Rh2 {Diagram [#] Since the white knight
will be transferred to c4, the occupation of the h-file by the black rook
should be forestalled.} Rb7 58. Kc2 Re7 59. Na3 Bd4 {A final attempt to obtain
at least some counter-play.} 60. Nc4 Re1 61. Nxd6 Re3 62. Ne4 Rxf3 63. d6 c4
64. bxc4 Re3 65. d7 Bb6 66. c5 Bc7 67. Nd6 Re7 68. Rh6+ Kxh6 69. Nf5+ Kg6 70.
Nxe7+ Kf7 71. Nc6 {Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "URS-ch19 sf"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "1951.05.??"]
[Round "15"]
[White "Furman, S."]
[Black "Lipnitsky, I."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E51"]
[Annotator "Lipnitsky"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "1951.05.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {This encounter took place a few rounds before
the end of the competition, when the masters Novotelnov, Taimanov and Kholmov
had already made sure of the first three places. The nearest candidates for
4th place, which also gave the right to play in the final, were Furman and I,
having the same number of points - so the result of our game had taken on
decisive significance. But to prepare for this game proved exceptionally
difficult. Both opponents, having lived together in the same hotel room over
the course of a month, had prepared for rounds and discussed a variety of
variations together. To each of us the opening 'script' of the other was more
or less clear. I knew that in most cases Furman plays 1.d4, readily permitting
the Nimzo-Indian Defence, in which he is one of the greatest experts. I
decided to choose the Nimzo-Indian, but then transpose to the Ragozin Defence,
which, as it seemed to me, it would be less pleasant for Furman to play. That
is the explanation for the order of the first six moves.} 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5
6. Bd3 Nc6 {Clearly, this move is not in the least inferior to 6...c5, 6...b6
or 6...Nbd7, after which the game would have remained in Nimzo-Indian channels.
But we already know that the choice of one continuation or another is
frequently a purely psychological matter.} 7. O-O dxc4 {Black reveals his
intention to sacrifice a pawn.} ({Otherwise he could have played} 7... a6 {
, so as to preliminarily defend the b5-square.}) 8. Bxc4 Bd6 {Diagram [#] The
path chosen by Black is characteristic of the Ragozin Defence. Rejecting the
advance of the c-pawn, he prepares counter-play in the centre associated with
the advance ...e6-e5.} 9. Bb5 {Furman tries to prevent the move ...e6-e5,
threatening in turn to play e3-e4-e5.} e5 $1 {All the same this move is
possible! Black sacrifices a pawn, obtaining the two bishops and great freedom
of operation. Moreover, White has still not developed his queen's flank. This
pawn sacrifice is essentially a repeat of that carried out in a similar
position by Ragozin in the game against Capablanca (Moscow, 1936). Sacrificing
a pawn in this position, I hoped that the 'novelty' would take the opponent by
surprise. But it transpired that I was deeply mistaken. Shortly before the
tournament Furman had analysed this position adn, familiarising himself with
the resultant continuations, came to the conclusion that the whole variation
is in White's favour. Thus, the psychological effect of the novelty proved to
be precisely zero. But during the game I did not know this, so that, playing
the move 9...e5!, I was very happy.} 10. Bxc6 ({In the case of} 10. d5 Ne7 11.
e4 Ng6 {Black has quite good prospects on the king's flank.}) 10... exd4 11.
Bxb7 ({Possibly, Black's task would have been more complicated after} 11. Nxd4
bxc6 12. Nxc6 {. On} Qd7 {White could have replied not 13.Nd4 (which would
have led to the situation occurring in the game), but} 13. Qa4 {, so as to
parry} Bb7 {by means of} 14. Na5 {.}) ({All the same, after} 11. Nxd4 bxc6 12.
Nxc6 {Black has sufficient play; besides 12...Qd7 he also has available the
move} Qe8 {.}) 11... Bxb7 12. Nxd4 Qd7 {Diagram [#] In this situation both
sides were satisfied; White, because he has won a pawn, Black, because he had
sacrificed it.} 13. Ndb5 ({In the case of} 13. Qa4 {Black obtains a strong
attack after} Qg4 {.}) ({It would have been interesting to test the immediate} 
13. f3 $1 {here.}) 13... Qc6 14. f3 {Diagram [#]} ({Here Furman had analysed (
} 14. f3 {)} Bc5 {, believing that Black does not have sufficient compensation
for the pawn. Indeed, after} 15. Nd4 $1 {the black queen lacks a convenient
square to move to; for example:} Qd6 16. Na4 {(also good is 17.Nb3) and Black
is unable to avoid the exchange of queens;}) ({or (} 14. f3 Bc5 15. Nd4 {)} Qd7
16. Nb3 Bd6 17. e4 {. But Black has a way to retain the initiative.}) 14... Be5
$1 {It transpires that here, on the central square e5, the bishop is
excellently placed.} ({Now on (} 14... Be5 {)} 15. Nd4 {there follows} Qd6 {
with an attack on the h2-pawn. In this case bad for White (both now and
subsequently) is} 16. f4 {on account of} Bxd4 {. Possible variations are: 1)}
17. Qxd4 Qc6 18. Qd2 Rad8 19. Qf2 Rfe8 {;}) ({2) (} 14... Be5 15. Nd4 Qd6 16.
f4 Bxd4 {)} 17. exd4 Rfe8 {followed by ...Rad8 and ...Qc6 or ...Qb6, and
Black's pressure is very imposing.}) 15. Qc2 Rfd8 16. a4 {If White had had
time to play e3-e4 and Be3, Black would have been in trouble.} ({But now} 16.
e4 {will not do in view of the fact that after} Ba6 {the white knight falls
under a double pin and after} 17. a4 Qb6+ {followed by ...c7-c6 Black could
have won the exchange.}) ({Besides the move in the game, meriting attention is
} 16. Nd4 {, so as to gain the advantage in the case of} Bxd4 17. exd4 Rxd4 18.
Be3 {.}) ({But on} 16. Nd4 {Black has available the move} Qd6 {, and if} 17.
Nf5 {, then} Bxh2+ 18. Kh1 Qe5 19. f4 Qc5 $1 20. Kxh2 Be4 {and Black, having
regained the pawn, retains the pressure.}) 16... Qc4 $1 {Diagram [#] Black is
unable to exploit his bishops to create a direct attack on the king - the
white pawns on e3 and f3 prevent this. But on the other hand it is still
possible to further improve the position of the black pieces. After the move
in the game Black threatens, as well as 17...Bxh2+ followed by the capture on
f1, the simple transfer of the queen to h4. As before f3-f4, uncovering
Black's light-squared bishop, is unfavourable for White.} 17. Qf2 {White
defends against both threats, but now the d3-square is weakened, and the black
rook immediately occupies it.} Rd3 18. Kh1 Rad8 19. e4 a6 20. Na3 Qb3 21. Nab1
({Better was} 21. Be3 {. In this case} Bxe4 {is not dangerous on account of}
22. Nxe4 Nxe4 ({or} 22... Rxe3 23. Nc5 $1) 23. fxe4 Rxe3 24. Nc4 $1 {with an
attack on rook and bishop.}) ({Instead, for Black to regain the pawn after (} 
21. Be3 {)} Bxc3 {would have lessened his advantage.}) 21... Bd4 $1 22. Qe2 Bc5
{From here the bishop exerts a strong effect on the diagonal g1-a7,
simultaneously preventing the exit of the white rook at a3.} 23. Re1 a5 24. Nd2
({Of no help is} 24. Bg5 {on account of} Ba6 {and then: 1)} 25. e5 Re3 26. Nd2
Qe6 27. Qd1 Rxe5 {with a large advantage for Black;}) ({2) (} 24. Bg5 Ba6 {)}
25. Nd5 R3xd5 26. Qxa6 Rxg5 {;}) ({3) (} 24. Bg5 Ba6 {)} 25. Bxf6 gxf6 26. Nd5
R3xd5 27. Qxa6 Rd1 28. Nc3 Rxa1 29. Rxa1 Qxb2 30. Rd1 Rxd1+ 31. Nxd1 Qd4 32.
Qf1 Qxa4 {and Black wins.}) 24... Qc2 25. Nf1 ({Or} 25. Nc4 Rxc3 26. bxc3 Qxe2
27. Rxe2 Rd1+ {, mating.}) ({In the case of} 25. Rd1 {Black can win in various
ways, for example} Re3 ({or} 25... Ba6 {).})) 25... Qxe2 26. Rxe2 Rd1 27. Nxd1
Rxd1 28. h3 Rxf1+ 29. Kh2 Bg1+ 30. Kg3 Nh5+ 31. Kg4 g6 32. b4 Bd4 33. Bb2 Bxb2
34. Rxf1 Bc8+ 35. Kg5 Bf6+ 36. Kh6 Bg7+ 37. Kg5 h6+ 38. Kh4 Bf6# {Diagram [#]
This game gave me great satisfaction, because by systematically developing a
strategic initiative I was able to demonstrate the possibility of sacrificing
a pawn in this variation, even in the absence of an attack on the king.} 0-1

