[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Nakamura, Mitsuru"]
[Black "Dryglas, Maciej"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "1603"]
[BlackElo "2135"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A43: Schmid Benoni} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. Bf4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 (4. Bxb8 Qa5+ 5. c3
Rxb8 6. Qxd4 Nf6 7. Nbd2 (7. e3 e6 8. Nbd2 a6 9. Bd3 Qc7 10. O-O b5 11. Rfe1
Bb7 12. a4 Bc5 13. Qh4 Bc6 14. axb5 axb5 15. Nd4 Bd7 16. e4 Be7 17. exd5 Nxd5
18. Qg4 g6 19. Qf3 O-O 20. Be4 Nb6 21. Bc6 Nc4 {Harakis,A (2220)-Greet,A (2449)
England 2012 0-1 (38)}) 7... e6 8. Nb3 Qb6 9. Qxb6 axb6 10. e3 Bd6 11. Bb5+ Ke7
12. O-O Ra8 13. c4 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Bd7 15. Nbd2 {1/2-1/2 (15) Sokolov,A (2580)
-Westerinen,H (2410) Gausdal 1996}) 4... f6 $146 {Prevents intrusion on e5+g5}
(4... Nc6 5. e3 e6 6. Be2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Bf3 O-O 9. c4 Qb6 10. Nc3 Nxd4 11.
Qxd4 Qxd4 12. exd4 dxc4 13. Rac1 Rd8 14. Nb5 a6 15. Nc7 Ra7 16. Rxc4 b5 17. Rc2
Bb7 18. Bxb7 Rxb7 19. Be5 {Singer,R (2210)-Meszaros,A (2390) Zalaegerszeg 1993
0-1}) 5. Nf3 (5. Bd2 $5 $11) 5... e5 $15 {Black threatens to win material:
e5xf4} 6. Bg3 Nc6 7. e3 {Secures d4} Qb6 8. b3 (8. Nc3 Be6 9. Nxd5 Qa5+ 10. Nc3
Bb4 $15) 8... Bf5 (8... Be6 $5 $17) 9. Be2 Nb4 {[%cal Rb4c2,Rf5c2,Gd1c2]
Exerts pressure on the backward pawn} 10. e4 $2 (10. O-O $142 {and White hangs
on} Nxc2 11. Nh4 $15) 10... Bxe4 11. Bd3 $2 (11. O-O Nxc2 12. Nc3 Nxa1 13. Bb5+
Kd8 14. Ba4 $17) 11... Bxd3 12. cxd3 Rc8 13. Na3 (13. O-O {does not save the
day} Nc2 14. Nbd2 Nxa1 15. Qxa1 Bd6 $19) 13... Qa5 14. O-O Qxa3 15. Nxe5 (15.
Re1 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Ne7 16. Bxe5 Nc2 $19)
15... Ne7 (15... fxe5 $142 {makes sure everything is clear} 16. Qh5+ Kd8 17.
Bxe5 Nxd3 18. Bd4 $19) 16. Nf3 Nf5 17. Qe2+ Kf7 18. Rae1 (18. Rfe1 {hardly
improves anything} Qa6 19. Nh4 Nxh4 $19) 18... Qa6 19. Nh4 Nxh4 20. Bxh4 (20.
Qg4 {cannot change what is in store for White} f5 21. Qxh4 Nxd3 22. Rd1 $19)
20... Bc5 (20... h5 {might be the shorter path} 21. Bg3 $19) 21. Qh5+ $4 {
White crumbles in face of a dire situation} (21. a3 $142 Qc6 22. axb4 Bxb4 23.
Rb1 $19) 21... g6 $19 22. Qf3 Rhd8 23. Bg5 (23. Re2 {doesn't get the cat off
the tree} Bd4 $19) 23... Nxd3 (23... Nc2 {keeps an even firmer grip} 24. Re5
$19) 24. Re2 Rc6 (24... Bd4 $5 {and Black can already relax} 25. Rd2 Rc3 26.
Be3 $19) 25. Rd1 Nb4 26. Rde1 (26. a4 {does not improve anything} d4 27. Bc1 d3
$19) 26... Qd3 27. Bd2 Qxf3 28. gxf3 Nd3 29. Rd1 Re6 30. Rxe6 Kxe6 31. Ba5 (31.
Kf1 {is no salvation} Nxf2 32. Rc1 Bd4 $19) 31... b6 (31... Nxf2 {makes it
even easier for Black} 32. Re1+ Kd7 33. Kf1 $19) 32. Bxb6 axb6 33. Rxd3 Ra8 34.
a4 Ke5 35. Rd1 (35. Kf1 {doesn't change anything anymore} d4 36. Ke2 Kd5 $19)
35... d4 36. Kf1 Kd5 (36... Bb4 {seems even better} 37. Ke2 Rc8 38. f4+ Kd5 39.
f5 $19) 37. f4 (37. Ke2 {does not win a prize} Bd6 $19) 37... Re8 38. Kg2 Bb4
39. Rd3 (39. f5 $19 {what else?}) 39... Ke4 40. Rf3 Bd2 (40... Rd8 $142 {
and Black takes home the point} 41. h4 $19) 41. Rh3 h5 42. Rg3 g5 43. fxg5 fxg5
44. Rh3 h4 45. Rf3 Bf4 46. b4 d3 (46... d3 47. Rxd3 Kxd3 $19) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Sugimoto, Koichi"]
[Black "Furuse, Mizuki"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1908"]
[BlackElo "1588"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B07: Pirc Defence: Miscellaneous Systems} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e4
d6 5. Qd2 O-O 6. O-O-O (6. Bh6 c5 7. Bxg7 Kxg7 8. d5 e6 9. dxe6 Bxe6 10. O-O-O
Nc6 11. Nf3 Qa5 12. a3 Rad8 13. Ng5 d5 14. exd5 Bxd5 15. Nxd5 Qxd2+ 16. Rxd2
Rxd5 17. Rxd5 Nxd5 18. g3 Nf6 19. Bg2 h6 20. Ne4 Re8 {Ponomariov,R (2744)
-Eljanov,P (2742) Moscow 2010 1-0 (66)}) 6... a6 $146 {Controls b5} (6... Re8
7. f3 Nbd7 8. Bh6 Bh8 9. h4 c5 10. Nge2 Qa5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Nd4 Bd7 13. Kb1
a6 14. h5 Na4 15. Nxa4 Qxd2 16. Rxd2 Bxa4 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. g4 Rac8 19. Be3 Bg7
20. g5 Nd7 21. Bh3 {Colovic,D (2380)-Milosevic,B (2271) Serbia 2009 0-1 (41)})
(6... c6 7. f3 (7. Bh6 Qa5 8. Bxg7 Kxg7 9. f4 Be6 10. a3 b5 11. e5 Nd5 12. Nge2
Nd7 13. Nxd5 Qxd2+ 14. Rxd2 Bxd5 15. Nc3 Nb6 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. g3 a5 18. Bg2
Rfd8 19. Re1 e6 20. Rd3 Rac8 21. Rf1 h6 {Kuzmin,G (2560)-Adorjan,A (2515)
Budapest 1978 1-0 (44)}) 7... b5 8. h4 Qa5 9. Bh6 b4 10. Nb1 Nbd7 11. Bxg7 Kxg7
12. h5 g5 13. Ne2 h6 14. Ng3 Nb6 15. a3 c5 16. e5 dxe5 17. dxc5 Qxc5 18. axb4
Qc7 19. Qc3 Qb8 20. Re1 Nbd5 21. Qxe5 {Crouan,S (2181)-Bailet,P (2309)
Guingamp 2009 1/2-1/2}) 7. Nf3 b5 (7... Nc6 8. a3 $14) 8. Qe1 {Black has a
cramped position} (8. e5 $5 Nh5 9. Bh6 $14) 8... Bb7 $11 9. e5 {White
threatens to win material: e5xf6} Nd5 {Black threatens to win material: Nd5xf4}
10. Bd2 Nxc3 {Black forks: a2+d1} 11. Bxc3 Bd5 12. Kb1 (12. h4 Nc6 $14) 12...
Nc6 $11 13. Bd3 Rb8 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 d5 {Black threatens to win material:
d5xe4} 16. Qe2 a5 17. e6 (17. h4 b4 18. Be1 a4 $14) 17... f6 {Black has a
cramped position} (17... b4 $5 {should be considered} 18. Bd2 a4 $11 (18...
Bxd4 $143 19. Bh6 Bg7 20. exf7+ Kh8 21. Bxg7+ Kxg7 22. Ng5 $16)) 18. Bd2 (18.
h4 b4 19. Bd2 a4 $16) 18... Rb6 (18... Qd6 $5 $14 {is interesting}) 19. h4 $16
h5 20. Qd3 (20. Bf4 Qc8 $16) 20... Qe8 (20... f5 21. Bf4 $16) 21. Bf4 Nb4 22.
Qe2 Qc8 23. Rhe1 Rb7 (23... Nc6 24. Qd3 Kh7 25. Qb3 $16) 24. c3 (24. Nd2 $5 a4
$16) 24... Nc6 25. Qd3 {White threatens to win material: Qd3xg6} Qe8 26. Nh2 (
26. Re3 f5 $16) 26... f5 (26... b4 $5 27. Rc1 bxc3 28. Rxc3 g5 $11) 27. Nf3 $14
Kh7 28. Ng5+ Kg8 29. Qg3 (29. Bd2 b4 $16) 29... Qc8 (29... b4 $142 $5 $14 {
might be a viable alternative}) 30. Nf7 $16 Rxf7 31. exf7+ Kxf7 32. Qe3 Qd7 33.
f3 Bf6 34. Bg5 Rb8 (34... Bg7 $142 $5 $16) 35. Bxf6 $18 exf6 36. Qh6 Rg8 37.
Rg1 (37. Re2 Qc8 $18) 37... Qd8 38. Qf4 (38. Rde1 Rh8 39. Qe3 Qd7 $16) 38...
Qd7 (38... Qd6 39. Qxd6 cxd6 40. f4 $16) 39. g4 hxg4 40. fxg4 Ne7 (40... Rh8
41. g5 $16) 41. g5 (41. Rdf1 Qd6 $16) 41... fxg5 (41... Qd6 $142 $5 42. Qf2 Rh8
$16) 42. hxg5 $18 Nc6 (42... Qd6 43. Qh4 $18) 43. Rh1 Rg7 $6 {hardly fazing
for the opponent} (43... Qd6 44. Qe3 Qe7 45. Qd2 $18) 44. Rde1 Qd8 (44... Ne7 {
is not much help} 45. Rh8 Ng8 46. Qf3 $18) 45. Qe3 (45. Rh8 $142 {and White
can already relax} Qd7 46. Qh2 $18) 45... Ne7 (45... Qd7 {is still a small
chance} 46. Rh8 Ne7 $18) 46. Qe6+ Kf8 47. Rh8+ Ng8 48. Qc6 Kf7 49. Qxb5 f4 50.
Qc6 f3 51. Qe6+ Kf8 52. Rf1 Re7 (52... Qe7 {does not help much} 53. Qc8+ Qe8
54. Rxf3+ Ke7 55. Re3+ Kd6 56. Rxe8 Rd7 57. Rhxg8 Re7 58. Rxg6+ Re6 59. Qxe6#)
53. Rxg8# 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Shishido, Kenta"]
[Black "Honda, Yoshiki"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "1431"]
[BlackElo "1828"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B20: Sicilian: Unusual White 2nd moves} 1. e4 c5 2. a3 Nc6 3. b4 d6 $146 (3...
Nf6 4. b5 Nd4 5. c3 Ne6 6. e5 Nd5 7. Qb3 Nec7 8. Bc4 e6 9. Nf3 d6 10. O-O dxe5
11. Nxe5 Bd6 12. d4 O-O 13. Nf3 b6 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Nbd2 Nf6 16. Qc2 Bb7 17.
Bd3 h6 18. c4 {Tsaknakis,Z (2235)-Plischki,S (2398) Pardubice 2015 0-1 (73)}) (
3... e5 4. b5 (4. Nf3 Nf6 5. b5 Nd4 6. c3 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 d5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Qxd5
Nxd5 10. c4 Nc7 11. Bb2 f6 {1/2-1/2 (11) Svicevic,R (2300)-Marinkovic,S (2391)
Belgrade 2014}) 4... Nd4 5. c3 Ne6 6. Bc4 (6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Qa4 Qc7 8. d3 Be7 9.
Nbd2 O-O 10. Bb2 Re8 11. Rc1 d5 12. exd5 Nf4 13. c4 Bf5 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. dxe4
Bxe4 16. Rc3 Bf5 17. Re3 Ng6 18. Be2 e4 19. Nd2 Bg5 20. Nf1 Bxe3 {Junge,R 
(2271)-Schumacher,N (2210) Germany 2014 1-0 (41)}) 6... Nf6 7. d3 d5 8. exd5
Nxd5 9. Nf3 Nb6 10. Ba2 Bd6 11. O-O O-O 12. Nbd2 Nf4 13. Ne4 Bg4 14. Bxf4 exf4
15. Qd2 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Be5 17. Rad1 Rc8 18. d4 {Bezgodov,A (2482)-Kurnosov,I 
(2657) Khanty-Mansiysk 2013 1/2-1/2 (71)}) (3... Nf6 4. b5 Nd4 5. c3 $15) 4.
bxc5 $11 dxc5 5. Nf3 e5 6. Bb5 {White has a cramped position} Bg4 (6... Bd6 7.
Bb2 Nf6 8. Nxe5 $11) 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. h3 Bh5 (8... Be6 $11) 9. c4 (9. d3 $5 $14
{is worth consideration}) 9... Qd3 {White cannot castle king side} (9... Nf6 $5
$17) 10. Qe2 Qxe2+ 11. Kxe2 f5 12. d3 (12. exf5 $2 {doesn't work because of} e4
13. g4 exf3+ 14. Kxf3 Bf7 15. Re1+ Be7 $17) 12... fxe4 13. dxe4 Bd6 14. g4 {
White threatens to win material: g4xh5} Bg6 15. Nbd2 Nf6 {Black threatens to
win material: Nf6xe4} 16. Ke3 {White king safety dropped} Rb8 17. Nh4 Bxe4 {
Decoy: e4} 18. Nxe4 (18. f3 $5 Bg6 19. Nxg6 hxg6 20. Rb1 $15) 18... Rb3+ $17
19. Ke2 Nxe4 20. Bd2 $2 (20. Nf5 $5 O-O 21. Be3 $17) 20... O-O 21. Rh2 $4 {
simply worsens the situation} (21. Nf5 $142 $19) 21... Rb2 22. Nf3 (22. Rd1 {
is not the saving move} Be7 23. Nf5 Bg5 $19 (23... Nxd2 $6 {is a useless try}
24. Rxd2 Rxd2+ 25. Kxd2 Bg5+ 26. Ke2 $17) (23... Rxd2+ $6 {is easily refuted}
24. Rxd2 Nxd2 25. Nxe7+ Kf7 26. Nxc6 Nxc4 27. Rh1 $15)) 22... Rxf3 $1 {
Deflection: d2} 23. Kxf3 Nxd2+ 24. Ke3 (24. Kg2 {doesn't get the bull off the
ice} e4 25. Rhh1 e3 $19) 24... Nxc4+ 25. Kd3 e4+ $1 {Discovered attack: e5,
Bd6xh2} 26. Kxc4 (26. Kxe4 Bxh2 {Discovered attack}) 26... Bxh2 27. Kxc5 (27.
Re1 {does not solve anything} Rc2+ 28. Kb3 Rxf2 29. Rxe4 Rf3+ 30. Kb2 Rxh3 $19)
27... Rxf2 (27... Be5 $142 {seems even better} 28. Rf1 Rc2+ 29. Kb4 Bd4 $19)
28. Kxc6 (28. Re1 {the only chance to get some counterplay} Rf3 29. Rxe4 Rc3+
30. Kb4 Rxh3 31. Kc5 $19) 28... e3 29. Kb7 e2 (29... Bg3 30. Kxa7 e2 31. Rb1
Rf1 32. Re1 Rxe1 33. h4 Rb1 34. Ka6 e1=Q 35. a4 Qe4 36. a5 Qb7#) 30. Re1 Bf4
31. Kxa7 Bd2 32. Rb1 e1=Q (32... Be3+ 33. Kb8 Rf1 34. Rb7 e1=Q 35. Rxg7+ Kxg7
36. Kb7 Qa5 37. Kc6 Rf6+ 38. Kd7 Qa7+ 39. Kc8 Rf8#) 33. Rb8+ Rf8 34. Rxf8+ Kxf8
(34... Kxf8 35. Kb7 Qe4+ 36. Kc7 Qc4+ 37. Kb6 Be3+ 38. Kb7 Ke7 39. h4 Kd7 40.
a4 Qc8#) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Etabag, John Vincent"]
[Black "Ito, Katsuhide"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1821"]
[BlackElo "1389"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B23: Closed Sicilian: Lines without g3} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3
Bg7 5. a3 a6 (5... d6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. O-O a6 8. Bc4 Nd4 9. d3 e6 10. Nxd4 cxd4
11. Ne2 Ne7 12. Bb3 O-O 13. Qe1 a5 14. Qf2 Qb6 15. a4 Nc6 16. f5 exf5 17. Ng3
f4 18. Bxf4 Ne5 19. Ra3 Be6 20. Qd2 {Eingorn,V (2580)-Liang,J (2465) Manila
1992 0-1 (41)}) 6. Bc4 (6. b4 b6 7. Rb1 d6 8. b5 axb5 9. Bxb5 Bd7 10. O-O Nh6
11. Nd5 e6 12. Ne3 O-O 13. d3 Rc8 14. g4 f5 15. gxf5 exf5 16. Bc4+ Kh8 17. Ng5
Nd4 18. c3 Nc6 19. Nd5 Rb8 20. Qe1 Ne7 {Rendle,T (2363)-Gordon,S (2508)
Liverpool 2008 0-1 (36)}) 6... e6 7. d3 $146 (7. O-O Nge7 8. d3 O-O 9. e5 d5
10. exd6 Nf5 11. Ne4 Nxd6 12. Ba2 b6 13. Rb1 Bb7 14. Be3 Nd4 15. Ned2 N6f5 16.
Bf2 Nxf3+ 17. Nxf3 Qc7 18. b4 Qxf4 19. bxc5 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Qxf3 21. gxf3 bxc5 {
Johnsen,S (2186)-Trygstad,K (2227) Gausdal 2000 0-1 (43)}) 7... b5 {Black
threatens to win material: b5xc4} 8. Ba2 Nd4 (8... Nge7 9. O-O $11) 9. O-O (9.
e5 Ne7 10. Ne4 O-O $14) 9... Nxf3+ (9... Bb7 $5 $11 {is an interesting idea})
10. Qxf3 $14 (10. gxf3 $6 Bd4+ 11. Kg2 Ne7 $11) 10... Bb7 {Black should
quickly conclude development.} 11. f5 (11. Qf2 $142 $16) 11... exf5 $4 {
Black lets it slip away} (11... gxf5 $142 {would keep Black in the game} 12.
Qf4 Ne7 $17) 12. Qg3 Ne7 13. Bg5 (13. exf5 $142 Qb6 14. fxg6 c4+ 15. Be3 Qxg6
16. dxc4 $16) 13... O-O $4 (13... Bd4+ $142 {is just about the only chance} 14.
Kh1 f6 $14) 14. exf5 Nxf5 $6 {Black seems to have resigned himself to defeat..}
(14... h6 15. fxg6 hxg5 16. Bxf7+ Rxf7 17. gxf7+ Kf8 $18) 15. Rxf5 Qb6 16. Rff1
(16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 (17. Bxd5 $143 gxf5 18. Bxa8 Rxa8 $11) 17... c4+ 18. Be3
$18) 16... d5 (16... Rae8 17. Rae1 Rxe1 18. Rxe1 b4 $18) 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Bxd5
Ra7 19. c3 (19. Rae1 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} c4+ 20. Be3 Bd4 21. dxc4
bxc4 $18) 19... Kh8 (19... Rd7 {hardly improves anything} 20. Qf3 $18) 20. Rae1
f6 (20... Rd7 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 21. Be7 Rxd5 22. Bxf8
Bxf8 23. Rxf7 c4+ 24. d4 $18) 21. Bf4 Rd7 (21... g5 {doesn't change the
outcome of the game} 22. Bd6 Rd8 23. Re6 $18) 22. Be6 (22. Re6 {makes it even
easier for White} Qd8 23. Bd6 Rg8 $18) 22... c4+ (22... Rb7 {cannot undo what
has already been done} 23. Rf3 $18) 23. d4 Re7 (23... Rb7 {doesn't improve
anything} 24. Bd5 Rd7 25. Re6 $18) 24. Bd6 Ree8 25. Bxf8 Rxe6 (25... Rxf8 {
there is nothing else anyway} 26. h4 Qb8 27. Qxb8 Rxb8 $18) 26. Bxg7+ Kxg7 27.
Rxe6 Qxe6 28. Re1 Qd7 29. Qe3 Kf7 30. Qe4 (30. Qh3 $142 {might be the shorter
path} Qxh3 31. gxh3 $18) 30... Qd8 31. Qe6+ Kf8 (31... Kg7 {cannot change
destiny} 32. Qe7+ Qxe7 33. Rxe7+ Kf8 34. Re1 Kf7 35. d5 f5 36. d6 Kg7 37. d7
Kf7 38. d8=Q Kg7 39. Qd4+ Kh6 40. Qh4+ Kg7 41. Re7+ Kf8 42. Qxh7 f4 43. Qf7#)
32. d5 Qc7 (32... b4 {doesn't do any good} 33. d6 Qb6+ 34. Kf1 Qg1+ 35. Kxg1
Kg7 36. d7 bxc3 37. Qe7+ Kh6 38. Qxf6 cxb2 39. Qh4+ Kg7 40. Re7+ Kf8 41. d8=Q#)
33. Qxf6+ Qf7 34. Qxf7+ (34. Qh8+ Qg8 35. Rf1+ Ke7 36. Qxg8 Kd6 37. Rf6+ Kd7
38. Qg7+ Kc8 39. Rf8#) 34... Kxf7 35. d6 (35. d6 h5 36. d7 h4 37. d8=Q Kg7 38.
Qxh4 b4 39. Re7+ Kf8 40. Qf6+ Kg8 41. Qg7#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Yajima, Machiko"]
[Black "Yoshii, Yukihiko"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "1367"]
[BlackElo "1771"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C01: French: Exchange Variation} 1. e3 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. exd4 d5 4. Nf3 Bf5 5.
c4 Nf6 (5... Bxb1 6. Rxb1 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ (7... Qe7+ 8. Be2 Nf6 9. O-O Bxd2
10. Qxd2 c6 11. b4 O-O 12. c5 Ne4 13. Qc2 Ng5 14. b5 cxb5 15. Nxg5 Qxg5 16.
Bxb5 Nc6 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Qa4 Qg6 19. Rb7 h5 20. Rc7 Rfc8 21. Rxc8+ Rxc8 22.
Qxa7 {Andrijevic,M (2384)-Peric,S (2275) Belgrade 2009 1-0}) 8. Qxd2 Nf6 9. Be2
O-O 10. O-O dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nbd7 12. b4 Nb6 13. Bd3 a6 14. Rb3 Qd6 15. Qg5 Nbd5
16. Ne5 Nxb4 17. Bb1 h6 18. Qf5 Nbd5 19. g4 Ne7 20. Qf4 {Vlassov,N (2467)
-Rustemov,A (2620) Moscow 2002 0-1 (32)}) 6. Nc3 c6 7. Be2 $146 (7. Be3 Be7 8.
Qb3 Qb6 9. Qxb6 axb6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Bxd7+ Kxd7
14. Ne5+ Ke6 15. a3 f6 16. Nd3 Nc6 17. Nf4+ Kd6 18. Ne2 {1/2-1/2 (18) Cosma,E 
(2310)-Mutchnik,L (2225) Romania 1994}) (7. cxd5 Bd6 8. dxc6 Nxc6 $14) 7... Be7
8. O-O {White castles and improves king safety} O-O 9. a3 {Consolidates b4} (9.
Re1 Re8 $14) 9... Nbd7 $11 10. Qe1 (10. Re1 $5 $11) 10... Re8 11. c5 {White
gets more space} (11. Qd1 Bd6 $15) 11... Qc7 (11... b6 12. b4 $17) 12. g3 (12.
Nh4 Ng4 13. Nf3 Nf8 $15) 12... Bh3 $17 13. Bf4 Qd8 14. Ng5 (14. Qd2 Bxf1 15.
Kxf1 b6 $17) 14... Bxf1 15. Qxf1 h6 16. Nf3 Ne4 17. Qc1 (17. Be3 Ndf6 $17)
17... Ndf6 (17... Bxc5 $142 $5 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. dxc5 exf3 20. Bxf3 Ne5 21.
Bxe5 Rxe5 $19) 18. Ne5 $17 Nxc3 19. bxc3 (19. Qxc3 Nd7 20. Be3 Qc7 $17) 19...
Ne4 (19... Nd7 20. Nxd7 Qxd7 21. Bd3 $17) 20. Bh5 Rf8 (20... g6 $142 21. Bf3
Bf6 22. Bxe4 dxe4 $17) 21. Bxh6 $4 (21. Rb1 Bf6 22. Rxb7 Bxe5 23. Bxe5 $17 (23.
dxe5 $2 Nxc5 24. Rb1 Nd3 $19)) 21... gxh6 $19 22. Qf4 (22. f3 {does not solve
anything} Nf6 23. Qxh6 Nxh5 24. Qxh5 Bf6 $19) 22... Bg5 23. Bxf7+ (23. Qg4 {
does not help much} f5 (23... Nxc3 $6 {is clearly worse} 24. f4 $19) 24. Qd1
Qa5 $19) 23... Kg7 24. Qf5 Qf6 25. Qxf6+ (25. Qg6+ {does not win a prize} Qxg6
26. Bxg6 Nxc3 $19 (26... Nxf2 $143 27. Rb1 Rab8 28. Bc2 $19)) 25... Bxf6 26. f4
(26. Bg6 {doesn't do any good} Nxc3 27. Bd3 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Rf3 $19) 26... Bxe5
27. Bh5 (27. Bxd5 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Nxc3 28.
dxe5 cxd5 $19) 27... Bc7 (27... Bf6 $142 {and Black can already relax} 28. Rd1
$19) 28. Rc1 Nf6 29. Bf3 Rae8 30. Kf2 Re7 31. Rc2 Rfe8 (31... Ba5 $142 {
seems even better} 32. c4 $19) 32. h3 (32. c4 {does not improve anything} dxc4
33. Rxc4 Rd8 $19) 32... Ba5 33. c4 Be1+ 34. Kg2 Re3 35. a4 Ne4 36. Bxe4 (36.
cxd5 {cannot change what is in store for White} cxd5 37. f5 Nxg3 $19) 36...
R8xe4 37. Kf1 Bxg3 38. Kg2 Bxf4 39. Kf2 Rxd4 40. cxd5 Rxd5 41. Rc4 Rd2+ 42. Kf1
Bg3 (42... Rxh3 43. Kg1 Be3+ 44. Kf1 Rh1#) 43. Rg4+ (43. Rc1 {cannot undo what
has already been done} Rf3+ 44. Kg1 Be5 45. Kh1 Rxh3+ 46. Kg1 Bd4+ 47. Kf1 Rh1#
) 43... Kf6 44. Rxg3 Rxg3 45. Ke1 (45. h4 {is not much help} Rc2 46. a5 Rb3 47.
