[Event "5min+15"] [Site "gameknot.com"] [Date "2013.04.18"] [White "Me"] [Black "Opponent, 1728."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D70"] [Annotator "Lin,Alan"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 d5 3. d4 {White invites black to transpose to Queen's Gambit (if black continues with pawn push to e6).} g6 {Black instead attempts to transpose to the Grunfeld Defence (if white continues with Knight to c3), which I politely declined as I would be outarmed against someone well-versed in the theory of the Grunfeld.} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 {The logical move. The key difference compared to the mainline is that there is no Knight on c3 for black to exchanged off his attacked Knight. So he must retreat it with lose of time and a cramped position. Also in contrast to the mainline, white has successfully maintained his central pawns without compromising the pawn structure. This is a comfortable setup for me to play, made better by the fact that black should be out of theory by now.} Nb6 6. h3 $1 {I was also out of theory! However after some thought I realized white must protect the Knight on f3 from black's potential Bishop on g4, thus in turn safeguarding the pawn on d4. This also means that black does not get the chance to exchange his Bishop on c8, which lacks useful squares in this setup. For the rest of the game, part of white's plan is to keep this Bishop restricted.} Bg7 7. Bb5+ $5 {An interesting check, with the idea that none of black's blocks are ideal. Bishop or Knight block on d7 restricts the rest of black's pieces, while the chosen pawn block on c6 also restricts the Knight on b8, weakens the Knight on b6, and puts more pawns on light-squares, furthermore restricting black's light-squared Bishop on c8.} c6 8. Be2 a5 {An interesting attempt to gain much needed space on the queenside. Black attempts to play the game there like it were the Slav Defence.} 9. O-O Na6 10. Be3 {I wasn't sure whether to play this move or put the Bishop on g5 to pressure black's pawn on e7. But I ended up putting it on e3 to overprotect pawn on d4 while eyeing black's precarious Knight on b6.} O-O 11. Qb3 $5 {Knight to c3 is probably better here, but Queen to b3 is a logical followup to the previous move, putting more pressure on black's Knight on b6.} a4 {The correct response. If white had played the Knight onto c3, this would have been prevented.} 12. Qa3 $1 {However, with black's a-pawn overextended, the white Queen in turn gains a peculiar safe new home on a3, as well as gaining influence over the dark squares.} Nc7 $2 { Black's first mistake. This temporarily cuts communication between the Knight on b6 and Queen on d8.} 13. d5 $1 {And so white gets to showcase one of his main ideas behind his setup. The pawn push opens up the Bishop on e3 against the Knight on b6, and while black deals with that threat, white takes the time to wreck black's pawn structure.} Nd7 14. dxc6 bxc6 {With black's tangled pieces and broken pawn structure, white has the advantage now.} 15. Rd1 {Nc3 is better.} Qe8 16. Bg5 {Again, Nc3 is better, but this move and the next were successful in provoking black to overextend his kingside pawns onto dark squares, thus shutting in his Bishop on g7, as well as weakening the light squares the pawn left behind.} f6 17. Bf4 e5 18. Be3 Nb5 19. Bc4+ Kh8 20. Qd3 Rb8 21. Nc3 Nxc3 22. bxc3 Nb6 $2 {Mistake in a difficult position. Black does not have many moves to play.} (22... f5 23. Qd6 fxe4 24. Ng5) 23. Rab1 $1 {Of course. Black's second Knight on b6 must suffer too.} Nxc4 24. Rxb8 Nxe3 25. Qxe3 Rf7 26. Qb6 $1 {Threatening Rook to d8, pinning black's Queen against his King, and provoking black's losing response.} Rd7 27. Rxd7 Qxd7 28. Qa6 {Black now must lose his unmoved Bishop on c8, and the game.} h6 29. Qxc8+ {And black resigned, knowing that once the Queens come off, he has no chance of stopping white from picking off the queenside pawns with the Rook and winning the game.} 1-0

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