[Event "Canadian Championship"]
[Site "Toronto CAN"]
[Date "2023.04.09"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Noritsyn, Nikolay"]
[Black "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C79"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "2514"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2023.04.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768] In 2022 I had some issues with health, and as result I lost
about 100 points of FIDE rating. It made me start working on chess a lot and
completely change my opening repertoire.   Many years ago I got an idea that
it would be logical to fianchetto the dark-squared bishop in Ruy Lopez,
instead of traditional ...Be7-Re8-Bf8 etc. This is how I started analyzing the
Steinitz variation; but I couldn't even begin to imagine how complicated this
opening was! I can say that the main line is one of the most complicated for
playing and analyzing. This past year this opening has brought me a huge
number of points, and the following game is one of the best games I ever
played.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. c3 Nf6 7. Re1 g6
8. d4 Bg7 9. h3 O-O {[#]} 10. Bc2 ({So we got some mix between Ruy Lopez and
King's Indian, and also it can be transposed to something like Benoni, e.g.} 
10. Nbd2 exd4 11. cxd4 Nb4 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. Nf1 c5 14. a3 Nc6 15. d5) 10...
Nh5 11. Be3 ({Computers say the best move here is} 11. a4 {which is what
Shirov played against me (see below).}) 11... Kh8 $1 {The point is to have ...
Rg8 in the case of de de, Bc5.} 12. Nbd2 Qe8 13. dxe5 ({Probably} 13. Nc4 {
is a bit more accurate.}) 13... dxe5 14. b4 f5 15. a4 b6 {[#]} 16. Nb3 $6 ({
It's not a mistake yet, but it becomes clear that White underestimates Black's
attack on the kingside. It would be better to keep more pieces around the king
with} 16. Nf1) 16... f4 17. Bc1 g5 $1 {This move obviously came as unpleasant
surprise for White.} 18. b5 ({If} 18. Nxg5 {then} Rd8 $1 {followed by ...Qg6
with a huge attack.}) 18... Ne7 $1 {[#] I wanted to keep my a8-rook on the
board.} 19. Ba3 $6 ({Too slow. It was necessary to launch counterplay on the
Queenside:} 19. a5 $1 g4 $1 20. hxg4 Bxg4 21. axb6 cxb6 22. bxa6 Ng6 {with
very sharp play.}) 19... axb5 20. axb5 Rd8 21. Nbd2 g4 {[#]} 22. Nh2 $2 ({
Now Black is winning. White had to take} 22. hxg4 Bxg4 {and now} 23. Qe2 Bf6
24. Bb3 $1 {taking the g-file under control. Black's attack looks scary, but
the computer says it's still equal, e.g.} Qg6 25. Red1 $1 Rg8 $5 26. Bxg8 Rxg8
27. Bxe7 (27. Kf1 Nf5 $1 $13) 27... Bxe7 28. Kf1 $8 (28. Ra7 $2 Bh3 $19) 28...
Be6 29. Ke1 $1 (29. Ne1 $2 f3 $1 30. Ndxf3 Nf4 $19) 29... Qxg2 30. Qf1 {
The computer says 0.00, but from a practical point of view it's definitely
easier to play for Black.}) 22... g3 $8 $19 23. Ng4 (23. Nhf3 gxf2+ 24. Kxf2
Bf6 {with an irresistible attack; or}) (23. fxg3 fxg3 24. Nhf1 Nf4 25. Nxg3
Bxh3 {winning.}) 23... f3 $1 {[#] editor - the black pawn on g3 is not a typo.}
24. gxf3 Nf4 25. fxg3 Nxh3+ 26. Kg2 Bxg4 {White could resign here but
preferred to play for another 20 moves. The rest is just matter of simple
technique.} 27. Re3 ({editor:} 27. fxg4 Rf2+ $8 28. Kxh3 Rdxd2 $19 {and White
has to give up the Q to stop mate.}) 27... Be6 28. Rd3 Rxd3 29. Bxd3 Rg8 30.
Bc4 {[#]} Bf6 $5 31. Bxe6 Nf4+ 32. Kf2 Nxe6 33. Qb3 Qf7 34. Rh1 Rd8 35. Nf1 Rd3
36. Qc2 Rd7 37. Ne3 Bg5 38. Bc1 Nc5 39. Kg2 Rd3 40. Re1 Qb3 41. Qe2 Bxe3 42.
Bxe3 Rxc3 43. Kh3 Rc2 44. Qd1 Qd3 45. Qa1 Qd7+ 46. g4 Ng6 47. Rd1 Qe7 48. g5
Ne6 {Maybe there were no spectacular moves and combinations, but I played very
accurately in an extremely complicated position that I had never played before.
} 0-1

[Event "Morocco King's Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.08.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C79"]
[WhiteElo "2668"]
[BlackElo "2462"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 {This move
order allows me to avoid some lines. It doesn't mean I was scared of something,
I just wanted to get a particular position.} 6. Re1 Bd7 7. c3 g6 8. d4 Bg7 9.
h3 O-O 10. Bc2 {[#]} Nh5 $5 {This is not the only possible plan, and not even
the best one. I've been analyzing this Steinitz Lopez for more than one year,
played already about 20 tournament games in it... and still don't have the
feeling that I understand it well enough.} 11. a4 Qe8 12. Na3 f5 {[#] I had
analyzed this line until the endgame and couldn't imagine that my opponent had
done the same. But during the game I was literally shocked...  It turned out
that there was some correspondence game that I did not have in my database,
but he did!} 13. Nc4 fxe4 14. Bxe4 Qf7 15. dxe5 $1 Be6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Na5
Bd5 18. Ra3 $1 {[#]  Here I realized that somehow my opponent was ready for
this line. On the other hand, this ending is not dangerous for Black, the only
problem is that I didn't analyze that far.} Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Qxf3 20. gxf3 Bxe5
21. Nxc6 Bf4 $1 {[#]} 22. Be3 ({editor: Four months later, White unimproved
with:} 22. Bxf4 Nxf4 23. Rb3 Nxh3+ 24. Kh2 Ng5 (24... Rxf3 $13) 25. Kg2 Rxf3
26. Rb8+ Rxb8 27. Nxb8 a5 $11 {Miranda Mesa,E (2495)-Figueredo Losada,L (2379)
Carlos Torre Memorial op 33rd 2023 (7) 1/2-1/2}) 22... Bxe3 23. Rxe3 Nf4 {[#]}
24. Rb3 ({I was sure that this position cannot be dangerous for Black and
considered only couple of natural moves like} 24. Kh2 Nd5 $1) ({or} 24. h4 Nd5
$1 {The text move I didn't analyze.}) 24... Nxh3+ ({Here is a forcing way to
get a draw:} 24... Nd5 25. Ne7+ Nxe7 26. Rxe7 Rab8 ({ed. -} 26... Rf7 $4 27.
Rxf7 Kxf7 28. Rb7 Rc8 29. Ra7 $18) 27. Rxb8 Rxb8 28. Rxc7 Rxb2 29. Rc6 d5 $11 {
The text move is also OK.}) 25. Kh2 Nf4 26. Rb7 {[#]} Kh8 $6 ({For some
reasons I didn't like position after more natural} 26... Rf7 {but it's totally
safe for Black, e.g.} 27. a5 ({or} 27. Rb8+ Rxb8 28. Nxb8 c5 29. b4 cxb4 30.
cxb4 Nd5 31. Re8+ Kg7 32. Nxa6 Rxf3 $11) 27... Kg7 28. c4 d5 $1 29. c5 g5 30.
b4 h5 $11 {and there's no way for White to make progress.}) 27. c4 Rf5 28. Re7
{[#]} Raf8 $4 ({After this move White could win. I just didn't realize that in
this position move order really matters. Correct was:} 28... Rh5+ $1 29. Kg1 ({
or} 29. Kg3 Rf8 30. Rbxc7 Rh3+ 31. Kg4 Rh1 32. Rf7 Rxf7 33. Rxf7 Ne6 34. Kg3
Rg1+ 35. Kh2 Rc1 36. b3 Nc5 37. Na5 Rb1 $11) 29... Rg8 $3 {(in other case
White wins)} 30. Rexc7 (30. Rbxc7 g5 31. Rcd7 {[%mdl 4160] (by the way, the
only move)} g4 32. Rd8 gxf3+ $11) 30... Re8 31. Ne7 Rg5+ 32. Kf1 Rh5 33. Ke1 d5
$1 34. Kd2 (34. c5 Ne6 35. Rc6 Nxc5 36. Rxc5 Re5+ $11) 34... dxc4 35. Rxc4 g5 {
White still has some chances but with accurate play it should be a draw.}) 29.
Rbxc7 Rh5+ 30. Kg1 $1 Rg5+ 31. Kf1 Rh5 32. Ke1 Nd3+ 33. Kd2 Nxb2 {[#]} 34. Nb4
$2 ({This move looks logical because when the knight appears on f6 it's over.
The only problem is that now the knight will never reach this square! White
had to choose a longer route:} 34. Nd4 $1 Nxa4 35. Ne6 Rb8 36. Nf4 Rh6 37. Nd5
g5 38. Rf7 $18 {and Nf6 wins.}) ({There was another way to win, much less
obvious:} 34. c5 $5 {e.g.} Kg8 35. Kc2 Nc4 36. Kc3 Rh4 37. f4 $3 Rfxf4 38. Re8+
Rf8 39. Ne7+ Kf7 40. Rxf8+ Kxf8 41. c6 $18) 34... Kg8 $8 {After this "only
move" Black is safe, probably White missed that.} 35. Rg7+ (35. Nd5 Nxc4+ 36.
Kc2 (36. Kc3 Rxf3+ 37. Kb4 $8 $11 (37. Kxc4 $4 Rh4+ $19)) 36... Na5 37. Rg7+
Kh8 38. Rgd7 {[%mdl 32832] Analysis Diagram [#] Critical Position White's
pieces could hardly be better coordinated while all Black's pieces are
scattered around the edge of the board. Clearly there's no way to survive this
when Shirov is White?} Nc6 $8 ({Clearly not:} 38... Rxd5 $4 39. Rxh7+ Kg8 40.
Rcg7#) ({or} 38... Rh2 $4 39. Nf6 $1 $18) 39. Nf6 (39. Rxc6 {deflects the R
from the 7th, allowing} Rxd5 40. Rxa6 $11 (40. Rcc7 $4 Rc5+ $19)) 39... Rc5+ $8
40. Kd2 Ne7 $8 $11 {blocking the mate on h7 and trading either a R or the N; e.
g.} 41. Ra7 Rxf6 $8 42. Rxe7 Rc8 $11) 35... Kh8 36. Rge7 Kg8 37. Kc2 Nxa4 $11
38. Rg7+ (38. Nd5 Nc5 $11) 38... Kh8 39. Rgd7 Rh2 $1 40. Rxd6 Rxf2+ 41. Kb3 {
[#]} a5 $5 {My opponent already was in time trouble, so I decide to complicate
things a bit.  After the simple:} (41... Nb2 42. Nxa6 R8xf3+ 43. Kb4 Nd3+ 44.
Kb5 Ne5 45. c5 {Black has no chances to convert the extra pawn.}) 42. Nd5 $4 {
I'd been hoping for this move. After the game Shirov said that he simply
forgot that he could take my knight:} (42. Kxa4 axb4 43. Kxb4 R8xf3 $11) 42...
Rb8+ $1 43. Ka3 Rf1 $8 $19 44. Nb4 Ra1+ ({ed. -} 44... axb4+ 45. Kxa4 Rxf3 $19
{also wins.}) 45. Na2 Nc3 0-1

[Event "Morocco King's Cup"]
[Site "Casablanca"]
[Date "2023.08.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Bosiocic, Marin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E59"]
[WhiteElo "2462"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[EventCountry "MAR"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5
7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 11. Re1 $5 {[#] A surprisingly
rare move. Looks like nobody understands what's the point.} e5 12. h3 $1 ({Not
} 12. d5 $6 Na5 (12... e4 $2 13. dxc6 exf3 14. Qxf3 $16 {Reshevsky-Euwe,
Candidates Tournament, 1953. (1-0, 20)}) 13. d6 $1 Qd8 14. Nxe5 Nxc4 15. Nxc4
Be6 16. Qd3 Ng4 17. Qe2 Qh4 18. h3 Qxf2+ $11) 12... e4 ({Probably it's better
to play} 12... h6) ({One of the key ideas:} 12... Bf5 $6 13. e4 $1 Bxe4 (13...
Bg6 $2 14. d5 Rad8 $2 15. Bg5 $18 {½-½ Injac,T (2391)-Aditya,M (2505)
Fagernes op-A 2023 (2)}) (13... Nxe4 $6 14. Nh4 Qd7 15. Qf3 Nd6 16. Nxf5 Qxf5
17. Qxf5 Nxf5 18. dxe5 $16) 14. Ng5 Bg6 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Bf4 Rfe8 17. Ne6 $1
fxe6 18. Bxe5 $14) ({editor:} 12... cxd4 $6 13. cxd4 Nxd4 $6 14. Bxf7+ $16) 13.
Nd2 Bf5 14. a4 Rfe8 ({It was better to delay this move:} 14... b6 15. Ba3 Rad8
{and after} 16. Bb5 {the knight is not pinned.}) 15. Ba3 b6 16. Bb5 {[#]  Now
the position is quite unpleasant for Black because it's not easy to find moves.
} Rad8 ({It was better to unpin the knight immediately:} 16... Re6 {e.g.} 17.
f4 ({probably it's better to play} 17. Nf1) 17... Nd5 (17... exf3 $2 18. Qxf3
Bg6 19. e4 $1 cxd4 20. e5 dxc3 21. Qxc3 Nd5 22. Qc4 a6 $1 23. Qxd5 axb5 24. Bd6
Qd7 25. Rac1 Rc8 26. Qxb5 {and the position is close to winning.}) 18. dxc5
bxc5 19. Bxc5 Rg6 20. Kh1 Rd8 21. Rc1 Rh6 22. Bf1 {(one of the ideas of the
move Re1: the f1 square is available for minor pieces)} Nf6 (22... g5 23. g4
Bc8 24. fxg5 Rh4 25. Qe2 Ne5 26. Qh2 Nxg4 27. Qxc7 Nxc7 28. Bd4 {and White is
slightly better.}) 23. Bd4 g5 $1 24. fxg5 Ng4 25. Qxg4 $1 Bxg4 26. gxh6 {
The position is roughly equal, but it's easier to play for White.}) 17. Qc2 ({
White's only inaccuracy in the game.The immediate} 17. Nf1 {is better, e.g.}
Re6 $6 18. Ng3 Bg6 19. Qc2 Na5 20. Ne2 $1 cxd4 21. Nxd4 Re5 22. Bb4 Rg5 23.
Bxa5 bxa5 24. Red1 $16) 17... Qc8 18. Red1 {[#]} Re6 $2 ({It's not easy to
find the way to equalize:} 18... Rd5 $1 19. c4 (19. Nf1 Bxh3 $1 $13) 19... Nxd4
$1 20. exd4 e3 21. Qb2 Bxh3 $1 22. cxd5 $8 (22. gxh3 $4 Rg5+ $19) 22... Bxg2 $1
23. Nf1 (23. Kxg2 $4 Qg4+ $19) 23... Qg4 $1 (23... Qh3 $2 24. fxe3 $8 Qh1+ 25.
Kf2 $16) 24. Nxe3 Rxe3 $8 25. fxe3 Bxd5+ $11 26. Kf1 Ne4 27. Qh2 Qf3+ $11) ({
There is another way, but it's definitely not for human chess:} 18... h6 $3 19.
Bf1 Nh7 {(this is the point, but the complications are only beginning)} 20. Nc4
Ng5 21. dxc5 {[#] Analysis Diagram} Bxh3 $1 {and somehow it's a draw:} 22. Rxd8
(22. gxh3 Nxh3+ 23. Bxh3 Qxh3 $11 {ed. - White can't defend the checks on the
light squares without allowing a perp; e.g.} 24. Qe2 $4 Ne5 $1 (24... Re6 $19)
25. Nxe5 Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Rxe5 $19 {that thing on a3 may look like a piece, but
it doesn't move like one.}) 22... Rxd8 ({after} 22... Nxd8 23. Qe2 {White can
keep playing.}) 23. gxh3 bxc5 $3 {[#] Analysis Diagram} 24. Rd1 (24. Bg2 Nf3+
25. Bxf3 exf3 26. Kh2 Qe6 27. Nb2 Qe5+ 28. Kh1 Qe6 $11) 24... Nf3+ $8 25. Kg2
Rd5 $3 26. Qxe4 $8 (26. Rxd5 Ne1+ $19) 26... Ng5 $1 27. Qxd5 $8 Qxh3+ 28. Kg1
Nf3+ 29. Qxf3 Qxf3 {and according to the computer it's just 0.00.}) ({It is
interesting to see why ...h6 is better than ...h5:} 18... h5 $6 19. Bf1 Nh7 20.
Nc4 Ng5 21. dxc5 Bxh3 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 (22... Nxd8 23. Qd1 $1 Bg4 $2 24. Qd5 $1
$18 {XNg5 and Nd6 fork.}) 23. gxh3 bxc5 24. Rd1 Nf3+ 25. Kg2 Rd5 26. Qxe4 Ng5
27. Qh4 $1 $16 {It proves to be that the pawn on h6 makes the whole difference:
knight must be protected.}) 19. Nf1 $1 {This natural move required very
precise calculating.} cxd4 {If White gets to play Ng3 then Black loses all
attacking chances and White's bishop pair and strong centre will tell very
shortly. That was Black's idea, but he missed one intermediate move. [editor:
on move 28!]} 20. cxd4 a6 $8 {[#]} 21. d5 $1 (21. Be2 $4 Nxd4 $8 $13) 21...
Nxd5 $2 ({Now White wins. Black had to play} 21... Rxd5 22. Rxd5 Nxd5 23. Be2 {
that was my idea. Now all Black's pieces are placed very unfortunately and the
only White task is to gain the pawn back in better circumstances.} Re8 $1 {
(the only move)} 24. Qb3 $5 (24. Bxa6 Qxa6 25. Qxc6 $14) 24... Be6 25. Qb2 Na5
26. Rc1 Qb7 27. Ng3 Nf6 $6 28. Qb4 $5 Nc6 29. Qd6 Rc8 30. Bxa6 Qxa6 31. Rxc6
$16) 22. Rac1 $1 axb5 23. axb5 {[#]} Bxh3 ({If Black had traded rooks on move
21 he could play here} 23... Qa8 {but now there will be} 24. bxc6 Qxa3 25. c7
$8 $18) (23... Na7 $2 24. Qxc8 Nxc8 25. Rxd5 $18) 24. gxh3 Rg6+ 25. Ng3 Nxe3
26. Rxd8+ Qxd8 {[#]} 27. Qxe4 $1 (27. Qb3 {also wins:} Nd4 28. Qxe3 Nf5 29. Qd2
$1 {, but the text move is stronger.}) 27... Re6 28. bxc6 $1 {(this is the
point)} Rxe4 29. c7 $8 {[#]  Worth a diagram: Materially, White has only a B
for a Q, but all of Black's pieces are hanging and White's pieces perfectly
support the passed pawn. - editor.} Qc8 30. Nxe4 Nd5 31. Nd6 Qxc7 32. Rxc7 Nxc7
{The rest is simple.} 33. Kg2 f6 34. Kf3 h5 35. Ke4 Ne6 {[#]} 36. f4 Kh7 37.
Bc1 Nc5+ 38. Kd5 Kg6 39. Be3 h4 40. f5+ Kh7 41. Nc8 Nd3 42. Nxb6 g6 43. Ke6 Kg7
44. Nd5 {I'm proud of this game: only one inaccuracy and very precise
calculation in a very complex middlegame.} 1-0