Ke1 Rb1#) 45... Ra2 (45... Ra2 46. Kf1 Rb3 47. Ke1 Rb1#) (45... Rb2 46. Kf1 Rc3
47. Ke1 Rc1#) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "kuramoto, koutarou"]
[Black "Ono, Yukiko"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "1757"]
[BlackElo "1000"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{E01: Catalan: Early deviations} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 e6 5. O-O
Bd6 $146 (5... Be7 6. c3 (6. c4 dxc4 7. Qa4 O-O 8. Qxc4 Qd5 9. Qa4 Bd7 10. Nc3
Qh5 11. h3 Ne5 12. dxe5 Bxa4 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Nxa4 Qb5 15. Nc3 Bxc3 16. bxc3
Qxe2 17. Bf4 f6 18. Rfe1 Qc4 19. Nd2 Qxc3 20. Bxb7 Rab8 {Afanasiev,N (2283)
-Klyuev,A (2284) Kolomna 2014 1-0 (33)}) 6... Ne4 7. Nbd2 f5 8. Ne1 O-O 9. Nd3
a5 10. f3 Nxd2 11. Bxd2 b6 12. Re1 Ba6 13. Nf4 Qd7 14. e4 g5 15. exd5 Nxd4 16.
Nh3 Nb5 17. dxe6 Qd8 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19. Nxg5 Qe7 20. f4 {Biyiasas,P (2450)
-Alburt,L (2575) Lone Pine 1981 1-0 (34)}) (5... Rb8 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. c4 O-O 8.
b3 Ne4 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Ne5 Nxd4 11. Bb2 c5 12. e3 Nf3+ 13. Nxf3 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1
exf3 15. Be5 Ra8 16. Bxf3 Bf6 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rd6 Rb8 19. Kg2 Re8 20. Rad1 {
Konopka,M (2390)-Boguszlavszkij,J (2360) Hungary 1991 1/2-1/2}) (5... Ne4 6. c4
f5 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Qb3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nd2 Be6 12. Qxb7 Qd7
13. Qa6 f4 14. Ba3 Bxa3 15. Qxa3 Rae8 16. Qc5 Rf6 17. e3 g5 18. exf4 gxf4 19.
Rae1 Kg7 20. c4 {Tratar,M (2340)-Kolar,S (2300) Slovenia 1991 1-0}) 6. c4 O-O
7. Qc2 Ne4 (7... Bd7 $5 $11) 8. Nc3 $14 f5 9. a3 {Covers b4} e5 (9... Nxc3 $5
10. Qxc3 dxc4 11. Qxc4 Bd7 $14) 10. cxd5 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13.
Qxe4 c5 $2 (13... Qf6 $142 14. e3 dxe3 15. fxe3 Bf5 $16) 14. dxc6 $18 Qb6 (
14... bxc6 15. Qxd4 Qc7 $18) 15. Qd5+ Rf7 (15... Kh8 {doesn't change anything
anymore} 16. cxb7 Bxb7 17. Qxb7 Qxb7 18. Bxb7 $18) 16. Qxd6 bxc6 17. Qxc6 Qxc6
(17... Bb7 {does not save the day} 18. Qxb6 axb6 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 20. Rd1 $18) 18.
Bxc6 Rb8 (18... Bb7 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 19. Bb5 Rf5 20. Bd3 $18)
19. Bd5 Bh3 (19... Rbb7 {is no salvation} 20. Bxb7 Bxb7 21. Rd1 $18) 20. Bxf7+
Kxf7 21. Rd1 Rd8 (21... Re8 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 22. e3 $18) 22.
b4 (22. Be3 {seems even better} Rb8 23. Bxd4 Rb7 $18) 22... Bd7 (22... Bf5 {
cannot change destiny} 23. Be3 $1 {Deflection: d4} d3 24. exd3 $18) 23. Bb2 (
23. Rxd4 {keeps an even firmer grip} Ke8 $18) 23... Rc8 (23... Re8 {is not the
saving move} 24. Rxd4 Bf5 25. Rd2 $18) 24. Rxd4 (24. Rac1 {might be the
shorter path} Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Bb5 $18) 24... Ba4 25. Rc1 Re8 26. e3 (26. Rc7+ {
makes it even easier for White} Re7 27. Rf4+ Ke8 28. Rxe7+ Kxe7 29. Bxg7 h5 $18
) 26... h5 27. Rc7+ Ke6 28. Re4+ Kd6 29. Rxe8 $1 {Mate threat} Kxc7 (29... Bxe8
30. Rxg7 {Combination}) (29... -- $140 30. Ree7 {Mate threat}) 30. Re7+ Bd7 31.
Rxg7 Kd8 32. Rxd7+ $1 {a brilliant end} Kxd7 33. f4 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.8"]
[White "Aoki, Yasuhiro"]
[Black "Denta, Seiichi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "1731"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A30: Symmetrical English: Double Fianchetto and Hedgehog} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6
3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d6 5. O-O Bf5 $146 (5... g6 6. b3 Bg7 7. Bb2 Bd7 8. d4 cxd4 9.
Nxd4 h5 (9... Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Bc6 11. Nc3 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 O-O 13. Rfd1 Qd7 14. Nd5
Ne8 15. Qd2 Bxb2 16. Qxb2 Nc7 17. Kg1 Nxd5 18. Rxd5 Rfc8 19. Rad1 Qc6 20. h4 a6
21. h5 b5 22. R5d4 bxc4 23. Rxc4 Qb7 24. hxg6 {Csonka,B (2354)-Juhasz,A (2214)
Balatonlelle 2013 1/2-1/2 (36)}) 10. h4 O-O 11. Nc3 Qa5 12. Rc1 Rfc8 13. Qd2
Rab8 14. Rfd1 a6 15. Nxc6 Bxc6 16. Qg5 Qxg5 17. hxg5 Ne4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Ba3
Bc6 20. Nd5 {Gabuzyan,H (2582)-Melkumyan,H (2647) Martuni 2014 1/2-1/2 (60)}) (
5... e5 6. d3 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Rb1 Be6 9. a3 h6 10. b4 cxb4 11. axb4 a6 12. e4
Ne8 13. Be3 Nc7 14. Nd5 Ne8 15. b5 axb5 16. Rxb5 Rb8 17. Qb1 Qd7 18. d4 exd4
19. Nxd4 Bxd5 20. cxd5 {Gunina,V (2508)-Dzagnidze,N (2550) Khanty-Mansiysk
2014 1-0 (39)}) 6. Nc3 a6 {Secures b5} (6... e5 7. d3 $11) 7. d4 $16 e6 (7...
Qb6 8. d5 Nd4 9. b3 Nxf3+ 10. Bxf3 $14) 8. Re1 (8. d5 exd5 9. cxd5 Ne5 10. Nxe5
dxe5 $16) 8... Be7 (8... cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 $14) 9. e4 (9. d5 $5 exd5
10. cxd5 $16) 9... Bg4 $14 10. Be3 (10. d5 $5 Ne5 11. Bf4 $14) 10... O-O 11.
Qd2 h6 {Prevents intrusion on g5} (11... Nd7 12. Ne2 $11) 12. b3 (12. d5 Bxf3
13. Bxf3 Ne5 $14) 12... Qd7 (12... Nd7 $5 $11 {has some apparent merit}) 13. d5
$14 {White wins space} Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Na4 {White threatens to win
material: Na4xc5} Qd6 $4 (15... Qc7 $142 $14 {the rescuing straw}) 16. Bxc5 $18
Qc7 (16... Qd7 {does not save the day} 17. Nb6 Qc7 18. Bxe7 Qxb6 19. c5 $18)
17. Bxe7 (17. d6 $142 {and White can celebrate victory} Bxd6 18. Bxd6 $18)
17... Qxe7 18. d6 Qd8 19. c5 Rc8 20. b4 Nd7 21. Rac1 f5 (21... Qg5 22. Re3 Qf6
$18) 22. exf5 (22. h3 $142 $18 {and White can already relax}) 22... Bxf5 (22...
Rb8 {praying for a miracle} 23. fxe6 Bxe6 $18) 23. Bxb7 Rb8 (23... e4 {doesn't
get the bull off the ice} 24. Bxc8 Qxc8 25. c6 $18) 24. c6 Rxb7 (24... Qg5 {
doesn't get the cat off the tree} 25. Qc3 a5 26. c7 axb4 27. Qxb4 $18) 25. cxb7
Nb8 26. Rc8 Qd7 27. Rxf8+ Kxf8 28. Nc5 Qc6 29. d7 Bh3 30. d8=Q+ Kf7 31. Ne4 Bf5
(31... Kg6 {does not help much} 32. Qxb8 Bg4 33. Qc8 Qb5 34. b8=Q Bh3 35. Qe8+
Qxe8 36. Qxe8+ Kh7 37. Nf6+ gxf6 38. Qdd7#) 32. Qxb8 Bxe4 (32... Bh3 {is not
much help} 33. Qdd6 Kg6 34. Qxc6 Bg2 35. Qbe8+ Kh7 36. Qcxe6 Bxe4 37. Q8g8#)
33. Rxe4 $1 {Deflection: d7} Qxe4 (33... Qxe4 34. Qd7+ {Mate attack Deflection}
) 34. Qc7+ (34. Qd7+ Kg6 35. Qxe6+ Kg5 36. Qd8+ Kh5 37. Qde8+ g6 38. Qh3+ Kg5
39. Qd8#) 34... Kg6 (34... Kf6 {doesn't improve anything} 35. b8=Q Qb1+ 36. Kg2
Qe4+ 37. f3 Qxf3+ 38. Kxf3 Kg6 39. Qd3+ e4+ 40. Qxe4+ Kg5 41. Qce5#) 35. Qcc2 (
35. Qcc2 Qf5 36. g4 a5 37. gxf5+ exf5 38. Qd7 e4 39. Qcc6+ Kh7 40. b8=Q axb4
41. Qxf5+ g6 42. Qcxg6#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.9"]
[White "Kramskoy, Damir"]
[Black "Miyatani, Ryouhei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[BlackElo "1672"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C50: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5
4. Nc3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. d3 a5 $146 (6... Bb6 7. Na4 Bg4 8. Bb5 O-O 9. Bxc6 bxc6
10. h3 Bh5 11. Nxb6 axb6 12. Qe2 h6 13. g4 Nxg4 14. hxg4 Bxg4 15. Qe3 f5 16.
exf5 Rxf5 17. Nh2 Bh5 18. Qg3 Qf6 19. f3 Rf8 20. Be3 Kh7 21. Rf2 {Maroczy,
G-Janowski,D New York 1924 1-0 (55)}) (6... Na5 7. Bb3 a6 8. d4 Nxb3 9. axb3
exd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 O-O 13. g4 Qd7 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. Qxd5 Qb5
16. Qf3 Rfe8 17. Kg2 Qe2 18. c3 Re4 19. Ra4 Rae8 20. Rxe4 Rxe4 21. h3 {Shirov,
A (2691)-Giri,A (2768) Hoogeveen 2014 0-1 (34)}) (6... Be6 7. Bxe6 (7. Bb3 Qe7
8. Be3 Bb6 9. Bxb6 axb6 10. Re1 Bxb3 11. axb3 O-O {1/2-1/2 (11) Gamboa,N (2415)
-Perdomo,C (2435) Quito 1997}) 7... fxe6 8. Na4 Bb6 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. Ng5 Qe7
11. a3 O-O 12. c3 h6 13. Nh3 d5 14. f3 Rad8 15. Qe2 Qd6 16. Nf2 Ne7 17. Be3 Ng6
18. Rae1 Rf7 19. Qc2 c5 20. exd5 exd5 21. d4 {Larsen,B (2515)-Smyslov,V (2565)
Reykjavik 1995 1/2-1/2 (57)}) 7. Bg5 h6 8. Be3 (8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nd5 Qd8 $14)
8... O-O $11 9. h3 {Consolidates g4} b6 {Controls c5} 10. Nd2 Ne7 11. Nb3 (11.
Qf3 c6 12. Bb3 Ng6 $11) 11... Bxe3 $15 12. fxe3 c6 {Covers b5} 13. d4 b5 {
[%cal Ya5a4] Black prepares the advance a4. Black threatens to win material:
b5xc4} 14. Be2 (14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Qxd8 Rxd8 $15) 14... a4 (14... exd4 $142 $5
15. Qxd4 b4 16. Rxf6 gxf6 $17) 15. dxe5 $11 dxe5 16. Qxd8 Rxd8 17. Rad1 $4 {
releasing the pressure on the opponent} (17. Nc5 $142 $11 {had to be tried to
avoid defeat}) 17... Rxd1 $19 18. Rxd1 axb3 19. cxb3 Be6 20. b4 Nd7 (20... Bxa2
$6 21. Ra1 $17) 21. Bg4 (21. Kf2 Kh7 $19) 21... Bxg4 22. hxg4 Nf6 23. b3 (23.
g5 {does not improve anything} hxg5 24. b3 Ng4 $19) 23... Kf8 (23... Nxg4 {
seems even better} 24. a4 $19) 24. a4 (24. Kf2 {hardly improves anything} Nxg4+
25. Kf3 Nf6 $19) 24... Ke8 (24... Nxg4 $142 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 25.
Rc1 $19) 25. axb5 Rd8 26. Ra1 (26. Rxd8+ {does not win a prize} Kxd8 27. Kf2
cxb5 $19) 26... cxb5 27. Nxb5 Nc6 (27... Nxe4 $142 $5 {and Black can already
relax} 28. Ra5 Nf6 29. g5 hxg5 30. Nc7+ Kd7 31. Nb5 $19) 28. Nc7+ Kd7 29. Nd5
Nxd5 (29... Nxg4 $6 30. b5 Nb8 31. Rf1 $19) 30. exd5 Nxb4 31. Ra7+ Kd6 32. Ra5
(32. Rxf7 {otherwise it's curtains at once} Kxd5 33. Rc7 $19) 32... Nxd5 33. e4
(33. Ra6+ {hardly improves anything} Ke7 34. Kf2 e4 $19) 33... Nf6 (33... Nc3 {
makes it even easier for Black} 34. Kf1 $19) 34. b4 (34. g5 {cannot change
destiny} hxg5 35. Ra7 Rd7 $19) 34... Nxe4 35. b5 (35. Ra6+ {doesn't do any good
} Kd5 $19) 35... Nc5 36. b6 (36. Ra1 {is not the saving move} Rd7 $19) 36...
Rb8 37. Rb5 (37. Ra7 {doesn't change anything anymore} Nd7 $19) 37... Kc6 38.
Rb4 (38. Rb1 {does not win a prize} Rxb6 39. Ra1 e4 $19) 38... Rxb6 39. Rxb6+ (
39. Rc4 {desperation} Kd5 40. Rc2 $19) 39... Kxb6 40. Kf2 Kc6 41. g5 hxg5 42.
g3 f5 43. g4 f4 44. Kg2 e4 45. Kf2 (45. Kh3 {cannot change what is in store
for White} Kd5 46. Kg2 e3 47. Kg1 Kd4 48. Kg2 Nd3 49. Kf3 Ne5+ 50. Ke2 f3+ 51.
Kd1 Nd3 52. Kc2 e2 53. Kb1 e1=Q+ 54. Kc2 Qc3+ 55. Kd1 Qc1#) 45... Kd5 46. Ke2 (
46. Kg1 {cannot undo what has already been done} Kd4 47. Kf1 Nd3 48. Kg2 e3 49.
Kf3 Ne5+ 50. Ke2 f3+ 51. Ke1 Nd3+ 52. Kd1 e2+ 53. Kd2 e1=Q+ 54. Kc2 Qc3+ 55.
Kd1 Qc1#) 46... Kd4 {[%cal Ye4e3] Black plans e3} (46... f3+ 47. Kd2 Kd4 48.
Ke1 e3 49. Kd1 Kc3 50. Ke1 Nd3+ 51. Kf1 e2+ 52. Kg1 e1=Q+ 53. Kh2 Kd4 54. Kh3
Qh4#) 47. Kd2 (47. Kf1 {doesn't improve anything} e3 48. Kg2 Nd3 49. Kf3 Ne5+
50. Ke2 f3+ 51. Kf1 e2+ 52. Ke1 Nd3+ 53. Kd2 e1=Q+ 54. Kc2 Qc3+ 55. Kd1 Qc1#)
47... e3+ (47... f3 48. Kd1 e3 49. Ke1 Nd3+ 50. Kd1 e2+ 51. Kc2 e1=Q 52. Kb3
Qc3+ 53. Ka4 Qb4#) 48. Kc2 (48. Ke2 {does not solve anything} Nd3 49. Kf3 Ne5+
50. Ke2 f3+ 51. Kd1 e2+ 52. Kc2 e1=Q 53. Kb2 Qc3+ 54. Kb1 Nd3 55. Ka2 Qb2#)
48... f3 49. Kb2 (49. Kd1 {is no salvation} Kc3 50. Ke1 Nd3+ 51. Kf1 e2+ 52.
Kg1 e1=Q+ 53. Kh2 Kd4 54. Kh3 Qh4#) 49... f2 50. Ka3 (50. Kb1 {a fruitless try
to alter the course of the game} f1=Q+ 51. Kc2 Qe2+ 52. Kb1 Nd3 53. Ka1 Qb2#)
50... f1=Q (50... Kc3 51. Ka2 f1=Q 52. Ka3 Qa6#) 51. Kb4 Qc4+ 52. Ka5 Nb3+ (
52... Qa6+ 53. Kb4 Qa4#) 53. Kb6 Kd5 54. Ka7 (54. Kb7 {does not improve
anything} Qc6+ 55. Kb8 Nc5 56. Ka7 Qb7#) 54... Qb5 55. Ka8 Kc6 56. Ka7 Qb7# 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "1.10"]
[White "Takeuchi, Hiroshi"]
[Black "Uematsu, Maya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1629"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4} 1. d4
c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. O-O Bd6 8. Bxd6
Qxd6 9. c4 h6 $146 {Consolidates g5} (9... O-O 10. Nc3 Nbd7 11. a3 (11. Rad1
Rfe8 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qc2 Rad8 16. Rfe1 h6 17. Ne5 c5
18. dxc5 Qxc5 19. h3 Rxd1 20. Qxd1 Qa5 21. a3 Rd8 22. Qc1 Rd4 23. c5 Qb5 24. b4
Nd5 25. Qb2 Rf4 {Stefanova,A (2489)-Harikrishna,P (2674) Cap d'Agde 2006 1-0 
(51)}) 11... Rfe8 12. Rfd1 a5 13. h3 g6 14. b4 axb4 15. c5 Qc7 16. axb4 e5 17.
Qf1 exd4 18. Nxd4 Ne5 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Ra1 Qc8 21. Qb1 Nfd7 22. Ra2 b6 23.
cxb6 Nxb6 24. Qa1 {Chojnacki,S (2241)-Barglowski,F (2303) Szczyrk 2014 1/2-1/2
(51)}) (9... dxc4 10. Qxc4 Nbd7 11. Nc3 O-O 12. e4 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5
Qxe5 15. f4 Qc7 16. e5 Qb6+ 17. Kh1 Ng4 18. Qe2 f5 19. Rae1 Kh8 20. h3 Nh6 21.
Qf2 Qxf2 22. Rxf2 Rad8 23. b3 Rfe8 24. Rc2 {Orlov,P (2241)-Skare,G (2319)
Belgrade 2012 1/2-1/2}) 10. Nc3 Nbd7 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Rac1 O-O 13. a3 a6 {
Prevents intrusion on b5} 14. e4 e5 (14... dxe4 $142 $5 {looks like a viable
alternative} 15. Nxe4 Qb6 $11) 15. dxe5 $16 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. exd5 Rad8
18. Rcd1 Nxd5 $4 {strolling merrily down the path to disaster.} (18... Rfe8
$142 $16) 19. Nxd5 $18 Rfe8 (19... Qxb2 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} 20.
Rfe1 $18) 20. Qb3 b5 21. Ne3 Rb8 (21... h5 {doesn't improve anything} 22. Qb4
$18) 22. Rd7 Re7 23. Rfd1 Rb7 (23... Rbe8 {is not the saving move} 24. g3 $18)
24. Rxb7 Rxb7 25. Rd8+ Kh7 26. Qc2+ g6 27. Qc8 (27. Qd2 {might be the shorter
path} Re7 $18) 27... Re7 (27... Rc7 {doesn't change anything anymore} 28. Rh8+
$1 {Deflection: c7} Qxh8 29. Qxc7 Qf6 $18) 28. Rh8+ (28. Qc1 $142 $18 {secures
victory}) 28... Qxh8 $19 29. Qxa6 (29. Qc2 Qd4 $19) 29... Qxb2 30. h3 (30. h4 {
doesn't do any good} Kg7 31. Qb6 Rd7 $19) 30... Qb1+ (30... Kg7 $142 {makes it
even easier for Black} 31. Qb6 $19) 31. Kh2 Rd7 32. Qf6 Rd2 $4 {stumbles just
before the finish line} (32... Qd3 $142 {Black had this great chance} 33. g3
Qxa3 $19) 33. Qxf7+ $18 (33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qf8+ Kh7 35. Ng4 Rxf2 36. Qxh6+ Kg8
37. Nxf2 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Dryglas, Maciej"]
[Black "kuramoto, koutarou"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2135"]
[BlackElo "1757"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A00: Irregular Openings} 1. Nc3 g6 2. h4 d5 (2... h5 3. e4 (3. d4 d5 4. Bg5
Bg7 5. Qd2 c6 6. O-O-O Nh6 7. e4 dxe4 8. Nxe4 Nf5 9. Ne2 Nd7 10. N2g3 Nb6 11.
Nxf5 Bxf5 12. Nc3 Qd6 13. Qe3 e6 14. f3 Nd5 15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. Be2 e5 17. Qa3
Bf8 {Grafl,F (2379)-Kjartansson,D (2348) Rhodes 2013 1/2-1/2 (40)}) 3... Bg7 4.
d4 d6 5. Bg5 a6 6. a4 Nc6 7. Nge2 Nf6 8. f3 Nh7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 e5 11. d5
Ne7 12. Nc1 f5 13. Be2 Kh8 14. a5 Ng8 15. Nb3 Ngf6 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Bg5 {
Euler,G (2365)-Hickl,J (2565) Germany 1998 1/2-1/2 (61)}) 3. h5 e5 $146 (3...
d4 4. hxg6 fxg6 5. Ne4 Nf6 (5... Qd5 6. d3 Nf6 7. c4 Qf5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Neg5 Bg7
10. g3 Qc5 11. a3 a5 12. Qa4 e5 13. Bg2 O-O 14. Qb5 Qe7 15. Nh4 e4 16. Nxe4
Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Ne5 18. O-O c6 19. Qb3 Bh3 20. Bg2 {Spice,A (2210)-Fauland,A 
(2435) Bratislava 1996 0-1 (46)}) 6. Nxf6+ exf6 7. c3 c5 8. d3 Nc6 9. e4 Qb6
10. Ne2 Bg4 11. f3 Be6 12. Nf4 Bf7 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Ne7 15. c4 O-O-O 16.
Qb3 Qc7 17. Bd2 Qg3+ 18. Ke2 {Soetewey,S (2229)-Vandenbussche,T (2157) Belgium
2004 0-1}) (3... Nf6 4. hxg6 fxg6 5. d4 $11) 4. d4 e4 {This push gains space}
5. hxg6 fxg6 6. Bf4 Bd6 {Black threatens to win material: Bd6xf4} (6... Bg7 7.
Nh3 $14) 7. Nxd5 $16 Be6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Nc3 {White threatens to win material:
Nc3xe4} Nf6 10. Qd2 {White has a cramped position. White's piece can't move: f1
} Nc6 {Black threatens to win material: Nc6xd4} 11. O-O-O {White has a cramped
position. White's piece can't move: f1} Nb4 12. a3 a5 (12... Nbd5 13. e3 $16)
13. Qg5 (13. Nh3 $142 $16) 13... Nfd5 $4 {cause more grief} (13... Nbd5 $142
14. Nxd5 Nxd5 $16) 14. Nxe4 $18 (14. axb4 $6 Nxc3 15. bxc3 axb4 16. Qb5+ Kf7
17. Qxb4 Ra1+ 18. Kd2 Qf4+ 19. e3 Qxf2+ 20. Ne2 Rxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Ra8 $18) 14...
Qc6 (14... Na2+ 15. Kb1 Qb6 16. Rd3 $18 (16. Kxa2 {is a bad alternative} Nc3+
17. Ka1 Nxd1 $17)) 15. Nc5 (15. axb4 {seems even better} axb4 16. Nf3 b3 $18)
15... b6 (15... Na2+ 16. Kb1 O-O 17. Nf3 $18 (17. Kxa2 $6 {is impossible} Nc3+
18. Ka1 Nxd1 $11)) 16. Qe5 Ke7 17. Qxe6+ Qxe6 18. Nxe6 Kxe6 19. e4 (19. axb4 {
keeps an even firmer grip} axb4 20. e4 Nf6 21. Bc4+ Kd7 $18) 19... Na2+ (19...
Nf6 {does not save the day} 20. axb4 axb4 21. Bc4+ Ke7 22. f3 $18) 20. Kd2 Nf4
(20... Nf6 {cannot change destiny} 21. Bc4+ Ke7 22. e5 $18) 21. g3 Nh5 22. Bc4+
Kd6 (22... Ke7 {cannot undo what has already been done} 23. Bxa2 Raf8 24. Ke2
$18) 23. Bxa2 Rhf8 (23... Rae8 {is no salvation} 24. e5+ Kc6 25. Ne2 $18) 24.
Ke3 (24. e5+ $142 {and White can already relax} Kc6 25. g4 Nf4 26. Rxh7 Rac8
$18) 24... Nf6 (24... Rae8 {is not much help} 25. Ne2 $18) 25. e5+ Ke7 (25...
Kc6 {does not help much} 26. exf6 Rae8+ 27. Kd3 Rxf6 28. f4 $18) 26. exf6+ Kxf6
27. Nf3 (27. Rxh7 $142 {makes it even easier for White} Rae8+ 28. Kd3 c5 $18)
27... Rae8+ 28. Ne5 Re7 (28... Kg7 {cannot change what is in store for White}
29. Bd5 $18) 29. f4 c5 30. d5 Rfe8 31. d6 Rxe5+ 32. fxe5+ Rxe5+ (32... Kg7 {
doesn't get the bull off the ice} 33. d7 Rd8 34. e6 Kf6 35. Rhf1+ Kg5 36. e7
Rb8 37. d8=Q Kg4 38. Rh1 c4 39. Rd4+ Kg5 40. e8=Q+ Rxd8 41. Qe5#) 33. Kf3 (33.
Kf3 b5 34. d7 Kg7 35. d8=Q Rf5+ 36. Kg4 c4 37. Rd7+ Rf7 38. Rxh7+ Kxh7 39.
Rxf7+ Kh6 40. Qg5#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Kawamura, Takuto"]
[Black "Sugimoto, Koichi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "1745"]
[BlackElo "1908"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D11: Slav Defence: 3 Nf3 sidelines and 3...Nf6 4 e3 Bg4} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3.
Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Bf5 8. Qb3 {White threatens to
win material: Qb3xb7} Qc8 $146 (8... Qb6 9. c5 (9. Qxb6 axb6 10. cxd5 Bxb1 11.
Rxb1 cxd5 12. a3 Nc6 13. e3 Na5 14. Bd2 Rfc8 15. Bb4 e6 16. Rfc1 Nb3 17. Rc3
Na5 18. Bxa5 bxa5 19. Rbc1 Rxc3 20. Rxc3 Ne4 21. Rc7 Rb8 22. Bf1 b5 23. Bd3 Nd6
{Andre,M (2200)-Teixeira,R (2330) Brazil 1996 0-1 (54)}) 9... Qc7 (9... Qa6 10.
Nc3 Nbd7 11. Bf4 Ne4 12. Rfe1 Rfe8 13. Bf1 b6 14. cxb6 Qxb6 15. Red1 e6 16.
