Queens duel

I had a dilemma before the game – to go to the club or watch the playoff hockey. I thought that I will be too upset if my team loses and I miss the club as well, so decided to play. My opponent was a father of 2 boys I played before in that club, that was funny. He chose the same Bxd7 line in Canal-Sokolsky attack in Sicilian as his son, but then played a more quiet line.

I played 9. Bd2 in an expectation that his knight will get to d4, so my hands would be free (in case I want to exchange it). This is exactly what happened, then he played b5. I decided not to play Rc1, then take on c4 with the rook as I did some time ago and just played b3. His 17… f5 was clearly not the best move and I liked the pawn structure that appeared as a result of the exchanges.

After he took on f5 with the rook I had to decide where to move my bishop. It was a critical moment, I thought that on d2 it has more attacking opportunities. It was a wrong decision, as it allowed him to activate his bishop. He could actually get better after doubling his rooks, as the f2 square was not well covered, computer evaluates it as -0.91. At the same time if I would play 21. Bg3 White would be 1.02. Luckily he played 21… Bf6.

After his 23… Qg6 I realized that he can create a battery with the bishop on e5 and queen on g3, so Bf4 was basically forced, computer approves that as well as bishops exchange. I had a small, ~0.3 advantage before the rooks exchange, then it went to zero. I tried to distract distract/push away his queen that looked too active to me with 30. c5 and 31. g3.

When he played Qe3+ I saw that the pawn endgame should be alright. He queened right after me and did it with the check. I was optimistic, maybe too much, as I played 44. Kg4 without much thinking. Then suddenly I saw 44… Qe4+, it looked very scary, like I can get mated. But when I checked the lines, my king was escaping. At that moment I told myself: “Never again I play such a move”.

Right after that moment he got both my pawns. But one I was getting back right away and my king was too close to another one and his king was far away. In a few moves I won the remaining pawn, we exchanged the queens and shook the hands.

 

Three endgames

The title should not be understood as 3 different endgames in 3 games, it all happened in one. First it was “good” vs “bad” bishop endgame, then pawn endgame and then queen one.

I returned to Wednesdays club after 2-year hiatus. My opponent was a young guy, unrated, I got Black. He played 1. d4, so I chose my Queen’s Indian Accelerated. Computer considers my 7… Ne4 premature, preferring O-O or d6, one reason is 8. f3. Book says the same.

When he played 17. e4 I considered 17… f4, but then decided to close the diagonal and didn’t let him to play 18. e5, though computer thinks it is bad for Black. I played later e5 myself and after his d5 decided to exploit his bad bishop. After his 25. Be2 I after some hesitation played 25… Qg5. Computer is OK with it.

Soon I realized that I can’t win this endgame despite of his bishop being bad. He offered a draw at some point, I refused, thinking that I have to try to win somehow. The opportunity presented itself after his 43. Be2. I quickly checked that I can’t lose that pawn endgame and went for it. Before we exchanged pawns I calculated that I queen right after him. I made the right moves, but his 55. Kc6 was a mistake, not allowing 59. Qd4 check (crosscheck 59… Qe4 with a win), but after 55. Kc5 it was a perpetual after 59. Qd4.

Interesting that 59… Kxg4 brings 25% wins in shootouts and 59… Qe5, which I played – 50%. But to my big surprise instead of series of checks he just took on e5 and resigned in a few moves.