[Event "?"]
[Site "Space"]
[Date "2023.05.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Game 8"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "1889.03.25"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e3 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 e4 4. Ne5 Nxe5 5. dxe5 c6 6. Nc3 Qa5 7. Qd4 {[#]} Bb4
8. Bd2 f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. a3 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Qf5 12. O-O-O d5 13. f4 *

[Event "Manhattan CC ch"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1910.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jacob Rosenthal"]
[Black "James Moore Hanham"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "1910.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. e3 a6 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. b3 c5 12. Bb2 Rc8 13. Rac1 Qb6 14. Rfd1 Bd6 15.
Bb1 Rfd8 16. Ng5 cxd4 17. exd4 Bf4 18. Nce4 Bxc1 19. Bxc1 h6 20. Nf3 Nxe4 21.
Bxe4 Bxe4 22. Qxe4 Nf6 23. Qh4 Rd5 24. g4 Qc6 25. Bxh6 {[#]} Rh5 26. gxh5 Qxf3
0-1

[Event "6th American Chess Congress"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1889.03.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Joseph Henry Blackburne"]
[Black "James Moore Hanham"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C30"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1889.03.25"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 c6 6. d3 Qe7 7. Qe2 b5 8. Bb3 a5
9. a4 b4 10. Nd1 Ba6 11. fxe5 dxe5 12. Bg5 Nbd7 13. Ne3 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Nc5 15.
Nd2 Qa7 16. Qg3 Nfd7 17. Be3 g6 18. O-O O-O 19. Qf2 Kg7 20. Qh4 f6 21. Qh6+ Kh8
22. Rf3 Rae8 {[#]} 23. Qxh7+ Kxh7 24. Rh3+ Kg7 25. Bh6+ Kh8 26. Bxf8# 1-0

[Event "2nd City Chess Club Tournament"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1894.11.15"]
[Round "11"]
[White "James Moore Hanham"]
[Black "Jackson Whipps Showalter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "1894.10.20"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O Bb6 8. Bb3
Bg4 9. Re1 Ne7 10. Nf1 Ng6 11. h3 Be6 12. Bc2 h6 13. Be3 Qd7 14. Ng3 Bxe3 15.
Rxe3 Nf4 16. Nd2 Bxh3 17. gxh3 Qxh3 18. Qf3 Ng4 19. Ndf1 h5 20. Nf5 Nxe3 21.
Qxh3 Nxh3+ 22. Kh2 Nxc2 23. Rc1 Nxf2 24. Rxc2 Nxd3 25. Ne7+ Kh7 26. Kg3 g6 27.
Ne3 Nc5 28. Kf3 a6 29. Rh2 Nxe4 30. Kxe4 f5+ 31. N7xf5 gxf5+ 32. Nxf5 d5+ 33.
Kxe5 Rae8+ 34. Kf4 {[#]} Re4+ 35. Kg5 Rg4+ 36. Kxh5 Rg1 37. Nh6 Rf6 38. Ng4
Rf5+ 39. Kh4 Kg6 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1886.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Max Judd"]
[Black "James Moore Hanham"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1886.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. f4 Be7 8. Nf3
b6 9. Ng3 g6 10. Be3 Bb7 11. Bd3 a6 12. O-O O-O 13. Rc1 Rc8 14. Ng5 Bxg5 15.
fxg5 b5 16. Nh5 cxd4 17. cxd4 Qb6 18. Rxc6 Bxc6 19. Nf6+ Kg7 20. Qe1 Rh8 21.
Qh4 Kf8 {[#]} 22. Nxd7+ Bxd7 23. Bxg6 Be8 24. Bxf7 Bxf7 25. g6 Rc7 26. Qd8+ 1-0

[Event "Match series"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1892.10.31"]
[Round "3"]
[White "James Moore Hanham"]
[Black "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "1892.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. a3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. e3 Bg4 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Nbd2 e5 6. Be2 e4 7. Ng1 Be6 8. Bb5
c6 9. Ba4 Bd6 10. h3 O-O 11. Ne2 b5 12. Bb3 Nh5 13. g4 Nhf6 14. Nf1 c5 15. dxc5
Bxc5 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. Nh2 Qb6 18. O-O a6 19. c3 Bd6 20. f4 exf3 21. Nhxf3 Ned7
22. Bc2 Bc7 23. Rf2 h5 24. gxh5 Bxh3 25. Bf5 Ng4 26. Re2 Qd6 27. Qe1 g6 28. Qh4
gxf5 29. Qxh3 Kh8 30. Rg2 Rg8 31. b4 Qf6 32. Raa2 Nde5 33. Nxe5 Bxe5 34. Rae2
Rae8 35. Nb3 Bxc3 36. Qf3 {[#]} d4 37. exd4 Bxd4+ 38. Kf1 Nh2+ 0-1

[Event "6th American Chess Congress"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1889.05.04"]
[Round "30"]
[White "James Moore Hanham"]
[Black "Dionisio M Martinez"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C23"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "1889.03.25"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. c3 Bc5 4. Qe2 Qe7 5. Nf3 d6 6. d3 Be6 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Ba4
h6 9. Nbd2 Nf6 10. Bc2 O-O 11. O-O Nh7 12. b4 Bb6 13. a4 a6 14. Nc4 Ba7 15. Be3
Nd8 16. Bxa7 Rxa7 17. Ne3 c6 18. d4 g6 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. Nc4 Bg4 21. Qe3 Bxf3
22. Qxa7 Be2 23. Bb3 Bxf1 24. Rxf1 Kg7 25. Rd1 Nf6 26. f3 Nh5 27. Qb8 f6 28.
Nd6 Kh8 29. a5 Nf4 30. Kf2 h5 31. Qc8 f5 {[#]} 32. g3 Nfe6 33. exf5 Nd4 34.
cxd4 e4 35. Nxe4 gxf5 36. Nc5 1-0

[Event "Beijing Sportaccord blizt (Women)"]
[Site "Beijing"]
[Date "2012.12.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B85"]
[WhiteElo "2501"]
[BlackElo "2606"]
[Annotator "Tatev"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2012.12.16"]
[EventType "tourn (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,51,19,31,72,53,68,72,74,26,26,37,92,52,55,48,63,48,47,50,59,36,38,42,
57,32,74,84,46,53,46,57,41,47,64,42,29,31,36,34,78,63,74,-13,1,-77,112,-182,
-114,-31,1283,1283,29993,29994]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.
Nc3 e6 6. Be2 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. O-O O-O {So far, the players are following the
standard plan in the Scheveningen Sicilian - developing the pieces and
castling.} 9. f4 a6 10. a4 {Trying to stop Black's queenside expansion (with ..
.b7-b5).} Bd7 11. Nb3 b6 12. Bf3 Qc7 {[#]} 13. g4 {Since the center is secure,
it is safe for White to play this move. If Black could open the center and
trade the d6-pawn for the e4-pawn, then her pieces would gain activity and the
white king would become vulnerable.} Bc8 {Black is struggling to find squares
for her pieces due to a lack of space.} ({Here} 13... h6 {is a difficult move
to assess, as it creates a hook. Once White plays h2-h4 and g4-g5, Black will
be faced with a difficult choice: she can capture and open the h-file, or
allow White to take on h6.}) 14. g5 Nd7 15. Bg2 {The bishop slides back to
make way for the queen and the rook.} Bb7 16. Qh5 Rfe8 17. Rf3 g6 18. Qh6 Bf8
19. Qh4 Bg7 20. Rh3 {Now the rook joins the attack.} Nf8 21. f5 $1 {This is a
difficult move to face with black pawns on e6 and g6. The threat of f5-f6 is
looming.} Bxc3 22. f6 $3 {White ignores the obvious recapture, and creates her
own threat. With the black bishop locked out, Qg5-h6 is now devastating.} ({
The standard} 22. bxc3 exf5 23. exf5 Ne7 {would allow Black to bring forces
quickly to the kingside and open the center. Not how much less secure the
white king is with the e4-pawn gone.}) 22... h5 23. Bf3 {White keeps ignoring
the c3-bishop. The goal is to sacrifice on the h5-square.} Bxf6 24. gxf6 Ne5
25. Bxh5 Nh7 26. Be2 1-0

[Event "New England Masters"]
[Site "Peabody"]
[Date "2007.08.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Black "Yanayt, Eugene"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B77"]
[WhiteElo "2166"]
[BlackElo "2335"]
[Annotator "Tatev"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2007.08.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,49,13,13,51,45,66,58,66,34,34,34,36,36,33,27,28,20,26,26,33,2,13,-49,
-12,-33,100,102,122,88,143,82,114,88,101,106,85,11,10,10,10,0,110,8,17,17,467,
990,29991,29992,29993,29994]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4
Nc6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 d6 8. f3 O-O 9. Qd2 Bd7 {We have reached a standard
position in the Sicilian Dragon, if by a slightly odd move order. Black has
fianchettoed his bishop, which can become powerful once White castles
queenside. For his part, White's attacking plan is simple: exchange the
dark-squared bishops with Bc1-e3, Qd1-d2, and Be3-h6, and then open the h-file
to free the rook on h1.  Since there is a hook in the position -- the g6-pawn
-- White will aim to open the file by pushing h2-h4-h5. Meanwhile, black will
try to use the c-file, force an exchange of one of the bishops by ...Nc6-e5-c4,
and then throw his queenside pawns at the white king.} 10. h4 {There is no
risk leaving the king in the center, as White can castle at any moment. Better
to start the attack!} Qa5 ({Black can slow down White's plan with} 10... h5 {
. After} 11. O-O-O Ne5 12. Bb3 Rc8 {we transpose to heavy Dragon theory. For
White to break through, they need to be ready to sacrifice pawns with g2-g4
and h4-h5.}) 11. h5 Ne5 ({White is not afraid of} 11... Nxh5 {. Play continues}
12. g4 Nf6 13. Nb3 Qc7 14. Bh6 {and now, what happens if Black takes with} Bxh6
{? Generally speaking, we don't want to invite the queen in like this, and in
what follows we see why. White marches to victory with} 15. Qxh6 {, now
threatening Nc3-d5 to remove the f6-knight (and the defense of h7). After} e6
$6 16. e5 $1 dxe5 17. Ne4 Nh5 18. Rxh5 $1 {finishes things off, i.e.,} gxh5 19.
Nf6+ Kh8 20. Qxh7# {.}) 12. Bb3 Rfc8 13. hxg6 hxg6 {The b3-bishop is a key
player in this attack. Black would prefer to capture with the f-pawn, keeping
the file semi-closed, and defend the h7-pawn with a rook on f7. Instead, now
that the h-file is wide open, all White has to do is trade the dark-squared
bishops.} 14. Bh6 {Trying to remove Black's best defender and clear the h-file.
} Bh8 ({There's no hope for survival after} 14... Bxh6 15. Qxh6 {.}) 15. O-O-O
Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 17. Nb3 Qa6 {[#]} 18. Bf8 {This is a very unusual way of
trading the bishops! The material investment is worth it, such is the
defensive power of the dark-squared bishop.} Rxf8 19. Rxh8+ Kxh8 20. Qh6+ Kg8
21. Rh1 Nh5 22. g4 Be6 $4 {Now White crashes through.} ({Modern computers find
a miracle defense for Black:} 22... Rxc3 $1 23. bxc3 Qc4 24. gxh5 Qxc3 25. hxg6
Qg7 $1 {and the dark squares are defended. This doesn't change the main lesson
of the game, however; look at the lengths Black had to go to, just to survive!}
) 23. gxh5 g5 24. Qxg5+ Kh7 25. Rg1 1-0

[Event "BL 0001 (Women)"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2001.??.??"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Gaponenko, Inna"]
[Black "Beltz, Martina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B80"]
[WhiteElo "2375"]
[BlackElo "2177"]
[Annotator "Tatev"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2000.10.??"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Rodewisch (W)"]
[BlackTeam "Leipzig Gohlis (W)"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

{[%evp 0,61,27,29,46,66,69,66,66,27,26,26,112,63,69,43,43,40,50,42,72,33,28,6,
6,-1,15,10,15,4,34,20,-5,-5,-5,-6,-29,-40,3,-57,-72,30,69,-112,-112,-112,-71,
-269,137,410,410,490,503,495,495,314,495,1275,1433,1186,1186,1514,1514,1615]} 
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be3 Be7 7. f3 a6 8. Qd2
b5 9. g4 Bb7 10. O-O-O O-O {A very typical Scheveningen position. White has
played the English Attack, with Bc1-e3, Qd1-d2, and f2-f3, and is ready to
start pushing the kingside pawns. Black has already started expansion on the
queenside by pushing the pawn to b5. Black has several ideas in this position:
pushing the queenside pawns, utilizing the semi-open c-file, and, as in the
Shankland game, maneuvering the b8-knight to c4.} 11. g5 Nfd7 12. h4 {White's
idea is straightforward: to push h4-h5 and g5-g6 to destroy the king's pawn
shield.} b4 13. Nce2 d5 {It's quite common for Black to strike in the center,
even when the kings are castled on opposite sides. As we see in this game,
Black's queenside pawn storm can be quite slow.} 14. Ng3 Ne5 15. f4 Nc4 16.
Bxc4 dxc4 17. Qe2 Qc7 18. h5 c3 19. g6 $1 {By pushing the pawn to g6, White
challenges the h7- and f7-pawns, ensuring that at least one file will open.
Meanwhile, Black doesn't have enough attacking power to create any problems
for the white king.} Nd7 {[#]} 20. h6 $1 {By blasting open the kingside, White
will be able to use both the g- and h-files to attack the king.} ({The
alternative} 20. gxh7+ Kh8 21. h6 g6 {is incorrect, as the black king will
hide behind the h-pawns.}) 20... cxb2+ 21. Kb1 {Once again, the white king
finds safety behind the enemy pawn!} hxg6 22. hxg7 Kxg7 23. Qh2 Rh8 24. Ngf5+
$1 {A nice shot.} exf5 25. Nxf5+ Kf6 ({It's soon mate after} 25... gxf5 26.
Qg1+ Kf6 27. Qg5+ Ke6 28. exf5# {.}) 26. Bd4+ Ke6 27. Bxh8 Rxh8 28. Ng7+ Kf6
29. e5+ Nxe5 30. fxe5+ Qxe5 31. Rdf1+ 1-0