[Event "Excelsior April Open"]
[Site "Toronto CAN"]
[Date "2023.04.23"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Reprintsev, Alexander"]
[Black "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B24"]
[WhiteElo "2361"]
[BlackElo "2510"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2023.04.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. e4 c5 2. g3 Nc6 ({The most principled move, from my point of
view, is} 2... d5 {; but I know practically nothing about the following weird
line:} 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Bg2 Qe6+ 6. Kf1 $13) 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 ({
So we get a Closed Sicilian. It's difficult to gain any profit from the
absence of the knight on c3:} 4. Ne2 Bg7 5. c3 e5 $1) 4... Bg7 5. d3 e6 6. Be3
{[#]} Nd4 ({Small inaccuracy. More accurate is} 6... d6 {and only after} 7.
Nge2 Nd4 {My idea was to do without ...d6 so I could play ...d5 in one move if
possible.}) 7. Nge2 ({Here White could play} 7. Nce2 $1 {followed by c3 with
some edge.}) 7... Ne7 8. a3 $6 ({Very strange plan. It would be better to
launch play on the other side:} 8. h4 {The idea is to secure g5 square for the
dark-squared bishop:} h5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5) 8... O-O ({After the previous
White move it was very unlikely that my opponent would play h4, so I castled.
From a computer point of view, more accurate is} 8... d6 {in order to meet} 9.
h4 {with} e5 $1) 9. Rb1 $6 {[#]} ({Yes, yes: we all know from Alpha Zero that
in any position we should play} 9. h4 $1) 9... d5 ({At least consistent.
Apparently, in a Closed Sicilian it's better to keep the pawn on d6:} 9... d6
10. b4 b6 $15 {On the other hand, the text move is obviously not a mistake.})
10. exd5 exd5 11. Nf4 h5 $1 {[#] It's useful to provoke weakening.} 12. h3 (12.
Nfxd5 $4 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 (13. Nxd5 Bg4 $19) 13... Bg4 14. f3 Nf5 $1 $19) 12...
Nxc2+ $1 13. Qxc2 d4 {[#]} 14. Ne4 $2 ({This move came as a pleasant surprise
to me. I considered only} 14. Bd2 dxc3 15. Bxc3 Nf5 16. O-O Nd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4
18. b4 {White's activity compensates for the opponent's bishop pair and better
pawn structure.}) 14... dxe3 15. fxe3 Nf5 16. Kf2 $2 {[#]} ({That's too
optimistic. After the more cautious} 16. Qf2 {Black is clearly better but
White is still in business.}) 16... b6 $1 ({I understood that this position is
practically winning for me. Of course it was tempting to sacrifice something
immediately: White is literally asking for this. I spent some time calculating
different versions of a sacrifice on e3 but didn't find anything convincing.
Black gets adequate compensation but not more, e.g.} 16... h4 17. g4 Nxe3 18.
Kxe3 f5 19. Nxg6 Re8 20. gxf5 Bxf5 21. Qc4+ Be6 22. Qxc5 Bf7 23. Nf4 Rc8 24.
Qxa7 b6 25. Rbc1 Qd4+ 26. Kf3 Bh5+ $5 27. Nxh5 Qxd3+ 28. Kg4 Qe2+ 29. Kxh4
Rxe4+ 30. Bxe4 Qxe4+ 31. Kg5 Qe5+ 32. Kg4 Qe2+ $11) ({Eventually I realized
that my main enemy is the knight on e4, so it should be eliminated.} 16... Bd7
{is probably a bit more accurate, but I wanted to protect c5, just in case.})
17. Qc4 {Frankly speaking, I didn't see this move and somehow it confused me.
I was ready to sacrifice a piece on the previous move, but now for some reason
I chose to protect the pawn.} ({After} 17. Nxc5 {it's time to sacrifice:} h4 $1
18. Bxa8 (18. g4 Nxe3 $19) 18... hxg3+ 19. Ke2 bxc5 20. Be4 Bh6 21. Rhf1 Nxe3
$1 22. Kxe3 Bxh3 23. Qxc5 Qh4 24. Rf3 Bg4 $19) 17... Be6 $2 ({After} 17... Bb7
18. Nxg6 b5 $1 19. Qa2 Qxd3 {Black wins.}) 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. Ke2 $8 {[#]
Somehow I missed this simple move, and after a long think I realized that now
White's king is totally safe.} Qe7 ({My very first thought was} 19... Kh8 $1 {
but I wasn't sure what to do after the simple} 20. Rhf1 (20. Qxe6 $4 Nxe3 $1
21. Kxe3 Qd4+ 22. Ke2 Rae8 $19 {and ...Rf2+ is next.}) {I missed} 20... Qd5 $1
{and Black is clearly better.}) 20. g4 $1 (20. Rhf1 $2 b5 $1 21. Qxb5 Bd4 $1
22. Rf3 Bxe3 $17) 20... Nh4 ({Here I missed an interesting possibility:} 20...
b5 $5 21. Qxb5 Nh4 {and White should give up the bishop:} 22. Qxc5 (22. Rhg1 $2
Qc7 $1 $19) 22... Qxc5 23. Nxc5 Nxg2 {but after the accurate} 24. b4 $1 {
according to the computer it's equal.} (24. Rhg1 $6 {gives Black some chances:}
Nxe3 $1 25. Kxe3 Rad8 26. b4 $1 (26. Nb3 Rd5 $17) 26... Bd4+ 27. Ke4 Bxg1 28.
Rxg1 $15)) 21. Rhg1 {[#]} hxg4 $6 ({I had to accept that fact that I lost all
advantage and just to continue playing normal chess:} 21... Rae8 22. gxh5 Qc7 {
with dangerous threats. White still should be accurate:} 23. h6 $1 Bxh6 24.
Nf6+ $1 Rxf6 25. Qxh4 $11 {Instead I followed a weird idea that could lead me
to defeat.}) 22. hxg4 Rf7 $4 23. b4 ({White could win after} 23. Ng5 $1 Nxg2
24. Nxf7 Nh4 (24... Nxe3 25. Qe4 $1 $18) 25. Rbf1 Rf8 26. g5 $1 $18) 23... cxb4
{[%mdl 32832] [#] Critical Position} 24. Qxb4 $4 {Any other capture keeps the
position equal, now Black suddenly wins.} ({editor:} 24. Nf6+ $2 {invites
Black's Q in:} Qxf6 $8 25. Rgf1 (25. Bxa8 Qf2+ $19) (25. Rbf1 Qb2+ $19) 25...
Qe5 26. Bxa8 (26. Rxf7 Nxg2 $19) 26... Qh2+ $19) 24... Qc7 $1 {Eyeing h2 and
c2.} 25. Qe1 Nxg2 (25... Raf8 $1 26. Qxh4 Qc2+ 27. Nd2 Bc3 28. Rbd1 Bxd2 29.
Rxd2 Rf2+ {is more convincing, but my way also works.}) 26. Rxg2 Qc2+ 27. Nd2
Rd8 28. d4 e5 $1 29. Qh4 {[#]} Bf6 (29... Rdd7 {is even better.}) 30. g5 exd4
$1 31. Qe4 d3+ 32. Ke1 Bc3 33. Qxg6+ Kf8 34. Qh6+ Ke7 0-1

[Event "New York"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1924.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Maroczy, Geza"]
[Black "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[Annotator "Alekhine +"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1924.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]{When I was a kid I liked to play different tricky
lines in opening. For example, I used to play Alekhine Defence, and there was
one interesting line:} 1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 e5 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 {[#]} 5. exd5 ({
I was especially impressed by following line:} 5. fxe5 $2 dxe4 $1 6. exf6 exf3
7. Qxf3 Nd4 $1 8. Qe4+ Be6 {and it's practically winning for Black. - Sambuev})
5... Nxd5 6. fxe5 Bg4 7. Be2 Bxf3 8. Bxf3 Qh4+ 9. Kf1 (9. g3 $142 Qd4 10. c3
Qxe5+ 11. Qe2 Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 $14 {is Alekhine's Stockfish-approved analysis.})
9... O-O-O 10. Nc3 Bc5 11. Ne4 Ne3+ 12. Bxe3 Bxe3 13. Qe1 Qh6 $1 $17 14. Ng3 (
14. Qg3 $17) 14... Nd4 15. Qb4 c6 {[#]} 16. Qa4 (16. c3 $142 Nc2 17. Nf5 Nxb4
18. Nxh6 Bxh6 19. cxb4 Rxd3 $17 {Alekhine, once again, confirmed by Stockfish
16.}) 16... Kb8 17. Rd1 Rhe8 18. h4 Qf4 19. Rh3 b5 $1 20. Nh5 bxa4 21. Nxf4
Bxf4 22. c3 Nxf3 23. Rxf3 Bxe5 24. Rxf7 Rf8 0-1

[Event "Cannes 36e"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.02.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Vlachos, Anatole"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2407"]
[BlackElo "2454"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]} 1. Nf3 ({When I was a kid I liked to play different tricky
lines in opening. For example, I used to play the Alekhine Defence, and there
was one interesting line:} 1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 e5 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 {[#]} {
I was especially impressed by following line:} 5. fxe5 (5. exd5 Nxd5 6. fxe5
Bg4 7. Be2 {0-1 (24) Maroczy,G-Alekhine,A New York, 1924}) 5... dxe4 6. exf6
exf3 7. Qxf3 Nd4 $1 8. Qe4+ Be6 {and it's practically winning for Black.}) 1...
f5 2. d3 {That's why I like this line against Dutch: it can transpose to the
game mentioned above. Obviously it's not the best line, some normal moves like
2.g3 or 2.c4 are definitely better. But this move is very tricky and leads to
completely different positions.} d6 ({It's difficult to stop 3.e4, e.g.} 2...
Nf6 3. e4 fxe4 4. dxe4 Nxe4 5. Bd3 Nf6 $2 6. Ng5 $18) 3. e4 e5 4. Nc3 Nc6 ({
Now in the case of} 4... Nf6 5. d4 {we transpose to Maroczy - Alekhine
reversed, but it leads to equal position.} ({For many years I was sure that 5.
d4 is the best move, but stronger is} 5. exf5 $1 Bxf5 6. d4 e4 $6 7. Nh4 $1 Bg4
8. Be2 $16)) 5. exf5 {[#]} Nge7 $1 ({That's why 4...Nc6 is more accurate. In
the case of} 5... Bxf5 6. d4 exd4 (6... e4 7. d5 $1 exf3 8. dxc6 bxc6 9. Qxf3
$16) 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 c6 9. g4 $1 Bxc2 10. Bg2 Qf6 (10... Qb6 11. Qc4 O-O-O
12. O-O $18) 11. Qc4 {this position is very dangerous for Black.}) 6. g4 {
I thought that this natural move is a novelty, but it proved to be that there
were few correspondence games.} h5 7. gxh5 Nxf5 ({It's better than} 7... Bxf5
8. Nh4) 8. Rg1 ({Good alternative is} 8. h4 {and it was also played in some
correspondence game.}) 8... Be7 9. Nd5 Be6 10. Bh3 Bf6 {[#]} ({Best move
according computer is} 10... Rf8 {and then} 11. Nxe7 Qxe7 12. Rg6 $5 {with
initiative}) 11. h6 ({Better was} 11. Ng5 Bxg5 12. Bxg5 Qd7 13. Bxf5 Bxf5 14.
h6 Be6 $1 {(the only move)} 15. hxg7 Qxg7 16. Nf6+ Kf7 17. Ne4 (17. Qd2 $5 Nd4
18. O-O-O Nf3 19. Qc3 Rac8 $1 20. Ne4 Nxg1 21. Rxg1 Rxh2 22. f4 {with a very
sharp position, which the computer says is 0.00.}) 17... Raf8 18. h4 Ke8 19.
Rg3 $14) ({or} 11. Bxf5 Bxf5 12. h6 Qd7 $1 13. Nxf6+ gxf6 14. Rg7 Qe6 15. Nh4
O-O-O 16. Qh5 Bh7 17. Be3 f5 18. Bg5 Rd7 19. b3 {White is still better. It is
important that Black should find some moves not to get into troubles while
White's moves are quite natural.}) 11... Bxd5 (11... Qd7 {may lead to the
variation from the previous note:} 12. Bxf5 Bxf5 13. Nxf6+ (13. Nh4 $5 Bxh4 $4
14. Rxg7 $18) 13... gxf6 14. Rg7) ({It is interesting that in the case of} 
11... gxh6 {winning move is} 12. c4 $3 {Black is completely paralyzed.}) 12.
Bxf5 gxh6 {[#]} 13. Nd2 $6 ({White had to play} 13. c4 $1 Bxf3 $1 (13... Bf7 $6
14. Qb3 {and White is clearly better.}) 14. Qxf3 Nd4 15. Bg6+ Ke7 16. Qd5 {
the position looks dangerous, but apparently Black should be fine.}) 13... Bf7
14. c3 d5 15. Nb3 Qd6 16. Be3 ({The idea was to provoke ...d5-d4. More
cautious is} 16. Qf3) 16... Ne7 17. Bh3 d4 18. Bd2 {[#]} e4 $2 ({I'd been
counting on this move. Black had to play} 18... dxc3 19. Bxc3 Rd8 {with equal
chances in this sharp position.}) 19. dxe4 dxc3 ({Here my opponent realized
that he missed} 19... Qxh2 20. Qg4 $1 {(any other move and Black wins)} Be6 21.
Qxe6 Qxg1+ 22. Ke2 Qg6 23. Nxd4 $18 {editor: Black can stop the attack with}
Bxd4 24. Qxg6+ Nxg6 25. cxd4 $18 {but White's central passers and B-pair are a
winning combo.}) 20. Bxc3 Bxc3+ 21. bxc3 Qxh2 22. Qd7+ Kf8 23. O-O-O $16 Nc6 $2
{[#]Now all I need is some accuracy.} 24. Qf5 (24. Nc5 {was stronger, but the
text move doesn't spoil anything.}) 24... Rg8 (24... Qe5 25. Qxe5 Nxe5 26. f4 {
looks totally hopeless.}) 25. Qc5+ Ne7 26. Rxg8+ Bxg8 27. Qe3 $1 {[#] Now
everything is protected.} Bf7 28. Qxh6+ Kg8 29. Qg5+ Kf8 (29... Ng6 30. Be6
Qf4+ 31. Qxf4 Nxf4 32. Bxf7+ Kxf7 33. Rd7+ $18) 30. Nc5 $1 Qxh3 31. Nd7+ $8 Ke8
32. Qg7 Nd5 33. Rxd5 Bxd5 34. Nf6+ 1-0

[Event "Transnational Crown"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2023.06.09"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Meshkovs, Nikita"]
[Black "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2573"]
[BlackElo "2448"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2023.06.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]} 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. c4 dxc4 6. O-O Nc6 {
[#]} 7. Qa4 ({The most popular and logical move, but} 7. dxc5) ({or} 7. Ne5 Bd7
8. Na3 cxd4 9. Naxc4 {probably promise White more chances.}) 7... Bd7 ({editor:
} 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 9. Bxc6+ Bd7 10. Rd1 {scores well for White after both
} Bxc6 ({or} 10... Qxd1+) 11. Qxc6+ $14) 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qd3 {[#]} c4 ({It is
interesting that I analyzed this line a bit just a day before the game. The
main alternative is} 9... Rc8 {but I never understood what's the point. From
my point of view, after the text move White cannot claim any advantage.}) 10.
Qd1 Rc8 11. a4 $6 ({After this move Black is simply better. If White wanted to
play Ne5 he had to do this immediately:} 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Ng4 13. Qd4 f5 {
with a roughly equal position.}) 11... b4 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 {[#]} Ng4 $6 ({
I was feeling that my position is already better and thought that it's time to
sacrifice something because White is going to have to play another couple of
moves with his Queen. Unfortunately, my following sacrifice gives Black
adequate compensation but not more.  Comparing to the position without moves
11.a4 b4, here White has some problem with development of the knight, so
better was:} 13... Nd5 14. Bxd5 exd5 15. Qxd5 Bc5 16. Nd2 Be6 17. Qxd8+ Rxd8
18. Ne4 Bd4 {with a clear advantage.}) 14. Qd4 h5 15. h3 Bc5 16. Qf4 Bxf2+ 17.
Rxf2 Nxf2 {[#]} 18. Kxf2 ({The other capture also leads to equal position:} 18.
Qxf2 Bc6 19. Bxc6+ Rxc6 20. Nd2 c3 21. bxc3 bxc3 22. Nf3 Qd1+ 23. Qe1 $1 Qxe1+
24. Nxe1 O-O $11) 18... O-O 19. Be3 f6 20. Bf3 Bc6 {[#]} 21. Bc5 $6 ({It's not
a mistake yet, but the first step into an abyss. After the simple} 21. Nd2 $1
c3 22. bxc3 bxc3 23. Ne4 fxe5 24. Qxe5 Qd5 25. Qxd5 Bxd5 {the most probable
result is a draw.}) 21... Bxf3 22. Bxf8 {[#]} Bb7 ({There was an interesting
possibility:} 22... Qd1 $5 23. Nc3 $1 (23. Qd2 {might be dangerous:} Qh1 24.
Bxb4 $1 Qg2+ 25. Ke3 Bd5 26. Qe1 $1 Qe4+ 27. Kf2 h4 28. Qg1 c3 $1 {with
accurate play White still should be fine, but it looks like there's no risk
for Black.}) (23. exf3 $4 Rxf8 24. Qxc4 fxe5 25. Qe2 Qh1 $19) 23... Qxa1 24.
Bxg7 $1 Qh1 25. exf3 bxc3 26. Bxf6 Qh2+ 27. Ke1 $1 Qd2+ 28. Qxd2 cxd2+ 29. Kxd2
Rb8 30. Kc3 {and most likely it's a draw. I have decided that it's too
complicated and played more natural move because I saw one idea...}) 23. Bd6 (
23. Bxb4 Qb6+ 24. Qe3 Qxb4 25. Nc3 fxe5 26. Rd1 {allowed White to finally
complete development with a pretty safe position.}) 23... fxe5 {[#]} 24. Bxe5
$4 ({I'd been hoping for this move. After} 24. Qxe5 Qb6+ 25. Kf1 Rd8 26. Nd2 $1
Qxd6 27. Qxd6 Rxd6 28. Nxc4 Rd5 29. Ke1 $1 {looks like this ending is slightly
better for Black, but it's just a draw. On the other hand, if I see that in
one line I win and in the other I get a draw if the opponent finds some
precise moves, then I think it's a better choice than going into some crazy
unclear attacking position.}) 24... Qd5 {Now it's just over.} 25. Bd6 Rd8 26.
Qe5 Rxd6 27. Qxd5 Rxd5 {[#] White's problem is that he cannot even complete
development.} 28. Ke1 Rg5 29. Kf2 Rf5+ 30. Ke1 Bg2 {editor - Move 30 and White
didn't move his Ra1 or Nb1.} 0-1

[Event "Excelsior March GM Norm"]
[Site "Toronto CAN"]
[Date "2023.03.15"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Mikhalevski, Victor"]
[Black "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2519"]
[BlackElo "2434"]
[Annotator "Bator Sambuev"]
[PlyCount "167"]
[EventDate "2023.03.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768] In the given game both players committed a number of mistakes; but it
was played in the 6th round of the event with a very tough schedule of two
games a day and very decent opposition, so please don't be too harsh on us.} 1.
Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. b3 a5 {[#] The computer
gives a very simple recipe: always meet c4 with ...d4 and Black has no
problems. I prepared the text move for one of my students some years ago.} 7.
Bb2 ({The most logical move of course is} 7. Nc3 d4 8. Nb5 {but it's not
exactly what White wanted to get playing this opening.}) 7... a4 8. bxa4 Nbd7 {
Black already has no problems, and it is rather White who should be accurate
not to get an inferior position.} 9. cxd5 exd5 {[#]} 10. Nc3 (10. a5 $1 Rxa5
11. a4 {and it's still equal. Now Black is slightly better.}) 10... Nb6 11. Rb1
d4 (11... Bf5 {was probably was a bit more accurate:} 12. d3 d4 13. Nb5 c5 $15)
12. Nb5 c5 13. e3 {[#]} ({This move allows ...Bf5 so it was better to first
play} 13. Qc2 Nxa4 14. Ba1 Be6 15. a3 Nb6 16. e3 {with an equal position.})
13... Nxa4 $6 ({After the game I found I'd overlooked the following exchange
sacrifice:} 13... Bf5 14. exd4 $1 Bxb1 15. Qxb1 Rxa4 16. dxc5 $13 {and with
pawn and bishop pair White is quite safe. On the other hand, the only question
is "can Black win this or not?". I had to accept that, but during the game I
overestimated my position and wasn't satisfied by such an outcome. So after a
long think, I played the text move.}) 14. exd4 Be6 15. dxc5 Bc4 {[#]} 16. Bxf6
$6 ({That what I expected. But White could simply play:} 16. Re1 $1 Nxc5 17.
Bxf6 Bxf6 18. d4 Ne6 19. a4 Bxb5 20. Rxb5 Nxd4 21. Rxb7 Nxf3+ 22. Bxf3 Qxd1 23.
Bxd1 {and now it is Black who has to fight for a draw, even if most likely he
will succeed.}) 16... Bxf6 17. d4 ({Now in the case of} 17. Re1 {Black has} Bd3
$1 18. Bf1 Bxb1 19. Qxb1 Nxc5 20. d4 {and we get similar a game as after 13...
Bf5, with the same chances for both sides. Don't complicate things without
necessity!}) 17... Bxb5 18. Rxb5 Nc3 19. Qd3 Nxb5 20. Qxb5 Bxd4 21. Nxd4 Qxd4 {
[#] Strangely enough I managed to reach the position I was aiming for. After
the best move it still should be a draw, but White suddenly played} 22. Bxb7 $2
({The bishop is obviously misplaced there. After the simpler} 22. Qxb7 Rxa2 23.
c6 {it's very unlikely that Black will manage to convert this.}) 22... Rxa2 23.
c6 Rc2 {Maybe White can hold this position somehow, but the way it goes he
plays without his bishop.} 24. Qf5 Rc5 25. Qd7 Qe5 26. Rd1 g6 27. Qd6 Re8 28.
h4 {[#] Critical Position Should Black exchange Qs with ...Qxd6, or Rs with ...
Rc1?} Rc1 $2 {This attractive move should lead to an immediate draw.} ({
Black retains good winning chances after:} 28... Qxd6 29. Rxd6 Re2 {It is
difficult to estimate chances in this ending. I think with absolutely perfect
play White can survive, so it's something like 75% for a win vs 25% for a draw.
editor: After} 30. Rd7 Rec2 {[%mdl 32768] How can Black can make progress?
White's pawn is stopped and his B looks like it will be permanently guarding
the c-pawn. If both Black Rs are stuck on the c-file to prevent c6-c7 then
it's a kind of dynamic stalemate. But Black can free one of his Rs by bringing
his K to e8 (so the R will hang if c6-c7). Although White's only weak point is
f2, Black can target that with his Rc2 and other R on the f-file. Trading Rs
would let Black's K attack f1 from e1, and if White defends f2 with Rf1 it
will surely soon be a real zugzwang.}) 29. Qd2 $2 ({I was sure that after
trading rooks it should be winning for me because White has no counterplay.
What we both missed is that after the simple:} 29. Rxc1 $1 Qxd6 30. c7 {
it's time to agree to the draw.}) 29... Rxd1+ $19 30. Qxd1 Qc5 31. Qd2 h5 32.
Kg2 Re7 33. Qd1 Kh7 34. Qb3 {[#]} Qd4 $4 ({Suddenly a big mistake! Black had
to play} 34... Re6 $1) 35. Qf3 $4 ({White misses his chance to activate the
bishop:} 35. Ba6 $8 Qc5 36. Qc4 $1 Qxc4 37. Bxc4 {and Black can keep trying,
but now it's a draw.}) 35... Kg7 36. Bc8 ({Now in the case of} 36. Ba6 Qc5 {
the only way to protect the pawn is to go back to b7.}) 36... Qc4 37. Bd7 Re1
38. Kh2 Rc1 39. Be8 Rc3 40. Qd1 {[#]} Qc5 ({It's the very last stand and Black
only needs to find a final regrouping:} 40... Rc2 41. Qf3 Qe6 $1 42. Bd7 Qe1
43. Kg2 Rc1 $19) 41. Kg2 Qe5 42. Bd7 Qe4+ 43. Kg1 Kh7 44. Qf1 Qd4 45. Kh2 Rc2
46. Kg1 Kg7 (46... Qc3 $1 47. Qg2 Qa1+ 48. Kh2 Qd1 49. Bh3 Qe1 $19 {etc.}) 47.
Qg2 Rc1+ 48. Kh2 {[#]} Qd3 ({Here I missed that after} 48... Qf6 $1 {White is
in zugzwang. editor: e.g.} 49. Be8 Rc2 50. Kg1 Qa1+ 51. Kh2 Qe1 $19 {forking
f2 and e8.}) 49. Kh3 Kf8 $2 (49... Qe2 {and White can resign.}) 50. Kh2 {[#]}
Ke7 $2 {This whole idea -- blocking the c-pawn with the K -- is wrong and even
gives White some chances.} 51. Kh3 Kd6 (51... Rc2 $142 52. Kh2 Qe2 53. Kg1 Rc1+
54. Kh2 Rf1 $19) 52. Kh2 Kc7 53. g4 Qd6+ {Anyway... The position is still
winning, but now I should calculate something instead of just making moves. Of
course, I failed...} 54. Qg3 ({editor:} 54. Kh3 Rc3+ 55. f3 Qf4 $19) 54... hxg4
55. Be8 {[#]} f6 $4 ({I got that feeling that I'm losing control over the game,
and after this mistake I have to win it all over again. I was still winning
after} 55... f5 $1 56. Bxg6 (56. Qxd6+ Kxd6 57. Bxg6 Ke5 58. Be8 Kf4 59. Kg2
Rc2 $8 {and ...g3 or ...Kg3 wins.}) 56... f4 $8 57. Qxg4 f3+ $8 58. Qg3 Qxg3+
$8 59. Kxg3 Rg1+ $8 $19 {Somehow I missed that I win the bishop in the end.})
56. Bxg6 (56. Qxd6+ Kxd6 57. Kg3 f5 58. Bxg6 {is the same.}) 56... Rc3 $2 ({
Now it's a draw. Black retains winning chances after} 56... Kxc6 57. Bf5 Rc3
58. Qxd6+ Kxd6 59. Bxg4 Ke5) 57. Qxd6+ $8 Kxd6 {[#]} 58. Bf5 ({It's draw after
} 58. Be8 $1 Ke5 59. h5 $1 $11) 58... Rh3+ $15 59. Kg2 Kxc6 60. Bxg4 Rxh4 61.
Kg3 Rh8 {[#] According tablebase it's a draw and it was a draw until the very
end. editor: but even GMs struggle to play as well as tablebases.} 62. Kf4 Rg8
63. Bf3+ Kd6 64. Be4 Ke6 65. Bf5+ Kf7 66. Ke3 Rb8 67. f4 Rb3+ 68. Kf2 Ke7 69.
Ke2 Ra3 70. Kf2 Kf7 71. Ke2 Ra5 72. Be4 f5 {[#] Trying to restrict some how
the bishop.} 73. Bc6 Rc5 74. Bb7 Ke6 75. Ke3 Rc4 76. Bh1 Kd6 77. Bb7 Rc7 78.
Bg2 Rg7 79. Kf2 Rh7 80. Bf1 Kd5 81. Bd3 Rh5 82. Ke3 Kc5 83. Kf2 Kd4 {[%mdl
32832] [#]  Critical Position. I have made a lot of progress and finally get a
chance. In this position only one move saves White, and my opponent doesn't
find it.} 84. Ba6 $2 {editor - the game score ended here, which seemed odd, so
I asked Bator about it.  "I don't remember exactly... according the live
stream he forfeited on time but I'm not sure. I think right after Ba6 he
realized that he's losing the pawn and resigned." - Sambuev} ({The only saving
move is quite logical:} 84. Bb1 $1 {keeping f5 under attack and preventing ...
Ke4 leaves the R tied down.}) ({But after} 84. Ba6 Ke4 85. Kg3 Rh7 $19 {
there are no checks to dislodge the black king, so Black will win the pawn and
the game.}) 0-1