[Event "Kiev-chT TU"]
[Site "Kiev"]
[Date "1958.12.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sakharov, Yu"]
[Black "Lipnitsky, I."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E42"]
[Annotator "Lipnitsky"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1958.??.??"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Avangard"]
[BlackTeam "Spartak"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "URS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "URS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O {On the 4th move Black has available a
wide choice of continuations: 4...d5, 4...c5, 4...Nc6, 4...b6, 4...d6. Each of
them to a significant extent determines the further direction of play.} ({
It is another matter after castling (} 4... O-O {), which is all the same
inevitable. Black as if says to the opponent: "Make a move, and only having
seen it will I choose a reply accordingly". For example, after} 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6.
bxc3 {Black has the possibility of directing the game along the lines of the
comfortable variation} c5 $1 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 b6 9. O-O Ba6 10. e4 Ne8 $1 {
, in which he exposes the pawn at c4 to lasting pressure, while succesfully
opposing White's pressure in the centre and on the king's flank with a timely .
..f7-f5.}) 5. Nge2 {The idea of this continuation is simple: after the later
a2-a3 White, in the case of the exchange at c3, avoids the doubling of his
pawns. Moreover, in a number of variations White intends to develop the king's
bisop at g2, from where it will sweep an entire diagonal. A serious
shortcoming of the move is the fact that the knight at e2, although
temporarily, all the same holds up the development of White's king's flank.} c5
$1 {Diagram [#]} ({Here the reply} 5... d5 {is mainly employed. After} 6. a3
Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. g3 Nbd7 9. Bg2 {there is some initiative on the side of
White, who can later play for the occupation of the centre (f2-f3, e3-e4), or
aim at an attack on the king's flank (f2-f3, g3-g4, Ne2-g3 etc.).}) ({Together
with 5...d5, also encountered is} 5... b6 {, but this attempt is unsuccesful
on account of} 6. a3 Be7 7. d5 $1 {, after which the development of the bishop
at b7 loses its point.}) 6. a3 ({On the immediate} 6. d5 {there can follow} b5
$1 7. dxe6 fxe6 8. cxb5 d5 {with the initiative for the pawn.}) 6... cxd4 7.
exd4 ({In the game Botvinnik-Najdorf (Alekhine Memorial Tournament, Moscow
1956) there was played:} 7. axb4 dxc3 8. Nxc3 d5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11.
Qxd5 exd5 12. Bd2 Bf5 13. Bc3 {, and White has the advantage in the endgame:
two bishops, the open a-file, domination of the d4-square.}) ({But Black is by
no means obliged to adhere to such anaemic tactic of simplification. He can
choose a more complicated path, for example (} 7. axb4 dxc3 8. Nxc3 d5 9. cxd5
{)} exd5 {. In this case it would have been significantly more difficult for
White to bring the bishop c1 into the battle. Black, however, with open lines,
has sufficient piece-play.}) 7... Be7 8. g3 {Diagram [#]} ({Here} 8. d5 {
is also employed. After} exd5 9. cxd5 d6 10. Nd4 Re8 11. Be2 {White achieves
the more comfortable game. But the question arises, can Black not play
differently?}) ({That is, if instead of 9...d6 he replies (} 8. d5 exd5 9. cxd5
{)} Re8 {, hindering the movement of the knight at e2? After all, White's
king's flank is held up.}) 8... d5 $1 {In chess, for the player who is better
mobilised it is always favourable to enter contact with the opponent as soon
as possible.} 9. cxd5 $2 ({For White it was perhaps best of all to advance the
c-pawn, in order to avoid the opening of lines, although it also entails a
loss of time. In this case the struggle could unfold approximately as follows:
} 9. c5 b6 10. b4 a5 11. Na4 bxc5 $1 12. bxc5 ({after} 12. dxc5 axb4 13. axb4
Nc6 {Black's initiative in the centre is somewhat more dangerous than the
opponent's threats on the flank; this was demonstrated, in particular, by the
game Szabo-Gligoric, Helsinki 1952}) 12... Nfd7 13. Bg2 Nc6 14. O-O Bf6 15. Be3
Ba6 16. Re1 Rb8 {, and Black has strategically clear prospects: pressure on
the square d4 in combination with play on the b-file and on the diagonal a6-f1.
}) 9... Nxd5 10. Bg2 {Diagram [#]} Nxc3 $1 {An important moment! There is no
point in waiting until White himself exchanges at d5, and creates there a weak
pawn that can later come under pressure. On the other hand, hardly justifiable
would have been the retreat of the knight, which would only have got in the
way of its own pieces.} 11. bxc3 ({After} 11. Nxc3 Bf6 12. Be3 ({or} 12. d5
exd5 13. Nxd5 Re8+) 12... Nc6 {the d4-pawn would have become the source of
constant worries for White. True, it can be reinforced with the move} 13. Ne2 {
, but this would have signified completely switching to defence, whereas Black
could have strengthened the pressure with the moves} Qd7 {and 14...Rd8.}) ({
Also unlikely to secure equality is the paradoxical (} 11. Nxc3 Bf6 12. Be3 Nc6
{)} 13. Bxc6 {(instead of 13.Ne2 or 13.d5)} bxc6 14. O-O {, despite the fact
that for Black there has appeared a weak pawn on the c-file, while the white
knight has at its disposition the important squares e4 and c5. However, the
capture at c3 with the pawn also leaves Black with the better game, so that
ultimately the question of how to take at c3 is transformed into purely
subjective one, which each will decide according to their taste. If until now
there had been only slight contact between the advanced detachments, then in
the next moves, when both sides have fully developed their forces, there
already takes place a genuine 'skirmish', of which it is necessary to talk now.
White's queen's flank is friable and poorly-secured: the a- and c-pawns are
weak, and the whole complex of light squares - a4, c4, b3 - is vulnerable.
Therefore Black's plan is clear - he aims as soon as possible to deliver a
blow against the weak spot in the opponent's defences.}) 11... Nc6 12. O-O Bd7
13. Nf4 ({The attempt to advance the backward c-pawn (} 13. c4 {) would have
been unsuccesful, since after} Na5 {it immediately becomes an object of attack.
}) 13... Na5 14. Re1 {After studying the position the eye is caught by the
harmonious position of Black's fighting force and of the disunited state of
the white pieces. If the bishop stood at d3 (and not at g2), White could have
created a dangerous attack on the king. But here such an idea does not have
any chances of success.} Rc8 15. Rb1 {Diagram [#]} ({Obviously, going over to
defence with} 15. Bd2 {would have been prospectless. This would have permitted
Black to consolidate his positional advantage. For instance,} Bc6 16. Bxc6 ({or
} 16. d5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Bxd5 Qxd5 19. Rxe7 Nb3 20. Ra2 Rcd8 {with a
clear advantage}) 16... Rxc6 {, and after some preparation Black wins the weak
c- and a-pawns.}) 15... Rxc3 {Black meets the desires of the opponent,
believing that the material advantage and well-placed pieces will permit him
to look to the future with certainty.} ({At the same time, this decision is in
principle incorrect, since he risks losing the bird that he already has in his
hand without catching the two in the bush. He ought to have quietly continued} 
15... b6 {. After} 16. d5 exd5 ({also possible is} 16... e5 17. Rxe5 {(or 17.
d6 Bf6 18.Nd5 Bc6 19.Nxf6+ Qxf6, and White's advanced pawn is in danger)} Bf6)
17. Nxd5 Be6 18. Nxe7+ Qxe7 {the tension in the centre is discharged, and
White would have had no compensation at all for the weakness of the c3- and
a3-pawns.}) 16. d5 $1 {With this blow White had correctly tied up all of his
hopes.} Bxa3 17. Bd2 {What a transformation! Three moves ago everything
appeared very quiet. Now however the battle recalls a skirmish over the abyss.
A single false step and everything will be over. Such is the formidable
dynamic of chess. We will take a closer look, however, at the position that
has arisen. White has not without reason given up two pawns. The majority of
the black pieces are hanging: the triangle a3-c3-a5 is highly vulnerable, in
many variations the bishop at d7 will be 'molested', and the squares e6 and b7
are under attack.} ({How is Black now to continue; where is the rook to be
retreated to? Bad is (} 17. Bd2 {)} Rc5 18. Ra1 $1 Nc4 19. Rxa3 $1 Nxa3 20. Bb4
Ra5 21. dxe6 fxe6 ({or} 21... Bxe6 22. Qxd8 Rxd8 23. Bxa5) 22. Bxf8 {, and
White wins, since on} Kxf8 (22... Qxf8 23. Qxd7) {there follows} 23. Nxe6+ {.})
({Hardly attractive too is the other retreat (} 17. Bd2 {)} Rc8 18. dxe6 Bxe6 (
{or} 18... fxe6 19. Bxa5 {and 20.Qxd7}) 19. Rxe6 $3 fxe6 20. Nxe6 {, and the
black queen cannot move without leaving the knight on a5 undefended. After 21.
Nxf8 White wins at least a piece.}) 17... Rc4 $3 {Diagram [#] The rook is left
in the very thick of things and actively participates both in defence and in
attack.} ({Already now not dangerous is (} 17... Rc4 {)} 18. dxe6 Bxe6 {
, since on} 19. Rxe6 {Black disposes of the counter-blow} Rxf4 {, escaping
from the dangerous raid of the oppoent's cavalry, and if} 20. Re5 {, then} Rd4
{.}) ({Also colourful is another variation: (} 17... Rc4 {)} 18. Bxa5 Qxa5 19.
dxe6 Bxe6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rxe6 ({not} 21. Rxb7 Rc1) 21... Bc5 22. Bd5 Bxf2+
23. Kg2 Rd4 $1 {, in which the threat of discovered check is opposed by Black
by the problem-like idea of interference.}) 18. Ra1 {The appetite comes with
eating. Sakharov undertakes an attempt at active play, but does not notice
that in one of the variations he has committed an oversight.} ({However, with
limited time for thought, to examine all of the combinational possibilities is
not easy. Interestingly, the best decision would have been the purely
positional} 18. dxe6 Bxe6 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. Qe2 $1 Rc8 21. Qxe6+ Kh8 22. Be3 $1
{in order to regain one of the pawns and to retain an active position of his
pieces.}) 18... Bb4 19. dxe6 fxe6 {The only move!} ({Losing a piece is} 19...
Bxe6 20. Bxb4 Rxb4 21. Qxd8 Rxd8 22. Rxa5 {.}) 20. Bxb4 Rxb4 {The tactical
peculiarities of the position do not permit White to exploit the 'hanging'
position of the black pieces.} ({For example, (} 20... Rxb4 {)} 21. Rxa5 Qxa5
22. Qxd7 Rbxf4 23. Qxe6+ R4f7 24. Bd5 Kh8 $1 {, and White does not have time
to take at f7, since his rook at e1 is under attack.}) 21. Re4 Rxe4 {Diagram 
[#]} 22. Bxe4 {White's stormy assault, begin with the move 16.d5, proves to
have been repulsed. Therefore, perhaps, best of all for him would have been to
regain one of the sacrificed pawns and to seek salvation in an endgame.} ({
Bringing the final reserves into the battle, Sakharov gives the attack a new
direction. Already now danger hangs over the black king. 23.Qh5 is threatened.
For example, (} 22. Bxe4 {)} e5 23. Qh5 h6 24. Bd5+ Kh7 25. Qg6+ Kh8 26. Be4 {
etc.}) 22... Bc6 {The attempt to retain both extra pawns could have led Black
even to defeat. On the other hand, now he permanently liquidates White's
initiative and in the following play only accurate technique is required.} 23.
Qc2 ({As previously White cannot exploit the poor position of the knight at a5,
since his bishop is under attack. Possible are the variations:} 23. Qh5 Bxe4
24. Nxe6 Qf6 {, and Black wins in view of the attacks on a1 and f2;}) ({or} 23.
Bxh7+ Kxh7 24. Qh5+ Kg8 25. Ng6 Nc4 $1 {, defending the square e5, which
deprives White of the attack with Qh8+ and Ne5+.}) 23... Bxe4 24. Qxe4 Nc6 {
The knight is drawn back to the centre.} ({(} 24... Nc6 {)} 25. Nxe6 {is not
dangerous in view of} Qf6 {.}) 25. Rb1 ({(Author's note: According to
Stockfish, this is in fact the decisive mistake, not noted by Lipnitsky. Hopes
of a succesful outcome for White were retained only by} 25. Qxe6+ {.)}) 25...
Qd7 26. h4 {The lesser evil would have been transposition into an endgame with
a pawn less.} e5 27. Nd3 Qf7 28. Rb2 Qf3 29. Qc4+ Kh8 30. Nc5 Nd4 31. Nd7 {
Diagram [#] White's last hope. If Black's rook now moves away, there follows
32.Nxe5!, winning. But Black had already prepared an annihilating blow.} Qe4 $1
32. Qc1 Nf3+ 33. Kf1 Qd3+ ({Also winning is} 33... Nxh4 {.}) 34. Kg2 Qxd7 {
White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Larry Evans Memorial"]
[Site "Reno, NV"]
[Date "2023.04.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Atwell, Rose"]
[Black "Kudrin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B27"]
[WhiteElo "2203"]
[BlackElo "2424"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Bg7 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. Bc4 Qh5 8.
Qb3 Nh6 9. Nxd4 O-O 10. O-O Bxd4 11. cxd4 Nc6 12. Qc3 Na5 13. Bd3 Be6 14. Nf3
Rac8 15. Qd2 Ng4 16. b3 Nc6 17. h3 Nf6 18. Be2 Qa5 19. Qxa5 Nxa5 20. Ba3 Rc7
21. Ne5 Nd5 22. Bf3 Rfc8 23. Rfe1 Kf8 24. Bc5 b6 25. Ba3 Rd8 26. Rac1 Rdc8 27.
Bxd5 Rxc1 28. Bxc1 Bxd5 29. Ba3 Rc7 30. Ng4 Be6 31. Nf6 Rc2 32. d5 Rxa2 33. Bb4
Kg7 34. dxe6 Nc6 35. Nd5 fxe6 36. Rxe6 Nxb4 37. Nxb4 Ra1+ 38. Kh2 Kf7 39. Re3
Rc1 40. Nd5 e6 41. Nf4 Rc6 42. Nd3 Ke7 43. Ne5 Rc7 44. f4 a5 45. Nc4 Rc6 46.
Rd3 1-0

[Event "Larry Evans Memorial"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.04.09"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Tarjan, Jim"]
[Black "Atwell, Rose"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2448"]
[BlackElo "2203"]
[Annotator "Tarjan"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,14,19,-18,0,5,4,4,30,23,23,9,41,41,36,43,43]} 1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3
Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bd6 {As she has played before.} 7. Bxd6 Qxd6
8. Bd3 Nf6 {Straightforward, and what I have played in this position.} ({
But the top players have used a different plan:} 8... Ne7 {intending ...
Bc8-f5, and if} 9. Qc2 {then} b6 {, successfully trading off the bishop via
the a6-square. One can argue that the slight weakening of Black's queenside
pawns means White at least has something to play for.}) 9. Nge2 O-O {[#]} 10.
Qd2 {Believe it or not, this seems to be new, as everyone plays 10.0-0,
Including Sorokin against me at the recent North American Open. With 10.Qd2 I
am telegraphing my intention to repeat Sorokin's plan of a quick f2-f3 and
e3-e4. I am also feinting the possibility of queenside castling. (Would that
be so bad?) I suspect that Rose's next move is an anticipatory response to
that possible 0-0-0.} a5 ({Perhaps Black could try} 10... b6 {to trade off the
bishops with ...Bc8-a6, but with Black's knight on f6, White's plan of f2-f3
and e3-e4 still may have some bite.}) ({Sorokin versus Tarjan went (by
transposition)} 10... Re8 11. O-O b6 ({Later I decided Black should play} 11...
Nbd7 12. f3 {(White could also wait a bit on this)} c5 {hoping the weakened
e-pawn gives Black some counterplay.}) 12. f3 {and faced with an impending
e3-e4, I switched plans with} c5 {but this is definitely not right.}) 11. f3 c5
{Atwell correctly realizes that Black needs to get this in, but taken together,
the last two moves don't make a good impression} 12. Nb5 $2 {A small but
important oversight.} ({Very obviously I should have traded pawns right away:} 
12. dxc5 Qxc5 {and Black will lose time with her misplaced queen. But I
overthought, figuring I could do even better by gaining Nc3-b5 first.}) 12...
Qe7 13. dxc5 Nbd7 {So the proper piece gets to c5. And now even ...a7-a5 makes
sense in this position, cementing the c5-knight. Even so, I would rather play
the White side, but it is only a normal, small edge.} 14. Ned4 Nxc5 15. O-O Re8
{This creates a problem with Black's normal development because of the
possible Nb5-c7.} ({I would snap the bishop off and develop:} 15... Nxd3 16.
Qxd3 Bd7) ({or instead just} 15... Bd7 {, but my sense is it's right to take
off White's bishop. There's something here about the two remaining white
knights duplicating effort.}) 16. Rfe1 b6 {So Black has to develop the bishop
somewhere other than d7, though this ...b6-b6 will probably be played in any
case.} 17. Bf1 {Given the chance to save this bishop, I will take it!} Bb7 ({
I was expecting} 17... Ba6 {.}) 18. Nf5 {These are very subtle points, but
just as Black should have taken my bishop when she had the chance, I make sure
to take hers -- even if the bishop cosmetically looks "bad."} Qd7 19. Nfd6 Re7
20. Nxb7 Qxb7 21. Rad1 Rd8 {The rook is prone to pins on the d-file and
perhaps should have stayed elsewhere, if possible.} 22. Qf2 {An ineffective
attempt to improve the position of my queen.} ({Another idea would be} 22. e4
$5 {already, while another plan in the position is}) (22. a3 {to drive away
the c5-knight with b2-b4.}) 22... Ne6 23. Qg3 Red7 ({May I confess I was
hoping she would trade queens with} 23... Qb8 {, thinking the old man would
have better chances of beating this talented junior without queens on? Didn't
turn out that way, actually.}) 24. Qf2 Ne8 {[#] Black has improved the
position of her pieces, and now she wants to trade off the b5-knight with the
less useful f6-knight, while leaving her remaining knight well placed on e6 or
c5. This is a decision that shows Atwell's talent.} 25. Rd2 Nd6 26. Red1 Nc4 ({
Perhaps it's better to just take the opportunity to trade:} 26... Nxb5 27. Bxb5
Rd6 {but then there is} 28. e4 {.}) 27. Rc2 ({Naturally Black saw} 27. Bxc4
dxc4 28. Nd6 Qc7 29. Nxc4 $2 Rxd2 30. Nxd2 Qc2 {and wins.}) 27... Ne5 {The
knight looks good in the center, but I didn't see its prospects from this
square. I think she should wait, or go back and trade on b5. For example,} (
27... g6 {seems useful to me, making luft in a way that prevents a White piece
from using the f5-square.}) 28. b3 {Not a move I necessarily wanted to make,
but I did want to keep that knight out of c4.} f5 $6 {She is trying to stop
e3-e4, and also do things herself, such as a ...f5-f4 push. But I was happy to
see this move as the opening of the kingside pawns may backfire, especially
with all the major pieces still on the board.} 29. Nd4 Nxd4 30. exd4 $1 {
Time to switch plans, and in particular, to drive Black's knight out of the
e5-square.} Nf7 31. Rdc1 Nd6 32. Qg3 ({The computer wants to play} 32. Rc6 {
here, and I was looking at it move by move. You have to make sure Black never
has an effective} Nc4 {, and at this particular moment, White has} 33. Re6 $1 {
with a great advantage.}) 32... Re7 33. Qf4 g6 34. h4 Qd7 35. h5 Rc8 {The
computer criticizes this, but Black is clearly not happy and at some point has
to try to trade off one of those doubled rooks.} 36. Rxc8+ Nxc8 37. h6 {
And in any case her moves worked as here I choose the wrong plan.} ({It turns
out that the correct path was} 37. hxg6 hxg6 38. Bb5 $1 Qe6 {and here I didn't
see how to go further, as the black queen gets active. The computer points out
that White has} ({But White also must see} 38... Qxb5 39. Rxc8+ Re8 40. Qd6 $1
Rxc8 41. Qxg6+ Kh8 42. Qh6+ Kg8 43. Qe6+ Kg7 44. Qxc8 {and then figure to win
this endgame.}) 39. Rc6 $1 Qe1+ 40. Bf1 {and Black can resign.}) 37... Nd6 {
[#] The computer gives White only a slight edge now, but most evidently that
is not a realistic assessment in a game between humans. Black remains under
pressure.} 38. a4 {I had this idea in mind all along, to finally get the
bishop going with Bf1-b5} Kf7 39. Kh2 Kf6 {A sign of a rather good player, it
seems to me, realizing that the king belongs on f6.} ({But here perhaps} 39...
Qd8 {is more comfortable, anticipating White's next.}) 40. Bb5 Nxb5 {The
infamous 40th move.} ({After} 40... Qd8 {the computer blithely calls it equal,
but, again, easy for a computer to say. With accurate moves, Black holds on;
for example} 41. Rc6 Re6 42. g4 (42. Qc1 g5) 42... g5) 41. axb5 Re6 42. Rc7 Qd6
$2 {Despite plenty of time on the clock now, this is the losing move.} ({
To be fair, Black can only hold because of a nice resource, and that "all rook
endgames are drawn:"} 42... g5 $1 43. Rxd7 (43. Qg3 {and only then} Qd6 ({
or even} 43... Qe8)) 43... gxf4 44. Rxh7 Kg6 {and Black should hold this. A
likely continuation is} 45. Rd7 (45. Rh8 Re3 46. Rb8 Re6 $1) 45... Kxh6 46.
Rxd5 Kg5 {and with bad pawns, bad rook, and a bad king, this rook endgame is
certainly drawn.}) 43. Qxd6 Rxd6 44. f4 $1 {This ends it.} ({The weaker} 44.
Rxh7 Kg5 {is more of a fight}) 44... g5 {Hopeless, but so is everything else.}
(44... Rd8 45. Rb7 $1 {most accurate} Rd6 46. Rxh7 g5 47. Rc7 {and Rc6}) 45.
Rc6 1-0

