[Event "Rocco Pasquale Memorial"]
[Site "Wachusett CC"]
[Date "2016.09.21"]
[Round "2"]
[Board "1"]
[White "Gladding, Lawrence"]
[Black "Kildahl, Brett"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1831"]
[BlackElo "2127"]
[EventDate "2016.09.21"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6
{The Benoni!  Black makes his dark square bishop excellent on the long diagonal, 
supported by his two central pawns, but cedes central space and the well-being of his other minors.
This opening has a reputation for offering winning chances for black, but also for being unforgiving.
Black has so little space for his knights and light square bishop that one bad move is often enough to give white a fantastic position.}
7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O
{The Classical Benoni.}
9...Bg4 {Black has a certain set of moves (Re8, a6, Nbd7-e5, and Bg4xf3) that are played in many variations of the Benoni, but it's tricky to figure out which of them to play and in which order.  Yasser Seirawan says that if black can trade two pairs of minors in this opening, black is better, so if Bg4xf3 can be pulled off, you can be confident that it's at least not a bad idea.}
10.Nd2
{It's more common to leave the kingside knight on f3.  Nd2 allows black to trade a pair of minors without surrendering the two bishops.}
10...Bxe2 11.Qxe2 a6 12.a4
{Black would love to expand on the queenside with b5, so a4 can be played almost automatically in response to a6.}
12...Re8?
{Nbd7 is much better, intending to offer a trade on b6 or e5 after Nc4, but I saw a Casper here in Nxe4 and f5.}
13.Nc4! Qe7?
{Qc7 is better, when at least black can meet Bf4 with Bf8, as ugly as that is.}
    ( 13...Nxe4?? 14.Nxe4 f5 15.Bg5 Qxg5 16.Nf6+!
{Even without this shot, white is in great shape.
I'm not sure what I was thinking.} )
14.f3
    ( 14.Bf4 Nxe4 15.Rfe1! Bxc3 16.bxc3 Qd8 17.Qd3 Nf6 18.Nxd6
{Though material is equal, white has superior development and
a passed pawn on d5, and is therefore much better.} )
14...Nfd7 15.Bf4 Ne5
{I was hoping for some pressure reducing trades on e5,
but Larry's too good a player to be so obliging.}
16.Nb6 Ra7 17.a5
{White has a nice bind here.  The black rook on a7 is ridiculous.}
17...Nbd7 18.Nca4 Nxb6 19.Nxb6 Nd7 20.Nc4
{White again correctly avoids trading.}
20...Ne5 21.Nb6 Nd7 22.Nc4 Be5
{Ne5 is objectively better, but given the rating difference,
it was necessary to find a way to play on.}
23.Nxe5 Nxe5 24.Rfe1?
{Opening black up like a can of worms with b4 is the way to go here.}
24...Rb8?
{Raa8, getting ready to meet b4 with occupation of the c file after a trade of pawns, is stronger.}
25.b4! c4
{Black's in trouble here no matter what, and in situations like this,
it's good practical chess to make a move that, if responded to incorrectly,
gets you back in the game.}
26.Qe3
{White should probably just capture on e5 and then c4.
 Allowing the c pawn to remain on the board gives the black knight the d3 square.}
26...Raa8 27.Bh6 b5 28.Qc3
{I think white really should take on b6 en passant.
Promising black a protected passed pawn in any upcoming endgame is too much of a concession.}
28...f6 29.Be3 Kg7 30.Bd4 Re8 31.f4 Nd3 32.Re3 Rf8
{Nxf4 is met by Rf1, increasing the pressure on f6.}
33.e5 fxe5 34.fxe5 dxe5 35.Bxe5+ Nxe5
{Apparently, Kg8 is much better, but it's hard to see both that white has no good revealed attacks
against the black queen, and that the white queen and bishop will not be able to deliver mate somehow on the long diagonal.}
36.Rxe5 Qf6 37.Qe3 Rae8
{Larry resigned here, seeing that Re1 is met by Rxe5 Qxe5 Qf2+ Kh1 Qf1+ Rxf1 Rxf1#,
missing that Qf2+ is impossible because of an absolute pin.
Despite that, he played an excellent game, and really had me on the ropes for most of it.
He's a dangerous player, and I'll have to be more careful in the future!}
0-1