[Event "Reykjavik op"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "2017.04.22"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Abrahamyan, Tatev"]
[Black "Tunge, Christian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B78"]
[WhiteElo "2364"]
[BlackElo "2055"]
[Annotator "Tatev"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.04.19"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 {
Inaugurating the Yugoslav Attack. White's idea is to play Qd1-d2, 0-0-0,
exchange the dark-squared bishops, and launch an attack by pushing the h-pawn.
The plan is to open the h-file quickly by attacking the "hook" on g6.  Once
the pawn reaches h5, Black will either have to capture the pawn or allow a
trade on g6. If the bishops are removed, the dark squares around the black
king will be extremely vulnerable. Move orders in the Dragon can be a bit
tricky. Here it's worth nothing that the idea behind 7.f3 is to prevent Black
from exchanging the e3-bishop with ...Nf6-g4, while also assisting with the
kingside pawn push.} O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 {This move stops d5, which
generally is Black's main idea in all of Sicilian positions, and also brings
another piece into the future attack as this bishop is staring down the a2-g8
diagonal.} Bd7 10. h4 {There is no risk leaving the king in the center, as
White can castle at any moment. Better to start the attack!} Rc8 11. Bb3 h5 {
Black chooses to stop the h4-h5 push, at least for now.} 12. O-O-O Ne5 {
[#] We have reached a standard position in the Sicilian Dragon. Black will try
to use the c-file, force an exchange of one of the bishops by ... Nc6-e5-c4,
and then throw his queenside pawns at the white king. White aims to blast open
the kingside via g2-g4 and h4-h5.} 13. Bg5 Rc5 14. Kb1 {This is always a
useful move when castling queenside.} Re8 15. g4 hxg4 16. h5 Nxh5 17. Rxh5 {
Trying to open the kingside at any cost!} gxh5 18. Qh2 {The plan is clear:
take on h5, followed Rd1-h1 and trading the bishops, which will leave the
black king helpless.} Nc4 19. Nd5 Rxd5 {Black's attack has not lifted off, so
he has to start eliminating some of White's attackers -- almost all of White's
pieces are aiming at the king.} 20. exd5 Qc8 $2 ({The best way to defend is to
counter-attack! After} 20... Qb6 $1 21. Bxc4 Bxd4 {Black is starting to get
counterplay. The position is still dangerous, but now White has to take time
to defend against mate threats.}) 21. Qxh5 Ne5 22. Bh6 Bf6 ({Not} 22... Bxh6
23. Qxh6 {when Black is toast after Rd1-h1.}) 23. f4 Ng6 24. Ne6 $1 {There are
just too many pieces in the attack.} a5 25. Rh1 Nh4 ({If} 25... a4 {White plays
} 26. Bg7 {with mate soon after} Bh4 27. Rxh4 {.}) 26. Rxh4 Bxh4 27. Qxg4+ 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1934.08.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Analysis"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "E34"]
[Annotator "Rauzer"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2023.09.07"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{In the game Vidmar-Alekhine from the tournament in San Remo in 1930 the
following opening moves were played:} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 {
Diagram [#] . Here Vidmar played} 5. a3 {. In the tournament book (No. 35-36
'Bibliotechki shakhmatista') it is accompanied by the following comment: "A
move in the style of Tarrasch. Its basis lies in the denial of the expediency
of exchanging bishop for knight. White loses time for the sake of upholding
abstract principles, whereas Black, with a series of energetic moves, occupies
the centre." This comment gives rise to a series of interesting questions
associated with style of play. These questions, despite their acuteness, have
been discussed very little in the press. Paying great attention to the
principles of the classical school and the opinion of S. Tarrasch, and also
being interested in the inter-dependence of the first impression of a move and
its true value (which is very important for the practical chessplayer, with
limited thinking time during play at the board), I necessarily had to pay
attention to this opening variation and its coverage in the tournament book.
The first impression as far as the moves} Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 {was favourable:
Black's dark squares are somewhat weakened, and it seems that in the event of
the opening of the game (for example, with the move ...c7-c5) the play with
develop advantageously for White, thanks to his two bishops. For a fundamental
testing of this first impression I occupied myself with the specifics of the
position, i.e. with its analysis. In so doing I managed to discover the
following: after 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3} Ne4 7. Qc2 Nc6 8. e3 e5 {Vidmar played 9.
f3?, after which Black's energetic tactics were fully justified. The
tournament book, besides 9.f3, provides a short analysis of another
continuation:} 9. cxd5 Qxd5 10. Bc4 Qa5+ 11. b4 Nxb4 12. Qxe4 Nc2+ {Diagram [#]
(see diagram).} ({The tournament book examines only (} 12... Nc2+ {)} 13. Kd1 {
and shows that after} Nxa1 {White cannot trap the a1-knight, and the play
unfolds to Black's advantage. However, in the position in diagram 2 White has
a stronger continuation, that is,}) 13. Ke2 $1 ({Now (} 13. Ke2 {)} Nxa1 {
is bad on account of} 14. Bb2 {and the knight is caught, since on} Qa4 {
(without check!) White plays} 15. Qd3 {and thanks to the threat of 16.Bb5+ the
knight perishes. In the absence of the check on a4 lies the advantage of the
move 13.Ke2 over 13.Kd1. After 13.Ke2 Black can play first}) 13... Qe1+ 14. Kf3
{(calmness and impeturbability - this is White's motto!) and only now} Nxa1 15.
Bb2 ({(worse is} 15. Qxe5+ Be6 16. Bxe6 O-O {and both bishops are under attack)
}) 15... O-O {. Quite timely: White's threats in the centre have grown too
great. All these moves were first encountered in a summer training tournament
in Kiev with the participation of a Leningrad 'youth team' in 1932, in the
game Rauzer - Konstantinopolsky. This game (like the Vidmar - Alekhine one)
was lost by White, in part on account of the tournament conditions, which were
not conducive to the search for only, almost study-like moves. The best move
after 15...0-0 was} 16. Kg3 $3 {Diagram [#] (see diagram). The move 16.Kg3 is
seemingly made with the aim of freeing the queen from the need to defend the
g4-square (in the case of the possible ...Qd1+ and ...Qg4#) and to prepare
h2-h3, Kh2 and Nf3.} ({But there is more to it than this! It transpires that
the black king falls under a mating attack: White threatens (} 16. Kg3 Z0 {)}
17. Nf3 $3 Qxh1 18. Ng5 g6 19. Qxe5 {followed by d4-d5 or Qf6 with a rout.
There is no fully satisfactory defence for Black.}) ({If (} 16. Kg3 {)} h6 {
, then} 17. Bd3 g6 ({or} 17... f5) 18. Qxe5 {with a winning attack.*}) ({
It is also doubftul whether Black can survive his king wandering over the
whole board after (} 16. Kg3 {)} h6 17. Bd3 Re8 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. Qh8+ Ke7 20.
Qxg7 {.}) ({Finally, the idea of exchanging one of White's dangerous bishops
by means of (} 16. Kg3 {)} Qd2 {also fails to save Black:} 17. Nf3 $1 (17. Bxa1
Qc1) 17... Qxb2 18. Ng5 g6 19. Qxe5 Be6 ({A defence against the threat of Qf6,
and also against Nxf7. If} 19... Qxa3 {, then} 20. Qxc7) ({if} 19... Bd7 {
, then} 20. Ne4 Rfd8 21. Bxf7+ Kxf7 22. Ng5+ Kg8 23. Qe7 {, and wins}) 20. Bxe6
$1 fxe6 $1 21. Qxe6+ Kh8 (21... Kg7 22. Qe7+ Kh6 23. f4) 22. Qe7 $1 Qxf2+ 23.
Kh3 Qf5+ 24. g4 {, and wins.}) ({(*RR - This entire line was revived in the
mid-1990s and interest in it persisted for the next decade; then, after (} 16.
Kg3 {)} h6 {White's attempts (for instance, in the game Kasparov-Adams,
European Club Cup, Izmir 2004) came to be associated with the move} 17. h4 {.})
({On (} 16. Kg3 h6 {)} 17. Bd3 {Adams, annotating the above-mentioned game in
'Chess Informant' (vol. 92/497), indicates the line} f5 {; the main variation
of his analysis continues} 18. Qd5+ (18. Qxe5 Qd1 {, etc.} 19. Be2 f4+) ({or (
} 18. Qxe5 Qd1 {)} 19. Bc4+ Kh7 20. h3 Qc2 {, etc.}) 18... Kh8 19. Qxe5 (19.
dxe5 f4+ 20. exf4 Qd2) 19... f4+ 20. exf4 Qd2 {, etc.; White's attack is
certainly not winning, as Rauzer claimed back in the 1930s. The Kasparov-Adams
game ultimately ended in a draw. - Griffin.)}) {In the position in the third
diagram the best defence is probably the cold-blooded} 16... Bd7 {. But this
also fails to save Black:} 17. Nf3 Qxh1 18. Ng5 g6 (18... Rfe8 19. Bxf7+ Kf8
20. a4 Qd1 (20... Ke7 21. Ba3+ Kd8 22. Qxb7 Rc8 23. Bxe8 {etc.}) 21. Ba3+ Re7
22. Bxe7+ Kxe7 23. Qxe5+ Kd8 24. Ne6+ Bxe6 (24... Ke7 25. Bh5 Qxh5 26. Qxh5
Bxe6 27. Qd1 Nb3 28. d5) 25. Bxe6 Qxa4 26. Qg5+ Ke8 27. Qxg7 Qb5 {(otherwise
28.Bd7+)} 28. d5 {followed by Qg8+ and Qxa8, in White's favour.}) 19. Qxe5 Rae8
20. Qf6 Rxe3+ 21. fxe3 Qe1+ 22. Qf2 {(it is impossible to escape from checks
with the king) (RR - Indeed, the game Sadler-Tukmakov (Linares, 1995) ended in
perpetual check here. - Griffin.)} Qxf2+ ({(RR - Here} 22... Nc2 $1 {would
seem to be a refutation of White's play. - Griffin.)}) 23. Kxf2 Nc2 24. Bb3
Nxe3 25. Kxe3 {. The resultant endgame is slightly to White's advantage: Black
has no passed pawns, his dark squares are weak, and White has a pair of strong
bishops.} *

[Event "Varsity Oxford-Cambridge"]
[Site "National Chess Centre, London"]
[Date "1953.03.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Yanofsky, Daniel Abraham"]
[Black "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B73"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "1953.03.28"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Oxford University"]
[BlackTeam "Cambridge University"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8.
Be3 O-O 9. h3 a6 10. Qd2 Bd7 11. f4 b5 12. Bf3 Rc8 13. Nb3 Rb8 14. Nd5 (14. a4
{is better - Yanofsky}) 14... a5 15. c3 Ne8 16. Bf2 e6 17. Ne3 a4 18. Nd4 Qa5
19. Nec2 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 21. Qxd4 Rc8 22. Rad1 Bc6 23. f5 Rd8 24. Nb4 Bb7
25. e5 Bxf3 26. Rxf3 Qc7 27. f6 Qb7 28. Rfd3 d5 29. Qe3 Kh8 30. Rd4 Qb6 31. Kh1
Rg8 32. Qg5 {Source: The Times, 30 Mar 1953 and CHESS, May 1953, p157} 1-0

[Event "Manhattan Club Ch, late 50s / early 60s"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Collins, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B88"]
[Annotator "McKelvie"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d6 5. Bc4 a6 6. Bb3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qc7 8. f4
Nc6 9. Be3 Be7 10. Qf3 O-O {[#] An invitation to attack!} 11. Rg1 {Jack looked
stunned; after some thought, he finally played...} Bd7 12. g4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 {
Thanks for putting my bishop in such a nice place!} Bc6 14. g5 Nd7 15. Qh3 Nc5
16. f5 Nxb3 17. axb3 exf5 {[#]} 18. Qh6 {Suddenly Jack underwent a fit of
violent shaking. I was scared - had I literally played a killing move? - but I
saw that Ethel was calm; she'd seen this before.} f6 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. Bxf6 Rf7
21. O-O-O b5 {Finally} 22. Rg3 Ra7 23. Bd4 Rb7 24. Rdg1 b4 25. Rh3 bxc3 26.
Qxh7+ Kf8 27. Rxg7 ({There's a faster win with} 27. Qxg7+ Rxg7 28. Rh8+ Rg8 29.
Rgxg8+ Kf7 30. Rg7+ Ke6 31. Rh6# {, but my move did the trick as well.}) 1-0