[Event "Spring Classic A Playoff"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2023.04.13"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Bok, Benjamin"]
[Black "Sevian, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2607"]
[BlackElo "2684"]
[Annotator "Gledura"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,87,27,14,27,16,47,9,9,9,12,17,9,8,10,-4,-7,10,16,-11,-1,-16,17,17,20,
20,20,20,20,22,45,48,57,51,34,39,39,43,40,30,15,-11,-11,-6,-6,-4,17,-12,40,-6,
36,9,31,50,64,30,89,30,30,0,0,0,39,24,77,52,357,371,357,357,357,379,365,387,
457,462,637,636,677,683,683,712,664,707,730,734,865,857,872,899]} 1. Nf3 d5 2.
e3 c5 3. b3 {A smart opening choice by White, as it is very easy to play. The
moves Bc1-b2, Bf1-b5, d2-d4, and 0-0 come fast and naturally.} a6 {Stopping
Bf1-b5 to maintain healthy development.} 4. Bb2 Nc6 5. d4 Nf6 6. dxc5 $1 {
An interesting concept. White gives his central pawn in order to achieve a
flexible position. Bok is an experienced blitz player, and it shows. He wants
to get a middlegame position where his moves are easy.} e6 7. a3 Bxc5 8. Nbd2
O-O 9. b4 Be7 10. Bd3 b6 ({Black gets a better setup with} 10... b5 11. O-O Bb7
{compared to the game.}) 11. O-O Bb7 {Both sides have finished developing
their minor pieces, so it's time to decide on a plan.} 12. Qe2 $1 {The best
square for the queen. White basically has two plans -- c2-c4 and e3-e4 -- and
both allow him to open the position more.} b5 $5 {Stopping c2-c4 makes a lot
of sense, but it is also wastes a tempo.} 13. e4 $1 Rc8 14. Rfe1 ({Better is} 
14. e5 Nd7 15. Nb3 {when White's position feels very comfortable. It looks
like a bad French Defense for Black. Next is Nb3-d4.}) 14... Qb6 15. exd5 ({
Again I'd prefer} 15. e5 Nd7 16. Nb3 {, which is even stronger than on the
previous move because now the black queen takes the b6-square away from the
d7-knight.}) 15... Nxd5 16. Qe4 $1 {[#] White makes use of the raking bishops
to attack the kingside.} g6 17. c4 $1 bxc4 18. Nxc4 Qd8 19. Rad1 $16 {Bok must
have been pleased with what he achieved out of the opening. All the White
pieces are in use, and that gives a comfortable advantage.} Bf6 $1 {Best.
Black has to exchange the dark-squared bishops to defend his king.} 20. Bxf6 {
Natural, but imprecise.} ({With} 20. Bf1 Bxb2 21. Nxb2 Qf6 22. Na4 {and Na4-c5
to follow, White would keep a stable advantage.}) 20... Qxf6 {It feels like
Black is back in the game. The queen is very well placed on f6, as it helps
with attacking ideas like ...Nd5-f4.} 21. Rc1 Rfd8 ({Sevian missed the strong} 
21... Nf4 $1 {here. I suspect he felt this was a critical moment, but he went
with the natural move. After} 22. Bf1 Na5 23. Qe5 Nh3+ $1 {we see the point.
It's a draw after} 24. Kh1 Nxf2+ 25. Kg1 Nh3+ 26. Kh1 {.}) 22. Bf1 Nde7 23.
Nfe5 Na5 ({After the game I suggested} 23... Rd4 {to Sam, and I thought it
would have given him a decent position. He agreed, but the engine still thinks
that White has a small advantage after} 24. Qb1 Nxe5 25. Nxe5 Rd2 26. Rxc8+
Bxc8 ({or} 26... Nxc8 27. Nd3) 27. Nf3 {.}) 24. Qe3 Nxc4 25. Nxc4 {[#] White
has a very stable position. The kingside is safe and secure, but can he make
use of his queenside pawn majority?} Bd5 ({Better is} 25... Bc6 {with the idea
of ...Bc6-b5, but it is not an easy move to make. Now after} 26. Nb6 Rb8 27.
Bxa6 Bxg2 $1 {White cannot move his bishop from f1 because the kingside would
become too weak. Black has a dangerous attack after} 28. Kxg2 Nf5 {.}) 26. Nb6
Rxc1 27. Rxc1 ({Stronger is} 27. Qxc1 {with the idea of Qc1-c7.}) 27... Qb2 28.
Na4 {A smart choice by Bok. He gives no counterplay.} Qf6 29. Nc5 {White's
pieces are ideally placed. Black has to create counterplay on the kingside;
otherwise, sooner or later the a6-pawn will fall.} Nf5 30. Qc3 Qg5 $5 {Logical,
but} (30... Nd4 $1 {is Black's best chance. The d4-knight and the d5-bishop
seem to give enough play. Note that if} 31. Nxa6 $2 (31. Qg3 {is slightly
better for White}) 31... Qg5 {Black has too many threats, including ...Nd4-e2
and ...Bd5xg2.}) 31. Rd1 Rc8 $6 {[#]} ({Black's best chance is to give up the
a-pawn on his terms, but after} 31... a5 32. bxa5 Rc8 33. a6 {White retains
good winning chances.}) 32. Qe5 $1 {The best square for the queen. Now many
black knight jumps are prevented, and Bok sets up a serious threat.} a5 {
Missing White's idea.} 33. Nd7 $1 {Here we could all see the frustration on
Sevian's face. He clearly missed this move, and he knew that the position was
completely lost. There's no way to stop Nd7-f6.} Bb3 34. Nf6+ Qxf6 {The best
practical chance but not enough to save the game.} ({No better are} 34... Kf8
35. Nxh7+ {or}) (34... Kh8 35. Ne4+ f6 36. Nxf6 Bxd1 37. Ne4+ {.}) 35. Qxf6
Bxd1 36. bxa5 Bb3 37. g4 $1 {A good practical decision to open the back rank.}
Nd6 38. Qe7 Rc6 39. a6 Kg7 40. a7 Nc8 41. Qb7 Nxa7 42. Qxb3 Rd6 43. Qc3+ Kg8
44. Qc7 {A deserved win for Bok. It is fair to say that he definitely knows
how to play good blitz/Armageddon, especially when it counts.} 1-0

[Event "Spring Classic A"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2023.04.06"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Yoo, Christopher"]
[Black "Mishra, Abhimanyu"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B99"]
[WhiteElo "2607"]
[BlackElo "2550"]
[Annotator "Yoo"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {Abhi sticks to his main
opening, the Najdorf. I decided to challenge him in one of the mainlines.} 6.
Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 h6 11. Qh3 $5 {Deviating from
the typical mainline} (11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. h4 {when White has a nice pawn storm,
but I felt that he would be prepared for this line, as it's more popular.})
11... Nc5 {To my slight surprise, he immediately blitzed out this move,
indicating he was still in prep!} 12. Bg2 Rg8 13. Bxf6 {Now we enter a forced
variation which was part of both of our preparation!} Bxf6 14. b4 $5 Nd7 15. g5
hxg5 {[#]} 16. e5 $1 {Forcing black to sacrifice the d7-knight.} Nxe5 $1 ({Not
} 16... dxe5 $4 17. Nxe6 $1 {when White has a decisive attack after} fxe6 18.
Qxe6+ Kf8 19. Bd5 {.}) 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. Rhe1 Bd7 19. Rxe5 $5 {Sacrificing to
get rid of the strong e5-bishop, and trying to play for the weak dark squares.}
dxe5 20. Nb3 Rd8 {This was the last move he made quickly, indicating that he
had known the theory to this point.} 21. Nc5 Bc8 22. Rf1 {Keeping the rooks on
the board for a possible attack.} Rd4 $6 {This is a natural move, but instead,
it was important to kick my knight off the strong c5-square with} (22... b6 $1
23. N5e4 Bb7 24. Qh7 Ke7 $1 {. The position looks scary for Black, but White
has no tactics.}) 23. N3e4 {[#]} b6 $2 {A mistake, allowing me to get a
winning position.} ({Instead} 23... Rxb4 {was required when White has better
chances in a messy game.}) 24. c3 $2 {Too prophylactic. There was no reason to
pass up the immediate attack with the correct} (24. Qh7 $1 Kf8 25. Nxg5 Rf4 ({
if} 25... bxc5 26. Rxf7+ Qxf7 27. Nxf7 Kxf7 28. bxc5 {and White's c-pawn
combined with Black's poor coordination doom him}) 26. Nce4 Rxf1+ 27. Bxf1 $18
{. The imbalances all favor White, and Black cannot defend against all the
threats.}) 24... bxc5 $2 {Dubious. Now the position should be winning for
White.} ({Nearly forced is} 24... Rd8 $1 {. The rook is a better defender on
d8, as ...Ke8-e7 is possible in some cases, and the g8-rook is defended. Some
sample lines:} 25. Nxg5 ({worse is} 25. Qh7 $6 Ke7 $1 26. Nxg5 f6 27. Nce4 fxg5
{with an unclear position}) 25... bxc5 26. Nxf7 cxb4 27. Nxd8 Kxd8 28. Rd1+ {
and White still has a big attack, but it is not quite decisive.}) 25. cxd4
cxd4+ 26. Kb2 Qe7 27. Rc1 $2 {There was no reason to abandon the b-pawn. I
should have played} (27. Nc5 $1 {, when the knight is well-placed, and I have
a great advantage after} f5 28. Qg3 {.}) 27... Bd7 $2 {Definitely a miss, but
the position is still incredibly complex.} ({Black can get away with} 27...
Qxb4+ $1 {, and after} 28. Ka1 Ke7 29. Qh5 d3 30. Rc7+ Kd8 31. Rc3 Ke7 {
Black is somehow defending, and perhaps even equalizing. Of course this is
very hard to find during a game, as the king looks weak, but there's just no
decisive punch for White.}) 28. Nc5 f5 29. Qh7 Qf7 $6 {[#] Allowing a shot
that could have finished the game.} 30. a4 $2 {Too slow! After} (30. Nd3 $1 e4
31. Ne5 Qf8 32. Ng6 Qf7 33. Rc7 {Black is paralyzed, and the game is over.})
30... Ke7 31. Qh3 Qf6 32. Nxd7 $2 {I thought this exchange (giving up a good
knight for a poor bishop) boosted my attack, but Black can keep defending.} ({
Best is} 32. b5 $1 e4 33. Qa3 d3+ 34. Kb1 Kf7 $5 {, giving up the bishop, but
the pawns provide real initiative:} 35. Nxd7 Qd4 36. Rc7 Kg6 37. Qb2 {and here
White is doing well, but Black's strong pawns mean it's not so simple.}) 32...
Kxd7 33. Qd3 e4 34. Qxa6 d3+ 35. Kb3 Rd8 $1 {[#] Black's king is now safe!
This is what I had missed when playing 32.Nxd7.} 36. a5 d2 37. Rd1 Ke7 38. Bf1
Qe5 39. Qc4 $6 {A bit slow. It was better to send the black piece to worse
squares with} (39. Qa7+ Kf6 40. Qb6 Rd7 41. a6 e3 42. Qb5 {and we've reached a
messy position where I don't really know who I prefer!}) 39... f4 40. a6 f3 $6
({The strange-looking} 40... g4 $1 {is best, with the idea of going ...e4-e3,
and if Bf1-e2, then ...f4-f3. Play continues} 41. a7 e3 42. Qa6 (42. Be2 $4 f3
{and wins}) (42. Qc6 $2 {fails to} e2 $1) 42... Qe4 $1 43. Qb5 Kf7 $17 {
and it is hard to stop Black's pawns in this wacky position. I suspect this
was almost impossible to find as Abhi was in serious time trouble at the time
control.}) 41. Qc6 $1 {The only move to prevent ...e4-e3.} g4 {[#] This is the
start of a forced variation that leads to an interesting endgame.} 42. a7 e3
43. Qb7+ {Luring the king to f6 to give a queen check on d8 later.} Kf6 44.
a8=Q Rxa8 45. Qxa8 e2 46. Qd8+ Kg6 47. Qxd2 exd1=Q+ $6 {Not bad, but now it
becomes a bit more difficult to defend.} ({Instead I like} 47... Qe3+ $1 {
as it cleanly forces a draw using deflection:} 48. Kc2 Qe4+ 49. Kc3 Qe5+ 50.
Kb3 Qe3+ $11 51. Qxe3 exd1=Q+ 52. Kb2 Qxf1 53. Qxe6+ {.}) 48. Qxd1 Qxh2 49.
Qd3+ Kg5 $2 {Allowing me to regroup my pieces.} ({It's harder to do so after} 
49... Kh6 $1 {as I cannot check his king as easily, i.e.,} 50. Qe3+ Kh5 51. b5
Qd6 {with equality.}) 50. Qd8+ Kf4 51. Qd4+ {[#] This is the ideal square for
the Queen, now centralized and with the potential to give many checks to the
king.} Kf5 52. Bd3+ $6 {Hasty. I can save this check for a more opportune time.
} ({Instead I should have remembered the rule that passed pawns should be
pushed! After} 52. b5 $1 e5 (52... Qb8 53. b6 g3 54. Bd3+ Kg5 55. Qxg7+ {
is winning}) 53. Bd3+ Kg5 54. Qd8+ Kf4 55. b6 {and White's pawn is unstoppable.
}) 52... Kg5 53. Qxg7+ $2 {It was tempting to take this pawn with check, but
not only does it help get Black's king out of danger, my queen now becomes
misplaced.} (53. b5 $1 {should still win, although Black now has} Qb8 $1 {
making it harder to promote. After} 54. b6 Kh4 55. Be4 Qf4 {White is still
winning, but it is not easy. The black pawns give good counterplay.}) 53... Kf4
$2 {Almost begging me to re-centralize my queen!} ({After the correct} 53...
Kh4 $1 {I cannot play Qg7-d4 with check, so Black gets an important tempo. Here
} 54. Qe7+ (54. Qd4 e5 {is also equal}) 54... Kg3 55. b5 Qg1 {is similar to
the game.}) 54. b5 $2 {One last miss.} ({Here again only} 54. Qd4+ $1 {does
the job. It's true that} Kg3 55. b5 Qg2 56. b6 f2 57. Qe5+ Kh3 58. Qh5+ Kg3 59.
Qb5 Qf3 60. Kc2 {is a tricky sequence to have to find, but we can see that the
queen's versatility is helping my pawn go forward, while preventing the black
pawns from promoting. Very instructive!}) 54... Qg1 $1 {[#] Now it's a draw.
Abhi held strong from here on out.} 55. Qf7+ Kg3 56. Qc7+ Kh3 57. b6 Qd1+ {
With a safe king on h3, there are too many checks for me to have any hopes of
winning.} 58. Bc2 Qd5+ 59. Kb4 Qd4+ 60. Ka3 f2 {This looks scary, but
fortunately I do have an easy draw, as we'll see.} 61. Qh7+ Kg2 62. Qe4+ Qxe4
63. Bxe4+ Kg1 64. Bd3 g3 {The pawn race is a tie!} 65. b7 g2 66. b8=Q f1=Q 67.
Bxf1 gxf1=Q {What a wild battle! There were plenty of mistakes from both sides
along with many interesting moments. This kind of game is why we love chess!}
1/2-1/2