[Event "2023 Excelsior Anniversary"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.01.26"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Preotu, Razvan"]
[Black "Loadman, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2534"]
[BlackElo "2054"]
[Annotator "Razvan Preotu"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 {I decided to play a slow positional game, which in
retrospect was not a great choice.} (4. Ng5 {is how to get a complicated game.
(editor - see: Berengolts - Loadman, in "Senior Moments")}) 4... Bc5 5. c3 d6
6. O-O a5 {[#] A useful move to allow for ...Ba7, which gets out of the move
d4 and prevents White from expanding on the queenside with b4.} 7. Re1 Ba7 8.
Nbd2 O-O 9. Nf1 Be6 {Trading light-square bishops is one of Black's main ideas.
} 10. Bb5 Ne7 {Manuvering the knight to g6 and allowing for ...c6. My opponent
knew the opening ideas very well.} 11. Ng3 Ng6 {[#]} 12. h3 $6 {This is a
useful move to control g4 and prepare d4, but it gives Black time to play ...
d5 first.} (12. d4 {is what White should play. I didn't like that Black has
the idea of ...Bg4 with pressure against d4, but with the knight on g6 instead
of c6 this is not so strong, and White can play Be2 or Be3 in response.} c6 13.
Bf1 Bg4 14. Be3 {White intends h3.}) 12... c6 13. Ba4 d5 $1 {Black strikes in
the center before White can push d4 and now has a good position.} 14. exd5 Nxd5
15. d4 (15. Nxe5 $4 {runs into a common tactic in the Italian:} Nxe5 16. Rxe5
Bxf2+ $1 17. Kxf2 Qf6+ 18. Qf3 Qxe5 $19) 15... exd4 16. Nxd4 Qc7 $1 {[#] 
Black does not need to worry about Nxe6 and can finish development. I was not
happy with how the opening went, as already Black is slightly better.} 17. Nf1
$6 {My idea was to prepare Nxe6 as there are no tactics with the knight on g3,
but this is passive and allows the very strong ...Ndf4.} (17. Nxe6 $4 Bxf2+ $1
{wins material} 18. Kxf2 fxe6+ 19. Kg1 Qxg3 $19) (17. Nh5 $1 {was stronger as
it controls f4, playing against ...Ndf4. I didn't like that ...Bb8 esentially
forces me to repeat with Ng3, but objectively White is the one trying to
equalize.} Rae8 18. Bb3 Bb8 19. Ng3 $11) ({editor - a week after this game was
played, White failed to equalize in an all-GM game after:} 17. Ne4 Rae8 18.
Nxe6 $2 Rxe6 19. Bc2 Rfe8 $17 20. Qg4 Ne5 (20... Re5 $142 $19 {and ...f5
cashes in the e-file battery.}) 21. Qh5 g6 22. Qd1 Nc4 23. Re2 f5 $19 24. Bd3
b5 (24... Ne5 $142 $19) 25. Ng5 Bxf2+ {Not best, but sufficient for an easy
draw, which was all Black needed to wrap up this two game match.} 26. Kxf2 Qa7+
27. Kg3 Qc7+ 28. Kf3 Ne5+ 29. Rxe5 Rxe5 30. Kf2 Re1 31. Qc2 Qb6+ 32. Kg3 Qc7+
33. Kf2 Qb6+ 34. Kg3 Qc7+ 35. Kf2 {Vokhidov,S (2596)-Anton Guijarro,D (2672)
Chessable Masters Div 2 Lose rapid 2024 (1.2) 1/2-1/2}) 17... Rae8 $6 {The
rook belongs on d8 to put pressure against the queen, so I was happy to see
this move.} ({I was mainly worried about} 17... Rad8) (17... Ndf4 $1 {would
have been very strong. Black threatens ..Rad8 and has ideas of ...Bd5 and ...
Nh4 attacking g2. White's position is critical.} 18. Bc2 $1 {White intends
Bxg6 to force the knight away from f4.} (18. Nxe6 $2 fxe6 19. Be3 Nh4 {gives
Black a decisive attack} 20. Bxa7 Rxa7 21. Ne3 Nhxg2 $19) 18... Rad8 19. Bxg6
Nxg6 20. Be3 $17) 18. Bb3 {[#] Improving the bishop, as on a4 it was doing
nothing.} Bxd4 $6 {Black trades to no longer have to worry about Nxe6, but
this was not a threat because opening the f-file is still extremely dangerous
for White.} (18... b5 $15 {Gaining space and intending ...a4-a3 is what I was
mainly worried about.}) ({On} 18... Ndf4 {I was planning,} 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20.
Be3 {but Black still has the initiative after} Bxe3 21. fxe3 Rd8 $36 {with ...
Nd3 ideas.}) 19. Qxd4 {I was happy with the position now as I no longer felt I
was worse and in danger.} b5 20. Qc5 {Preventing ...c5-c4.} Ndf4 {A good move
to elminate White's bishop pair} 21. Bxf4 Nxf4 {[#]} 22. Rad1 ({I would like
to play} 22. Bxe6 $4 {to not allow ...Bxb3, but this fails to} Nd3 $19) 22...
a4 (22... Bxb3 $1 {Weakening White's pawn structure is best.} 23. Rxe8 (23.
axb3 $4 Nd3 $1 $19) 23... Rxe8 24. axb3 $11) 23. Bxe6 Rxe6 24. Rxe6 ({I
considered} 24. Ne3 {to try and keep more pieces on, but I was worried by ...
Rg6 ideas with pressure against g2. Turns out this is not dangerous:} Rg6 (
24... Rfe8 25. c4 $11) 25. Kf1 $11) 24... Nxe6 25. Qd6 $11 {[#] The position
is completely equal. I was hoping that I could somehow outplay my opponent in
the endgame if I can get an active rook on d6} Qb6 26. Qe7 Qc5 27. Qxc5 Nxc5
28. Ne3 Rc8 29. Nc2 {[#] I didn't see any other idea but to go for Nb4 and Rd6
attacking c6.} Kf8 30. f3 Ke7 31. Nb4 Nd7 32. Kf2 Nb6 33. b3 c5 34. Nd5+ Nxd5
35. Rxd5 axb3 36. axb3 Ke6 37. c4 {[#]} b4 {A good move to allow for ...Ra8-a3
counterplay. In rook endgames it is important to have an active rook.} (37...
bxc4 38. bxc4 {is of course drawn, but Black will have to defend a bit because
of the passive rook.}) 38. Ke3 Ra8 39. Rxc5 Ra3 40. Kd4 Rxb3 41. Re5+ Kd7 42.
Kc5 {I was hoping to go Kb6 and advance the c-pawn.} f6 43. Re2 Rb1 44. Kb6 b3
45. c5 {[#]} Rc1 $1 {Not a hard move to find, but an important one, preventing
c6+ and intending ...Rc2 and ...b3-b2.} 46. Rb2 {Preventing ...Rc2.} (46. Rd2+
Ke6 47. c6 Rc2 48. Rd1 b2 {Black threatens ...Rc1 so White has no time to
promote the c-pawn.} 49. Rb1 (49. c7 $4 Rc1 $19) 49... Kd6 $11) 46... Rc3 {
Here I didn't see what I could do and decided to go after the b3-pawn,
although this is clearly not a winning attempt} 47. Kb5 ({White can advance
the kingside pawns with} 47. h4 {before deciding on a plan, but during the
game I didn't see what this accomplishes.}) 47... Kc7 {[#] Black's king is in
front of the pawn so the game is a dead draw now.} 48. Kb4 Rc2 49. Rxb3 Kc6 50.
Ra3 Rb2+ 51. Kc4 Rc2+ 52. Kd4 Rd2+ 53. Kc4 Rc2+ 54. Kd4 {[%mdl 32768] Not a
good game by me and a bad start to the tournament. I never had an advantage
and was in a bit of danger in the early middlegame had my opponent played more
aggressively} 1/2-1/2

[Event "2023 Excelsior Anniversary"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.01.27"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Singh Dhaliwal, Jaipreet"]
[Black "Preotu, Razvan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2104"]
[BlackElo "2534"]
[Annotator "Razvan Preotu"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]} 1. e4 d5 $5 {I felt after the first round game that I needed a
new strategy, and that I should surprise my opponents in the opening.} 2. exd5
Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 {[#] This is a favourite of Sergei Tiviakov. Magnus Carlsen
has played this a number of times in blitz as well, if that means anything.} 4.
d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Ne5 {White centralizes the knight to play against ...Bg4.}
Nbd7 7. Nc4 Qc7 {[#]} 8. g3 (8. Qf3 {Is a better way to prepare Bf4 as White
develops the queen and allows for 0-0-0. I played this as White against
Tiviakov in the 2014 Canadian Open:} Nb6 9. Bf4 $14 Qd8 10. Be5 Bg4 11. Qf4 Be6
12. Nxb6 Qxb6 13. O-O-O O-O-O 14. Be2 h5 15. Kb1 Ng4 $2 16. Bxg4 hxg4 {
Analysis Diagram [#] Critical Position Should White do anything about ...f6?}
17. Qe4 (17. d5 $142 $18 {[%mdl 640]} Bxd5 {hoping to use the Rh8 across the
6th rank, but} (17... cxd5 18. Rd3 $1 {threatening Na4 and Rc3+.}) 18. Nxd5
cxd5 19. Rd3 Rh6 20. Qxg4+ Re6 (20... e6 21. Rc3+ $18) (20... Qe6 21. Rc3+ Kd7
22. Qa4+ $18) 21. Rhd1 $18 {Black gets sliced to ribbons.}) 17... Rh5 18. Bg3
$6 Ra5 19. b3 Bf5 20. Qe3 e6 21. Ne4 Rad5 $1 $17 22. Qf4 Bxe4 23. Qxe4 Rxd4 24.
Rxd4 Qxd4 25. Qxd4 Rxd4 $19 {Black has an extra pawn and the active R and
converted methodically. [full game in PGN]} 26. Kb2 Bd6 27. Bxd6 Rxd6 28. Kc3
Rd5 29. h4 Kd7 30. Re1 Kd6 31. g3 Rf5 32. Re2 Rc5+ 33. Kd4 Rd5+ 34. Kc3 Rd1 35.
a4 f5 36. Kc4 e5 37. c3 b6 38. b4 a6 39. Kb3 b5 40. axb5 axb5 41. Kc2 Rd5 $1
42. Re1 e4 43. h5 Rd3 44. Re3 Rxe3 45. fxe3 Ke6 46. Kb3 Kf6 47. c4 Kg5 {
editor: Black takes h5 then pushes ...g5 and ...f4 and White is too slow to
promote his b-pawn; so: 0-1 Preotu,R (2341)-Tiviakov,S (2656) Montreal, 2014.})
8... Nb6 9. Bf4 Qd8 10. Ne3 Nbd5 $1 {[#] Black has less space and benefits
from trading pieces. I also wanted to develop the bishop to f5.} 11. Nexd5 (11.
Qf3 {Keeping more pieces on and preventing ...Bf5 would make it more
uncomfortable for Black.} Nxf4 12. Qxf4 e6 13. Bg2 Be7 14. O-O O-O $11 {
Black has the bishop pair but is not better because of the passive
light-square bishop.}) 11... Nxd5 {I was very happy with my position and
thought I was gaining the initiative. White was not in time to play Bg2 and
can't trade on d5 due to ...Qxd5.} 12. Bd2 {[#]} Bf5 {Threatening ...Nb4, with
a double attack on c2, and one on d4.} (12... Nxc3 13. Bxc3 Qd5 {is a strong
idea and was what I was originally intending, but I wasn't very excited about
the line} 14. Rg1 Bf5 15. Bg2 Qe6+ 16. Qe2 Qxe2+ 17. Kxe2 e6 {as although
Black is very comfortable in the endgame, I didn't think my winning chances
were so good.} ({and} 17... Bxc2 18. d5 {allows White to activate the bishops,
giving great compensation for the pawn.})) 13. Rc1 $2 {My opponent defends
against ...Nb4, but loses valuable time} ({I thought} 13. Bg2 $1 {was the
critical line, accepting the challenge after ...Nb4} Nb4 {Black doesn't have
to go for this and could just play ...e6, but then the position is equal} 14.
Rc1 Qxd4 {Black is a pawn up and threatens ...000 to force a queen exchange
against 0-0, but White has} 15. a3 $1 Na6 16. Qe2 $1 $44 {Preparing Be3
against ...000. Both sides have chances: Black is a pawn up, but White has
better development.} (16. O-O $2 O-O-O $1 $17 {forces a queen exchange.}))
13... Nxc3 {Black has a greatly improved version of 12...Nxc3 (above).} 14.
Bxc3 Qd5 15. Rg1 Qxa2 {A greedy move, but there is nothing wrong with taking
the pawn} (15... O-O-O {I also considered, playing for development with moves
like ...e5 or ...g6 and ...Bg7.}) 16. b3 Qa3 {Returning the queen to d6 where
it is centralized is a good idea.} 17. Ra1 Qd6 {[#]} 18. Ra5 $6 {This allows
Black to consolidate with ...e6, preventing d4-d5 once and for all.} (18. g4 $1
{With the idea to meet ...Bg6 with d5 was the only idea for White to
complicate the position:} Qe6+ (18... Bg6 19. d5 {Black can't capture on d5
because Bb5+ would be very strong} e6 20. dxc6 Qxc6 21. Rg3 $44 {White intends
Bg2 and has some compensation}) 19. Kd2 (19. Be2 Be4 $17 {White can't play f3
because of ...Bxf3 so it is not clear how to proceed.}) 19... Qh6+ 20. Ke1 Bd7
$17 {Black threatens ...Qxh2 and ...e6 completing development. The computer
thinks White has some compensation, but practically I don't think it's enough.}
) 18... Qg6 (18... e6 $17) 19. Kd2 $1 {Walking the king to c1 makes a lot of
sense as White couldn't castle.} e6 $17 {White no longer has d5 and Black is
just a clean pawn up.} 20. f4 Bd6 21. Kc1 $2 {Sacrificing another pawn is too
much.} (21. Bg2 O-O 22. Kc1 {is a better defense, but Black is still likely to
win with the extra pawn and better piece coordination.}) 21... Bxf4+ 22. Kb2
Bc7 23. Ra4 O-O $19 {[#] Black is two pawns up and the rest is a matter of
technique.} 24. Be2 Rfd8 25. h4 b5 26. Ra6 Bb6 27. g4 Be4 28. h5 Qg5 29. Rg3 b4
30. Bxb4 Bxd4+ 31. Kb1 {[#]} Bc3 {Winning the Queen or the Bishop.} 32. Qxd8+
Rxd8 33. Rxc3 Rd2 34. Rxa7 h6 35. Bf3 Bxf3 36. Rxf3 Rd1+ 37. Ka2 Qc1 38. Bc3 $8
Qxc2+ 39. Ka3 Rd3 40. Rxd3 Qxd3 41. Bb2 c5 42. Ra4 f6 43. Rc4 {[#]editor:
Black doesn't even need the K to win:  1) force White to give up a piece for
the e-pawn;  2) break up White's kingside pawns and win them.} e5 44. Rxc5 e4
45. Bc3 e3 46. Kb2 Qe2+ 47. Ka3 Qc2 48. Kb4 e2 49. Rc4 Qxc3+ $1 50. Kxc3 e1=Q+
51. Kc2 {[#]} f5 $1 {editor - leaving White with doomed isos.} 52. gxf5 Qf2+
53. Kc3 Qxf5 54. b4 Qxh5 55. Rc5 Qf3+ 56. Kc4 Qe4+ 57. Kc3 g5 58. b5 g4 59. b6
g3 60. Rc8+ Kf7 61. Rc7+ Kg6 62. Rc8 g2 63. Rg8+ Kf7 64. b7 Qe5+ $1 65. Kd2
Kxg8 0-1

[Event "2023 Excelsior Anniversary"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.01.27"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Preotu, Razvan"]
[Black "Filipovich, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "2534"]
[BlackElo "2124"]
[Annotator "Razvan Preotu"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. e4 g6 {I was happy to see the
Modern, as it is not a solid opening.} 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Be3 d5 5. e5 {
This is one logical setup by White, gaining space and blocking the bishop on
g7.} f6 6. f4 Nh6 7. Qd2 Ng4 {[#] Black guarantees the knight for bishop
exchange which is normally quite favourable, but here the position is
relatively closed and Black is moving the knight many times in the opening.} 8.
O-O-O O-O 9. Kb1 {It's nearly always useful to defend a2 and get off the c1-h6
diagonal.} b5 10. Nf3 Nxe3 11. Qxe3 a5 {Black is advancing the queenside pawns
to start an attack but this is quite slow.} 12. h4 $1 {[#] Threatening h5 is
dangerous for Black. I was very happy with my position.  editor - Canadians
who learned chess from Suttles and Day games might be shocked to find that
Stockfish 16.1 rates this position as +2, even after Black's best move, which
he played...} Bg4 13. Be2 ({Sacrificing a pawn to open lines is more direct:} 
13. h5 $1 gxh5 (13... Bxh5 14. g4 $1 Bxg4 15. Bh3 $18) 14. Ne2 $1 {followed by
Ng3 and it is very likely White's attack will lead to victory.}) 13... h5 14.
Nh2 $1 {White, of course, wants to prepare g4.} Bxe2 (14... f5 15. Nxg4 fxg4
16. Bxg4 $1 hxg4 17. h5 $18 {sacrificing a piece to open lines is strong, and
very similar to the improvement in the next note.}) 15. Nxe2 f5 {[%mdl 32769] 
[#]  Critical Position What is White's best pawn move?  A very critical moment
in the game, as if Black has enough time to consolidate with ...e6 ...Nd7 it
is not clear how White will put on any pressure.} 16. e6 $4 {This is
completely wrong and changes the evaluation from winning for White to equal. I
saw the right idea of g4 and sacruficing the knight to open lines, but was not
confident with myself and didn't want to risk being a piece down. My idea with
e6 was to prevent Black from playing ...e6 Nd7, but the clear downside is that
Black's bihsop gets opened} (16. g4 $1 {or Rdg1 and then g4 is completely
devastating:} fxg4 17. Nxg4 $1 hxg4 18. Rdg1 $18 {White threatens h5 and Black
is simply unable to get enough pieces to the defense.} ({or} 18. h5 $18)) 16...
Qd6 $11 17. Nc1 Na6 18. Nd3 {[#]} Rac8 $1 {A strong move, preparing ...c5. I
completely missed the idea of ...Rc8 and ...c5 when playing e6.} (18... Nc7 19.
Nc5 $14) (18... Rf6 19. Rhe1 $14) 19. Rhe1 c5 $132 20. Ne5 Bxe5 (20... cxd4 21.
Qxd4 Rfd8 {Was a better option, keeping the queens on the board. White has to
be a bit careful with ...Nc5xe6 being a threat.}) 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Rxe5 Rfd8
$11 {[#] The endgame is dynamically balanced. It is not clear if the pawn on
e6 is a strength or a weakness.} 23. dxc5 Rxc5 24. Nf3 Rd6 25. Nd4 {[#]} b4 {
A good positional move to advance the pawn, but during the game I thought this
was a mistake because I considered my next move to be very strong} ({I was
expecting} 25... Nc7 {to prevent the move I played in the game} 26. a3 $11 {
White prevents ...b4 and can slowly improve with b3, Kb2, but there is no
dangerous plan afterwards.}) 26. g4 {I was happy with this move and thought
Black's position is all of a sudden dangerous.} hxg4 (26... fxg4 {is also
possible} 27. Rg5 Nc7 28. f5 {was my idea, but after} Ne8 $1 {Black is in time
to get the knight to f6 and defend h5.}) 27. h5 {[#] Black's position is
critical as the defense of the f5-pawn has been undermined} Nb8 $1 {Intending .
..Nc6 to exchange knights. I overlooked this important resource for my
opponent when playing 26.g4.} (27... Nc7 $2 {intending ...Nb5 is not the same,
as the rook on e5 won't be attacked} 28. hxg6 Nb5 $2 29. Nxf5 $18) 28. hxg6 Nc6
{[#] The position becomes very forcing, and Black continues to play well.} 29.
Nxf5 Nxe5 30. Nxd6 Nxg6 31. Nf5 Nxf4 32. Nxe7+ Kf8 33. Nf5 Nxe6 34. Ne3 {
White wins the g4-pawn.} d4 (34... g3 35. Nf1 g2 36. Ne3 $11) 35. Nxg4 $11 {
[#] Despite not having an objective advantage I felt I have chances to outplay
my opponent, as Black's pawns are more vulnerable than mine and, most
importantly, I had a serious time advantage: my opponent only had around 5
minutes (+30s) for as many moves as I could force him to make.} Ke7 36. Nf2 Kd7
37. Nd3 Rf5 38. b3 Kc6 39. Nb2 Rd5 40. Nc4 Kb5 41. Rh1 {[#]  Critical Position
Doesn't ...d3 and ...Rxd3 simply draw?  Trying to annoy my opponent with Rh6.
I was also setting a trap by allowing ...d3, as I knew my opponent would be
tempted by this move to trade pawns.} d3 (41... a4 42. Rh6 axb3 43. axb3 Nf4
$11) 42. cxd3 Rxd3 $4 {A decisive mistake as the pin after Rh5+ Nc5 proves to
be fatal!} (42... Nc5 {or ...Nf4 was better. White can win the a5-pawn, but
that's not enough to win the game:} 43. Rh6 Nxd3 44. Rb6+ Kc5 45. Ra6 Kd4 $11)
43. Rh5+ $8 Nc5 ({editor -} 43... Kc6 44. Ne5+ $18) ({editor -} 43... Ka6 44.
Rh6 $1 (44. Rxa5+ {and Rb5xb4 also wins.}) 44... Rd1+ 45. Kc2 Re1 46. Kd2 Re4
47. Kd3 Re1 48. Ne3 $18 {wins the Ne6.}) 44. Nb2 $8 {[#] White gets Na4 and --
amazingly -- Black is losing!} Rg3 (44... Rd8 45. Na4 Rc8 {Defends the knight,
but Black is an eternal pin: only the rook can move along the c-file or the N
is lost. White's winning plan involves advancing the king to the back rank
where it will take away the c7/c8 squares from the rook:} 46. Kc2 Rc7 47. Rd5
Rc8 48. Kd2 Rc7 49. Ke3 Re7+ 50. Kf4 Rf7+ 51. Ke5 Re7+ 52. Kf6 Re6+ 53. Kf7 $22
Rc6 54. Ke7 Rc7+ 55. Kd8 Rc6 56. Rh5 $22 Rd6+ 57. Kc7 Rc6+ 58. Kb8 $22 $18) 45.
Na4 Rg1+ 46. Kc2 Rg2+ 47. Kd1 {[#] The checks run out and Black is not able to
save the knight.} Rxa2 (47... Rg1+ 48. Ke2 Rg2+ 49. Kf1 Rc2 50. Ke1 Kc6 {
Escaping the pin, but} 51. Kd1 $18 {White is just in time to play Kd1.}) 48.
Rxc5+ {The pawn on b3 can't be traded, so White is technically winning.} Ka6
$18 49. Rc6+ Kb7 50. Rb6+ Ka7 51. Rh6 Rg2 52. Nc5 Rg5 53. Ra6+ Kb8 54. Rxa5
Rg1+ 55. Kd2 Kc7 56. Nd3 Rg2+ 57. Ke3 Rg3+ 58. Ke4 Rg4+ 59. Kf3 Rd4 60. Ke3 Rh4
61. Rb5 Rh3+ 62. Kd4 1-0

