[Event "Sparkassen A-Open"] [Site "Dortmund, Germany"] [Date "2023.06.25"] [Round "2"] [White "Papp, Gabor"] [Black "Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2558"] [WhiteTeam "Hungary"] [BlackElo "2340"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E05"] [Opening "Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/GHa9RCw7/Qv7qqiBT"] [Orientation "white"] 1. c4 { A surprise move already. He is a 1. e4 player and almost exclusively plays it. However, while I was preparing, I had a feeling that he might go 1. d4, and I briefly checked how he could choose his setup, but I did not expect 1. c4. } 1... Nf6 2. g3 e6 { So, I chose to go with something solid in case he prepared something. } 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 { Now he is revealing his prep. I thought he did not want to transpose to 1. d4 lines because when I checked his 1. d4 games, I thought he did not know the theory very well. For that reason, during the game, I was expecting 6. b3. } (6. b3 { when the line continues } 6... c5 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. e3 b6 { and it has some theory that both sides should know if they want to play this line. }) 6... dxc4 7. Qc2 { Here I had some options like 7. ... a6, 7. ... b5 which are excellent and well-known. Considering the situation, I decided to go with the relatively rare move 7. ... c6, which is not the best, but I was hoping that my opponents' knowledge was less than mine. } 7... c6 { I analyzed this line a few years ago and remembered how to place the pieces in general, but I was concerned about concrete move order. However, I decided it was worth trying. } 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 { 9. Qd3 and 9. Qb3 are possible options as well. } 9... Bb7 10. Nc3 (10. Rd1 { was an interesting option. } 10... Nbd7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd5 13. e4 Nb4 14. Qe2 Qc7 $13 { Here, Black seems fine. }) 10... Nbd7 11. Rd1 Qb6 { So far, all the moves for me have been relatively easy. I had to develop my pieces, and they had few squares for them. } 12. e4 { It was a bit early to play e2-e4. 12. Ne5 could be a better option to keep the tension. } (12. Ne5 { I was expecting this move during the game. Keeping the pressure on the c6-pawn. }) 12... h6 { Instead, I decided to take the g5-square first, preparing ... c6-c5. } (12... c5 { I did not play this move because of } 13. e5 Nd5 14. Bg5 { when I was not sure what do to here. It felt like to me that White is starting to build some pressure. The engine says } 14... Nb4 15. Qb1 Bxf3 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Bxe7 Bxd1 18. Qxd1 Rfe8 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Bxa8 Rxa8 { is equal, however, it is not easy to calculate all of it, especially when the moves above are not forced. }) 13. h3 Rac8 { I am still preparing ... c6-c5, because I realized there is no reason to rush. } 14. Be3 (14. e5 Nd5 15. Nxd5 { My opponent was playing to win the game, and of course this position would not make him happy. } (15. Ne4 c5 $17 { my pieces are too active here }) 15... cxd5) 14... c5 15. d5 (15. dxc5?! Bxc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 $15) 15... exd5 (15... b4 { was possible but } 16. dxe6 Qxe6 17. Nd5 { I did not like that the white knight comes to d5 and takes my bishop. } 17... Nb6 18. Nxe7+ Qxe7 { Even though it is totally fine for Black, I just got greedy and did not want to give my bishop away. }) 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 { it is better to exchange the knight for a knight, no? :) } 17. exd5 Rfd8 { Trying to grab the d5-pawn. } { [%csl Rd5] } (17... Nf6 { was also possible, but first I wanted to develop my rook and control the e5-square for a bit longer. } 18. Ne5 Bd6 19. Ng4) 18. Qf5 Qf6 19. Qh5 Nb6?! { I made this move fast. After my opponent's next move, I was mad at myself for not taking more time to think here, as I realized that ... Be7-f8 would give me a better position immediately after my opponent's move. } (19... Bf8 20. Nh2 Qxb2 21. Rab1 Qc2 22. Ng4 b4 $17 { There is no any attack because the bishop on f8 is great. }) 20. Nh2 { For some reason, I was calculating and thought I would win the d5-pawn, but then realized there is no way I'm just winning it. I can say it was because of my very fast move ... Nd7-b6 that I was too optimistic. } { [%cal Rd5d6] } 20... g6 { Now I had to do something quick, was what it felt like. Otherwise I was concerned that White actually can create some play on the kingside. } 21. Qe2 (21. Qxh6 Bxd5 22. Ng4 Qg7 { I thought it is safe here for me }) 21... Bxd5 (21... Nxd5? { I was caluculating this for a while because if } 22. Ng4 (22. Bxh6! { During the game i tried to find something for me just to realize that I was actually almost lost here. I do not have good moves to make, and White's bishop on g2 is strong. Also Nh2-g4 is coming. }) 22... Qe6 23. Nxh6+ Kg7 24. Ng4 Nxe3 { and my position is good. However, this was missing White's improvement on move 22. }) 22. Ng4 Qe6 23. Nxh6+ Kh7 { it is hard to understand the difference between ... Kg8-g7 or ... Kg8-h7. I chose to go to h7 because if Nh2-g4 then I can play ... f7-f5 and there is no Be3-h6+ threat. } 24. Qxb5?! { During the game I thought he might take the b5-pawn to create some mess and trick me there. However, I thought it would be good for me. } 24... Bxg2 25. Kxg2 f5 { I thought I was winning a piece here. } (25... Nc4! { apparently wins immediately } 26. Ng4 Rb8 27. Qa4 f5 $19 { Do not ask me why i did not play it. I simply don't know. }) 26. Qa6 (26. Re1 { Apparenly we both missed this move. The engine is too strong. Also, we did not have much time here, and we were tying to calculate and make moves. } 26... g5 27. Bd2 Qd5+ 28. Kg1 Bf6 29. Rad1 Qc4 30. Qa5 Kxh6 31. Qxa7 $13 { A messy position where White has enough compensation for the piece. }) 26... Rd7 { I decided to play a human move instead; thinking that the piece is still trapped on h6. } (26... g5 27. Nxf5 Qxf5 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Qxa7 Nd5 30. Re1 { I was not sure about this position at all. Even though the engine says it is completely winning, with only a few minutes on the clock, White could easily grab a draw. }) 27. a4! { Strong conter play, which shows why 26. ... Rd7 was too slow. } 27... Rcd8 28. Rxd7 Qxd7 29. Re1 Bf8 { When I was playing this move, I knew that he would immediately play Be3-g5, which was winning for me. However I was not sure about what to do after 30.a5!, which would keep equality for White. } 30. Bg5 (30. a5 Nd5 (30... Qd5+ 31. Kg1 Nc4 32. Ng8! { A crazy move!! } 32... Qxg8 33. Qf6 { [%cal Rf6h4] } 33... Qd5 34. Bg5 Rd7 (34... Rc8 35. Re6 $18) 35. Qxf8 Ne5 $13 { This line shows how hard it is to play this position, especially when both players are in time trouble. We needed more time here, for sure. }) 31. Bg5 { Now there is no Qd5 check! That is the whole point. }) 30... Qd5+ 31. Kg1 Rd7 32. Nxf5 (32. a5 Qc4! { and the queen is trapped. This is what White missed. }) 32... Qxf5 33. h4 Rf7 34. Re2 Bg7 35. a5 Nd5 36. Kh2 Qf3 37. Qe6 Bd4 38. Bf4 Re7 { White resigned. It was an exciting and tough game for both of us. You can see here how much both of us missed during the game, but it is really tough to calculate like an engine. :) Also, during the time trouble humans make mistakes. It is what makes chess so interesing. } 0-1