[Event "Marshall CC (blitz)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1971.05.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Reshevsky, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[Annotator "McKelvie"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "1971.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Qc7 6. O-O b5 7. Re1 Nc6 8.
Nxc6 Qxc6 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 Nf6 12. Bd2 Nxd5 13. exd5 Qc7 {Up to
this point we were following a game recently published in Chess Life where Tal
(after 13...Qc5) played 14.Be4 and won. The annotator suggested 14.c4,
sacrificing a pawn, so I played it! Reshevsky had no idea that I was unlikely
to have a prepared variation; from here, I had to work everything out.} ({
Editor's note: I'm having trouble finding the citation in Chess Life, but the
game appears to be} 13... Qc5 14. Be4 f5 15. Bf3 Bxd5 16. Bxb4 Bxf3 17. Qxf3
Qc8 18. Bc3 Kf7 19. Rad1 Be7 20. g4 Rf8 21. gxf5 Kg8 22. Qg2 Bf6 23. Bxf6 Rxf6
24. Rxd7 Qxd7 25. Qxa8+ Rf8 26. Qxa6 {1-0 (26) Tal,M-Gipslis,A Riga 1958}) 14.
c4 bxc3 15. Bxc3 Bxd5 16. Bxa6 Bxg2 17. Bb5 Bc6 18. Be5 Qb7 19. Bxc6 Qxc6 20.
Rc1 Qb6 {[#] Now I thought for a whole mInute - an eternity in rapid play! -
and tossed out} 21. Bc7 {Sacrificing a second pawn. This hit Reshevsky like an
electrIc shock! Through this move he had played almost instantly, obviously
following analysis, whereas I had to think. He was sure that my move was some
deep home preparation!} Qb7 ({What I had seen was that if} 21... Qxb2 {then}
22. Qf3 Rc8 {followed by} 23. Bf4 {. If he plays} ({Editor's note: 23. Bf4 is
a blunder, as the position is balanced after 23...Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Be7. Instead
White would have won with the tricky} 23. Rc4 $1 {with the idea} Z0 24. Be5 $1
{winning nearly on the spot.}) 23... Rxc1 (23... Rd8 24. Bc7 {and either I win
the Exchange for my two pawns, or I get a draw by repetition, which I'd be
quite happy with against Reshevsky! But he was sure my move was prepared
analysis, so after shaking his head, he declined the offered pawn.}) 24. Rxc1 {
I thoguht I was winning, and if instead}) 22. a5 {My reply was instant. I
expected that he would try ...Bf8-e7 and then castle. I’d stIll be a pawn
down, but the connected passers might balance things out. Instead, he played}
Bb4 23. Qb3 Ke7 $2 ({I expected} 23... Ra7 24. Re2 {, but instead Sammy
blitzed out...}) 24. Bb6 $1 {This wins the bishop, and after Black grabbed the
rook...} Bxe1 25. Bc5+ {Winning the queen, and soon the game, as I delivered
mate in a few more moves!} 1-0

[Event "WchT Students unofficial (02)"]
[Site "Brussels"]
[Date "1953.03.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Alenius, Bengt"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E43"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "1953.03.16"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "England"]
[BlackTeam "Sweden"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. f3
O-O 9. e4 d6 10. Bg5 Nc6 11. Ne2 e5 12. d5 Na5 13. Ng3 h6 14. Be3 Kh7 15. O-O
Ba6 16. Qe2 Qd7 17. Nf5 Ng8 18. a4 g6 19. Nh4 Qe7 20. g3 Nf6 21. f4 Nxe4 $2 22.
Bxe4 f5 {[#]} 23. Nxg6 $1 Kxg6 24. Qg4+ Kh7 25. Bxf5+ Kh8 26. fxe5 Nxc4 27.
Bxh6 Rxf5 28. Rxf5 Nxe5 29. Qh5 Bd3 30. Bg5+ Qh7 31. Bf6+ Kg8 32. Rg5+ 1-0

[Event "Manhattan CC Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1964.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Steinmeyer, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1964.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8. e5
dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. Nf3 Nfd7 11. Ne4 Bb7 12. Bd3 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Qxe5 14. O-O
Nd7 15. Qh5 Nf6 $2 {[#]} 16. Rxf6 $1 O-O-O ({Worse is} 16... gxf6 $2 17. Nxf6+
Kd8 18. Ng4+) 17. Rxf7 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Bxe4 19. Bxe4 Be3 20. Qf3 $1 Bxg5 21. Bf5
Rd5 22. Be4 Rd6 23. Bb7+ Kd8 24. Rf1 Bf6 25. Bc6 Qf5 26. Rd1 $1 Qe5 27. Rxd6+
Qxd6 28. Rd7+ Qxd7 29. Bxd7 Kxd7 30. Qb7+ Kd6 31. Qxa6+ Kc5 32. Qa7+ Kc6 33. b4
Rd8 34. Qc5+ Kb7 35. Qxb5+ Kc7 36. Qe2 Rd4 37. c4 e5 38. g3 e4 39. h4 Kd6 40.
a4 Ke5 41. a5 Rd3 42. a6 {Source: chessgames.com} 1-0

[Event "Manhattan CC Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1966.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Benko, Pal"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B82"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 a6 7. Be3 b5 8. e5
dxe5 9. fxe5 Nd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Be2 Qxe5 12. Qd2 Bb7 13. Bf4 Qd5 14. O-O-O
Qd7 $2 15. Qc3 Bd5 {[#]} 16. Nf5 $1 ({Also winning was} 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Bh5+
Kd8 (17... g6 18. Qxh8 gxh5 19. Bh6) 18. Rxd5 exd5 19. Qa5+ Kc8 20. Bg4 $1 {.})
16... Nc6 17. Rxd5 exd5 18. Bg4 Kd8 19. Nd4 Nb4 20. Kb1 Qb7 21. a3 h5 22. Bh3
a5 23. axb4 Ra6 24. Nxb5 axb4 25. Bc7+ Ke8 26. Re1+ Re6 27. Bxe6 fxe6 28. Qh3
Rh6 29. Rxe6+ Kf7 30. Rxh6 gxh6 31. Qf5+ Kg8 32. Qe6+ Kh7 33. Qf7+ Bg7 34. Nd4
Qa7 35. Nf5 Qg1+ 36. Ka2 b3+ 37. Kxb3 {Source: CR, July 1966} 1-0

[Event "Metropolitan Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Grant, Steven"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B88"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Bc4 Be7 8. f4
O-O 9. Bb3 Na5 10. Qf3 Nxb3 11. axb3 a6 12. g4 e5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. gxf5 d5 15.
fxe5 Nxe4 16. Rg1 Bb4 17. f6 g6 18. Qf4 Re8 19. Ra4 Bxc3+ 20. bxc3 Re6 21. Rxe4
dxe4 22. Rg3 Qf8 23. Rh3 Rae8 24. Bd4 h5 $2 {[#]} 25. Rxh5 $1 gxh5 26. Bc5 $1
R6e7 27. Bxe7 Rxe7 28. Qg5+ Kh7 29. Qxh5+ Kg8 30. Qg5+ Kh7 31. fxe7 Qe8 32. Qf6
Kg8 33. Qd6 {Source: NYT, June 29, 1967; CR, Aug 1967} 1-0

[Event "Metropolitan Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Shipman, Walter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B88"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be3 Be7 7. f4 Nc6 8. Bc4
O-O 9. Bb3 Bd7 10. Qf3 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc6 12. g4 Qa5 13. O-O-O e5 14. fxe5 dxe5
15. Qf5 $5 Bd7 16. Qxe5 Qxe5 17. Bxe5 Bxg4 18. Rd3 Be6 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. exd5
Ne4 21. Rg1 Bg5+ 22. Kb1 f6 23. Bc7 Nd2+ {[#]} 24. Rxd2 Bxd2 25. d6+ Kh8 26.
Bd5 Bf4 27. Bxb7 Rad8 28. Rd1 Rd7 29. c4 Bxd6 30. Bxd6 Rfd8 31. c5 Rxb7 32. c6
Rf7 33. b4 f5 34. Rd2 a6 $2 35. a4 h6 36. b5 axb5 37. axb5 f4 38. b6 Rf5 39. c7
Re8 40. b7 Rb5+ 41. Rb2 Re1+ 42. Ka2 {Source: NYT, June 29, 1967; CR, Aug 1967}
1-0

[Event "Manhattan CC Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Denker, Arnold"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B48"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 Nf6 8.
Qe2 Bd6 9. g3 $5 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 e5 11. Be3 Bb4 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 O-O 14. Bg5
Qc6 15. f4 exf4 16. e5 f3 $5 17. Rxf3 Ng4 18. Be7 Re8 19. Bd6 b5 $2 {[#]} 20.
Qe4 $1 Qxe4 21. Bxe4 Ra7 22. Bd5 Nh6 23. Raf1 Re6 24. Bxe6 dxe6 25. c4 bxc4 26.
Rc3 Bd7 27. Rb1 f5 28. Bb8 Ra8 29. Rxc4 Nf7 30. Rb7 Nd8 31. Rxd7 Rxb8 32. Rcc7
1-0

[Event "69th US Open"]
[Site "Aspen"]
[Date "1968.08.20"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Saltzberg, Mitch"]
[Black "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B39"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "1968.08.11"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,27,19,21,34,18,69,35,52,42,272,375,652,809,29985,29986,29987,29988,
29989,29990,29991,1312,1505,1537,29991,29992,29993,29994,29997,29998]} 1. d4
Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. e4 Nc6 7. Be3 Ng4 8. Nxc6
Nxe3 9. Nxd8 Nxd1 10. Nxd1 Kxd8 11. Bd3 d6 12. Rb1 e6 13. O-O Ke7 14. Re1 Be5
15. Ne3 h5 16. h4 f6 17. g3 g5 18. Ng2 Bd7 19. Kf1 Bc6 20. b4 a6 21. Rec1 Rhg8
22. Re1 Rgc8 23. Rec1 b5 24. c5 dxc5 25. Rxc5 Bd4 26. Rcc1 Bb7 27. Ke2 f5 28.
hxg5 fxe4 29. Bc2 Rg8 30. Bb3 Kd6 31. Nf4 Bd5 32. Rd1 Ke5 {[#] The king is a
fighting piece!} 33. g6 Rac8 34. Rd2 h4 35. Rbd1 Bxb3 36. axb3 hxg3 37. fxg3
Rcd8 38. g7 Rxg7 39. Rxd4 Rxd4 40. Rxd4 Rxg3 41. Nxe6 Rc3 42. Kd2 Rg3 43. Ke2
Rg1 44. Kd2 Rb1 45. Ke3 Re1+ 46. Kd2 Rb1 47. Kc3 Rc1+ 48. Kd2 Rh1 49. Ke3 Rh3+
50. Kd2 Rg3 51. Ke2 Rg2+ 52. Ke3 Rg4 53. Rd8 Rg3+ 54. Ke2 $4 (54. Kd2 {draws,
i.e.,} Kxe6 55. Re8+ Kd5 56. Rd8+ Kc6 57. Rd4 Rxb3 58. Rxe4 {.}) 54... Kxe6 55.
Ra8 ({We see the flaw in White's 54th move with} 55. Re8+ Kd5 56. Rd8+ Ke5 57.
Re8+ Kd4 58. Rd8+ {and now} Kc3 {when the draw is clearly gone.}) 55... Rxb3
56. Rxa6+ Kd5 57. Ra8 Rxb4 58. Rd8+ Kc4 59. Ke3 Kc3 60. Rd1 Rc4 61. Rb1 b4 0-1

[Event "Manhattan CC Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1975.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shapiro, Eugene"]
[Black "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. e3 Nge7 6. Nge2 Nf5 7. Rb1 a5 8. a3
h5 9. Qa4 Ra6 10. d3 d6 11. Bd2 Bd7 12. Qc2 h4 13. b4 axb4 14. axb4 Ra7 15. c5
Nce7 16. O-O dxc5 17. bxc5 Bc6 18. e4 hxg3 19. hxg3 Nh6 20. f3 Qd7 21. Be3 f5
22. Rbd1 Qe6 23. Rd2 O-O 24. Bh3 Qf6 25. d4 {[#]} f4 $5 {Annotating this game
for Chess Life (December 1975), GM William Lombardy here noted that "McKelvie
has obviously made a thorough study of Tal's style!"} 26. dxe5 Qg5 27. Be6+ Kh7
28. Bxf4 Rxf4 29. Nxf4 Qxg3+ 30. Ng2 Bxe5 31. f4 {[#]} Nef5 32. fxe5 Ng4 33.
Re1 $2 Qh2+ 34. Kf1 Qh1+ ({Of course} 34... Ng3# {is also good.}) 35. Ke2 Qxg2+
36. Kd1 Ra1+ 37. Nb1 Nge3+ 38. Kc1 Nxc2 39. Rxg2 Nxe1 40. Rh2+ Nh6 41. Kb2 Ra4
42. Nc3 Nd3+ {Source: CL, Dec 1975} 0-1

[Event "Manhattan CC Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1984.05.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McKelvie, Neil"]
[Black "Dlugy, Maxim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B66"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "1984.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. Be2
Bd7 9. a4 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Nb3 Qc7 12. Rad1 Ne5 13. f4 Ng6 14. e5 Qb6+ 15.
Kh1 Ne8 16. a5 Qb4 17. Bxe7 Nxe7 18. f5 Qh4 19. fxe6 Bxe6 20. Rf4 Qh6 21. exd6
Nf5 22. d7 Nf6 23. Nc5 Rad8 24. Bd3 Qh5 25. Qe1 Ng4 26. h3 Nfe3 {[#]} 27. Nxe6
fxe6 28. Rxg4 Nxg4 29. Qxe6+ Kh8 30. Qxg4 Qxg4 31. hxg4 Rxd7 32. Ne4 Rd5 33. b4
Rf4 34. Re1 Rxg4 35. Nc5 Rd8 36. Re4 {source: chessgames.com} 1-0