[Event "2023 Excelsior Anniversary"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.01.28"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Preotu, Razvan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2584"]
[BlackElo "2534"]
[Annotator "Razvan Preotu"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]} {This is the critial round of the tournament. I had 2.5/3
points while my opponent was 3/3.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bf5 5.
e3 e6 6. Nh4 Be4 {[#] I decided to repeat the line I played against Bator in
the 2023 Canadian Transnational Chess Championship in Montreal, as the opening
was quite successful. This line usually leads to very fighting positions,
which was perfect for my tournament situation} 7. f3 {White guarantees the
bishop pair advantage, but the move f3 is weakening. Because of this White's
main idea in many lines is to go for 0-0-0, leading to sharp play.} Bg6 8. Qb3
Qc7 9. g3 {A useful move to defend the knight on h4} ({Our game in Montreal
went:} 9. Bd2 Be7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. e4 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Bh4+ $1 14.
Kd1 O-O $11 {[#]  Analysis Diagram With the king on d1 Black has good play by
trying to open the center with moves like ...c5.} 15. Rb1 b5 16. g3 Be7 17. h4
$6 Qxg3 18. Ke2 Qc7 $1 19. h5 g5 $1 $15 20. Kf2 a6 21. c4 e5 22. Bh3 $6 (22. d5
$15) 22... exd4 23. Rbg1 Nd7 24. Bxg5 Bxg5 25. Rxg5 Qf4 $1 $19 26. Rhg1 bxc4 $1
27. Rxg7+ Kh8 28. Qxc4 Qe3+ 29. Kg2 (29. Kf1 Rab8 $19 (29... Qxf3+ $19)) 29...
Kxg7 30. Bxd7 Kh8 31. Qxc6 Rg8+ 32. Bg4 Qf4 33. Kh3 Rad8 34. Rd1 Rc8 $1 35. Qd7
Rc2 36. Qxd4+ f6 37. Qg1 Rxg4 $1 {if 38.fxg4 Rc3+.   0-1 Sambuev,B (2448)
-Preotu,R (2475) Montreal, 2023.}) 9... Be7 10. cxd5 {[#]} cxd5 $1 {The best
way to recapture as it opens the c6-square for the knight.} (10... Nxd5 11. e4
{White gets the center} Nxc3 12. Bf4 $1 {A strong Zwischenzug move to develop
with tempo} Qb6 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. bxc3 $14) (10... exd5 {leads to a pawn
structure that favours White. Black will have a hard time challenging the
center with ...c5 because it weakens the d5-pawn, while White can more easily
prepare e4.} 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Bd2 $14) 11. Bd2 Nc6 12. Rc1 {[#]} O-O {I was
out of my opening preperation and after some thought decided to play normally
by allowing Nxg6.} (12... Bh5 $5 {preventing Nxg6 is an interesting option} 13.
Be2 g5 14. Ng2 {Black keeps the bishop but has weakend the kingside, so I was
unsure about this} O-O 15. O-O Bg6 $11) 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. Kf2 Rac8 {Preparing .
..Na5-c4. I decided to move the a8 rook to keep the option of ...Rfe8 and ...
e5.} 15. Be2 (15. Bd3 {seemed more natural to me, but my opponent must have
not liked that he will likely have to move the bishop again if I play ...e5.}
Qd7 {Followed by ...e5 is a strong idea other than ...Na5-c4, as after dxe5 ...
Nxe5 White has to move the bishop again.}) 15... Na5 {[#]} 16. Qa4 (16. Nxd5 {
was possible, and something I had to calculate when playing ...Na5, but it is
not dangerous:} Nxb3 17. Rxc7 Nxd5 (17... Rxc7 18. Nxe7+ Rxe7 19. Bb4 $1 {
White gets the exchange back and will be a pawn up, but Black will have enough
compensation with the active rook:} Rc7 20. Bxf8 Kxf8 21. axb3 Rc2 22. Rb1 Nd5
23. e4 Nb4 $11) 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 19. axb3 Rc2 20. Rd1 Rxb2 21. e4 Nb4 {White has
to bail out with Bxb4 and d4-d5 as otherwise the b3-pawn is lost.} 22. Bxb4
Bxb4 23. d5 exd5 24. Rxd5 $11) 16... Nc4 {Having activated the knight to c4 I
felt good about my position} 17. Nxd5 $5 {Opening the c-file to follow up with
b3. The nature of the position changes completely} ({I was expecting} 17. Bxc4
Qxc4 $11 {with an equal position.} (17... dxc4 $5 {intending ...a6 and ...b5
is an ambitious try for Black.})) (17. Nb5 Qb6 18. Bxc4 dxc4 {Black has ...a6
against Rxc4 winning b2, so the position is completley fine.} 19. Rxc4 $4 (19.
Qa5 $1 $11) 19... a6 20. Rxc8 (20. Nc3 Qxb2 $19) 20... Rxc8 21. Nc3 Qxb2 $19)
17... exd5 $8 18. b3 {[%mdl 64] [#] Critical Position Black trails the
top-seed by 1/2 a point and needs winning chances.} Nxd2 $5 {The simplest move
and I thought the most ambitious for me. Black gets rook and two pieces for
the queen, which is more than enough material. The problem is the knight on d2
is trapped deep in White's side of the board, but I felt I'd have enough
activity with the rooks on the open c-file.} (18... b5 19. Qxb5 $8 $11 {
doesn't acheive anything for Black.}) (18... Ba3 {is a strong move that wins
the exchange, but the position remains complicated after} 19. bxc4 (19. Rc2 $2
b5 $1 {allows Black to save the knight, and is an idea I missed during the
game. After} 20. Qxb5 Qb6 $8 {bxc4 fails to ...Qxb5 and the rook on c2 is not
defended, but after} 21. Qxb6 Nxb6 $19 {Black is up a piece for two pawns.})
19... Bxc1 20. Rxc1 $44 {White has a pawn and the bishop pair for the exchange,
giving good positional compensation.}) 19. Rxc7 Rxc7 {[#]} 20. Rd1 $1 {A very
important move. White wins the knight immediately as ...Rc2 is met with Ke1.} (
20. Qa5 $4 {attacks the rook and knight, but fails} Rc2 21. Rd1 Re8 $1 {
Preparing to attack e3. Black has a winning advantage as Rxd2 fails to ...b6!}
22. Ke1 $2 (22. Rxd2 $2 b6 $19) 22... Nxf3+ $1 {wins on the spot (22...Bb4
transposes)} 23. Bxf3 Bb4+ 24. Qxb4 Rxe3+ 25. Kf1 Rxf3+ 26. Kg1 Rff2 $19 {
editor - there's no way to keep the N out, and it it goes to e4 or g4 with
mate threats.}) (20. Qxa7 $2 {wins pawns, but Black gets to keep the knight}
Rc2 21. Qxb7 Re8 $17) 20... Nde4+ {Wins the exchange with ...Ne4-c3.} (20...
Rc2 21. Ke1 Nde4 22. fxe4 Nxe4 $11 {Black has enough compensation for the
queen, but is clearly fighting for a draw.}) 21. fxe4 Nxe4+ 22. Kf3 Nc3 23.
Qxa7 Nxd1 24. Bxd1 {[#]  The start of a very interesting endgame with the
material imbalance of queen and pawn vs two rooks. Generally, queen and pawn
is worth a bit more than two rooks, but here my king is very safe and the
rooks have a lot of potential to get active with the open c-file and weak
e3-pawn. I felt I was fine and that both sides have chances to outplay the
other, which was perfect for my tournament situation.} Re8 25. Qa5 Rc1 {[#]}
26. Qd2 $6 {Retreating the queen was unecessary.} (26. Qb5 $1 {Improves the
queen by attacking e8 and b7} Rd8 (26... Kf8 $6 {is natural since it keeps the
rook on e8, but after} 27. Be2 Bg5 28. Kg4 $1 {prevents ...Rxe3 and White gets
the advantage} Bxe3 $8 (28... Bh6 $4 29. Qxd5 Rxe3 30. Bc4 $18) 29. Qxd5 $16 {
White has the initiative with threats of Bc4 and Qxb7.}) 27. Qxb7 Bg5 28. Kg4 (
28. Be2 Rc3 $36) 28... Rxd1 (28... Bxe3 29. Qe7 Rf8 $13) 29. Kxg5 $11 {The
position is equal as Black's rooks are very active and White's king can be in
some danger.}) 26... Rc6 {I wanted to focus my play against the e3-pawn. The
threat is ...Bg5.} (26... Rec8 {is also strong, keeping control of the c-file.
White is tied down here.}) 27. Kg4 $1 {Prevents ...Bg5 and now if Black gets ..
.Rxe3 it won't be with check.  [#]} ({editor -} 27. h4 {also stops ...Bg5, but
Black has the billiards riccochet} Ba3 $1 {threatening ...Bc1-+, and if} 28.
Bc2 Rec8 $19 {followed by ...Bc1 and R to the e-file wins!}) 27... Rf6 $2 {
Not a good move. I thought ...Rf5 and ...Bg5 could be strong, and I'm also
playing against Bf3, Kh3-g2, which I thought my opponent wanted to get; but in
reality the rook is awkwardly placed on f6.} ({I considered} 27... f5+ 28. Kh3
Bg5 {but didn't like that I'm potentially weakening my king, and White has} 29.
Bf3 {attacking d5. But I missed that} Kh7 $1 30. Bxd5 Rd6 {is good for Black
because of ...Rxe3 next; e.g.} 31. Bf7 Rxe3 32. Qb4 Rd7 33. Qf8 Rd8 34. Qc5 Re2
$17) (27... Re6 {is simple and strong, targeting e3} 28. Bf3 Bf6 29. Bxd5 Rxe3
$17 {and we get the same pawn structure eventually reached in the game where
Black is the one playing for the win.}) 28. Kh3 g5 $1 {I really like this idea
of improving the king with ...g6 and ...Kg7, where it will be on a dark-square.
} 29. Kg2 g6 30. Bf3 Rd8 31. b4 Ra6 32. Bd1 {Intending Bb3.} (32. b5 Ra4 $1 {
followed by ...Rb4 gives Black counterplay.} ({but} 32... Ra3 33. Bd1 $1 {
followed by Bb3 and the rook on a3 is misplaced.})) 32... Rb6 33. a3 Kg7 {
[#] I felt good about my position as I secured the my king and prevented my
opponent from advancing his queenside pawns.} 34. Bb3 {This surprised me as it
allows ...g4, a move I wanted to achieve.} (34. h3 $2 {prevents ...g4 but is
too slow, and Black strikes on the queenside with} Rc8 $1 $17 {threatening ...
Rbc6-c3 giving Black the advantage:} 35. Bb3 $6 Rbc6 36. Kf3 Rc3 37. Bxd5 Rxa3
38. Bxb7 Rcc3 $19) (34. Qb2 $1 $15 {preparing to advance the pawns with b5 and
a4 is the best move and keeps the position relatively balanced, although I
still prefer Black.}) 34... g4 $1 {Threatening ...Bg5. I thought I'm nearly
winning here, but I underestimated my opponent's next move.} 35. e4 $1 {
An important move, allowing White to trade the weak e3-pawn.} (35. Bd1 f5 $17 {
is really bad for White due to ...Bg5 and ...Re6.}) 35... dxe4 36. Qf4 {
Threatening Qc7 and Qxe4. [#]} Rf6 $1 (36... Bf6 $2 37. Qc7 {is very
unpleasant, and what I originally missed when playing ...g4.  editor - here,
the computer shows Black has a preposterous save with} e3 $8 {and if} 38. Qxb6
e2 $8 39. Qxb7 ({or} 39. Qxd8 $11) (39. Kf2 $4 Bxd4+ $19) 39... e1=Q $8 40.
Qxf7+ Kh6 41. Qxf6 $11 {with a perpetual coming soon.}) (36... f5 $4 37. Qc7
$19 {is even worse.}) 37. Qxe4 {White got a favorable exchange but I still
felt my position is easier to play as my king is safer.} Bf8 $6 (37... Bd6 $1 {
with the idea of ...Bc7-b6 is stronger.} 38. Qxg4 Re8 $1 $17 {followed by ...
Re3 and Black is taking over the initiative.}) 38. Bc4 $2 {Allowing ...Ra8 is
a serious mistake.} (38. Qxg4 Re8 $1 $36 {followed by ...Re3 and White is on
the defensive.}) (38. d5 $1 {is best, moving the pawn to a more secure square
and playing against ...Ra8 as White can save the queenside pawns with with a4.}
) 38... Ra8 $1 {Targeting the a3-pawn. White no longer has a3-a4, so this is
very strong because the rook will get active.} 39. Qxg4 (39. Qe3 {defends a3,
but White no longer gets the g4 pawn.} Rc8 40. Qe2 Rf3 $19 {with a huge
advantage for Black}) 39... Rxa3 40. b5 {[#]} Rc3 $2 {Missing a big
opportunity to dominate White's queen. At this point we both had around 5
minutes left and I made the decision to speed up, but of course that means not
playing precisely.} (40... Re3 $1 {Controlling e4 and e2 squares. White's
queen has a hard time centralizing itself} 41. Qd1 Bb4 $1 $19 {Preventing Qd2.
White can't chase the rook from e3 and is dominated. Black has ideas of ..Be1
and ...Rf2+, and if White ever plays d5 there is ...Bc5 with excellent
coordination.}) 41. Qe2 Bd6 {My plan was ...Bc7-b6.} 42. Bd5 Rc7 $6 {Defending
b7 and possibly intending ...Re7.} (42... b6 $1 $17 {Preventing White from
playing b6 and stopping all counterplay is stronger. I didn't want to take
away the b6 square for the bishop, but Black can attack the d4-pawn in other
ways. like ...Bb4-c3.}) 43. Bf3 (43. b6 $1 {at any moment is a good inclusion
for White, fixing the b7-pawn as a target;} Re7 44. Qb2 $15) 43... Re6 44. Qd2
Be7 $6 {Intending ...Bf6 and ...Rd7.} (44... b6 $1 $17) 45. h4 Bf6 {[#]} 46. h5
{A logical move to try and open my king, but it's not actually easy to win the
pawn back. It also creates a target on g3 that I can attack} (46. d5 $1 {
is a better version of the game for White} Re5 47. b6 Rd7 $11 {White can
simply wait and it's hard to imagine how Black improves.}) 46... gxh5 47. d5 $1
(47. Bxh5 Re4 $1 {is strong, and what Bator told me he missed after the game.
Black surrounds and wins the d-pawn, so this is clearly not a good exchange
for White.}) 47... Re5 {My plan was to attack the g3-pawn with ...Rg5. The
position remains complicated as White has counterplay with the d and b pawns,
but I felt confident after finding this idea because I will be the one
attacking during the time scramble.} 48. b6 Rd7 49. Qc1 Rg5 {[#]} 50. Qc7 $1 {
A nice move that I completley missed! Luckily for me, Black can simply move
the rook.} Re7 51. d6 Re3 52. d7 Rd3 {Stopping the pawn. I have threats of ...
h4 and ...Rd2,+ so I thought the position is dangerous for White.} 53. Be4 (53.
Bxb7 h4 {I felt was very dangerous during the game because...} 54. Be4 Rd2+ {
...and the white King is forced to the back rank, but after...} 55. Kf1 Ra5 56.
Ke1 $8 $11 {seems to defend.}) 53... Rd2+ {[#]} 54. Kf3 {This is objectively
the best move, but White needs to find a brilliant resource against ...Bd4.} ({
Not} 54. Kh3 $4 Be5 $8 $19 {when White can promote but gets mated.}) ({I was
expecting} 54. Kf1 $2 {and thought I would have good chances with White's king
stuck on the back rank. A sample computer line is:} Rb5 55. Ke1 Rbb2 56. Bf3
Ra2 57. d8=Q Rxd8 58. Bxh5 Ra1+ 59. Ke2 Re8+ 60. Kf2 Re7 $19 {and Black should
be winning as the b6-pawn will fall. The king on g7 remains incredibly safe
while White's king is not}) 54... Bd4 {[%mdl 32832] [#] Critical Position Be
brilliant, or lose.  The best practical move. White's king is in a mating net
and I thought I was winning, but White has a brilliant defensive resource
which we both missed.} 55. g4 $4 {Having no time my opponent was unable to
find the correct move and loses right away} (55. Bxb7 $4 Rg4 $1 $19 {is the
important idea, preventing White's king from escaping.}) (55. Bd3 $2 {is what
I expected, when Black wins with} Rxd3+ 56. Ke4 ({editor -} 56. Ke2 Bxb6 $8 {
the Rs cover all the checks,} 57. d8=Q (57. Qxb6 Rxd7 $19) 57... Rxd8 58. Qxb6
Rd7 $19) 56... Bxb6 $1 {White has no checks} 57. Qxb6 Rxd7 $19 {Black has a
decisive material advantage and the king is safe enough so that White doesn't
have realistic chances of perpetual, but it will still require good technique
to win.}) (55. Bg6 $3 {is the only drawing move! It opens an escape square on
e4, and it is important that the bishop attacks the h5 pawn to prevent ...Rg4
An amazing concept!} Rxg6 (55... Rf2+ 56. Ke4 Rg4+ 57. Kd3 {White's king
escapes} Rf3+ 58. Ke2 Rgxg3 59. Qxg3 $1 Rxg3 60. d8=Q Bf6 {with a dead draw}
61. Qd5 Rxg6 62. Qxb7 Bd4 $11) 56. d8=Q Rg4 {[#]  Analysis Diagram White can
give up a queen or both queens to prevent mate} 57. Qf8+ (57. Qf4 Rf2+ 58. Ke4
Rfxf4+ 59. gxf4 Bg1 $11) 57... Kxf8 58. Qxf7+ Kxf7 $11 {stalemate.}) 55... Rxg4
{A very important win for me to overtake Bator in the standings.} 0-1