[Event "Spring Classic A"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2023.04.09"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bok, Benjamin"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2607"]
[BlackElo "2684"]
[Annotator "Bok"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

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15,5,13,14,17,12,3,27,27,32,29,27,30,36,35,42,40,44,39,32,32,31,28,36,33,28,10,
29,22,20,10,20,27,20,20,71,65,46,44,114,157,160,203,183,226,239,245,245,197,
198,163,163,128,128,157,157,157,157,157,157,157,157,169,169,304,304,304,304,
304,304,304,304,72,42,421,304,327,327,327,327,327,705,695,715,715,715,725,725,
725,725,725,725,745,745,745,745,745,745,745,755,755,755,755,755,755,755,890]
Greetings everyone! First of all, thank you to Benjámin Gledura for inviting
me to annotate this game for US Chess Life. Before this game, I was in the
pack of players on 1.5/4, while my opponent, Sam Sevian, was in the leading
group with 2.5/4. Sam had to defend for a long time against Dariusz Swiercz
the day before, eventually drawing his game after 179 moves. I figured he
might have been tired after such a long battle, and that would be good if I
could put him under pressure in this game as well.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 {
The first surprise, as 3.Nc3 is my main move in this position. In fact I
played it three times against Sevian at the 2021 FIDE World Cup!} d5 4. Bg2
dxc4 5. Nf3 ({Illia Nyzhnyk played} 5. Qa4+ {against Sam in round three, but
he held comfortably.}) 5... c5 {Sam's usual response, and one of the main
lines against the Catalan. Black aims to play ...Nb8-c6 quickly and clarify
the situation in the center right away.} 6. O-O Nc6 7. dxc5 {Leading to an
endgame where White can hope for a slight edge.} Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 c3 {
Since Black does not have a good way to hang on to the pawn, their best option
is to return it this way to damage the White pawn structure a bit.} 10. bxc3
O-O 11. Nb3 Be7 12. c4 {Gaining some space on the Queenside, and opening up
the a1-h8 diagonal, as we are aiming to play Bc1-b2 next.} ({There are many
games with} 12. Nfd4 {as well.}) 12... Bd7 13. Bb2 Rfd8 14. Nfd4 Rac8 15. Nb5
b6 16. Nd6 Bxd6 ({Also well-known to theory is} 16... Rc7 {.}) 17. Rxd6 Be8 18.
Rxd8 Nxd8 {White has managed to gain the bishop pair, but Black aims to play ..
.Be8-c6 quickly to trade off the light-squared bishops.} 19. Rc1 Bc6 20. c5
Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Nd7 22. cxb6 Rxc1 23. Bxc1 {[#] Sam and I had both been blitzing
out the opening until this point, but this is where he had his first real
think of the game.} axb6 {After a 12-minute think, Sam settled on this
recapture.} (23... Nxb6 {is of course also possible. White has a slight
advantage here, but Black should hold with accurate play.}) 24. Kf3 {
Activating the king. White is slightly better in this endgame with a more
active king and a bishop is often better than Black's knight. That being said,
Black should hold with accuracy as the position is quite simplified.} f5 {
Logical, stopping my king from advancing up the board. Sam was still following
a game that he had played with Black against GM Ray Robson in the 2022
American Cup.} (24... Nc6 {has also been played in some games, most notably in
Giri - So, Bucharest 2019.}) 25. Ke3 e5 {Once again, stopping the White king
from advancing up the board by building a wall of pawns.} 26. g4 $5 {Believe
it or not, this is the first new move of the game. White sacrifices a pawn to
try to gain access into Black's position.} ({The game Robson,R -Sevian, S
Saint Louis 2022 saw} 26. Kd3 b5 27. e4 g6 28. exf5 gxf5 29. g4 fxg4 30. Ke4
Nc6 {and eventually finished in a draw after 50 moves.}) 26... g6 {The best
move, maintaining the pawn wall and stopping my king from advancing.} ({
Black is not in good shape to accept the pawn sacrifice as after} 26... fxg4
27. Ke4 Kf7 28. Kd5 {White's king enters Black's position with serious winning
chances.}) 27. gxf5 gxf5 28. f4 {Again, trying to break down the Black pawn
wall, so that my king can advance up the board. Up to this point, I was still
in my preparation. It is actually one of two moves that are still fine for
Black.} Ne6 {After a 21-minute think, Sam settled on this move, which took me
out of my preparation.} ({I had only looked at} 28... Kf7 {after which White
still has nagging pressure and Black will have to play accurately to hold the
draw.}) 29. fxe5 {Not much choice here.} Nxe5 30. Nd4 {Attacking the f5-pawn,
and offering the trade of pawns so my king can advance up the board.} ({
I also considered} 30. h3 {with the idea to play Nb3-d4 on the next move,
without having to worry about ...Ne5-g4+. However, this is too slow. Black's
easiest way to equalize is} b5 {as now} 31. Nd4 {runs into} Nc4+ 32. Kd3 Ne5+
33. Kc3 b4+ 34. Kxb4 Nxd4 35. Bb2 {.}) 30... f4+ $2 {This loses, but even the
strongest engines have trouble seeing why.} ({Black's only way to hang on was} 
30... Ng4+ {but after} 31. Kd3 {the endgame is still unpleasant.}) 31. Ke4 Nxd4
32. Kxd4 f3 {[#] This was Sam's idea. Black trades off another pair of pawns,
and will pick up the h2-pawn afterwards. However, Black's king and knight are
far away from White's a-pawn, which will soon become a passer.} 33. exf3 Nxf3+
34. Kd5 (34. Kc4 {leads to the same thing after} Nxh2 35. Kb5 {.}) 34... Nxh2
35. Kc6 Kf7 {Rushing the king to the queenside. Initially, I believed White
should easily be winning here, but Black has a lot more resources than I
thought.} ({My first thought was that Black might hold with} 35... Nf3 36. Kxb6
Nd4 {but White is winning after} 37. Be3 ({if} 37. Bb2 {Black still has} Nf3 {
With the idea to meet} 38. a4 $2 {with} Nd2 {and Black manages to stop the
pawn with ...Nb3.}) 37... Nc2 38. Bd2 ({I saw that after the natural} 38. Bc5 {
Black has} Na1 $1 {with the idea to meet 39.a4 with 39...Nb3}) 38... Na3 39.
Bc1 Nc4+ 40. Kc5 {and as Black's knight is getting pushed away, the white
a-pawn laces up its running shoes.}) 36. Kxb6 Ke6 {Here I thought for a long
time - 42 minutes to be exact. I could not find a win as Black brings the king
to c8, and is just in time with the knight to prevent me from promoting right
away. But then I spotted a clever idea...} 37. a4 {I had also considered other
moves like 37.Kc7 to shoulder the black king, but the knight gets back in time.
} Kd7 38. a5 Kc8 39. Bf4 {Preventing the king from reaching a8, as the game
would then be clearly drawn.} Ng4 {Black has to route the knight this way, as
he will need to check White's king from the d5-square to stop immediate
promotion.} 40. a6 Ne3 {This was the move that had caused trouble when
calculating on move 37..} ({I was quite happy to see} 40... Nf6 41. Kc6 {
in my calculations, even though it is still not over yet, as Black has} Ng8 {.}
) 41. Kc6 ({Black is just in time to meet} 41. a7 {with} Nd5+ 42. Ka6 Nb4+)
41... Nf5 {[#] Initially, I thought that Black would be holding here. Black is
again just in time to meet 42.a7 with 42...Ne7+ 43.Kb6 Nd5+ 44.Ka6 Nb4+. I
therefore considered placing my bishop on d6 to control the b4-square, but
thought that Black would always be able to play ...Nf5 to kick the bishop away,
and once the bishop moves, Black can play ...Nf5-e7 again. However, it then
occurred to me that I can meet a potential ...Nf5 with Kb6! as ...Nf5xd6 will
be met by a6-a7 ...Nd6-c4+ Ka6-a7 and the White a-pawn queens. I then started
to realize that White can put Black in zugzwang by placing the bishop on d6
and the king on c5 when Black's knight is on e7. He can push the h-pawn, but
he will eventually run out of pawn moves as my bishop covers the h2-square.}
42. Bd6 Ne7+ ({Of course} 42... Nxd6 43. a7 {would make my job a lot easier.})
43. Kc5 {The first zugzwang, Black has to start pushing the h-pawn.} h5 ({Here
} 43... Nf5 44. Kb6 Nxd6 45. a7 Nc4+ 46. Ka6 {is the line I was referring to
earlier.}) 44. Bh2 Ng6 45. Bg3 Ne7 46. Bd6 {Black is in zugzwang again and has
to push the h-pawn again.} h4 47. Be5 Nf5 48. Bf4 Ne7 49. Bd6 {Again, Black is
in zugzwang.} h3 50. Bh2 Nf5 51. Bf4 Ne3 52. Bd6 Nc2 {Black's best attempt.
Now moving the king up the c6- or b6-squares will allow Black to instantly
draw with ...h3-h2 followed by ...Nc2-b4. Furthermore, our bishop is already
ideally placed, but fortunately we have another way to put Black in zugzwang.}
({There is definitely some beauty to the fact that White wins by one move after
} 52... Nf5 53. Kb6 Nxd6 54. a7 Nc4+ 55. Ka6 {as my pawn will queen one move
earlier.}) 53. Kb5 {Another zugzwang; when Black's knight moves, White can
play Kb5-b6 or Kb5-c6.} Ne3 54. Kc6 h2 {White was threatening 55.a7, so Black
finally has to give up their h-pawn.} 55. Bxh2 Nf5 56. Bd6 {Here again, White
has to be patient as pushing the pawn right away would allow Black to draw.}
Ne7+ 57. Kc5 {[#] The final zugzwang! Black's knight has to move, and then
White can finally play Kc5-b6, followed by a6-a7, after which the a-pawn
promotes.} Nf5 58. Kb6 {Finally executing the idea that I had already in mind
many moves ago.} Nxd6 59. a7 Nc4+ 60. Ka6 Kc7 61. a8=Q {The rest was not
difficult. I figured I should win as long as I avoided blundering any forks!}
Kd6 62. Kb5 Ne5 63. Qe4 Nd7 64. Qc6+ Ke7 65. Qa6 Nf8 66. Kc4 Ne6 67. Qc6 Kf7
68. Kd5 Nf4+ 69. Ke4 Ng6 70. Qd6 Ne7 71. Ke5 Ng6+ 72. Kf5 Ne7+ 73. Kg5 Ng8 74.
Qd5+ Kf8 75. Qd7 {An important win that got me back to 50% in the tournament!
As fate would have it, Sam and I would meet again in the finals of the
play-offs.} 1-0