[Event "2023 Denker K-12"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.07.31"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Guo, Arthur"]
[Black "Lu, Maximillian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2595"]
[BlackElo "2459"]
[Annotator "Hardaway"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 a6 $6 {Perhaps played for the shock factor; now we get a non-theoretical
battle.} 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e5 c5 5. c3 Bd7 6. Bd3 Nc6 {We have transposed
into a fairly normal French-style position.} 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bb6 9. O-O Nge7
10. Re1 Ng6 11. Be3 Bc7 12. Bxg6 {Obviously the e5-pawn was under attack, but
opening the h-file does not feel right to me.} hxg6 13. Bf4 f6 14. Bg3 Rh5 {
[#] Lu was not scared about his king being weak. He knew the f7-square is a
fairly safe square, at least for now!} 15. exf6 gxf6 16. Nbd2 Bxg3 17. fxg3
Qb6+ 18. Kh1 e5 19. Qb3 Ne7 20. c4 Be6 21. cxd5 Bxd5 22. Qa4+ Kf7 23. g4 Rhh8
24. Rf1 Nc6 25. Rae1 Kg7 {The black king is safely tucked away on g7. With the
open h-file and the strong bishop on d5, Black is doing very well.} 26. a3 Rad8
27. Qc2 Rd7 28. Ne4 Bxe4 29. Qxe4 Qb5 30. Qb1 Qc4 31. g5 f5 32. Qa1 Qf4 33. h3
Rd3 34. Qb2 {[#]} Nd4 {You can't move the f3-knight, or else Black sacrifices
on h3 with the rook (either one!) and wins!} 35. Nh2 $2 {Guo tries to stop the
terrible threat of the rook sacrifice on h3, but this is no better. Now the
g5-pawn falls.} ({The only way to keep the game going was with} 35. Qc1 Qxc1
36. Rxc1 Nc6 {with a fairly equal position.}) 35... Qxg5 36. Rf2 e4 37. Nf1 Rd8
38. Rd2 Rxd2 39. Nxd2 Kh6 40. Nf1 Ne6 41. Rc1 f4 42. Nh2 Rd4 43. Ng4+ Kh5 $4 {
It seems like the king is safe because there are no checks, but with no time
to speak of, Lu misses White's next move. Black is busted.} ({The win is still
there after} 43... Kg7 {.}) 44. Rc5 $1 e3 ({Even worse is} 44... Rd5 $2 45.
Qh8+ {with mate on the move.}) 45. Rxg5+ Kxg5 46. Ne5 Rd1+ 47. Kh2 Nd4 48. Qxd4
$1 {Guo knows the endgame is winning.} Rxd4 49. Nf3+ Kf5 50. Nxd4+ Ke4 51. Nf3
Kd3 52. g4 fxg3+ 53. Kxg3 b5 54. h4 Kc3 55. Kf4 Kd3 56. Ne1+ Kd2 57. Ng2 e2 58.
Kg5 Kc3 59. Kxg6 Kd4 60. Kf5 {Lu played a great game, but after just one
blunder in time trouble, Guo survives a big scare. After winning in the final
round, he went 6/6!} 1-0

[Event "2023 Irwin Senior"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.07.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kraai, Jesse"]
[Black "Managadze, Nikoloz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2452"]
[BlackElo "2434"]
[Annotator "Hardaway"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. Nf3 d5 6. d3 Nf6 7. O-O Ba6 8. e5
Nd7 9. Re1 h6 10. b3 Qc7 11. Na4 Nb6 12. Nxb6 ({I think} 12. Nb2 {, not
allowing the a- and c-pawns to reconnect, was slightly more accurate.}) 12...
axb6 13. c4 Be7 14. Bf4 g5 15. Bg3 O-O-O {With the kings now castled on
opposite wings, an exciting battle is to come.} 16. Qe2 g4 17. Nd2 Rdg8 18. f3
h5 19. fxg4 Rxg4 20. Rf1 Bg5 21. Rf2 Rg8 22. Raf1 Rg7 23. Nf3 Bd8 24. Qe3 b5 {
[#]} 25. cxd5 ({It's very natural to open the c-file here, but it appears that
Black has no attack to worry about. The engine strongly argues that White
should just play} 25. Bf4 {and improve his pieces.}) 25... cxd5 26. Rc1 c4 27.
Qh6 Qa7 28. d4 b4 29. Qxh5 c3 30. a3 Bd3 31. axb4 Kb8 32. Qh6 c2 {A wild
position which the engine says is balanced, but all three results feel
possible for humans!} 33. Ne1 Qxd4 34. Nxd3 Qxd3 35. Rfxc2 {[#]} Kb7 $2 ({
I think Managadze had to go all in with} 35... Rxg3 36. hxg3 Bb6+ 37. Rc5 Qxg3
{and we've reached a very unclear position where I think Black should be for
choice.}) 36. Rc3 Bb6+ 37. Kh1 Qh7 $4 38. Qf6 $1 {The only winning move!
Black's king is now going to be mated.} Rxg3 39. Qe7+ Ka6 40. Ra1+ Kb5 41. Ra5+
Bxa5 42. Qc5+ Ka6 43. Qxa5+ {A wild game where both sides had chances, but in
the end Kraai got the knockout blow!} 1-0

[Event "2023 Haring K-12"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Yan, Ruiyang"]
[Black "Jou, Esther"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2355"]
[BlackElo "2161"]
[Annotator "Hardaway"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2
O-O 9. dxc5 Qa5 {Jou was still moving quickly here, and her move has been
played widely, but I think} (9... Nxc5 {was very natural as well.}) 10. a3 Nxc5
11. Nd4 Qd8 12. Qf2 $6 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 b6 14. O-O-O Ba6 15. Bxa6 Nxa6 16. f5 {[#]
} f6 $2 {Black's position was already quite unpleasant, so Jou tries to
complicate, but White's pieces are very well coordinated.} 17. Qe2 Nc7 18. exf6
Bxf6 19. fxe6 Re8 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Rxd5 Rxe6 23. Qc4 {White
wins a pawn. Now it becomes a matter of converting it.} Kh8 24. Rhd1 Ree8 25.
Kb1 Rac8 26. Qg4 Rcd8 27. Rd7 a6 28. Qd4 Rxd7 29. Qxd7 Qe5 30. Qc6 h6 31. h3
Qe2 32. Rd3 Re6 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Qd5 Qf1+ 35. Ka2 Qf6 36. Qd3+ Qg6 37. Qxg6+
Kxg6 {[#] Tarrasch famously said that all rook endings are drawn, but here,
there are too many pawns for Black to hope for a miracle. White will cut off
the king and push the c-pawn.} 38. Rd2 Kf6 39. Kb3 Ke7 40. Kb4 Re5 41. Kc4 Rc5+
42. Kd4 Kd6 43. c4 b5 44. Kc3+ Ke5 45. b3 a5 46. Rd7 g5 47. Re7+ Kf6 48. Rb7
bxc4 49. bxc4 Re5 50. Rb6+ Ke7 51. Kd3 h5 52. Rb5 Re6 53. Rxa5 Rb6 54. Rxg5
Rb3+ 55. Ke2 Rxa3 56. Rxh5 Ke8 {With a clean win, Yan took clear first place
and her third consecutive Haring victory!} 1-0

[Event "2023 Barber K-8"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Feng, Eric"]
[Black "Hardaway, Brewington"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2223"]
[BlackElo "2453"]
[Annotator "Hardaway"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 Nc6 {The Two Knights Tango is a way to surprise my opponent,
and to keep pieces on the board.} 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 g6 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bc4 Nb6 7.
Bb5 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Qd6 10. b3 Bf5 ({I knew} 10... e5 {equalized, but I
knew it would probably lead to a repetition, or give me a worse position. For
example, after} 11. Ne4 Qd5 12. Nc3 Qd6 13. Ne4 {I felt that if I moved my
queen somewhere else I was worse.}) 11. Bb2 Rad8 12. Qe2 a6 13. Bxc6 Qxc6 14.
Rac1 Qd6 $6 ({Here} 14... Bg4 {[%csl Ge5][%cal Ge7e5] , with the plan of
getting ...e7-e5 in, was definitely better than what I did.}) 15. Rfd1 c6 16.
Nd2 h5 17. h3 Nd5 18. e4 {[#]} Nxc3 {I took here without considering} (18...
Nf4 {, which leads to a fascinating sacrifice. We get a double-edged position
after} 19. Qf3 Be6 20. e5 Qxd4 21. Na4 Nxh3+ 22. gxh3 Qh4 {and anything can
happen.}) 19. Bxc3 Bc8 $2 {This is a mistake.} 20. Nc4 ({After making my move,
I realized that} 20. Ba5 $1 {(followed by Nd2-d4)} Rd7 21. Nf3 {left me much
worse. Black's pieces lack coordination.}) 20... Qf4 21. d5 cxd5 22. Bxg7 Kxg7
23. exd5 Qg5 24. Qe5+ Qxe5 25. Nxe5 {I think trading queens was a mistake. Now
I knew I had equalized, and I could try to outplay my opponent in the endgame.}
Kf6 26. Nc4 b5 27. Ne3 Rd6 28. a4 Bd7 29. a5 $6 Rc8 30. b4 $6 {[#] The plan to
play 29.a5 and 30.b4 was not optimal. While it's true that I have a
light-squared bishop and pawns on light squares, my pieces are much more
active. This proves to be a decisive advantage.} Rxc1 31. Rxc1 e6 32. dxe6 Bxe6
33. Kf1 $2 {Natural, but too late. Now the b4-pawn becomes a target.} ({
The computer says that the only way to stay in the game is} 33. f4 $5 {, and if
} Rd4 34. Rc6 $1 {when White has decent counterplay.}) 33... Rd4 {[%csl Gb4]}
34. Rb1 ({Again} 34. Rc6 {was the best way to try and grow counterplay.}) 34...
Ke5 35. Ke2 f5 {Now ...f5-f4 is coming, and White is lost.} 36. Nc2 Bc4+ 37.
Ke1 Re4+ 38. Kd1 Re2 39. Ne3 Bd3 40. Rc1 Rxf2 41. Rc5+ Kd4 42. Nd5 f4 43. Ke1
Rf1+ 44. Kd2 Bc4 45. Ne7 Rf2+ 46. Kd1 Kd3 47. Kc1 Rxg2 48. Nd5 Rg1+ 49. Kb2 f3
{A key win. I was worse in the middlegame, but took full control in the ending.
} 0-1

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.04"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Liang, Jason"]
[Black "Hardaway, Brewington"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C75"]
[WhiteElo "2594"]
[BlackElo "2432"]
[Annotator "Liang"]
[PlyCount "153"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,153,25,16,10,25,17,16,31,-6,24,20,13,14,60,47,39,23,32,6,15,28,19,8,
55,51,63,-21,-31,-21,-38,-21,-28,-28,-27,-18,4,12,3,11,15,0,-1,3,14,14,39,36,
52,36,36,32,59,34,45,48,39,23,34,-3,-2,0,7,2,12,0,40,12,21,12,12,25,38,54,54,
57,63,65,70,60,74,62,47,47,35,17,75,68,97,74,99,96,98,84,76,82,59,73,98,105,
101,57,76,98,115,63,85,85,85,85,85,61,69,73,73,85,72,76,86,77,117,82,116,74,70,
67,95,102,97,113,113,87,87,80,87,67,80,68,121,127,128,128,265,321,327,332,458,
490,591,623,952,953,1162,1216,1327,1383]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4
d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. c3 Nge7 {Not unexpected, as Hardaway had played this in an
earlier round, as well as at the 2023 Cadet Championship.} 7. d4 Ng6 8. Bc2 Be7
9. a4 O-O 10. d5 Nb8 {I forgot to analyze this before the game, so I
improvised with a natural looking knight move.} 11. Na3 Qc8 12. Nc4 f5 13. exf5
Bxf5 14. Bxf5 Qxf5 15. Ne3 Qh5 16. Nd2 Qxd1 {The exchange of queens was a bit
of a surprise, as the pawn structure suggested Black wanted to keep pressure
on my king.} 17. Rxd1 a5 {While the engine thinks this move is fine, I'm not
sure what its point was, as I wasn't trying to play a4-a5 - it would give
Black opportunites for counterplay.} ({For example, if} 17... Nd7 18. a5 Nf4
19. Ne4 Nf6 20. Ra4 Ne2+ 21. Kf1 Nxc1 22. Rxc1 Nxe4 23. Rxe4 Bg5 {.}) 18. Ne4
Nd7 19. g3 h6 {Stopping any Ne4-g5 ideas.} 20. Nc4 Nf6 {[#]} 21. f3 {I was
pleased to have found this idea, as my moves come very easily now.} Nh8 22. Kg2
Nf7 23. Be3 Rfb8 24. Ra3 ({Here} 24. Na3 Nxe4 25. fxe4 Ng5 26. Bxg5 Bxg5 27.
Nb5 Rc8 {looks like a stable edge for White, but it is not so clear how to
proceed.}) 24... b6 25. b4 {[%cal Gc4a3] It's important to note that ...b6-b5
never works for Black.} Nd8 26. Bf2 Nb7 27. h4 Rf8 28. Be1 {Here I wanted to
go for an endgame, as all of the black pawns are on dark squares, while mine
are on light squares.} Ra7 29. bxa5 Nxa5 30. Nxa5 Rxa5 31. c4 Ra6 32. Rda1 Rfa8
33. a5 Nd7 {Not something I anticipated. It looks unnatural to leave my
beautiful knight on e4, but exchanging them didn't look too appearling either!}
34. Bb4 Kf7 35. Kf2 Bd8 36. Ke3 Ke7 37. Kd3 Rb8 38. axb6 Rxa3+ 39. Rxa3 Nxb6
40. Ra7 $6 {Beginning to go astray...} Nc8 41. Ra4 Nb6 42. Ra3 Kd7 ({Black
missed a huge chance with} 42... Nxd5 $5 {. True, White is still better, but
the position is less clear and Black gets counterplay after} 43. Bxd6+ cxd6 44.
cxd5 Kd7 45. h5 Bc7 46. g4 Rf8 47. Ke2 Rb8 48. Ra2 Rb5 {.}) 43. Bd2 Nc8 44. h5
Ne7 $6 ({The alternative} 44... c6 {seems very strong here.}) 45. g4 $1 {
Achieving my ideal setup.} Ke8 46. Kc2 Nc8 47. Ra1 Nb6 48. Kd3 Nc8 49. Bc3 Kf7
50. Rg1 Nb6 51. Rb1 $1 {Switching plans!} Ra8 52. Ra1 ({Here} 52. Rxb6 cxb6 53.
Nxd6+ Kf8 54. Bxe5 Bc7 55. Kd4 {looked very good, but I've made unnecessary
sacrifices like this before, and I didn't want to risk it.}) 52... Rb8 53. Ra2
Kf8 54. Bd2 Kf7 55. Be3 Nd7 56. Ra7 {Now I was sure I was winning.} Rb3+ 57.
Kd2 Ke8 58. Ra8 Rb2+ 59. Kc3 Rb8 60. Rxb8 Nxb8 61. Kb4 Be7 62. Kb5 Kd8 63. Ng3
Nd7 64. Nf5 Bf8 65. Bf2 Kc8 66. Ng3 Be7 67. Ne4 Kb7 68. c5 dxc5 69. Bxc5 Bh4
70. Bb4 Nb6 71. Bf8 Nxd5 72. Bxg7 Ne3 73. Bxh6 Nc2 74. Bg7 Nd4+ 75. Kc4 Nxf3
76. h6 Bg5 77. h7 1-0