[Event "2023 Excelsior Anniversary"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.01.28"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Preotu, Razvan"]
[Black "Findlay, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2534"]
[BlackElo "2249"]
[Annotator "Razvan Preotu"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{Going into the final round I was tied with FM Ian Findlay for 1st place
on 3.5/4. Our previous game was in the 2023 Labour Day Open where it was a
Dragon Sicillian. I won the game, but expected my opponent to have an
improvement ready if I played the same line again, so I decided to surprise
him by playing the Reti.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 {
[#] White is playing a reversed Grunfeld, one of the best openings to have an
extra move in.} Qb6 {I saw that Ian played this in his round 2 game against
David Filipovich and so I was able to prepare against it before the game. I
find this idea to be very risky, as Black will be moving the queen many times
in the opening.} (5... e6 {Is most solid} 6. c4 {transposes to the Catalan.}) (
5... cxd4 6. Nxd4 {followed by c4 and White has an amazing Grunfeld, being an
extra move up.}) 6. dxc5 Qxc5 {Black's idea is to play ...e5.} 7. Be3 {[#]
White develops with tempo and intends c4 to challenge the center. Black's
position is dangerous because of White's superior development} (7. Nc3 {
is how the round 2 game against David Filipovich went, where the result was a
draw.}) 7... Qa5 (7... Qb4 {Playing against c4} 8. Nc3 e6 9. a3 Qa5 10. b4 Qd8
11. Nb5 $36 {Followed by c4 and White has the initiative.}) (7... Qd6 {was my
main preparation, keeping the queen in the center to prepare ...e5.} 8. Nc3 {
White intends the very strong Nb5 and c4.} (8. c4 e5 {is reasonable for Black.}
) 8... e5 9. Nb5 $1 Qd8 (9... Qb8 10. Bg5 $16 {threatening Bxf6 and the
d5-pawn is weak.}) 10. c4 $1 d4 {Analysis Diagram [#] Critical Position} 11.
Nxe5 $8 {[%mdl 64] White sacrifices a piece for Black's strong center pawns
and gets a very large advantage, nearly winning according to the computer.}
Nxe5 (11... dxe3 12. Qxd8+ $18 {and a white Ns will fork a black R.}) 12. Qxd4
{Black can't trade queens because Ne5 hangs and there is the Nc7+ fork.} Nfd7
13. Rad1 a6 14. Nc3 $18 {White has an overwhelming position as all the pieces
are developed and Black can't get the king out of the center with ...Be7 0-0
because of f4.}) 8. c4 $1 $36 {Opening the center. White has the intiative
because of better development} e6 (8... dxc4 {is risky after Na3 or Nbd2.}) 9.
Nc3 {Putting pressure against d5 and trying to provoke ...dxc4.} (9. cxd5 Nxd5
10. Bd2 {was also tempting for me as White can play e4 if Black retreats} Bb4
11. a3 Bxd2 12. Nbxd2 O-O 13. b4 $16 {Black has issues activating the
light-square bishop.}) {[#]} 9... Bb4 $1 {The best way to develop, putting
pressure against the knight.} (9... dxc4 10. Nd2 {is very bad for Black} Ne5
11. Nce4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 $16 {threatening Nd6+. White has more than enough
compensation for the pawn.}) 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 (11. Na4 {followed by a3
and Nd4 is also good, and something I considered.}) 11... O-O 12. Nd4 {[#] 
Opening the bishop and blockading the pawn. White has a nice position as the
isolated pawn is a weakness. Threats are a3 and Nb3.} (12. a3 {playing against
...Bxc3 followed by ...Qxa2 is a bit more precise.} Bxc3 13. Rxc3 $16) 12...
Be6 (12... Bxc3 $1 {simplifying the position is best and what I thought to be
critical.} 13. Rxc3 Qxa2 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Rxc6 Be6 $14 {followed by ...Rfc8.
White has a very stable long-term advantage with the bishop pair, but at least
Black has activated his pieces. I would have been very happy with this
position because the bishop on d4 will be a monster.}) 13. a3 Be7 $6 {This is
inconsistent with 9...Bb4 and blocks the e-file, so there is no more ...Re8
defense against Nxe6 fxe6 then Bh3.} (13... Bxc3 $1 {is still best. White has
the pleasant choice between Nxe6 and...} 14. Rxc3 $16 {which is what I
intended, with a clear advantage for White.}) 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. Bh3 {[#] Black
has no good way to defend e6 while keeping the pieces coordinated. I knew the
position was very good for me.} Kf7 $2 {Not a good sign to move the king
towards the center in the middlegame.} (15... Rad8 $1 {simply giving up the
pawn is what the computer recommends as the only good option} 16. Bxe6+ Kh8 17.
Bd2 $16 {White is a clear pawn up with great chances to convert, but Black
does have good piece coordination.}) (15... d4 $2 {intending ...Rad8 doesn't
work:} 16. Bxe6+ Kh8 17. Bxd4 Rad8 18. e3 $18) (15... Nd8 $2 {is too passive}
16. Qb3 $18 {with threats of Nb5-c7 and White is dominating.}) 16. b4 Qd8 {[#]}
17. Nb5 {Opening up the rook. I had a strong idea prepared but missed how
Black can play against it.} (17. Qb3 $1 {developing the queen and intending
Rfd1 is best. Black is tied down and White can prepare the pawn break e4 by
moving the bishop from e3.}) 17... a5 $6 {A logical move to target the
queenside pawns and activate the rook, but it allows me to execute my idea.} (
17... Re8 $1 {preparing ...Bf8 to defend e6 is the only good move. Rxc6 no
longer is effective and Black can follow up with ...a5.} 18. Qd3 a5 19. bxa5
Qxa5 20. Rfd1 $16) 18. Rxc6 $1 bxc6 19. Nd4 $18 {[#] Black has no good way to
defend e6. I was very happy to get this as the only way for Black not lose
material is to keep the king in the center which is very dangerous. White is
objectively winning.} axb4 (19... Kg8 {secures the king but allows White to
win material with} 20. Nxc6 Qd6 21. Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. Bc5 Qd7 23. Bxf8 Kxf8 24.
Qd4 $18 {The position is technically winning for White after Rb1 with the
passed b-pawn.}) 20. Bxe6+ Ke8 {[#] White has many good options.} 21. Nf5 {
I was attracted to the idea of Nxg7#.} (21. Qc2 {Is also strong with axb4 and
Nf5 ideas.}) (21. axb4 $1 {is best. White threatens Qc2 attacking c6 and keeps
the option of Nxc6.} Bxb4 22. Nxc6 Qd6 {I saw this and rejected the line, not
realizing that} 23. Nd4 $18 {is winning for White as Black's king is too weak.
Nf5 and Qb3 are decisive threats; e.g.} Bc5 24. Nf5 $8 $18) 21... Qa5 {[%mdl
32832] [#] Critical Position Play for the crowd!} (21... Rf7 $1 {giving up the
exchange is best. White shouldn't accept the sacrifice, as the bishop on e6 is
a monster and worth more than Black's rook.} 22. axb4 Bxb4 23. Qd4 $1 (23.
Bxf7+ $2 Kxf7 $16) 23... Rb7 24. Rc1 {White has developed all the pieces and
Black's weak king is decisive in the long run; e.g.} Ra6 25. Nxg7+ Rxg7 26.
Qxb4 $18) 22. Qa4 {A beautiful queen sacrifice that I couldn't resist playing.
Qxc6+ is a threat and Black's queen needs to control b6 to prevent mate in 2.}
(22. Qc2 {followed by axb4 and Rb1 is also completely winning, but not as
pretty.}) 22... Qa6 {The only move.} (22... Qxa4 23. Nxg7+ Kd8 24. Bb6#) 23.
Bb6 $1 {Another appealing move. This ends the game as Black can't defend
against both Nxg7# and Qxc6+.} Rf7 (23... Qxb6 24. Qxa8+ Bd8 25. Nd6+ Ke7 26.
Nc8+ Kxe6 27. Nxb6 $18) 24. Qxc6+ Kf8 25. Bxf7 Kxf7 26. Nxe7 Kxe7 27. axb4 $18
{[#] White is two pawns up and easily winning.} Kf7 28. b5 Qa2 29. Bd4 Re8 30.
Ra1 Qxe2 31. Bxf6 {With this win I clinched 1st place with 4.5/5 points. I
felt very good about winning the tournament and was happy about my quality of
play in the final two games.} 1-0

[Event "Canadian Senior 50+"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.08.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Findlay, Ian"]
[Black "Plotkin, Victor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2257"]
[BlackElo "2351"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{FM Victor Plotkin won the 2023 Caadian Senior (50+) with 6/7 
(+5 =2 -0). Tied for 2nd-4th with 4.5/6 were Sergey Malakhovets, and FMs Jura
Ochkoos and Ian Findlay, both of whom Victor defeated.  Victor's games didn't
make it into the databases because he preferred to play in the larger playing
room, which makes it easier to stretch your legs but does not have DGT boards.
Victor kindly sent me two of his games for the Newsletter. I picked this one
because it seems to me like a characteristic Victor Plotkin win with Black:
safe but slightly worse out of the opening, exchanges down to an endgame where
his opponent is slowly outplayed, winning when his opponent eventually fails
to find the only moves to save the game.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 {[#]} d6
({Victor also plays} 3... Nxe4 $5 {, which Nakamura recently demonstrated is
not nearly the forced loss we were told about as beginners. With best play it
is slightly worse for Black, just like this game.}) 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3
Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 Nf6 $14 {[#] Transposing to a position from the exchange
French where Black would have the move.} 9. Nbd2 (9. Bg5 $1 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Nc6 (
10... c5 $5) 11. c3 Bh5 12. Qb3 Rb8 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Rxe5 $1 {threat Bxf6 and
Rxh5.} Bg6 15. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 16. Rxd5 Qe7 17. Bxg6 hxg6 $16 {Smirin,I (2663)
-Nabaty,T (2564) ISR-ch Acre 2013 (7) 1/2-1/2}) 9... Nc6 10. c3 Re8 (10... Bg4
11. Qb3 Rb8 12. Ne5 Bh5 13. f4 Nxe5 14. fxe5 (14. dxe5 $4 Bc5+ 15. Kh1 Ng4 $19)
14... Ne8 15. Nf1 Bg6 16. Bxg6 $11 {Nielsen,P (2663)-Rozentalis,E (2595)
Olympiad-36 Mallorca 2004 (12) 1/2-1/2}) 11. Nf1 h6 12. Bf4 Bf8 $14 {[#]
White's a little better, with more active minors and the chance to creates
some kingside pressure, maybe with a QB battery on c3-h7.} 13. Ng3 (13. Rxe8 $5
Nxe8 14. Bc2 $14) 13... Rxe1+ 14. Qxe1 Be6 15. Qd2 Bg4 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5
Be6 18. Qf4 Ne8 19. Re1 Qg5 $1 20. h3 Qxf4 21. Bxf4 Nd6 {[#] With Qs off and
the e-file secured, Black has no weaknesses and no problems.} 22. Bc1 Bd7 23.
Re5 c6 $11 24. Kf1 b5 25. Re2 Rb8 26. Bf4 b4 {[#] Forcing White to choose his
structure:} 27. c4 $5 (27. Nf5 Bxf5 28. Bxf5 $13) (27. cxb4 Rxb4 28. Bxd6 Bxd6
29. Bf5 $13) 27... dxc4 28. Bxc4 Rd8 29. Bxd6 Bxd6 $11 30. Ne4 Bf8 31. Rd2 Bf5
32. f3 {[#]The structure has changed, and Black has the B-pair; but White's
Ne4 keeps the balance, and trading it would fix the white pawns and head to an
opposite colour B ending.} Be7 (32... Bxe4 33. fxe4 c5 34. d5 Bd6 $1 $11) 33.
Ke2 Kf8 34. g4 Bc8 35. d5 (35. Ke3 $1 {shows why computers are so hard to beat:
it finds the tricky resource on move 39:} f5 36. Nc5 f4+ 37. Ke2 $8 Bf6 38. b3
Rxd4 39. Be6 $1 Rxd2+ $8 40. Kxd2 $11 {and White gets the pawn back or an
easily drawn opposite B ending.}) 35... cxd5 36. Rxd5 Rxd5 37. Bxd5 {[#] With
the B-pair and pawns on both sides, Black can realistically play for the win.
This would be a draw with best play, but White's drawing margin continues to
get narrower.} f5 38. Nf2 Bf6 39. Nd3 a5 40. b3 Ke7 41. Ke3 Kd6 42. Bc4 fxg4
43. hxg4 Bg5+ 44. f4 Bd8 45. Ne5 $1 Bf6 46. Nf7+ $1 Kc5 47. g5 $8 $11 hxg5 48.
fxg5 Bb2 49. Ke4 $1 $11 g6 {[%mdl 64] [#]Critical Position Ne5 or something
else?} 50. Ne5 $4 (50. Bd3 $142 $1 $11 {looks weird -- which makes it hard to
find -- but targets the g6 pawn and prevents ...Bf5-b1:} Bd4 {threatens ...
Bf5+ winning, but} (50... Be6 51. Nd8 $11) (50... Bf5+ 51. Ke3 Bc1+ 52. Ke2
Bg4+ 53. Ke1 Bh5 54. Be2 $11) 51. Nd6 $3 Bf5+ $8 52. Nxf5 gxf5+ 53. Kxf5 Kd6
$11) 50... Bf5+ 51. Kf4 Bc1+ $2 {Black's only mistake in the game, allowing
White a chance at a draw.} (51... Bxe5+ $142 $19 52. Kxe5 Bb1 53. Kf6 Bxa2 54.
Kxg6 a4 55. Kf6 Bxb3 $19 {Black wins the QP v Q ending.}) 52. Kf3 Bxg5 53. Bf7
$8 {[#]} Bb1 ({Another line showing the computer finding a study-like idea:} 
53... Kd4 $1 54. Nc6+ (54. Nxg6 Bb1 $19 {White's pieces are all misplaced for
a fight on the queenside.}) 54... Kd3 {threat ...Be4+} 55. Nxa5 Bc1 56. Nc4 Kd4
$17 {the Nc4 is dominated and Black can push the g-pawn.}) 54. Bxg6 $8 {
White can still draw, but the variations show the tightrope of only moves he
has to walk to get there.} Bxg6 (54... Bxa2 55. Bf7 $8 (55. Bc2 $2 Kd4 $8 56.
Nc6+ Kc3 57. Bd1 Bxb3 $19) 55... Kd4 (55... Bf6 56. Nd7+ $8 Kd6 57. Nxf6 Ke7
$11) (55... Bd8 56. Ke4 a4 57. bxa4 (57. Nd3+ $11) 57... Bxf7 58. Nxf7 b3 59.
Ne5 $11) (55... a4 56. bxa4 $8 Bxf7 57. Nxf7 $8 b3 (57... Bf6 58. Ke2 $11) 58.
Nxg5 $8 b2 59. Ne4+ $8 Kb4 60. Nd2 $8 $11) 56. Nc6+ $8 $11 Kc3 57. Nxa5 Bd8 58.
Nc6 $11 {and Nxb4.}) 55. Nxg6 Kd4 {[#] I put the game up to here into chess.
com's Analysis service; here it what it said: "That game was pretty
competitive. White played a bit better than Black in the opening. It was an
incredible middlegame by both players. Both players had a nice endgame." and
it offered the following evaluations of the players moves: White: 93% accuracy,
2550 rating Black: 92.4% accuracy, 2500 rating.  But chess is brutal, and
matching or outplaying your opponent for 55 moves is not enough if the game
lasts longer, which this game did...} 56. Kg4 $4 (56. Ke2 $11 Kc3 57. Ne5 Bd8
58. Nc4 Kc2 59. Ke3 (59. a3 $2 bxa3 $8 $19) 59... Kb1 60. Kd3 Kxa2 61. Kc2 a4 (
61... Bc7 62. Nb2 $11 {blockades the light squares.}) 62. bxa4 b3+ 63. Kc1 Ba5
64. Kd1 $11 {there's no way to dislodge the Nc4.}) ({Absurdly, White also
draws with} 56. Nh8 $5 Kc3 57. Nf7 Kb2 58. Nxg5 Kxa2 59. Ke3 Kxb3 60. Ne4 a4
61. Nc5+ Ka3 62. Kd2 b3 63. Kc1 $11 {and N takes one of the pawns.}) 56... Bd8
$8 $19 57. Kf5 Kc3 58. Ke4 Kb2 59. Kd3 Kxa2 60. Kc4 {[#]} a4 $1 61. Ne5 a3 (
61... axb3 62. Nd3 Ka3 $8 $19) 62. Nc6 Be7 0-1

[Event "Canadian Senior 50+"]
[Site "Etobicoke CAN"]
[Date "2023.08.07"]
[Round "7.8"]
[White "Haessel, Dale"]
[Black "Findlay, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E49"]
[WhiteElo "2203"]
[BlackElo "2257"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2023.08.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+
6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 b6 10. Ne2 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. O-O
Re8 13. Ng3 {[#] A classic Nimzo-Indian middlegame: White plays to expand in
the center, Black hopes his Ns will be able to use the resulting holes.} Nb8 $2
{This unprotects the Ra8, and gives White the tactics necessary to break in
the center immediately.} (13... Nc7 $142 14. Ra2 (14. Qd3 Qd7 15. a4 Ne6 16.
Bd2 Rac8 17. Rfb1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Rc4 19. Qb3 h5 $1 $13 {Radjabov,T (2723)
-Inarkiev,E (2658) Moscow Chess Stars 3.0 Rapid 2023 (8) 1-0}) 14... Nb5 15.
Qd3 Nd6 16. Re2 Qd7 17. e4 Qb5 $8 $11 18. Qxb5 Nxb5 19. Bb2 Nd6 20. e5 Nc4 $8
21. exf6 Rxe2 22. Nxe2 Nxb2 $11 {Jones,G (2625)-Wojtaszek,R (2727) Gibraltar
Masters 14th 2016 (5) 1/2-1/2}) 14. Ra2 ({Three IMs and one GM have had this
position as White, but none found the crushing attack after:} 14. e4 $3 $146 {
[%mdl 576]} dxe4 15. fxe4 $16 Nxe4 {Analysis Diagram  [#] The following isn't
a complete analysis, but shows White's hardest-to-see tactics:} 16. Nf5 $1 {
threat: Qg4+-.} (16. Nxe4 $2 Rxe4 17. Qf3 Qd5 $1 $15) 16... Nf6 (16... Qf6 $2
17. Nh6+ $18) 17. Qf3 {Tempo on a8.} Nbd7 18. Bh6 $1 g6 (18... gxh6 $2 19. Qg3+
Ng4 20. Qxg4+ Qg5 21. Nxh6+ $18) 19. Ne3 {threat: Nd5 or Ng4.} Qe7 (19... cxd4
20. Ng4 $18) (19... Kh8 20. Bg5 $18) 20. Nd5 $8 Nxd5 21. Rae1 $8 $18) 14... Nc6
15. Re2 Qd7 16. Bb2 Rad8 17. Qd3 {[#] White has his d- and his e-pawn well
protected and is ready for the advance e4.} b5 (17... h5 $1 {"A typical idea
in this kind of position and in general against the knight on g3. It is not so
clear how to react to the black kicker."} 18. Ree1 h4 19. Nh1 h3 20. g4 Nh7 $1
{"While preparing this line I was very delighted to see this idea, which not
only allows Black to stop the march of White's pawns, but also to establish
firm control on the kingside." - Bologan, MegaBase.} 21. Ng3 Ng5 22. Kh1 Na5
$15 {Eljanov,P (2732)-Bologan,V (2655) Poikovsky Karpov 15th 2014 (5) 0-1}) 18.
Ree1 (18. Qxb5 $4 Nxd4 $19 {Black wins the exchange with the intermediate ...
Nxe2 check.}) 18... Na5 19. Rd1 Nc4 20. Bc1 Qc6 21. Rfe1 Nd6 {[#] Black could
hardly be better set against e3-e4.} 22. Nf5 Nxf5 23. Qxf5 a5 24. g4 {Playing
to dislodge the N and push e4. This is consistent but risky, since it exposes
his K.} Re6 25. g5 Ne8 26. e4 cxd4 27. cxd4 g6 $1 28. Qf4 Nd6 29. exd5 Qxd5 30.
Rxe6 {[#]} fxe6 $8 $19 (30... Qxe6 $2 31. d5 $13 (31. Qf6 $13)) 31. Re1 Nc4 {
Keeping White off e5.} 32. Re4 Rf8 $1 (32... e5 $3 33. dxe5 Qd1+ 34. Kf2 Rf8 $8
$19) 33. Qg4 Rf5 {[#] Black's pieces nimbly restrict White's majors while
creating new threats. Notice how 8 of Black's 9 pieces are on light squares,
where they can't be touched by White's B, which is also blocked by its own
pawns.} 34. Qg3 Nd6 35. Rf4 e5 $1 (35... Rxg5 {also wins:} 36. Rf8+ Kxf8 37.
Bxg5 Qxd4+ $19) 36. Rg4 (36. Rxf5 Qxd4+ $8 $19) 36... exd4 37. Bb2 {[%mdl 64] 
[#] Critical Position Can Black save his d-pawn?} d3 $1 (37... Rxf3 {also wins,
but the game line is much prettier.}) 38. Rd4 Qxd4+ $3 39. Bxd4 d2 {The Bd4
prevents Qxd6 from guarding the promotion square! A really excellent game by
Black, who won despite White making no serious mistakes.} 0-1