[Event "Spring Classic B"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2023.04.10"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Chandra, Akshat"]
[Black "Blohberger, Felix"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2493"]
[BlackElo "2468"]
[Annotator "Gledura"]
[PlyCount "182"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:44"]
[BlackClock "0:05:28"]

{This was one of the most important games in group B in regard to the first
place.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7.
Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 ({More popular is} 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re2 $5 {as in
Carlsen - Karjakin (World Ch, 2016), but its hard to say which is better.})
9... Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re2 $5 {An interesting move by Chandra. The main idea
behind placing the rook on e2 is that when White develops the queenside, the
a1-rook could land on e1 in one move. Of course, there are some disadvantages
to this move as well, most obviously that it blocks the f1-bishop's diagonal.}
c6 12. Ne3 Bc7 {Logical. Black hides the bishop on c7, where it eyes the White
kingside. Black plans to develop the queenside starting with ...d7-d5.} ({
The alternative is} 12... Be7 $5 {, bringing the bishop to f6 where it will
control the key e7-square.}) 13. Nf5 {Trying to grab the bishop pair with
Nf5-e7, lest the position become too dry.} d5 14. Ne7+ Kh8 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. d3
f5 $1 {[#] The engine gives this position as a slight advantage for White, but
I believe that both sides have to be careful here. Black gave up the bishop
pair, but has some space advantage in return, and White needs to prevent Black
from putting more pressure on the kingside.} 17. g3 $1 {Blocking the b8-h2
diagonal and preparing to develop the bishop from f1.} Nf6 18. Bh3 Qd7 19. Bg5
$5 {White forces Black to play ...h7-h6. Why? Black often would like to play ..
.g7-g6 to strengthen the pawn structure, but with a hanging pawn on h6, it
would be slightly problematic to do so.} h6 20. Bd2 Rce8 21. a4 $5 {Perhaps
Chandra was still in his preparation at this point, as engines prefer to play
moves like a2-a4 and h2-h4 in certain positions to gain space. Here White
would definitely like to grab some space on the queenside.} g5 $1 {It is all
about space! Black tries to develop an attack on the kingside.} 22. Rxe8 Rxe8
23. Qc1 $5 {White must have been afraid of ...g5-g4 followed by ...f5-f4.} a5
$5 {Logical, but not necessary. After} (23... Kh7 24. a5 a6 {Black is
completely fine.}) 24. Bc3 ({White could open the position for the bishop pair
with} 24. b4 $1 axb4 25. Bxb4 {and a slight edge.}) 24... Kg7 25. Bd4 Kg6 $1 {
It's definitely unusual to put the king on g6 in the middlegame, but it is the
safest square for now.} 26. Qd2 Qe7 27. Bc3 Qd8 28. Bxf6 ({If} 28. Bd4 Bb6 {
with equality.}) 28... Qxf6 {Going for the opposite-colored bishops with White
means that Chandra is fine with playing a position that will most likely end
up in a draw. Or will it?} 29. d4 Qe6 $1 {Black now has the control over the
only open file.} 30. Bf1 f4 ({Safer might be} 30... h5 31. Bd3 Kf6 {as the
king remains covered. Now if} 32. h4 $6 f4 {and Black is better.}) 31. c4 $5
dxc4 32. Qc2+ Kg7 33. Bxc4 Qf6 {[#] The position is equal but complex. Black's
king is exposed, while on the other hand, White's pawn structure is worse than
Black's.} 34. Qb3 Re7 $1 {A smart move. It is often a good idea to use squares
that your opponent's bishop cannot exploit.} 35. Rd1 h5 36. d5 cxd5 37. Bxd5
Bb6 {Strangely enough, the White king is now in more trouble.} 38. Qc2 g4 $1
39. Bc4 h4 $1 40. gxf4 $6 g3 $5 {With the time control met, both players are
out of time trouble, and 30 minutes are added to both clocks.} 41. hxg3 hxg3
42. Kg2 gxf2 43. Rd5 $1 {A good move. White is seeking counter-chances against
the black king, as the f2-pawn would become too powerful if White does nothing.
} Kh6 44. Qd1 $2 ({Exchanging the queens eases White's tasks:} 44. Qf5 $1 Rg7+
45. Kf3 Qxf5 46. Rxf5 Rg1 47. Rf6+ $1 {(perhaps what Chandra missed?)} Rg6 {
with equality.}) 44... Rg7+ 45. Kf3 Rg6 $2 {Black returns the favor, missing
the win.} ({Here} 45... Qh4 $1 {is winning for Black, but the complications
are hard to navigate. One line is} 46. Rd6+ Kh7 47. Qc2+ Kh8 48. Rxb6 Qh5+ $1
49. Ke3 Qc5+ {and wins.}) 46. Qh1+ Kg7 47. Qh5 ({The draw was in hand with} 47.
Rd7+ Kf8 48. Rf7+ Qxf7 49. Bxf7 Kxf7 50. Qh7+ {.}) 47... Qe6 $1 48. Qe5+ Qxe5
49. fxe5 Rg1 {White has to solve the f2-pawn issue.} 50. Rd7+ $2 ({The right
path was} 50. Rb5 $1 f1=Q+ 51. Bxf1 Rxf1+ 52. Ke4 Bd8 53. Rxb7+ Kg6 54. b4 {
with equality.}) 50... Kf8 {[#]} 51. Rxb7 $2 {Losing the thread in a tough
position.} ({White had to find} 51. b4 {, which is hard when both players are
in time pressure once more. After} axb4 52. Rxb7 Bc5 ({or} 52... f1=Q+ 53. Bxf1
Rxf1+ 54. Ke2 Rf2+ 55. Ke1 Bc5 56. Rxb4) 53. a5 f1=Q+ 54. Bxf1 Rxf1+ 55. Ke4 {
White has good chances to save the game thanks to his two passed pawns.}) 51...
f1=Q+ 52. Bxf1 Rxf1+ 53. Ke4 Bc5 $1 {Now Black will be able to stabilize the
position by placing the bishop on b4!} 54. Kd5 Bb4 55. Kc4 Re1 56. Rb5 Re2 {
White will eventually lose his pawns. Now the result depends on Felix's
technique.} 57. Kb3 Ke7 58. Ka2 Ke6 59. Kb3 Rxe5 {Black has the dark-squared
bishop, which enables him to exchange rooks.} 60. Rb7 Kd5 61. Rb8 Re3+ 62. Ka2
Kc6 63. Rb5 Be1 64. Rh5 Bb4 65. Rb5 Re4 66. Kb3 Rg4 67. Ka2 Bd2 68. Ka3 Rg5 69.
Rb8 Rg3+ 70. Ka2 Rg4 71. Ka3 Bb4+ 72. Kb3 Bd6 73. Rc8+ Kd7 74. Rc2 Rb4+ 75. Ka2
Rxa4+ 76. Kb1 Rf4 77. Ka2 Rf3 78. Rd2 Kc6 79. Rc2+ Bc5 80. Re2 Bd4 81. Re8 Re3
82. Rd8 Be5 83. Rd2 Rh3 84. Re2 Kd5 85. Rd2+ Ke6 86. Rd8 Rh2 87. Ra8 Rxb2+ 88.
Ka3 Rb1 89. Ra6+ Kd7 90. Rxa5 Ra1+ 91. Kb4 Bc3+ {A good game by both players.}
0-1

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.11.13"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Lin, Leo"]
[Black "Ng, Gary"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2130"]
[BlackElo "2378"]
[Annotator "de Firmian"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,79,19,38,60,57,55,64,61,21,7,-4,2,2,2,-3,4,2,9,11,5,-4,9,-5,-1,21,3,
14,51,77,62,37,43,22,29,-4,-16,-9,0,-9,-9,-21,-18,-25,-6,-6,-7,-6,-7,-251,-251,
-264,-265,-305,-334,-364,-387,-254,-276,-307,-375,-417,-417,-630,-747,-793,
-752,-842,-860,-807,-860,-890,-885,29990,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,
29997,29996]} 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 $5 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Ne5 {Leo certainly trods
the unbeaten path in the openings.} Nd7 5. d4 Nxe5 6. dxe5 e6 7. Nd2 Ne7 8. Nf3
Nc6 9. c3 {The resulting position looks fairly normal for a French-type
opening. I suspect both players were happy to be out of book and on their own.}
Qc7 10. Bf4 Bc5 11. Bd3 h6 ({An alternative is} 11... f6 12. Bg3 f5 {, more
directed toward the center.}) 12. O-O Bd7 13. Rc1 Qb6 $6 {Asking for White's
next move.} 14. b4 $1 Be7 15. a4 a6 16. Rb1 Rc8 17. b5 $6 {This allows Black
to access some squares on the queenside. White would keep the advantage with} (
17. Re1 {.}) 17... axb5 18. Bxb5 Qa5 19. Qd3 O-O 20. Rfc1 Rfd8 21. Qe3 Bf8 22.
Bd3 Qa8 {Ng plays a risky, provocative move by putting the queen far in the
corner.} 23. Bc2 Na5 {[#]} 24. Bxh6 $6 {Objectively this deserves a question
mark (or two), but Leo is brave and wants to attack the king, sound or not!}
gxh6 25. Qd3 Bg7 26. g4 {White needs more attacking help, so the g-pawn is
chosen to join in.} Rc4 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. g5 hxg5 29. Nxg5 $1 {The exclamation
mark is for bravery. White is quite lost if he doesn't charge ahead with the
attack, so Leo throws another sacrifice into the mix.} Rg4+ 30. Kh1 Rxg5 31.
Rg1 {Black is two pieces ahead. You may suspect that a precise defense will
win, and you are right. Yet it is hard to play the black side, as the queen is
far from the action, and there is no room for error despite the extra bishop
and knight.} Rxg1+ 32. Rxg1 Bxe5 33. Rg8+ Ke7 34. Qh4+ {The black king looks
safe enough with the pawns and bishops surrounding him. Yet there is only one
winning move and everything else loses.} f6 $2 ({Only} 34... Kd6 $1 35. Rxd8
Qa6 {wins for Black as the king is safe and the counterattack is coming. Yet
Black thought it unnecessary to give back a whole rook.}) 35. Qb4+ Kf7 {[#]}
36. Rg7+ $3 {Adding a rook sacrifice while a bishop and knight down is the key.
Shades of Mikhail Tal!} Kxg7 37. Qe7+ Kh6 ({There is no way out for the black
king. No better is} 37... Kg8 38. Bh7+ Kh8 39. Bg6 {.}) 38. Qh7+ Kg5 39. Qg6+
Kh4 40. Qh6+ {Black resigned as 40...Kg4 41. h3+ Kf3 42. Qe3 is mate. A
wonderfully inspired game by 13-year-old Leo Lin!} 1-0

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.11.13"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Khodjimatov, Sherzod"]
[Black "Arruebarrena, Rafael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B26"]
[WhiteElo "2282"]
[BlackElo "2238"]
[Annotator "de Firmian"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,64,23,23,51,63,72,-4,31,18,13,8,8,9,20,1,26,-13,3,2,-1,9,8,12,31,32,
32,8,12,25,-6,-22,0,12,10,-54,-76,-106,-98,-97,-97,-116,-101,-63,-59,-77,-87,
-75,-80,-70,-99,-86,-94,-116,-83,-68,-72,-66,-84,-84,-94,-102,-101,-609,-612,
-632,-642] This was the key last round game. If Khodjimatov could win or draw
he would win the tournament. Arruebarrena was out for blood though.} 1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 Nd4 7. Qd2 e5 {Botvinnik's move
against the Closed Sicilian is a bid for central dark-square control. It's a
time-tested route to equal opening chances.} 8. Nce2 Ne7 9. c3 Ne6 10. f4 O-O
11. Nf3 {[#]} exf4 {Opening up the game. Safe and quieter is} (11... b6 12. O-O
Bb7 {.}) 12. Nxf4 Nxf4 13. gxf4 Qc7 14. O-O d5 15. f5 $5 gxf5 ({Black is fine
after} 15... dxe4 16. dxe4 gxf5 {.}) 16. exd5 ({I'd prefer} 16. e5 $1 {, a
positionally motivated plan to control the central black squares. White should
have a slight edge.}) 16... Nxd5 17. Bh6 $2 ({The correct} 17. Nh4 $1 Nxe3 18.
Qxe3 {, which wins back the pawn and keeps equal chances.}) 17... f4 $1 18.
Bxg7 Kxg7 {Black's pawn structure may look loose with the doubled, isolated
f-pawns, but the great knight outpost on e3 swings the game in Black's favor.}
19. d4 Ne3 20. Rf2 Kh8 21. dxc5 Qxc5 22. Qd4+ Qxd4 23. Nxd4 Rg8 $1 {[#] The
endgame brings no help to White. The active black pieces much outweigh the
broken black pawn structure. The threat now is 24...f3 or 24...Bh3 winning a
piece.} 24. Kh1 Nxg2 25. Rxg2 Bh3 26. Rf2 Rae8 $1 {This is fine endgame play.
Black gives back the pawn to get his three pieces into highly active positions.
} 27. Rxf4 Bg2+ 28. Kg1 Bd5+ 29. Kf1 Rg2 30. Rf2 {The best try. On} (30. c4 {
there is} Rxh2 {.}) 30... Reg8 31. Rd1 $2 {A mistake to end the game right
away. In any case Black is clearly winning with} (31. Ne2 Rxf2+ 32. Kxf2 Rg2+
33. Ke3 Bc4 $1 34. Nf4 Rxb2) 31... Bc4+ 32. Ke1 Re8+ {White resigned and the
four-way Armageddon tiebreak followed.} 0-1