Rac1 c5 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Qa4 Qd8 19. Bg5 f6 20. Be3 Nb6 21. Qb3 Nc4 22. dxc5
Rb8 23. Qxc4 dxc4 24. Rxd8 {Kiselev,S (2510)-Rublevsky,S (2420) Moscow 1991
1-0 (57)}) 10. Nc3 Nbd7 11. Bf4 Qc8 12. Rac1 b6 13. cxb6 axb6 14. Ne5 Qb7 15.
Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Nxd5 Qe6 17. Rc6 Qxe2 18. Bf3 Qa6 19. Nxe7+ Kh8 20. Nxf5 gxf5 21.
a3 Qa4 22. Qd3 Ne4 23. Bxe4 {Valiente,C (2233)-Franco Ocampos,Z (2490)
Asuncion 2014 1-0 (51)}) (8... Bxb1 9. Rxb1 Qb6 10. Qc2 a5 11. b3 e6 12. Bd2
Ne4 13. Be3 Nd7 14. Ne1 f5 15. Nd3 Qa7 16. c5 e5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Rbc1 Rae8
19. Bd4 Nxd3 20. Qxd3 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 Qa6 22. Rfe1 Qb5 23. e3 {Predein,V (2402)
-Gavryushin,O (2335) Kurgan 2001 1-0 (51)}) (8... Qb6 9. Nc3 $11) 9. Nc3 $14
dxc4 10. Qxc4 Nbd7 11. Nh4 (11. Re1 Ne4 $11) 11... Be6 $11 {Black threatens to
win material: Be6xc4} 12. Qd3 Nb6 13. Rd1 Rd8 14. b3 {Secures a4+c4} (14. Nf3
c5 $11) 14... a5 (14... c5 15. e3 $15) 15. Ba3 $11 {White threatens to win
material: Ba3xe7} Qc7 (15... Nfd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Qd2 $11) 16. e4 Ng4 (16...
a4 17. Qc2 $14) 17. Bc5 (17. Ne2 c5 18. h3 Bxd4 19. Nxd4 Rxd4 $16) 17... Nc8 (
17... Nd7 18. Ba3 Nb6 19. Ne2 $14) 18. Ne2 (18. Nf3 b6 19. Ba3 a4 $16) 18... b6
{Black threatens to win material: b6xc5} (18... a4 19. h3 Ne5 20. Qc2 $11) 19.
Ba3 $14 a4 20. Qc2 (20. h3 $5 Nh6 21. g4 $16) 20... axb3 {Black forks: a2+c2} (
20... Nd6 21. Bxd6 exd6 22. bxa4 $11) 21. axb3 {White has an active position.}
Na7 22. Bb2 Nb5 {[%cal Rb5d4,Rd8d4,Rg7d4,Gb2d4,Gd1d4,Ge2d4] The pressure on d4
grows} 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Ra1 (24. Nf4 $142 $5 {is worthy of consideration} Bd7
25. Nf3 $14) 24... Rxa1+ $17 25. Bxa1 Qa7 26. Bb2 Qa2 {[%cal Ra2b3,Re6b3,Gc2b3]
The isolani on b3 becomes a target. Black threatens to win material: Qa2xb3}
27. Nc1 $2 (27. Nf3 $142 Qxb3 28. Qxb3 Bxb3 29. e5 $17) 27... Qa8 $4 {hands
over the advantage to the opponent} (27... Nxd4 $142 {the advantage is on the
side of Black} 28. Nxa2 Nxc2 29. Bxg7 Kxg7 $19) 28. e5 $11 {White gains space}
Bd5 $4 (28... Qd8 $142 {the only rescuing move} 29. Ne2 Bd5 $14) 29. Bxd5 $18
cxd5 30. Qe2 (30. Qe2 Nxf2 31. Kxf2 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Honda, Yoshiki"]
[Black "Aoki, Yasuhiro"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B54"]
[WhiteElo "1828"]
[BlackElo "1731"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B54: Sicilian: 2...d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4, Unusual Lines} 1. e4 d6 2. c4 Nf6 3.
Nc3 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 e6 7. Nxc6 (7. g3 Be7 8. Bg2 Bd7 9. O-O
O-O 10. b3 a6 11. Bb2 Qa5 12. a4 Rfd8 13. Nc2 Qb6 14. Ne3 Be8 15. Rb1 Rac8 16.
Ba1 Nb4 17. Qe2 Qc5 18. Kh1 Qh5 19. g4 Qc5 20. Rbc1 h6 21. Bb2 Qa5 {Ankerst,M 
(2355)-Martinovic,S (2448) Austria 2000 0-1 (34)}) 7... bxc6 8. e5 $146 (8. Bd3
Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. b3 Qc7 11. Bb2 Bb7 12. Kh1 d5 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Rc1 Qf4 15.
exd5 Ng4 16. g3 Nxf2+ 17. Rxf2 Qxf2 18. Rc2 Qe3 19. Re2 Qg5 20. Bb1 Qh5 21. Qd3
Rac8 22. Re5 Qh3 {Vukanovic,S (2350)-Herman,M (2380) Dos Hermanas 2004 0-1 (33)
}) (8. Be2 $5 $11 {must be considered}) 8... dxe5 $15 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {Black
loses the right to castle} 10. Bg5 (10. Be3 h5 $15) 10... Be7 (10... Kc7 11.
Bd3 $17) 11. O-O-O+ $15 Kc7 12. f3 {Controls e4+g4} h6 {Black threatens to win
material: h6xg5} 13. Bh4 Bc5 14. Kc2 a5 15. Bxf6 (15. Bg3 $5 {should be
investigated more closely} Nd7 16. Na4 $11) 15... gxf6 $17 16. Ne4 Be7 17. c5
Ba6 (17... a4 18. Kc3 $17) 18. Nd6 Bxd6 19. Rxd6 Rhd8 (19... Bxf1 20. Rxf1 Rad8
21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. a3 $17) 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21. Rxd8 {White has a mate threat} Kxd8
{A rook endgame occured} 22. Re1 Kc7 (22... a4 23. Re4 $15) 23. Re4 $11 Ra8 24.
Rh4 Rh8 25. Ra4 {White threatens to win material: Ra4xa5} Ra8 26. Rh4 Rh8 {
Twofold repetition} 27. Ra4 Ra8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Miyatani, Ryouhei"]
[Black "Etabag, John Vincent"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B47"]
[WhiteElo "1672"]
[BlackElo "1821"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B47: Sicilian: Taimanov: 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 f4, 6 g3 and 6 Be2} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3.
d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 Nxd4 10.
Qxd4 d6 11. Be3 {Black has a cramped position} (11. e5 dxe5 12. Rxe5 O-O 13.
Bf4 Ne8 14. Rd1 Bd6 15. Re3 Bxf4 16. gxf4 Rb8 17. Na4 b5 18. Rc3 Qd7 19. Qxd7
Bxd7 20. Nc5 Bc8 21. b4 Rb6 22. Rcd3 Nf6 23. Rd8 Nd5 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8 25. Bxd5
exd5 {Lin,C (2483)-Wang,C (2513) China 2014 1/2-1/2}) 11... O-O $146 (11... Bd7
12. Qb6 (12. a4 O-O (12... Bc6 13. a5 O-O 14. Qd2 Nd7 15. Na4 Rae8 16. Nb6 f5
17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Bb6 fxe4 19. Bxe4 Bf6 20. Rad1 Bxe4 21. Rxe4 Qc6 22. Rb4 d5
23. Be3 Rf7 24. c3 Bd8 25. Bb6 Be7 26. Rd4 Bf6 27. Rd3 {Gruenfeld,Y (2475)-Lau,
R (2410) Beersheba 1985 1-0 (44)}) 13. Qb4 Bc6 14. Bb6 Qd7 15. Qd4 Qc8 16. Nd5
exd5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Bf6 19. Qd3 Bxd5 20. Qxd5 Bxb2 21. Rab1 Bf6 22.
Qxd6 Qxc2 23. a5 Qf5 24. Qc7 Rac8 25. Qxb7 Bc3 {1/2-1/2 (25) Sulek,V (2221)
-Machalova,V (2156) Bratislava 2004}) 12... Qxb6 13. Bxb6 Rc8 14. a4 Bc6 15. a5
h5 16. h3 g5 17. Bd4 Rg8 18. Na2 Bb5 19. Nc3 Bc6 20. Ra3 Nd7 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22.
exd5 e5 23. Rc3 Rxc3 24. Bxc3 f5 25. g4 fxg4 26. hxg4 {Votava,J (2400)-Kozlov,
O (2405) Litomysl 1994 1-0 (61)}) 12. Na4 (12. Qb4 Re8 $14) 12... Nd7 (12...
Qxc2 13. Rac1 e5 14. Qb4 $18 (14. Rxc2 $6 exd4 15. Bxd4 Bd8 $16)) 13. Qc3 Qxc3
14. Nxc3 b5 15. Red1 Bb7 16. Ne2 Rac8 17. c3 Nf6 {Black threatens to win
material: Nf6xe4} 18. e5 {White threatens to win material: e5xf6. White forks:
d6+f6} Nd5 19. exd6 Bxd6 20. Nf4 Bxf4 21. Bxf4 {White has the pair of bishops}
Ba8 22. Be3 Nxe3 23. fxe3 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 {A double rook endgame occured} Rfd8
25. Kf3 Kf8 26. Rac1 Ke7 27. h4 h5 28. a3 f6 29. Kf4 g6 30. Kf3 e5 31. Rxd8
Rxd8 32. Rc2 Ke6 33. c4 bxc4 34. Rxc4 Kd5 35. Rc7 Rb8 36. b4 Rb6 37. Rc5+ Kd6
38. g4 hxg4+ 39. Kxg4 Ke6 40. h5 gxh5+ 41. Kxh5 Kf5 42. Rc4 Ke6 43. Kg4 Kd5 {
Black threatens to win material: Kd5xc4} 44. Kf5 $4 (44. Rc3 $142 {was
necessary} Ke4 45. Kh5 $11) 44... Kxc4 $19 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Yoshii, Yukihiko"]
[Black "Takeuchi, Hiroshi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "1771"]
[BlackElo "1629"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D35: Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. d4 d5
4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Nf3 Nc6 $146 (6... c6 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. b4 Bg4 9. e3
Bxf3 10. gxf3 Nd7 11. Be2 Be7 12. Qb3 Bd6 13. e4 dxe4 14. fxe4 Qb6 15. Rd1 Qxb4
16. Qc2 Nb6 17. Kf1 Rd8 18. Rg1 Bxh2 19. Rg2 Bc7 20. a3 Qe7 21. e5 {Reshevsky,
S (2490)-Donner,J (2470) Amsterdam 1977 1/2-1/2 (57)}) (6... O-O 7. Qc2 h6 8.
Bf4 c6 9. e3 b6 10. Ne5 Nh5 11. Bg3 Bd6 12. O-O-O b5 13. Bd3 Nf6 14. Bh4 Be7
15. Kb1 Nfd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Nxc6 Qd6 18. Nxb8 Rxb8 19. Nxb5 Qb4 20. Qb3 Qa5
21. a4 {Agopov,M (2409)-Sammalvuo,N (2237) Myyrmanni 1999 1-0 (44)}) (6... Nbd7
7. e3 Nf8 8. Ne5 c6 9. Bd3 Ne6 10. Bh4 g6 11. O-O Ng7 12. h3 Bf5 13. Rb1 Bxd3
14. Qxd3 a5 15. a3 Nf5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bf4 a4 18. Qc2 Qa5 19. Rfc1 Kf8 20. b4
axb3 21. Rxb3 {Drozd,R (2280)-Sydor,A (2390) Tarnow 1979 1-0 (55)}) (6... h6 7.
Bf4 O-O 8. e3 b6 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Nb5 Ne8 12. Rc1 c5 13. dxc5 bxc5
14. b4 c4 15. Nbd4 Bd6 16. Nf5 Bxf4 17. exf4 Qf6 18. Ne3 Nb6 19. Qd4 Qe7 20.
Ne5 Nc7 21. Qc5 {Bukal,V (2400)-Abramovic,B (2475) Pula 1983 1-0 (35)}) 7. e3 {
Black has an active position} h6 {Black threatens to win material: h6xg5} 8.
Bh4 g5 (8... O-O 9. Bb5 $11) 9. Bg3 $14 {Black has an active position} Bd6 (
9... O-O 10. Bd3 $14) 10. Bb5 Bxg3 (10... Bg4 11. Qc2 $16) 11. Bxc6+ (11. hxg3
Bd7 $16) 11... bxc6 12. hxg3 Bg4 (12... Rb8 13. Nxg5 Rxb2 14. Rb1 Rxb1 15. Qxb1
$16) 13. Qc2 (13. Qa4 Bxf3 14. Qxc6+ Kf8 15. gxf3 Kg7 $16) 13... Bxf3 14. gxf3
Qd7 (14... Nd7 15. O-O-O $16) 15. Na4 Kf8 16. Nc5 Qe7 (16... Qd6 17. Rc1 $18)
17. Qf5 (17. Na6 $5 g4 $18) 17... Kg7 $16 18. Ke2 Rae8 19. Rh2 (19. Rac1 Qd6
$16) 19... g4 (19... Ng8 $5 $16) 20. fxg4 $18 Ne4 21. Nxe4 Qxe4 22. Qxe4 Rxe4
23. f3 Re6 24. Kd3 Rhe8 25. Re1 Kg6 26. Rh5 Rb8 27. b3 a5 28. e4 (28. Reh1 Kg7
29. g5 hxg5 30. Rxg5+ Kf6 $18) 28... a4 $16 29. Rb1 (29. bxa4 $5 Ra8 30. Reh1
dxe4+ 31. fxe4 Rxa4 32. Rxh6+ Kg5 33. Rxe6 fxe6 34. Rh7 Ra3+ 35. Kc4 $18) 29...
dxe4+ $14 30. fxe4 axb3 31. Rxb3 Rxb3+ (31... Rbe8 $142 $5 $14 {should not be
overlooked}) 32. axb3 $16 Re8 33. Rc5 Re6 34. b4 Rf6 (34... Kg7 35. g5 $16) 35.
Rf5 $18 Rxf5 $4 {Black falls apart} (35... Re6 $18) 36. gxf5+ Kg5 37. Ke3 (37.
Kc4 $142 {secures the point} h5 38. Kc5 Kg4 $18) 37... Kg4 38. Kf2 h5 (38...
Kg5 {there is nothing better in the position} 39. Kf3 h5 $18) 39. f6 Kg5 40. e5
Kg4 41. e6 $1 {finishing the game. . . .} (41. e6 fxe6 42. f7 Kf5 43. Ke3 Kg6
44. f8=Q h4 45. gxh4 e5 46. h5+ Kh7 47. Qf7+ Kh8 48. dxe5 c5 49. h6 cxb4 50.
Qg7#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Ono, Yukiko"]
[Black "Nakamura, Mitsuru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1000"]
[BlackElo "1603"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4} 1. d4
d5 2. Bf4 Bf5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. c3 (6. Bg3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8.
Bxb8 Rxb8 9. Bb5+ Ke7 10. Bd3 Bg6 11. Qe2 Qb6 12. Rb1 Rhd8 13. O-O Rbc8 14.
Rfc1 a5 15. a3 a4 16. Bxg6 hxg6 17. c4 Qa6 18. Kf1 d4 19. exd4 Bxd4 20. b4 axb3
{Cyborowski,L (2450)-Miladinovic,I (2519) Ohrid 2001 1-0 (39)}) 6... Bxf4 $146
(6... O-O 7. Qb3 Bxf4 8. exf4 c5 9. Be2 Qc7 10. g3 Ne4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Nh4
cxd4 13. Nxf5 exf5 14. cxd4 Nc6 15. Rd1 Rfd8 16. d5 Qa5+ 17. Kf1 Nb4 18. a3
Nxd5 19. Bc4 Nf6 20. Bxf7+ Kh8 21. Kg2 {Labeckas,K (2348)-Bastys,R (2236)
Vilnius 2014 1/2-1/2 (31)}) 7. exf4 O-O {Black castles and improves king safety
} 8. Qe2 (8. Be2 Nbd7 $11) 8... h6 {Prevents intrusion on g5} (8... Nbd7 9. Qd1
$15) 9. h3 {Consolidates g4} c6 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxd7 (11. Qe3 Qb6 12. b3 c5
$15) 11... Qxd7 (11... Nxd7 12. Qe3 $15) 12. f3 {Controls e4} (12. g4 Bg6 $11)
12... Qc7 13. g3 Qb6 {Black threatens to win material: Qb6xb2} 14. O-O-O (14.
Nb3 Nd7 $17) 14... Rac8 (14... Qa5 $5 15. a3 Qa4 $17) 15. g4 $15 {White
threatens to win material: g4xf5} Bh7 16. Bg2 $2 (16. Nb3 $142 $5 $15 {would
keep White alive}) 16... c5 (16... Qa5 $142 17. a3 Qa4 $19) 17. f5 $4 {an
oversight. But White was lost anyway.} (17. Nb3 c4 18. Na1 Qa5 $17) 17... exf5
(17... cxd4 $142 {seems even better} 18. Nb1 dxc3 19. bxc3 exf5 20. Qb2 $19)
18. gxf5 $4 {White crumbles in face of a dire situation} (18. dxc5 Qa5 19. a3
$19) 18... Bxf5 (18... cxd4 $5 {makes it even easier for Black} 19. Qf2 dxc3
20. Qxb6 cxd2+ 21. Kxd2 axb6 22. Bf1 Bxf5 23. Bd3 Bxd3 24. Kxd3 $19) 19. Nb3 (
19. dxc5 {cannot change what is in store for White} Qa5 20. Qe5 Bg6 $19) 19...
Rfe8 20. Qd2 (20. Qf1 {does not improve anything} cxd4 21. Rxd4 $19) 20... c4 (
20... Qa6 $142 {secures the point} 21. a3 Re2 22. Bf1 Rxd2 23. Bxa6 Rc2+ 24.
Kb1 bxa6 25. dxc5 Rxc3+ 26. Ka2 $19) 21. Nc5 $6 {not the greatest defence} (21.
Na1 Qa5 22. a3 Qc7 $19) 21... Qc6 (21... Qb5 {might be the shorter path} 22.
Bf1 b6 23. Qf4 $19) 22. Rde1 (22. Rhe1 b6 23. Na6 Qa4 $19) 22... b6 23. Na6 Bd3
$4 {hands over the advantage to the opponent} (23... Qa4 $142 {keeps an even
firmer grip} 24. Nb4 a5 $19) 24. Rxe8+ (24. Nb4 Qd6 $17) 24... Rxe8 (24... Nxe8
$6 25. Nb4 Qd6 26. Nxd3 cxd3 27. f4 $17) 25. Re1 (25. Nb4 $142 $5 Qa4 26. Qd1
Qxd1+ 27. Rxd1 $17) 25... Rxe1+ $19 26. Qxe1 Qa4 (26... Bg6 27. Nb4 Qa4 28. Qd1
$19) 27. Qe8+ $4 {shortens the misery for White} (27. Nb4 $142 Bg6 28. Qd1 $19)
27... Nxe8 (27... Nxe8 28. Nb4 a5 29. Bh1 axb4 30. b3 Qxa2 31. Kd1 Qe2+ 32. Kc1
Qc2#) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.7"]
[White "Furuse, Mizuki"]
[Black "Yajima, Machiko"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "1588"]
[BlackElo "1367"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A15: English Opening: 1...Nf6} 1. Nf3 g6 2. g3 Bg7 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O O-O 5. c4
d6 6. d3 h6 $146 {Consolidates g5} (6... Nh5 7. Nc3 f5 8. d4 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5
10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. e4 c6 12. Bg5 Re8 13. exf5 gxf5 14. Bh3 Be6 15. Rfe1 h6 16.
Be3 Na6 17. Rad1 f4 18. Bxe6+ Rxe6 19. Bc1 fxg3 20. hxg3 Rf8 21. Nh4 {
Andersson,U (2585)-Torre,E (2505) Haifa 1976 1-0 (53)}) (6... e5 7. Bg5 h6 8.
Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nc3 c6 10. Rb1 (10. e4 Qe7 11. Nh4 Be6 12. Qe1 Bf6 13. Nf3 a6 14.
a4 a5 15. Nd2 Na6 16. f4 exf4 17. gxf4 Nb4 18. Qg3 Bd7 19. Kh1 Kh7 20. Bh3 Bh4
21. Qf3 f5 22. Ne2 Rae8 23. Rad1 d5 24. Nc3 d4 {Christensen,E (2175)-Ziegler,A
(2305) Denmark 1995 0-1 (34)}) 10... Be6 11. Nd2 Qd8 12. Qc2 Nd7 13. b4 a6 14.
a4 Qc7 15. b5 axb5 16. axb5 Ra3 17. Rb3 Rxb3 18. Nxb3 d5 19. cxd5 cxd5 20. Rc1
Rc8 21. Qb1 {Cajbel,M (2242)-Rudolf,M (2369) Warsaw 2013 0-1 (67)}) (6... c6 7.
Nbd2 Qa5 8. a3 Qh5 9. Re1 Bh3 10. Bh1 Nbd7 11. Rb1 Ng4 12. b4 f5 13. b5 e5 14.
Nb3 e4 15. Nfd4 f4 16. Nf3 fxg3 17. fxg3 exf3 18. exf3 Nxh2 19. Kxh2 Bg4+ 20.
Kg1 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 {Rojas Sepulveda,E (2350)-Fernandez,E (2240) Sharjah 1985
0-1 (34)}) 7. Nc3 c6 {Covers b5+d5} 8. Rb1 Be6 9. b4 Nfd7 (9... Na6 10. Be3 $14
) 10. Bd2 $16 b6 (10... Na6 11. Qc1 g5 12. h4 $16) 11. b5 Qc7 12. bxc6 (12. Qc1
$5 h5 13. Bh6 $16) 12... Nxc6 13. Nb5 Qd8 14. Bc3 (14. Be3 $142 $16) 14... f6
$4 {Secures e5} (14... Bxc3 $142 $5 {and Black hangs on} 15. Nxc3 Nf6 $14) 15.
Nfd4 (15. Nh4 $142 {might be the shorter path} a6 16. Nxg6 axb5 17. Bxc6 bxc4
18. Bxa8 Qxa8 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 20. dxc4 Qxa2 21. Ra1 Qxc4 22. Qd2 $18) 15... Nde5
$4 {the final mistake, not that it matters anymore} (15... Nxd4 $142 16. Bxd4
Nc5 $18) 16. Nxe6 Qd7 17. Nxf8 (17. Bd5 {keeps an even firmer grip} Nf7 $18)
17... Rxf8 18. Nd4 (18. d4 $142 $5 {and White can already relax} Nf7 $18) 18...
Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Nf7 (19... f5 {doesn't improve anything} 20. a4 Nc6 21. Be3 $18)
20. Qb3 e5 (20... f5 {cannot undo what has already been done} 21. Be3 $18) 21.
Be3 (21. Bc3 {and White can already relax} f5 $18) 21... g5 (21... f5 {doesn't
do any good} 22. Qb5 Qc7 23. a4 $18) 22. Qb5 Rd8 23. Qxd7 Rxd7 24. a4 a5 (24...
f5 {does not help much} 25. a5 $1 {surprise!} bxa5 26. Rb8+ Kh7 27. Ra1 $18)
25. Rxb6 Kh7 (25... f5 {is no salvation} 26. Bd5 $18) 26. Be4+ Kg8 27. Bf5 Re7
(27... Rd8 {is not the saving move} 28. Rb5 $18) 28. Rb8+ Bf8 29. c5 d5 (29...
dxc5 {a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} 30. Bxc5 Kg7 31. Rc1 $18
) 30. Bg6 (30. Rc1 $142 {finishes off the opponent} d4 31. Bd2 h5 $18) 30... d4
31. Bxf7+ Kxf7 32. Bd2 Rc7 33. Bxa5 Rxc5 34. Rxf8+ $1 {the punch} Kxf8 35. Bb4
Ke8 36. Bxc5 Kd7 (36... e4 {doesn't get the bull off the ice} 37. a5 Kd7 38. a6
exd3 39. exd3 Kc6 40. a7 Kxc5 41. a8=Q g4 42. Rc1+ Kd6 43. Rc6+ Ke7 44. Qb7+
Kf8 45. Rc8#) 37. a5 (37. a5 e4 38. a6 exd3 39. exd3 Kc7 40. a7 Kc6 41. a8=Q+
Kxc5 42. Rc1+ Kd6 43. Rc6+ Ke7 44. Qb7+ Kf8 45. Rc8#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.8"]
[White "Denta, Seiichi"]
[Black "Shishido, Kenta"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B50"]
[BlackElo "1431"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B50: Sicilian: 2...d6, Miscellaneous} 1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 e6 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 a6
5. h3 $146 (5. a3 Nf6 6. Ba2 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 O-O 10. Be3 Qc7
11. h3 Rb8 12. f4 b5 13. f5 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 a5 15. fxe6 fxe6 16. Rf5 Bd7 17. e5
b4 18. exf6 bxc3 19. fxe7 Rxf5 {Tosic,M (2412)-Popovic,D (2558) Vrnjacka Banja
2013 1/2-1/2 (68)}) (5. a4 Nf6 6. e5 dxe5 7. Nxe5 Bd6 8. Ng4 Nc6 9. d3 b6 10.
Bg5 Be7 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. Qf3 Bb7 15. Qg3 O-O 16. c3
Na5 17. Ba2 Rad8 18. Qe3 Qd7 19. Bb1 Nc4 {Michiels,R (2248)-Genov,P (2485)
Condom 2004 0-1 (31)}) (5. O-O Nf6 $16) 5... Nd7 (5... b5 6. Be2 $14) 6. O-O (
6. a4 Ngf6 $14) 6... Ngf6 (6... b5 7. Be2 $14) 7. d3 (7. a4 $5 $14) 7... b5 $11
{Black threatens to win material: b5xc4} 8. Bb3 Bb7 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 (10. a4
$5 {should be considered} b4 11. Ne2 $11) 10... Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nxe5 12. Qg3 Nh5
13. Qe3 O-O 14. g3 {Controls f4+h4} (14. a4 $5 $15 {is interesting}) 14... c4
15. dxc4 bxc4 16. Ba4 h6 17. f4 Nd7 18. g4 Nhf6 19. Re2 (19. g5 $5 hxg5 20.
fxg5 $17) 19... Nb6 20. g5 (20. Bc6 Rb8 21. Bg2 d5 $19) 20... hxg5 21. fxg5
Nfd5 22. Nxd5 Nxd5 (22... Nxa4 $6 23. Nxe7+ Qxe7 24. b3 $15) (22... exd5 $6 23.
Bc6 Rc8 24. Bb7 $11) 23. Qd4 Bxg5 24. Bxg5 (24. Kh1 Bxc1 25. Rxc1 Rc8 $19)
24... Qxg5+ 25. Rg2 Qe3+ (25... Qh6 {makes it even easier for Black} 26. Bc6
Ne3 27. Bxa8 Rxa8 28. Rd1 Nxd1 29. Qxd1 Qe3+ 30. Kh2 Qe5+ 31. Kg1 $19) 26. Qxe3
Nxe3 27. Rg3 (27. Re2 Nf5 $19) 27... Nf5 28. Rg5 (28. Rg4 Rab8 $19) 28... Rab8
29. b3 cxb3 (29... Rfc8 {makes it even easier for Black} 30. Rf1 $19) 30. axb3
Nd4 31. Rh5 (31. Rg2 $19) 31... Nxc2 32. Rc1 Rfc8 33. Rg5 Nd4 (33... d5 $5 {
seems even better} 34. Rg4 $19) 34. Rxc8+ Rxc8 35. Rg4 (35. Ra5 {does not win
a prize} Ra8 $19) 35... Rc1+ 36. Kf2 e5 37. Ke3 (37. h4 {hardly improves
anything} d5 $19) 37... Rc3+ 38. Ke4 (38. Kf2 $19 {there is nothing else anyway
}) 38... f5+ 39. Kd5 fxg4 40. hxg4 Nxb3 41. Bd7 Nc5 42. Bf5 a5 43. Kxd6 e4 44.