[Event "Canadian Senior 50+"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.08.07"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Ochkoos, Jura"]
[Black "Filipovich, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2316"]
[BlackElo "2139"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. g4 Bd7 {[#] After this White gets an
ideal anti-French setup, and Black's ...h6, ...Bf5-d7 just look like a waste
of time. Botvinnik got away with this in his 1961 rematch against an ill
Mikhail Tal, but top players today only risk this in blitz.} (5... Be4 6. f3
Bh7 7. e6 {is an interesting but well-explored gambit.}) 6. Nc3 $1 {Black's
only play will be via ...c5, and the Nc3 keeps two eyes on d5, so Black must
go ...e6 before ...c5, which frees White from defending g4. White doesn't need
to support d4 with c3, since a minor piece on d4 will be very well placed.} e6
7. Be3 Qb6 (7... Ne7 8. h5 $1 Qb6 9. Qd2 (9. Na4 $1) 9... Nc8 10. O-O-O $5 Na6
11. f4 $16 c5 12. dxc5 (12. f5 $1 $16) 12... Bxc5 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. Nf3 Ne7 15.
Nd4 $14 Rc8 $2 {Now it looks like a bad Sicilian for Black.} (15... O-O-O $142)
16. Kb1 O-O 17. g5 $1 $18 hxg5 18. fxg5 Nc6 19. h6 $1 g6 20. h7+ Kh8 21. Qf4
$18 {Caruana,F (2791)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2766) Speed Chess Chess.com INT blitz
2021 (1.22) 1-0}) 8. Na4 $1 {[#]} Qc7 (8... Qa5+ 9. c3 b6 (9... b5 $2 10. Nc5
$16 {where are any of Black's pieces going to go?}) 10. b4 $1 {White offers
four pawns for the B and a lead in development that the computer rates as
winning:} Bxb4 $8 11. cxb4 Qxb4+ 12. Bd2 Qxd4 13. Nf3 Qxg4 14. h5 $1 $16) 9.
Nf3 {"...clearly better for White as Black's pieces are stuck, unable to come
into the game." - Sethuraman (Chessable 1.e4 Repertoire)} Ne7 (9... b6 10. Nc3
Ne7 11. h5 a6 12. Ne2 $1 c5 13. c3 Nbc6 14. Bg2 f6 $1 15. O-O (15. Bf4 g5 $8
$13) 15... fxe5 16. dxe5 $13 {Mchedlishvili,M (2571)-Paichadze,L (2479)
Tbilisi Gaprindashvili Cup 2021 (1) 1-0}) 10. h5 Nc8 {[#] The same ...
Ng8-e7-c8 maneuver MVL played against Caruana in the game quoted above. I
didn't understand it there either.} 11. b3 (11. Nc5 $142 b6 12. Nxd7 {looks
like an utterly unpositional trade for a bad B, but SF16 rates it as winning
after} Nxd7 13. g5 $36) 11... b6 12. a3 c5 13. Nc3 Nc6 14. Bf4 cxd4 15. Nb5 Qb8
16. Qd2 a6 17. Nbxd4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Bc5 {[#]} 19. Nf3 $5 {A good human move:
keeping pieces on before denying Black's minors any central squares with b3-b4.
} ({It's well known that today's top computers -- Stockfish and Leela -- rate
space much more highly than even the best human players. But it's still a
shock that in this position SF16 opts for the utterly inhuman} 19. O-O-O $5 {
the point being that after Black takes a free pawn with check} Bxa3+ 20. Kb1
$16 {White has multiple crushing threats, including 21.g5 or 21.Nf5!}) 19... a5
20. c3 ({The computer wants to smash the kingside immediately:} 20. g5 $1 hxg5
21. Bxg5 Ne7 22. h6 {threat Bxe7 and hxg7 or Qg5+.} gxh6 23. Bf6 $1 $16 {
and White owns the kingside, and a line which shows a reason to keep the R on
h1.}) 20... Na7 21. b4 Be7 22. Bd3 Bb5 $1 23. O-O Qc7 $11 {[#]Black has done a
good job to trade two pairs of minors.} 24. bxa5 bxa5 25. a4 Bc4 {But doesn't
trade!?} (25... Bxd3 26. Qxd3 Rc8 {looks fine for Black.}) 26. Rfb1 O-O 27. Bc2
Nc6 28. Re1 Qb6 29. Rab1 (29. Bxh6 $1 $16) 29... Qc7 {[#]Critical Position
What happens if Bxh6?} 30. Bxh6 $5 {[%mdl 64]} (30. Qe3 $1 {defending the Nf3
sets up Bxh6.}) 30... gxh6 $2 {After this Black is dead lost.} (30... f5 $2 31.
gxf5 $18 {for completeness, here's one of the longer lines:} gxh6 32. Qxh6 Bc5
(32... Bd8 33. Kh1 $18) 33. Kh1 Qh7 34. Rg1+ Kh8 35. Qxh7+ Kxh7 36. f6+ Kh8 37.
Rg6 $18) (30... f6 $8 31. exf6 $2 Rxf6 {forking h6 and f3.} 32. Bxg7 $1 (32.
Bg5 Rxf3 $19) 32... Bc5 $3 33. Bh7+ $2 (33. Bxf6 Qg3+ $19) 33... Kxh7 $8 34.
Ng5+ Kxg7 35. Nxe6+ Rxe6 36. Rxe6 Qg3+ $19) (30... f6 $8 {taking on f6 loses,
so White's best is:} 31. Bf4 $1 fxe5 32. Nxe5 {[#]} Rxf4 $5 {leads to a very
long forcing line where Black might end up OK if he plays perfectly:} (32...
Bg5 $1 33. Bxg5 Nxe5 34. Rxe5 $1 $13) 33. Qxf4 Bd6 34. Qf7+ $3 Qxf7 35. Nxf7
Kxf7 36. Bg6+ {Analysis Diagram [#]} Kf6 $8 (36... Kf8 37. Rxe6 Rd8 38. Rb7 $18
) 37. g5+ $1 Kxg5 $8 38. Rxe6 Rd8 $8 39. Rb6 d4 $8 {creating a passer and
attacking Re6,} 40. Re8 Rxe8 41. Bxe8 Ne5 $1 42. Rxd6 dxc3 $8 43. Bg6 $8 (43.
Rd1 $2 Nd3 $8 $19) 43... Bb3 $8 {and it's still a game.  Of course, no one
could expect Black or White to see more than a fraction of that, but if you
see ...gxh6 is losing, you might start down this road just by process of
elimination, and then anything could happen in these headspinning
complications.}) 31. Qxh6 $18 f5 32. Qxe6+ {Something is going to roll: either
White's kingside pawns or the Black King's head.} 1-0

[Event "Canadian Senior 65+"]
[Site "Etobicoke CAN"]
[Date "2023.08.07"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Hartman, Brian"]
[Black "Berengolts, Isai"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "2340"]
[BlackElo "2018"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2023.08.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{[%mdl 32768]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6
{[#]} 7. Nb3 $5 {This voluntary retreat helps control d5, and so prevents one
of Black's equalizing ideas in the Accelerated Dragon: ...d7-d5 in one tempo.}
O-O 8. Qd2 d6 {Black heads to a more typical Dragon, which might not have been
his preference, given that he started with an Accelerated Dragon move-order.} (
{Instead,} 8... a5 $5 {is a way to try to exploit the Nb3 while also preparing
to support ...d5 with ...Nb4.}) 9. f3 Be6 10. O-O-O {[#]} Ne5 {"We have a
strange version of a 9.Bc4 Yugoslav Attack. Black should not rush to play ...
Nc4, as then he would be two tempos behind (due to Bxc4 coming directly as
opposed to Bc4-b3xc4). However, White is also at risk of losing two tempos if
he gets tempted to return his knight to d4."  - Gawain Jones, GM Repertoire:
Dragon (Quality Chess, 2015)} (10... Rc8 11. Kb1 Ne5 12. h4 (12. Be2 Bc4 13.
Bd4 $14 Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Nc6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nd5 Bg7 17. h4 e6 $1 18. Ne3 Qe7 (
18... Qb6 $142 19. Rxd6 a5 $36) 19. h5 d5 20. exd5 exd5 21. Qd2 d4 $11 {
Carlsen,M (2847)-Martinovic,S (2548) FIDE World Cup 2021 (2.2) 1-0}) 12... h5
$1 13. Be2 a6 14. Bd4 Qc7 15. g4 hxg4 16. f4 {Analysis Diagram [#]} Nc6 $4 {
looks sensible, but with the c-file closed Black has no threats and his king
is in a shooting gallery.} (16... Rfd8 $142 17. fxe5 $2 (17. Qe3 $5) (17. h5 $5
) 17... dxe5 $19) (16... b5 $142 $5 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Be3 b4 19. Nd5 (19. Na4
$2 Nxe4 20. Qc1 Ng3 $17) 19... Bxd5 20. exd5 Rfd8 $13 {SF16}) 17. Bxf6 $8 $18
Bxf6 18. Nd5 $8 Bxd5 19. exd5 $8 Nd4 20. Bxg4 $1 {Clearing the second rank and
hitting the Rc8.} Nxb3 21. axb3 a5 22. h5 $1 {Ignoring the Rc8 and playing for
mate.} a4 23. hxg6 $1 axb3 24. cxb3 Ra8 25. Qh2 {Carlsen,M (2853)-Shevchenko,K
(2684) Warsaw Superbet Blitz 2023 (5) 1-0}) 11. Kb1 $14 a6 $146 {Playing for ..
.b5-b4, which might help attack b2; but it seems slow.} (11... Rc8 {transposes
to the Carlsen games in the previous note.}) 12. h4 h5 13. Be2 b5 14. g4 {
[#] The game has turned into a more typical Yugoslav attack vs the Dragon, but
Black misses the possibility of ...Rxc3, which would be very useful if White
moved his f-pawn from the defence of e4.} Bc4 $6 (14... hxg4 $142 15. f4 {
The Rc8 would allow Black to counter this with ...Rxc3 and ...Nxe4.} (15. h5
gxf3 $17) 15... Nf3 $6 (15... b4 $142 $1 16. fxe5 bxc3 17. Qe1 $1 Nxe4 (17...
Nh5 $15) 18. h5 $1 $15) 16. Bxf3 gxf3 17. h5 $1 $36 {Imagine being able to
play ...Rxc3 now!} b4 $8 (17... Nxh5 $2 18. f5 Ng3 19. Qh2 $18) 18. Nd5 Nxe4
19. Qh2 Rc8 $1 20. hxg6 fxg6 21. Bd4 $1 $36 Nf6 22. Bxf6 Rxf6 $8 $14) 15. gxh5
Nxh5 16. Rhg1 $14 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 e6 {[#]} 18. Qf2 $6 (18. f4 $1 Nc4 19. f5 $1
$16 Nxb2 $2 (19... Qxh4 $2 20. Bg5 $1 Qh3 21. Rd3 $18 {traps the Q.}) 20. Kxb2
b4 21. fxg6 $1 $18) 18... Rc8 19. Bd4 Qc7 20. f4 Nc4 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 {
Threatening ...Nxb2.} 22. Ne2 $14 Kh7 (22... Nxb2 $2 23. Qd4+ $8 $18) 23. c3 b4
$6 24. cxb4 $1 Qb7 25. Qf3 (25. Ng3 $1 $16) 25... Qxb4 26. Rg5 Nf6 {[#]} 27. h5
$2 {The right idea, but tactically mistimed.} (27. Ka1 $142 {then h4-h5.})
27... Nxe4 $8 $11 {Exploiting the discovered attack to win the e-pawn.} 28.
hxg6+ (28. Qxe4 $4 Na3+ $19 {Shows why it was better to play Kh1 first,
getting the K out of N checks.}) 28... Kg7 $8 (28... fxg6 $2 29. Qh3+ Kg7 30.
Rxg6+ $8 Kxg6 31. Qxe6+ $8 $18) 29. gxf7+ Nxg5 $8 30. fxg5 Rxf7 $8 31. Qh3 Ne5
32. Qh6+ Kg8 {[#]} 33. Ned4 $2 (33. Ng3 $13) (33. Rh1 $4 Qe4+ $8 34. Ka1 Qh7 $8
$19) 33... Qb7 $1 $17 34. Qxe6 Qd7 $2 $11 (34... Qe4+ $142 35. Ka1 Qg4 $8 $17 {
[%cal Rg4e6,Rg4d1] defending the Rc8 while attacking the Qd6 and Rd1. Black
should win this endgame.}) 35. Qd5 Qg4 36. Rh1 Qxg5 37. a3 {[#]} Nf3 $4 (37...
Qg6+ $142 38. Ka1 Re8 $13) 38. Qxd6 $2 (38. Qe6 $142 $18 {And White has a
double attack on the unprotected pieces on c8 and f3.}) 38... Nxd4 39. Qxd4 Rg7
40. Ka1 $14 a5 41. Qa4 Qd5 42. Re1 Kh7 {[#]} 43. Nxa5 (43. Qxa5 $11 Qxb3 $4 44.
Qf5+ $8 $18 (44. Qh5+ $2 $11 {only forces a repetition.})) 43... Ra8 $2 44.
Qc2+ $1 $18 Kg8 45. Nc4 $2 (45. Nc6 $142 $18 {and Ne7 comes with a
material-winning attack.}) 45... Rc8 $11 46. Nb6 Rxc2 47. Nxd5 Rgg2 48. Ne3 (
48. Re8+ $5 Kf7 49. Rb8 $11) 48... Rxb2 $8 49. Nxg2 Rxg2 $11 50. Rf1 {[#]} Kg7
({Or} 50... Rg7 51. Kb2 Rf7 $11 {builds a bridge for the defending K, which
draws if it gets to c8.}) 51. Kb1 Kg8 52. a4 Kg7 53. Rf4 Re2 54. a5 {[%mdl 64]
[#] Critical Position Black to play and draw.} Re5 $4 (54... Re6 $142 {or ...
Re8 or ...Re7} 55. Kb2 Ra6 $8 56. Ra4 (56. Rf5 Kg6 $11 57. Rb5 Kf7 {so there's
no check on the 6th rank,} 58. Kb3 Ke6 59. Kb4 Kd6 $11) 56... Kf7 57. Kb3 Ke7
58. Kb4 Kd7 59. Kb5 {Analysis Diagram [#]} Rh6 $1 (59... Ra8 $2 60. a6 Kc7 61.
Rc4+ Kb8 62. Rh4 $1 (62. Kb6 $2 Ra7 $8 $11 63. Rh4 Rb7+ $8 $11) 62... Ra7 63.
Rh8+ Kc7 64. Rg8 $22 $18) 60. a6 Kc7 $8 61. a7 Rh5+ $8 $11 {to force off Rs.})
55. Ra4 $18 Kf6 56. Kb2 Ke7 57. a6 Rb5+ 58. Kc3 Rb8 59. a7 Ra8 60. Kc4 Kd6 {
If it were Black's turn, then ...Kc6 or ...Kc7 would draw, but...} 61. Kb5 1-0

[Event "Canadian Senior 65+"]
[Site "Etobicoke CAN"]
[Date "2023.08.05"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Berengolts, Isai"]
[Black "Loadman, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C58"]
[WhiteElo "2018"]
[BlackElo "2132"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2023.08.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 {[#]} Na5 $1 ({Allowing the Fried Liver Attack:} 5...
Nxd5 $2 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 Ncb4 {may not be objectively lost, but
strong players only risk this in blitz.}) 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 {
The Modern Main line in the Two Knights.} (8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 $13 {is the old
main line.}) 8... Nd5 {[#] An important position in the Two Knights, with
approximately equal chances for both sides, as seen in the recent GM games
below:} 9. Ne4 (9. h4 h6 10. Qh5 Qf6 11. Ne4 Qe6 $13 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2771)
-Firouzja,A (2777) AI Cup Div 1 L rapid 2023 (2.1) 0-1}) (9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O
Nf4 11. Nc3 Nxd3 12. cxd3 O-O $13 {Nakamura,H (2775)-Caruana,F (2764) Norway
Chess 11th 2023 (9) 1-0}) 9... Nf4 10. Bf1 f5 {[#]} 11. g3 $2 (11. Nec3 $142 $1
Bc5 (11... c5 12. Na3 $13) 12. a3 {"This is another incredibly rich position,
of which we might see more practical examples in the future. I think Black's
best is:} Bb6 $1 $146 {Leading to complex play, where Black has full
compensation for the pawn." - Ntirlis, "Playing 1.e4 e5" (Quality Chess, 2017).
}) (11. Ng3 $142 $5 Bc5 12. c3 Bb6 13. d4 Qe7 14. d5 $2 (14. Bxf4 $142 exf4+
15. Ne2 {looks terrible, but White has some hope of getting his K out of the
center.}) 14... O-O 15. b4 Nb7 16. dxc6 Nd6 17. Be3 Be6 18. Nd2 Bxe3 19. fxe3
Nd5 $19 {Askarov,B (2416)-Wen,Y (2592) Albena op-A 2015 (5) 0-1}) 11... fxe4 $8
$19 12. gxf4 Qh4 $8 13. Nc3 {[%mdl 64] [#]Critical Position} Bf5 $2 (13... exf4
$2 14. Nxe4 $13 Bg4 15. Be2 h5 $2 (15... Bf5 $13) 16. d3 $18 O-O-O 17. Bxg4+
hxg4 18. Bxf4 $18 {Cop,T (2268)-Matijevic,H (2222) CRO-chT2 Center 2011 (5.11)
1-0}) (13... Bg4 $142 $8 {The B should go to f5, but this in-between move
keeps the white Q and K boxed in.} 14. Be2 Bf5 $8 $19 {and Black continues
piling up with ...Bc5 and ...000.}) 14. Qe2 $8 $15 {Guards f2, attacks e4, and
makes space for the K on d1.} Bc5 {Threatening ...Bg4, trapping the Q or
mating on f2.} 15. Nxe4 $8 Bxe4 (15... Bg4 $2 16. Qd3 Rd8 17. Qg3 $8 $18) 16.
Qxe4 O-O $1 {[#] Threatens ...Rxf4, and of course Qxe5 loses to the e-file pin.
There are a lot of "?" in the next few moves, which is an indication of how
non-standard and tactically volatile this position is, and not the general
level of skill of the players. Something to consider before playing either
side of this opening.} 17. Kd1 $2 (17. d4 $3 {is best, but tough to take
seriously without good nerves and A+ calculation. I'd expect Shirov would find
it, and the idea of giving back the pawn to finish development mirrors Black's
4...d5, so it's not totally out of reach for lesser mortals.  Here are three
continuations:} exd4 (17... Rae8 $5 18. dxe5 Rxe5 $5 {leads to a forced draw:}
19. Qxe5 $8 Qxf2+ $8 20. Kd1 Rd8+ $8 21. Bd3 Qf3+ 22. Qe2 (22. Kd2 Nc4+ $19)
22... Qxh1+ 23. Qe1 Qf3+ $11) (17... Bxd4 18. Bd3 Bxf2+ 19. Ke2 $8 Rae8 $5 (
19... exf4 20. Qxh7+ $8 $11) 20. f5 Nb7 $13) 18. Qe6+ (18. Be2 $2 d3 $17) 18...
Kh8 19. Qh3 Bb4+ 20. Kd1 $13 Qxf2 $4 21. Bd3 h6 22. Rf1 $18 {traps the Q.})
17... Rae8 $2 (17... Rxf4 $8 $19 18. Qxe5 Re4 $8 19. Qg3 (19. Qxc5 Qg4+ {#2})
19... Bxf2 $19) 18. d3 $2 {Weakening e3 turns out to be fatal.} (18. Qg2 $142
exf4 19. Qf3 $8 Bxf2 20. Be2 $15 {is similar to the game, but does not weaken
e3.}) (18. Be2 $142 Rxf4 19. Qg2 Rxf2 20. Qg4 $15) 18... exf4 $8 $19 19. Qf3
Bxf2 20. Bd2 {[#] Material is equal but Black obviously has an overwhelming
lead in development.} Be1 $1 {Trading the defender of e3 to invade on the
e-file.} 21. Be2 (21. Bc1 $5 Bc3 $1 {Threatening mate on e1.} 22. Be2 Bd4 23.
Rf1 Be3 $19 {would be an amusingly round-about way to get to e3.}) 21... Bxd2
22. Kxd2 Re3 {[#]} 23. Qf1 (23. Qg4 Nc4+ $1 24. dxc4 Qf2 $8 $19 (24... Rd8+ 25.
Kc1 $11) 25. Rhf1 (25. Rhg1 Rxe2+ 26. Qxe2 Rd8+ $19) 25... Rd8+ 26. Kc1 Rxe2 $1
$19) 23... f3 $1 {Not the only winning move, but nice.} 24. Kxe3 Qf4+ 25. Kf2
fxe2+ 26. Kxe2 Qe5+ 27. Kd2 Rxf1 28. Rhxf1 {[#]The end of the combo on move 23.
White's Rs are terrible defenders and Black attacked with the Q and N to win.}
Qxh2+ 29. Kc3 Qe5+ 30. Kd2 Qg5+ 31. Kc3 Qc5+ 32. Kd2 Qb4+ 33. Kc1 Nb7 34. c3
Qd6 35. Kc2 Qh2+ 36. Kb3 Nc5+ 37. Kc4 Qd6 38. d4 Qd5+ 39. Kb4 a5+ 40. Ka3 Ne4
41. Rad1 h6 42. Rfe1 Nd6 0-1

[Event "Toronto Senior"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.11.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Upper, John"]
[Black "Barron, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A85"]
[WhiteElo "2163"]
[BlackElo "2286"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3.
d4 d6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Qc2 g6 6. O-O-O Bg7 {[#] Michael always plays the
Leningrad Dutch, which ought to make it easy to prepare against him, but it's
not at all a bad opening. When prepping I found that 7...h4 scores well for
White, but all the lines I looked at had Black more-or-less equalizing to
positions he'd have enough experience to play comfortably.  OTOH, looking at
his games suggested that his most exploitable weakness would be tactics in
non-standard positions. So I played for a direct but different attack...} 7. f3
$5 {This was an over-the-board decision. I'd stuck it in the computer for 10
seconds and knew only that SF didn't like it, but decided to try it because 
(as I said above) I didn't have any better ideas, and this is so unusual it
would require Black to step off traditional paths.} e5 $1 {Opening the d-file
looks risky, but SF16 rates it best.} 8. dxe5 {8.e3 is less ambitious, but
maybe better.} dxe5 $6 ({After} 8... Nxe5 $1 {I'd thought} 9. c5 $5 {would be
good, leaving Black with a ragged center and exposed K, but it turns out that
White's K is more vulnerable if the c-file opens; for example:} O-O $1 10. cxd6
Be6 $1 $15 (10... cxd6 $15) 11. dxc7 $2 Qxc7 12. Kb1 Rac8 $19 {For only one
pawn Black has a winning lead in development.}) 9. e4 $1 f4 {Saving f5 and
keeping the center closed; again the top choice of SF16. [#]} (9... fxe4 10.
Nxe4 O-O 11. c5 $16) 10. g3 $5 h6 11. gxf4 $6 {The right idea, but there's a
better execution:} (11. Bh4 $142 g5 12. gxf4 gxh4 13. fxe5 {with the h-file
blocked and the g6 pawn gone, this is a better version of the game line for
White.}) 11... hxg5 12. fxe5 c6 $1 {More cool defence, and again the top
choice of SF16.} (12... O-O $5 13. exf6 (13. Bh3 $4 g4 $8 $19) (13. Nh3 $2 g4
$1 14. Ng5 Nd5 $1 $19) 13... Qxf6 $13) 13. Bh3 $1 {A good move that also looks
like a tactical mistake, so bonus cheapo points. Going e6 just helps Black
castle long after ...Bxd7.} g4 $5 14. exf6 $8 {[#]} Bh6+ {This in-between move
is very tempting -- it makes the B safe and allows Black time to take on h3 --
and I had expected it. But Black has a much better defence, which I'd seen but
underestimated: take on f6 and play a pawn down.} (14... Qxf6 $142 15. Bxg4 Ne5
16. Bxc8 Rxc8 $11) 15. Kb1 gxh3 $2 {The losing move.} (15... Qxf6 $142 16. Bxg4
Ne5 $8 17. Bxc8 (17. h3 $14) 17... Rxc8 $14 {Black is down two pawns, but gets
at least one back, and his K is safer than in the game. I hadn't seen this at
move 10, and underestimated it here.}) 16. e5 $8 $18 {[#] Everything else is
losing, but now White threatens Qxg6+ and e6 regaining the piece. I'd seen
this position when I played 13.Bh3 and thought White should be winning.} Kf7
17. Ne4 $1 {[%cal Ge4d6,Rd6f7,Rc2g6] Not the only winning move. In fact, White
has several good options over the next few moves, which made choosing harder.}
(17. Nxh3 $1 Qe8 (17... Qa5 18. e6+ $8 Kxe6 19. Rhe1+ Kxf6 20. Rd6+ {mates.})
18. Ne4 Qxe5 19. Nd6+ Kxf6 20. Rhe1 $4) 17... Qg8 {Unpins the N and defends g6.
[#]} (17... Qa5 18. Nd6+ Ke6 19. Qxg6 {with mate on Qf5 or Qf7.}) 18. Nd6+ (18.
e6+ $1 {opening the e-file also wins: Nxh3-g5+ and White attacks with all
pieces.}) 18... Ke6 19. f7 $6 (19. Nxc8 {is the brute force way.} Qxc8 20. Rd6+
Kxe5 21. c5 $18 {the Black K leads his army into obvlivion.}) 19... Qh7 $1 {
Hoping to trade Qs with ...g5.} 20. f4 $1 {Giving a pawn to get the N and R
out, and now ...g5 fails to f4-f5+.} Bxf4 21. Nf3 ({Even} 21. Nxh3 {wins; e.g.}
Qxh3 22. Qxg6+ $18) 21... g5 {[#]Black plays to trade Qs, but I'd seen White's
forced win.} 22. Nd4+ $1 Kxe5 (22... Ke7 23. N4f5+ Ke6 (23... Kd8 24. e6 $18)
24. Nxc8 $18) 23. Rhe1+ Kf6 (23... Kxd6 24. Ne6+ Ke7 25. Nxg5+ $18) 24. Re6+ (
24. Qxh7 $1 {actually forces mate:} Rxh7 25. Re6+ Kg7 26. N4f5+ Kh8 27. Re8+
Nf8 28. Rxf8#) 24... Kg7 25. N4f5+ {Black has to give the Q to delay mate, and
preferred to resign.} 1-0

