last round at amateur team

I am going to show you hopefully all my games, but let's start with the last one, which I happily won. It's so important to win your last game.

Chen, Jasmine --Vicary, Elizabeth

1. Nf3 d5

2. g3 Nf6

3. Bg2 c6

4. d3 Bg4

5. c3 Nbd7

6. Nbd2 e5

7. Qc2 Bc5

8. e4 dxe4

9. dxe4 O-O

10. O-O Qe7

So I felt pretty good about the opening so far, meaning felt pretty good that I had remembered it correctly, and this queen move was the first thing I was unsure of. I had some memory of ...Qe7 and ...a5. Also I figured I should maybe keep c7 available for my bishop in case of b4 and Nc4. But maybe I'm wrong and it should go on c7.

11. Nc4 Rfd8

12. Be3

So I wanted to play ...b5, but I expect white will first take on c5, and then retreat the knight to e3. I definitely would prefer to recapture on c5 with the knight, so I am proud to have found the correct move order:

12...Bxf3!

13. Bxf3 b5

14. Bxc5 Nxc5
15. Ne3 g6

16. Bg2

I decided here that white's bad light squared bishop means I should be playing on the queenside, because I will essentially (I hoped) be a piece up there. Also, my knght wasn't doing anything on f6. Also, white probably played Bg2 to play f4 next, and I intended to meet this with ...f6.

16...Nfd7

17. f4 f6

18. f5 g5

19. Rad1 Nb6

20. b3 a5

I'm not exactly sure what's I'm planning to do on the queenside, I just figured I'd figure it out when I got there.

21. Qe2

21...a4 and I think that attitude is fine, because 21... b4 seems to be almost as good: 22. cxb4 (22. c4 a4) 22... axb4.

22. b4 Nb7

23. h4

I had thought Qe2 was intending Qh5-h6 and Ng4, which I didn't really care so much about. After all, what's she going to attack me with besides the queen and the knight?

So 23. h4 surprised me, probably it shouldn't have, but I thought it wasn't very good, maybe it's even bad. Isn't g3 going to be weaker than h7??

23...gxh4

24. Qg4+ Kh8

25. Qxh4 Rg8

26. Ng4 Rg5

I was kinda pleased with my position here. I know I am going to get attacked, and in general I often underestimate the danger to my king, so I was a little worried, but I felt like I had a lot of moves to improve my position, and that cheered me up. Nothing like having things to do to keep you happy, you know? I wanted to play: Rag8(-g7), Nc4, Nb7-d6 (-e8 if needed), and either Qa7-e3/f2 or Qf7-g8 (after Ra8-g8-g7).

27. Bf3 Rag8
28. Rf2 Nc4

29. Re1 Nbd6

30. Rh2 R8g7

31. Kg2

Find the winning move for black!

two of my favorite former students: Shawn Martinez and Angel Lopez, playing in the last round on board one. how proud I was!

answer: 31... Nd2!! 32. Be2 N2xe4

I didn't play that (I had decided much earlier never to take the e4 pawn and did not revisit my decision), but instead played

31... Ne8

32. Rh3 Qa7

33. Rd1

find the win for black!! (this time I did too)

33... Rxg4! 34. Qh5 Ne3+
35. Kh2 Nxd1
36. Bxg4

now there are a few wins here. Simply 36... Nd6 is great and after 37. Bxd1, 37... Qf2+ and 38...Nxe4. I played a more checky one:

36...Qf2+
37. Kh1 Qe1+

Now I have to be careful, because white has some tricks too. For example, if I play something careless like 37... Qf1+ 38. Kh2 Nf2?? 39. Qxe8+ Rg8 40. Rxh7+! Kxh7 41. Qh5+ Kg7 42.
Qg6+ Kf8 and I am losing!!

38. Kg2 Qd2+
39. Kg1 Qe3+
40. Kh2 Nf2

and my point here is that after Rxh7 and Qh5, I will have Qh6, trading queens.
41. Rh4 Nxg4+
42. Rxg4 Qe2+
43. Kh3 Qxg4+
44. Qxg4 Rxg4
45. Kxg4 Kg7
46. Kf3 Kh6
(in fact, she played until checkmate)
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