Bc8 e3 (44... e3 45. Kd5 e2 46. Kc6 e1=Q 47. Bf5 Qe5 48. Bh7+ Kxh7 49. Kb6 Qd6+
50. Kxa5 Rb3 51. g5 Qd2#) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "2.9"]
[White "Ito, Katsuhide"]
[Black "Kramskoy, Damir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "1389"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence: 4 0-0 Nxe4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.
O-O Nxe4 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 $146 (6. Re1 f5 (6... d5 7. Nxd4 Bd6 8. Nxc6 Bxh2+
9. Kh1 Qh4 10. Rxe4+ dxe4 11. Qd8+ Qxd8 12. Nxd8+ Kxd8 13. Kxh2 Bd7 (13... h6
14. Nc3 c6 15. Bc4 f5 16. Be3 Ke7 17. Rd1 b6 18. Bd4 Be6 19. Bxe6 Kxe6 20. Bxg7
Rhd8 21. g3 e3 22. Rd3 Rxd3 23. cxd3 Rd8 24. d4 Rd7 25. Be5 exf2 26. Kg2 c5 27.
Bf4 cxd4 28. Nd1 {Djurdjevic,P (2310)-Trajkovic,M (2270) Novi Sad 1989 0-1 (38)
}) (13... Be6 14. Nc3 f5 15. Bf4 c6 16. Be2 Ke7 17. Be5 Rhg8 18. a4 Rad8 19. a5
Rd2 20. Rc1 g5 21. Kg1 Bf7 22. Kf1 Ke6 23. Bh2 Kf6 24. g4 Bg6 25. gxf5 Bxf5 26.
Nd1 h5 27. Ne3 Be6 28. Ra1 {Rasulov,V (2499)-Abasov,N (2504) Baku 2011 1-0 (72)
}) 14. Bc4 Ke7 15. Nc3 Bc6 16. Bf4 Rhd8 17. Re1 Rd4 18. Bb3 f5 19. Bxc7 g5 20.
g4 Rd2 21. Kg1 {Saulespurens,V (2302)-Andrejevs,A (2238) Riga 2012 1-0 (67)})
7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Be7 (8... c6 9. f3 cxb5 10. fxe4 Qb6 11. exf5+ Kf7 12. Be3
Qxd4 13. Bxd4 d6 14. Nc3 Bxf5 15. Re3 Kg8 16. Nd5 h5 17. Rf1 Bg6 18. c3 h4 19.
Re7 Bxe7 20. Nxe7+ Kh7 21. Rf4 Bh5 22. Rxh4 Kh6 23. Be3+ {Rozentalis,E (2645)
-Kaminski,M (2540) Krynica 1997 1/2-1/2 (75)}) 9. Qxg7 Bf6 10. Qh6 Qe7 11. Nc3
c6 12. Bf4 Bxc3 13. bxc3 d5 14. Be2 Be6 15. Bh5+ Kd7 16. f3 Nc5 17. Be5 Rhg8
18. Bd4 b6 19. Bxc5 bxc5 20. Re5 Raf8 {Neumann,G-Winawer,S Paris 1867 1-0 (62)}
) 6... Bc5 $2 (6... Qf6 $142 7. Nf3 Bb4 $14) 7. Bxc6 $4 {throwing away the
advantage} (7. Re1 O-O 8. Rxe4 d5 $16) 7... bxc6 $4 {not a good decision,
because now the opponent is right back in the game} (7... dxc6 8. Re1 O-O 9.
Rxe4 f5 $11) 8. Re1 $16 d5 9. f3 Bxd4+ $2 (9... O-O $142 10. fxe4 dxe4 $16) 10.
Qxd4 $18 Bf5 (10... O-O {doesn't change anything anymore} 11. fxe4 dxe4 12.
Qxe4 $18) 11. Nc3 (11. Qxg7 $5 {seems even better} Qh4 12. Rxe4+ Bxe4 13. Qxh8+
Kd7 $18) 11... O-O 12. fxe4 dxe4 13. Be3 (13. Qc5 {might be the shorter path}
Qc8 $18) 13... Rb8 (13... Qxd4 14. Bxd4 Rfe8 15. Re2 $18) 14. b4 (14. Qc5 $142
{and White can already relax} Qd7 15. b3 $18) 14... c5 $4 {the pressure is too
much, Black crumbles} (14... Qxd4 15. Bxd4 Rfe8 $18) 15. Qxc5 Bg6 16. Rad1 (16.
Bf4 {keeps an even firmer grip} Qc8 $18) 16... Qh4 (16... Qe8 {does not save
the day} 17. Nd5 f6 18. Qc4 $18) 17. Bf2 Qg4 18. h3 Qf4 (18... Qc8 {does not
solve anything} 19. Nd5 Kh8 20. Ne7 $18) 19. Nd5 Qe5 (19... Qh6 $18 {no good,
but what else?}) 20. Ne7+ Kh8 21. Qxe5 f6 22. Nxg6+ Kg8 (22... hxg6 {is not
much help} 23. Qxe4 Rf7 24. Qh4+ Kg8 25. Qc4 c6 26. Rd7 Rbf8 27. Rxf7 Kh7 28.
Rxf8 g5 29. Qf7 Kh6 30. Rh8#) 23. Qd5+ (23. Qe6+ Rf7 24. Rd7 Rbf8 25. Qxf7+
Rxf7 26. Rd8+ Rf8 27. Rxf8#) 23... Rf7 24. Rxe4 hxg6 25. Re7 Rbf8 26. Bc5 Kh8 (
26... g5 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 27. Rxf7 Rxf7 28. Qf5 Rf8 29.
Bxf8 Kf7 30. Rd7+ Kxf8 31. Qe6 a6 32. Qf7#) 27. Rd4 c6 (27... g5 {doesn't get
the cat off the tree} 28. Rxf7 Re8 29. Rf8+ Rxf8 30. Bxf8 Kh7 31. Qf7 Kh6 32.
Qxg7+ Kh5 33. Qf7#) 28. Rxf7 cxd5 (28... Rxf7 {cannot change destiny} 29. Rh4+
Kg8 30. Qd8+ Rf8 31. Qxf8#) 29. Rxf8+ Kh7 30. Rh4# 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Yoshii, Yukihiko"]
[Black "Dryglas, Maciej"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A16"]
[WhiteElo "1771"]
[BlackElo "2135"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A16: English Opening: 1...Nf6 with ...d5} 1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nxd5 4.
e4 Nxc3 5. bxc3 e5 (5... g6 6. h4 (6. Bc4 Bg7 7. h4 h6 8. d4 c5 9. Ne2 Nc6 10.
Be3 O-O 11. Qd2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qa5 13. Rb1 Rd8 14. Bd5 e6 15. Bxc6 Qxd2+ 16.
Kxd2 bxc6 17. Rhd1 Ba6 18. Ke1 c5 19. dxc5 Bd3 20. Rbc1 Bb2 {Plaskett,J (2490)
-Firat,B (2448) Roquetas de Mar 2014 1/2-1/2 (70)}) 6... h5 7. d4 Bg7 8. Be3 c5
9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Be2 Qa5 11. Kf1 O-O 12. g4 hxg4 13. h5 cxd4 14. cxd4 gxh5 15.
e5 Qd5 16. Rxh5 f5 17. Qd2 Qf7 18. Rh4 f4 19. Bd3 Bf5 20. Bxf4 {Colin,V (2428)
-Lagno,K (2527) Guingamp 2010 0-1 (44)}) 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. h3 $146 {Prevents
intrusion on g4} (7. d4 Nd7 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Bb3 Qe7 11. Re1 Rd8 12.
Qc2 Rb8 13. a4 a5 14. Nd2 Nb6 15. Nf1 c5 16. dxe5 Bxe5 17. Be3 Qc7 18. Rab1 c4
19. Bxb6 Qxb6 20. Bxc4 Qf6 21. Bd5 Be6 {Salazar,A (2210)-Franco Valencia,B 
(2176) La Ceja 2011 0-1 (54)}) (7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. Qb3 b6 10. d4 Bxf3 11.
Bxf3 Nc6 12. Be3 Qf6 13. Rad1 Ne7 14. Be2 Ng6 15. g3 Qe7 16. Bf3 Rad8 17. Bg2
c5 18. h4 Qc7 19. h5 cxd4 20. cxd4 exd4 21. Bxd4 Be5 {Kostic,M (2170)-Petrovic,
M (2243) Kotor 2002 0-1 (68)}) (7. d4 $5 exd4 8. cxd4 $14 (8. Qxd4 $143 O-O $11
)) 7... O-O $11 8. Bc4 Nc6 9. d4 exd4 10. cxd4 Bb4+ (10... Qe7 $5 {might be a
viable alternative} 11. Qe2 Re8 $11) 11. Bd2 $14 Qe7 12. e5 $4 {forfeits the
advantage} (12. O-O $142 $16) 12... Nxd4 $1 $19 {Decoy: d4.} 13. Nxd4 Qxe5+ 14.
Qe2 $4 {the position was bad, and this mistake simply hastens the end} (14. Be2
$142 Qxd4 15. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 16. Qd2 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 $19) 14... Bxd2+ 15. Kxd2 Qxd4+
16. Bd3 (16. Qd3 {is the last straw} Qf6 17. Qc3 Rd8+ 18. Kc2 Qxf2+ 19. Kc1
Qf4+ 20. Kc2 $19) 16... Qb2+ 17. Bc2 Rd8+ 18. Ke3 Re8+ 19. Be4 Rxe4+ $1 {
Deflection: e2} (19... Rxe4+ 20. Kxe4 Qxe2+ 21. Kf4 Qxf2+ 22. Ke4 Bf5+ 23. Kd5
Rd8+ 24. Kc4 Rd4+ 25. Kc5 Rf4+ 26. Kb5 Qb6#) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Etabag, John Vincent"]
[Black "Kawamura, Takuto"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1821"]
[BlackElo "1745"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B23: Closed Sicilian: Lines without g3} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3
Qc7 {Black threatens to win material: Qc7xf4} (4... g6 5. d4 Bg7 6. d5 Nd4 7.
Nb5 Qb6 8. d6 Kd8 9. Bd3 Rb8 10. e5 f6 11. O-O Nh6 12. Qe1 Nhf5 13. Bd2 a6 14.
Ba5 {1-0 (14) Klichev,M (2355)-Retinsky,V (2440) Alushta 1997}) 5. Bb5 $146 (5.
d3 d6 (5... a6 6. a4 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. O-O Be7 9. Qe1 d6 10. Qg3 g6 11. Kh1 Nf6
12. Ng5 Nd4 13. Bd1 h5 14. Ne2 h4 15. Qh3 Nh5 16. Nxd4 cxd4 17. f5 gxf5 18.
exf5 e5 19. Bxh5 Bxg5 20. Bf3 {Ramon Perez,J (2315)-Llanes Luno,R (2225)
Aragon 2009 1-0 (36)}) 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Kh1 (9. h3 Rb8 10. g4
b5 11. Ne2 b4 12. Ng3 Nd7 13. g5 a5 14. h4 Re8 15. Nh2 a4 16. a3 Nd4 17. h5 Bf8
18. Rf2 Ra8 19. Be3 bxa3 20. bxa3 e5 21. f5 f6 22. Ng4 fxg5 23. Bxg5 Be7 {
Nikontovic,S (2320)-Jensen,V (2218) Denmark 1999 1-0 (50)}) 9... a6 10. Be3 b5
11. Qe2 Bb7 12. Bg1 Rad8 13. Nd1 Rfe8 14. Nf2 e5 15. f5 d5 16. g4 Bd6 17. Nd2
c4 18. g5 cxd3 19. cxd3 Nd4 {Pasiev,R (2304)-Sanzhaev,D (2170) Togliatti 2011
0-1 (58)}) 5... d6 {Covers e5} 6. O-O Bd7 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. a4 Nf6 9. d3 Be7 10.
Qe1 h5 11. Nb5 Bxb5 12. axb5 c4 (12... O-O 13. c4 $11) 13. Be3 $14 a6 14. b6
Qc8 15. h3 {Secures g4} (15. Rc1 h4 $14) 15... Nd7 (15... O-O 16. Bd4 $11) 16.
Bd4 e5 (16... Bf6 $5 17. e5 dxe5 18. fxe5 Bd8 $14) 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Nxe5 ({
Weaker is} 18. Bxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qc5+ 20. Qf2 Qxe5 21. Qxf7+ Kd7 22. Qxc4 Qc5+
23. Qxc5 Bxc5+ 24. Kh2 Rhf8 $17) 18... Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Qc5+ 20. d4 Qxb6 21. c3 (
21. Qg3 $142 f6 22. Qxg7 $16) 21... Bd6 $2 (21... f6 $5 22. Bg3 O-O-O $16) 22.
Bxd6 (22. Bxg7 $142 $5 {might be the shorter path} Rg8 23. Bf6 Kd7 $18) 22...
Qxd6 23. Qe2 Rc8 24. Rf5 g6 25. Rf3 (25. Rd5 Qg3 $18) 25... O-O 26. Raf1 Qe7 (
26... Rc6 27. Qe3 Kg7 28. e5 $16) 27. e5 (27. Rf6 $5 Qd7 $18) 27... f5 $16 28.
Qe3 (28. Rg3 Kh7 $16) 28... Kh7 29. Re1 Rcd8 30. Qe2 {White threatens to win
material: Qe2xc4} Qe6 31. Ra1 Rf7 32. Kh1 Rd5 33. Ra4 ({Less advisable is} 33.
Qxc4 Rxe5 34. Qxe6 Rxe6 $11) 33... b5 34. Ra2 Rc7 35. Rf1 Rd8 36. Qe3 Ra7 (
36... Rc6 37. Ra5 $16) 37. Qf3 (37. d5 $142 $5 Qd7 38. Qd4 $18) 37... Rda8 38.
Re1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Sugimoto, Koichi"]
[Black "Honda, Yoshiki"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "1908"]
[BlackElo "1828"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "151"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 e6 5. g4 $146
(5. Bd3 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Nge2 Nc6 8. Bg3 O-O 9. O-O Nh5 10. e4 Nxg3 11. Nxg3
d4 12. Nb1 Qh4 13. f4 b5 14. Nd2 Bb7 15. Ne2 Rad8 16. Rf3 Nb4 17. Rh3 Qe7 18.
Ng3 g6 19. Nf3 f6 {Mason,J-Weiss,M Vienna 1882 1-0 (35)}) (5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5
Bxc5 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. a3 (8. Qe2 Qe7 9. Ne5 Bb4 10. O-O Nd7 11. Nxd7 Bxd7 12. e4
d4 13. Nb1 e5 14. Bc1 Bd6 15. Nd2 Nb4 16. Nc4 Nxd3 17. cxd3 Bc7 18. f4 exf4 19.
Bxf4 Bxf4 20. Rxf4 Be6 21. Nd2 O-O 22. Rff1 Qb4 {Alexiadis,H (2296)-Lokander,M
(2403) Pardubice 2015 1/2-1/2}) 8... h6 9. e4 O-O 10. O-O d4 11. Ne2 Nh5 12.
Bd2 e5 13. Ng3 Bg4 14. h3 Nxg3 15. fxg3 Be6 16. Nh4 Be7 17. Nf5 Bg5 18. Bxg5
Qxg5 19. h4 Qg6 {Kovalev,V (2540)-Fridman,D (2639) Liepaja 2015 1/2-1/2 (49)})
(5. Nf3 Nc6 $14) 5... Bd6 (5... Bb4 6. Nge2 $11) 6. g5 Ne4 7. Nxe4 dxe4 8. Bg2
Bxf4 9. exf4 Nc6 10. c3 {Secures b4} f5 11. gxf6 Qxf6 12. Ne2 Bd7 {[%cal Ye7f5,
Yc6e7,Yd7c6,Yc8d7] Manoeuvre Nc8-d7-c6-e7-f5} 13. Qc2 {White threatens to win
material: Qc2xe4} O-O-O 14. Bxe4 Ne7 15. O-O-O (15. Bxh7 $2 {is no good} g6 16.
Bxg6 Nxg6 $19 (16... Qxg6 $6 17. Qxg6 Nxg6 18. Rg1 $19)) 15... Bc6 16. Bxc6
Nxc6 17. Qe4 Ne7 18. Rhg1 g6 19. Rg5 Nf5 {A comfortable square for the black
knight} 20. Rgg1 Rhf8 (20... Ne7 21. Rd3 $16) 21. Rd3 $14 Rd5 22. Kb1 Nd6 23.
Qe3 Nc4 {Black threatens to win material: Nc4xe3} 24. Qh3 Qf5 (24... Rh5 25.
Qg2 $11) 25. Kc2 {White king safety dropped} (25. b3 Na5 $16) 25... Ra5 26.
Qxf5 {White forks: e6+f8} Rfxf5 27. Kb1 Rab5 28. b3 Rh5 29. h3 Nd6 30. Re3 {
White threatens to win material: Re3xe6} Kd7 31. Kc2 Nf5 32. Rd3 Rd5 33. Rg5
Ne7 34. Rdg3 (34. Re5 $5 $16) 34... Rdxg5 $11 35. fxg5 Nf5 {Black threatens to
win material: Nf5xg3} 36. Rf3 Rxg5 37. Ng3 h5 (37... Nxg3 38. fxg3 Rf5 39. Rxf5
exf5 40. Kd3 $11) 38. Ne4 {White threatens to win material: Ne4xg5} Rg2 39.
Nc5+ {White forks: b7} Ke7 40. Nxb7 g5 (40... Nh4 41. Rd3 $11) 41. Nc5 g4 42.
hxg4 hxg4 43. Rf4 g3 {Black threatens to win material: g3xf2} 44. Ne4 $4 {
releasing the pressure on the opponent} (44. Kd3 gxf2 45. Ne4 f1=Q+ 46. Rxf1
Rxa2 47. Nc5 $16) 44... Ne3+ $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (44...
Rh2 $142 45. Nxg3 Nxg3 $17) 45. Kd3 $16 Nd5 46. Rf3 gxf2 47. Rxf2 Rg1 48. Nc5 {
White threatens to win material: Nc5xa6} (48. Rh2 $142 $5 $16) 48... Rg3+ $14 {
Black skewers: c3} 49. Kd2 Nxc3 50. a4 a5 {White has a new backward pawn: b3} (
50... Kd6 51. Rf8 $14) 51. Rh2 $14 Kd6 52. Rh6 (52. Rh5 Rf3 $16) 52... Nb1+ (
52... Kd5 53. Nxe6 Ne4+ 54. Kc2 Rg2+ 55. Kc1 $11) 53. Kc2 $14 {White threatens
to win material: Kc2xb1} Na3+ $4 (53... Nc3 $142 $14 {this is the best bet to
save the position}) 54. Kb2 $18 Kd5 55. Nxe6 Nc4+ (55... Nb1 56. Nf4+ Ke4 57.
Ne2 $18 (57. Kxb1 $6 {is clearly worse} Kxf4 58. Kb2 Ke4 $14)) 56. bxc4+ Kxc4
57. Rh5 Rg2+ 58. Kc1 Kb4 (58... Rg6 {does not save the day} 59. Rc5+ Kb4 $18)
59. Nc5 (59. d5 $142 $18 {and White has it in the bag}) 59... Kc3 60. Rh3+ Kxd4
61. Ne6+ (61. Nb7 Kc4 62. Kb1 Kb4 63. Rh4+ Ka3 $18) 61... Kc4 $16 62. Nxc7 Kb4
(62... Rg4 63. Nb5 Kb4 $11) 63. Rh4+ Kb3 64. Nb5 $4 {lets it slip away} (64.
Nd5 $142 $18 {secures victory}) 64... Ra2 {[%cal Ra2a4,Rb3a4,Gh4a4] Attacks
the isolani on a4. Black threatens to win material: Ra2xa4} 65. Rh3+ Kb4 66.
Nc3 {White threatens to win material: Nc3xa2} Rg2 67. Kb1 Rf2 $4 (67... Kb3
$142 $11 {would save the game}) 68. Nd1 $18 Rg2 $2 (68... Rf1 69. Rh4+ Kb3 $18)
69. Rh4+ (69. Nb2 $142 $18 {and the rest is a matter of technique}) 69... Kb3
$11 70. Rd4 Rh2 71. Kc1 Rc2+ 72. Kb1 Rh2 {Twofold repetition} 73. Rf4 Rg2 74.
Ne3 {White threatens to win material: Ne3xg2} Re2 {Black has a mate threat} 75.
Nd1 Rg2 76. Kc1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Aoki, Yasuhiro"]
[Black "kuramoto, koutarou"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "1731"]
[BlackElo "1757"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A34: Symmetrical English: 2 Nc3, lines with ...d5} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3
Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Nc3 c5 8. Qb3 Nxc3 9. dxc3 Nc6 10. Be3
b6 11. Rad1 Qc7 12. Bf4 e5 $146 (12... Qb7 13. Ng5 Bd7 14. Bd5 e6 15. Bg2 e5
16. Be3 h6 17. Ne4 Na5 18. Nf6+ Bxf6 19. Bxb7 Rab8 20. Rxd7 {1-0 (20) Suslova,
A (2152)-Nikolenko,V (2249) Cheliabinsk 2010}) 13. Nxe5 Be6 $4 {causes even
greater problems} (13... Bxe5 $142 14. Bxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxa8 Ba6 $16) 14. Qb5 (14.
Nxc6 $142 {secures the win} Bxb3 15. Bxc7 Bxd1 16. Rxd1 $18) 14... Bxe5 $4 {
Black has let it slip away} (14... Nxe5 $142 {Black has the better game} 15.
Bxa8 Rxa8 $19) 15. Qxc6 (15. Bxc6 Rac8 16. Bd7 Bxf4 17. Bxc8 (17. gxf4 $2 a6
18. Qa4 b5 19. Qxa6 Bxd7 $19) 17... Rxc8 18. gxf4 Qxf4 19. Rfe1 $14) 15... Qxc6
$4 {Black loses the upper hand} (15... Bxf4 $142 {and Black can hope to live}
16. gxf4 Qxf4 $11) 16. Bxc6 $16 Rac8 17. Bxe5 (17. Bd7 $5 Bxd7 18. Rxd7 (18.
Bxe5 $6 Bb5 19. Rfe1 Rfe8 $14) 18... Bxf4 19. gxf4 $16) 17... Rxc6 $14 18. a3 (
18. b3 $5 $14) 18... Re8 19. Rd6 Rxd6 20. Bxd6 Bc4 {Black threatens to win
material: Bc4xe2} 21. Bf4 Rxe2 22. Bc1 (22. b4 Ra2 23. Rd1 Rxa3 24. bxc5 bxc5
$11 (24... Rxc3 $4 {the pawn of course cannot be captured} 25. Rd8+ Kg7 26.
Be5+ Kh6 27. Bxc3 $18)) 22... a6 23. Kg2 h5 24. Kf3 $4 (24. Rd1 $142 $11 {
was a good chance to save the game}) 24... Rxb2 (24... Rxb2 25. Bxb2 Bxf1 $11)
0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.5"]
[White "Uematsu, Maya"]
[Black "Miyatani, Ryouhei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[BlackElo "1672"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4} 1. d4
Nf6 2. Bf4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 c5 6. c3 Be7 7. h3 O-O 8. Bd3 d5 9.
Ne5 Nc6 (9... Ne4 10. Qc2 (10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Be2 cxd4 12. exd4 Bd6 13. Bc4 Qc7
14. Qg4 Nc6 15. Qg3 Rad8 16. O-O Ne7 17. Bb3 Nd5 18. Bh6 f6 19. c4 fxe5 20.
cxd5 exd4 21. dxe6 Bxg3 22. e7+ Kh8 23. Bg5 Bh2+ 24. Kh1 Rde8 {Buscara,S (2376)
-Almagro Llamas,P (2487) Elgoibar 2014 0-1}) 10... f6 11. Nef3 f5 12. Ne5 Nc6
13. Ndf3 c4 14. Be2 b5 15. O-O a5 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Ne5 Be8 18. f3 Nd6 19. a3
Ra7 20. Qd2 a4 21. Bd1 Bf6 22. Bc2 g5 23. Bh2 h5 24. Rae1 {Kamsky,G (2706)
-Almasi,Z (2690) Tromso 2014 1/2-1/2 (36)}) 10. Ndf3 $146 (10. O-O Nd7 11. Nxc6
(11. Ndf3 Ndxe5 12. dxe5 f6 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Qc2 g6 15. Bb5 Qe7 16. Bxc6 Bxc6
17. Ne5 Be8 18. Rad1 g5 19. Bh2 Bh5 20. f3 Qg7 21. Ng4 Bxg4 22. hxg4 Be5 23.
Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Rfe1 Qg3 25. Qf2 Qxf2+ {Vezzosi,P (2290)-Mariano,E (2156) Milan
2013 1-0 (56)}) 11... Bxc6 12. Qe2 Bf6 13. Nf3 Re8 14. Rad1 Qc8 15. Bg5 Bxg5
16. Nxg5 h6 17. Nf3 Qc7 18. e4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Rad8 20. Bxc6 Qxc6 21. dxc5 Nxc5
22. Nd4 Qa8 23. Nb5 Qb8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 {Andersson,M (2341)-Dzevlan,M (2464)
Sweden 2004 1/2-1/2 (46)}) (10. Rc1 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ne8 12. Qh5 f5 13. h4 g6 14.
Qf3 h5 15. Qh3 Rf7 16. Nf3 Qd7 17. O-O Qa4 18. Bb1 a5 19. Ng5 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 Qb5
21. Rc2 a4 22. Qg3 Qc4 23. Rd1 Qg4 {1/2-1/2 (23) Just,J (2279)-Barth,A (2171)
Germany 1999}) 10... Rc8 (10... Ne4 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Ne5 $11) 11. Qc2 (11.
Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Ba6 Ne4 $14) 11... cxd4 12. Nxd4 (12. Nxc6 $5 {must definitely
be considered} Bxc6 13. exd4 $14) 12... Nb4 $15 {Black threatens to win
material: Nb4xc2} 13. Qe2 (13. Qa4 Nxd3+ 14. Nxd3 a5 $15) 13... Nxd3+ $17 14.
Qxd3 (14. Nxd3 Ba6 15. a4 Bc4 $17) 14... a6 (14... Ne4 $5 15. Ng4 Re8 $17) 15.
O-O Ne4 16. Rfc1 $2 (16. Qe2 $142 $15 {and White has air to breath}) 16... f6
$19 17. Nef3 (17. Ng6 hxg6 18. Nxe6 Qe8 19. Nxf8 Bxf8 $19) 17... Nc5 (17... e5
{seems even better} 18. Ne6 Nc5 19. Nxc5 bxc5 20. Nxe5 fxe5 21. Bxe5 $19) 18.
Qc2 (18. Qe2 e5 19. b4 Ne4 $19 (19... exf4 $6 20. bxc5 Re8 21. Ne6 $15) (19...
exd4 $6 20. bxc5 dxe3 21. cxb6 $15)) 18... e5 19. b4 Ne4 (19... exf4 $6 {
is the less attractive alternative} 20. bxc5 fxe3 21. Ne6 $15) (19... exd4 20.
bxc5 g5 21. Bg3 dxe3 22. cxb6 $11) 20. Ne6 Qd6 21. Nxf8 exf4 (21... Kxf8 $6 {
is the weaker alternative} 22. Bg3 $17) (21... Rxf8 $6 {is much worse} 22. Bg3
$11) (21... Bxf8 $6 22. Bg3 Rxc3 23. Qd1 Qxb4 24. Rxc3 Nxc3 25. Qc2 $17) 22.