[Event "Toronto Senior"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.12.14"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Barron, Michael"]
[Black "Malakhovets, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2286"]
[BlackElo "2181"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{The top two rated players met in the final round.
Sergey won his first six games and had the tournament wrapped up before
playing top seed IM Michael Barron. Michael also scored 6-0 against the bottom
half of the table, but also had a couple of losses.} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 {[#]  Caruana tried
this four times against Carlsen in their World Championship match. He got a
winning position in one, but ended up drawing 3 and losing one in the
tie-break.} ({The mainline goes} 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 {
with 24,000 games in the MegaBase.}) 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 ({Carlsen played
both this and} 8... Nb8 {twice in the Caruana match. In either case, White
typically plays on the queenside, either with a pawn storm or dropping minor
pieces on the weak squares, while Black tries to do something on the kingside
with ...f5. The difference is that 8... Nb8 helps Black hold the queenside,
while 8...Ne7 is supposed to help Black on the kingside.}) 9. c3 Nf5 (9... Ng6
{looks more natural, but with less defence of the d6 pawn White forces
concessions with} 10. Qa4 $1 Bd7 11. Qc4 Rc8 12. Qb4 $16 {if the N was on f5
here, d6 would be defended and Black could go ...a6 with a good game.}) 10. a4
Be7 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O {[#]} Bd7 {If Black isn't going to play ...b5 then
this doesn't help, since it can make it harder to defend d6.} ({A few days
later, a top GM game continued:} 12... Nh4 13. f4 a6 14. Na3 exf4 15. Bxf4 Ng6
16. Bxg6 $6 hxg6 17. Nc4 Qc7 18. b3 b6 19. Be3 Rb8 20. Bd4 Bg5 21. Nd2 Re8 22.
c4 Be3+ $1 23. Bxe3 Rxe3 24. Re1 Qc5 $15 {Erigaisi,A (2727)-Predke,A (2689)
Chennai 2023 (3) 1-0}) 13. Kh1 (13. Re1 a6 14. Na3 b5 15. axb5 axb5 16. Bd2 Qb6
17. Qb3 Rfb8 18. Nxb5 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Bxb5 20. Bxf5 Qc7 21. Qd1 Bc4 22. Bc1 g6
23. Bd3 $1 $16 {Huschenbeth,N (2608)-Abasov,N (2638) POL-chT Ekstraliga 2021 
(4.2) 1-0 If Sveshnikov players wanted to defend a difficult endgame, they'd
play 1...e5.}) ({Here's a game Black might have seen when preparing:} 13. Qc2
g6 14. f4 a6 15. Na3 Rc8 (15... b5 $1) 16. Nc4 {Analysis Diagram [#]} Re8 (
16... e4 $142 $1 17. Be2 h5 $1 $15 {here's the kind of action that keeps
attracting fans to the Sveshnikov:} 18. Qxe4 $140 Re8 19. Qd3 Bh4 $1 20. g3
Rxc4 $3 $19 21. Qxc4 Bxg3 $3 22. hxg3 Nxg3 23. Rf2 Qh4 $19) 17. Qf2 e4 $1 18.
Be2 b5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ne3 b4 21. cxb4 Nd4 $1 22. Ba6 Ra8 23. Nc4 Nb3 24. Ra3
Rxa6 $1 25. Rxb3 $1 (25. Rxa6 $2 Qc8 $1 $19) 25... Bb5 26. Na3 $2 (26. Rc3 Bf6
27. Rc2 $15 Ra4 $5 28. Bd2 $2 e3 $1 $19) 26... Bxf1 27. Qxf1 Qa8 $1 $19 {
Barron,M (2127)-Sokolin,L (2464) WchT Seniors 50 2022 (5.2) 0-1}) 13... a6 14.
Na3 {[#]} Nh4 $146 {In the game, Black closes the kingside and the N turns out
to be a liability here, but it could have been redeployed via g6.} (14... b5 {
looks like the consistent way to play, preventing Nc4.}) (14... Bg5 $5) 15. f4
f5 (15... exf4 $14 {planning ...Ng6-e5 is a reasonable alternative, as in
Erigaisi-Predke (above).}) 16. Nc4 {[#]} e4 $2 {After the game both players
focused on this as being a critical error, after which Black can't get any
kingside play since his f5 and e4 pawns are taking squares his pieces need.} (
16... Ng6 $142 $14) 17. Be2 b5 18. axb5 Bxb5 (18... axb5 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. Nb6
Qb7 21. Nxd7 Qxd7 22. Qb3 Rb8 23. c4 $18 {wins a pawn that's supported by the
B-pair.}) 19. Be3 {[#]} Rf6 $2 (19... Bxc4 $142 20. Bxc4 a5 {is unpleasant for
Black, but the game line loses the queenside immediately.}) 20. Nb6 $18 Rb8 (
20... Bxe2 21. Qxe2 {and White wins the a-pawn for free anyway.}) 21. c4 $8 $18
Be8 22. Rxa6 g5 {Desperation. If Black does nothing White will simply go b4
and c5.} 23. fxg5 Rg6 24. g3 $1 Bxg5 {[#]} 25. Bd4 $1 {the simplest: secure
the Nb6 and leave the Nh4 for later.} (25. Bxg5 {wins, but who wants an easy
win to turn into a race?} Qxg5 26. c5 $1 dxc5 27. d6 $8 $18 Bc6 $5) 25... Nf3
26. Bxf3 exf3 27. Qxf3 f4 {The f4 pawn is pinned to mate on f8, so White
ignores it.} 28. b4 Qe7 29. gxf4 Bf6 30. Qe3 Qf7 31. Bxf6 Qxf6 {[#]} 32. f5 $1
Qf8 (32... Rg5 33. Qe6+ $18) 33. Ra7 Rf6 34. c5 dxc5 35. Qg3+ {Forking b8.} Bg6
{Defending with the pin.} 36. Nd7 $1 {Black's K and Ph7 are the only pieces
that aren't (currently) hanging. A very smooth win by Michael, and Sergey's
only loss of the tournament.} 1-0

[Event "Canadian Senior 50+"]
[Site "Etobicoke CAN"]
[Date "2023.08.06"]
[Round "5.10"]
[White "Malakhovets, Sergey"]
[Black "Duong, Thanh Nha"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "2119"]
[BlackElo "2252"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2023.08.04"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{Sergey played the London in all his
games in the Toronto Senior, scoring 4.5/5. Here is a smooth win over and IM
from the 2023 Canadian Seniors 50+, where he finished =2nd-4th with FMs Jura
Ochkoos and Ian Findlay.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. Nf3 g6 5. Be2 Bg7 {
[#]} 6. h3 {A standard idea in London lines vs ...d5: White wants to keep the
DSB if Black should chase it. Another way of dealing with attacks on the Bf4
is shown in the Eric Prie game below:} (6. O-O O-O 7. c4 $1 {Not dogmatically
insisting on a London with c3.} d6 8. Nc3 Nbd7 9. Qc2 Nh5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 c5
$6 12. d5 {Analysis Diagram [#] The IM playing Black has a very bad Benoni,
and tries to break out by forcing off White's DSB, but gets cut to ribbons by
his GM opponent's accurate attack:} g5 $2 (12... Ndf6 13. Nd2 g5 14. Qd1 $14)
13. Bxg5 $1 $18 Bxc3 (13... hxg5 14. Nxg5 Nhf6 15. f4 $1 $18 {Romero, "The
Agile London" (NiC, 2016).}) 14. bxc3 hxg5 15. Nxg5 Nhf6 16. f4 $1 Kg7 17. Rf3
$1 Rg8 18. Rg3 $1 Kf8 19. Qh7 $1 Rxg5 20. Qh6+ $8 Ke8 21. fxg5 $1 Ne4 22. Rg4 {
Prie,E (2502)-Dumitrache,D (2467) FRA-chT Top 16 GpA 2010 (6) 1-0 Black goes
even further down on material since the N has no safe squares and ...f5 Qh5+
leads to mate; so}) 6... O-O 7. O-O c5 8. c3 d5 9. Nbd2 Nc6 {[#]} 10. Bh2 $5 {
I don't see the point of this.} (10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 Nd7 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. f4
{Nikolic,Z (2445)-Damljanovic,B (2420) YUG-ch sf Bela Crkva 1986 (5) 1/2-1/2})
(10. Qb3 Qc8 (10... Nd7 $5) 11. Rfd1 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Qxa6 13. a4 c4 14. Qc2 Qc8
15. Ne5 Na5 16. Bh2 Qf5 17. Qxf5 gxf5 18. f3 Rfd8 19. g4 $1 $14 {Demchenko,A 
(2641)-Preotu,R (2487) Leon blitz op 33rd 2020 (6) 1-0}) 10... Nd7 11. Qb3 {[#]
} c4 $6 (11... e5 $142 $1 {leaves d5-hanging, but White is in trouble if he
takes it:} 12. Qxd5 $6 (12. dxe5 $11) 12... cxd4 13. exd4 Nxd4 $1 14. Qxb7 Nc5
$1 $17 {traps the Q.} (14... Nxe2+ $15)) 12. Qc2 Nf6 13. a4 Na5 14. b3 $1 cxb3
15. Nxb3 Nc4 16. Nbd2 Nd6 (16... Na5 $5 {and White has to work harder to open
the queenside.}) 17. Qb3 Rc8 $6 18. a5 $16 {[#]White creates a queenside pawn
weakness and piles up on it.} Nfe4 (18... bxa5 $2 19. Bxd6 {hangs the B.} Qxd6
20. Qxb7 Rb8 21. Qa6 $18 {the Q is safe.}) 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20. Rfc1 Nd6 21. axb6
axb6 (21... Qxb6 $2 22. Qxb6 axb6 23. Bxd6 exd6 24. Ra7 $18 {both Black Bs are
trash.}) 22. Rab1 (22. Ra7 $1 Ra8 23. Rxa8 Bxa8 24. Ra1 $16) 22... Rc6 23. Nd2
Qc8 24. Bf3 e6 {[#]} 25. Qa3 (25. Bxd6 $5 Rxd6 26. c4 Rc6 27. Qb2 $16 {White
has strong queenside pressure, though maybe the 5v4 on the kingside would be
hard to win.}) 25... Nc4 $2 {Loses the b-pawn and leaves White in total
control over the queenside.} (25... Rd8 $14 {and ...Bf8 saves the b-pawn and
makes White work for a way to break through; which isn't so easy:} 26. Qa7 {
wins the pawn, but leaves White tangled} Bf8 (26... Ba6 $5) (26... b5 $5) 27.
Rxb6 Ba6 $5 $13 {threatening ...Nb5.}) 26. Nxc4 Rxc4 (26... dxc4 27. Bxc6 Qxc6
28. f3 $18 {Black has no comp for the exchange.}) 27. Rxb6 (27. Be2 {also
works, trapping the R:} Rc6 28. Bb5 $18) 27... Qa8 28. Qb2 $1 Bc6 29. Bd1 Bd7
30. Ra1 Qc8 {[#]} 31. Bd6 $1 {Trades down and opens h2 for the K, just in case.
} Re8 (31... Rxc3 $2 32. Rb8 $18) 32. Rb8 Qc6 33. Rxe8+ Bxe8 34. Qb8 Bf8 35.
Bxf8 Kxf8 36. Ra7 (36. Ra8 {is close to zugzwang and threatens Be2-b5.}) 36...
Kg7 (36... Rxc3 37. Ba4 $18) 37. Qe5+ Kh6 (37... Kh6 38. g4 {is #2.}) 1-0

[Event "Hart House Reading Week"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Noritsyn, Nikolay"]
[Black "Chiku-Ratte, Olivier Kenta"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C60"]
[WhiteElo "2572"]
[BlackElo "2454"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{IM Nikolay Noritsyn won the Hart House Reading
Week Open with an undefeated 5/6, 1/2 a point ahead of IM Mark Plotkin, who
was held to draws by his father Victor and Nikolay in the final two rounds,} 1.
e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 Nge7 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4
b5 9. Bc2 d6 10. d5 Na5 11. Bd2 {[%mdl 32768] [#] Critical Position} c5 $6 {
The game line shows why this is bad.} (11... c6 $5 12. Bc3 (12. Bxa5 $6 Qxa5
13. dxc6 $2 Bxb2 $19) 12... Bxc3 13. Nxc3 O-O $14 {is similar to the game, but
Black has a better chance of getting counterplay against the White center.}) (
11... Nc4 $5 12. Bc3 Bxc3 (12... Nxb2 $4 13. Bxg7 $5 (13. Qe1 $1) 13... Nxd1
14. Bxh8 $18 {White already has a RB for the Q, and the black Nd1 is trapped.})
13. Nxc3 Nxb2 14. Qc1 Nc4 15. Bb3 $14 (15. Qh6 $6 {looks annoying, but} Ng8 $1
16. Qg7 Qf6 $15)) (11... Bxb2 $5 12. Bxa5 Bxa1 13. Nc3 {is a good exchange sac
for White.} Bb2 $8 (13... Bxc3 $2 14. Bxc3 $18 {the dark squares belong to
White.}) 14. Qd2 $14 (14. Qb1 $5)) 12. Bc3 O-O 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 {[#]} 14. h3 $1 {
The game has transposed to a Modern Benoni where Black has activated his
queenside majority with ...b5. The problem for Black is his minor pieces: 1)
the Bg7, normally his most important minor, is missing;  2) the Bc8 has no
future, h2-h3 prevented ...Bg4; 3) the Lopez N on a5 is misplaced.} ({h3 shuts
down the Bc8.} 14. b3 $1 {would put the Na5 on an even worse circuit, where
its best fate would be to defend from f7.}) 14... Nc4 15. b3 Nb6 16. a4 $1 b4
$6 (16... Rb8 $142) (16... f5 $142) 17. a5 $1 {Prevents ...a5 and kicks a
defender of c4. With the queenside stabilized, White is free to push in the
center and kingside. This is positionally winning for White, and the game
shows how.} Nd7 18. Nbd2 {[#]} Bb7 {Black has to pick his poison. In the game
he allows White to methodically build up in the center, and he gets squashed.
Here he could try to break out of the bind with exchanges, but the holes
behind are permanent, and the IM playing White will not be as easily confused
as a club-level player.} (18... f5 $5 19. exf5 Nxf5 20. Nc4 Qf6 21. Bxf5 gxf5
22. Re1 $18 {if Black had time for ...Bb7 and ...Rae8 he'd be OK, but here Re6
comes too soon.}) (18... Ne5 $5 19. Nxe5 $1 dxe5 20. Nc4 f6 21. Qd2 g5 22. Bd1
$18) 19. Nc4 Nc8 20. Qd2 f6 21. Nh2 {[#]} Qe7 (21... Ne5 22. f4 Nxc4 23. bxc4
Ne7 24. Nf3 $18 {and e4-e5 will create a passer and weaken Black's king.}) 22.
f4 Na7 23. Rae1 Nb5 24. Bd1 Rae8 25. Bg4 Nd4 26. Re3 h5 {[#]} 27. Bd1 {
Patience.} (27. Be6 Nxe6 28. dxe6 Qxe6 29. Nxd6 $18) 27... f5 {Desperation,
but Black is losing anyway, and it can't have been fun sitting there watching
White's methodical build up, which would continue with Nf3, removing the Nd4,
Black's only good piece.} 28. exf5 Qf6 {[#]} 29. Re6 $1 {Clearly best, and a
no-brainer at IM level.} Nxe6 30. fxe6 Nb8 {That's a one-way retreat.} 31. Nxd6
Re7 32. f5 gxf5 33. Nxf5+ Qxf5 {Everything else gets mated.} 34. Rxf5 Rxf5 35.
Bf3 Re8 36. Be4 Rff8 37. e7 (37. Qg5+ $1 {was mate-in-2, but the game line is
easily winning.}) 1-0

[Event "Hart House Reading Week"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Yu, Johnathan"]
[Black "Findlay, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2210"]
[BlackElo "2259"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{Johnathan Yu plays in a lot of Toronto events,
and FM Ian Findlay, who moved back to Toronto after the pandemic, plays when
the golf courses are snowed under. Both were in contention for prizes on the
last day.  I've included this game because of the surprising number of unusual
tactics that could have decided the game early on, and for its Tragicomic
finish.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bxd7+ Bxd7 6. d4 cxd4 7.
Qxd4 e5 8. Qd3 h6 {The main line: avoiding Nf6 Bg5.} 9. c4 b5 {[#]} 10. c5 $6 {
Trading the d6 pawn for the e5 pawn while opening the center for Black's
B-pair does not seem like a good idea, especially if White allows the Q trade.
OTOH, White has struggled to prove anything from this position, and top
players have begun to resort to suppporting the c-pawn with 10.Nfd2.} dxc5 11.
Nxe5 Be6 12. Rd1 (12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13. a4 Bd6 (13... b4 $142 $15) 14. Nc6 Rc8 15.
axb5 axb5 16. Na7 Ra8 17. Nc3 (17. Rd1 $142 $16 Bb8 $2 18. Nc6 $1 $18 {winning
the R or mating on d8.}) 17... Bc4 $4 18. Be3 $2 (18. Naxb5 $3 $18 {more weird
tactics!}) 18... Bxf1 19. Kxf1 Nf6 $11 {Benmesbah,N (2223)-Brunner,N (2418)
Cappelle Online Blitz op 1st 2021 (3) 1-0}) 12... Qxd3 13. Rxd3 Nf6 14. Nc3 c4
$1 (14... b4 15. Nd5 Rc8 $13) 15. Rd1 Bc5 $15 {[%mdl 64] [#]Critical Position
What happens if Nd5?} 16. Nd5 $4 {Hoping to hop into c7?} Nxd5 $2 (16... O-O-O
$142 $19 {and there's no good defence to ...Nxe4.} 17. Nc6 {looks annoying,
but goes nowhere after.} Rd7 (17... Rd6 {works too.}) 18. Ne5 Rd6 {and ...Nxd4.
}) 17. exd5 $11 Rd8 $2 {[#]} (17... Bf5 $142 18. d6 Rd8 19. Bf4 Rxd6 (19...
Bxd6 20. Nc6 $14 Bd3 21. Nxd8 Bxf4 $14) 20. Nxc4 $1 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 bxc4 22. Rd5
$11) 18. a4 (18. Be3 $142 $1 $18 {Defends the Rd1 and leaves two Black pieces
hanging.} Bxe3 (18... Bd6 19. Nc6 $1 Rc8 20. Na7 $18 {the R and Be6 are
hanging and all White's pieces are protected.}) 19. dxe6 $18 {and the pawn or
N on f7 wins; e.g.} Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Bf4 21. exf7+ Ke7 22. Ng6+ $18) 18... Bxd5
19. axb5 axb5 {[#]} 20. Be3 $2 (20. Nxc4 $3 $11 Bxc4 $2 (20... bxc4 21. Ra5 $11
) 21. Rxd8+ Kxd8 22. Ra8+ $16) 20... Bxe3 $17 21. fxe3 O-O 22. Rd4 Rfe8 23.
Rad1 Rxe5 $8 24. e4 Rd7 25. Rxd5 Rdxd5 26. exd5 {[%mdl 32768] [#] The strange
tactics are over, and we have an endgame. Black is up a pawn, but if it was
White's turn then d5-d6 would force the Black R to defend and enable
counterplay against Black's queenside pawns. But it's Black's move, and after..
.} Kf8 $8 $19 {... the protected passed pawn is stopped by the K, and Black's
R can support the queenside.} 27. d6 Ke8 28. d7+ Kd8 29. Kf2 b4 $1 30. Ra1 Rc5
31. Ke3 Rc7 32. Rc1 c3 33. bxc3 bxc3 (33... Rxc3+ 34. Rxc3 bxc3 35. Kd3 Kxd7
$19 {transposes.}) (33... b3 $2 34. c4 $1 $11) 34. Kd3 Kxd7 35. Rxc3 {[#]}
Rxc3+ $8 {Of course, you'll never win this with Rs on.} 36. Kxc3 Ke6 {#27 is
what my computer says.} 37. Kd4 Kf5 38. Ke3 Kg4 39. Kf2 f5 40. Ke3 g5 41. Kf2
Kf4 42. Ke2 h5 43. Kf2 Ke4 44. Ke2 f4 45. h3 g4 46. hxg4 hxg4 {[#]} 47. Kf2 (
47. g3 fxg3 48. Ke1 Ke3 49. Kf1 Kf3 50. Kg1 g2 51. Kh2 g1=Q+ $1 52. Kxg1 Kg3
$19) 47... Kd3 48. Kf1 {[#]} Ke3 (48... Kd2 {also wins} 49. Kf2 (49. g3 f3 $8
$19) 49... g3+ 50. Kf3 Ke1 51. Kxf4 Kf2 $19) 49. Ke1 f3 ({or} 49... g3 50. Kf1
Kd2 51. Kg1 Ke2 52. Kh1 f3 53. gxf3 Kf2 $19) 50. g3 Kd3 51. Kf1 Kc2 52. Kg1 Kd1
53. Kf1 Kd2 54. Kf2 Kd3 55. Kf1 Ke3 56. Ke1 {[#]} f2+ 57. Kf1 Kf3 $2 {"It was
indeed a draw. Embarrassing how simple the win is after Kd3 Kxf2 Kd2. I had
lots of time. I can only say a senior moment. I wanted to go for lunch :)"  -
FM Ian Findlay, ChessTalk} (57... Kd3 58. Kxf2 Kd2 $1 59. Kf1 Ke3 60. Kg2 Ke2
61. Kg1 Kf3 62. Kh2 Kf2 63. Kh1 Kxg3 64. Kg1 Kh3 65. Kh1 g3 $19) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hart House Reading Week"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Razin, Vadim"]
[Black "Yu, Johnathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "2490"]
[BlackElo "2210"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

