[Event "WS/H/875"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2021.12.16"] [White "Nett, Philipp"] [Black "Irons, Robert"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2035"] [BlackElo "1906"] [Annotator "Irons,Robert"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D35"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional Variation"] [StudyName "Check is in the Mail: November 2023"] [ChapterName "Nett, Philipp - Irons, Robert"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/MPKW9q1w/jrzTvqYW"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5?! { This variation has been considered inferior for some time due to White's continuation. Nigel Short played a number of games with it successfully in the 1990s and the 2000s, showing it to be sturdier than others appreciated. } 7. Qf3 Bg6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 $14 { This is the forced result of White's sixth move. I look at this now and I say to myself, "What were you thinking?" As a player I am big on having a sound structure, and this is one of the ugliest structures imaginable. Nigel Short played to restrain White's pawn breaks, along the lines of the Berlin Wall against the Ruy Lopez. I failed to consider fully the fact that I am not Nigel Short. } 10. h4 Nd7 11. h5 Bf5 12. h6 { My resource for this game was Declining the Queen's Gambit by John Cox, a fine book that I still use for other lines, but not for this one. As of this move I was on my own, and while I felt safe at this point, I did not feel confident. It wasn't many moves before my lack of confidence turned into discomfort. } 12... Rg8 13. Nge2 Bd6?! $14 (13... Rg6 14. Ng3 Be6 { is better than the text. }) 14. f3 O-O-O 15. Kf2 Kb8 16. Nf4 Bg6 17. Rd1 Nb6 18. g4 Nc8 19. Nh5 Be7?! $16 { Black's play here is passive. } (19... f5 20. gxf5 Bxf5 21. Ng7 Bg6 $14 { is better. }) 20. Ng3 Bb4 21. f4 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Be4 23. Nxe4 dxe4 24. Be2 Rd5 25. Bc4 Rd7 26. Rdg1 b5 27. Bb3 Nb6 28. g5 f5 29. Ra1 Rb7?! $18 { Black has run out of ideas. It's all downhill from here. } 30. a4 bxa4 31. Bxa4 Rc8 32. Rhe1 Nd5 33. c4 Nb4 34. Reb1 Kc7 35. Bd1 Nd3+?! 36. Kg3 Rxb1 37. Rxb1 c5 38. Ra1 Kb6 39. Bh5 Rf8 40. d5 Nb4 41. d6 a5 42. Rd1 Nc6 43. Kh4 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0