Nd4 Bxf8 (22... Rxf8 $6 23. exf4 Rc8 24. Nf5 $19) 23. Qb3 (23. Qd3 Qc7 $19)
23... Nd2 (23... fxe3 $142 $5 {makes it even easier for Black} 24. f3 Nf2 25.
Qa4 $19) 24. Nf5 (24. Qd1 {doesn't do any good} fxe3 25. fxe3 Ne4 $19) 24...
Qe6 (24... Qe5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 25. Qd1 Ne4 26. Nd4 fxe3 27. fxe3
$19) 25. Nd4 (25. Qd1 {hoping against hope} fxe3 26. Nxe3 $19) 25... Nxb3 $1 {
a fitting end to a beautiful game} 26. Nxe6 (26. axb3 Qe4 {Combination}) (26.
Nxb3 fxe3 {Combination}) 26... Nxc1 27. Nxf8 (27. Rxc1 {doesn't get the cat
off the tree} Bxb4 $1 {Deflection: c3} 28. Rb1 Ba5 29. Nxf4 Rxc3 $19) 27...
Ne2+ 28. Kh2 (28. Kf1 {is one last hope} Nxc3 29. Ne6 fxe3 30. fxe3 $19) 28...
Kxf8 29. Re1 Nxc3 30. a3 fxe3 (30... Re8 $142 $5 {and Black can already relax}
31. Rf1 $19) 31. Rxe3 d4 32. Re6 Rd8 33. Rxb6 Rd7 (33... d3 34. Re6 d2 35. Rxa6
Bxa6 36. Kg3 d1=Q 37. h4 Ne2+ 38. Kh2 Bc8 39. g4 Bxg4 40. b5 Qg1#) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.6"]
[White "Takeuchi, Hiroshi"]
[Black "Furuse, Mizuki"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "1629"]
[BlackElo "1588"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A48: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6: Torre, London and Colle Systems} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. Nc3 $146 (6. O-O cxd4 (6... Qb6 7. Qc1 d6 8.
c3 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 Qc7 10. h3 e5 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Bh2 Nd5 13. Rd1 N7b6 14. a4 a5
15. Nc4 Re8 16. Qd2 Bd7 17. e4 Nxc4 18. Bxc4 Nb6 19. Ng5 Re7 20. Bd5 Bxa4 21.
b3 {Niklasson,C (2400)-Moe,M (2345) Copenhagen 1983 0-1 (42)}) 7. exd4 d5 8. c3
Nc6 9. h3 (9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. Be3 Qc7 (10... f5 11. Nb3 f4 12. Bd2 Kh8 13. Nc5 Qd6
14. Nd3 Bf5 15. Re1 Bxd3 16. Bxd3 Rae8 17. Qa4 a6 18. Re2 e5 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20.
Nxe5 Bxe5 21. f3 b5 22. Qb3 Bf6 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Re1 Rf8 25. Qd1 {Sydor,A 
(2405)-Maciejewski,A (2370) Lodz 1980 1-0 (64)}) 11. Re1 f5 12. Nb3 e6 13. Rc1
Nf6 14. Bb5 Ng4 15. Bd2 Nd8 16. c4 dxc4 17. Bb4 Qb6 18. Bxf8 Qxb5 19. Bxg7 cxb3
20. h3 Kxg7 21. hxg4 bxa2 22. Rc7+ Kg8 23. gxf5 Qxf5 {Andrianov,N (2445)
-Damjanovic,M (2325) Tel Aviv 1991 1-0}) 9... Bf5 10. Nbd2 Ne4 11. Re1 h6 12.
Bf1 g5 13. Bh2 e6 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Nd2 Bg6 16. Nb3 Qe7 17. f4 Be4 18. fxg5
hxg5 19. Nc5 Bg6 20. Kh1 b6 {Kovacevic,V (2495)-Mikhalchishin,A (2490) Pula
1980 1-0 (42)}) 6... cxd4 7. exd4 d6 {Controls e5} 8. h4 (8. O-O d5 $11) 8...
Nc6 9. Qd2 h5 (9... Qa5 10. Bg5 $11) 10. O-O-O {White has a very active
position} (10. d5 e5 11. dxe6 Bxe6 $14) 10... Bf5 $11 {White has an active
position} 11. a3 {White has a very active position} (11. Bd3 Bg4 12. Be2 $11)
11... Qa5 (11... Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Be3 $15) 12. Bh6 (12. d5 $142 {and
White can hope to survive} Nb8 13. Nd4 $14) 12... Bxh6 $15 13. Qxh6 Ng4 14. Qf4
Nxf2 15. Nd2 $2 (15. Rdf1 $142 e5 16. Qd2 exd4 17. Nxd4 Nxd4 18. Rxf2 $17)
15... Nxd1 $19 16. Bxd1 e5 17. dxe5 Qxe5 (17... Nxe5 18. Nb3 Qb6 19. Nd4 $17) (
17... dxe5 $6 18. Qh6 Nd4 19. Nde4 $17) 18. Qg5 (18. Rf1 Qxf4 19. Rxf4 Be6 $19)
18... f6 (18... Rfe8 $142 $5 {seems even better} 19. g4 Bxg4 20. Bxg4 Qxg5 21.
hxg5 hxg4 22. Nde4 $19) 19. Qh6 Rf7 20. Nf3 (20. Nc4 Qc5 21. Ne3 Re8 22. Nxf5
Qxf5 $19 (22... gxf5 $143 23. Qg6+ Kf8 24. Bxh5 Qe3+ 25. Kb1 $16)) 20... Qa5 (
20... Qc5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 21. Re1 d5 22. Qd2 $19) 21. Qf4 (21. Be2
d5 22. Rd1 Rd8 $19) 21... Rd8 (21... Re8 {and Black can already relax} 22. Be2
Rfe7 23. Bb5 $19) 22. Nd2 (22. Re1 d5 23. Nd4 Nxd4 24. Qxd4 Qb6 25. Qxb6 axb6
$19) 22... Qe5 23. Qa4 (23. Qf2 {doesn't change anything anymore} Re7 $19)
23... a6 (23... d5 $142 $5 {seems even better} 24. Nf3 Qg3 25. Re1 $19) 24. g4
Bxg4 (24... hxg4 {makes it even easier for Black} 25. Bxg4 d5 26. Bxf5 gxf5 27.
Qb3 $19) 25. Bxg4 hxg4 26. Qxg4 Qh5 27. Qe6 $6 {cannot solve the problems of
the position} (27. Qxh5 gxh5 28. Nde4 $19) 27... Qe5 {Black threatens to win
material: Qe5xe6} (27... Kg7 $142 $5 {might be the shorter path} 28. Qd5 Qxd5
29. Nxd5 $19) 28. Qg4 Rg7 29. Qf3 (29. Rd1 Qf5 30. Nde4 Qxg4 31. Nxf6+ Kh8 32.
Nxg4 Rh7 $19) 29... Nd4 30. Qf2 Nb5 (30... Re8 $142 $19 {and Black can already
relax}) 31. Qb6 $2 (31. Nxb5 $142 axb5 32. Re1 $19) 31... Re8 32. Kb1 (32. Nce4
{does not improve anything} f5 33. Nf2 Rc7 $19) 32... Nxc3+ 33. bxc3 Qb5+ (
33... Qxc3 $142 {and Black has reached his goal} 34. Qxd6 Re2 35. Qd5+ Kh8 36.
Rd1 $19) 34. Qxb5 axb5 35. Kb2 Rge7 36. Nb3 (36. Rg1 {hardly improves anything}
Kf7 37. c4 Re5 $19) 36... Re1 37. Rh3 R8e3 38. Rh2 Rg1 (38... R3e2 {keeps an
even firmer grip} 39. Rh3 Rd1 40. Rf3 $19) 39. Nd4 (39. Rd2 f5 40. Rxd6 Re7 $19
) 39... Re4 (39... Ree1 $142 {seems even better} 40. Nb3 $19) 40. Nxb5 Rd1 41.
Rh3 (41. Nd4 Re5 $19) 41... Kf7 42. Nd4 Rg1 (42... Ree1 {makes it even easier
for Black} 43. h5 g5 44. Kb3 $19) 43. h5 gxh5 (43... g5 $5 {and Black can
already relax} 44. Nf5 g4 45. Rh4 $19) 44. Rxh5 Re5 45. Rh7+ Rg7 46. Rh8 f5 47.
Rb8 (47. a4 Kf6 $19) 47... Kg6 48. Rd8 Rd5 (48... Rf7 49. Rg8+ Kh6 50. Rd8 $19)
49. Kb3 (49. Ne6 Rb5+ 50. Ka2 Re7 51. Rxd6 Ra5 $19) 49... Re7 50. Kc4 Rc5+ (
50... Ree5 $5 51. a4 $17) 51. Kb4 $17 Rd5 52. Kc4 Ree5 53. Rb8 (53. a4 $5 $17)
53... Rc5+ 54. Kd3 (54. Kb4 b5 $19) 54... f4 55. Rxb7 (55. Rd8 Re3+ 56. Kd2 Rh5
57. Rg8+ Kf7 $19) 55... Re3+ 56. Kd2 Rcxc3 (56... Rh5 {keeps an even firmer
grip} 57. Rd7 Rh2+ 58. Kc1 $19) 57. Rd7 $2 (57. Ne2 $142 Rxa3 58. Nxf4+ Kf5 59.
Rf7+ Ke4 60. Nd3 $19) 57... Rxa3 58. Rxd6+ Kf7 (58... Kg5 {might be the
shorter path} 59. Rd8 $19) 59. Rd5 (59. Nb3 Rh3 60. Rd4 $19) 59... Rh3 $4 {
Black lets it slip away} (59... Re4 $142 $19 {the advantage is on the side of
Black}) 60. Rf5+ $15 {White forks: f4} Ke7 61. Rxf4 Rh2+ 62. Kc1 Rc3 63. Kb2 {
White threatens to win material: Kb2xc3} Rhh3 64. Re4+ Kd7 65. Rg4 Rhe3 (65...
Rc4 66. Rg7+ Kc8 67. Rg8+ Kb7 68. Rd8 $15) 66. Rg7+ Kc8 67. Rf7 Rc5 68. Rf4 Rd5
69. Nb3 Rb5 70. Rc4+ Kd8 71. Ka2 Rb8 72. Kb2 Rb7 73. Ka2 Rb8 74. Kb2 {Twofold
repetition} Rb7 75. Ka2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.7"]
[White "Nakamura, Mitsuru"]
[Black "Ito, Katsuhide"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D08"]
[WhiteElo "1603"]
[BlackElo "1389"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D08: Albin Counter Gambit} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. a3 Bg4
6. Nbd2 Nge7 7. b4 $146 (7. Nb3 Nf5 8. Qd3 Qd7 9. g3 a5 10. Bf4 h6 11. Rd1
O-O-O 12. h4 a4 13. Nbd2 Nfe7 14. Bg2 Bf5 15. Ne4 Ng6 16. h5 Nxf4 17. gxf4 Kb8
18. Nh4 Bg4 19. Ng3 Qe8 20. Nhf5 Bxf5 21. Qxf5 g5 {Nikologorskiy,K (2414)
-Babikov,I (2279) Moscow 2015 1-0 (48)}) (7. h3 Bf5 (7... Bxf3 8. Nxf3 Ng6 9.
e3 (9. Qb3 Qd7 10. Qxb7 Rb8 11. Qa6 Be7 12. b4 Ncxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. c5 O-O
15. f4 Bh4+ 16. Kd1 Qd5 17. Kc2 Nc4 18. e4 Qxe4+ 19. Kb3 Ne3 20. Bxe3 dxe3 21.
Qc4 Rfe8 22. Be2 Qxg2 23. Rad1 Bf2 {Neuman,P (2471)-Konrad,E (2203) Aschach
2012 1-0 (35)}) 9... Ngxe5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. exd4 Nc6 12. Be3 Be7 13. Be2 Bf6
14. d5 Ne5 15. O-O O-O 16. Qc2 Re8 17. Rac1 b6 18. Rfd1 Bg5 19. Bxg5 Qxg5 20.
Rd4 Ng6 21. Qd2 Qf6 22. Bf1 {Willumsen,H (2200)-Brautsch,S (2200) Aars 1984
1-0 (44)}) 8. Nb3 Be6 9. Nbxd4 Bxc4 10. b3 Bd5 11. Bb2 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 c5 13. e4
Bxe4 14. Nb5 Nc6 15. Qg4 Bc2 16. Bc4 a6 17. Qf4 Bg6 18. e6 axb5 19. exf7+ Ke7
20. Qe3+ Kd7 21. O-O-O+ Bd6 {Miroshnichenko,E (2680)-Chos,A (2324) Alushta
2009 1-0 (31)}) 7... Ng6 {Black threatens to win material: Ng6xe5} 8. Bb2 Ncxe5
(8... Qe7 9. Qc2 $14) 9. Nxe5 (9. Bxd4 $5 f6 10. e3 $16) 9... Nxe5 $11 {
White has a cramped position. White's piece can't move: f1} 10. Qb3 b6 $2 (
10... Qd7 $142 $11 {would keep Black in the game}) 11. Qg3 $18 Bd6 12. Qb3 $4 {
simply marches past the door to victory} (12. f4 $142 {White would have gained
the upper hand} Be7 13. h4 $18 (13. fxe5 $4 {the knight is invulnerable} Bh4
$19)) 12... O-O $17 13. Bxd4 c5 (13... Bxb4 14. Qb2 Nc6 15. axb4 Qxd4 16. Qxd4
Nxd4 17. Ra2 $17) 14. Bb2 (14. Bxe5 Bxe5 15. Rd1 $15) 14... a5 (14... Qe7 15.
h3 Be6 16. b5 $15) 15. b5 {White wins space} (15. Ne4 Bc7 (15... cxb4 $2 {
is worthless because of} 16. Rd1 Nxc4 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Qxc4 $18) 16. bxc5 bxc5
$15) 15... a4 (15... Qe7 16. h3 Bc8 17. e4 $15) 16. Qc2 (16. Qc3 f6 $11) 16...
Qd7 (16... Qe7 17. g3 Rad8 18. O-O-O $11) 17. g3 (17. h3 Be6 18. O-O-O f6 $16)
17... Bf5 {Black threatens to win material: Bf5xc2} (17... Rae8 18. O-O-O Bf5
19. Qc3 $11) 18. Qc3 (18. e4 Rfe8 19. Bg2 Rad8 $14) 18... Rfe8 (18... Qb7 $142
19. f3 Rae8 $14) 19. Bg2 $4 {throws away the game} (19. O-O-O $142 $14 {
would be a reprieve}) 19... Nd3+ $19 20. Kf1 Nxb2 (20... Be5 $142 {and Black
takes home the point} 21. Bc6 Qe6 (21... Bxc3 22. Bxd7 Bxd7 23. Bxc3 Bh3+ 24.
Kg1 Rxe2 25. Nf3 $19) (21... Nxb2 $143 22. Qe3 Bh3+ 23. Kg1 $19) 22. exd3 Bh3+
23. Bg2 Bxc3 24. Bxc3 Rad8 $19) 21. Bxa8 $17 Rxa8 (21... Be5 $142 22. Qf3 Nxc4
(22... Qxd2 $6 23. Qxf5 Nxc4 24. Bc6 $15) 23. Nxc4 Bh3+ 24. Kg1 Bxa1 $19) 22.
Qxb2 $14 {White wins the exchange} Re8 23. Re1 $4 {a transit from better to
worse} (23. Nf3 $142 {is a viable option} Be7 24. Qd2 Bh3+ 25. Ke1 $11) 23...
Bh3+ $17 24. Kg1 Be5 $4 {Black threatens to win material: Be5xb2. there were
better ways to keep up the pressure} (24... Qg4 $142 25. f3 Qg5 $17) 25. Qc2
$16 Qb7 26. f3 $4 {overlooking an easy win} (26. e4 $142 $16) 26... Bd4+ 27. e3
Bxe3+ (27... Rxe3 28. Qxh7+ Kxh7 29. Kf2 Qe7 30. Ne4 Rxe4+ 31. Re3 Rxe3 32. g4
Qe5 33. Rd1 Qxh2#) 28. Rxe3 $19 Rxe3 29. Kf2 Qe7 (29... Rxa3 $5 30. Qe4 Qc8 31.
Rd1 $19) 30. Ne4 $17 Rxa3 31. Re1 Qe5 $4 {Black is ruining his position} (31...
Qd7 $142 32. Nd6 Be6 $19) 32. Nf6+ $18 gxf6 33. Rxe5 fxe5 34. Qb2 (34. g4 $142
{might be the shorter path} Rb3 35. Qd1 $18) 34... Rb3 $16 35. Qxe5 Be6 36.
Qb8+ {White forks: b6} (36. f4 $142 h6 37. f5 Bxc4 38. Qf4 Rb2+ 39. Ke3 Rb3+
40. Kd2 Rd3+ 41. Kc2 $16) 36... Kg7 $11 37. Qxb6 Bxc4 $2 (37... a3 $142 $11 {
would allow Black to play on}) 38. Qxc5 $16 Rb2+ (38... Bxb5 $142 $5 39. Qg5+
Kf8 $16) 39. Ke3 $18 Rb3+ 40. Kf4 Bxb5 41. h4 (41. Qe5+ $142 Kf8 42. Kg5 $18)
41... Be2 $4 {terrible, but the game is lost in any case} (41... h6 42. Qd4+
Kg8 43. Ke5 $18) 42. Qd4+ (42. Qe5+ {makes it even easier for White} Kf8 43.
Qxe2 Rb4+ 44. Kg5 Rb6 $18) 42... Kg8 $4 {Black falls apart} (42... f6 43. Qd7+
(43. Qxa4 $6 Rxf3+ 44. Ke4 Rxg3 45. Qd7+ Kg6 $18) 43... Kf8 44. Ke4 $18) 43.
Qxa4 (43. Kg5 $142 {and White has prevailed} Rd3 44. Qb6 f6+ 45. Qxf6 Rxf3 46.
Qe6+ Kg7 47. Qe7+ Rf7 48. Qe5+ Kf8 49. Qxe2 $18) 43... Rxf3+ 44. Ke4 Rxg3 $4 {
Black has lost his nerve... understandable when you consider his position.} (
44... Rf6 $142 $18) 45. Qe8+ Kg7 46. Qe5+ Kg6 (46... Kg8 {does not help much}
47. Qxg3+ Kf8 48. Kf5 Bf3 49. Kf6 Bc6 50. Qd6+ Kg8 51. Qd8+ Be8 52. Qxe8#) 47.
Qxg3+ (47. Qxg3+ Bg4 48. Qxg4+ Kf6 49. Kd5 Ke7 50. Qg7 h5 51. Qg8 f6 52. Qg7+
Kd8 53. Kd6 f5 54. Qd7#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.8"]
[White "Shishido, Kenta"]
[Black "Ono, Yukiko"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C64"]
[WhiteElo "1431"]
[BlackElo "1000"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C64: Ruy Lopez: Classical Defence (3...Bc5) except 4 0-0 Nf6} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. Re1 O-O (5... Ng4 6. Re2 Nd4 7. Nxd4 Bxd4 8. h3
Nxf2 9. Rxf2 O-O (9... Bxf2+ 10. Kxf2 Qf6+ 11. Ke2 Qg6 12. Qf1 Qxe4+ 13. Kd1 c6
14. Be2 d5 15. d3 Qf5 16. Qxf5 Bxf5 17. Nc3 O-O 18. Ke1 Bg6 19. Bg5 h6 20. Bh4
f5 21. Kd2 Bf7 22. Rf1 g5 23. Bf2 Bg6 24. Bc5 {Brkic,M (2256)-Maric,S (2185)
Gorazde 2008 0-1 (43)}) 10. c3 Bxf2+ 11. Kxf2 Qf6+ 12. Ke2 Qg6 13. Qf1 Qxe4+
14. Kd1 d5 15. d3 Qg6 16. Nd2 c5 17. Nf3 e4 18. dxe4 dxe4 19. Ne1 Rd8+ 20. Ke2
{Zapata,A (2510)-Gulko,B (2565) Amsterdam 1987 0-1 (33)}) 6. c3 d6 7. h3 d5
$146 (7... Bb6 8. d3 h6 9. Nbd2 Ne7 10. Nc4 c6 11. Nxb6 axb6 12. Ba4 Be6 13. a3
Ng6 14. Bc2 Qc7 15. d4 c5 16. Be3 Rad8 17. d5 Bd7 18. Nh2 Qc8 19. g4 Rde8 20.
Qd2 Nh7 21. Nf1 Qd8 22. Ng3 {Rybak,T (2262)-Pinkas,K (2302) Wysowa 2007 0-1 
(43)}) (7... h6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nbd2 Qe7 12. Bf1 Bxe3
13. Rxe3 a5 14. Qc2 Qc5 15. Ne1 Be6 16. a3 a4 17. Nd3 Qe7 18. Nb4 Na5 19. c4 c6
20. Rae1 Rfd8 21. Nf3 Qc7 22. Rc3 {Agnello,A (2227)-Lima,D (2533) Mallorca
2004 0-1 (50)}) 8. Bxc6 (8. exd5 Nxd5 (8... Qxd5 $143 9. Bxc6 Qxc6 10. Nxe5 $16
) 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Nxe5 f6 11. Nxc6 Qd6 $16) 8... bxc6 9. exd5 (9. d4 exd4 10.
e5 $11) 9... cxd5 (9... e4 $142 $5 {is the best option Black has} 10. d4 Bd6
$11) 10. Nxe5 $14 {Black has the pair of bishops.} Ne4 11. d4 Be7 $4 (11... Qh4
$142 {had to be tried to avoid defeat} 12. Be3 Bd6 $14) 12. Nc6 $18 Qd7 13.
Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. f3 f5 15. fxe4 (15. c4 {might be the shorter path} Qd6 16. fxe4
fxe4 $18) 15... fxe4 16. Be3 (16. c4 {and White can already relax} Bxh3 17.
gxh3 Qh4 $18) 16... Ba6 $2 (16... Bxh3 $142 17. Qh5 Be6 $18) 17. Nd2 Qd6 18.
Qg4 (18. c4 {makes it even easier for White} Rae8 $18) 18... Rf7 (18... Bd3 19.
c4 $1 $18 {Deflection: e4}) 19. b3 (19. c4 $142 $5 {seems even better} Bc8 20.
Qh5 Be6 $18) 19... h6 (19... Bd3 $18) 20. c4 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Round "3.9"]
[White "Yajima, Machiko"]
[Black "Denta, Seiichi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "1367"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines} 1. g3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bf4 $146 (3. c4 Bf5 (3...
c6 4. Bg2 (4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Qd5 6. Qxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. Bf4 Bf5 9. Nf3 e6
10. Bg2 Ne4 11. O-O Nxc3 12. bxc3 Be7 13. c4 Be4 14. cxd5 exd5 15. Rfd1 f6 16.
Bh3 Ba3 17. Bc1 Bd6 18. Ne1 Kf7 {Manin,V (2181)-Biriukov,O (2332) St
Petersburg 2012 0-1 (60)}) 4... Bf5 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. Nc3 e6 7. c5 Qxb3 8. axb3 e5
9. Nf3 e4 10. Nd2 Na6 11. Ra4 Be7 12. b4 Nc7 13. Nb3 a6 14. Bf4 O-O-O 15. f3
exf3 16. exf3 Ne6 17. Be3 h5 18. Kd2 {Alburt,L (2535)-Short,N (2535) Foxboro
1985 0-1 (38)}) (3... dxc4 4. Bg2 c6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. O-O b5 7. a4 Bb7 8. b3 b4
9. bxc4 e6 10. a5 c5 11. Qa4 Qc8 12. Nbd2 Bc6 13. Qc2 Qb7 14. a6 Qb6 15. Bb2
cxd4 16. Bxd4 Bc5 17. Nb3 Bxd4 18. Nfxd4 {Shipman,W (2360)-Alburt,L (2560) New
York 1983 1/2-1/2 (68)}) 4. Nc3 e6 5. Qb3 Nc6 6. Be3 Na5 7. Qa4+ c6 8. c5 Be7
9. Nf3 O-O 10. Bg5 Nc4 11. b3 Nb6 12. Qa5 Qc8 13. e3 Nbd7 14. Rc1 h6 15. Bf4
Ne8 16. h4 f6 17. h5 Bg4 {Reefschlaeger,H (2400)-Friehoff,H (2240) Germany
1981 0-1 (32)}) 3... Bf5 4. Nd2 (4. Nc3 c5 $11) 4... e6 5. a3 {Covers b4} a6 (
5... c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Nb3 $15) 6. Ngf3 h6 {Prevents intrusion on g5} 7. Bg2
Nc6 8. O-O Bd6 9. e3 {Consolidates f4} Bxf4 (9... O-O 10. Re1 $11) 10. exf4 $11
({Not} 10. gxf4 g5 11. Ne5 gxf4 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. exf4 Rg8 $17) 10... O-O 11.
c4 (11. c3 a5 $11) 11... Na5 (11... Bd3 $5 $17) 12. c5 {White gains space} c6 (
12... Nc6 13. Re1 $11) 13. b4 (13. Rc1 b5 $14) 13... Nc4 $11 14. Nxc4 dxc4 {
White has a new backward pawn: d4. Black has a new passed pawn: c4} 15. Ne5 {
White threatens to win material: Ne5xc4} Be4 $2 (15... c3 $142 $11) 16. Nxc4 $4
{makes life more difficult} (16. Bxe4 $142 Nxe4 17. Qc2 $16) 16... Bxg2 $19 17.
Re1 Qd5 $4 {Black threatens to win material: Qd5xc4. gives away a clear win} (
17... Bd5 $142 {and Black has triumphed} 18. Nb6 Ra7 $19) 18. Ne3 $14 Qf3 19.
Nxg2 Qxd1 20. Raxd1 Nd5 (20... a5 21. b5 $14) 21. Rd3 a5 22. Ne3 axb4 23. Nxd5
cxd5 24. Ra1 $4 {with this move White loses his initiative} (24. axb4 $142 Ra2
25. f5 $14) 24... Ra4 $17 25. Rb3 Rfa8 26. Rab1 R8a7 $4 {weakening the position
} (26... bxa3 $142 27. Rxb7 Kh7 $17) 27. axb4 (27. Rxb4 Rxb4 28. Rxb4 Kf8 $14)
27... Ra1 (27... g6 28. b5 Rxd4 29. b6 $16) 28. Rxa1 (28. b5 $5 $16) 28...
Rxa1+ $14 29. Kg2 Ra4 (29... Kf8 30. b5 $14) 30. Kf3 (30. b5 $16) 30... g5 $2 (
30... Kf8 31. b5 $14) 31. Kg4 (31. b5 $142 $5 gxf4 (31... Rxd4 $4 {it may look
tempting but Black must resist capturing the pawn} 32. c6 b6 33. Rc3 $18) 32.
c6 bxc6 $18) 31... f6 (31... f5+ 32. Kf3 $16) 32. f5 e5 33. Kf3 (33. dxe5 fxe5
34. f6 e4 $18) 33... exd4 34. Ke2 Ra2+ 35. Kd3 Rxf2 36. Kxd4 Rxf5 $4 {leads to
further unpleasantness} (36... Kf8 37. Kxd5 Ke7 38. Kc4 Rxh2 39. Kb5 $16) 37.
g4 (37. b5 $142 {it becomes clear that White will call all the shots} Kf7 38.
c6 bxc6 39. b6 $18) 37... Re5 38. Rf3 {White threatens to win material: Rf3xf6}
(38. b5 Kf7 39. c6 Re8 40. cxb7 Rb8 41. Kxd5 Rxb7 $18) 38... Kg7 39. Rf5 Rxf5
$4 {gives the opponent new chances} (39... Re4+ $142 {this is the best way to
fight back} 40. Kc3 d4+ 41. Kd3 Rxg4 $11) 40. gxf5 $18 g4 (40... Kf7 {
otherwise it's curtains at once} 41. Kxd5 h5 $18) 41. Kxd5 (41. b5 $142 {
and the result of the game is clear: White will win} Kf7 42. b6 h5 $18) 41...
h5 42. Ke4 h4 43. Kf4 g3 44. hxg3 h3 (44... h3 45. Kf3 Kf7 $18) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Dryglas, Maciej"]
[Black "Etabag, John Vincent"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D05"]
[WhiteElo "2135"]
[BlackElo "1821"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D05: Colle System with ...e6} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Nc6
6. a3 cxd4 (6... Be7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Bb2 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Re1 Rc8 11. dxc5 bxc5
12. e4 d4 13. Nc4 Qc7 14. Rc1 Rfd8 15. c3 dxc3 16. Bxc3 Qb8 17. Qc2 h6 18. Qe2
Ba8 19. Rb1 Nd7 20. Red1 Nb6 21. e5 {Hertneck,G (2595)-Zude,A (2430) Germany
1995 1/2-1/2 (66)}) 7. exd4 Bd6 8. O-O (8. Bb2 O-O 9. O-O b6 10. Ne5 Ne7 11.