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.05"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Tang, Andrew"]
[Black "Liang, Jason"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2597"]
[BlackElo "2594"]
[Annotator "Liang"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 {Tang is known for his London, but I expected him to play the
Queen's Gambit as our last game was drawn after 2.Bf4.} e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e3 Nf6
5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. b3 {A slight surprise; perhaps Andrew wanted to avoid my
preparation in the main lines.} Bb4 7. Bd2 O-O 8. Be2 {This was played after
long thought, but it looks a little passive The main idea might be to meet a
future ...Nf6-e4 with Nc3xe4 and not be forked in the center.} ({The
alternative} 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. bxc4 e5 10. dxe5 Ng4 {shows the vulnerability of
the d3-bishop.}) 8... b6 9. O-O Qe7 ({Of course not} 9... Bb7 $4 {allowing} 10.
Nxd5 {.}) 10. Re1 {Played with ideas of the e3-e4 push.} Bb7 11. cxd5 cxd5 ({
I also considered} 11... exd5 12. Bd3 Rfe8 13. e4 Bxc3 14. exd5 {and if} Qb4 $6
15. Rxe8+ Rxe8 16. Bxc3 Qxc3 17. Rc1 {with advantage to White.}) 12. Nb5 {
The position is equal.} a6 ({Both} 12... Rfc8 13. Bxb4 Qxb4 14. Qd2 {and}) (
12... Ne4 13. Bxb4 Qxb4 14. a3 Qe7 15. Nd2 {are equal as well.}) 13. Bxb4 Qxb4
14. a3 Qe7 15. Nc3 Rac8 16. Qd3 $5 ({If} 16. Qd2 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Ne5 Nxe5
19. dxe5 Qc5 20. Qd6 Qxd6 21. exd6 Rfd8 22. Rac1 {we once again reach an equal
position.}) 16... Rc7 17. Rec1 Rfc8 18. Qd2 Ne4 19. Nxe4 dxe4 1/2-1/2

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Liang, Jason"]
[Black "Sorokin, Aleksey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2594"]
[BlackElo "2668"]
[Annotator "Liang"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{As I wasn't feeling confident against Sorokin's Najdorf, I decided to play
the London and try to get a solid position.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 e6 4.
Nf3 c5 5. Nbd2 Nc6 6. c3 Bd6 {Previously he had exchanged on d4 here.} 7. Bg3
O-O 8. Bd3 b6 9. e4 Be7 10. e5 Nh5 11. Ng5 Bxg5 12. Qxh5 g6 13. Qe2 cxd4 14. h4
Be7 15. h5 {[#]} Kg7 {This defends against any potential Qe2-g4 and h5xg6
ideas, so now I needed to deal with the fact that I was a pawn down with a
short-term initiative.} ({Black could also have tried} 15... g5 16. O-O ({
or perhaps} 16. h6 dxc3 17. bxc3 f5 18. exf6 Bxf6 19. O-O) 16... h6 17. f4 {
when I start opening lines.}) ({The engine prefers the double-edged} 15... dxc3
16. bxc3 d4 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. Ne4 Kg7 {.}) 16. Nb3 $2 {A fairly obvious move,
and one that I regret spending so much time on. I was debating what to do with
my king. Other ideas:} (16. Rd1 $5 {is another typical move, improving my rook
before committing to the placement of my other pieces. By playing this first I
also retain the option of Nd2-f3, which is desirable in many lines. Play might
continue} dxc3 17. bxc3 Bd7 18. Nf3 {with a pleasant position.}) ({Also
possible is} 16. Nf3 dxc3 17. bxc3 Bd7 18. Qd2 g5 19. h6+ Kh8 20. Nh2 {which
isn't clear.}) 16... dxc3 17. bxc3 Bd7 18. Rd1 $6 {Maybe not a terrible move
in itself, but there's no real idea behind it. I hint at some c3-c4 themes,
but it never really works out, so the rook ends up poorly placed on d1.} ({
Better would have been} 18. Rb1 {[%csl Rb6][%cal Gb1b8] , anticipating
a2-a4-a5.}) 18... Rc8 19. O-O $2 {A bad move, and inconsistent with my
previous play. My reasoning for this move was a lack of belief in my attack,
so instead I brought the king to "safety" and played for compensation.
Unfortunately I have no obvious plan to prove that compensation, and am just
down a pawn.} ({It was still complex after} 19. Qe3 g5 20. h6+ Kh8 21. Bb1 f5
22. exf6 Bxf6 {.}) ({Another idea was} 19. Qd2 g5 (19... Rh8 {allows} 20. h6+
$1 {when I have more than enough compensation after} Kf8 21. O-O {[%csl Rf8,
Rh8]}) 20. Bb1 f5 {. Somehow this move worried me during the game, as Black
will dominate with central space and good piece placement given time, but I
underestimated my short-term dynamics, i.e,.} 21. exf6+ Bxf6 22. Qd3 Rf7 23.
Qxh7+ Kf8 24. Qd3 {.}) 19... a5 20. Nd4 $2 {While I saw the upcoming pawn
sacrifice with ...b6-b5, I really underestimated how difficult the upcoming
positions would be for me.} ({One way to try and avoid these problems would
have been} 20. Rb1 a4 21. Nd4 ({or} 21. Nd2 Na5 22. Rfc1) 21... Na5 {.}) 20...
Nxd4 21. cxd4 b5 22. Bxb5 $2 {Too greedy. I thought Black was moves away from
promoting, when in truth, that was far from the case. Now I had to admit that
I was worse and suffering for a draw.} ({If} 22. Bf4 Bg5 23. Bd2 $1 {, and
White could also try}) (22. Rc1 b4 23. Rxc8 Qxc8 24. Bf4 Qb7 25. g3 $1 {
[%cal Gg1g2] when the black kingside is a bit soft, I have the bishops, and
the d7-bishop is poor.}) 22... Bxb5 23. Qxb5 Rc4 {[#] Now my queen feels
misplaced, so I should recentralize it and try to support the d-pawn. My
kingside also needs some attention.} 24. Bf4 $2 {I thought that if I got
another move, I could play Bf4-e3 and secure the center. Unfortunately it was
Black's turn to move now!} Bg5 $1 25. Bxg5 Qxg5 26. Qxa5 ({Taking with} 26.
hxg6 hxg6 {[%cal Gf8h8] would just accelerate Black's attack.}) 26... Qxh5 27.
Qa7 Qf5 28. a4 h5 29. Ra1 Rfc8 30. Ra3 Rc1 31. Ra1 Rxa1 32. Rxa1 Rc2 33. Rf1 {
A sad, but forced, move, although the onus is now on Black to find a good
setup, while I can perhaps consolidate if I can get a few moves.} Ra2 34. a5 h4
35. Qe7 Qf4 36. Qb4 Qg5 $6 ({Here} 36... Rd2 {should win.}) 37. Qc3 Qf4 38. Qb4
g5 39. Qc3 {Now I felt there were real chances to hold the position.} Qf5 40.
Kh2 g4 41. Kg1 Qe4 42. Re1 Qf4 43. Rf1 Qf5 {Sorokin smartly triangulates,
forcing me to pick a new square for the queen.} 44. Qe1 $2 ({The draw is in
hand with} 44. Qc7 $1 h3 45. Qc3 $1 hxg2 46. Kxg2 {.}) 44... Qe4 $2 {[#] A
cursory look suggests this move is strong; after all, Black has a massive pawn
wall (h4, g4, and potentially e4), but I have one clever idea which I should
have slowed down to find.} ({The right path was} 44... Qc2 45. Qe3 Kg6 46. Qf4
Qf5 {and Black should win easily.}) 45. Qc1 $4 {Missing my chance by
blundering immediately.} ({One option was} 45. Qc3 {[%csl Gh3] , to at least
stop ...h4-h3. I saw ideas like} g3 46. Qf3 {trying to get to a drawn rook and
pawn ending.}) ({More spectacular was} 45. Qxe4 dxe4 46. g3 $3 ({or} 46. Re1
Kg6 (46... g3 47. fxg3 hxg3 48. Kf1 $3) 47. g3 Kf5 48. gxh4 Rxa5 49. Rc1 {draws
}) 46... Kg6 47. Re1 hxg3 (47... h3 48. Rxe4) 48. fxg3 Kf5 49. Rf1+ {and
safety is in hand.}) 45... h3 46. Qg5+ Qg6 47. Qd8 hxg2 48. Kxg2 Qe4+ 49. Kg1
Qf4 50. Qh4 Rxa5 51. Re1 Ra3 52. Re3 Rxe3 53. fxe3 Qxe3+ 54. Kg2 Qh3+ 55. Qxh3
gxh3+ 56. Kxh3 f6 57. exf6+ Kxf6 58. Kg4 e5 59. dxe5+ Kxe5 60. Kf3 Kd4 0-1

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Brodsky, David"]
[Black "Posthuma, Joshua"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "2493"]
[BlackElo "2443"]
[Annotator "Liang"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Going into the final round David had 7/8 and needed a win to tie for first,
while Joshua had 6.5/8 and was looking to finish near the top of the standings.
} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 {Are we going to see a
Kalashnikov?} a6 {Nope! Black chooses the Lowenthal, and fireworks ensue.} 6.
Nd6+ Bxd6 7. Qxd6 Qf6 8. Qd1 Qg6 9. Nc3 d5 $5 {This move is key to creating
dynamic counterplay; without it, Black just has weaknesses galore.} 10. Nxd5
Qxe4+ 11. Be3 Nd4 12. Nc7+ Ke7 {[#]} 13. Be2 {David goes for a rare, but sharp,
move where Black has to really know their stuff.} ({The alternative} 13. Rc1
Bg4 14. Qd3 Qxd3 15. Bxd3 Rd8 {leads to a complex ending where it's not clear
that White is better.}) 13... Nxc2+ 14. Kf1 Nxe3+ 15. fxe3 Bh3 {A cool move to
get to play, forcing White to find a precise sequence of moves to retain any
hopes of an edge.} 16. Nd5+ Kf8 17. Bf3 Qc4+ 18. Kg1 Rd8 19. Rc1 Qh4 20. gxh3
e4 21. Qd4 Qg5+ {[#] The players have been following a forced sequence of
moves through this point; now, in a messy battle, White makes the first
mistake.} 22. Bg4 $2 ({The right move is} 22. Kf2 {, which leaves both the
knight and bishop en prise, but frees the h1-rook to join the game!} Qxd5 ({
After} 22... exf3 23. Rhg1 $3 Qxd5 24. Qxg7+ Ke7 25. Rc7+ Kd6 26. Rxf7 {
is what I suspect White missed or misevaluated; play continues} Qd2+ 27. Kxf3
Qd5+ 28. Kf4 $1 {which is not an easy move to spot in your calculations at all.
Black's king is simply less safe.}) 23. Qxd5 Rxd5 24. Rc8+ Ke7 25. Bxe4 {
is the key difference between this and the game continuation.}) 22... Qxd5 23.
Qxd5 Rxd5 24. Rc8+ Ke7 25. Kf2 Rd2+ 26. Be2 Rd8 27. Rhc1 Nf6 28. R1c7+ Ke6 29.
Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Rxb7 Rd2 {White would love to take the a6-pawn and have two
connected passers, but Black gets enough counterplay.} 31. Rb6+ Kd7 32. Ke1 {
[#]} Kc7 $6 {Care is needed when entering knight versus bishop endings with
imbalanced pawn structures.} ({The correct} 32... Rc2 33. Kd1 Rc7 34. Rxa6 Nd5
35. Ra4 f5 36. Kd2 {would still favor White, of course.}) 33. Kxd2 Kxb6 34. Kc3
$2 {Going for king activity, but missing a huge opportunity.} ({Here} 34. Bc4 {
would simply have won a pawn, and more than that, the only pawn that could
defend the weakness on e4.}) 34... Nd7 35. Kd4 Nc5 ({After} 35... f5 36. Bc4 g6
{it's not easy for White to progress.}) 36. Bc4 f6 37. b4 $6 ({Better was} 37.
h4 {as it's one step closer to Black being in zugzwang.}) 37... Nd3 $1 {
This is a brilliant resource. The king and pawn ending is drawn, so White has
to defend the b-pawn.} 38. a3 Nf2 39. h4 a5 40. bxa5+ $2 {The final mistake.
Black gets time to attack the white pawns, while White won't be able to win
enough kingside pawns without losing his queenside pawns in the process.} ({
Fixing the pawns with} 40. h5 $3 {still worked!}) 40... Kxa5 41. Bb3 h5 42. Bf7
Ka4 43. Bxh5 Kxa3 44. Bg6 Kb2 45. Bxe4 Kc1 46. Bf3 Kd2 47. h5 Nd3 48. Ke4 Ne5
49. Kf4 Nd3+ 50. Ke4 Ne5 51. h4 Nc4 52. Kf5 Kxe3 53. Kg6 Kxf3 54. Kxg7 Ne3 55.
Kxf6 Ng4+ 56. Kg5 Kg3 57. h6 Nxh6 58. Kxh6 Kxh4 {Joshua had a tough position
for a long time, but David wasn't able to convert. One last endgame slip
allowed Joshua to claim the draw.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Matviishen, Viktor"]
[Black "Rahul, Srivatshav P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A72"]
[WhiteElo "2629"]
[BlackElo "2547"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Be2
O-O 9. Be3 Bg4 10. Nd2 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Na6 12. O-O Re8 13. h3 Nc7 14. a4 Na6 15.
Bf4 Nb4 16. Nc4 Nbxd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd6 Nb6 19. Rad1 Qh4 20. f4 Bd4+ 21.
Kh1 Nxc4 22. Qxc4 Rxe4 23. Bxc5 Re3 24. Qxd4 Rxh3+ 25. gxh3 Qxh3+ 26. Kg1
1/2-1/2

