Viewing Game Of The Week

[Event "2019 TRCC Club Championship"] [Site "TRCC"] [Date "2019.2.28"] [Round "1"] [White "Sean Colure"] [Black "Steve D`Agostino"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteELO "2196"] [BlackELO "1346"] %Orient=B {Board 1 of first round of 2019 TRCC club championship tournament. Annotations by Steve D`Agostino} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 e6 4. e3 a6 5. c4 c6 {I had decided on maintaining the strength of my pawn structure at the expense of slow development} 6. Be2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. d4 c5?! {I wasn`t sure if dxc4 would have lead to other problems, such as bxc4, followed by Rd1} 10. Nbd2 b6 11. Rfd1 Bb7 12. Rac1 Rc8 13. Qb1 Qc7 {need to be careful here with the c-file opening up} 14. cxd5 exd5 15. Qf5! {I thought this was a strong move for Sean} 15... Qb8 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Bd3 {no immediate danger, as Bxf6 is answered by Nxf6 of course, but potentially dangerous in the near future} 17... Rcd8 18. Qh3 h6 {to prevent Ng5, obviously} 19. Qh4 Bc8 20. h3 Rfe8 21. Qa4 Qb6 22. Bc3 {intending for 23. Ba4 to win the exchange} 22... Qb7 {probably where I should have moved it to on the prior move} 23. Ba5 {at first glance, it looks like I lose my a-pawn, because if I play 23.. Bc7, then after 24. Bxc7 Qxc7 25. Bxa6, and I will be down a pawn. But I found a saving move ...} 23... Nb6!! {attacks the queen, and if white responds by moving the queen to 24. Qa3, then c4!! wins white`s light square bishop on d3. } 24. Bxb6 {white`s only move, as Qh4 would have lead to other problems for white.} 24... Qxb6 25. Bf1 Bb7 26. Rb1 Ne4! {I liked this move, as did other very strong players whom analyzed the game with with me afterwards} 27. Nxe4 Rxe4! 28. Qa3 {white`s only non-losing move. Now with the Bishop at f1, my c4 push looks unclear, followed by 29.bxc4 Qxb1 30. Qxd6, then if Qxd1, Qxd8+ Kh7, and it seems like I would end up being ahead on the exchange. But then white would have Qd7, and after Ba8, then Qa7 winning my a-pawn, and leaving white with two passed queen-side pawns} 28... Qc6 {so after a few minutes of thought, I decide against all of that, and "chickened out"with a safer boring move} 29. Qc1 Qb6 {yep, like watching grass grow ....} 30. Qd2 Ree8 {deciding against doubling the rooks and playing it safe.} 31. Be2 Qc7 32. Rbc1 Qb6 33. Qc2 Rc8 34. Nh4! {Nf5 next move was dangerous for me} 34... Bf8 {didn't want to lose a tempo after Nf5} 35. Bf3 d4 {here I decided to trade bishops} 36. Bxb7 Qxb7 37. exd4 cxd4 {I had already calculated I would not lose pawn because white`s queen is under attack.} 38. Qd3 Rxc1 {just trade rooks} 39. Rxc1 Qb6 40. Nf3 Bc5 41. Qc4 Ba3! 42. Rd1 Bb2 43. Re1 Rxe1+ {happy trading material, as I was playing for a draw} 44. Nxe1 Bc3 45. Nd3 Qb5?! {I was hoping that he would trade queens, leaving me with b and d pawns. But this too may not have been wise for black.} 46. Kf1! {that was probably even better for white} 46... Qxc4? {White had less than 10 minutes on his clock, while I had over 20 minutes on mine. I should have just offered a draw,which was what I was playing for the whole game anyway. Maybe I subconsciously got greedy and hoped for more? In my haste to simplify, this was essentially where I lost the game} 47. bxc4 Kf8 48. Nc5 a5 49. Ke2 Ke7 50. Kd3 Kd6?? {horrible blunder, but just about any other move would have also lost my d-pawn.} 51. Ne4+!! {winning the pawn, and eventually the game} 51... Ke5? {Kc6 may have been slightly better, but still losing. Here I was just disgusted with myself, and kicking myself for not offering a draw beforehand} 52. Nxc3 dxc3 53. Kxc3 {if I had played Qc6 instead, now I could have moved to Kc5} 53... Ke4 54. f3+!! {good move for white, as if my kind stayed on e4, I may have been able to draw} 54... Ke5 55. Kd3 g5 56. g3 f6 57. a3 h5 58. g4 h4 59. a4 Kd6 60. Kd4 Kc6 61. c5 Kc7 62. Kd5 Kd7 63. c6+ Kc7 64. Kc5 Kc8 65. Kb6 Kb8 66. c7+ Kc8 67. Kc6 {if only I didn`t have my f-pawn, I would have a draw} 67... f5 {my only legal move} 68. gxf5! {He also could have forced me off the opposition, with either Kb6 or Kd6} 68... g4 {again, my only legal move} 69. f6!! {winning of course, with mate in 2 more moves. Obviously, fxg4 would have given me a draw, but hxg4 would still have won for white.} 69... gxf3 {if only I had one extra tempo} 70. f7 f2 71. f8=Q# {and white won with less than 5 minutes remaining on his clock - if only the time control was G/60 instead of G/65, I would have won! :) It is a shame that I made such poor decisions, in the final minutes of the game, that I lost what should have either been a win, or certainly at least a draw. And it would have been a huge upset, as Sean's rating was almost 1000 points higher than mine.} 1-0

Steve D`Agostino is awesome