Final Chess Game to Talk About- Round 6 of NA Open

The North American Open ended on a high not for me. Not only did I win my final game, but I played my best all-around chess of the tournament. In particular, my handling of the endgame was very good in a game that lasted 56 moves and a little over 5 hours.


My final score was 4 points- 3 wins (1 point each), 2 draws (1/2 point each) and 1 loss (no points). As expected, that wasn't enough to earn prize money. It took 5 1/2 points to win the tournament (it was 3-way tie) and a little over $2,000 (each). 5 points was worth about $700 and 4 1/2 points was worth close to $200.


The game:


White: Dynasty (1775)

Black: Stanley Booz (1689)


1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd 4.Nxd4 Qc7


This is an unusual early Queen move which I've seen once before against a Master friend of mine. My opponent didn't seem to understand the opening any better than I did.


5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 a6 7.Be3 Nf6 8.Be2 Bb4 9.f3 0-0 10.Rc1 Bd6 11.g3


The last move by each player looks awkward. However, my g3 will help prepare a kingside pawn advance so it's not as weakening as it my initially appear.


11...Be7 12.f4 d6 13.0-0 b6


At some point, I'm going to have attack the kingside by playing either e5 or f5. I had a lot of difficulty at this point in the game formulating a specific strategic plan.


14. Bf3 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Bb6 16.Qe2 Nd7


My opponent's position is cramped and he's having difficulty establishing any kind of attack. So, he plans to trade off as many pieces as possible to uncramp his side of the board.


17.b3 Rac8 18.Bg2 Bf6 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.g4


After playing a few slow moves, I've finally committed to advance on the kingside.


20...Nd7 21.g5 Rfe8 22.Qh5 Nf8 23.f5 ef

24.ef Qc5+


My king is exposed but my opponent's pieces aren't properly deployed or mobile enough to threaten me significantly.


25.Kh1 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Qe3 27.Nd5


My advance of f5 4 moves earlier has created a great square for my knight to advance to. It was the critical piece on the board for the remainder of the game.


27...Qe4+ 28.Qf3


I'm offering my opponent a trade of queens because I think my endgame chances are considerably better for many reasons including (a) my dominating Knight on d5 (b) considerably more space due to my advanced pawns, and (c) a centralized King after the Queen exchange.


28...Qxf3 29.Kxf3 Nd7 30.Rfe1


This natural looking move may have been a mistake which my opponent didn't fully capitalize on. He managed to seize control of the open e-file but gave it up when he couldn't see a clear way to use it.


30...Ne5+ 31.Kg3 Nd3 32.Rxe8+ Rxe8 33.Rd1 Nc5 34.Kf3 Rb8


A weak passive move. It's critical to use your pieces actively in the endgame. The biggest difference in the remainder of the game is that I constantly work to make my pieces do many things whereas my opponent gets stuck using his pieces defensively.


35.f6 Ne6 36.h4 b5 37.cb ab 38.Ne7+ Kf8 39.Rxd6


All my work so far has resulted in this- I win one pawn. But, in competitive chess, one extra pawn is enough for a good player to win with.


39...h6 40.Kg4 hg 41.hg gf 42.gf Ke8 43.Kf5 Ra8 44.Rd2 Nc7 45.Nc6


A very strong move which begins a sequence which will win the game. Black really doesn't have much to do but wait for the inevitable.


45..Ne6 46.Rh2 Kd7 47.Ne5+ Ke8 48.Ke4 Rc8 49.Kd5 Nf4+ 50.Kd6 Rd8+ 51.Kc6 Ne6 52.Rh8+ Nf8 53.Nd7


A move which forces Black to trade off the rooks and knights and enter a completley hopeless King & Pawn endgame.


53...Rxd7 54.Rxf8+ Kxf8 55.Kxd7 b4 56.Kd8


In this position, Black resigned. He has no way to stop White from capturing the Black pawn on f7 or prevent White's f6 pawn from becoming a Queen.

very good game. but I think you made a typo in the record. 15. ... Bb6 should be Bb7 I think unless I have been oblivious to a new way bishops can move