My Semi-Final Grenz Turnering

[Result "1-0"]

[Opening "Reti opening"]



1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d6 3.Bg2 c6 4.O-O e5 5.d3 h6




We both play slow, so it seems h6 is justified.



6.c3 Be6 7.e4 Be7 8.Na3




This might look funky, it is however very logical, I want to put the knight on e3 so the route is clear Na3-c2-e3.



8...Qc8



Clearly he wants to exchange pieces, but it seems he wants to exchange his most active pieces, this is not recommended, lacking the fianchetto bishop in such a slow position as this holds no terror.



9.Nc2 Bh3 10.Ne3 Bxg2 11.Kxg2




We have both completed our plans, but who has the better pieces here, I like the white knights.



11...g6



Clearly he did not like my idea of putting a knight on f5, which is a shame since I really liked that idea.



12.Qc2 Ng4




This felt very wrong during the game, exchanging another set of his active pieces, and at the same time he is allowing me to just develop my bishop from c1, if this had not occured I might have had a little problem with that bishop for a while.



13.h3 Nxe3+ 14.Bxe3




Now all my pieces are developed, now I just need to figure out where I should put my rooks.



14...Nd7 15.Qd2



I had thought he would have to play g5, but I then figured out that the pawn is poisoned so I can not touch it. So I had to find something else to do.



15...Nf6 16.Ng1




So this defends my weakness. [16.Bxh6 Ng8 17.Bg5 Qxh3+ 18.Kg1 Qh1# This is why I wanted to put the knight on g1.]



16...g5



So he did not want to undevelop either piece, so he played the pawn to a square so it blockades his own bishop, I liked this very much. Also I liked to fix the pawn on this square.



17.Qc2



So the queen goes black, now there is nothing I can do on the diagonal anymore, and I planned a break in the center.



17...Qe6 18.d4 exd4 19.Bxd4



[19.cxd4 Qxe4+ 20.Qxe4 Nxe4 This is just a pawn I lost, so this variation is no good.]



19...c5




I might have missed this, but it fortunately gives me a clear weakness in the endgame, possibly I did not look at this since it is such an ugly weakness on d5. [19...Qxe4+ 20.Qxe4 Nxe4 21.Bxh8 He is just dropping the rook, might get the bishop for it, but this is no good rooks are a lot better in the endgames. 21...f6 22.Bg7 I might get a pawn, or possibly a way out.]



20.Bxf6 Bxf6



So the storm has settled a little, and his bishop might not be so strong, at least his pawns are a bit in the way.



21.Rad1 O-O 22.Rd5 +=




Here I would say white has a slight edge I have the d5 square forever would be great if I could put the knight here, but my opponent prevented this effectively.



22...Rfe8 23.f3



I felt this was a lot simpler, here I think white is in the pleasent position that black cannot attack, so white can spend all the time he wants to making small improvements. [23.Rf5 This is the only other move.]



23...Rad8 24.g4 Be5 25.Ne2




This knight protects the king very effectively, so he can not attack.



25...Kg7 26.Rfd1



Putting a lot more firepower on the d-file.



26...Qf6 27.Qd2 Re6 28.Ng3



Here I had figured that black was forced to exchange his bishop for my knight, otherwise my knight would be powerful on h5!



28...Bxg3



[28...Qg6 29.Nh5+ Here my knight protect g3 and f4, like it did on e2.]



29.Kxg3




Also very good with the queen on d2 since there is no Qf5 here.



29...Kf8



The computer did not like this move, I can see why, but it is a bit hard to find something else that is reasonable for black in this position.



30.Rf5 Qg7




This is also a bad move, I missed a hanging pawn here, but I did gain a big space advantage, and I did not open for any counterplay, at least not yet.



31.Qd5 Rf6?




Here white gains the winning advantage!



32.e5 Rxf5 33.gxf5 h5 34.exd6 Qf6 35.Qxc5




I was unimpressed with this attack, so I ate another pawn.



35...h4+



I thought g4 was better.



36.Kg4 Kg7



This might be a slight error as now I can force the exchange of queens which favors white.



37.Qd4 Qxd4+ 38.Rxd4 Rd7 39.Kxg5 f6+ 40.Kxh4 Kf8 41.c4 Ke8 42.c5 Rh7+ 43.Kg4 Kd7 44.h4 Rg7+ 45.Kf4 Rg2 46.Rb4




playing this is not a way to make progress, but black does not make any progress either. b4 or Re4 immediate would be faster. [46.Re4 Rxb2 47.Re7+ Kc6 48.Rc7+ Kb5 49.d7 Rd2 50.h5 This clearly wins for white, the h-pawn will deflect the rook at some point!]



46...Kc6 47.Rd4



So we are back at the same position again.



47...Kd7 48.b4



Now I tried this one, with the very simple plan b5-c6-d7-d8!



48...Rxa2 49.Re4




[49.b5 Rb2 [49...Rc2 This is the most resistant move, but there is still that h-pawn. 50.Rd5 I for one do not believe that black has any chances for a draw in this position.] 50.c6+ bxc6 51.bxc6+ This is just winning.]



49...Rd2 50.h5




a GM would probably resign here since there is to many pawns, but this is not at that level so it is fair enough that he plays a bit longer, I might still make a mistake.



50...a6 51.h6



This pawn has just become very strong as now he can not ignore it any longer, he probably should restrict it a move earlier, but then the center falls apart.



51...Rh2 52.Re7+




This is completely winning for white.



52...Kc6 53.h7 b6 54.Rc7+




Here black chose to resign.



1-0