1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 Nc6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3 d5 6.e5 d4 7.exf6 dxc3 8.bxc3 Qxf6 9.Bd2 Qd8 10.Be2 Be7 11.Qc2 e5 12.O-O O-O 13.Rfe1 Bd6 14.a4 Re8 15.Bg5 Qc7 16.Bh4 Bf5 17.Bg3 Re6 18.Qd2 Rae8 19.Bd1 Kf8 20.Bc2 R6e7 21.Qg5 Bg6 22.Nd2 f6 23.Qe3 f5 24.Qe2 f4 25.Bh4 Rf7 26.f3 Ne7 27.Ne4 Bxe4 28.Qxe4 Nf5 29.Bf2 h5 30.Rab1 b6 31.Rb3 g5 32.Reb1 g4 33.Bd1 g3 34.hxg3 Nxg3 35.Qe1 h4 36.a5 Rb8 37.axb6 Rxb6 38.Rxb6 axb6 39.Ba4 Rh7 40.Rb5 h3 41.Bxg3 fxg3 42.Qxg3 hxg2 43.Kf2 e4 44.Qg4 exf3 45.Qxf3+ Rf7 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 Nf6 6.Bd3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 e5 10.Nf3 e4 11.Nd4 exd3 12.Qxe7 Re8 13.Qb4 Nc6 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Bf4 c5 16.Qb3 c4 17.Qd1 Bg4 18.f3 Re2 19.Rf2 Rae8 20.Kf1 Rxf2+ 21.Kxf2 Re2+ 22.Kg3 Nh5+ 23.Kxg4 Rxg2+ 24.Bg3 Nf6+ 25.Kh3 Re2 26.Nd2 Qf5+ 0-1

I admit I was overconfident in this game. I let the rating differential lull me into overconfidence. I played 9...e5 and 10...e4 thinking I had won a piece and was taken by surprise when white took my en prise bishop on e7.

In order to make up for my mistake I made my mission to keep my pawn on d3 and use it to create as many possibilities against the kingside as possible.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 d5 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.exd5 Nxd4 7.Bxd7+ Qxd7 8.Qxd4 Nf6 9.c4 e6 10.Nc3 Bb4 11.Bd2 O-O 12.O-O Rfd8 13.Bg5 Bxc3 14.bxc3 exd5 15.cxd5 Qxd5 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qxf6 Rd6 18.Qe7 Rc8 19.Qe3 b6 20.h3 Kf8 21.Rfe1 Re6 22.Qc1 Rxe1+ 23.Qxe1 Qc4 24.Rc1 Qxa2 25.Ra1 Qc4 26.Rxa7 Rc7 27.Ra8+ Rc8 28.Rxc8+ Qxc8 29.Qe5 Kg8 30.h4 Qe6 31.Qxe6 fxe6 32.Kf1 Kf7 33.Ke2 Kf6 34.Kd3 Ke5 35.Kc4 Kd6 36.Kb5 Kc7 37.g4 1-0

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qe5+ 4.Be2 c6 5.d4 Qa5 6.Nf3 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Ne5 Nf6 9.Bd2 Qd8 10.Be3 Nbd7 11.f4 Nb6 12.Bf3 Nbd5 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.g4 Ng8 15.g5 Bf5 16.c4 g6 17.cxd5 cxd5 18.Qa4+ Kf8 19.Qb3 Be6 20.Rf2 Rb8 21.Rc1 Kg7 22.Rfc2 h5 23.Rc7 Bd6 24.Rxb7 Rxb7 25.Qxb7 Bxe5 26.fxe5 Ne7 27.Rc7 Re8 28.Qxa7 Bh3 29.Kf2 Be6 30.b4 Kf8 31.b5 Nc8 32.Qc5+ Re7 33.b6 Nxb6 34.Rxe7 Nd7 35.Rxd7+ 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 Bd7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.O-O exd4 7.Nxd4 Be7 8.Re1 Ne5 9.f4 Ng6 10.e5 Bxb5 11.exf6 gxf6 12.Ncxb5 O-O 13.Qg4 Kh8 14.Re3 c6 15.Rh3 Rg8 16.Qh5 Rg7 17.Nf5 Qg8 18.Nxg7 Qxg7 19.Nd4 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 a6 4.Bc4 h6 5.O-O Nf6 6.dxe5 Nxe4 7.Re1 Nc5 8.exd6+ Be6 9.Bxe6 Nxe6 10.dxc7 Qxc7 11.Ne5 Bd6 12.Qh5 O-O 13.Nc3 Nd7 14.Nd5 Qc8 15.Nxd7 Qxd7 16.Bxh6 Qd8 17.Re4 gxh6 18.Qxh6 Ng7 19.Nf6+ 1-0

Position after 13...Nd7:

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.Nf3 Qxe4+ 5.Be2 Bd6 6.Nc3 Qc6 7.d4 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 O-O 10.O-O d5 11.Ne5 Qd6 12.b3 Nc6 13.Re1 Ne4 14.Bb2 Qf6 15.f3 Ng5 16.c4 dxc4 17.Bxc4 Rd8 18.Nxc6 Qxc6 19.d5 Qg6 20.Kh1 Be6 21.dxe6 Rxd1 22.exf7+ Nxf7 23.Raxd1 Kf8 24.Rd7 Re8 25.Rxe8+ Kxe8 26.Bxf7+ Qxf7 27.Rxf7 Kxf7 28.Kg1 a5 29.Kf2 c5 30.Ke3 g5 31.Ke4 Ke6 32.a4 b6 33.g3 h5 34.f4 gxf4 35.gxf4 h4 36.f5+ Kf7 37.Kd5 1-0

Position after 20...Be6:

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I have a note I wrote regarding this position saved in the gamescore from when I was thinking about my 21st move: "Queen sac? Oh s***, son.... Okay, here goes: 21.dxe6 Rxd1 22. exf7+ Nxf7 23.Raxd1 and then black has no good options? Test it, defend it from black."

1.e4 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d3 Nf6 4.h3 e6 5.Be2 d5 6.Nd2 Qa5 7.Bf3 Ne5 8.Qc2 Be7 9.Ne2 Nxf3+ 10.gxf3 d4 11.e5 Nh5 12.f4 Bd7 13.b3 Bc6 14.Rg1 g6 15.Bb2 Bf3 16.Ng3 Nxf4 17.Ne4 Bxe4 18.dxe4 d3 19.Qb1 O-O-O 20.a3 a6 21.Rg3 h5 22.Rf3 Bg5 23.b4 cxb4 24.h4 Ng2+ 25.Kf1 Nxh4 26.Nb3 Nxf3 27.Bc1 Qb6 28.c5 Qb5 29.Ra2 d2+ 30.Kg2 d1=Q 0-1

This was an instructive game to play as I felt I was actually seeing and capitalizing on opportunities in a semi-closed position. I liked 9...Nxf3+ since White can't take with his pinned knight and must break-up his kingside pawns. This was a weakness I was able to exploit after he ill-advisedly played 11.e5 and 12.f4. Also, the loss of his king's bishop meant I had relative safety for my knight and queen's bishop on the white squares. That plus the pin on the d2 knight paid dividends throughout the game.

The key moment (for me) was the position after 17.Ne4. By taking with my bishop I prevent an unwanted check and exchange on d6/f6 and more importantly I get a passed pawn on the e-file after 18.dxe4. Now the white queen is either exchanged or retreats to the back rank to prevent castling (which happened in the game). I'm then free to castle queenside and put additional pressure on the e-file and the rest came pretty easily.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 O-O 9.O-O-O d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6 14.Na4 Qc7 15.Bc4 Rd8 16.Bb3 Bf5 17.g3 h5 18.Qc5 e6 19.Qd4 Rab8 20.Nc5 Qb6 21.Na4 Qa5 22.g4 hxg4 23.fxg4 c5 24.Nxc5 Bxg4 25.Qxg4 Qxc5 26.h4 Qe3+ 27.Kb1 Nf6 28.Rxd8+ Rxd8 29.Qg1 Qf3 30.a3 Ne4 31.Bxe6 Ng3 32.Bxf7+ Kxf7 33.Qxa7+ Kg8 34.Rg1 Rd1+ 35.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 36.Ka2 Qd5+ 37.Kb1 Nf5 38.Qb8+ Kf7 39.Qc7+ Ke6 40.Qb6+ Kf7 41.Qc7+ Ne7 42.Qf4+ Nf5 43.Qc7+ Kf6 44.Qb6+ Qe6 45.Qxe6+ Kxe6 46.Kc1 Nxh4 47.Kd1 Nf5 48.a4 Ne3+ 49.Kd2 Nc4+ 50.Kc3 Ne5 51.Kd4 Nc6+ 52.Ke4 Kd6 53.c3 Kc5 54.b3 Ne7 55.Kf3 Nd5 56.c4 Ne7 57.Kg4 Nc6 58.Kg5 Kb4 59.Kxg6 Kxb3 60.c5 Kxa4 61.Kf6 Kb4 62.Ke6 Kxc5 63.Kd7 Kd5 1/2-1/2

Site: QueenAlice
Date(s): 2021.10.07-2021.10.11
White: suenteus_po_147 (1943)
Black: MMA34 (1832)
Opening: B89 Sicilian: Sozin (7.Be3)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9.O-O-O Nxd4 10.Bxd4 b5 11.Bb3 e5 12.Bxe5 Qb6 13.Bd4 Qc7 14.f4 Bg4 15.Nxb5 axb5 16.Qxb5+ Bd7 17.Qg5 Rg8 18.e5 Ne4 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qxh7 Rf8 21.Bd5 Nc5 22.Bxa8 Qa5 23.Bd5 Ba4 24.exd6 Bxd6 25.Rhe1+ Kd7 26.Bxc5 1-0

I was off to a good start after 11...e5? since I win a free pawn. The bishop is immune to capture otherwise Black drops his queen.