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Grand Rapids"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Akobian, Varuzhan"]
[Black "Tang, Andrew"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2641"]
[BlackElo "2597"]
[Annotator "Liang"]
[PlyCount "154"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Both players needed a win to clinch a tie for first and have any chance of
qualifying for the U.S. Championship.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bb4
5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Bd6 9. h3 {A rare move, waiting for
Black to choose a plan.} ({More often seen is} 9. Qc2 e5 {.}) 9... a6 10. Qc2 {
This looks a bit mistimed now. White has spent the tempo on h2-h3, while Black
has played ...a7-a6, helping to control the b5-square and aiding his
harmonioius development.} ({As Black can't play ...b7-b5 yet, I think} 10. O-O
{makes more sense, although Var was likely trying to avoid the ...e6-e5 break.
White is fine after} e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Qc2 b5 14. Bd3 Bb7 {.})
10... b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. Ne4 {Realizing that Black had ideas of ...Nc6-b4,
White tries to change the structure.} Nb4 ({Just taking with} 12... Nxe4 13.
Qxe4 Rb8 {would have been simpler, but I suspect Tang was trying to be more
ambitious. Now} 14. Qh4 {looks a bit awkward, but Black has the better bishops
and the ...e6-e5 break coming.}) 13. Nxf6+ gxf6 {[#] The lack of a g-pawn
helps Black with a kingside attack, and that, coupled with the two bishops
aimed at the white king, is quite a fright.} 14. Bxb4 {Giving up the bishop
pair is a serious decision.} ({Another idea is} 14. Qb3 Bd5 15. Qd1 f5 16. O-O
Nc6 17. Rc1 Kh8 {and now} 18. Ne1 Qh4 19. Bf3 {is a key resource for White in
a tricky position.}) 14... Bxb4+ 15. Kf1 Kh8 16. a3 Be7 17. Nd2 c5 $5 {Very
nicely timed -- had White just one more move, the break may have been
prevented.} ({To wit:} 17... Rc8 18. Nb3 Bd5 19. Nc5 {, although Black's
pressure has not subsided yet.}) 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Bf3 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 Rc8 21.
Qb3 Be7 22. Ke2 Qc7 23. Rhd1 f5 24. Rd2 ({White has few chances for any
advantage, so simpifying before any bishop versus knight ending with pawns on
both sides of the board might be a way out. One idea would be} 24. a4 Qb7 25.
axb5 axb5 26. Rac1 Bf6 27. Qb4 {[%cal Ge2f1] .}) 24... Bf6 25. Rad1 Qc6 26. g3
Rc7 27. Nd4 $6 {Allowing the queen to infiltrate was unneccessary, but maybe
Akobian was gambling a bit that tactics would pop up in White's favor. The
alternatives were to try to hold without even a sniff of winning chances.} ({
The alternative} 27. Qb4 {waits for Black to trade queens; else it is hard to
make progress:} Qc4+ 28. Qxc4 bxc4 29. Rc2 Rb8 30. b4 $5 a5 31. bxa5 Rb5 32.
Rdc1 c3 33. Nd4 {is equal enough.}) 27... Qg2 28. h4 Be5 ({Here} 28... Rg8 {
seems stronger:} 29. Nf3 (29. Nxe6 {is nothing to fear} fxe6 30. Qxe6 Rf8 31.
Rd7 Rcc8 {[%cal Gf5f4,Gg2e4]}) 29... Rxg3 30. Ne1 Qh2 31. Nf3 Rxf3 32. Kxf3 Rc4
33. Rf1 f4 {and Black is pushing.}) 29. Qb4 Re8 {[#] White must give up
material one way or another, but there is a fantastic resource that takes
advantage of the flaws in Black's king safety.} 30. Nf3 $2 {Now Black picks up
pawns.} ({White had to find} 30. Nxb5 $1 Rb7 ({if} 30... axb5 31. Qxb5 Bxg3 32.
Qxe8+ Kg7 33. Rf1 Bxf2 34. Rxf2 Qg4+ {is a perpetual}) 31. Rd8 Rxd8 32. Rxd8+
Kg7 {[#] It's likely that both players saw this far, but the next move is
magnificent.} 33. Rh8 $3 {The rook plants itself right next to the king! One
sample line is} ({not} 33. Qf8+ $4 Kg6 34. Qg8+ Bg7 {when Black is safe and
better.}) 33... Kh6 ({obviously not} 33... Kxh8 $4 34. Qf8#) 34. Qf8+ Kh5 35.
Qg8 {[%csl Rg5]} f6 36. Rxh7+ Rxh7 37. Qxh7+ Kg4 38. Qg8+ Kh3 39. Qxe6 axb5 40.
Qxf5+ {with equality.}) 30... Bxg3 31. Rf1 Rc4 32. Qb3 ({Preferable was} 32.
Qa5 Bxh4 33. Qb6 $1 {[%cal Gb6d4] trying to gain counterplay against the king.
Now Black can't play his desired ...Rc4-c1.}) 32... Bxh4 33. Ne5 $2 ({The
c4-rook is a problem, so White should try to remove it with} 33. Rc2 Rxc2+ 34.
Qxc2 Bf6 35. Rg1 Qh3 36. Qc6 {.}) 33... Rc7 34. Rc2 Rxc2+ 35. Qxc2 Qg7 $6 {
A safe move, but imprecise.} 36. Qc7 ({Now} 36. Qc6 $1 Rd8 37. Qc7 Rf8 38. Qc5
$1 {highlights Black's coordination issues. The f7-square is always soft, and
Ne5-d7 is in the air.}) 36... Rf8 $2 ({Black is fine giving up the f7-pawn
with the correct} 36... Bf6 $3 {if it means winning in the endgame!}) 37. Nd7
$4 (37. Qc5 $3 {is again available.}) 37... Qxb2+ 38. Kf3 Qg7 {[%cal Gg7g4]}
39. Qf4 Rd8 40. Qxh4 Rxd7 41. Rc1 Qg4+ {Up two pawns, there's no reason not to
trade queens.} 42. Qxg4 fxg4+ 43. Kxg4 Rd3 44. a4 bxa4 45. Rc4 a3 46. Ra4 Rd2
47. Rxa3 Rxf2 48. Rxa6 Kg7 49. Ra5 h6 50. Kg3 Rf5 51. Ra4 Kg6 52. Ra8 e5 53.
Rg8+ Kf6 54. Re8 h5 55. Kg2 Rg5+ 56. Kf3 Kg7 57. Ra8 Rg4 58. Ra5 Kf6 59. Ra8
Kf5 60. Rh8 e4+ 61. Kf2 Rg5 62. Re8 f6 63. Rh8 Kg4 64. Kg2 Ra5 65. Rg8+ Kh4 66.
Re8 Ra2+ 67. Kf1 f5 68. Rg8 Kh3 69. Rg5 h4 70. Rg8 Kh2 71. Rg6 h3 72. Rg5 Rb2
73. Rg8 Rg2 74. Rf8 Kg3 75. Rxf5 Ra2 76. Rg5+ Kf3 77. Kg1 Rg2+ {With this win,
Tang qualified for the 2023 U.S. Championship!} 0-1

[Event "U.S. Open Armageddon TB"]
[Site "Grand Rapids, MI USA"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Sorokin, Aleksey"]
[Black "Tang, Andrew"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2668"]
[BlackElo "2597"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2023.07.29"]
[EventType "match (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bd7 7. Qxc4 Na5 8.
Qd3 c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Ne5 Bc6 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13. Nc3 Nb4 14.
O-O Nbd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Rd1 Ke7 17. Bg5+ f6 18. Bxd5 fxg5 19. Bc4 Rxd1+ 20.
Rxd1 Rc8 21. b3 Rc6 22. Kg2 Rd6 23. Bd3 h6 24. Rc1 b6 25. Rc2 Rd4 26. Kf3 a5
27. Rc3 Kf6 28. Rc1 e5 29. Rc2 e4+ 30. Bxe4 g4+ 31. Ke3 Rc4+ 32. Kf4 Bd6+ 33.
Kxg4 Rxe4+ 34. Kf3 Re6 35. Rc8 Bc5 36. e3 Rd6 37. Ke2 Bb4 38. Rc2 Ke5 39. f4+
Kf5 40. h3 h5 41. Kf3 Rd3 42. Rc6 Rd6 43. Rc7 Kf6 44. g4 hxg4+ 45. hxg4 g6 46.
g5+ Ke6 47. Ke4 Rd7 48. Rc6+ Rd6 49. Rc7 Rd7 50. Rc8 Bc5 51. Rb8 Kf7 52. Kf3
Rd3 53. Rb7+ Kf8 54. f5 gxf5 55. Kf4 Rxe3 56. Kxf5 Re7 57. Rb8+ Re8 58. Rb7 Re7
59. Rb8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's World Ch"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.07.23"]
[Round "12.1"]
[White "Ju, Wenjun"]
[Black "Lei, Tingjie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D04"]
[WhiteElo "2564"]
[BlackElo "2554"]
[Annotator "Tatev"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 {For the final game of the match, Ju chooses a quiet
system to avoid theoretical confrontations. This approach served her well in
the match.} c5 4. dxc5 ({The alternative} 4. Bd3 e6 5. b3 Nc6 6. Bb2 cxd4 7.
exd4 g6 $5 {was seen in game five of the Candidates Finals. After} 8. O-O Bg7
9. Ba3 Ne4 10. Re1 f5 11. c3 Bd7 12. Qc2 Rc8 13. Qb2 g5 {Black won on move 38
in Tan – Lei, Chongqing, 2023.}) 4... e6 5. b4 a5 6. c3 axb4 7. cxb4 b6 {
This is a typical pawn break for these kinds of structures. White won't be
able to hang on to her extra pawn.} 8. Bb5+ ({Black's position is quite
comfortable after} 8. cxb6 Bxb4+ 9. Bd2 Qxb6 {.}) ({With} 8. a4 bxc5 9. b5 {
White could have reached the same structure with the light-squared bishops on
the board. However, since Black has more space in the center, the presence of
the bishop pair would be more favorable. After} c4 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. O-O Bb4 12.
Bd2 Qa5 13. Qc2 O-O 14. Nc3 Qc7 15. Rfb1 Ba5 16. e4 Bb7 17. exd5 exd5 {Black
was better, and Carlsen won from this position in So – Carlsen, Chess.com,
2017.}) 8... Bd7 9. Bxd7+ {A quick and efficient way for White to finish her
development.} Nbxd7 10. a4 bxc5 11. b5 {The players reached this position
fairly quickly. In the long run, the position is quite dangerous for Black, as
White's connected passed pawns can become quite dangerous. Indeed, some
endgames will just be lost. On the other hand, Black does have a nice center
and a very solid structure. Since White's passed pawns won't be moving anytime
soon, it gives Black some time to look for active play.} Qc7 ({Here} 11... g5
$5 {is one of the engine's top suggestions, and it has been tried by Grischuk,
So and Xiong in rapid online games, which are serious business these days! I
wonder if Lei was familiar with this idea, because it feels to be very much in
the spirit of how she likes to play. Now} 12. Bb2 (12. Nxg5 Rg8 13. Nf3 Rxg2 {
is a huge success for Black, as the white king will be more vulnerable here})
12... Bd6 13. Qe2 g4 14. Nfd2 Qc7 15. f4 gxf3 16. Nxf3 Rg8 17. O-O Ke7 {
was unclear, although Black won on move 48 in Le – So, Chess24.com, 2021.})
12. Bb2 Bd6 13. O-O O-O {Lei chooses a more standard route of developing her
pieces.} ({Still possible is} 13... g5 {, which has been played in four
correspondence games. The fact that this is a main move in a normal looking
position indicates that the computer is worried about the long term
implications of this structure. The position is unclear after} 14. g3 g4 15.
Nh4 Be5 16. Nc3 Rg8 17. Qc2 h5 {.}) 14. Nbd2 Rfc8 15. Qc2 {White's idea is
straightforward: play Bb2-c3, Rf1-b1, and push the pawns.} c4 $2 {Too
committal, and bad strategically. Lei is looking for counterplay with ...
Nd7-c5-d3, but this pawn push makes it impossible for her center to move in
the future as it fixes the structure.} ({The correct} 15... e5 $5 {would force
White to make some decisions here as ... e5-e4 is a threat. Now after} 16. e4 (
16. Rfb1 e4 17. Bxf6 exf3 18. Bb2 Bxh2+ 19. Kf1 fxg2+ 20. Kxg2 {is some kind
of strange computer line that is apparently equal.}) 16... c4 {Black is, in
contrast to the game, able to play ...d5-d4. We continue} 17. Rfc1 ({not} 17.
exd5 $2 c3) 17... Bb4 {as all the moves are pretty forced:} 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19.
Qxc3 dxe4 20. Ng5 Qb7 {Perhaps Lei considered this line and was afraid of
losing her queenside while leaving White with the two passed pawns; it's a
difficult position to evaluate over the board. To me this position is entirely
unclear.}) 16. Bc3 Nc5 17. a5 Nb3 {[#]} 18. Bxf6 $6 {After a 15-minute think,
Ju chooses the most concrete continuation, changing the flow of the game.} ({
Instead} 18. Ra2 {was simple and strong. The pawn is untouchable and the
option of capturing on f6 is still in the air. Now after} Qc5 (18... Nxa5 $2
19. Rfa1) 19. b6 {the pawn is still forbidden unless Black gives up the
Exchange with} Rxa5 20. Bxa5 Nxa5 {. Perhaps Ju was unsure of this position
and didn't like giving up her dark-squared bishop, thus opening the path of
the c-pawn. However, White still manages to hang on to the other pawn and
maintain her advantage with} 21. Rb1) 18... Nxa1 ({Not} 18... gxf6 $2 19. Nxb3
cxb3 20. Qxb3 {with a significant advantage.}) 19. Bxa1 Qxa5 {Lei must have
been quite happy about this turn of events as her chances in this imbalanced
position are just as good as Ju's.} 20. Qc3 Qxc3 21. Bxc3 Rcb8 22. Nd4 e5 $2 {
A costly mistake. Again, Lei chooses the most concrete variation. I am not
sure what is behind this decision: nerves, ambition, or a simple desire to get
rid of a b5-pawn that has been sitting there since move 11.} ({After} 22... Ra3
23. Bb2 (23. Nb1 Raa8) 23... Ra2 24. Bc3 {I don't think White has anything
better than to repeat.}) ({Risker is} 22... g6 {, preparing ... e6-e5. Now
after} 23. e4 {White will quickly break apart the pawn structure. If she hangs
on to the b5-pawn, Black will be in trouble. For instance,} e5 ({the position
after} 23... Bc5 24. exd5 exd5 25. N2f3 {looks dangerous for Black as the
pawns are blocked and the c3-bishop can be rerouted to the h2-b8 diagonal}) 24.
Nc6 Rxb5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Ne4 {White will collect pawns through tactical
means:} Rd3 27. Nxd6 Rxc3 28. Nxe5 Ra5 29. Nexc4 (29. Nexf7 {this looks a bit
risky as the c4-pawn will start moving}) 29... Ra6 {and Black will play ...
Ra6-c6 next and trade the rook for the knights.}) 23. Nf5 Bf8 24. Bxe5 Rxb5 25.
g4 g6 26. Nd4 Rb2 ({Black needs to sit tight with} 26... Rb6 {The idea is to
eventually cause some kind of disruption to White's pieces with ... f7-f6.
After} 27. g5 Bg7 28. Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Nb1 Ra1 30. Nc3 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 {the
endgame still looks good for White, but without a pair of rooks, it looks more
manageable for Black. It is also important to keep in mind that a king and two
knights versus a king is a draw!}) 27. Nb1 {A nice maneuver! The knight is
headed to the c3-square, where it will attack the backwards d5-pawn.} Bg7 28.
Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Nc3 Ra5 30. Rd1 {[#] The presence of the rook pair favors White
greatly as Black will be unable to defend her pawns. Ju converts this endgame
with great technique.} Rb6 31. Nde2 Rb3 32. Kg2 h6 33. Kf3 f6 34. Rc1 Kf7 35.
Nf4 {Now the d5-pawn falls.} d4 36. exd4 g5 37. Nfe2 f5 {Lei is looking for
some activity, but White's pieces are well coordinated.} 38. gxf5 Rxf5+ 39. Ke3
g4 40. Nf4 Rb8 41. d5 Rf6 42. Rc2 Ra8 43. Nb5 Rb6 44. Nd4 Ra3+ 45. Ke4 c3 46.
Nfe2 Rb2 {White doesn't mind exchanging the pair of rooks now as she will pick
up the c3-pawn and march the d-pawn down the board.} 47. Kd3 Rb1 ({After} 47...
Rxc2 48. Nxc2 Ra5 49. Nxc3 {Black can't attack White's pawns.}) 48. Nxc3 Rh1
49. f3 gxf3 50. Nxf3 {Everything is perfectly safe is White's position.} Rf1
51. Nd4 Ke7 52. Kc4 Rf4 53. Rb2 Rh4 54. Rb7+ Kf6 55. Rb2 Ra8 56. Kc5 Rh3 57.
Ncb5 Re3 58. d6 Ke5 59. Nc6+ Ke4 60. d7 Rd3 61. Nd6+ Kf4 62. Rb8 {
Congratulations to Ju Wenjun on retaining her title with this clutch victory!
Overall, it was a highly contested match with a high level preparation and
fighting chess.} 1-0