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.11.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "de Firmian, Nick"]
[Black "Jinghui, Bai"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B35"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2026"]
[Annotator "de Firmian"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,71,51,41,72,41,35,22,22,24,67,61,51,39,37,37,26,11,58,52,34,10,9,42,
95,11,84,85,118,97,104,104,103,19,13,24,6,27,118,135,143,121,106,109,93,88,98,
88,95,95,140,145,143,150,164,164,188,177,199,204,214,219,246,250,266,241,206,
216,218,200,232,154,284,287] My most interesting game was from the third round
where I had an enterprising opponent.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 a5 {The Accelerated Dragon move.
Instead 8...d6 would transpose to the main variation of the Dragon.} 9. f3 d5
10. Bxd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Nb4 12. Nde2 Bf5 13. Rc1 {This position has been seen
for many decades. Bai now chooses a recent sacrificial continuation that
offers White a chance to be greedy (and suffer).} Ra6 14. a3 Rd6 $1 {[#] This
aggressive plan of leaving the black knight on b4 works because White is not
castled. That one tempo makes the tactics work for Black!} 15. axb4 ({If} 15.
Bc5 Na2 $1 16. Bxd6 Nxc1 17. Bc5 Qc7 ({or} 17... Nxe2 18. Qxe2 {straightaway})
18. Bd4 Nxe2 19. Bxg7 Nxc3 20. Bxc3 Rd8 21. Qd4 e5 {with compensation.}) 15...
axb4 16. Qd2 {The safe move. White could try} (16. Bd4 {or}) (16. Ne4 Rxd5 17.
Bd2 {but Black seems to have enough resources to keep the balance.}) 16... bxc3
17. Nxc3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 Rxd5 $6 {Very risky and provocative. Much safer is 18...
f6.} 19. Bh6 f6 20. Bxf8 Re5+ $1 {The white king has some trouble.} 21. Kf1 ({
The correct} 21. Kf2 $1 Qb6+ 22. Kg3 {looks risky but the white king is safer
here}) 21... Kxf8 22. Re1 Rd5 {[#] Black has almost enough compensation for
the Exchange as he controls the center and White's kingside is undeveloped.}
23. g4 {Weakening, but trying to get out of the box} Bd7 24. Rg1 Rd2 $6 {
This helps White as long as he doesn't take the offered rook, i.e., 25. Qxd2?
Bb5+. Instead} (24... Qb6 25. Kg2 Qd6 26. Kh1 Bc6 {keeps pressure on the White
kingside}) 25. Rg2 Rd4 26. Kg1 {White starts to crawl out.} Qb6 27. Qe3 Qd6 28.
Rge2 e5 29. g5 Bb5 30. Rf2 Kg7 31. gxf6+ Kxf6 32. Qh6 Qc5 33. Kg2 Bc6 34. h3
Rf4 35. Kg3 Qe7 $2 {An unfortunate mistake.} ({Instead} 35... Rf5 {leaves
White with work to do. Now I win material with...}) 36. Rxe5 $1 1-0

[Event "Fagernes GM Open 2023"]
[Site "Fagernes NOR"]
[Date "2023.04.03"]
[Round "2.12"]
[White "6.1 Hagner, Bennet"]
[Black "Kaasen, Tor Fredrik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2354"]
[BlackElo "2462"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3r1k1/1b1q2pp/p2p1b2/2pPpp2/P1P5/R2P1N2/QP1B1PPP/4R1K1 b - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2023.04.02"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,50,19,11,11,13,13,16,15,0,0,12,21,-1,4,4,3,-26,-8,13,10,8,31,25,39,35,
39,39,28,7,54,24,24,20,22,10,50,42,47,48,41,24,3,-198,-194,-192,-191,-198,-198,
-342,-507,-572,-556] [#]} 21... e4 $1 22. dxe4 fxe4 23. Ng5 e3 $1 {Exploiting
the fact that the rook on e1 will be unprotected if White captures on e3 with
the bishop.} 24. Nxh7 exf2+ 25. Kxf2 Bd4+ {and White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "TCh-FIN 2022-23"]
[Site "Finland FIN"]
[Date "2023.01.14"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "6.2 Jouhki, Y."]
[Black "Binham, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2271"]
[BlackElo "2289"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2q1rk1/p3n1b1/1p4pp/3bpp2/Q3N3/B2P2P1/4PPBP/R4RK1 w - - 0 20"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2022.09.24"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FIN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "JoeSK"]
[BlackTeam "HSK"]

{[%evp 0,53,16,23,49,4,4,-9,28,21,21,8,45,37,36,20,20,-14,-14,-12,-10,-7,-7,
-10,2,-35,-3,-5,-5,3,-10,5,12,-13,-16,-12,-3,-47,0,8,110,107,129,129,134,129,
141,135,132,88,99,114,155,190,190,184] [#]} 20. Bxe7 $1 Qxe7 21. Nf6+ $1 Bxf6
22. Bxd5+ {White wins the exchange and ends up with an easily won position.}
Kg7 23. Bxa8 Rxa8 24. Qc6 Rd8 25. Ra6 Rd6 26. Qa8 Rd7 27. e4 {and Black
resigned.} 1-0

[Event "20th Delhi Open 2023"]
[Site "New Delhi IND"]
[Date "2023.03.30"]
[Round "10.3"]
[White "6.3 Fedorov, Alex"]
[Black "Paichadze, L."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2477"]
[BlackElo "2515"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qk2r/1b2bp2/1p2p1p1/pPnpPn1p/P2N1Q2/3BB3/2PN1PPP/R4RK1 b kq - 0 16"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2023.03.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,40,26,13,80,75,80,57,62,43,57,-5,32,8,30,12,22,18,26,24,11,9,3,6,6,-4,
5,-11,-5,0,-16,-40,23,-31,-176,-199,-176,-196,-203,-195,-201,-290,-283] [#]} 
16... Nxd3 $1 17. cxd3 Nxd4 18. Qxd4 ({Or} 18. Bxd4 Bg5 {and the knight on d2
drops.}) 18... Bc5 19. Qf4 d4 {The bishop is trapped.} 20. Nc4 Qd5 {and White
resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2023"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2023.04.01"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "6.4 Mardov, Dimitar"]
[Black "Pranav, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2445"]
[BlackElo "2545"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1rk1/pb2bppp/nq6/2pp4/4n3/1P1N2P1/PBQNPPBP/2R1R1K1 b - - 0 16"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2023.03.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,54,23,23,29,2,5,2,23,9,25,-3,31,10,6,10,3,1,11,13,14,13,19,11,48,18,
20,35,35,14,14,19,18,-118,-99,-14,-34,-88,-86,-110,-110,-110,-115,-213,-184,
-221,-157,-157,-397,-361,-388,-507,-526,-526,-537,-1132,-845] [#]} 16... c4 $1
17. bxc4 Nb4 $1 {This is probably the move White had overlooked. Now he loses
material.} 18. Qb3 Nxd2 19. Qc3 Qh6 20. Nxb4 d4 21. Qd3 ({Or} 21. Qa3 Bxg2 22.
Kxg2 Qb6 {and Black wins.}) 21... Bxg2 22. Nd5 ({Or} 22. Kxg2 Bxb4) 22... Rxd5
23. cxd5 Be4 24. Qxd4 Bf6 25. Qb4 Qh3 26. f3 Bxf3 27. Kf2 Bg5 {and White
resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Bundesliga 2022-23"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "2023.04.02"]
[Round "13.2"]
[White "6.5 Keymer, Vincent"]
[Black "Vogel, Roven"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2463"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r5k1/pp4pp/2q1b3/3pB3/2pPP3/b1P5/P1B1Q1PP/1R4K1 w - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "2022.10.22"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "OSG Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "USV TU Dresden"]

{[%evp 0,65,23,23,25,6,6,6,6,11,24,-2,8,-37,-16,-9,-8,9,26,26,47,57,56,55,53,
53,52,65,77,42,36,58,43,53,67,56,64,66,66,69,57,56,211,118,110,66,91,167,158,
182,137,123,123,121,118,118,151,79,184,177,170,176,176,422,457,654,914,1013] 
[#]} 21. exd5 $1 ({In the game, Keymer instead chose:} 21. Qh5 dxe4 22. Qg5 Bf8
23. Rf1 Bf7 24. h4 Qg6 25. Qf4 Bd5 26. h5 Qxh5 27. Bxe4 Bc6 28. Rf3 Qe8 29. d5
Bd7 30. d6 Be6 $4 31. Qh4 h6 32. Rg3 Bf5 33. Qf6 {and Black resigned.}) 21...
Bxd5 22. Bxg7 $1 Kxg7 23. Qe5+ Kg8 24. Qf5 $1 {White is winning but there is
still work to be done.} Qe6 25. Qxh7+ Kf8 26. Rf1+ Ke8 27. Bf5 Qe3+ 28. Kh1 Be7
29. Qh8+ Bf8 30. Qh5+ Bf7 31. Qh4 Be7 32. Qh8+ Bf8 33. Bg6 {and it is game
over for Black.} 1-0

[Event "Bundesliga 2022-23"]
[Site "Deggendorf GER"]
[Date "2023.04.01"]
[Round "12.7"]
[White "6.6 Kuznecovs, Nikita"]
[Black "Carlstedt, J."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2301"]
[BlackElo "2428"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r1k1/3b2pp/1pp5/p1p5/P7/1RNP3P/1PP3P1/7K b - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2022.10.22"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "SV Deggendorf"]
[BlackTeam "SV Werder Bremen"]

{[%evp 0,52,23,17,47,47,47,60,57,-3,51,57,114,123,90,49,43,42,16,28,28,25,27,
28,26,28,42,10,17,17,31,31,20,-5,30,22,32,27,21,9,21,18,19,10,34,-30,-26,-17,5,
-52,-45,-101,-111,-227,-245] [#]} 24... Re1+ $1 ({This is much stronger than
the game continuation although White there soon blundered:} 24... b5 25. axb5
$4 ({White should have opted for} 25. Ne4 c4 26. Rc3 Re5 27. Nd6 Rd5 28. Nb7
Bc8 29. Nxa5 b4 30. Rxc4 Rxa5 31. Rxb4 {and Black still has a lot of work to
do before the win will be a reality}) 25... cxb5 26. Nxb5 a4 {and White
resigned.}) 25. Kh2 b5 26. axb5 ({If} 26. Ne4 c4 27. Rc3 Be6 {and Black is
much better.}) 26... cxb5 27. Ne4 Bc6 28. Rc3 ({Or} 28. Nxc5 Re2 29. Ne4 b4 {
and Black is winning.}) 28... Bxe4 29. dxe4 c4 {and Black has a decisive
advantage.} 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2023"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2023.03.30"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "6.7 Rakotomaharo, Fy Antenaina"]
[Black "Gupta, Ab"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B67"]
[WhiteElo "2448"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2r2k1/1q2bppp/3ppn2/8/1p2P1PP/1P1BBP2/P2Q4/1K2R2R b - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2023.03.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,56,24,5,39,40,77,68,63,38,38,28,48,20,73,52,59,35,45,50,38,18,12,3,38,
3,3,-9,1,0,0,5,11,31,23,23,100,70,70,-6,6,-24,-7,-38,-143,-237,-210,-210,-215,
-227,-267,-311,-255,-412,-578,-567,-460,-763,-415] [#]} 21... d5 $1 22. e5 Ne4
$1 {Now White's position collapses.} 23. fxe4 dxe4 24. Qg2 Rxd3 {This looks
"slow" but the threat is ...Qd5xe5 followed by ...Bf6 and game over.} 25. Bg5
Bc5 ({Or even better} 25... Qa6 {, threatening ...Rxb3,} 26. Qb2 Bc5 {and
there is no good way to meet the threat of ...Bd4, e.g.,} 27. Rxe4 Bd4 28. Rxd4
Rxd4 29. Qxd4 Qxa2+ 30. Kc1 Rc8+ 31. Kd1 Qb1+ {and Black is winning.}) 26. Bc1
Qa6 27. Re2 e3 28. Rh3 Bd4 {and White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Bundesliga 2022-23"]
[Site "Remagen GER"]
[Date "2023.04.02"]
[Round "13.3"]
[White "6.8 Swinkels, R."]
[Black "Ernst, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2513"]
[BlackElo "2538"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/Qb2qppp/1p6/8/3p1B2/6P1/PP2PP1P/R5K1 b - - 0 21"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2022.10.22"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "SC Remagen Sinzig"]
[BlackTeam "Hamburger SK"]

