[Event "New York International"] [Site "Marshall Chess Club"] [Date "2017.06.13"] [Round "1"] [White "Rozman, Levy"] [Black "Magallanes, Rey Jomar"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2400"] [BlackElo "2101"] [ECO "A45"] [Opening "Trompowsky: 2...Ne4 3.h4 d5"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 {Rozman elects for the Trompowsky Attack, a pet opening for creative club and elite players. White steers the game into more unconventional 1. d4 territory where the original positions favor the stronger player.} Ne4 3.h4!? {And this move is even more original!} d5 {Solid} (3...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation:} c5 4.d5 Qb6 5.Nd2 Nxg5 6.hxg5 {To play this way as Black one must have truly ironclad preparation! Everything seems like it is playing into White's hand as Black engages in early queen developments, pawn grabbing and generally weird moves} Qxb2 7.g6! {The main hope for players venturing for 3. h4!?}) (3...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes} Nxg5 4.hxg5 {When the open h-file promises some intiative. There may even be some future ideas of a rook lift.}) 4.e3 Qd6 { Already after four moves of play the combatants have reached a position only seen three times in recorded chess history! Magallanes intends to snatch a pawn with Qb4+ while unpinning his e-pawn for future action. Nevertheless the early queen development seems suspicious. White has no problem parrying the threat while the Qd6 can be hit with tempo-gainers like Bf4.} (4...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes} c5 { This retort questions White's opening strategy in a classical manner: Flank action should be met with a strike in the center. Black intends Nc6 with natural development (h6/Bf5/Qb6 come to mind).}) 5.Bd3!? {FM Rozman has no intentions of slowing down the pace! White accelerates development while Black will need two additional moves to collect the pawn. Certainly a maximalist approach to the position.} (5.{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes} Nc3 {Was seen in a predecessor game. The 2600+ GM also sought rapid mobilization: "1-0 (32) Cordova,E (2627)-Muratet Casadevall,A (2204) Castell de Sant Ferran 2016"}) (5.{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes} c3 {is a solid option and would be my conservative choice. White covers the b4 square while opening a diagonal for the Qd1 to access the queenside. A practical example saw:} Nd7 6.Bf4 {When Black's queen was already feeling a little misplaced} Qc6 { '0-1' (30) Ramazan,E (2370)-Kosteniuk,A (2290) Moscow 1997}) 5...Qb4+ { Magallanes goes for the acid test, otherwise White will have made no concessions for his ambitious play. Furthermore, it is unlikely he anticipated FM Rozman's follow-up!} 6.c3 Qxb2 7.Bxe4 {White not only gambits the pawn but also the rook! There is a similar idea in a variation of the London System (1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. C3 Qb6 5. Qb3 c4 6. Qc2 Bf5?! 7. Qxf5! Qxb2 8. Qxd5 Qxa1 9. Qb5) where White invests material to lock the Black queen in the corner.} Qxa1 8.Bxd5 c6 9.Qb3?! {An idea stemming from genius, madness or possibly both. FM Rozman invest a full piece for the tempi he deems necessary to capture the Qa1.} (9.{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes} Bb3 {Appears to be a more natural response to Black's prodding but potentially White was turned off by:} Bf5 10.Bc2 Be6 {And now White has to repeat to avoid the Queen's escape.} 11.Bb3 Bf5) 9...cxd5 10.Nf3 a5!? {Intending the obvious but not easy to stop a4-a3-Qb2} (10...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} Bf5? 11.O-O {When White will play Nbd2 next. Black also has to worry about the protection of the b7-d5 pawns}) (10...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} b6!! {There appears to be only one way to escavate the queen, although both sides would need to be ready for some dizzying calculation:} 11.O-O Ba6 {(%cal Ga6f1,Ra6c4) Not only threatening Bxf1 but also Bc4-Qxa2} 12.Qxd5 (12.Qa4+!? {Forgetting about the queen and going for mate!} Kd8 (12...b5?? 13.Qb3 {Has the queen caught and furthur attempts to escape will be punished:} b4 14.Qa4+ Kd8 15.Re1 {(%cal Gf3e5)}) 13.Ne5 Bxf1 14.Nxf7+ Kc7 15.Bf4+ {It seems like White is making headway with three pieces surrounding Black's king but the engine calculates some cold defenses} e5! (15...Kb7?? 16.Nd8+ Kc8 17.Ne6 Qxb1 18.Qe8+ Kb7 19.Nd8+ Kc8 (19...Ka6?? 20.Qa4#) 20.Ne6+ $11) 16.Bxe5+ Kb7 17.Nd8+ Kc8 18.Qe8 Qxa2!! {(%cal Ra2a4) calmly defending the a4 square so the king can run to a6. Although optically very dangerous, the engine sees no way to exploit the discovered check against Black's king. It's debatable whether Magallanes considered 10... b6!! but calculating these lines in a practical game is anything but simple without an engine's evaluation in the background! Conventional wisdom and intuitive thinking would assume that Q+N+B would be enough to mate.}) 12...Bxf1 13.Qxa8 f6 14.Qxb8+ Kf7 15.Ne5+ fxe5 16.Qxe5 Bc4! 17.Qf5+ Kg8 18.Bxe7 h5! 