Nd2 Bb7 12. Qe2 Ng6 13. f4 Rc8 14. Rae1 Qc7 15. Qf3 Ne4 16. Qe2 Nc3 17. Qh5 Ne4
18. Bc1 Qc3 19. Ndf3 Rc7 20. Be3 Rfc8 21. Bxe4 dxe4 22. Ng5 h6 {Stefanova,A 
(2489)-Zhukova,N (2459) Khanty-Mansiysk 2014 1-0 (38)}) 8... O-O 9. Re1 $146 (
9. Qe2 b6 10. Bb2 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Rc8 12. Ne5 Ne8 13. f4 g6 14. Rf3 Kh8 15. Rh3
Ng7 16. Rd1 {0-1 (16) Cherednichenko,S (2279)-Kveinys,A (2512) Reykjavik 2012})
9... h6 {Covers g5} 10. Bb2 a5 (10... b6 11. c4 $11) 11. Nbd2 (11. c4 b6 $16)
11... b6 12. Ne5 Ne7 13. Ndf3 (13. c4 Bb7 $14) 13... Ba6 (13... Bb7 14. Qe2 $11
) 14. c4 $14 a4 15. bxa4 dxc4 16. Nxc4 Bxc4 17. Bxc4 Nfd5 18. Ne5 Rc8 19. Qb3
Bxe5 20. dxe5 (20. Rxe5 $6 Nc6 21. Rxd5 exd5 22. Bxd5 Na5 $15) 20... Nc6 21.
Qg3 Nd4 22. Rac1 (22. Bxd4 $6 Rxc4 23. Be3 Kh8 $11 (23... Rxa4 $2 {leads to
nothing} 24. Bxh6 g6 25. Qb3 $18) (23... Nxe3 $6 24. Qxe3 Rxa4 25. Rad1 $11))
22... Nf5 23. Qf3 Nfe7 24. Bd3 Ng6 25. g3 Qg5 26. Qe4 h5 (26... Qd2 27. Qd4 $16
) 27. Rcd1 (27. h4 $142 Qh6 28. Red1 $18) 27... Ndf4 $2 (27... h4 $142 $16) 28.
Bc1 $18 Nh3+ (28... Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Nxd3 30. Qxd3 Nxe5 31. Qe3 Qxe3 32. Rxe3 $18
(32. fxe3 $6 Nd3 $11)) 29. Kg2 Rxc1 (29... Qg4 30. Be3 $18) 30. Rxc1 (30. Kxh3
$6 {is clearly weaker} Qg4+ 31. Kg2 Rxd1 32. Qxg4 hxg4 33. Rxd1 Nxe5 $11) 30...
Nhf4+ 31. Kh1 Nh3 (31... Nxd3 32. Qxd3 h4 $18) 32. Qg2 {White threatens to win
material: Qg2xh3} (32. Rc2 $142 {keeps an even firmer grip} h4 $18) 32... Nhf4
$4 (32... Ngf4 $142 {would hold out} 33. gxf4 Qxg2+ 34. Kxg2 Nxf4+ 35. Kf3 Nxd3
$11) 33. Qf3 (33. Qf1 {seems even better} Nxd3 34. Qxd3 Rd8 $18) 33... Nh3 (
33... Nxd3 34. Qxd3 Nxe5 35. Qb5 $18) 34. Bf1 Qg4 (34... Nxe5 35. Qe2 Nd3 36.
Bxh3 Nxc1 37. Qc2 $18) 35. Qg2 Ng5 36. f4 Nh7 37. Qe2 (37. Be2 {and White can
already relax} Qf5 $18) 37... Qf5 (37... Ne7 {doesn't change the outcome of
the game} 38. Qxg4 hxg4 39. Bg2 $18) 38. Qe4 Qg4 39. Rc3 h4 40. h3 Qf5 41. Qxf5
exf5 42. Kg2 hxg3 (42... Rd8 {is no salvation} 43. Rb1 Nhf8 44. Rxb6 $18) 43.
Kxg3 Ra8 44. Bb5 Nhf8 45. Rec1 Kh7 (45... Rd8 {is not much help} 46. Rc8 Rd2
47. Bc4 $18) 46. Rc8 Rxc8 47. Rxc8 Ne6 48. Rc4 (48. Bd3 $5 {makes it even
easier for White} Nexf4 49. Bxf5 Kh6 $18) 48... Ne7 49. Bd7 Nc5 50. Rxc5 (50.
a5 $142 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} g5 51. fxg5 Kg6 $18) 50... bxc5 51. a5
Kg6 (51... c4 $18 {desperation}) 52. a6 Nd5 53. a7 Nb6 (53... Nc7 $18 {a last
effort to resist the inevitable}) 54. Bc6 c4 55. Kf3 (55. Kf3 c3 56. Ke2 $18)
1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Kawamura, Takuto"]
[Black "Yoshii, Yukihiko"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E08"]
[WhiteElo "1745"]
[BlackElo "1771"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{E08: Closed Catalan: Main Line: 7 Qc2} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7
5. Bg2 Nbd7 6. Qc2 c6 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 h6 (8... a5 9. Nbd2 b6 10. e4 Bb7 11.
Bb2 Rc8 12. Rfe1 Qc7 13. Rad1 Rfd8 14. Qb1 Qb8 15. Ng5 dxc4 16. Nxc4 {1/2-1/2 
(16) Sosonko,G (2450)-Petrosian,T (2640) Nice 1974}) (8... dxc4 9. Qxc4 Qa5 10.
Bb2 Bd6 11. Nbd2 e5 12. Qc2 Qc7 13. Nc4 exd4 14. Nxd4 Nb6 15. Nxd6 Qxd6 16.
Rad1 Qe7 17. Nf5 Bxf5 18. Qxf5 Rad8 19. e4 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 Rd8 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.
Qa5 Qd1+ 23. Bf1 {Ebner,H (2300)-Laschet,E (2275) Frohnleiten 1998 1/2-1/2 (51)
}) 9. Ba3 $146 (9. Bb2 b6 10. Nbd2 Bb7 11. Rac1 c5 12. Qb1 dxc4 13. Nxc4 b5 14.
Ncd2 Qb6 15. Rfd1 {1/2-1/2 (15) Jasnikowski,Z (2440)-Robak,Z (2350) Augustow
1996}) (9. Nc3 b6 $14) 9... Bxa3 $11 10. Nxa3 Qc7 11. Qb2 Ne4 (11... b6 12.
Rac1 $11) 12. Rac1 $14 a6 {Consolidates b5} 13. Nc2 Re8 14. Nce1 (14. Ne3 Qd8
$16) 14... f6 {Controls e5+g5} (14... a5 15. Nd2 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 $14) 15. Nd3 $16
Qd6 16. Rfd1 Nf8 17. e3 Ng6 18. Qc2 Ne7 19. Nf4 Bd7 20. Bh3 Kf7 21. cxd5 (21.
Nd2 Ng5 22. Bg4 e5 23. Bh5+ Kg8 24. Bxe8 Rxe8 $16) 21... exd5 (21... cxd5 22.
Nd2 Ng5 23. Bg2 $14) 22. Bxd7 (22. Ne5+ $1 fxe5 23. dxe5 Qxe5 24. Bxd7 $14)
22... Qxd7 $11 23. Nd3 Rab8 $4 {throws away a nice position} (23... Nf5 $142
$11 {is the best chance}) 24. Nfe5+ $1 $18 {the death sentence} (24. Nfe5+ fxe5
25. Nxe5+ Ke6 26. Nxd7 Kxd7 27. f3 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Honda, Yoshiki"]
[Black "Nakamura, Mitsuru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "1828"]
[BlackElo "1603"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C47: Scotch Four Knights and Four Knights with 4 g3} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O h6 9. e5 (9. Bd2 Re8
10. Re1 d6 11. a3 Bc5 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Rxe3 a5 14. h3 Ba6 15. Rb1 Bxd3 16. Qxd3
Nd7 17. Qe2 Qf6 18. Qf3 Qxf3 19. Rxf3 Nf6 20. Re3 Rab8 21. b3 c5 22. Kf1 a4 23.
Nxa4 Rxe4 {Tamin,U (2151)-Sutarno (2251) Jakarta 2013 1/2-1/2}) 9... Bxc3 10.
bxc3 Nd5 $146 (10... Nh7 11. Qh5 Re8 12. Bxh6 gxh6 13. Qxh6 Nf8 14. f4 Re6 15.
Qh5 Rg6 16. Bxg6 fxg6 17. Qg4 Qe7 18. f5 Qxe5 19. Rae1 Qc5+ 20. Kh1 d6 21. Re7
Bxf5 22. Qg5 Qxc3 23. h4 Bxc2 24. Rff7 Ne6 25. Qh6 {Pomar Salamanca,A (2425)
-Westerinen,H (2465) Nice 1974 1/2-1/2}) 11. Qh5 (11. c4 $142 Nb4 12. Rb1 $16)
11... Ne7 $2 (11... d6 $142 $5 $14 {should be examined more closely}) 12. Re1
Rb8 $2 (12... a5 $142 $16) 13. Bxh6 $1 $18 {Boing!} gxh6 (13... Ng6 14. Bg5 Qe8
$18) 14. Qxh6 Ng6 (14... f5 15. exf6 Rxf6 16. Qxf6 Qf8 17. Bh7+ Kxh7 18. Qxf8
Ng6 19. Qf7+ Kh6 $18) 15. Bxg6 fxg6 16. Qxg6+ Kh8 17. Re3 (17. Qh6+ Kg8 18. Re3
$18) 17... d5 $4 (17... Qh4 18. Kh1 d5 $18 (18... Rxf2 $2 {doesn't solve
anything} 19. Rg3 Qxg3 20. Qxg3 $18)) 18. e6 (18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Rg3+ Bg4 20.
Rxg4+ Qg5 21. Rxg5#) 18... Bxe6 (18... Qh4 {a fruitless try to alter the
course of the game} 19. Rg3 Qh7 20. e7 $18) 19. Qxe6 (19. Qh6+ Kg8 20. Rg3+ Bg4
21. Rxg4+ Qg5 22. Rxg5+ Kf7 23. Re1 Rfe8 24. Qg7#) 19... Qf6 (19... Rf6 {
does not win a prize} 20. Rh3+ Kg7 21. Rg3+ Kh7 22. Qe5 $18) 20. Qh3+ (20. Qh3+
Kg8 21. Rg3+ Qg7 22. Rxg7+ Kxg7 23. Qg4+ Kf6 24. Qd7 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "kuramoto, koutarou"]
[Black "Shishido, Kenta"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "1757"]
[BlackElo "1431"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A47: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 b6: Torre, London and Colle Systems} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6
3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Nbd2 d6 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. h3 (7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c3 Nxf4 9. exf4
g6 10. h4 Nf6 11. Ne4 Bg7 12. g3 Qd7 13. a4 O-O 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Be4 c5 16.
O-O cxd4 17. cxd4 Rac8 18. a5 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Qb5 20. axb6 axb6 21. Rfd1 Rc4 {
Stripunsky,A (2563)-Benjamin,J (2552) ICC INT 2011 1/2-1/2 (76)}) 7... Be7 (
7... Qe7 8. Bg3 g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. a4 a6 11. a5 b5 12. c4 e5 13. dxe5 dxe5 14.
Be2 b4 15. Qc2 Nh5 16. Bh4 Bf6 17. Bxf6 Nhxf6 18. c5 Nxc5 19. Rfc1 Nfd7 20. Nb3
Nxb3 21. Qxb3 c5 22. Bc4 {Khotenashvili,B (2504)-Cramling,P (2518) Beijing
2014 0-1 (69)}) 8. c3 a6 $146 {Prevents intrusion on b5} (8... O-O 9. Qe2 Re8
10. Bh2 Bf8 11. e4 e5 12. d5 a5 13. Bb5 Re7 14. a4 g6 15. g4 Bg7 16. Bg3 Nb8
17. Bd3 Ba6 18. Bxa6 Nxa6 19. Nh2 Nc5 20. h4 Qc8 21. f3 Qa6 22. Qxa6 Rxa6 23.
Ke2 {Rakhmanov,A (2473)-Kiselev,V (2277) playchess.com INT 2006 1-0 (100)}) (
8... c5 9. O-O $14) 9. O-O $16 c5 (9... O-O 10. e4 $14) 10. Qe2 (10. Ng5 O-O
$14) 10... b5 (10... Qc7 11. a4 $14) 11. e4 (11. a4 $5 c4 12. Bc2 $16) 11... c4
{Black gets more space} 12. Bc2 h6 {Secures g5} 13. e5 (13. b3 cxb3 14. axb3
Qc7 $16) 13... dxe5 $14 14. dxe5 Nd5 15. Bh2 O-O 16. Qe4 g6 17. Qg4 h5 {
Black threatens to win material: h5xg4} 18. Qg3 Kg7 (18... Nc5 $5 $11) 19. Nd4
Bg5 $4 (19... Nc5 $142 {and Black is still in the game} 20. Ne4 Nxe4 21. Bxe4
Qb6 $14) 20. h4 {Deflection: f8} Bxd2 (20... Bxh4 21. Nxe6+ {Deflection}) 21.
Nxe6+ $1 {Deflection: g6} Kh6 (21... fxe6 22. Qxg6+ {Mate attack Deflection})
22. Nxd8 Raxd8 23. e6 $1 {Deflection: g6} Bf4 (23... fxe6 24. Qxg6# {Mate
attack Deflection}) 24. Qf3 (24. Qxf4+ $142 {makes sure everything is clear}
Nxf4 25. Bxf4+ (25. exd7 $6 {is a weaker possibility} Ne2+ 26. Kh1 Rxd7 $14)
25... Kg7 26. e7 $18) 24... fxe6 25. Bxf4+ (25. Qe4 {seems even better} Bxh2+
26. Kxh2 Rf5 $18) 25... Rxf4 26. Qe2 e5 (26... Rxh4 27. Qxe6 Rg4 $18) 27. Rad1
Rxh4 (27... Kg7 $18 {the only chance to get some counterplay}) 28. Rxd5 $1 {
Decoy: d5} Bxd5 29. Qd2+ g5 (29... Rf4 {what else?} 30. g3 Nf6 31. gxf4 e4 $18)
30. Qxd5 Rg4 31. Bf5 (31. Qe6+ Kg7 32. Qe7+ Kg8 33. Qxd8+ Nf8 34. Qd5+ Ne6 35.
Qxe6+ Kf8 36. Bg6 Rf4 37. Rd1 b4 38. Rd7 Rxf2 39. Qe8#) 31... Rf4 32. Bxd7 (32.
Bxd7 Rdf8 33. Qxe5 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Miyatani, Ryouhei"]
[Black "Takeuchi, Hiroshi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "1672"]
[BlackElo "1629"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B08: Pirc Defence: Classical System} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7
5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O e5 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 (9. Bc4 Re8 10. Ng5 Rf8
11. f4 Nbd7 12. Nb5 Ne8 13. f5 gxf5 14. Rxf5 c6 15. Bxf7+ Rxf7 16. Nxf7 cxb5
17. Nh6+ Kh8 18. Be3 a5 19. Nf7+ Kg8 20. Nh6+ Bxh6 21. Bxh6 Ra6 22. Bd2 Nd6 23.
Rg5+ Kf7 {Alvarez Fernandez,E (2355)-Navarrete Espi,S (2245) Linares 2014 1-0 
(49)}) 9... Re8 10. Rfd1 Bg4 (10... Bd7 11. Rd2 Bc6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Rad1 a5
14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Rxd5 c6 16. Rd6 Kg7 17. c3 b5 18. g3 Ra7 19. Kg2 Rc7 20. a3
Be7 21. R6d2 f6 22. Ne1 Rcc8 23. b4 axb4 24. axb4 Rcd8 25. Ra2 {Sokolov,A 
(2600)-Khalifman,A (2530) Moscow 1988 1/2-1/2 (74)}) 11. Bxf6 $146 (11. h3 Bxf3
12. Bxf3 c6 13. Rd6 Nfd7 14. Rad1 Nc5 15. Rd8 {1/2-1/2 (15) Stohl,I (2600)
-Manik,M (2447) Presov 1999}) (11. h3 Bc8 $16) 11... Bxf6 $14 {Black has the
pair of bishops} 12. h3 {White threatens to win material: h3xg4} Be6 13. Nd5
Bxd5 14. Rxd5 ({Inferior is} 14. exd5 Nd7 $11) 14... Nc6 15. Bb5 Red8 (15...
Re6 16. Rd7 a6 17. Ba4 $14) 16. Bxc6 $16 bxc6 17. Rxd8+ (17. Rc5 Rab8 $16)
17... Rxd8 $14 18. Kf1 Bg7 19. Ke2 f6 {Covers g5} 20. Rd1 Rxd1 21. Kxd1 {
A minor pieces endgame occured} Kf7 22. Ke2 Bh6 23. Ne1 Ke6 24. Kd3 Bf8 25. Kc4
h6 26. Nd3 f5 27. f4 (27. Nc5+ $5 Ke7 28. b4 $16) 27... fxe4 $11 28. Nxe5 {
White forks: c6+g6} Kf5 29. Kd4 $4 {letting the wind out of his own sails} (29.
g3 c5 30. Ng4 c6 $11) 29... Bd6 (29... Bg7 $142 {would have given Black the
upper hand} 30. Ke3 Bxe5 31. fxe5 Kxe5 $19) 30. Nxc6 $11 Kxf4 31. Nxa7 (31. h4
$142 $11) 31... Kg3 $4 {Black threatens to win material: Kg3xg2. gives the
opponent counterplay} (31... Be5+ $142 32. Kc4 Bxb2 $17) 32. Nb5 Bf4 (32... e3
33. Kxe3 (33. Nxd6 $4 {would be gruesome error} e2 34. Ne4+ Kxg2 $19) 33...
Bc5+ 34. Ke4 $18) 33. Kxe4 g5 (33... Bd2 34. Nxc7 Kxg2 35. c4 $18) 34. a4 c6 $2
(34... c5 35. a5 Kxg2 36. h4 $18) 35. Nd4 Bc7 (35... Kxg2 36. a5 (36. Nxc6 $6
Kxh3 37. a5 Bc7 $18) 36... Bc7 37. b4 Kxh3 38. a6 $18) 36. Kf5 Kxg2 37. Kg4 Bf4
(37... c5 38. Nc6 Kf2 39. a5 $18) 38. Ne6 (38. a5 {might be the shorter path}
h5+ 39. Kxh5 Bc7 $18) 38... Bd2 (38... Be3 39. a5 Ba7 40. c3 $18) 39. c3 Be3 (
39... h5+ {cannot change destiny} 40. Kxh5 Kxh3 41. Nxg5+ Kg3 42. Ne4+ Kf4 43.
Nxd2 $18) 40. b4 (40. a5 Ba7 41. Nd4 $18) 40... h5+ (40... Bb6 $18 {is still a
small chance}) 41. Kxh5 Kxh3 (41... Ba7 {cannot change what is in store for
White} 42. a5 Kg3 43. Kxg5 $18) 42. Nxg5+ (42. Nxg5+ Kg3 43. Ne6 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Furuse, Mizuki"]
[Black "Aoki, Yasuhiro"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A24"]
[WhiteElo "1588"]
[BlackElo "1731"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A24: English Opening vs King's Indian: Lines without ...Nc6} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3
g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. c4 d6 6. d3 c6 7. Nc3 e5 8. Rb1 Nbd7 9. b4 Qc7 (
9... d5 10. b5 dxc4 11. dxc4 Qa5 12. Qb3 Re8 13. Ng5 Nb8 14. Nce4 Qc7 15. Ba3
Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Rd8 17. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 18. Rxd1 cxb5 19. cxb5 Nd7 20. Rc1 {1-0 (20)
Vidit,S (2565)-Narayanan,S (2483) Kocaeli 2013}) 10. b5 Nc5 11. bxc6 bxc6 12.
Na4 $146 (12. Ba3 Nfd7 13. Nd2 f5 14. Nb5 cxb5 15. Bxa8 Nb6 16. Bg2 Nba4 17.
Qc2 e4 18. dxe4 Nc3 19. Rbe1 fxe4 20. Nb1 Nxb1 21. Rxb1 Bf5 22. g4 Bxg4 23.
Bxc5 dxc5 24. Qxe4 Bf5 25. Qd5+ Kh8 26. Rxb5 Be5 {Leer Salvesen,B (2261)
-Ornstein,P (2223) Gausdal 2000 1-0}) (12. Be3 Ne6 $14) 12... Ne6 $11 13. Bd2
Bd7 14. Nc3 Rfb8 15. Rxb8+ Rxb8 16. Qc2 d5 17. cxd5 cxd5 {Black has an active
position.} 18. Rc1 d4 {Black threatens to win material: d4xc3} 19. Ne4 Qxc2 20.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 21. Rxc2 Rb1+ 22. Rc1 Rxc1+ (22... Rb2 23. a3 $15) 23. Bxc1 $11 {
A minor pieces endgame occured} Bg7 24. Ba3 f6 {Secures g5} 25. Nd2 Nc7 {
[%cal Yd5c3,Yc7d5,Ye6c7] The knight aims for Ne6-c7-d5-c3} 26. Bc5 Be6 27. a4
a6 28. Bd6 {White threatens to win material: Bd6xc7} (28. f4 exf4 29. gxf4 f5
$11) 28... Nd5 29. Ne4 Nc3 {Black threatens to win material: Nc3xa4. Black
forks: a4+e2. Black can be proud of that piece} 30. Nc5 {White threatens to
win material: Nc5xe6. White forks: a6+e6} Bc8 (30... Nxe2+ $2 {doesn't work
because of} 31. Kf1 Bg4 32. h3 Nxg3+ 33. fxg3 $18) 31. Bf3 Bf8 32. Bxf8 Kxf8
33. a5 Ke7 34. Nb3 $2 (34. Kf1 $142 $11 {and White could well hope to play on})
34... Kd6 $17 35. Kf1 Be6 36. Nd2 Bd5 (36... Kc5 $142 $5 37. Ba8 Kb4 $17) 37.
Bxd5 $15 Kxd5 {A knight endgame occured} 38. Nc4 Na2 39. Ke1 Nb4 40. Nb6+ Kc6
41. Nc4 Kb5 42. Nb6 (42. g4 $5 $15 {is an interesting alternative}) 42... Kxa5
$17 43. Nd7 Nd5 44. Nf8 $2 (44. Kd2 $142 $17) 44... Kb4 $19 45. Kd2 Kb3 46. Kc1
(46. f4 exf4 47. Ne6 Kb2 48. Nxd4 a5 49. gxf4 a4 $19) 46... Nc3 (46... a5 $5 {
keeps an even firmer grip} 47. Ne6 a4 48. Nc5+ Kb4 49. Nd7 $19) 47. e3 a5 48.
exd4 exd4 49. Ne6 Nb5 50. Kd2 $4 {leading to a quick end} (50. Nc5+ Kc3 $19)
50... a4 (50... Kb2 $142 {ends the debate} 51. Nc5 Nc3 $19) 51. Nc5+ Kb4 52.
Na6+ Ka5 53. Nc5 (53. Nb8 $19) 53... a3 (53... Nc7 $142 $19 {Black has a
promising position}) 54. Kc2 $17 Kb4 55. Na6+ Ka4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.7"]
[White "Ito, Katsuhide"]
[Black "Sugimoto, Koichi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B70"]
[WhiteElo "1389"]
[BlackElo "1908"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B70: Sicilian Dragon: 6 g3 and 6 Be2 (without a later Be3)} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Bb3 Nc6 9. Nxc6 (9.
h3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 b5 11. e5 dxe5 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Nxb5 a6 14. Nc3 e6 15. Be3
Nd5 16. Rad1 Bb7 17. Bg5 f6 18. Bd2 a5 19. a4 Bf8 20. Nb5 Bc5 21. c4 Nf4 22.
Bxf4 exf4 23. Nc7 Rxd1 {Kuzmin,G (2525)-Golubev,M (2495) Nikolaev 1993 1-0 (32)
}) 9... bxc6 10. h3 $146 {Controls g4} (10. Re1 Nd7 11. Be3 a5 12. Qd2 Qc7 13.
Rad1 Nb6 14. a4 Ba6 15. Bh6 c5 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Rab8 19.
Qc3+ Kg8 20. e5 dxe5 21. Rxe5 e6 22. Bf3 {1/2-1/2 (22) Andres Gonzalez,I (2354)
-Gonzalez Perez,A (2480) Caldas da Rainha 2014}) (10. Qe2 a5 11. Rd1 Ba6 12.
Qe1 Qc7 13. f3 Nd7 14. Be3 Ne5 15. Rac1 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Bxc4 17. b3 Ba6 18. Na4
Bb5 19. Nb6 Rab8 20. c4 Ba6 21. Qxa5 c5 22. Qxa6 Rxb6 23. Qa5 Qb7 24. Qe1 Ra8 {
Taimanov,M (2515)-Afek,Y (2335) Tel Aviv 1990 1-0 (71)}) (10. Bf4 a5 11. a4 Nd7
12. Re1 Rb8 13. Qd2 Nc5 14. Ra3 Be6 15. Bxe6 Nxe6 16. Bh6 Rxb2 17. Bxg7 Nxg7
18. Nd1 Rb1 19. Qh6 e5 20. Rh3 Nh5 21. g4 Qd7 22. Rh4 Qe7 23. Rh3 Nf6 24. Kg2
Rfb8 {Bukvic,M (2155)-Georgiev,K (2682) Cetinje 2012 0-1 (47)}) 10... Qa5 11.
Re1 Nd7 12. a3 (12. Be3 Ba6 $11) 12... Nc5 13. Ba2 Qb6 14. Bg5 $4 (14. Rb1 Rb8
$11) 14... Re8 (14... Qxb2 $5 {might be the shorter path} 15. Ne2 Nxe4 16. Be3
Qxa1 17. Qxa1 Bxa1 18. Rxa1 $19) 15. Qd2 $4 (15. Rb1 $142 $11 {the only
rescuing move}) 15... Qxb2 $19 16. Nd5 (16. e5 Bxe5 17. Rxe5 dxe5 18. Re1 $19)
16... cxd5 17. Qxd5 (17. Bxd5 {the last chance for counterplay} Rb8 18. Qe3 $19
) 17... Be6 18. Bb3 (18. Qd2 {does not solve anything} Bxa2 19. c3 Qxd2 20.
Bxd2 Bc4 $19) 18... Bxd5 19. exd5 Nxb3 20. cxb3 Qxa1 21. Rxa1 Bxa1 22. Be3 a6
23. b4 Rab8 24. Bc1 Rec8 (24... Rec8 25. Bg5 Bf6 $19) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.8"]
[White "Kramskoy, Damir"]
[Black "Uematsu, Maya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B18"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B18: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5 sidelines} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4.
Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bf5 6. Nf3 e6 (6... h6 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 e6 9. Bd2 Nbd7 10.
O-O-O Qc7 11. Kb1 O-O-O 12. Rhe1 Bd6 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qe2 Nd7 16.
c4 Rhe8 17. Bc3 Nf6 18. b4 Kb8 19. Qb2 Ka8 20. Qe2 Qe7 21. a3 {Dobrijevic,M 
(2193)-Zivkovic,V (2203) Valjevo 2011 1/2-1/2 (58)}) 7. Bd3 (7. h3 Bd6 8. Bd3
Bg6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Re1 Qc7 11. Qe2 Bh5 12. Qe3 O-O-O 13. Ne5 Nb6 14. a3 Bg6
15. Qf3 Bh5 16. Qg3 Rhg8 17. Qh4 Bg6 18. Bg5 Bxd3 19. cxd3 Qe7 20. Ng4 h6 21.
Bxf6 gxf6 {Velickovic,S (2420)-Hodgson,J (2510) London 1987 0-1 (50)}) 7...
Bxd3 $146 (7... Bg6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qd2 Nd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxd5
cxd5 {1/2-1/2 (12) Voboril,P (2155)-Pithart,F (2280) Prague 1989}) 8. Qxd3 {
Black is behind in developement} Bd6 9. Ne4 O-O (9... Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Nd7 11. O-O
$11) 10. Bg5 $14 Be7 {Black has a cramped position} 11. Qb3 $4 {gives the
opponent counterplay} (11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. O-O-O Nd7 $14) 11... b6 (11... Nxe4 {
makes it even easier for Black} 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. O-O $19) 12. O-O $4 {White
lets it slip away} (12. Bxf6 $142 {saving the game} Bxf6 13. O-O $14) 12...
Nxe4 $19 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Rae1 Nf6 15. c4 Nbd7 16. d5 (16. Re3 $19 {
desperation}) 16... cxd5 17. cxd5 e5 (17... Nc5 {seems even better} 18. Qc4
exd5 19. Qb5 $19) 18. Qd1 (18. Nd4 {doesn't get the cat off the tree} g6 $19)
18... Rfe8 (18... Qd6 {seems even better} 19. Ng5 $19) 19. d6 Qe6 20. Ng5 (20.
Nxe5 {cannot change destiny} Nxe5 21. f4 Qc4 22. Rxe5 Rxe5 23. fxe5 Qc5+ 24.
Kh1 Qxe5 $19) 20... Qxa2 21. Re2 (21. Qd2 {cannot undo what has already been
done} Nc5 22. Re3 h6 $19) 21... h6 22. Nf3 Qd5 {[%cal Ye5e4] Black prepares e4}
(22... e4 $5 {and Black can already relax} 23. Nd4 Qd5 24. Nc2 $19) 23. Qxd5
Nxd5 24. Rd1 N5f6 25. h3 (25. Nd2 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} Re6
26. Nb1 Nc5 $19) 25... a5 26. Rde1 (26. Nd2 {doesn't improve anything} Re6 27.
Nb1 Rd8 $19) 26... e4 27. Nd4 Nc5 28. Nc6 (28. Rd1 {doesn't get the bull off
the ice} Rad8 29. Nb5 Re5 $19) 28... Re6 29. Ne7+ (29. Rd1 {doesn't change
anything anymore} Nd3 30. Ne7+ Kh7 $19) 29... Kh7 30. Nf5 Nd3 (30... g6 {
makes it even easier for Black} 31. Ne3 $19) 31. Rb1 a4 32. b3 (32. Rd1 {
a fruitless try to alter the course of the game} Ra5 33. g4 g6 $19) 32... a3
33. Ra1 b5 34. Re3 (34. Nd4 {does not solve anything} Re5 $19) 34... Nf4 (34...
Nd5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 35. Re2 Nc3 36. Rd2 $19) 35. f3 (35. Nd4 {
cannot change what is in store for White} Re5 36. Kf1 Rd5 $19) 35... b4 36. Ra2
(36. fxe4 {is no salvation} Nxe4 37. Nd4 Nd5 $19) 36... N4d5 37. Ree2 (37. Re1
{does not win a prize} exf3 38. Raa1 Rxe1+ 39. Rxe1 a2 $19) 37... Nc3 38. Nd4
Ree8 (38... Rxd6 $142 {and Black wins} 39. Ra1 Rxd4 40. Ree1 $19) 39. Rec2 Nxa2
40. Rxa2 e3 41. Kf1 Nd5 42. Ke2 Nc3+ 43. Ke1 Nxa2 44. d7 (44. Kf1 {does not
improve anything} Nc3 45. d7 Re7 46. Kg1 e2 47. Kh2 a2 48. h4 e1=Q 49. Kh3 Qh1+
50. Kg3 a1=Q 51. d8=Q Qae1+ 52. Kg4 Qhxh4+ 53. Kf5 Qg5#) 44... Re7 45. Nb5 (45.
Kf1 {does not save the day} Nc3 46. Kg1 e2 47. Kh2 a2 48. Nc6 e1=Q 49. d8=R
Rxd8 50. Nd4 Qe5+ 51. f4 Qxf4+ 52. g3 Qf2+ 53. Kh1 a1=Q#) 45... Rd8 46. Nxa3 (
46. Nd4 {doesn't do any good} Rexd7 47. Nf5 Rd1+ 48. Ke2 R8d3 49. f4 Nc1+ 50.
Kf3 e2+ 51. Kg4 e1=Q 52. g3 Qe2+ 53. Kh4 g6 54. Ng7 Kxg7 55. f5 g5#) 46... bxa3
47. Kd1 (47. Kf1 {does not help much} Nc3 48. f4 a2 49. g4 a1=Q+ 50. Kg2 Qb2+
51. Kh1 Rexd7 52. Kg1 Rd1#) 47... Rdxd7+ 48. Ke2 (48. Kc2 {doesn't get the
bull off the ice} e2 49. b4 Re3 50. Kb1 Nxb4 51. Kc1 e1=Q#) 48... Nc3+ 49. Kf1
(49. Ke1 {is not the saving move} Rd1#) 49... Rd1# 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "4.9"]
[White "Denta, Seiichi"]
[Black "Ono, Yukiko"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C55"]
[BlackElo "1000"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C55: Two Knights: 4 d3, 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 and Max Lange Attack} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3
Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 d6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Ng5 $146 {White threatens to win
material: Ng5xf7} (6. Ne2 Be6 7. Bb3 (7. Ng3 Bxc4 8. dxc4 Ne7 9. Qe2 O-O 10.
Bg5 Ne8 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nf5 Qf6 13. h4 g6 14. Nh6+ Kg7 15. Ng4 Qf4 16. Ng5
Nf6 17. Nxf6 Qxf6 18. Nf3 h5 19. O-O-O Qe7 20. Rdg1 f5 21. exf5 gxf5 {
Lagvilava,G (2284)-Zagorskaya,T (2164) Belarus 2002 1-0 (44)}) 7... Bb6 8. c3
d5 9. Qc2 Qd6 10. Ng3 O-O-O 11. O-O h6 12. Bd2 g5 13. Ba4 dxe4 14. Bxc6 exf3
15. Bxf3 Qxd3 16. Qxd3 Rxd3 17. Rfd1 Rhd8 18. Be1 Rxd1 19. Bxd1 Nd5 20. Bc2 Nf4
{Blackburne,J-Teichmann,R Ostend 1907 0-1}) (6. Bb3 a6 7. Be3 Nd4 8. Bxd4 exd4
9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 c6 11. Bb3 Bb4+ 12. c3 dxc3 13. Bxf7+ Kf8 14. O-O cxb2 15.
Rb1 Qf6 16. Qb3 a5 17. a3 Qxf7 18. Qxf7+ Kxf7 19. axb4 axb4 20. Rxb2 c5 {
Kalata,P (2198)-Rachela,M (2395) Slovakia 2011 1/2-1/2 (38)}) (6. Nd5 Nxd5 7.
exd5 Ne7 8. a3 Bg4 9. O-O Nf5 10. h3 h5 11. Bb5+ c6 12. dxc6 Kf8 13. cxb7 Rb8
14. Bc6 Qb6 15. Be4 Ng3 16. hxg4 hxg4 17. Nh2 Nxf1 18. Qxf1 g3 19. Ng4 gxf2+
20. Nxf2 Bxf2+ {Morales Camacho,J (2210)-Garriga Nualart,J (2340) Malgrat del
Mar 1998 0-1}) (6. Bg5 Be6 $11) 6... O-O 7. O-O (7. h3 $142 $11) 7... Re8 $4 {
ruins a clearly superior position} (7... Bg4 $142 8. Nf3 Nd4 $17) 8. Bxf7+ (8.
Nxf7 $5 {and White can already relax} Qe7 9. Nxd6+ Be6 10. Nxe8 Qxe8 $18) 8...
Kf8 (8... Kh8 9. Bxe8 Qxe8 10. Nd5 $18) 9. Bxe8 Qxe8 10. Nd5 Qg6 11. Nxf6 (11.
Nxc7 $142 $5 {might be the shorter path} Bg4 12. Qe1 Rc8 13. Nce6+ Kg8 14. Nxc5
dxc5 $18) 11... gxf6 12. Be3 (12. Be3 fxg5 13. c3 $17) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Kawamura, Takuto"]
[Black "Dryglas, Maciej"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "1745"]
[BlackElo "2135"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A43: Schmid Benoni} 1. d4 c5 2. d5 f5 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nf3 (5. g3 d6 6.
Nh3 Nbd7 7. Nf4 Ne5 8. Bg2 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. b3 a6 11. a4 Qe8 12. a5 g5 13.
Nd3 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Qh5 15. f4 Bd7 16. Rb1 gxf4 17. gxf4 Kf7 18. b4 Rac8 19. bxc5
Rxc5 {Belozerov,A (2450)-Rowson,J (2490) Tallinn 1997 0-1 (35)}) 5... Bg7 6.
Bf4 Qb6 $146 {Black threatens to win material: Qb6xb2} (6... d6 7. Qc2 O-O 8.
e3 h6 (8... Qa5 9. Nd2 a6 10. Be2 Bd7 11. O-O b5 12. a3 Qb6 13. b4 Rc8 14. Rab1
cxb4 15. Rxb4 a5 16. Rbb1 b4 17. Qa2 Na6 18. Rfc1 Rab8 19. Nd1 Nc5 20. Nb3 Nxb3
21. Qxb3 Ne4 22. axb4 Nd2 23. Qc2 {Nguyen,T (2248)-Tu,H (2414) Ho Chi Minh
City 2015 0-1 (51)}) 9. h3 Na6 10. Nd2 Bd7 11. a3 Nc7 12. Be2 Kh8 13. O-O Qe8
14. Bh2 g5 15. Bd3 Ng8 16. Rae1 Qh5 17. Nf3 Nf6 18. e4 g4 19. hxg4 fxg4 20. Nd2
e5 21. dxe6 {Sharevich,A (2250)-Agapov,S (2232) Serpukhov 2003 1-0 (34)}) 7.
Nb5 d6 {Prevents intrusion on e5} 8. Qc1 (8. a4 Qa5+ 9. Bd2 Qd8 $11) 8... Ne4 (
8... Nxd5 9. Nxd6+ exd6 10. cxd5 Bxb2 11. Qe3+ Kd7 12. Rd1 $17) 9. Nd2 Nf6 (
9... a6 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 $17) 10. Nc3 e5 11. dxe6 Bxe6 {Black has a new
backward pawn: d6} 12. Nb5 (12. e3 $5 $11 {should not be overlooked}) 12... O-O
$17 13. Bxd6 (13. Nxd6 $2 Nh5 14. Nb3 Nd7 $19) 13... Re8 (13... Rf7 14. Bf4 Nh5
15. Bxb8 Rxb8 16. e3 $17) 14. Be5 (14. Bg3 $5 $15 {should be investigated more
closely}) 14... Nbd7 $17 15. Bc3 Bf7 16. e3 $2 (16. Qc2 $142 $17) 16... f4 $19
17. Nf3 (17. Be2 fxe3 18. fxe3 Rxe3 $19) 17... fxe3 18. fxe3 Bh6 19. Bd2 (19.
Be2 a6 20. Na3 Bxe3 $19) 19... Ne4 20. Be2 Ne5 (20... Rad8 $142 {and Black can
already relax} 21. Nc3 Nxd2 22. Qxd2 Bxe3 23. Qc2 $19) 21. Nxe5 $2 (21. O-O Ng4
22. Qb1 a6 $19) 21... Rxe5 22. Bc3 (22. Rf1 {is the last straw} Rae8 23. Rf3
Nxd2 24. Qxd2 Bxe3 25. Qd6 $19) 22... Nxc3 23. Qxc3 (23. Nxc3 {hoping against
hope} Bxe3 24. Qc2 $19) 23... Rxe3 24. Qc2 Rae8 25. Nc3 (25. O-O {is not the
saving move} Rxe2 26. Qc3 R8e3 $19) 25... Bxc4 (25... Qf6 $142 {nails it down}
26. Rf1 Qh4+ 27. Rf2 Qxh2 $19) 26. O-O Bxe2 27. Nd5 Qe6 (27... Qc6 $5 {keeps
an even firmer grip} 28. Nf6+ Kh8 29. Nxe8 Bxf1 30. Rxf1 Rxe8 31. b3 $19) 28.
Nf6+ Kh8 29. Nxe8 Bxf1 30. Rxf1 Qxe8 31. Qxc5 Re2 32. Qc3+ (32. Qd4+ {hardly
improves anything} Bg7 33. Qxa7 h5 $19) 32... Bg7 33. Qa3 (33. Qd3 {is not
much help} Rxb2 34. a3 h5 $19) 33... Qe3+ (33... Bd4+ $142 {and Black wins} 34.
Kh1 Rf2 35. Rg1 $19) 34. Qxe3 Rxe3 35. Rf7 Bd4 (35... Re2 $142 $5 {keeps an
even firmer grip} 36. Rxb7 Bd4+ 37. Kf1 Rf2+ 38. Ke1 Rxg2 39. Rb4 Bf2+ 40. Ke2
Rxh2 41. Kf3 $19) 36. Kf1 b5 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Miyatani, Ryouhei"]
[Black "Honda, Yoshiki"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "1672"]
[BlackElo "1828"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B52: Sicilian: Moscow Variation with 3...Bd7} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7
4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nf6 8. Nc3 g6 9. b3 Bg7 10. Bb2 O-O
11. O-O Rad8 (11... a6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Re1 Qa7 14. Qe2 Nd7 15. Rad1 Nc5 16.
h4 a5 17. h5 Rfb8 18. Qd2 a4 19. h6 Bf8 20. Nxa4 Nxa4 21. bxa4 Qxa4 22. Qc3 f6
23. Rxd6 Qb4 24. Rd2 Bxh6 25. Rd8+ Kf7 26. Qxb4 {Ganguly,S (2619)-Al Sayed,M 
(2505) Dubai 2014 1-0 (52)}) (11... e6 12. Re1 Rfd8 13. Rc1 a6 14. Na4 Qc7 15.
Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Qf3 Nd7 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Red1 Nf6 19. Nc3 Rab8 20. h3 Qc5 21.
Qf4 Nh5 22. Qd2 Nf6 23. a4 Rbc8 24. Qd4 Qxd4 25. Rxd4 Kf8 26. Rcd1 {Tikkanen,H
(2521)-Akesson,R (2418) Lund 2015 1/2-1/2 (32)}) 12. Nxc6 $146 (12. f3 e6 13.
Nc2 Rfe8 14. Ne3 Qc7 15. Qd2 a6 16. Rac1 Qa5 17. Rfd1 Qg5 18. Qf2 Nh5 19. Na4
Ne5 20. h4 Qf4 21. Bxe5 Qxe5 22. Nc3 Qa5 23. Qc2 Qc5 24. Qd2 Be5 25. Ne2 Ng3
26. Kf2 Nh5 {Tukhaev,A (2288)-Flumbort,A (2281) Artek 1999 0-1 (54)}) 12...
bxc6 13. Qc2 Qb7 14. Nd1 (14. Rad1 $5 $11 {is worth consideration}) 14... d5
$15 15. exd5 cxd5 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Qb2+ Kg8 19. Nc3 (19. Ne3 Nf4
$15) 19... Nxc3 (19... Nf4 $5 20. f3 Rc8 $17) 20. Qxc3 $11 {Black king safety
dropped} Rc8 {Black threatens to win material: Rc8xc3} 21. Qb2 Rfd8 22. Rac1
Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Qd7 24. h3 Qd6 25. b4 Qd2 26. Qxd2 Rxd2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Sugimoto, Koichi"]
[Black "kuramoto, koutarou"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "1908"]
[BlackElo "1757"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A45: Trompowsky Attack} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 (2... a6 3. e4 d6 4. Bg5 c6 5. f4
Qa5 6. Bd3 h6 7. Bxf6 gxf6 8. f5 e5 9. d5 Nd7 10. a3 h5 11. Qf3 Bh6 12. Qf2 Ke7
{1/2-1/2 (12) Dobos,J (2272)-Istvanovszky,K (2266) Hungary 2013}) 3. Bf4 d5
$146 (3... d6 4. Qd2 c6 5. e4 Qa5 6. h3 Nbd7 7. Nf3 e5 8. Be3 Bg7 9. Bd3 O-O
10. O-O Re8 11. Rfe1 b5 12. a3 a6 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Rad1 {1/2-1/2 (14) Berov,A
(2490)-Gipslis,A (2450) Dortmund 1998}) (3... Bg7 4. Qd2 d6 (4... O-O 5. Bh6 d6
6. g3 e5 7. Bxg7 Kxg7 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. O-O-O Qe7 10. Bg2 c6 11. h4 h5 12. Qg5
Qc5 13. Qxf6+ {1-0 (13) Boguszlavszkij,J (2312)-Cherednichenko,S (2255)
Budapest 2007}) 5. f3 Nbd7 6. Bh6 O-O 7. h4 Nh5 8. g4 Ng3 9. Rh3 Nxf1 10. Kxf1
f5 11. h5 fxg4 12. Rh1 Nf6 13. hxg6 hxg6 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qh6+ Kf7 16. Kg2 Bf5
17. e4 gxf3+ 18. Nxf3 {Meszaros,M (2221)-Linczer,J (2205) Hungary 2003 0-1}) 4.
e3 Bg7 5. h4 h5 (5... Nc6 6. Nb5 O-O 7. Nxc7 $11) 6. Nf3 $14 c5 7. Nb5 Na6 8.
c3 {Covers b4} Bd7 9. Ne5 c4 {This push gains space} 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. a4 Ne4 (
11... O-O 12. b3 cxb3 13. Qxb3 $14) 12. g3 (12. f3 Nf6 13. b3 $16) 12... f6 $2
{Consolidates e5+g5} (12... Bh6 13. Bxh6 Rxh6 14. Bg2 $14) 13. Bh3 (13. f3 $5
Nd6 14. Nxd6+ exd6 $18) 13... Qc6 14. f3 e5 $2 (14... Nd6 15. Bxd6 exd6 16. f4
$16) 15. dxe5 (15. fxe4 exf4 16. gxf4 dxe4 $18) 15... fxe5 $2 (15... Nec5 $142
$5 16. exf6 Nd3+ 17. Kf1 Bxf6 $16) 16. fxe4 $18 exf4 17. exd5 Qc5 $2 (17... Qb6
18. exf4 O-O 19. Qe2 $18) 18. gxf4 (18. exf4 $142 {secures the win} Qe3+ 19.
Qe2 Qxe2+ 20. Kxe2 $18) 18... Qxe3+ $16 19. Qe2 Qxe2+ 20. Kxe2 Rf8 (20... Rd8
21. Rhg1 Bf6 22. Be6 $16) 21. Ke3 (21. Rhg1 {makes it even easier for White}
Rf6 22. f5 Kf8 23. fxg6 Re8+ 24. Be6 Rfxe6+ 25. dxe6 Rxe6+ 26. Kf3 Nc5 $18)
21... Nc5 $2 (21... Rd8 $142 22. Rad1 Nc5 $18) 22. Nc7+ Ke7 (22... Kf7 23. Nxa8
Rxa8 24. Rhd1 Re8+ 25. Kf3 $18) 23. Nxa8 Bh6 (23... Rxa8 {doesn't improve
anything} 24. Bf1 Re8 25. Bxc4 Kd8+ 26. Kf3 $18) 24. Kd4 (24. Rag1 {might be
the shorter path} Rf6 25. Kd4 Kd6 $18) 24... Nb3+ 25. Kxc4 Nxa1 26. Rxa1 (26.
d6+ {seems even better} Kd8 27. Rxa1 Rxf4+ 28. Kc5 Rf3 $18) 26... Kd6 (26...
Rxa8 {is not the saving move} 27. Re1+ Kf6 28. Re6+ Kg7 29. f5 gxf5 30. Bxf5
$18) 27. Rf1 {[%cal Yf4f5] White intends f5} (27. Re1 $142 {and White can
celebrate victory} Rf6 28. f5 gxf5 29. Bxf5 Bf4 30. Re6+ Rxe6 31. dxe6 Bg3 $18)
27... Rxa8 28. f5 (28. Rg1 {might be the shorter path} Bxf4 29. Rxg6+ Ke7 30.
Rg7+ Kf6 31. Rxb7 Bd6 $18) 28... Rc8+ 29. Kd4 Rf8 (29... g5 30. hxg5 Bxg5 31.
f6 $18) 30. f6 (30. fxg6 $142 {makes it even easier for White} b6 $18) 30...
Rxf6 (30... g5 $18) 31. Rxf6+ (31. Rxf6+ Ke7 32. Rxg6 $18) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Etabag, John Vincent"]
[Black "Aoki, Yasuhiro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C33"]
[WhiteElo "1821"]
[BlackElo "1731"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C33: King's Gambit Accepted: 3 Nc3 and 3 Bc4} 1. e4 d6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 e5 4.
Nf3 exf4 5. d4 Nc6 $146 (5... Nh5 6. Bc4 g6 7. O-O (7. Ne2 Bh6 8. g3 Qe7 9. Bd3
Bg4 10. Nxf4 Nxf4 11. gxf4 Qf6 12. O-O Bxf4 13. c3 O-O 14. Qe1 Bh3 15. Rf2 Nd7
16. Kh1 Bxc1 17. Rxc1 Bg4 18. Qe3 Bxf3+ 19. Rxf3 Qe7 20. Rg1 Kh8 21. Qf4 Rae8 {
Novikov,S (2523)-Nikolic,P (2623) Budva 2009 1/2-1/2}) 7... Bh6 8. g3 O-O 9.
Nd5 Bh3 10. Rf2 Be6 11. Qf1 fxg3 12. Bxh6 gxf2+ 13. Qxf2 c6 14. Bxf8 Qxf8 15.
Ne3 Bxc4 16. Nxc4 f6 17. d5 c5 18. Qh4 b5 19. Ncd2 Nd7 20. a4 {Tseitlin,M 
(2450)-Balinas,R (2365) Odessa 1976 1/2-1/2}) (5... d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 Bb4 8.
O-O Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Rb1 Bg4 11. Kh1 Nc6 12. Rxb7 Nxd4 13. Ba3 Bxf3 14.
Rxf3 Qc8 15. Ba6 Qe6 16. Rxc3 Qxa6 17. Rbxc7 Rb8 18. Re7+ Kd8 19. h3 f3 20.
Rxf3 {Trent,L (2429)-Amato,A (2259) Caleta 2013 1-0}) (5... Be7 6. Bxf4 O-O 7.
Bd3 h6 8. O-O Bg4 9. Qd2 Nh7 10. e5 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Nf6 12. Nxg4 Nxg4 13. Bf5 Nf6
14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 c6 16. c3 f5 17. Bc2 Nd7 18. Rae1 Rf6 19. Be5 Nxe5 20.
Rxe5 {Szekeres,S (2225)-Balazs,T (2250) Hungary 1997 1-0}) 6. Bc4 (6. Bxf4 d5
7. Nxd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Bxc7 Bg4 $16) 6... Be7 7. O-O O-O (7... Nxe4 8.
Nd5 O-O 9. Re1 $15) 8. Bb3 (8. Bxf4 a6 $16) 8... Na5 (8... Nh5 9. Nd5 $11) 9.
Bxf4 $14 Nxb3 10. axb3 {Black has the pair of bishops} Bg4 11. Qd3 a6 {
Prevents intrusion on b5} 12. Rae1 {Black has a cramped position} Nh5 13. Bd2
c6 14. d5 {White gets more space} Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Bg5 16. Bxg5 (16. Qxh5 $6 Bxd2
17. Rd1 Qb6+ 18. Kh1 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Rae8 $11) 16... Qxg5 17. dxc6 bxc6 18. Nd1 (
18. Qf5 Qxf5 19. Rxf5 g6 $14) 18... Nf6 $11 19. Ne3 Nd7 (19... Qc5 20. b4 Qxb4
21. Nf5 $11) 20. Kh1 (20. Nf5 Ne5 21. Qc3 g6 22. Nxd6 Rad8 $16) 20... Ne5 $14 {
Black threatens to win material: Ne5xf3} 21. Qe2 a5 (21... g6 22. Rd1 $11) 22.
Nf5 $14 Rfd8 23. Rd1 f6 (23... a4 24. b4 $14) 24. Nxd6 $16 a4 25. bxa4 Rxa4 26.
b3 {White threatens to win material: b3xa4.} Ra2 27. h3 Rda8 $4 {another bit
of territory lost} (27... g6 $142 $16) 28. Rf5 $18 Qh4 (28... Qg6 {is not much
help} 29. Rxe5 $1 {Double attack: c6/g8} fxe5 30. Qc4+ Kf8 31. Rf1+ Ke7 32.
Rf7+ Qxf7 33. Nxf7 $18 (33. Qxf7+ $6 Kxd6 34. c4 R2a7 $18)) 29. Rxe5 $1 {
Mate attack} fxe5 (29... fxe5 30. Qc4+ {Mate attack}) (29... -- $140 30. Qc4+ {
Mate threat}) 30. Qc4+ (30. Qc4+ Kh8 31. Nf7+ Kg8 32. Nh6+ Kh8 33. Qg8+ Rxg8
34. Nf7#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Shishido, Kenta"]
[Black "Yoshii, Yukihiko"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "1431"]
[BlackElo "1771"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{B19: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5 main line} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4.
Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nd7 9. Bf4 e6 10. Bd3 Bxd3 11.
Qxd3 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne5 O-O 14. Kb1 Qb6 (14... Qa5 15. Nxd7 (15. Ne2
Nxe5 16. dxe5 Rfd8 17. Qc3 Qxc3 18. Nxc3 Nd5 19. Nxd5 cxd5 20. Be3 a6 21. g4
Rac8 22. f4 Rc4 23. Rd4 Rdc8 24. c3 b5 25. Rxc4 Rxc4 26. Bd4 {1/2-1/2 (26)
Rathnakaran,K (2403)-Deviatkin,A (2574) New Delhi 2012}) 15... Nxd7 16. Ne4 Nf6
17. g4 Rad8 18. Rhg1 Rd7 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. c3 Rfd8 21. Bc1 e5 22. g5 e4 23.
Qxe4 hxg5 24. f4 Re7 25. Qd3 gxf4 26. h6 g6 27. Rdf1 Qh5 28. Rxf4 Bh8 29. Rf5 {
Palac,M (2574)-Izoria,Z (2602) Warsaw 2005 1-0 (31)}) 15. f3 $146 {
Consolidates e4+g4} (15. c4 Rad8 16. Ne2 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Nd7 18. Bf4 e5 19. dxe5
Nxe5 20. Qc3 Ng4 21. f3 Nf2 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Be3 Bc5 24. Bxf2 Bxf2 25. Qc2 Qe3
26. Rd1 Bh4 27. Nc3 Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 Qc5 29. Qd7 Qxh5 {Petrov,M (2534)
-Matthiesen,M (2251) Helsingor 2011 1/2-1/2 (38)}) (15. Nxd7 Nxd7 16. Ne4 Nf6
$14) 15... Rad8 $11 16. Nc4 {White threatens to win material: Nc4xb6} Qa6 17.