{[%evp 0,54,23,23,25,6,6,-25,-21,-10,2,-12,8,-11,1,0,-13,-5,52,50,41,44,32,14,
10,52,61,75,77,52,52,90,108,112,108,98,48,57,0,27,-7,-7,32,-157,-155,-356,-355,
-404,-416,-409,-423,-420,-421,-420,-448,-452,-445] [#]} 21... d3 $1 {White
must have failed to fully consider the consequences of this move.} 22. exd3 ({
It could look like White can save himself after} 22. Re1 {, but then} Qe4 23.
f3 d2 24. Bxd2 Qd4+ 25. Kf1 Bc8 $1 {Boom! and White loses a piece.}) 22... Qd7
23. Rf1 ({The alternatives also do not work, e.g.,} 23. f3 Qd4+) ({or} 23. Qxb6
Qd5 {and Black wins.}) 23... Qc6 24. f3 Ra8 {The queen is trapped and White
could have resigned here.} 25. Qxa8+ Bxa8 26. Rc1 Qe6 27. Kf2 h6 {and White
resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2023"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2023.03.31"]
[Round "4.43"]
[White "6.9 Belenkaya, D."]
[Black "Gajewski, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B43"]
[WhiteElo "2300"]
[BlackElo "2587"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rn1q3r/3pb1pp/p3pnk1/5pB1/NpPN4/5PP1/PP2Q2P/R3R1K1 w - - 0 16"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2023.03.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,61,23,5,39,39,39,39,88,50,83,86,73,65,52,68,40,4,9,26,-3,-4,-11,-28,
26,26,17,36,32,17,64,47,106,-13,78,48,79,0,73,0,341,359,355,533,643,813,813,
847,847,449,503,420,703,414,414,29994,29995,29996,29997,29994,29995,29996,
29997,29998] [#]} 16. g4 $1 {Boom! You can have my bishop.} ({But also} 16.
Rad1 {is terrible for Black.}) 16... Kxg5 17. gxf5 {Black's king is hopelessly
exposed.} Kh6 $2 ({It was better to play} 17... Nc6 18. h4+ Kh5 19. Qg2 Ne4 20.
Qg4+ Kh6 21. Rxe4 Nxd4 22. Rxd4 {and White is clearly better.}) 18. fxe6 Qa5
19. c5 $1 Nc6 20. Nf5+ {Black is hopelessly lost; the king is isolated from
his defenders.} Kg5 21. h4+ Kxf5 22. Qd3+ Ne4 23. Qxe4+ Kf6 24. Qf4+ ({Or} 24.
exd7 {and Black can resign.}) 24... Kg6 25. Kh1 h6 26. Rg1+ Bg5 27. Rxg5+ hxg5
28. Qxg5+ Kh7 29. Qh5+ ({Or} 29. Rg1) 29... Kg8 30. Qf7+ Kh7 31. Rg1 {and
there with no way to delay mate, Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "Alekhine sim"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Borochow, Harry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {[#]} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5
8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Be6 10. a4 Nc5 11. Nd2 Be7 12. Qe2 c6 13. c3 Nxb3 14. Nxb3
bxa4 15. Nd4 Bd7 16. e6 fxe6 17. Rxa4 Qc8 18. Re1 Kf7 19. Nf5 Re8 20. Qh5+ Kg8
21. Nxg7 Rf8 22. Rg4 Kh8 23. Re3 e5 24. Ne6 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "ABC-386"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k5/6Q1/7r/1r6/q7/8/P3B3/KR6 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-386"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7r/8/6B1/3k1P2/7q/4p3/6KP/1Q4B1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-386"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7r/1k4q1/2p5/8/2Q3n1/5pB1/7P/6RK b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-386"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/2q3p1/7r/8/8/P1P5/1KRQ4 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-386"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/4q3/2Q5/8/8/5B1n/7P/7K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "ABC-386"]
[Site "Hollywood,CA"]
[Date "1932.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5k2/8/6Q1/2n5/qP1N4/P7/RKN5 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1932.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "Palma de Mallorca op 4th"]
[Site "Palma de Mallorca"]
[Date "2009.11.22"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gomez Jurado pg 315, Luis Alberto"]
[Black "Bhat, Vinay S"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D46"]
[WhiteElo "2283"]
[BlackElo "2510"]
[Annotator "Watson / Bhat"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. e4
dxe4 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 f5 11. Bd3 c5 12. Bg5 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. O-O-O a6
15. d5 {[#] Taking on d5 invites 16.Bxf5 and White is attacking both h7 and d5
still. So 15 ... Ne5 suggests itself, and that indeed is OK for Black. But
looking a little deeper into the position, I decided to take on d5 anyway.}
exd5 $1 16. Bxf5 $2 (16. cxd5 {was a better practical decision.}) 16... Rxf5 $1
17. Qxf5 Ne5 {Black's sacrihce works in the short term because he picks up the
c4-pawn, but longer-term, it revolves around the power of the two bishops.} 18.
Qc2 Nxc4 19. Qd3 Qf7 $1 20. Ng5 Qf5 21. Qxf5 Bxf5 22. Nf3 Be4 23. b3 Nxd2 24.
Kxd2 b5 $1 25. Ne1 Re8 $1 26. f3 Bf4+ 27. Kc3 Be5+ 28. Kd2 Bf4+ 29. Kc3 b4+ 30.
Kb2 Bg6 31. Nd3 (31. Rxd5 Re2+ 32. Ka1 Bd2 $1) 31... Re2+ 32. Ka1 Bg5 33. h4 (
33. f4 Bf6+ 34. Ne5 Rxe5 $1 35. fxe5 Bxe5+) 33... Bf6+ 34. Kb1 c4 0-1

[Event "Montreal 10th"]
[Site "Montreal"]
[Date "2009.09.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Roussel Roozmon Pg 280, Thomas"]
[Black "Bhat, Vinay S"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2487"]
[BlackElo "2473"]
[Annotator "Watson / Bhat"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2009.08.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[EventCategory "15"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 e6 8.
Rc1 Nf6 9. e3 Bd6 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O e5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Be2 a6 14. Nxe5 Bxe5
15. Bf3 Be6 {[#] Having all four pairs of minor pieces on the board usually
gives the player with the IQP an advantage, while three pairs bring things
closer to equality. The player with the IQP tends to want more minor pieces on
the board, thanks to the space advantage the pawn provides. Here though, even
with only three pairs of minor pieces, Black's pieces are still slightly more
active than White's and White can't develop his queen easily, as Qb3 walks
into ...d4. So Black still has a small pulL} 16. g3 (16. Ne2 {would be the
ideal move, preparing to regroup with Bc3 and Nf4/Ng3/Nd4. Then White's pieces
would make good sense. The only problem is that it doesn't work tactically:}
Qb8 $1 {guards the b-pawn in anticipation of taking on b2 (or h2).}) 16... Qe7
17. Qe2 Rad8 18. Rfd1 Rfe8 19. Be1 d4 (19... b5 $1 {was correct, securing the
c4-square and preparing improving moves like ...Qa7 before playing ... d4.})
20. exd4 Bxd4 21. Bd2 $2 (21. Nd5 $11) 21... b5 {It often doesn't seem
dangerous to see the liquidation of the IQP with ...d4/exd4, but the problwm
is that there is a difference of piece activity after that. This is because
the side wsith the IQP usually controls 4 ranks of the board (as opposed to 3
for the other side) and therefore has more room to place his pieces actively.}
22. Bg5 h6 23. Bf4 Qa7 $1 24. Qf1 g5 $1 25. Bd2 Ng4 26. Ne4 Bf5 $1 27. Bxg4
Bxg4 28. Re1 f5 $1 29. Nc3 Bxf2+ $1 30. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Rxd2+ 32. Kg1 Rxe1+
33. Rxe1 Kf7 0-1

[Event "San Francisco Franett Memorial"]
[Site "San Francisco"]
[Date "2005.01.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bhat, Vinay S"]
[Black "Stein pg 188, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2410"]
[BlackElo "2362"]
[Annotator "Watson"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2005.01.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. Bxf6 gxf6 4. d5 Qb6 5. Qc1 e6 6. e4 Bh6 $2 7. Qxh6 Qxb2
8. Ne2 $1 Qxa1 9. Nec3 Qb2 10. Be2 Ke7 11. d6+ $1 Kxd6 12. Qxf6 Qc1+ 13. Bd1
Rg8 14. Nd2 Kc6 15. Qxf7 Rxg2 16. Qf8 Na6 17. e5 Kc7 18. Nb5+ Kb6 19. a4 Nb4
20. Nc4+ Ka6 21. Nc7# {[#]} 1-0

[Event "American Cup St. Louis"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shankland, Sam"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "245"]
[EventDate "2022.07.29"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Bf4 Nh4 11. Rad1+ Ke8 12. Nxh4 Bxh4 13. Ne2 a6 14.
Rfe1 g5 15. Bd2 g4 16. e6 Bxe6 17. Bc3 Rg8 18. Nf4 Rd8 19. Rxd8+ Kxd8 20. Nxe6+
fxe6 21. Rxe6 Bg5 22. Kf1 Kd7 23. Re4 Be7 24. g3 Bd6 25. Kg2 h5 26. h3 b5 27.
Bd2 c5 28. b3 Rg6 29. c4 b4 30. Be1 a5 31. f3 gxf3+ 32. Kxf3 a4 33. Bf2 Rf6+
34. Ke2 Rf8 35. g4 hxg4 36. hxg4 Rh8 37. g5 Rg8 38. Be3 Be7 39. bxa4 Ra8 40. g6
Rxa4 41. g7 Rxa2+ 42. Bd2 Ra8 43. Rg4 Rg8 44. Kd3 Ke6 45. Kc2 Kf5 46. Rg2 Bf6
47. Kb3 Bd4 48. Bc1 Ke6 49. Bh6 Kf7 50. Bf4 Bxg7 51. Bxc7 Ra8 52. Ra2 Rh8 53.
Rh2 Re8 54. Rf2+ Kg8 55. Rg2 Re3+ 56. Ka4 Kf7 57. Rg3 Re8 58. Rf3+ Kg6 59. Rg3+
Kh7 60. Rh3+ Kg8 61. Rg3 Kh7 62. Rh3+ Kg8 63. Rg3 Kf7 64. Rf3+ Bf6 65. Bd6 Ra8+
66. Kb5 Ra3 67. Rf1 Ke6 68. Bxc5 Ra8 69. Bxb4 Rb8+ 70. Ka4 Ra8+ 71. Kb3 Be5 72.
Re1 Rb8 73. Re2 Kf5 74. c5 Rg8 75. Kc4 Rg4+ 76. Kb5 Rg8 77. Ba5 Rb8+ 78. Bb6
Ra8 79. c6 Rb8 80. Kc5 Rc8 81. Kd5 Bf4 82. Re7 Kf6 83. Rd7 Bg3 84. Bd4+ Kf5 85.
Rf7+ Kg4 86. Rg7+ Kf3 87. Re7 Rd8+ 88. Rd7 Rc8 89. Bc5 Bc7 90. Bd6 Ba5 91. Ra7
Be1 92. Rf7+ Kg4 93. Re7 Ba5 94. Ra7 Be1 95. Rf7 (95. c7 Bh4) (95. Ra4+ Kh5 (
95... Kf5 96. c7) 96. Ra1 Bh4 (96... Bc3 97. Ra3 Bd2 98. c7 Bg5 99. Kc6 Bd8
100. Rh3+ Kg4 101. Rh8) 97. Rb1 Kg6 98. Rb8 Rxb8 99. Bxb8 Bd8 100. Ke6 Ba5 101.
Bd6 Bb6 102. Kd7 Kf7 103. Be7 Ba5 104. Bd8 {etc.}) 95... Ba5 96. Rf8 Rxf8 97.
Bxf8 Kf5 98. Kd6 Ke4 99. Kd7 Kd5 100. Bd6 Bb6 101. Bc7 Bf2 102. Bf4 Bb6 103.
Bd2 Kc4 104. Kc8 Kb5 105. Kb7 Bd8 106. Be1 Bb6 107. Bg3 Ba5 108. Bc7 Bc3 109.
Bd6 Ba5 110. Bf4 Bb6 111. Bd2 Bd8 112. Be1 Bb6 113. Bg3 Ba5 114. Bc7 Bc3 115.
Bb6 Be5 116. Ba7 Bf4 117. Be3 Be5 118. Bb6 Bf4 119. Bc7 Bd2 120. Bb8 Ba5 121.
Ba7 Bd8 122. c7 Bxc7 123. Kxc7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Capablanca Memorial Elite 55th"]
[Site "Havana"]
[Date "2022.04.20"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Black "Quesada Perez, Yasser"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B36"]
[WhiteElo "2609"]
[BlackElo "2579"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2022.04.19"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CUB"]
[EventCategory "14"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "Cuba"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CUB"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Nxd4 7. Qxd4 d6 8.
Be3 Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. O-O a4 12. Rad1 Qa5 13. Bd4 Bd7 14. Bxf6 Bxf6
15. Nd5 Qxd2 16. Rxd2 Kg7 17. c5 Be6 18. cxd6 exd6 19. Nxf6 Kxf6 20. Rxd6 Rfd8
21. Rb6 Kg7 22. Rd1 Bxa2 23. Rxb7 Bb3 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. h4 Rd2 26. Bb5 h5 27.
f3 Rxb2 (27... Kf6 28. Kh2 Kg7 29. Kg3 Kf6 30. Ra7 (30. Bc6 Rc2 (30... Kg7 31.
Rb4 Rc2 32. Bxa4 Bxa4 33. Rxa4 Rxb2) 31. Bd5 Bxd5 32. exd5 Ke5 33. Rxf7 Rxb2)
30... Rxb2 31. Bxa4 Ra2 32. Ra6+ Ke5 33. Bb5 Rxa6 34. Bxa6 {Black has a better
version of the game.} f5 35. Bb7 fxe4 36. fxe4) 28. Bxa4 Rb1+ 29. Kf2 Ba2 30.
Rxb1 Bxb1 31. Ke3 Ba2 32. Kd4 Kf6 33. Bc2 Be6 34. e5+ {Bishop endings with all
the pawns on one side of the board rarely provide serious winning chances, but
here Black's light-square pawn structure provides potential targets for attack.
Black has to make a crucial decision right away.} Kg7 $4 {It's not always an
easy decision to centralize or hug your own pawns, but Black's choice looks
logical because White will establish tremendous king position.} (34... Ke7 35.
Ke3 Bc4 36. Kf4 Ke6 37. g4 hxg4 38. fxg4 Bd5 (38... f6 39. Bxg6 fxe5+ 40. Kg5
$18) 39. Kg5 Bf3 (39... Kxe5 40. h5 gxh5 41. gxh5 f6+ 42. Kg6 Kf4 43. h6 Bg8
44. Kxf6 Kg4 45. Kg7 Kg5 (45... Kh5 46. Bd3 Kg5 47. Bg6) 46. Bg6) 40. Bb3+ Ke7
(40... Kxe5 41. Bxf7 Bxg4 $11) 41. h5 (41. e6 fxe6 42. Bc2 Kf7 43. Bxg6+ Kg7
44. Bc2 Bxg4 45. Kxg4 Kh6) 41... gxh5 42. gxh5 Kf8 $1 (42... Be4 43. h6 Bd3 44.
Bd5 (44. Bd1 Ke6 45. Bh5) 44... Bc2 45. Kf4 Kf8 46. Be4 Bb3 47. Bh7 Bd5 48. Kg5
Bc4 (48... Bf3 49. Kf6 Bh5 50. Bc2 Kg8 51. Bb3 Kh7 52. Bxf7 Bf3 53. Kg5) 49.
Kf6 Bd5 50. Bg6) 43. h6 Kg8 44. Kf6 Kh7 45. Kxf7 Kxh6 46. e6 Bc6 47. e7 Bd7 $11
48. Kf8 (48. Kf6 Kh7 49. Ke5 Kg7 50. Kd6 Be8 51. Kc7 Kf6 52. Kd8 Bh5 (52... Bb5
{but even} 53. Bd1 Ke6 54. Bg4+ Kd6 $11)) 48... Kg6 49. Bf7+ Kf6 (49... Kh6 50.
Be8 Bf5 51. Bc6 Bg6 52. Bd5) 50. Be8 Bf5) 35. Kc5 Ba2 (35... f6 36. Kd6 Kf7 37.
Bxg6+) 36. Kd6 Bc4 (36... Kf8 37. e6 (37. Be4 Bb3 38. Bd5 Bxd5 39. Kxd5 Ke7 40.
g4 Kd7 41. gxh5 gxh5 42. f4 Ke7 43. f5 f6 (43... Kd7 44. f6 Ke8 45. Kc6) 44.
exf6+ (44. e6 Ke8 45. Kc6 Ke7 46. Kc7 Ke8) 44... Kxf6 45. Ke4 Kf7 46. Ke5 Ke7
47. f6+ Kf7 48. Kf5) 37... Bxe6 38. Bxg6 fxg6 39. Kxe6 Kg7 40. f4 Kg8 41. Kf6
Kh7 42. Kf7 Kh6 43. Kg8) 37. Ke7 ({It may seem logical to transfer the bishop
to the a2-g8 diagonal, but White actually has a completely straightforward win
with the bishop where it is.} 37. Be4 Be2 38. Bd5 Kf8) 37... Be6 38. Be4 Bc4
39. f4 Bb3 40. Bc6 Bc4 41. g3 Bb3 42. Be8 Bc4 43. Bxf7 Bxf7 44. e6 Bg8 45. Kd7
Bf7 46. e7 $1 (46. exf7 Kxf7 {Black has the opposition and White is out of
pawn moves.}) (46. e7 Kf6 47. e8=Q Bxe8+ 48. Kxe8 Ke6 49. Kf8 Kf6 50. Kg8) 1-0