[Event "Moscow (ol)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cruz, F.."]
[Black "Seirawan, Y.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E07"]
[WhiteElo "2405"]
[BlackElo "2585"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "1994.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. cxd5
cxd5 9. Bf4 a6 10. Rc1 Rc8 11. Qb3 Be7 12. Rfd1 O-O 13. a4 Nh5 14. Bd2 Bd6 15.
Na2 Qe7 16. Bb4 Nhf6 17. Ne5 Bxb4 18. Nxd7 Nxd7 19. Nxb4 a5 20. Nd3 Ba6 21. e3
Rc4 22. Bf1 Rfc8 23. Rc3 Rxc3 24. bxc3 Bc4 25. Qb2 Qd6 26. Ne5 Nxe5 27. dxe5
Qb8 28. Bxc4 Rxc4 29. Rd4 Rc5 30. e4 dxe4 31. Qd2 Rc8 32. Rd7 Rf8 33. Qd4 b5
34. axb5 Qxb5 35. c4 Qb1+ 36. Kg2 Qd3 37. Qxd3 exd3 38. Rxd3 Rc8 39. Kf3 g5 40.
Rc3 a4 41. Ke3 a3 42. Kd4 Ra8 43. Rc1 g4 44. Ra1 Kf8 45. Ra2 Ke7 46. Kc3 Ra5
47. Kb4 Rxe5 48. Kxa3 Ra5+ 49. Kb3 Rxa2 50. Kxa2 Kd6 51. Kb3 Kc5 52. Kc3 e5 53.
Kd3 f5 54. Kc3 e4 55. Kb3 h6 56. Kc3 h5 57. Kb3 f4 58. gxf4 e3 59. fxe3 h4 60.
f5 Kd6 61. Kb4 Ke5 0-1

[Event "National K-6 Championship"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2019.05.11"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Tracy, Mary Elizabeth"]
[Black "Mero, Daniel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D35"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2015.01.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,102,19,30,30,-13,-11,-10,10,28,36,27,21,6,45,34,17,23,20,25,39,31,34,
30,36,36,42,38,29,30,71,51,51,46,46,47,84,59,40,15,57,36,27,14,14,6,22,-5,0,
-10,28,28,22,21,13,18,12,6,12,1,1,14,25,7,0,0,0,0,120,110,120,115,112,103,103,
-20,-5,0,0,-34,-36,-21,-79,-96,-109,-109,-123,-131,-138,-138,378,476,572,612,
612,734,824,1014,1015,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5.
cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 c6 7. e3 Bf5 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Na6 10. a3 Nc7 11. O-O Ne6
12. Bh4 Nh5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Rac1 g5 15. Qe2 Nf6 16. Rfd1 h5 17. Ne5 Nd7 18.
Nxd7 Qxd7 19. Na4 Qe7 20. Nc5 Nxc5 21. dxc5 O-O-O 22. Qd3 Qe4 23. Qxe4 dxe4 24.
Kf1 Rd5 25. Rxd5 cxd5 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. b4 Kc7 28. b5 a6 29. a4 f5 30. Ke2 axb5
31. axb5 b6 32. c6 Kd6 33. Rc1 Ke5 34. c7 Rc8 35. Rc6 d4 36. exd4+ Kxd4 37.
Rxb6 Rxc7 38. Rc6 Ra7 39. Kd2 Ra2+ 40. Rc2 (40. Kc1 Kd3 $1 (40... Rxf2 $4 41.
b6 Rf1+ 42. Kb2 Rf2+ 43. Rc2 e3 44. b7 Kd3 45. Rxf2 exf2 46. b8=Q f1=Q 47. Qb5+
) 41. b6 Ra1+ 42. Kb2 Ra8) 40... Rxc2+ 41. Kxc2 Kc5 42. Kc3 g4 $3 (42... Kxb5
43. g4 $3 hxg4 44. Kd4 $11) 43. b6 Kxb6 44. Kd4 h4 $4 (44... Kc6 $1 45. Ke5 (
45. Kc4 Kd6 46. Kd4 Ke6 47. Ke3 Ke5 48. Ke2 (48. g3 f4+) 48... f4 49. Kd2 Kd4
50. Ke2 Kc3 (50... f3+ 51. gxf3 gxf3+) 51. g3 f3+ 52. Kd1 (52. Ke3 Kc2 53. Kxe4
Kd2) 52... Kd3 53. Ke1 Kc2 {and you can take off everything but the f-pawns
and Black would still win!} ({or} 53... e3 54. fxe3 Kxe3 55. Kf1 f2)) 45... Kc5
46. Kxf5 (46. h3 g3) 46... Kd4 {The white king seems closer to the action, but
because Black's pawns are so far advanced White's king is tethered to the
e-pawn} 47. Kf4 (47. Kg5 Kd3 48. Kxh5 Ke2 49. Kxg4 Kxf2) (47. h3 g3) 47... Kd3
48. h4 Ke2 49. Kg3 Kf1) (44... Kb5 45. h3 $1 gxh3 46. gxh3 h4 47. Ke5 Kc4 48.
Kxf5 Kd3 49. Kf4 Kd4 (49... Ke2 50. Kxe4 Kxf2 51. Kf4 Ke2 52. Kg4 Ke3 53. Kxh4
Kf4) 50. Kg4 e3 51. fxe3+ Kxe3 52. Kxh4 Kf4 $11) 45. g3 hxg3 46. hxg3 Kb5 47.
Ke5 Kc4 48. Kxf5 Kd3 49. Kxg4 $4 (49. Kf4 $1 Ke2 (49... Kd4 50. Kxg4) 50. Kxe4
Kxf2 51. Kf4) 49... Ke2 50. Kf4 Kxf2 51. Kxe4 Kxg3 1/2-1/2

[Event "URS-ch24"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Gurgenidze, Bukhuti"]
[Black "Tal, Mihail"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Be2
O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Nd2 Na6 11. Re1 Nc7 12. a4 b6 13. Qc2 Ng4 14. h3 Nxf2 15.
Kxf2 Qh4+ 16. Kf1 Bd4 17. Nd1 Qxh3 18. Bf3 Qh2 19. Ne3 f5 20. Ndc4 fxe4 21.
Bxe4 Ba6 22. Bf3 Re5 23. Ra3 Rae8 24. Bd2 Nxd5 25. Bxd5+ Rxd5 26. Ke2 Bxe3 27.
Rxe3 Bxc4+ 0-1

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/8/Q7/8/3b4/7B/1q6/5K2 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/3q4/2k5/1p1bB3/Q7/2K5/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3q1k2/6pQ/3p2n1/8/8/1B6/8/3K4 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1q2rn2/4k1p1/5b2/4pK2/8/8/6Q1/3R2R1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/2q2B2/8/5pk1/5rb1/2B5/6K1/4Q3 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2Qnr3/3bpq2/B2pk3/6P1/2R1K3/8/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 1-0

[Event "World Championship 25th"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1963.03.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E35"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "1963.03.23"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "22"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
a3 Bxc3+ 9. Qxc3 c6 10. e3 O-O 11. Ne2 Re8 12. Ng3 g6 13. f3 h5 14. Be2 Nd7 15.
Kf2 h4 16. Nf1 Nf8 17. Nd2 Re7 18. Rhe1 Bf5 19. h3 Rae8 20. Nf1 Ne6 21. Qd2 Ng7
22. Rad1 Nh5 23. Rc1 Qd6 24. Rc3 Ng3 25. Kg1 Nh5 26. Bd1 Re6 27. Qf2 Qe7 28.
Bb3 g5 29. Bd1 Bg6 30. g4 hxg3 31. Nxg3 Nf4 32. Qh2 c5 33. Qd2 c4 34. Ba4 b5
35. Bc2 Nxh3+ 36. Kf1 Qf6 37. Kg2 Nf4+ 38. exf4 Rxe1 39. fxg5 Qe6 40. f4 Re2+
0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.10.09"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Karpov's Blocking Skeleton"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4rk1/5pnp/2p1p1p1/1p1p4/3B4/1P4P1/2PPPP1P/R1R3K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2023.10.09"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. Ba7 Nf5 2. Ra6 Rfc8 3. Rca1 e5 4. Bc5 *

[Event "Nice ol (Men) fin-A"]
[Site "Nice"]
[Date "1974.06.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Black "Unzicker, Wolfgang"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C98"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2535"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "1974.06.06"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Soviet Union"]
[BlackTeam "Germany"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "URS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. d5 Nd8 14. a4 Rb8 15. axb5
axb5 16. b4 Nb7 17. Nf1 Bd7 18. Be3 Ra8 19. Qd2 Rfc8 20. Bd3 g6 21. Ng3 Bf8 22.
Ra2 c4 23. Bb1 Qd8 24. Ba7 Ne8 25. Bc2 Nc7 26. Rea1 Qe7 27. Bb1 Be8 28. Ne2 Nd8
29. Nh2 Bg7 30. f4 f6 31. f5 g5 32. Bc2 Bf7 33. Ng3 Nb7 34. Bd1 h6 35. Bh5 Qe8
36. Qd1 Nd8 37. Ra3 Kf8 38. R1a2 Kg8 39. Ng4 Kf8 40. Ne3 Kg8 41. Bxf7+ Nxf7 42.
Qh5 Nd8 43. Qg6 Kf8 44. Nh5 1-0

[Event "USSR"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Terekhin, A.."]
[Black "Shein"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1q2r2/p2nbkp1/1pQ1pn1p/3p1p2/3P1B2/1P3NP1/P3PPBP/2R2RK1 w - - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

