Hoogeveen Chess Tournament Opens

[Event "Short-Hou Yifan m"]  [Site "Hoogeveen NED"]  [Date "2016.10.16"]  [Round "1"]  [White "Short, Nigel D"]  [Black "Hou, Yifan"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [BlackElo "2649"]  [BlackFideId "8602980"]  [BlackTitle "GM"]  [ECO "A07"]  [EventDate "2016.10.16"]  [Opening "Reti opening"]  [WhiteElo "2670"]  [WhiteFideId "400025"]  [WhiteTitle "GM"]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 b5 4.O-O Bb7 5.d3 e6 6.c4 a6 7.cxd5 { It is wise to exchange the pawn, it was not the most stable bit on the board. Also, Short makes the centre of the board a little more concrete and opens the c-file for himself. } 7...Nxd5 { The most active recapture. } 8.a4 Be7 { This seems to be a new try, ...Nd7, ...b5-b4, and ...c5 have all been tried before, and all drawn. } 9.Nc3 O-O ( 9...b4 10.Nxd5 Bxd5 11.Qc2 { and things are neither here nor there after ...c5 or ...0-0. ...b3 would be quite misguided and put the Black pawn out on a limb. White would be better after Qd1, and able to freely develop his dark-squared bishop as he wishes. } ) 10.axb5 Nxc3 11.bxc3 axb5 12.Rxa8 Bxa8 13.Qb3 { White wastes no time in going after the Black Queenside pawns. } 13...Bc6 14.Be3 { One would have to give a slight advantage to White, here. He has completed his development, with nice piece placement (especially those bishops firing across the board) and is ready to activate his rook. Black, on the other hand, has some sorting out to do. } 14...Nd7 15.Ra1 Qc8 16.Ra7 { Perhaps Nd4 was worth a try, here. } ( 16.Nd4 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 c6 18.Ra7 { with quite an edge to White. } ) 16...Qb8 17.Qa2 b4 { Black seems to feel quite insecure about this pawn and wants to get rid of it. The problem with this is that White is the more active of the two and so opening files will favour him. ...Bd6 was an alternative to this move, but Black seems to become quite passive in my opinion, and that is not how Hou Yifan plays. } ( 17...Bd6 18.Qa5 Qe8 19.c4 bxc4 20.dxc4 Qe7 { and Black has not the most active of defences. } ) 18.cxb4 Bxb4 19.Nd4 { The light-squared bishop is Black's most active piece, so White wants to exchange it off. Good, logical play by Short. } 19...Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Bc5 21.Nc6 Qb6 22.Ne7+ Kh8 23.Bxc5 Qxc5 24.Qa3 Qb6 25.Qa5 { Forcing the Queen's off (due to the c7-pawn). } 25...Qxa5 { This will unlikely have been a pleasent decision, but Black had no good way to preserve the Queen. } 26.Rxa5 { Clearly with a nice advantage. The game is now all about Black's c7 pawn. } 26...g6 { This move was essential, removing any threat from Black's back rank -- after Ra7, Black wants to play ...Re8, which would otherwise be a non-threat. } 27.Ra7 Re8 28.Nc6 Rc8 { This is not a nice move to be making, comitting a rook to defend a pawn. } 29.f4 { The fact that Black is quite tied up on the Queenside, means that White is very safe to advance on the Kingside. } 29...Kg7 30.Kf3 Kf8 31.g4 Ke8 { ...f5 was also possible, but it saddles Black with quite the backward pawn on e6. White plays Ra5 and things are tricky, structurally. } 32.g5 Nb6 33.e4 Kd7 34.Ne5+ Ke7 35.Ke3 { This is a nice situation for Short to be in, with the initiative and able to push with very little risk. However Hou is holding things together, just, and it remains to be seen whether there is a forceable way through. } 35...f6 36.gxf6+ Kxf6 37.h4 Ke7 38.Ra2 Nd7 39.Nc6+ { Nxd7 was playable, here, but it should be holdable for Black. Short obviously wanted to try for more. } ( 39.Nxd7 Kxd7 40.h5 c5 41.hxg6 hxg6 42.Rg2 Rg8 ( 42...c4 43.dxc4 Rxc4 44.Rxg6 Ra4 45.Rg1 Ra3+ 46.Kd4 Kd6 47.Rb1 Rf3 48.Rb6+ Kc7 49.Rxe6 Rxf4 { is a technical draw. } ) 43.Rg5 Kd6 44.Kf3 Rg7 { and it is unlikely that White can force his way through. } ) 39...Kd6 40.Rc2 Nc5 41.Ne5 Nd7 42.Rc6+ Ke7 { As nice as this position is, it seems that Black has all her i's dotted and t's crossed at this point. She seems quite secure, despite being on the back foot throughout the game. This is demonstrated in the remaining moves of the game, which contains a little teasing from White and shuffling about, but Black has all the answers. Close but no cigar for Short. } 43.Kd4 Nf6 44.Rc5 Ne8 45.Ra5 Nf6 46.Ra7 Nh5 47.Ke3 Nf6 48.Nc6+ Kd7 49.Ra6 Rf8 50.Ne5+ Ke7 51.Rc6 Rc8 52.Nc4 Kd7 53.Ra6 Rf8 54.Ne5+ Ke7 55.Ra7 Rc8 56.Nc4 Ne8 57.Ne5 Nf6 1/2-1/2[Event "Van Foreest-Sokolov m"]  [Site "Hoogeveen NED"]  [Date "2016.10.16"]  [Round "1"]  [White "Sokolov, Ivan"]  [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"]  [Result "1-0"]  [BlackElo "2615"]  [BlackFideId "1039784"]  [BlackTitle "GM"]  [ECO "E73"]  [EventDate "2016.10.16"]  [Opening "King's Indian"]  [Variation "Semi-Averbakh system"]  [WhiteElo "2623"]  [WhiteFideId "14400030"]  [WhiteTitle "GM"]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.g4 Na6 9.g5 Ne8 10.h4 Nc5 11.h5 Bd7 12.Nf3 c6 13.Nd2 a4 { Fascinatingly, most games in this position are with Black to move. The White game I have found is Navara-Biolek from 2015, which continued 14.a3. Sokolov, however, goes his own way. } 14.b4 { So, we are in new territory. This move leaves Black little choice but to make the en-passant capture on b3, which is much prefferable to retreating the knight. } 14...axb3 15.axb3 Rxa1 16.Qxa1 { All things considered, WHite must be seen to be better, here. With his initiative on the Kingside, Black has very little counter possibilities in the centre or on the Queenside, the exchange of rooks has made that very concrete. } 16...Na6 17.Kf1 { dxc6 was also possible, but White prefers to try to hold the d5-square and for Black to instigate any exchanges there. The reason for this, I believe to be illustrated in the variation. } ( 17.dxc6 Nb4 18.Qd1 bxc6 { Sees White slightly better, but Black with some possibilty towards the d5-square. } ) 17...Nb4 18.Qb1 Nc7 19.Na2 cxd5 20.cxd5 { The only respectable move, exd5 would give Black ...Bf5, which is not pleasent for White. Nxb4 would allow ...d5-d4. Still, it must be said that Black has done rather well, here. } 20...Nxa2 { Not the most testing continuation. Investing a piece with ...Ncxd5 is very interesting and may see Black quite handily placed. } ( 20...Ncxd5 21.exd5 Bf5 22.Qa1 Nxd5 { And Black is suddenly the one with the initiative. He has the good pieces and activity, whereas White's extra piece is not doing very much. } ) 21.Qxa2 Nb5 22.Bxb5 Bxb5+ 23.Nc4 Qc8 { attacking the pinned piece, which is very often the thing to do in chess. However, in this case there may have been a more productive move. } ( 23...f5 { ! } 24.gxf6 ( 24.h6 { is not hugely helpful } 24...Bh8 { and White has some sorting out to do. } ) 24...Qxf6 { Beginning to turn the tide. Black's King is very safe, here, compared to White's, with the Black Queen and rook bearing down on f2. All of a sudden White's Be3 and Queen are turned in to very important defenders. } ) 24.Qe2 { We don't usually want to be playing moves like this, which inflict pins on Queen or King. However, it is a valid option, here, due to there being no possibilities for Black to get up to mischief. } 24...f5 { This comes just a move too late, it is much less powerful, here, with the White Queen more centralised and already able to support her King. Furthermore, the Black Queen is not in a position to spring to f6. } 25.gxf6 Rxf6 26.Bg5 Rf7 27.hxg6 hxg6 28.Kg2 { White has been allowed to sort out his problems. } 28...Rc7 { Again, Black misses the optimum tester, which would be exchanging on b4. } ( 28...Bxc4 29.bxc4 { Qxc4 would be an embarrassing blunder, leaving ...Qg4+ and White is getting mated. } 29...Rc7 ) 29.Rc1 Bf8 30.Rc3 { Ready to slide the rook over to the Kingside. } 30...Ba6 31.Rg3 { All of a sudden, things begin to look very potent for White again. } 31...b5 32.Ne3 ( 32.Nb6 { ! With the purpose of moving Black's Queen off of the h3-c8 diagonal, enabling White to play Qg4. The fact that the White knight is out on a limb is of no consequence, White has a very powerful stance on the Kingside. } 32...Qe8 33.Qg4 Bc8 34.Nxc8 Qxc8 35.Qe2 { sees a very big edge for Sokolov. } ) 32...b4 33.Qf3 { Black is going to struggle from here, White is in full control. Chess is amazing sometimes, only a few moves ago Black was looking fine and his King safe, but now Bf6 is looming and the pawn on g6 is filling its britches. It is important to note that a possible defender of g6, Black's light-squared bishop, is completely out of the loop on a6. } 33...Bg7 { This is ineffective, as Sokolov demonstrates. The same for ...Rf7, which would not have altered White's next move. } ( 33...Rf7 34.Bf6 { This is pretty resignable. There is no way to defend g6, White can also take his time and play Qf5 first. } ) 34.Bf6 Rf7 { again, ineffective. } ( 34...Qe8 { perhaps the best try, but this will fail in the long term. } 35.Bxg7 Rxg7 36.Ng4 Qe7 37.Nf6+ Kf8 38.Rh3 Qf7 39.Rh8+ Ke7 40.Re8+ ) 35.Rxg6 Qf8 { Attempting to batten down the hatches, but all this does is really compound Van Foreest's difficulties. Sokolov continues powerfully. } 36.Ng4 Qc8 37.Nh6+ { From here, Black is getting mated. } 37...Kh7 38.Qh5 { Just material grabbing with Nxf7 is also decisive, but as the maxim goes, "checkmate ends the game". } 38...Bf1+ 39.Kxf1 Qc1+ 40.Kg2 Bxh6 41.Rxh6+ { and Van Foreest resigned -- ...Qxh6, Qf7+ Qg7, Qxg7 mate. } 1-0