[Event "Saint Louis Spring-A"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2023.04.09"] [Round "5"] [White "Bok, Benjamin"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2607"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Benjamin Bok"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E04"] [Opening "Catalan Opening: Open Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/c11NJVjr/r0e8Ulnj"] [Orientation "white"] { Greetings everyone! First of all, thank you to Benjámin Gledura for inviting me to annotate this game for Chess Life magazine. Before this game, I was in the pack of players on "minus one" after four rounds, while my opponent, Sam Sevian was in the leading group with "plus one." The day before, Sam had to defend for a long time against Dariusz Swiercz, and eventually drew his game after 179 moves. I figured he might have been tired after this long game and therefore it would be good if I could put him under pressure in this game as well. } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 { Going for the Catalan, perhaps this might have been a first slight surprise for Sam as 3. Nc3 is my main move in this position. } (3. Nc3 { When I played Sam in the 2021 FIDE World Cup, I played this move three times, inviting the Nimzo-Indian. } 3... Bb4 { In the first classical game and in the first tiebreak game of the match, I played } 4. Qc2 (4. f3 { was what I played when I was in a must-win situation in the second set of rapid games. })) 3... d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 (5. Qa4+ { In round three of the tournament, Illya Nyzhnyk played against Sam, but Sam held comfortably. }) 5... c5 { Sam's usual response, and one of the main lines against the Catalan. Black aims to play ... Nb8-c6 quickly and clear up the situation in the center right away. } 6. O-O Nc6 7. dxc5 { Leading to an endgame where White can hope for a slight edge. } (7. Qa4 { The other main lines are this move and }) (7. Ne5) 7... Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 { Aiming to regain the pawn on c4. } 9... c3 { Since Black does not have a good way to hang on to the pawn, their best option is to return it this way to damage our pawn structure a bit. } 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Nb3 Be7 12. c4 { Gaining some space on the queenside, and opening up the a1-h8 diagonal, as we are aiming to play Bc1-b2 next. } (12. Nfd4 { is the other main move. }) 12... Bd7 13. Bb2 Rfd8 14. Nfd4 Rac8 15. Nb5 b6 16. Nd6 Bxd6 (16... Rc7 { is Black's other main move. }) 17. Rxd6 Be8 18. Rxd8 Nxd8 { White has managed to get the advantage of the bishop pair, but Black is aiming to play ... Be8-c6 quickly to trade off the light-squared bishops. } 19. Rc1 Bc6 20. c5 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Nd7 22. cxb6 Rxc1 23. Bxc1 { Up until this point, Sam and I had both been blitzing out the opening, but this is where he had his first real think of the game. } 23... axb6 { After a 12-minute think, Sam settled on this recapture. } (23... Nxb6 { is of course also possible. White also has a slight advantage here, but Black should hold with accurate play. }) 24. Kf3 { Activating the king. White is slightly better in this endgame due to our more active king and the bishop is often better than Black's knight. That being said, Black should hold with accuracy as the position is quite simplified. } 24... f5 { A logical move, stopping my king from advancing up the board. With this move, Sam was still following a game that he had played with Black against Ray Robson in the 2022 American Cup. } (24... Nc6 { has also been played in some games, most notably in Giri – So, Bucharest, 2019. }) 25. Ke3 e5 { Once again, stopping White's king from advancing up the board by building a wall of pawns. } 26. g4!? $146 { The first new move of the game. White is sacrificing a pawn to try to get access into Black's position. } (26. Kd3 { The game Robson – Sevian, St Louis, 2022 saw } 26... b5 27. e4 g6 28. exf5 gxf5 29. g4 fxg4 30. Ke4 Nc6 { and eventually finished in a draw after 50 moves. }) 26... g6 { The best move, maintaining the pawn wall and stopping my king from advancing. } (26... fxg4 { Black is not in good shape to accept the pawn sacrifice after } 27. Ke4 Kf7 28. Kd5 $16 { when White's king enters Black's position, and Black is in serious danger of losing. }) 27. gxf5 gxf5 28. f4 { Again, trying to break down Black's pawn wall so that my king can advance up the board. Up to this point, I was still in my preparation. It is actually one of two moves that are still fine for Black. } 28... Ne6 { After a 21-minute think, Sam settled on this move, which took me out of my preparation. } (28... Kf7 { This was the only move that I had looked at in my preparation, after which White still has nagging pressure and Black will have to play accurately to hold the draw. }) 29. fxe5 { I realized I did not have much choice, and just had to go for this trade. } 29... Nxe5 { Of course, Black has to recapture, and this is where I had my first real think of the game. After 17 minutes, I decided on } 30. Nd4 { Attacking the f5-pawn, and offering the trade of pawn so my king can advance up the board. } (30. h3 { I also considered this move, with