Ne4 (17. Bd6 $5 {is an interesting idea} Bxd6 18. Nxd6 $11) 17... Nxe4 $15 18.
fxe4 Nc5 {Black threatens to win material: Nc5xd3. Deflection: d4} 19. Qe2 (19.
dxc5 Rxd3 {Clearance Deflection Pinning}) 19... Na4 (19... Nxe4 20. Rh3 $15)
20. Bc1 (20. Rh3 Nb6 21. b3 Nxc4 22. Qxc4 Qxc4 23. bxc4 f5 $11) 20... Qb5 (
20... c5 $142 $5 21. dxc5 Qb5 $15) 21. Rh3 $11 {Black has a cramped position}
Qa6 $2 (21... Nb6 $142 {and Black can hope to survive} 22. b3 Nxc4 23. Qxc4
Qxc4 24. bxc4 f5 $11) 22. Rg3 $18 Kh8 $4 {sad, but how else could Black save
the game?} (22... Qb5 $142 23. Qg4 Bg5 24. Bxg5 Qxg5 25. Qxg5 hxg5 26. Rxg5 f6
$16) 23. Qg4 Rg8 24. b3 (24. Ne5 {and White can already relax} Rdf8 25. Rf3 Qe2
$18) 24... Nb6 $2 (24... Bf6 $142 $18) 25. Nxb6 (25. Ne5 $142 {finishes off
the opponent} Rdf8 26. Rf3 $18) 25... Qxb6 (25... axb6 26. Rf3 Rgf8 27. Rdf1
$14) 26. Bb2 (26. Rf3 $5 Rgf8 27. Rfd3 $16) 26... Bg5 $14 27. Rf3 {White
threatens to win material: Rf3xf7} Qc7 28. e5 {White gains space} Rd7 29. Ba3
Rgd8 30. Bd6 Rxd6 31. exd6 Rxd6 {White wins the exchange} 32. Rdf1 (32. c3 Bf6
$14) 32... Rd7 (32... f5 33. Qg3 $14) 33. R3f2 (33. c3 $5 $16) 33... Be3 $11 {
Black threatens to win material: Be3xf2. Black forks: f2+d4} 34. Rf3 Bxd4 ({
Worse is} 34... Rxd4 35. Qg3 (35. Rxf7 $4 {the pawn must remain untouched} Qxf7
(35... Rxg4 36. Rxc7 Rxg2 37. Rc8+ (37. Rxb7 $6 {is much worse} Rg5 $16) 37...
Kh7 38. Rff8 Rg1+ 39. Kb2 Bd4+ 40. c3 Rg2+ 41. Kb1 $18) 36. Rxf7 Rxg4 $19)
35... Qxg3 36. Rxg3 $16) 35. Rd3 Bf6 36. Rxd7 Qxd7 37. Qd1 {White threatens to
win material: Qd1xd7} Qc7 38. Qd3 (38. Qf3 $5 $11 {is worthy of consideration})
38... Qe5 $17 39. c3 Qxh5 40. Kb2 Qg5 41. Rf2 Qc5 42. Rc2 (42. Rf3 $5 $17)
42... b5 $19 43. b4 (43. a3 $142 a5 44. Ka2 $19) 43... Qxb4+ 44. Kc1 Bg5+ 45.
Kd1 Qb1+ 46. Ke2 Qg1 47. Qf3 f6 (47... f5 $5 {keeps an even firmer grip} 48. c4
$19) 48. Qxc6 Qe3+ 49. Kf1 Bh4 50. Qf3 $4 {a blunder in a bad position} (50. g3
Bxg3 51. Re2 Qc1+ 52. Kg2 $19) 50... Qe1# 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Nakamura, Mitsuru"]
[Black "Denta, Seiichi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "1603"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence: 4 0-0 Nxe4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.
O-O Nxe4 5. d4 {White threatens to win material: d4xe5} Bd6 $146 (5... exd4 6.
Re1 f5 (6... d5 7. Nxd4 Bd6 8. Nxc6 Bxh2+ 9. Kh1 Qh4 10. Rxe4+ dxe4 11. Qd8+
Qxd8 12. Nxd8+ Kxd8 13. Kxh2 Bd7 (13... h6 14. Nc3 c6 15. Bc4 f5 16. Be3 Ke7
17. Rd1 b6 18. Bd4 Be6 19. Bxe6 Kxe6 20. Bxg7 Rhd8 21. g3 e3 22. Rd3 Rxd3 23.
cxd3 Rd8 24. d4 Rd7 25. Be5 exf2 26. Kg2 c5 27. Bf4 cxd4 28. Nd1 {Djurdjevic,P
(2310)-Trajkovic,M (2270) Novi Sad 1989 0-1 (38)}) 14. Bc4 Ke7 15. Nc3 Bc6 16.
Bf4 Rhd8 17. Re1 Rd4 18. Bb3 f5 19. Bxc7 g5 20. g4 Rd2 21. Kg1 {Saulespurens,V
(2302)-Andrejevs,A (2238) Riga 2012 1-0 (67)}) 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Be7 (8...
c6 9. f3 cxb5 10. fxe4 Qb6 11. exf5+ Kf7 12. Be3 Qxd4 13. Bxd4 d6 14. Nc3 Bxf5
15. Re3 Kg8 16. Nd5 h5 17. Rf1 Bg6 18. c3 h4 19. Re7 Bxe7 20. Nxe7+ Kh7 21. Rf4
Bh5 22. Rxh4 Kh6 23. Be3+ {Rozentalis,E (2645)-Kaminski,M (2540) Krynica 1997
1/2-1/2 (75)}) 9. Qxg7 Bf6 10. Qh6 Qe7 11. Nc3 c6 12. Bf4 Bxc3 13. bxc3 d5 14.
Be2 Be6 15. Bh5+ Kd7 16. f3 Nc5 17. Be5 Rhg8 18. Bd4 b6 19. Bxc5 bxc5 20. Re5 {
Neumann,G-Winawer,S Paris 1867 1-0 (62)}) (5... d6 6. Ba4 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. Rxe4
d5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 bxa4 11. Nc3 O-O 12. Rxd5 Bd6 13. Bg5 Qe8 14. Qd3 f5
15. Bd2 a3 16. b3 Qg6 17. Ra5 Bb7 18. Nd5 Rae8 19. f3 Qf7 20. c4 {Renet,O 
(2495)-Litinskaya,M (2370) Katowice 1992 1-0 (32)}) (5... exd4 $5 {has some
apparent merit} 6. Re1 d5 7. Qxd4 Be6 $14) 6. Re1 f5 7. Bxc6 (7. Nbd2 Nxd2 8.
Nxe5 O-O 9. Qxd2 Kh8 $16) 7... bxc6 8. dxe5 Bc5 {Black threatens to win
material: Bc5xf2} 9. a3 $4 {allows the opponent back into the game} (9. Be3
$142 $14 {was much better}) 9... Bxf2+ $19 10. Kf1 (10. Kh1 Bxe1 11. Qxe1 c5
$19) 10... Bxe1 (10... Ba6+ {might be the shorter path} 11. Re2 Bb6 12. Nbd2
$19) 11. Qxe1 Ba6+ 12. Kg1 Qb8 13. Nc3 (13. b3 d5 $19) 13... O-O (13... Qb6+
$142 $5 {seems even better} 14. Qe3 $19) 14. Nxe4 Qb5 $4 {what a pity, victory
was in sight} (14... fxe4 $142 {and Black gets the upper hand} 15. Qxe4 Qb5 $19
) 15. Nc3 $16 Qb6+ 16. Kh1 Rae8 17. h4 (17. b4 $142 $5 $18) 17... f4 (17... d6
18. b3 dxe5 19. Be3 $14 (19. Nxe5 $4 Qd4 20. Bg5 Rxe5 $19)) 18. b4 (18. a4 Bb7
19. a5 Qa6 $16) 18... Bc4 (18... d6 19. Bb2 $14) 19. Na4 {White threatens to
win material: Na4xb6} (19. Qe4 d5 20. Qe1 Qa6 $16) 19... Qb8 (19... Qb5 20. Nc5
Bd5 21. Bb2 $14) 20. Nc5 $16 Be6 $2 (20... Qc8 $142 $5 21. Ng5 h6 $16) 21. Ng5
$18 h6 22. Ngxe6 (22. Ncxe6 $6 dxe6 23. Nh3 f3 $16) 22... Rf7 $4 {terrible,
but what else could Black do to save the game?} (22... dxe6 23. Nd7 Qd8 24.
Nxf8 Rxf8 $18) 23. Nxf4 Qb5 24. Bd2 (24. Qe4 $5 {and White can already relax}
d5 25. Qe3 Qc4 $18) 24... Qc4 25. c3 (25. Ncd3 {makes it even easier for White}
Qxc2 26. e6 dxe6 $18) 25... g5 (25... d6 26. Ncd3 dxe5 27. Nxe5 Rxf4 28. Nxc4 (
28. Bxf4 $6 Qxf4 29. Kg1 Rxe5 $11) 28... Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 Rxc4 30. Re8+ Kf7 31.
Rc8 $18) 26. hxg5 Rxf4 (26... d6 {does not help much} 27. Qg3 hxg5 28. Ncd3
dxe5 29. Ng6 $18) 27. Bxf4 Qxf4 28. Nxd7 Re7 (28... Kh8 {there is nothing
better in the position} 29. Qe2 Qf5 $18) 29. Nf6+ Kh8 30. Rd1 (30. Qd1 Kg7 31.
Nh5+ Kf7 32. Nxf4 a5 33. Qh5+ Kg7 34. Rd1 Kf8 35. Rd8+ Re8 36. Rxe8+ Kg7 37.
Qg6#) 30... Qxg5 (30... Rxe5 {the only chance to get some counterplay} 31. Qd2
Qxd2 32. Rxd2 Kg7 33. Rd7+ Kg6 34. gxh6 Kxf6 35. Rxc7 Kg6 36. Rxc6+ Kh7 $18)
31. Rd8+ (31. Qe4 Qxf6 32. Rd8+ Kg7 33. exf6+ Kxf6 34. Rf8+ Rf7 35. Qf4+ Ke6
36. Qxf7+ Ke5 37. Re8+ Kd6 38. Qe6#) 31... Kg7 32. Rg8+ Kf7 33. Rxg5 hxg5 (
33... a6 {does not improve anything} 34. Qb1 hxg5 35. Qf5 g4 36. Nh7+ Ke8 37.
e6 Kd8 38. Qf8+ Re8 39. e7+ Kd7 40. Nf6+ Ke6 41. Qxe8 g3 42. Qd7+ Kxf6 43. e8=Q
Kg5 44. Qe5+ Kg6 45. Qdg7#) 34. Qe4 Re6 (34... Rxe5 {doesn't get the cat off
the tree} 35. Qxe5 Kg6 36. Ne4 Kh7 37. Qf6 g4 38. Ng5+ Kg8 39. Qf7+ Kh8 40.
Qh7#) 35. Qh7+ (35. Qh7+ Kf8 36. Qg8+ Ke7 37. Qe8#) 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.7"]
[White "Uematsu, Maya"]
[Black "Furuse, Mizuki"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A48"]
[BlackElo "1588"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{A48: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6: Torre, London and Colle Systems} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6
3. Nf3 Bg7 4. c3 O-O 5. Nbd2 c5 $146 (5... d5 6. e3 (6. h3 Nbd7 7. e3 c5 8. Be2
b6 9. a4 a5 10. O-O Bb7 11. Qb3 Qc8 12. Nb1 Ne4 13. Na3 Bc6 14. Bb5 e6 15. Rfd1
Qb7 16. Bxc6 Qxc6 17. Nb5 cxd4 18. cxd4 Rfc8 19. Ne1 Bf8 20. f3 Nef6 {Kamsky,G
(2714)-Chirila,I (2520) Philadelphia 2014 1-0 (44)}) 6... b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. O-O
Nbd7 9. Ne5 c5 10. b4 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 cxb4 12. cxb4 Qd7 13. a4 Rfc8 14. Bb5 Bc6
15. Ba6 Bb7 {1/2-1/2 (15) Vera Gonzalez Quevedo,R (2470)-Hulak,K (2540)
Portoroz 1987}) (5... d6 6. h3 Nc6 (6... c5 7. e3 Nc6 8. Be2 cxd4 9. cxd4 Re8
10. Bh2 Bf5 11. O-O Rc8 12. a3 Na5 13. Rc1 Rxc1 14. Qxc1 Qd7 15. Qc3 b6 16. b4
Rc8 17. Qa1 Nc6 18. Rc1 Qb7 19. Ne1 Ne4 20. Qb2 Nxd2 21. Qxd2 {Mitkov,N (2330)
-Markovic,I (2395) Cetinje 1990 1/2-1/2}) 7. e3 Re8 8. Bh2 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10.
Nxe5 dxe5 11. Nf3 Nd7 12. Be2 Qe7 13. O-O a5 14. Qa4 Nb6 15. Qc2 f6 16. Nd2 Bf5
17. e4 Be6 18. f4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Bf7 20. Rf2 {Zhou,W (2627)-Lou,Y (2453) China
2015 1-0 (69)}) (5... Nc6 $5 $11) 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. e4 b6 8. a4 (8. cxb6 $5 d5 9.
Qb3 axb6 10. O-O-O $11) 8... bxc5 $15 9. h3 {Controls g4} d6 {Controls e5} 10.
Qc2 Bd7 11. Be2 {Black has a cramped position} Rb8 12. O-O Qb6 {Black
threatens to win material: Qb6xb2} 13. Nc4 {White threatens to win material:
Nc4xb6} Qb3 {Black threatens to win material: Qb3xc2} 14. Bd3 (14. Qd3 $5 $11 {
is noteworthy}) 14... Qxc2 $17 15. Bxc2 Rb7 (15... Be6 16. Nfd2 $17) 16. Rab1 {
White has an active position} Be6 {Black threatens to win material: Be6xc4} 17.
Nfd2 (17. Bd3 h6 $15) 17... Nd7 18. Rfe1 Nde5 19. b3 {Secures c4} (19. Bxe5
$142 $5 {and White has air to breath} Nxe5 20. Na5 $17) 19... Nxc4 $19 20. Nxc4
(20. bxc4 Rbb8 $19) 20... Bxc3 21. Red1 (21. Rec1 Rfb8 $19) 21... Bg7 (21...
Rfb8 {keeps an even firmer grip} 22. Be3 $19) 22. a5 (22. Rdc1 Rfb8 23. Bd1 Bd4
$19) 22... Nd4 23. Bd3 Rxb3 (23... Rfb8 {keeps an even firmer grip} 24. Nd2 $19
) 24. Rxb3 Nxb3 25. a6 Nd4 (25... Rb8 26. Rb1 $19) 26. Rc1 $2 (26. Rb1 $142 f5
27. exf5 Bxf5 28. Bxf5 Ne2+ 29. Kf1 Nxf4 30. Bd7 $19) 26... Rb8 27. e5 (27. Bf1
$19) 27... d5 28. Na5 c4 (28... c4 29. Bf1 Rb5 $19) 0-1

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.8"]
[White "Takeuchi, Hiroshi"]
[Black "Kramskoy, Damir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1629"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4} 1. d4
d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bd3 g6 $146 {Prevents intrusion on f5} (4... Bg4 5.
Nbd2 (5. h3 Bxf3 6. gxf3 e5 7. c3 Bd6 8. Nd2 O-O 9. Nf1 Re8 10. Be2 exd4 11.
cxd4 Ne7 12. Bd2 c5 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Bc3 Nc6 15. Qa4 d4 16. O-O-O Qc7 17. Bd2
Nd5 18. Qc4 Ne5 19. Qxd5 Rad8 {Gonzalez,R (2279)-Peralta,F (2595) Sabadell
2010 0-1}) 5... a6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Nxg4 8. hxg4 Bxg4 9. Be2 e6 10. Ne5 Bxe2 11.
Nxc6 Bxd1 12. Nxd8 Bxc2 13. Nxb7 Rb8 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15. dxc5 O-O 16. b3 f5 17.
Bb2 Rfe8 18. Be5 Rb5 19. Rc1 {Mateos Gomez,J (2193)-Martinez Lopez,I (2191)
Lorca 2004 1-0 (35)}) (4... Nb4 5. Be2 Bf5 6. Na3 c6 7. O-O a5 8. c3 Na6 9. Qb3
Qc7 10. c4 e6 11. Bd2 Be7 12. Rfc1 O-O 13. Be1 a4 14. Qxa4 Nc5 15. Qd1 Na4 16.
b4 Ra7 17. cxd5 Qb8 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. Ne5 {Luecke,N (2375)-Kraemer,M (2280)
Ruhrgebiet 1999 1-0}) 5. b3 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 {Consolidates f5} 7. a3 {Covers b4}
Qd7 (7... Bg7 8. Bb2 $11) 8. Bb2 $14 O-O-O 9. h3 Bf5 (9... Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Bg7
$14) 10. Bxf5 (10. Bb5 $142 Qe8 11. Ne5 $16) 10... gxf5 $11 11. Ne5 {White
threatens to win material: Ne5xd7} Qe7 (11... Nxe5 $5 {deserves consideration}
12. dxe5 Ne4 $11) 12. Nxc6 $14 bxc6 13. Qe2 Nd7 $2 (13... Ne4 $142 $14 {
and Black could well hope to play on}) 14. Qa6+ $18 Kb8 15. Qxc6 (15. b4 Qd6
16. c4 c5 17. Qb5+ Qb6 18. Qxb6+ axb6 19. dxc5 d4 20. cxb6 dxe3 21. bxc7+ Kxc7
22. fxe3 Rg8 $18) 15... Qd6 16. Qb5+ Qb6 17. Qe2 Bg7 18. a4 c5 $4 {but even a
better move would not have saved the game} (18... Qc6 19. a5 $16) 19. a5 (19.
dxc5 $142 {and White has it in the bag} Bxb2 20. cxb6 Bxa1 21. bxa7+ Kxa7 22.
Qb5 $18) 19... Qc6 $16 20. c3 (20. O-O Rhg8 $16) 20... Rhg8 21. O-O Kc7 22. Nf3
(22. Qh5 $16) 22... Kd6 $2 (22... Bf6 $5 $16) 23. Rfc1 (23. Ng5 $142 $5 Rc8 24.
Nxf7+ Ke7 25. Ng5 $18) 23... Rb8 24. Ra3 Ke7 25. c4 Bh6 $2 (25... Bf6 $5 $16)
26. cxd5 (26. dxc5 $142 Bg7 27. Bd4 $18) 26... exd5 $4 {simply worsens the
situation} (26... Qxd5 $142 27. dxc5 Nxc5 $18) 27. dxc5 $18 Nxc5 (27... Qg6 {
hardly improves anything} 28. g3 f4 29. exf4+ Qe4 30. Kf1 $18) 28. Ne5 (28. Bd4
{seems even better} Ke8 29. Rxc5 Qg6 $18) 28... Qe6 (28... Qd6 {is still a
small chance} 29. Qh5 Rg7 $18) 29. Rxc5 Bg7 (29... Rgc8 {a fruitless try to
alter the course of the game} 30. Qc2 Ke8 31. b4 Rxc5 32. bxc5 $18) 30. f4 (30.
Rc6 $142 {and White can already relax} Qxe5 31. Bxe5 Bxe5 $18) 30... f6 (30...
Rgc8 {there is nothing else anyway} 31. Qc2 Bxe5 32. Bxe5 f6 $18) 31. Rc6 Qxc6
32. Nxc6+ Ke8 33. Nxb8 Ke7 34. Qa6 Rxb8 35. Qxa7+ Ke6 (35... Rb7 {does not
save the day} 36. Qxb7+ Kf8 37. Ra1 Bh6 38. Ba3+ Kg8 39. Qe7 d4 40. Rc1 dxe3
41. Rc8+ Bf8 42. Rxf8#) 36. Qxb8 Kf7 (36... Ke7 {cannot change what is in
store for White} 37. Qc7+ Ke6 38. Qxg7 Kd6 39. a6 d4 40. a7 Kc6 41. Ra6+ Kc5
42. Qf7 dxe3 43. Qc4#) 37. Ra4 Bf8 38. Rd4 Ke6 (38... Bd6 {cannot undo what
has already been done} 39. Qxd6 Kg6 40. Rxd5 Kg7 41. Qxf6+ Kg8 42. Qg7#) 39.
Qxf8 Kd7 (39... h5 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 40. a6 h4 41. a7
Kd7 42. a8=Q Kc7 43. Qfd8#) 40. Rxd5+ Kc6 (40... Kc7 {does not win a prize} 41.
Qe7+ Kb8 42. Rd8#) 41. Qc5+ (41. Qf7 h6 42. Qd7#) 41... Kb7 42. Rd7+ Ka6 43.
Ra7# 1-0

[Event "Hokkaido Chess Championship 2025"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2025.03.23"]
[Round "5.9"]
[White "Ito, Katsuhide"]
[Black "Yajima, Machiko"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "1389"]
[BlackElo "1367"]
[Annotator "Fritz 11 SE (30s)"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2025.03.22"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "JPN"]

{C80: Open Ruy Lopez: Sidelines and 9 Nbd2} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4.
Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 $146 (7. Re1 d5 8. Nxd4 (8. c4 dxc3 9.
Nxc3 Be6 10. Nd4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qd7 12. Rb1 b5 13. Rxb5 axb5 14. Bxb5 Nxd4 15.
Bxd7+ Kxd7 16. cxd4 Bd6 17. Be3 Rxa2 18. Qb1 Rha8 19. Qxh7 g6 20. g3 c5 21.
dxc5 Be5 22. Qh4 R2a4 {Zhidkov,V (2495)-Faibisovich,V (2425) Rostov on Don
1976 1-0 (77)}) 8... Bd6 9. Nxc6 (9. Qf3 O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 Bxh2+ 12.
Kxh2 Qd6+ 13. Bf4 Qxc6 14. Nc3 Bf5 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Qc3 Qxc3 17. bxc3 f6 18.
Rab1 Rf7 19. Rb4 g5 20. Be3 Rd7 21. a3 Kf7 22. Reb1 Re8 23. Rc4 Bg4 {Almasi,Z 
(2650)-Varga,Z (2540) Tucepi 1996 0-1 (49)}) 9... Bxh2+ 10. Kh1 (10. Kf1 Qh4
11. Nb4+ c6 12. Be3 O-O 13. Nd2 Bg4 14. Nf3 Qh5 15. Nd3 Rae8 16. c3 Re6 17. Bd4
Bxf3 {0-1 (17) Rytshagov,M (2495)-Rantanen,Y (2355) Finland 1996}) 10... Qh4
11. Rxe4+ dxe4 12. Qd8+ Qxd8 13. Nxd8+ Kxd8 14. Kxh2 Be6 15. Be3 (15. Nc3 c5
16. a3 c4 17. b4 b5 18. Nxb5 axb5 19. Bxb5 Kc7 20. Bf4+ Kb6 21. a4 Rhd8 22.
Be3+ Kb7 23. a5 Rd5 24. a6+ Kc7 25. Bc5 Rd2 26. c3 Rd3 27. Ra5 Rxc3 28. Ba4 Rd3
29. b5 Rd5 {Lhagva,J (2330)-Midjord,J (2205) Luzern 1982 1-0 (31)}) 15... f5
16. Nc3 Ke7 17. g4 g6 18. Kg3 h5 19. gxf5 h4+ 20. Kh2 gxf5 21. Ne2 b5 {
Capablanca,J-Lasker,E New York 1915 1-0 (69)}) 7... Nc5 8. Re1+ Ne7 $4 {
with this move Black loses his initiative} (8... Ne6 $5 $11 {looks like a
viable alternative}) 9. c3 (9. c4 $142 $5 c6 10. Nc3 $18) 9... Nxa4 $14 10.
Qxa4 g6 $2 {Secures f5} (10... f6 $142 $14 {and Black can hope to live}) 11.
Bg5 $18 h6 $2 (11... b5 12. Nxb5 $1 {Deflection: a6} Bb7 $18) 12. Bf6 Rh7 13.
Qd1 (13. Nd2 $142 {and the result of the game is clear: White will win} b6 14.
Rxe7+ Bxe7 15. Re1 $18) 13... c5 {Black threatens to win material: c5xd4} 14.
Nf3 {White has a king attack} Qb6 {Black threatens to win material: Qb6xf6.
Black forks: b2+f6} 15. b3 $4 {not a good decision, because now the opponent
is right back in the game} (15. Bxe7 $142 {was necessary} Bxe7 16. Qe2 $14)
15... Qxf6 $19 16. Re3 (16. Na3 {doesn't do any good} Kd8 $19 (16... Qxc3 $6 {
is clearly weaker} 17. Qd6 b5 18. Rac1 $17)) 16... d6 17. Nbd2 Be6 (17... d5
$142 {makes sure everything is clear} 18. b4 cxb4 19. cxb4 h5 $19) 18. Ne4 $18
Qf4 19. Nxd6+ $4 {gives the opponent new chances.} (19. g3 Qxe4 20. Rxe4 Nc6
$18) 19... Kd8 $4 {weakening the position} (19... Kd7 20. Nc4+ Ke8 21. Nd6+ Kd7
22. Nc4+ Ke8 23. Nd6+ Kd7 $11) 20. Nxf7+ $4 {Black is in double check.
throwing away the advantage} (20. g3 $142 {would have made live much easier
for White} Qg4 21. Nxf7+ Ke8 22. Nd6+ Kd8 23. Ne4+ Nd5 24. Nf6 $18) 20... Kc7
$11 21. N7e5 $4 (21. Rxe6 $142 {would allow White to play on} Rxf7 22. g3 Qxf3
23. Qd6+ Kc8 24. Rd1 Qxf2+ 25. Kh1 Qf3+ 26. Kg1 Qf2+ 27. Kh1 Qf3+ 28. Kg1 Qf2+
$11) 21... Nd5 (21... Qf6 {might be the shorter path} 22. c4 Nf5 23. Re2 $19)
22. Rd3 Bd6 (22... Qe4 23. g3 g5 24. Qd2 $19) 23. Qe1 $4 {strolling merrily
down the path to disaster} (23. Rxd5 $142 Bxd5 24. Qxd5 $17) 23... Re8 $19 24.
c4 Bxe5 25. cxd5 (25. Nxe5 Nb4 26. Rf3 $19) 25... Bxa1 26. Qxa1 Bd7 (26... Rd7
$142 $5 {seems even better} 27. g3 Qf5 28. Qe5+ Qxe5 29. Nxe5 Rxd5 30. Re3 Rd1+
31. Kg2 $19) 27. Qc3 Qb4 28. d6+ (28. Qc1 {doesn't get the bull off the ice}
Kb6 29. a3 Qe4 $19) 28... Kd8 (28... Kb6 $5 {makes it even easier for Black}
29. Qa1 $19) 29. Qf6+ Kc8 30. h3 Qe4 31. Re3 (31. Rc3 {doesn't change anything
anymore} b6 32. b4 c4 $19) 31... Qf5 (31... Qb1+ {might be the shorter path}
32. Kh2 Rxe3 33. fxe3 $19) 32. Rxe8+ (32. Qxf5 gxf5 (32... Bxf5 $6 33. Rxe8+
Kd7 34. Re1 $11) 33. Rc3 b6 $19) 32... Bxe8 33. Qc3 Qd5 34. Qf6 (34. Qe5 {
does not solve anything} Bc6 $19) 34... Rf7 (34... Rf7 35. Qxg6 h5 $19) 0-1