{Vadim Razin (UKR) began with three wins, including a win over
IM OKCR, but then lost to both Plotkins and this game. I've included it
because of the crazy tactics at move 34, and as a second Tragicomic ending.} 1.
d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 d5 4. e3 h6 5. Bh4 c5 6. c3 Qb6 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. Nbd2 Bd6
9. Be2 cxd4 10. Qxb6 axb6 {[#] I used to play the Slav, and was surprised to
discover that Black actually outperforms White in positions with the doubled
isolated b-pawns and the symmetrical pawn center we'd get here after cxd4.} 11.
exd4 Bd7 12. O-O Ne7 13. Bd3 Nh5 $1 {Eliminates White's DSB.} 14. Rfe1 g5 15.
Bg3 Nxg3 16. hxg3 f6 $15 17. a3 Kf7 (17... b5 $1 {Stops White on the queenside,
and leaves Black free on the kingside.}) 18. c4 h5 19. Rac1 Rac8 20. Rc3 {[#]}
h4 $6 (20... g4 {looks anti-positional, but SF16 seems to love the fact that
White's Nh4 is so badly sidelined.} 21. Nh4 f5 $17) 21. g4 Ng6 22. Rb3 Nf4 23.
Bf1 Bc6 24. Rxb6 (24. g3 $5 hxg3 25. fxg3 Ng6 26. Kg2 $13) 24... dxc4 25. Nxc4
Bc7 26. Rb3 {[#]} Bd5 ({With both Bs pointed at the Kg1 it feels like there
ought to be a way to break through, and there is, but it would be crazy hard
to see long lines like these:} 26... h3 $1 27. g3 (27. gxh3 Kg7 (27... Nxh3+ $2
28. Bxh3 Rxh3 29. Nxg5+ $1 $18) 28. Ncd2 Nxh3+ 29. Bxh3 Rxh3 $17) 27... h2+ $8
$19 28. Kh1 (28. Nxh2 Rxh2 $1 $19) 28... Nh3 29. Bxh3 Rxh3 30. Kg2 h1=Q+ $1 31.
Rxh1 Rxh1 32. Kxh1 b5 33. Ncd2 Ba5 $19 34. Kg1 Bd5 {White is going to lose at
least a N} 35. Rxb5 (35. Re3 Bxd2 36. Nxd2 Rc1+ 37. Nf1 Bc4 $19) 35... Bxd2 36.
Nxd2 Rc1+ 37. Nf1 Rxf1+ $19) 27. Rc3 Bb8 28. Rec1 Rcd8 29. Ncd2 Ke7 30. Re3 h3
31. g3 h2+ 32. Kh1 Nh3 33. Bxh3 Rxh3 34. Ne4 {[%mdl 64] [#] Critical Position
Hooliganism, or safety?} Bf4 $5 {According to Shirov, during post-mortems Tal
would call moves like these "Hooliganism" -- with obvious glee! It's an
excellent try in the opponent's time trouble: with best play White draws,
anything less loses.} (34... Kf7 35. Kg2 Rdh8 36. Rh1 $8 (36. Kh1 Bf4 $1 $19))
(34... Bc6 35. Rxc6 $1 {not the only move, but greatly simplifies White's game.
} bxc6 36. Rb3 $13) 35. gxf4 $8 Rxf3 (35... gxf4 $5 36. Rc7+ (36. Kg2 $4 h1=Q+
$19) 36... Kf8 37. Re1 Rxf3 38. Nxf6 Re3+ 39. Kxh2 Rxe1 40. Nh7+ $11 {down a R,
White saves the game with this well-known repetition.}) 36. Rc7+ (36. Rxf3 $2
Bxe4 37. Rcc3 Rh8 $8 $19 {and ...Rh3.}) (36. Nc3 Rxe3+ (36... Rxf4+ 37. Nxd5+
Rxd5 $11) (36... Bc6 37. d5 $8 Rxe3 $8 $11) 37. Nxd5+ Rxd5 38. fxe3 gxf4 $11)
36... Kf8 $8 $11 {[#] Not allowing Nxf6+xd5.} 37. Rxf3 (37. Kxh2 Rxe3 38. Nxf6
$8 Re2 39. Nh7+ $11 {is the same mechanism as above.}) 37... Bxe4 $8 38. Rcc3
$8 {[#]} Rxd4 $4 (38... gxf4 $11 39. Kxh2 Bxf3 $8 40. Rxf3 e5 $4 (40... Rxd4 $8
$11) 41. dxe5 fxe5 42. Rb3 $18 {e.g.} Rd7 43. Kg2 e4 44. Rb4 Re7 45. f3 $1 $18
{breaks the pawns due to the threat of Rxf4+}) 39. fxg5 $18 Ke7 (39... Kf7 {
leaves the f-pawn pinned after} 40. Kxh2 Bxf3 41. Rxf3 Rxg4 42. Rxf6+ Ke7 43.
f4 $18) 40. gxf6+ Kf7 41. g5 Rd5 {[#]} 42. g6+ $4 {This and White's next are
probably due to the same oversight.} (42. Kxh2 {(or 42.Rc7+ first)} Bxf3 43.
Rc7+ $8 (43. Rxf3 $2 Rxg5 $14) 43... Kf8 (43... Kg6 44. Rg7+ $8 Kh5 45. f7 Kg4
$5 (45... Rd8 46. Rg8 $18) 46. f8=Q Rd1 47. Qxf3+ $18) 44. g6 Rd8 (44... Rh5+
45. Kg3 Rg5+ 46. Kxf3 Rxg6 47. Rxb7 $18) 45. Rh7 $18 (45. Kg3 $18 {slower, but
also winning.})) 42... Kxg6 $14 43. f7 $4 {The K and B can't stop the pawn,
but...} (43. Kxh2 Bxf3 44. Rxf3 Kf7 {White has the better side of a draw.})
43... Rf5 $8 $19 {Stops promotion and wins the R.} (43... Rd8 $4 44. Kxh2 $18 {
Black can win the f7-pawn, but only by trading down to a losing pawn ending.})
44. Kxh2 Bxf3 45. Kg3 Bd5 0-1

[Event "Hart House Reading Week"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Mao, Fengxi"]
[Black "Shih, Matthew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "2231"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.01.27"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3 g6 3. Bb2 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 {[#] White scores 60% from
here (which is excelltent) but only +14 Elo (which isn't). This suggests it's
the kind of opening higher-rated White players try when they hope to outclass
their opponents, and that they may be mistaken in doing so!?} d5 (5... a5 $5 6.
O-O a4 (6... d5 7. c4) 7. c4 d6 8. d4 Nbd7 9. Nc3 Nb6 10. Qc2 d5 11. c5 a3 12.
Bxa3 Rxa3 13. cxb6 cxb6 14. Rfc1 Bf5 $11 {Carlsen,M (2838)-Jobava,B (2701) PRO
League KO Stage rapid 2017 (4.4) 0-1}) 6. c4 c6 7. O-O Re8 8. d4 e6 9. Nc3 Nbd7
10. Qc2 b6 11. e4 dxe4 {[#]} 12. Nxe4 (12. Ng5 $5 $146) (12. Ne5 $5 $146) 12...
Nxe4 (12... Bb7 $4 13. Nd6 $18 Qc7 14. Nxe8 $18 {Jones,G (2670)-Dourerassou,J 
(2477) EU-ch qual Online 2020 (10) 1-0}) 13. Qxe4 Bb7 14. Rad1 (14. Rfd1 $5 {
keeping the Ra1 might get a better version of the c5 sac White tries in the
game.}) 14... Qc7 (14... Rc8 15. Ne5 Qe7 16. Rd2 Nf6 $6 17. Qf3 Red8 18. Rfd1
Rc7 19. Qe3 Rdc8 20. h3 $16 {White has a solid space advantage.} Rb8 21. Bc3
Rbc8 22. Bb2 Rb8 23. Bc3 Rbc8 {Schoppen,C (2507)-Santiago,Y (2490) Vlissingen
HZ op 24th 2022 (8) 1/2-1/2}) 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Rab8 {[#]} 17. c5 $5 $146 {
Stops Black from equalizing simply with ...c5.} bxc5 18. Rd6 Qa5 19. Qc2 (19.
Ra1 {is not as stupid as it looks, and doesn't allow Black to liquidate the
weak c5-pawn, since after} c4 20. Qxc4 {e5 is not hanging:} Bxe5 $4 21. b4 $18)
19... c4 $1 (19... Qxa2 $4 20. Ra1 $18) 20. Bc3 cxb3 21. axb3 Qc5 22. b4 Qc4
23. Rd4 Qb5 24. Ra1 a6 25. Ra5 Qb6 26. Rd6 Red8 27. Qd2 Rxd6 28. exd6 Bxc3 29.
Qxc3 {[#]White is down a pawn but has more than enough compensation.} Rd8 $2 (
29... Ba8 $8 $11) 30. Qc5 $1 $18 {[%mdl 4096] The Qb6 is trapped and the
exchange on c5 will support White's Pd6.} Qxc5 $8 31. bxc5 Kf8 32. Ra3 $6 Ra8 {
[#]} 33. Ra5 {Keeping Black's pawns blocking Black's pieces. White is still
winning, despite the wasted tempi.} (33. Rb3 $5 Ra7 $8 34. Bf3 (34. Rxb7 $4 {
does not work} Rxb7 35. Bxc6 Rb1+ $8 36. Kg2 Rc1 $8 $19) 34... a5 35. Bd1 $1 a4
36. Ra3 $8 Ra5 37. Bxa4 $8 Rxc5 (37... Ba6 38. Rb3 $8 $18) 38. Rb3 Ba6 39. Rb8+
Kg7 40. d7 $18 {Black has no miracle escape, though it is close:} Rc1+ 41. Kg2
Bf1+ 42. Kf3 Rc3+ 43. Ke4 Rc4+ 44. Ke5 (44. Ke3 Rc3+ 45. Kd2 Rd3+ 46. Ke1 Rxd7
47. Kxf1 $18 {would be a headache.}) 44... f6+ 45. Kd6 $1 Rxa4 46. d8=Q Rd4+
47. Kxe6 Bh3+ 48. Ke7 Re4+ 49. Kd6 Rd4+ 50. Kxc6 $18) 33... Ke8 34. f4 Kd7 35.
Kf2 Re8 36. Bh3 Rb8 37. Bf1 Bc8 {[#]} 38. Bxa6 $2 (38. Ke3 $142 {so the K can
defend c5, or cross over via e5 and f6. If Black tries to sit tight with} Ra8
39. g4 f6 40. g5 $1 {so the White K can attack e6 from e5.} Ke8 $1 {to defend
e5 with the K. I think White should win with something like Bc4, Ra2-b2-b6,
but even with the computer saying +5 haven't found a fully convincing line.})
38... Bxa6 $11 (38... Ra8 $4 39. Bxc8+ Rxc8 40. Ra7+ $18) 39. Rxa6 Rb5 $8 $11 {
Now that the Bs are gone Black can immediately target the pawn that supports
White's pride and joy on d6.} 40. Ra7+ Kd8 (40... Ke8 41. Re7+ Kd8 $8 (41...
Kf8 $4 42. Rc7 $18)) 41. Rxf7 Rxc5 42. Rxh7 $11 {[%mdl 64] [#]Critical Position
} Rh5 $4 (42... Rd5 $2 43. Rh6 $8 (43. Rg7 $2 Rd2+ $8 44. Ke3 Rxh2 45. Rxg6 Kd7
$11) 43... Kd7 44. h4 $8 $18) (42... e5 $8 $11 43. Rg7 exf4 44. gxf4 Rf5 45.
Ke3 Rf6 $11 {even if all the pawns on the 6th rank disappear, the f and h
pawns only draw if Black's K isn't stuck on the back rank.}) 43. Rxh5 $8 $18
gxh5 44. h4 {This wins, and may or may not be more straightforward than:} (44.
h3 $1 Kd7 45. g4 Kxd6 46. g5 $8 c5 47. Ke2 e5 (47... Ke7 48. Kd3 Kf7 49. Kc4 h4
(49... Kg6 50. h4 $18) 50. Kxc5 Kg6 51. Kd6 $18) (47... h4 48. Kd3 e5 49. g6 $8
Ke6 50. fxe5 $18) 48. g6 $8 Ke6 49. fxe5 $8 $18 {[#] a position that reappears
several times in this analysis.}) 44... Kd7 {[#]} 45. g4 $8 Kxd6 46. g5 $8 $18
e5 47. fxe5+ $2 (47. f5 $2 $11 c5 48. Ke3 Kd7 49. Kd3 Ke7 50. f6+ (50. Kc4 e4
$8 $11) 50... Ke6 51. Ke3 Kf7 52. Ke4 c4 $8 $11 {Both Ks can stop the pawns
but never capture them.}) (47. g6 $1 $18 Ke6 48. fxe5 $8 $18 {as in the
variations at move 44.} (48. f5+ $2 Kf6 49. Ke3 Kg7 $11 (49... c5 $11))) (47.
Kf3 $1 $18 {is simplest} c5 48. Ke4 (48. g6 Ke6 49. fxe5 $8 $18) 48... exf4 49.
Kxf4 $8 $18) 47... Kxe5 $11 48. Ke3 {[%mdl 4160] [#]Critical Position} Kf5 $4 (
48... c5 $8 $11 {Black can defend the c5-pawn from d5 or d6 and stay within
the square of the g5-pawn.} 49. Kd3 Kd5 $8 50. Kc3 Ke6 (50... Kd6 $4 51. Kc4
$18) (50... Ke5 $11) 51. Kc4 Kd6 52. Kb5 Kd5 $8 $11 53. Ka5 Ke5 $11 (53... c4
$4 54. Kb4 $18)) (48... Kd5 49. Kf4 $8 $18 Ke6 50. Ke4 Kd6 51. Kf5 c5 52. Kf6
$18 {White's new Q will check from d8 and c8, skewering the new piece on c1
before it has a chance to move.}) 49. Kd4 Kg4 (49... Ke6 50. Ke4 $8 c5 51. Kf4
$8 Kd5 52. g6 {also works, since White promotes with check;} (52. Kf5 Kd6 53.
Kf6 $18 {with the same position as at the end of the previous note.}) 52... Ke6
53. Kg5 c4 54. Kh6 c3 55. g7 $18) 50. g6 Kxh4 51. g7 Kh3 52. g8=Q h4 53. Ke3
Kh2 54. Kf2 {[editor - insert cliche about the importance of knowing endgames.]
} 1-0

[Event "Ottawa Winter Open"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "2023.01.21"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Gordon, David"]
[Black "Rodrigue Lemieux, Shawn"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2221"]
[BlackElo "2528"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada Tacticosaru"]
[Source "CFC-JKU"]
[SourceDate "2023.02.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2023.02.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteClock "0:29:59"]
[BlackClock "0:35:09"]

{The following game was the last postion in the previous all-tactics issue. Here's
the full game, and it's a teaser for an upcoming issue where Shawn Rodrigue
annotates his favourite games from the past few years. [Spoiler: this wasn't
one of them.]} 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 b6 7.
d4 Bb7 8. Nbd2 a5 9. Bb2 a4 $11 {[#]This is a simple way for Black to equalize
against many early b3 lines, including this double-fianchetto.} 10. bxa4 {
SF16's top choice, but still just equal.} (10. Qc2 Nbd7 (10... a3 11. Bc3 $11)
11. Ne5 c5 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Ndc4 $2 {This attempt to trade
minors fails to Black's accurate play:} axb3 $1 15. axb3 Rxa1 {So the Ra8
won't hang on Bxb7.} 16. Bxa1 dxc4 17. Bxb7 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 Qb6 $8 {This double
attack on b7 and b3 wins.} 19. Bxf6 (19. Bf3 cxb3 $19) 19... cxb3 20. Qc4 Bxf6
$19 {Yu,Z (2394)-Rodrigue Lemieux,S (2242) Montreal op 2019 (3) 0-1 with
connected passed pawns, White didn't last long in}) 10... Qd7 11. cxd5 exd5 12.
Qc2 Bd6 13. e4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 {[#]} 15. Ne5 (15. Ng5 $5 f5 16. Qb3+ Kh8 17.
Ne6 $13) 15... Qxa4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 Nd7 18. Ng4 Rfe8 19. Qd3 Qa6 20. Qf5
Nf8 21. d5 {[%mdl 832] [#] Critical Position  Material is equal, Black's pawn
structure is better, but White has pieces menacing Black's king. Should Black
improve his Q with ...Qb5 or ...Qe2, or try to trade Qs with ...Qc8, or go ...
Ng6, or something else?} Qe2 $4 (21... Qb5 $4 22. Nh6+ ({or} 22. Nf6+ {or Bxg7,
they all win.}) 22... gxh6 23. Qf6 $18) (21... Qc8 $4 22. Nh6+ $8 $18 gxh6 23.
Qf6 Be5 24. Bxe5 $18) (21... Ng6 $2 22. Bxg7 $3 $16 Kxg7 23. Qf6+ Kf8 24. Nh6
Re7 25. Rae1 $8 (25. Nf5 $2 Be5 $19) (25. Rfe1 $2 Rae8 $11) 25... Rae8 26. Nf5
$8 $16) (21... Be7 $3 {Undeveloping the B and undefending the c7-pawn and
blocking the Re8: this move looks stupid in every way. But it does the one
essential thing: defends the kingside dark squares. If you don't see that
White was threatening piece sacs on the dark squares g7, h6, and f6 then you'd
never consider ...Be7. The computer sees all that, and rates this as the only
move to keep the balance.} 22. Qe5 f6 23. Qxc7 Qb5 $1 {forks Bb2 and d5. Black
has enough activity for the pawn; e.g. after something like:} 24. Rfb1 Qxd5 25.
Qxb6 Reb8 $11 {White can't unwind without giving back the a-pawn.}) 22. Bxg7 $8
$18 ({Black's Qe4 attacks the Bb2 and adds support to e5, so N sacs now both
fail to taking the N then blocking the long diagonal on e5; e.g.} 22. Nh6+ $4 {
(or Nf6+)} gxh6 23. Qf6 Be5 $19) 22... Ra4 {Threatening the Ng4.} (22... Kxg7
$4 23. Qf6+ Kg8 24. Nh6#) {[#]} 23. f4 $2 {White spent 9:39 on this move, and
it's a lemon. It defends the Ng4 and keeps Black pieces off e5, but neither of
those were necessary: White can give the knight for time to reload the
diagonal.} (23. Bc3 $142 {[%cal Gg4h6] Threatens immediate mate with Nh6.} Qxg4
(23... Rxg4 24. Rae1 $1 $18 {skewers Re8.}) 24. Qf6 $8 Be5 25. Bxe5 Rxe5 26.
Qxe5 $18) (23. Bd4 $142 Rxd4 24. Nh6+ Kg7 25. Qg5+ Ng6 26. Nf5+ Kg8 27. Nxd4
$18) (23. Bb2 $142 Qxb2 24. Nf6+ Qxf6 (24... Kh8 25. Nxe8 $18) 25. Qxf6 Be5 26.
Qg5+ $18 ({or} 26. Qc6 $18)) 23... Bc5+ (23... h5 $5 {allows White to force a
repetition} 24. Nf6+ (24. Qxh5 $4 Bc5+ 25. Kh1 Qe4+ $19) ({Compare this with
the game line: the Black Bc5 prevents the maneuver ...Qb5xd5 check.} 24. Bc3 $2
hxg4 25. Rae1 Qb5 $8 26. Qf6 Qc5+ $8 $19 27. Kh1 Qxd5+ $8 $19) 24... Kxg7 25.
Qg5+ (25. Nxh5+ {transposes}) 25... Ng6 26. Nxh5+ {Black can't run since} Kf8
$4 (26... Kg8 27. Nf6+ $11) 27. Rae1 $18 {closes the exit with a tempo on the
Q, and} Qxe1 28. Qh6+ $8 Ke7 29. Rxe1+ {is hopeless.}) 24. Kh1 $8 h5 $2 {
[#] Gives White a second chance!} (24... Qe4+ $142 $8 25. Qxe4 Rexe4 $8 (25...
Raxe4 $4 26. Bxf8 $18 {and a fork on f6.}) 26. Be5 Nd7 {stops the fork on f6.}
27. Bxc7 $16) 25. Nh6+ $4 (25. Bf6 $2 Qxg4 $19 {and White's Q can't get to the
long diagonal.}) (25. Bc3 $8 $18 {threatens Nh6# and prepares to reload the
dark-square attack.} Bd4 (25... Qxg4 26. Qf6 $8 Bd4 (26... Ng6 $2 {guards h8
at the cost of g7,} 27. Qg7#) 27. Bxd4 Rxd4 28. Qxd4 $18) (25... Qe4+ {saves
the K, but} 26. Qxe4 Rexe4 27. Nf6+ $18 {wins a whole rook with the discovered
check.}) (25... hxg4 26. Rae1 $8 Qb5 {defends e8, but} 27. Qf6 $8 $18 {forces
Black into a hopeless endgame:} Bd4 28. Bxd4 Qxd5+ 29. Kg1 Qxd4+ 30. Qxd4 Rxd4
31. Rxe8 $18) 26. Nh6+ Kg7 27. Bxd4+ Rxd4 {and White has a couple of ways to
win the Rd4, the simplest being} 28. Qxf7+ (28. Qg5+ $1 {is greedier and wins
more.}) 28... Kxh6 29. Qf6+ $18) 25... Kxg7 26. Qg5+ Kh7 {Threatening ...Qe4+.}
27. Rae1 Qxe1 28. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Kg2 {[#]} Rxa2+ 30. Kh3 Ree2 31. Qg8+ Kxh6 32.
Qg5+ Kh7 33. Qxh5+ Kg7 34. Kg4 Nh7 $1 35. Kf5 Rxh2 36. Qg4+ Kh6 0-1

