[Event "World Senior"] [Date "2025.02.23"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Root, Alexey"] [Black "Bohnhoff, Peter"] [Result "0-1"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C69"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Exchange Variation, Normal Variation"] [StudyName "2025 FIDE World Senior Team Championships"] [ChapterName "Root, Alexey - Bohnhoff, Peter"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/lbyDv1vS/vP0Zdu9e"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/ChessLifeOnline"] [Orientation "white"] { I chose 1. e4 rather than 1. d4 because Bohnhoff plays the Dutch against 1. d4. I didn't feel up for facing a Dutch. } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O { I had looked at Bohnhoff's available games. If I recall correctly, he used to respond to 5. 0-0 with 5. ... f6 or 5. ... Qd6. } 5... Qf6 6. d4 exd4 7. Qxd4 (7. Bg5 Qd6 8. Nxd4 { is correct here. I didn't know that, or didn't remember it. }) 7... Qxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Be3 Ne7 10. Nd2 O-O-O 11. N2f3 c5 12. Nb3 b6 13. Ne5 Be8 14. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 h6 16. Nf3 Ng6 17. Nfd2 Ne5 18. h3 g5 19. g3 { With the idea of f2-f4. I would like to generate a passed e-pawn. Plus it would be nice to kick Black's knight off of e5. } 19... Bg7 20. f4 Nc6 21. c3 Bd7 22. Kh2 a5 { Here I panicked, visualizing the a-pawn progressing to my a3-square. If that happens, my c-pawn will fall. I over-reacted with 23. a4. } 23. a4 (23. a3 { is the correct way to stop Black's pawn from getting to a3. }) 23... g4 24. h4 (24. hxg4 Bxg4 { is what Stockfish recommends, but during the game I was worried that Black would push his h-pawn and my king would become exposed. }) 24... Ne7 25. Ra1 Bc6 26. Kg1 Re8 27. Kf2 Ng8 28. e5 f6 29. exf6 Nxf6 30. Nf1 Re4 31. Bxc5 { Desperation! But Black does not respond with the best moves, so this worked out for me. } 31... Rxa4 (31... bxc5 32. Nxa5 Rxa4 33. Rxa4 Bxa4 { and Black has a huge advantage. }) 32. Bd4 Rxa1 33. Nxa1 Kd7 34. Nc2 Ke6 35. Nce3?? { I was in some time trouble, but Black was in more time trouble. Still, there is no excuse for allowing ... Nf6-e4+. } (35. Nd2 { is how I should equalize here. Black's ... Nf6-e4+ loses the effect it had in the game. I would be able to trade off the knight if it went to e4. Not playing this move meant I went back to being lost rather than saving a half-point. }) 35... Ne4+ 36. Ke1 Bxd4 37. cxd4 h5 { While I was thinking about my 38th move, my opponent said something in German to his captain. I stopped the clock, and the arbiter gave him a warning. The d5-pawn is probably going to fall soon anyway, but the move I chose after the disruption hastens the end. } 38. d5+ Bxd5 39. Nxd5 Kxd5 40. Ne3+ Ke6 41. Nf1 Kd5 42. Ne3+ Kd4 43. Nf5+ Kd3 44. Kd1 b5 45. Kc1 a4 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1