[Event "Autumn Swiss R3"] [Site ""] [Date "2024.11.21"] [Round ""] [White "D Morgan"] [Black "S Howard"] [Result "0-1"] [EventDate "2024.11.21"] 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 Ne7 3.d4 d5 4.e5 c5 5.c3 Ng6 6.Bb5+ {In these French defence positions, black's queen's bishop is his worst piece. It's best for white not to trade it off.} ( 6.Bd3 {is fine.} ) 6...Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nxd7 8.a3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.b4 {This is a bit too brave. It gives black the opportunity to put his knight on the c4 outpost (and white can't swap it off with his bishop any more as he's traded it).} ( 11.g3 {bottling up the g6 knight looks better.} ) 11...Nb6 12.Nc3 a6 13.Nd2 Qd7 14.a4 Rac8 15.Qb3 Nc4 {The knight has landed on the outpost!} 16.Nxc4 dxc4 17.Qd1 Bxb4 18. Ne2 b5 19.f4 Ne7 20.Ba3 Bxa3 21.Rxa3 Nd5 {Now white has lost a pawn and his knight has found another good white square to land on.} 22.Qc1 b4 23. Rh3 Ne7 {Simon scuttles back to defend his king - he didn't really need to. } ( 23...g6 {is perfectly good.} ) 24.Qc2 {Here Dave missed a chance to get back into the game.} ( 24.Qb1 {also threatens mate, and if } 24... g6 25.Qxb4 {gets the pawn back. Black is still better but it's a fight.} ) 24...g6 25.Rd1 Qd5 {Now the queen perches on the good white square.} 26. Ng3 b3 27.Qc3 Qb7 28.Ne4 {A mistake which finishes the game, but white's position was difficult. Black was threatening ...Nd5 foolowed by ....c3.} 28...Qxe4 29.Qb4 Nd5 30.Re1 Qxd4+ {The moral of the story might be - White should be very cautious about swapping off the light-squared bishops when facing the French defence.} 0-1

[Event "NA v Stover D3"] [Site ""] [Date "2024.11.21"] [Round ""] [White "R Randhawa"] [Black "V Torishnii"] [Result "1-0"] [EventDate "2024.11.21"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 d5 {Not the best move.} 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.dxe5 d4 6.Bc4 c6 7.O-O b5 8.Bb3 Ne7 9.Nd2 g6 10.a4 {White has a large advantage and here } ( 10.Qf3 {would have caused big problems eg} 10...Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12. Qf6 Rg8 13.Qxe6 {winning a pawn and leaving black's king exposed.} ) 10... Bg7 11.Nf3 O-O 12.Bg5 Re8 13.Re1 Bg4 {Keeping the queens on might have led to a quicker win but Ronit plays safely and just picks up another pawn. In the next few moves he builds a good attack.} 14.Qxd4 Bxf3 15.Qxd8 Raxd8 16.gxf3 Bxe5 17.axb5 cxb5 18.Rxa7 Kf8 19.c3 Rb8 20.Rd1 Bg7 21.Rdd7 f6 22. Bf4 Rb6 23.Bd6 {Black is forced to sacrifice the exchange.} 23...Rxd6 24. Rxd6 Nc8 25.Rf7+ Kg8 26.Re7+ {A move which simplifies to a winning ending. But} ( 26.Rdd7 {leads to a very quick checkmate. eg} 26...Bh6 27.Rg7+ Kf8 28.Rg8# ) 26...Kf8 27.Rxe8+ Kxe8 28.Rd5 Na7 29.Bc2 Ke7 30.Bd3 Ke6 31.Bxb5 Nxb5 32.Rxb5 f5 33.exf5+ gxf5 34.c4 Bxb2 35.Rxb2 Kd6 36.Rc2 Kc5 37.h4 h5 38.f4 Kd4 39.c5 Kd3 40.Ra2 Kc4 41.c6 {The c-pawn is unstoppable.} 1-0