Because my opponent so quickly dropped a pawn, I started moving more quickly and I paid the price for it. After 13...Qc7 I desperately wanted to advance my e-pawn, kicking the black knight on f6 and then eventually playing e6 to start opening up all sorts of tactical combinations. So I played 14.f4? without hardly thinking at all and was stung by 14...Bg4, skewering my queen and rook.

I was so angry with myself for falling into such a bad situation, but I learned nothing from my previous error. Even though I actually looked at 15.Nd5 (which wins the exchange no matter how black responds) I played 15.Nxb5. After 15...axb5 16.Qxb5+ I have three pawns for my knight in an uneven position and it's not at all clear that I can keep things equal. At this point I stepped away from the game and had a long think. 17.Qg5 immediately jumped out at me as the sharpest continuation, but I wanted to make sure my calculation of the position was right before I continued.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 O-O 5.e3 d6 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Re1 c6 10.e4 Nc5 11.Bc2 Qe7 12.b4 Ne6 13.a3 Nh5 14.Ne2 Rd8 15.Bd2 Nef4 16.Qc1 Bg4 17.Ng3 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Nh3+ 19.Kg2 N5f4+ 20.Bxf4 Nxf4+ 21.Kh1 Qg5 22.Rg1 h5 23.Qe3 Qh4 24.Ne2 Nxe2 25.Qxe2 Bh6 26.Rad1 Rxd1 27.Qxd1 Rd8 28.Bd3 Bf4 29.Rg2 Rd4 30.Qe2 Qd8 31.Bb1 Rd1+ 32.Rg1 Qh4 0-1

For me in this game, the decisive moment came after 11.Bc2:

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I didn't know what to do. I had seven days to make my move, and I burned four of those testing out all kinds of moves that didn't seem to do anything for me. The answer came from Max Euwe. I looked at this game, M Sonnenberg vs Euwe, 1925 and was inspired by Euwe's simple 10...Qe7 as a way to clear the d-file while still developing my plans for an attack on the king side.

From the same game, Euwe also moves his queen's knight to e6 to pivot to the kingside, which is exactly what I needed to mount my attack. From that point, I felt emboldened and moved with a confidence I have rarely felt in a serious game of chess against a peer.

In the interest of symmetry, we need a new rule, the <Fontaine Rule>:

"For every two losses the player submitted of their own games, one win must be submitted"

Seems sensible, and fair.

<In the interest of symmetry, we need a new rule, the <Fontaine Rule>:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Be2 O-O 11.Rd1 Bg4 12.e5 Rfd8 13.Qb2 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 cxd4 15.Bxc6 dxe3 16.Rxd8+ Rxd8 17.Bf3 Bxe5 18.O-O Bxc3 19.Qxb7 exf2+ 20.Kh1 Be1 21.Qxe7 Rd2 22.Rxe1 fxe1=Q+ 23.Qxe1 Rxa2 24.Qe8+ Kg7 25.h3 Ra1+ 26.Kh2 Qc3 27.Qe2 a5 28.Bd5 Re1 29.Qf2 Qe5+ 30.g3 Re2 0-1

This was my first serious game attempting the Grunfeld. My opponent deviated from our database with 12.e5, which immediately seemed like a mistake, when he could have castled out of some nastiness. Therefore, I decided to create more nastiness with 12...Rfd8. Shockingly, white still refused to castle and played 13.Qb2 which I think is just bad, though most responses seemed to be. When the dust settles, I'm left here:

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This is when I really got nervous. I'm up the exchange and a pawn, but my rook and queen are far from my king and if I'm not careful I could easily fall into a mate or (at best) a perpetual. I had to tread carefully. After a few days of analyzing, I see that I can't take on a2 as I want with the queen because doing so would give up protection of the crucial e5 square, giving my opponent the perpetual that would save the half point.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Bd7 7.O-O cxd4 8.Re1 dxc3 9.Nxc3 Bb4 10.Bd2 Nge7 11.h4 Rc8 12.h5 g6 13.Nb5 Bxd2 14.Nd6+ Kf8 15.Qxd2 Rc7 16.Qg5 Nb4 17.Qf6 Be8 18.Qxh8+ Ng8 19.Nxe8 Nxd3 20.Nxc7 Nxe1 21.Nxe6+ fxe6 22.Rxe1 Qxb2 23.Ng5 Qd2 24.Nxh7+ Kf7 25.hxg6+ Ke7 26.Qg7+ Kd8 27.Qxg8+ Ke7 28.Qf8+ Kd7 29.Nf6+ Kc7 30.Qd6+ Kc8 31.Qd7+ 1-0

My inspiration for this game came from C Yip vs A Zatonskih, 2021 which was played just a week before I started this game. I became an immediate fan of Yip and the tactical, combinatory style she put on display at the US Championship. My hope to was emulate her as much as possible in this game and my opponent obliged!

