[Event "USCF/WS/24VP12"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2024.08.07"] [White "Ralls, Richard"] [Black "Chrysanthou, Nicholas"] [Result "1-0"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D35"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/jkfrench"] [StudyName "Check is in the Mail - February 2025"] [ChapterName "Game 3"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/FkEPHHGQ/mv5H22hw"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Nf3 Qb6 { D35: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation. } 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bh4 Re8 { White is slightly better. } 11. O-O Be6 12. Na4 Qd8 $146 { Predecessor: } (12... Qc7 13. Nc5 Bc8 14. Rfc1 Nbd7 15. b4 a6 16. Rab1 Bd6 17. a4 Ng4 18. Bg3 Bxg3 19. hxg3 { 1-0 Ercan,S-Kablan,C IECG CD.2003.0.00053 email IECG email }) 13. Nc5 { White is more active. } 13... Bxc5 14. dxc5 Nbd7 15. b4 { Prevents Qa5. } 15... Bg4 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. f3 Bd7 18. Bh7+! Kh8 { and ...Ne5-c4 would now be decisive } 19. Bf5 a5 20. bxa5 Rxa5 21. Rfb1! Ra7 22. Rb3 g6 23. Bd3 Nxd3 24. Rxd3 g5 25. Be1 Kg8 26. a4 { Strong Square White (d4) } 26... Qe7 27. a5 h5 (27... Nh7) 28. Rb3 $16 h4 29. Qb2 Qxc5? { Black cannot hold the game after this. } (29... Qe5 $16 { might work better. }) 30. Bb4! $18 (30. Rxb7 Rxb7 31. Qxb7 Qd6 $18) 30... Qc4 31. Rc1 Qa6 32. Bc5 (32. Nxc6 bxc6 33. Qxf6 c5 34. Qxg5+ Qg6 35. Qxg6+ (35. Qxd5 h3 $19) 35... fxg6 $18) 32... Raa8 33. Nf5! { Discovered Attack } 33... Re6 (33... d4 34. Qxd4) 34. Nh6+ { Deflection } 34... Kh7 35. Nxf7 { Black is weak on the dark squares } 35... Kg6 36. Ne5+ Kg7 (36... Rxe5 37. Qxe5 Re8) 37. Nxd7 Kg6 38. Qb1+ Kh6 39. Qf5 Nxd7 40. Qxe6+ { White mates. } 40... Kh7 41. Qxd7+ Kg6 42. Bd4 Qxa5 43. Qg7+ { Superbly played by Ralls! Weighted Error Value: White=0.01 (flawless) /Black=0.71 Loses game: --- Black=1 Mistake: --- Black=2 Inaccurate: --- Black=2 OK: White=20 Black=12 Best: White=2 Black=2 Strong: White=2 --- Brilliant: White=1 --- } 1-0