[Event "GM Third Saturday 274 Novi Sad"] [Site "Novi Sad"] [Date "2022.06.17"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Woodward, Andy"] [Black "Cabarkapa, Novak"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2389"] [BlackElo "2466"] [Annotator "Andy Woodward"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E04"] [Opening "Catalan Opening: Open Defense"] [StudyName "Andy Woodward Games"] [ChapterName "Woodward, Andy - Cabarkapa, Novak"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/stJ20TuJ/x10hpw9E"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,58,25,26,18,-17,3,-24,-11,-6,-6,-13,49,36,17,17,22,4,40,-37,-36,-35, 12,19,-1,-1,30,19,4,3,108,62,79,81,75,72,64,63,68,73,54,-27,43,25,38,-4,13,27, 20,-44,31,110,58,69,116,93,118,64,88,88,118] My opponent is a strong local IM who is shooting for GM norms. He had just got a GM norm from a tournament the previous week. } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 { This was somewhat of a surprise. I was expecting a King's Indian Defense or Grunfeld. } 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nd5 8. O-O O-O { I should have known how to play this line, but apparently I forgot. I thought for a while and played 9. Ne4 which turned out to be the best move :) } 9. Ne4 b5 10. b3 cxb3 { Here he captured quickly and offered a draw. I had spent 15 minutes on the last few moves so he probably knew that I was out of theory. But I didn't want to waste a game by accepting an early draw. So as it turned out in the game, I was ready to fight and he played a bit too passively. I confidently took back on b3 with the queen and then he thought for a while, which surprised me because it looked like the most natural move. } 11. Qxb3 Bb7 12. Nd3 Be7 13. Nec5 Ra7 { This move confused me quite a bit, but it turns out to make a lot of sense. He is preparing to put his bishop on a8 to activate his rook, so I need to do something. } 14. Ba3 Ba8 (14... Nc6 { Here, I was going to go for } 15. Nxb7 Rxb7 16. Bxe7 Ndxe7 17. Qa3 Rb6 18. e3 Qd6 19. Nc5 $13) 15. e4 { It was only after this move that he realized I could take on e6 wherever he went with his knight. Now, he had to come up with something unique to stop my threats. } 15... Nf6?! { The engine likes } (15... Nb6 { but after you wait for a while it keeps increasing the advantage for White. } 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Qxe6+ Rf7 18. Ne5 Bxa3 19. Qxf7+ Kh8 20. Rad1 N8d7 21. Qb3 Qf8 22. f4 $18) 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Qxe6+ Rf7 18. Ne5 Qe8 { Here I realized why he played 15. ... Nf6. It is because he wanted to have his queen defended on e8 so that if I take on f7 he can take on a3 with his queen protected. } 19. Bxe7?? (19. Nxf7! { It is a rare occasion where the most unnatural move is the best, but it makes a lot of sense as you keep calculating. } 19... Bxa3 20. Nh6+ Kf8 (20... Kh8? 21. Qb3 gxh6 22. Qxa3 $18) 21. Qb3! Bd6 22. Nf5 Bxe4 23. Rae1 Bxf5 24. Rxe8+ Kxe8 25. Re1+ Kf8 26. h3 $16) 19... Qxe7 20. Qb3 { Here apparently he can capture on e4 with his bishop, but it is a very hard move to play over the board. } 20... Nbd7 (20... Bxe4! 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Rae1 Nd6! (22... Nd2?? 23. Nxf7 $18 Qxf7 (23... Nxb3 24. Rxe7 Nxd4 25. Ng5 $18) 24. Re8#) 23. Re3 h6 24. Rfe1 Rb7 25. h4 a5 26. g4 Nd7 27. Nxf7 Qxf7 28. Qxf7+ Nxf7 29. Re8+ Nf8 30. R1e7 g5 31. h5 $14 { A crazy variation of engine moves leads to a funny position where Black's pieces are all tied up. }) 21. Nxf7 Qxf7 22. d5 c6 23. a4 { I really like this move. The point was to get a position where my d- and e- pawns keep rolling into the endzone. } 23... Nc5 24. Qe3? (24. Qc2! { Against 24. Qe3, I thought he had to capture on e4. But he could have captured on a4. In this variation, the queen is better placed on c2, where it is poised to come to f5. } 24... Nxa4 (24... Qe7 25. Rfc1 Ncxe4 26. dxc6 $18) 25. dxc6 Rc7 26. e5 Nd5 27. Bxd5 Qxd5 28. Rad1 Qxc6 29. Rd8+ Kf7 30. Qf5+ Ke7 31. Qf8+ Ke6 32. Rd6+ $18) 24... Ncxe4 (24... Nxa4 { And after this I have a really good move. } 25. Bh3! cxd5 26. Rac1 Re7 (26... Rc7?? 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Rc1 Qe7 29. Rc8+ Kf7 30. e5 $18) 27. Rc8+! Re8 28. Rfc1 Bb7 29. R8c7 Re7 30. Qa3! Rxc7 31. Rxc7 Qxc7 32. Be6+ Qf7 33. Qe7 Qxe6 34. Qxe6+ Kh8 35. e5 Ng8 36. Qd7 Nc5 37. Qc7 $18) 25. Bxe4?? { I didn't see that he could play 25...Re7. :) } (25. dxc6! Bxc6 26. Rfc1 { [%cal Gc1c8] } 26... Be8 27. axb5 Bxb5 28. Bxe4 Re7 29. f3 $18) 25... Re7! 26. dxc6 Bxc6? (26... Rxe4 { Both my opponent and I thought this was losing because of } 27. Qb6 { but we missed that } 27... Re8! 28. axb5 axb5 29. Qxb5 Ne4 { saves the game. }) 27. f3 bxa4 28. Rac1 Bxe4 29. fxe4 (29. Rc8+! { This intermediate move would have been more forcing, but I played a slightly worse move. } 29... Re8 30. Rxe8+ Qxe8 31. fxe4 Qe5 32. Rd1 h5 33. Qd4 Qxe4 34. Qxe4 Nxe4 35. Rd4 $18) 29... Qe6 30. e5? (30. Rfe1! h6 31. Qc5 Nxe4 32. Qc8+ Qxc8 33. Rxc8+ Kf7 34. Rc4 Nf6 35. Rxe7+ Kxe7 36. Rxa4 Kf7 37. Rxa6 g5 38. Kf2 $18) 30... Qxe5 31. Qxe5 Rxe5 32. Rc4 Re4 33. Rxe4 Nxe4 34. Rf4 Nf6 35. Rxa4 g5 36. Rxa6 Kg7 37. Kg2 Kf7 38. Kf3 Kg7 39. h3 h6 40. Ke3 (40. Ra3 Kg6 41. Ke3 { This was much easier. } { [%cal Ge3d4,Gd4e5] }) 40... Nh5 41. g4 Nf4 42. Ke4 Ng6 { If } (42... Nxh3 43. Kf5 Nf4 44. Ra7+ Kg8 45. Kf6 Kh8 46. Ra8+ Kh7 47. Rd8 $22 h5 48. Rd6!! $18) 43. Ra7+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0