Black's woes begin by grabbing the pawn on c3 and it only gets worse when he fails to stop my advancing h-pawn. Once the weakness on f6 presents itself I snap into action!

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.O-O Be7 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 O-O 11.Ne2 Qc7 12.c3 b5 13.Ng3 a6 14.Nf5 Rfe8 15.Qg3 g6 16.Nh6+ Kg7 17.f5 Nh5 18.Qf3 d5 19.fxg6 Nhf6 20.gxf7 Rf8 21.Qg3+ Kh8 22.exd5 cxd5 23.dxe5 Qxe5 24.Bf4 Qh5 25.Rae1 Bc5+ 26.Kh1 Rxf7 27.Nxf7+ Qxf7 28.Bf5 Rg8 29.Qd3 Qg7 30.Re2 Nh5 31.Bxd7 Nxf4 32.Rxf4 Qxd7 33.Rfe4 Qf5 34.R4e3 Qg5 35.b4 Bxe3 36.Qxe3 Qxe3 37.Rxe3 Rc8 38.Kg1 Rc4 39.Kf2 d4 40.cxd4 Rxd4 41.a3 Kg7 42.Re6 a5 43.bxa5 Ra4 44.a6 Rxa3 45.Rb6 b4 46.Rb7+ Kg6 47.a7 b3 1/2-1/2

Here's the crucial position after 32...Qxd7:

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I'm up a pawn and the exchange after a massive exchange of pieces and shifting of position, so I should be sitting pretty. So much so that I decide to be cute and play the stupid 33.Rfe4? allowing the black queen to pin my rook.

I actually had to be careful in this position because my king is not in the safest corner in the world. I'm thinking now I should have played 33.Rf5, but perhaps there's counterplay for black there as well. This was disappointing to draw after having managed to capitalize on my opponent's weak queen's pawn moves earlier in the game. I tried to win the Rook endgame, but I don't think I played it correctly.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nd5 Qd8 12.Nc4 Be6 13.Ncb6 Rb8 14.c3 Be7 15.b4 Bg5 16.a4 O-O 17.b5 Ne7 18.bxa6 bxa6 19.a5 Nxd5 20.exd5 Bc8 21.Bd3 Qc7 22.Qc2 g6 23.h4 Bd8 24.Ra4 Qa7 25.Nxc8 Rxc8 26.O-O Rc5 27.Rfa1 Rxd5 28.Bc4 Rc5 29.Qxg6+ Kh8 30.Qxh6+ Kg8 31.Qg6+ Kh8 32.Qxd6 Be7 33.Qh6+ Kg8 34.Qg6+ Kh8 35.Bxf7 Rxf7 36.Qxf7 e4 37.Rxe4 Rc7 38.Rg4 1-0

It's always funny to me when an opponent plays a defense against me that I deploy frequently. I'm not a famous grandmaster with lots of theory and prep to protect, etc. So I often just play according to what I would least like to encounter if I had the black pieces. In this case, lots of knight moves and disruption of black's queenside development is the attack du jour I used here.

Here's the crucial position after black's 24...Qa7:

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My outposted knight is now being threatened with exchange and loss of a pawn. I could retreat my knight with a threat to the d6 pawn, but that would cut off the 4th rank for my rook. Instead, now is the time to exchange. By taking black's queen's bishop it creates a permanent weakness for black to deal with light-squared threats. This is perfect because the pawn-structure around black's king is not ideal. With my queen and king's bishop lined up and my rook on the fourth rank, I'm ready to apply heavy pressure.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5. Nxe4 dxe4 6. e3 c5 7. Rb1 Qa5+ 8.Qd2 Qxa2 9.Qc2 Na6 10.Nh3 Nb4 11.Qd1 Qa5 12.Qd2 Bg4 13.Be2 Nc2+ 14.Kd1 Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Bxe2 16.Kxe2 cxd4 17.exd4 Nxd4+ 18.Ke3 Nf5+ 19.Kxe4 Nd6+ 20.Kd3 O-O-O 21.Kc3 h6 22.Be3 Bg7+ 23.Bd4 Ne4+ 24.Kb4 Rxd4 25.Rhe1 Bf6 26.b3 Rhd8 27.f3 Ng5 0-1

In this game, I liked the complications I introduced in this position after 13...Nc2+:

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