[Event "Olympiad-17 Preliminaries F"]
[Site "Havana"]
[Date "1966.10.29"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Martinez, Juan Ramon"]
[Black "Cobo Arteaga, Eldis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "1966.10.26"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CUB"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Panama"]
[BlackTeam "Cuba"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "PAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CUB"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. g3 c5 7. Qb3 Nxc3 8.
bxc3 O-O 9. Bg2 Nc6 10. O-O cxd4 11. Rd1 e5 12. e3 Qf6 13. Ba3 Rd8 14. Nd2 dxe3
15. fxe3 Na5 16. Ne4 Nxb3 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Rxd8+ Bxd8 19. axb3 Be6 20. c4 Bg5
21. Kf2 Rd8 22. Bxb7 Rb8 23. Bd5 Rxb3 24. Bc5 Rb2+ 25. Kg1 Bxd5 26. cxd5 Rb5
27. Bxa7 Rxd5 28. Ra2 f5 29. Kf2 Rb5 30. Ke2 Kf7 31. Kf2 Ke6 32. h4 Bd8 33. Kf3
h5 34. Ke2 Ra5 35. Rxa5 Bxa5 36. Bc5 Kd5 37. Be7 e4 38. Bg5 Bc7 39. Kf2 Kc4 40.
Bh6 Kd3 41. Bg5 f4 42. gxf4 Bb6 43. f5 gxf5 44. Bf4 Bd8 45. Bg5 Bc7 46. Ke1 Bd6
47. Kf2 f4 (47... f4 48. Bxf4 (48. Bh6 fxe3+ 49. Bxe3 Bg3+) 48... Bxf4 49. exf4
Kd2) 0-1

[Event "Olympiad-44"]
[Site "Chennai"]
[Date "2022.07.29"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Black "Junior, Domingos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2107"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2022.07.29"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America"]
[BlackTeam "Angola"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ANG"]

{[%evp 0,105,16,13,30,-10,-10,-3,25,7,14,18,11,14,12,17,6,0,4,10,19,19,12,9,12,
-1,6,-18,3,3,11,10,20,23,9,-1,1,-5,20,20,21,36,35,35,83,84,82,85,105,78,75,75,
118,37,67,75,59,67,70,53,67,59,67,64,66,69,72,59,83,72,106,106,66,65,109,102,
97,108,109,108,114,64,67,62,58,59,82,75,70,69,91,82,86,67,67,73,54,59,68,71,71,
70,134,71,113,172,250,302]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7
6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Bf4 Ne4 11. Rc1 c5 12. dxc5
Ndxc5 13. Be5 Nxc3 14. Bxc3 Ne4 15. Bd4 Bb4 16. Rf1 Qe7 17. Qa4 Bc5 18. e3 Rfd8
19. Rfd1 a6 20. Ne1 Rac8 21. Nd3 b5 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Qa3 Rc7 24. Qxe7 Rxe7 25.
Nb4 g6 26. Rd4 Red7 27. Nd3 f5 28. b4 Kg7 29. h4 Kf6 30. Nc5 Nxc5 31. Rxc5 Ke5
32. Kf1 Rd6 33. Ke2 Bc6 34. Rd2 R8d7 35. Rdc2 Bb7 36. Kd3 Rb6 37. Rc7 Rbd6 38.
R2c5 Ba8 39. Rc8 Bb7 40. Rb8 Re7 41. Bf3 Rdd7 {Black's strategic disadvantage
only begins with the isolated d-pawn. Every one of his pawns sits on the same
color of his imprisoned bishop, which requires protection from the other Black
pieces. Still, White has to open the position to be able to cash in.} 42. g4
Rc7 $2 ({This was the first chance for Black to be proactive in defense.} 42...
f4 43. g5 fxe3 44. fxe3 Rc7 {offers better chances for survival.}) 43. Re8 $2 (
43. gxf5 gxf5 44. Bg2 f4 45. exf4+ Kxf4 46. Bh3 Rg7 (46... Ke5 47. Rf8) 47.
Rxc7 Rxc7 48. Rf8+ Ke5 49. f4+ Kd6 50. Rf6+ Ke7 51. Rh6 Ke8 52. h5 {Black is
completely tied up and will see pawns start to drop soon.}) 43... Kd6 (43...
Rxe8 $1 44. Rxc7 Bc8 45. g5 f4 46. Rxh7 Bf5+ {The bishop has come alive and
Black is on the cusp of slavaging a draw.}) 44. Rd8+ Red7 $2 {This is a
typical kind of amateur mistake. The White rooks are clearly more active than
their counterparts, but trading all the rooks leaves Black without potential
counterplay and at the mercy of White's plans.} (44... Rcd7 45. Rf8 {a nice
subtlety} (45. Rb8 Rc7) 45... Rf7 46. Rb8 Rc7 47. Rxc7 Rxc7 (47... Kxc7 48.
Rxb7+) 48. gxf5 gxf5 49. a3 {the position is too open for Black to hold the
line.}) 45. Rxc7 Kxc7 46. Rxd7+ Kxd7 47. g5 $1 {Stretching the defense is
often the key to overcoming desperate defense.} Kd6 48. Kd4 Ba8 49. h5 Bb7 (
49... gxh5 50. Bxh5 Ke6 51. f4 Bb7 52. Kc5) 50. h6 {This typical finesse puts
the Black king outside the square of a potential passed h-pawn. It has to move
to the e-file or Bf3-h5 will force promotion.} Ke6 51. Bg2 (51. Kc5 f4 {
is clearly winning for White, but there is no reason to allow any counterplay
at all.}) 51... Kd6 52. f4 Bc6 (52... Ba8 53. Bh3 Ke6 54. Kc5) 53. Bf3 {
Black is in zugzwang} (53. Bf3 Bb7 (53... Ke6 54. Kc5) 54. Bh5) 1-0

[Event "Wch U20"]
[Site "Baguio City"]
[Date "1987.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Hellers, Ferdinand"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E41"]
[WhiteElo "2480"]
[BlackElo "2490"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1987.07.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,83,16,13,12,-11,3,3,4,25,29,21,31,23,29,30,33,21,69,76,89,6,54,56,97,
92,70,65,76,68,88,56,92,85,84,84,75,79,63,61,64,40,51,37,95,62,61,60,60,60,60,
64,59,66,94,64,70,67,82,68,62,80,118,130,130,88,139,148,120,78,173,227,606,615,
608,707,707,935,982,788,982,982,982,900,926,962]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4
4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nge2 cxd4 7. exd4 d5 8. cxd5 Qxd5 9. O-O Qh5 10. Ne4
Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bd6 12. Bf4 Bxf4 13. Nxf4 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1 Bd7 15. Nd3 Rc8 16. d5
exd5 17. Bxd5 b6 18. Re1+ Kf8 19. Rad1 g6 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. Rxe5 Re8 22. Rxe8+
Bxe8 23. Rc1 Ke7 24. Rc8 Rf8 25. Ra8 a5 26. Ra6 Kd6 27. Bb3 Bb5 28. Rxb6+ Kc5
29. Rb7 Re8 30. h4 a4 31. Bxf7 Re1+ 32. Kh2 Re2 33. Kg3 Rxb2 34. Be8 h6 35. h5
g5 36. Rxb5+ Rxb5 37. Bxb5 Kxb5 38. f4 gxf4+ 39. Kxf4 Kb4 40. g4 Ka3 41. g5
hxg5+ 42. Ke3 1-0

[Event "CRO-Cup"]
[Site "Pula"]
[Date "1998.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kozul, Zdenko"]
[Black "Lalic, Bogdan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2585"]
[BlackElo "2545"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "1998.??.??"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CRO"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,85,5,58,50,-1,-10,-46,-38,-34,-9,-14,2,-44,-42,-37,-41,-57,-1,-1,-12,
-7,-20,-9,-9,13,21,26,68,65,56,65,86,57,58,66,67,34,37,34,59,46,82,50,106,76,
50,72,76,88,68,91,76,74,112,120,105,59,85,65,71,82,104,81,81,114,61,43,42,0,0,
0,5,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,2,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. b3 d5 4. Bb2 c5 5.
e3 a6 6. Rg1 Nc6 7. g4 h6 8. h4 h5 9. g5 Ng4 10. cxd5 exd5 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nxd4
Qa5+ 13. Nd2 Nge5 14. Nxc6 Nxc6 15. a3 Bf5 16. b4 Qc7 17. Rc1 Bg4 18. Nf3 d4
19. Rxg4 hxg4 20. Nxd4 Qd7 21. Nxc6 bxc6 22. Bg2 Qxd1+ 23. Kxd1 Rd8+ 24. Ke2
Rxh4 25. Bxc6+ Ke7 26. Rc4 f5 27. gxf6+ gxf6 28. a4 Rc8 29. b5 axb5 30. axb5 f5
31. b6 Rb8 32. b7 Ke6 33. Bd4 Rh7 34. Ra4 Rhxb7 35. Bxb7 Rxb7 36. Ra6+ Bd6 37.
e4 fxe4 38. Bc5 Rd7 39. Ke3 Kd5 40. Bxd6 Rxd6 41. Rxd6+ Kxd6 42. Kxe4 g3 (42...
Ke6 $4 43. Kf4 g3 44. Kxg3 $18) 43. fxg3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Skittles Game"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2003.03.31"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anderson, Joshua"]
[Black "Spiffy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B76"]
[Annotator "Anderson"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life June 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,45,19,31,40,41,52,40,22,40,84,67,55,49,42,39,195,195,318,283,638,1009,
1344,1387,1904,29988,29989,2182,2201,2123,2123,1815,2133,1335,1625,1853,29987,
1750,1793,2053,29993,29990,29991,29992,29997,29998,29999,-30000] Though my
best move is not hard to find, the game that follows from it has served me
well teaching thousands of kids in the Philadelphia suburbs.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 d6 7. f3 e5 {An unfortunate
novelty.} 8. Ndb5 {[#] The move that leads to all the instruction. Passivity
can be a problem of mine and 9. Nb3 is safe and solid, but this move provides
much more opportunity and interest.} a6 {My opponent quickly rewards my having
played the more aggressive move.} 9. Nxd6+ {Now comes the series of
developmental moves with discovered check threats.} Ke7 10. Bc5 Ke6 11. Bc4+ {
11. Qd5 was even stronger.} Kf6 12. Nd5+ Ke6 {Here I went for the flurry of
discovered checks and missed the mate in 6 that comes from 13. Ne8.} 13. Nb6+
Ke7 14. Nxb7+ Ke8 15. Nd6+ {Choosing the windmill over the queen.} Ke7 16.
Ndxc8+ Ke8 17. Nd6+ Ke7 18. Nxf7+ Ke8 19. Nd6+ Ke7 20. Nf5+ Kf6 (20... Ke8 21.
Nxg7# {And all 4 minor pieces help with the mate.}) 21. Nd7+ Kg5 {Now it's
time to find all the mate in 2s. There are 11. I played:} 22. Qd2+ Kh5 23. g4#
{My favorite is: 22. h4 Kf4 23. g3# where the "smiley face" of pawns
checkmates the king.} 1-0