15. Bc7 Ne8 16. Qxd7 Qxd7 17. Ne5+ *

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.03"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "12.01 Narva, M."]
[Black "Bulmaga, I."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C70"]
[WhiteElo "2387"]
[BlackElo "2416"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r3k/2p1b1pp/1p4q1/pP2Q2b/P4r2/1BP4P/5PP1/1R2RNK1 b - - 0 36"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,82,19,38,25,16,14,23,25,0,16,39,39,18,41,35,36,11,11,-22,-8,-2,-10,13,
0,-20,31,26,40,42,69,61,47,47,51,30,47,47,70,45,48,47,53,43,37,25,34,20,4,0,-8,
-8,4,-96,-2,-63,-65,-112,-72,-126,-68,-69,-18,-37,-77,-75,-58,-73,-28,-104,
-108,-111,-143,-144,-149,-324,-284,-324,-819,-853,-1193,-1270,-1327,-1332,
-1376] [#]} 36... Rxf2 $1 37. Qe4 ({White cannot capture the rook.} 37. Kxf2
Bc5+ {, and White will have to give up the queen because} 38. Ne3 {allows} Rd2+
{, forcing mate.}) 37... Bc5 38. Kh2 Bd6+ $1 39. Kg1 Rxf1+ $1 40. Kxf1 Rf8+ 41.
Kg1 Qg3 {Total penetration on the dark squares; White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.01"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "12.02 Serikbay, Assel"]
[Black "Guichard, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2139"]
[BlackElo "2384"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r3k/pp4pp/1b6/2p2q2/2Qn1P2/1P6/P2N2PP/4BRK1 b - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "18"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,65,20,17,19,16,16,17,17,26,3,22,127,-32,-31,-16,-3,-9,6,-9,33,10,10,
-14,-1,-52,-62,-53,-16,-45,-45,-49,-45,-63,-55,-55,-55,-55,3,-86,-52,-75,-82,
-56,-38,-44,-66,-92,-114,-114,-66,-259,-260,-276,-281,-277,-277,-262,-273,-274,
-282,-337,-347,-347,-356,-692,-722,-1262] [#]} 24... Nc2 $1 {Threatening ...
Nxe1 and ...Ne3.} 25. Qe4 ({Or} 25. Qe2 c4+ 26. Bf2 Bxf2+ 27. Qxf2 c3 {and
Black has a decisive advantage.}) 25... Qxe4 26. Nxe4 Re8 {Black is winning a
piece and the game.} 27. Nd6 Rxe1 28. Rxe1 Nxe1 29. Kf2 Nd3+ 30. Ke3 c4+ 31.
Ke4 Nc5+ 32. Kd5 c3 33. Kd4 {and White resigned simultaneously.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.11"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "12.03 Paehtz, E."]
[Black "Ju, Wenjun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2471"]
[BlackElo "2564"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3k2r/1p1bbppp/pqn1pn2/3pN3/3P1B2/2N3P1/PPP2PBP/R2Q1RK1 w kq - 0 11"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,71,22,27,27,34,25,13,73,74,74,61,85,60,60,53,40,-4,20,5,5,-40,11,-13,
65,94,117,112,113,103,119,122,122,112,112,149,149,142,104,117,147,147,159,121,
127,75,110,106,106,113,96,95,84,100,112,111,115,118,123,132,124,119,127,122,
107,131,131,98,103,530,29995,29996,29997,29998] [#]} 11. Nxd7 $1 Nxd7 ({Or} 
11... Kxd7 12. Na4 Qxd4 13. c4 {with a devastating initiative for White.}) 12.
Bxd5 $1 Qxb2 ({Of course,} 12... exd5 13. Nxd5 {is a disaster for Black.}) 13.
Bxc6 bxc6 14. Qd3 O-O 15. Rab1 Qa3 16. Rb3 {White has a clear advantage.} Qa5
17. Rb7 Qd8 18. Bc7 Qc8 19. Rfb1 a5 20. Ne4 Nf6 21. Nxf6+ Bxf6 22. Qa3 ({
and White is completely dominating he game. In the game continuation, White
played less accurately but still converted her advantage after} 22. Bd6 Rd8 23.
Rc7 Qa6 24. Qxa6 Rxa6 25. Bc5 e5 26. c3 exd4 27. cxd4 h6 28. Rbb7 Bxd4 29. Bxd4
Rxd4 30. Rxf7 Rg4 31. Rfc7 Rg6 32. Rb8+ Kh7 33. h4 a4 34. Rcc8 Rf6 35. h5 g5
36. Rc7+ {and Black resigned.}) 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.01"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "12.04 Munguntuul, B."]
[Black "Yuan, Ye"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2374"]
[BlackElo "2188"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r6r/3q2k1/pppp1pp1/4n3/P2Q1N1P/4R3/1PP1RPP1/6K1 w - - 0 26"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 26. Rxe5 $1 ({In the game, White instead went for the less forcing} 26.
Nd3 Qc7 27. g3 Rae8 28. Kg2 Kf7 29. Nxe5+ fxe5 30. Qc4+ d5 31. Qxa6 e4 32. Rb3
Rb8 33. f3 exf3+ 34. Rxf3+ {and White was completely winning and eventually
converted the advantage.}) 26... fxe5 27. Rxe5 Kg8 28. Re6 {and White is
winning.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "12.05 Koneru, H."]
[Black "Badelka, Olga"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "2553"]
[BlackElo "2397"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4k2/2Rr1pp1/pn5p/1pR2N2/1P2p1P1/4P3/P4PKP/8 w - - 0 31"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 31. R7c6 $1 Nc4 ({Or} 31... Rb7 32. Nd6 Rbb8 33. Rc7 {and White
penetrates on the seventh rank.}) 32. Rxa6 $1 {Exploiting Black's weak back
rank.} Rad8 33. a4 Rd2 34. axb5 Nb2 35. Ra2 g6 36. Ng3 Nc4 37. Rxd2 Nxd2 38. b6
{White is winning and eventually converted the advantage without any serious
trouble.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.03"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "12.06 Roebers, Eline"]
[Black "Mona, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "2419"]
[BlackElo "2106"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qr3/pb1nbpkp/2pp1npN/1p4B1/4P2Q/P1N1R1P1/1PP2PBP/R5K1 w - - 0 19"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,63,27,19,16,37,85,74,75,77,75,63,53,28,22,20,53,34,96,38,88,52,143,
154,154,158,159,167,145,84,105,78,165,172,112,134,131,92,137,38,135,-14,128,
128,276,158,165,158,176,169,169,169,192,201,319,343,343,349,353,214,280,316,
514,431,431,529] [#]} 19. Rf3 $1 {Building on the pin of the knight. The pin
along the diagonal seems well taken care of, but the text move adds to pin on
the f-file.} Rf8 ({If Black ignores White's threats, things clearly gets worse,
for instance,} 19... a5 20. Rd1 Ne5 21. Rxf6 Bxf6 22. Nf5+ gxf5 23. Qh6+ {
and White wins.}) 20. e5 $1 {Forcing the opening of the d-file, allowing White
to add more fuel to the pins.} dxe5 21. Rd1 {The point behind the previous
move.} Nd5 22. Nxf7 Qe8 23. Bxe7 Rxf7 24. Rxf7+ Qxf7 {Black has avoided losing
material but she is strategically completely lost.} 25. Ne4 h6 ({Or} 25... N7b6
26. Ng5 {and White crashes through.}) 26. Rxd5 $1 cxd5 27. Nd6 {Loose pieces
drop off.} Qe6 28. Bh3 g5 29. Qh5 Qg6 30. Qe2 Rf8 31. Bxf8+ Kxf8 32. Nxb7 {
and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.15"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "12.07 Tan, Zhongyi"]
[Black "Goryachkina, A."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2523"]
[BlackElo "2557"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r3/5pk1/5bp1/p1rp3p/1p3N2/1P1RPP1P/P5P1/5RK1 b - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,90,19,31,19,0,-3,-3,-12,-16,-17,3,14,22,29,0,35,35,57,33,38,35,44,34,
51,41,43,32,52,23,19,-8,16,-6,-2,1,-6,-21,-16,-6,-10,-12,-5,-13,-23,-45,-38,
-67,-36,-23,-24,-30,-10,-6,-33,-67,-62,-48,-51,-62,-56,-70,-87,-98,-85,-94,-81,
-81,-88,-101,-97,-97,-97,-128,-110,-91,-82,-89,-87,-87,-22,-178,-140,-163,-163,
-185,-201,-235,-354,-1667,-2095,-29971,-1080] [#]} 29... d4 $1 {The black pawn
was impossible to cover in any case, but Black uses it to penetrate on the
dark squares which are already perilously weak due to most of White's pawns
being on light squares.} 30. e4 ({If} 30. exd4 Rc2 31. Rf2 Re1+ 32. Rf1 Bh4 33.
Rxe1 Bxe1 34. Kf1 Bg3 {with strong, enduring initiative for Black.}) 30... Rc2
31. Rf2 Rec8 32. Rfd2 Rxd2 33. Rxd2 Bg5 34. g3 h4 {White's fragile house of
cards collapses on the dark squares. Black is now easily winning.} 35. Rxd4
Rc1+ 36. Kh2 Rc2+ 37. Ng2 Rxa2 38. e5 Bd2 39. Rd7 a4 40. e6 Kf8 41. bxa4 b3 42.
Rb7 b2 43. f4 fxe6 44. Nxh4 Bb4 45. Nxg6+ Kg8 {and White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.04"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "12.08 Ouellet, Maili-Jade"]
[Black "Krush, I."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2201"]
[BlackElo "2447"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1p1rrk1p/p2qpppP/3n1n2/3PR1N1/1B3QP1/PP3PK1/4R3 w - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,88,19,31,19,-16,33,2,41,35,45,44,62,64,29,22,18,12,67,70,45,52,43,15,
29,34,36,75,65,63,59,72,59,90,90,98,95,78,70,54,70,4,75,-4,5,-27,-18,0,-18,0,0,
-9,0,8,36,13,18,8,7,9,34,39,49,43,45,30,43,19,30,19,19,0,28,0,0,0,0,26,86,-276,
-238,-229,-216,-29991,-29992,-29993,-29994,-29995,-29996,-29997,-29998] [#]} 
32. Ne5+ $3 ({In the game, White missed her opportunity:} 32. Qe2 Rd8 33. Qd2
Rdd7 34. Nh2 Rd8 35. Nf3 Qc6 (35... g5 {was best}) 36. Qe2 (36. g4 $1 {would
have given White a clear advantage}) 36... Rde8 37. Qd2 Nd6 38. R4e2 Nf5 $4 ({
A blunder -} 38... Kf8 {was necessary}) 39. Qd1 $4 ({Here,} 39. g4 Nd6 40. g5 {
would have been devastating for Black}) 39... Nf4+ $1 40. gxf4 Nh4+ 41. Kg3
Qxf3+ 42. Kxh4 g5+ 43. fxg5 fxg5+ 44. Kxg5 Rg8+ {and White resigned before
getting mated.}) 32... fxe5 33. dxe5 Qb8 34. g4 {and White would have had a
clear advantage.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Cup Women 2023"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2023.08.13"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "12.09 Shuvalova, Polina"]
[Black "Salimova, Nurgyul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C27"]
[WhiteElo "2496"]
[BlackElo "2409"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4nk2/8/1P2p3/2P1P3/1K4p1/8/R7/2r5 b - - 0 44"]
[PlyCount "16"]
[EventDate "2023.07.30"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,109,19,28,21,27,17,13,73,85,45,45,69,51,30,24,31,24,90,75,75,76,77,8,
-5,-12,-19,-18,22,19,31,47,58,-121,55,96,78,-23,13,-48,-48,-121,-131,-114,-118,
-125,-39,-43,-47,-52,-24,-60,-57,-38,-24,-29,-29,-10,-16,-122,-74,0,-40,-35,
-52,-63,-33,-23,-13,-7,-1,0,0,0,0,0,0,-70,-17,-59,0,0,0,0,27,20,27,0,0,0,193,
262,267,287,310,329,387,439,527,547,547,623,799,926,1002,1002,1130,1198,1954,
1656,1661,1022] [#]} 44... Rb1+ $1 {This is the only move to save the draw.} ({
In the game, the Bulgarian tournament sensation stepped wrong and lost after} 
44... g3 $4 45. Kb5 Rb1+ 46. Kc6 Ke7 47. b7 Rb4 48. Rg2 Ng7 49. Rxg3 Nf5 50.
Rd3 Ke8 51. Kc7 Ne7 52. Rd8+ Kf7 53. Rd7 Ke8 54. Rxe7+ Kxe7 55. c6 {and Black
resigned.}) 45. Ka5 ({Or} 45. Kc3 Rb5 46. Kc4 Rb1 47. Rg2 Ng7 {with a draw.})
45... Ng7 $1 {The only way for the knight to make it around to stop White's
advanced pawns.} 46. c6 Nf5 $1 47. c7 Ne7 $1 {Stopping the c-pawn just in the
knick of time.} 48. Rd2 g3 $1 {The essential counterplay coming just when it
is needed.} 49. Ka6 g2 $1 50. Rxg2 Nc8 $1 51. Rd2 Rxb6+ 52. Ka5 {followed by
Rd8 with a draw. Is it a surprise that Black didn't find this line? Absolutely
not, but the dance of the black knight was so instructive that I decided to
include it.} 1-0

[Event "Susan Polgar Foundation’s National Op"]
[Site "Livermore, CA"]
[Date "2017.05.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wong, Allyson"]
[Black "Velea, Sophie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "1520"]
[BlackElo "1562"]
[Annotator "Wong"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL Dec 2023"]
[SourceDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. O-O-O Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. h4 Rfc8 13. h5 Qa5 14. a3 ({
Better would have been} 14. h6 $1 {as after} Rxc3 15. Qxc3 Qxa2+ 16. Kc1 {
the king is safe enough.}) 14... Rab8 15. hxg6 hxg6 16. Bd3 b5 17. Qg5 a6 $2
18. f4 Bd7 $2 {The second mistake is too much to overcome. Now I go on the
attack.} 19. Nd5 Qd8 20. Nxf6+ $6 ({Trying to open lines with} 20. f5 {would
have been stronger.}) 20... exf6 21. Qh4 a5 $6 22. b3 $6 b4 $6 23. a4 Bc6 24.
Rh2 Qe8 $2 {All the pressure works, and my opponent's position cracks. Do you
see how?} 25. Bxf6 Qe6 {[#] Now come MY BEST MOVE... at the board, anyway!} 26.
Qh8+ $3 Bxh8 27. Rxh8# 1-0