the idea to play Nb3-d4 on the next move, without having to worry about ... Ne5-g4+. However, this is too slow. Black's easiest way to equalize is } 30... b5 { as now } 31. Nd4 { runs into } 31... Nc4+ 32. Kd3 Ne5+ 33. Kc3 b4+) 30... f4+? { This move is actually losing, but even the strongest engines have trouble seeing why. } (30... Ng4+ { Black's only way to hang on, } 31. Kd3 { the endgame is still quite unpleasant for Black. }) 31. Ke4 Nxd4 32. Kxd4 f3 { This was Sam's idea. Black trades off another pair of pawns, and will pick up the h2-pawn afterwards. However, Black's king and knight will be extremely far away from White's a-pawn, which will soon become a passer. } 33. exf3 Nxf3+ 34. Kd5 (34. Kc4 { leads to the same thing after } 34... Nxh2 35. Kb5 { followed by Kxb6. }) 34... Nxh2 35. Kc6 Kf7 { Sam brings the king closer to the queenside. Initially, I thought White should easily be winning here, but Black has a lot more resources than I initially thought. } (35... Nf3 36. Kxb6 Nd4 { Initially, I thought that this was Black's best chance to hold, but White is winning after } 37. Be3 { . } (37. Bb2 { Black still has } 37... Nf3 { With the idea to meet } 38. a4? { with } 38... Nd2 { and Black manages to stop the pawn with ...Nb3. }) 37... Nc2 38. Bd2 (38. Bc5 { I saw that after this natural move, Black has } 38... Na1! { With the idea to meet 39.a4 with 39...Nb3. }) 38... Na3 39. Bc1 Nc4+ 40. Kc5 { As Black's knight is getting pushed away, and White's a-pawn will start running. }) 36. Kxb6 { Of course, White should take the pawn. } 36... Ke6 { Here I thought for a long time, 42 minutes to be exact. For a long time, I could not find a win as Black moves their king to c8, and is just in time to get back with their knight to prevent me from queening right away. But then I spotted a clever idea... } 37. a4 { I had also considered some other moves like 37.Kc7 to shoulder Black's king, but Black can always bring their knight back in time. } 37... Kd7 38. a5 Kc8 39. Bf4 { Of course, I could not let Black's king reach the a8-corner, as then the position would be dead drawn. } 39... Ng4 { Black has to bring their knight back this way, as Black will need to check White's king on d5 to stop White from queening right away. } 40. a6 Ne3 { This was the move that had caused me a lot trouble figuring out the win on move 37. } (40... Nf6 { I was quite happy to see this in my calculations. } 41. Kc6 { That said, it is still not over here, as Black has } 41... Ng8) 41. Kc6 (41. a7 { Black is just in time to meet this move with } 41... Nd5+ 42. Ka6 Nb4+) 41... Nf5 { Initially, I thought that Black would be holding here. Black is again just in time to meet 42. a7 with 42. ... Ne7+ 43. Kb6 Nd5+ 44. Ka6 Nb4+. I therefore considered placing my bishop on d6 to control the b4-square, but thought that Black would always be able to play ... Ne3-f5 to kick the bishop away, and once the bishop moves, Black can play ... Nf5-e7 again. However, it then occurred to me that I can meet a potential ... Nf5 with Kc6-b6! as ... Nxd6 will be met by a7 Nc4+ Ka6 and the White a-pawn queens. I then started to realize that White can put Black in zugzwang by placing the bishop on d6 and the king on c5 when Black's knight is on e7, as Black can push the h-pawn, but is eventually also going to run out of moves with that one as my bishop covers the h2-square. } 42. Bd6 Ne7+ (42... Nxd6 43. a7 { would make my job a lot easier. }) 43. Kc5 { The first zugzwang, Black has to start pushing the h-pawn. } 43... h5 (43... Nf5 44. Kb6 Nxd6 45. a7 Nc4+ 46. Ka6 { is the line I was referring to earlier. }) 44. Bh2 Ng6 45. Bg3 Ne7 46. Bd6 { Black is in zugzwang again and has to push the h-pawn again. } 46... h4 47. Be5 Nf5 48. Bf4 Ne7 49. Bd6 { Again, Black is in zugzwang. } 49... h3 50. Bh2 Nf5 51. Bf4 Ne3 52. Bd6 Nc2 { Black's best attempt. Moving the king up to c6 or b6 will allow Black to instantly draw with ... h3-h2 followed by Nb4. Furthermore, our bishop is already ideally placed, but fortunately we have another way to put Black in zugzwang. } (52... Nf5 53. Kb6 Nxd6 54. a7 Nc4+ 55. Ka6 { as my pawn will queen one move earlier. }) 53. Kb5 { Another zugzwang, when Black's knight moves, White can play Kb6 or Kc6. } 53... Ne3 54. Kc6 h2 { White was threatening 55.a7, so Black finally has to give up their h-pawn. } 55. Bxh2 Nf5 56. Bd6 { Here again, White has to be patient as pushing the pawn right away would allow Black to draw. } 56... Ne7+ 57. Kc5 { The final zugzwang! Black's knight has to move, and then White can finally play Kb6, followed by a7, after which the a-pawn promotes. } 57... Nf5 58. Kb6 { Finally executing the idea that I had already in mind many moves ago. } 58... Nxd6 59. a7 Nc4+ 60. Ka6 { Black's pieces just come a little short to stopping the a-pawn. } 60... Kc7 61. a8=Q { The rest was not difficult, I figured I should win as long as I do not blunder any forks :) } 61... Kd6 62. Kb5 Ne5 63. Qe4 Nd7 64. Qc6+ Ke7 65. Qa6 Nf8 66. Kc4 Ne6 67. Qc6 Kf7 68. Kd5 Nf4+ 69. Ke4 Ng6 70. Qd6 Ne7 71. Ke5 Ng6+ 72. Kf5 Ne7+ 73. Kg5 Ng8 74. Qd5+ Kf8 75. Qd7 { An important win that got me back to 50% in the tournament! As fate would have it, Sam and I would meet again in the finals of the play-offs. } 1-0