2017 3 Tables - April Round 1 Anton Taylor, 2017 - Maxwell Boakye, 2028 Modern Defense (B06)

2017 3 Tables - April Round 1 
Anton Taylor, 2017 - Maxwell Boakye, 2028 
Modern Defense (B06)

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Be2 a4 may be more accurate but even at the top level the conservative Be2 seems to have been played frequently. 5. ... b5 6. a4 b4 7. Nd5 a5 8. c4 bxc3 e.p. seems to be the better move than what black chooses in this position. 8. ... Bb7 9. Qd3? Qc2 makes more sense playing to control the c-file (or essentially forcing c5, etc.) 9. ... Nd7 10. O-O c6? e6 makes more sense leaving the bishop's diagonal more open. 11. Ne3 c5 12. d5 Ngf6 13. Nd2 Ne5 Ironically, this would not be even a threat had white played Qc2 on move 9. 14. Qc2 h5 15. h3? Here is, I think, the point where White begins to go wrong. This move is completely pointless. g4 is not a proper outpost for the black knights. The immediate f4 gives white an edge to work with. 15. ... Qc7 16. b3 I take the opportunity to develop my bishop and it does seem to get me into the game. 16. ... O-O-O 17. Bb2 Kb8 18. f4 Ned7 19. Nf3 e5 I had not considered this move over the pastseveral moves as I analyzed. It seemed good for white. However, I could not work out the details of refuting it at the board. 20. fxe5 I eliminated dxe6 e.p. far too quickly. I missed that after the forcing move (Bxe4) that black's g-pawn could become a target. Had I seen that I would have followed that line of thought. 20. ... Nxe5 21. Nxe5 dxe5 22. Rf2? Komodo recommends Bf3 or Nd1. Those moves are difficult for me to see how they lead to progress. As I go through the line Bf3 is probably winning by a tiny edge. The move I chose is terrible because it just wastes time. I missed the knight maneuver to d6 that holds everything together. 22. ... Ne8 23. Raf1 Nd6 24. Bd3 Bc8 25. Qe2 Rdf8 26. Nc2 Qe1! is the komodo recommended choice. In retrospect I have to agree. The threat of sacrificing to open lines on the kingside, playing Qa1 hitting the e-pawn, and hitting the weak c5 pawn after reorganizing the pieces is enough to shred black's defenses. 26. ... Re8 27. Ne1 Rhf8 28. Bb1 Kb7 29. Qe3 f6 I felt very strong here and I analyzed Nd3 but I determined itled to almost bothing. Komodo confirms that it is actually the best move. I couldn't see it. 30. Qg3 g5 31. h4?? This maneiver forces black to close things up and the result is likely a draw in that case. 31. ... g4 32. Qe3 Bd7 33. Nd3 Kb6 34. Bc1 Rc8 35. Qe1 Qd8 36. Bd2 Qe8 37. Qe3 So, after some distraction I hit on the right plan (basically the same idea as Nd3 on move29. There is no defense for black. I thought Nb7 held everything together but white has a free hand in the center in that case. We analyzed this position after the game and neither of us saw the hopelessness of black here. 37. ... Bxa4?? 38. Nxc5! 38. ... Rxc5?? 39.Qxc5! kxc5?? 40. Be3# 38. ... Nxc4 39. Nxa4+ Kc7 40. Rc1 Kd6 41. bxc4 Qxa4 42. Qb6+ Kd7 43. c5 b3 44. Bxa5 Rb8 1-0 45.Qe6# is to follow so black resigns.