19.Qxf8+ Kh7 20.Qf5+ g6 {And black has everything covered, again the above should be reiterated: calculating these lines in a practical game is anything but simple without an engine's evaluation in the background!}) 11.O-O a4 12.Qc2 a3 13.Nxa3 Qxf1+ 14.Kxf1 Rxa3 {Both sides have executed their plans and it is time to take stock: White's trap yielded the queen but at the cost of two rooks and a bishop. Materially, White is struggling but his imaginative idea has paid dividends in the form of a development lead and superior coordination. Materially imbalanced positions are often difficult to judge due to their irregularity but there are some vague rules of thumb: activity is key! The queen doesn't stand a chance against three pieces in a vacuum but it is a different story when everything is on the back row. Furthermore in positions with Rook+pawns vs minors or queen+pawns vs pieces, the role of the pawns is also very significant. If possible, the pawns must be used to advance forward and/or restrict the opponent's maneuvering space.} 15.c4! {White wastes no time using his pawns and striking in the center. Benefits include: 1. Increasing the vulnerability of the Ke8 2. Improving the scope and influence of the Queen 3. Opening the position before Black is coordinated! Although the material favors Black, the engine already gives equality at sufficient depth. Nevertheless the position practically (and likely objectively) is better for White! Black still needs to solve the problem of king safety and development, not easy when your opponent's pieces are congregating nearby!} Nd7 {Magallenes elects to jettison a pawn to get some pieces out} (15...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} dxc4 16.Qxc4 { Here are some sample lines to showcase the difficulty Black has in developing:} Bf5?? (16...Be6 17.d5 Bd7 18.Qb4 {(%cal Gb4a3,Gb4b7)}) (16...Bd7 17.Ne5 e6?? 18.Qc7) 17.Qc5 {(%cal Gc5f5,Gc5a3)}) 16.cxd5 Ra8 17.e4! {An excellent move intending the crude but effective e5-e6.} g6 18.e5 Bg7 { Magallanes has slowly but surely made headway in getting his pieces away from their starting positions and can even play h6 and O-O next move.} 19.h5! { Not letting up! If given a move White will continue with h6 and box in Black's pieces} h6 {Magallanes continues with the obvious plan, likely intending to meet a bishop retreat with g5 and a more or less sealed kingside.} (19...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} gxh5 {Deserves serious attention as it definitely prevents h6! However White has several ideas to use the weaknesses on the kingside:} 20.Nh4 {(%cal Gh4f5)}) 20.Bxe7!! {FM Rozman refuses to retreat and continues playing with the same ambition and energy as his earlier sacrifices! However this piece investment yields very clear benefits: 1. Black's king is stripped of his pawn cover 2. White gains tempi to advance his central avalanche 3. White picks up a couple of pawns} Kxe7 21.d6+?! (21.{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} hxg6 {The engine rates the immediate recapture as stronger than 21. d6+ as the Ke7 is more vulnerable in future variations, for example Nh4->Nf5/Ng6. Nevertheless d6+ is an obvious and hard to resist candidate move! Such an unusual position is difficult to play for both the attacker and defender.}) 21...Kf8? {Again the engines easily navigate the situation and pinpoint this retreat as the truly losing move. It should be no surprise that Black errs in this chaotic position. With his king under fire and White's pieces (queen!) having a large scope of continuations it is very difficult to play perfect defense.} (21...{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} Ke8 {This retreat allows Black to untangle with Nf8, simultaneously activating the Be8 and Nd7. The position remains very complicated and the material imbalance is very unusual: Queen+3p vs 2R+2b! It is likely Black will need to sacrifice a piece or two to eliminate the avalanche of pawns coming his way}) 22.hxg6 Kg8 23.gxf7+?! (23.{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} Qb3) (23.{ Many players have been tempted to capture on g5 in the following variation: White welcomes This idea from the previous note is obviously lacking in view of the simple} Qc4 {Are instant knockouts but likely the players were plagued by early time trouble from the complexity of the position!}) 23...Kxf7 24.Qb3+ Kg6 25.e6 Nf8 26.d5 Bf6 27.Nd4 Bxd4 28.Qd3+ Kg5 29.f4+ Kg4 {Although it is just for a moment, the material imbalance is truly unreal. Black has practically all the material sans his queen to compete with White's single piece! Unfortunately for Magallanes, his wandering king and White's 4 passed pawns will decide the game:} 30.Qd1+ Kf5 31.Qxd4 Ng6 32.Qd3+ Kf6 33.g4 { One of the many possibilities here but undoubtedly a very unpleasant move to meet in time trouble. White calmly advances another pawn without forcing the issue} Kg7 34.Qc3+ Kg8 35.Qf6 Bxe6 36.Qxg6+ Kf8 37.dxe6 {A fascinating battle between a queen and an armada of pieces. FM Rozman set the pace of the game early with the unusual Trompowsky and the wacky 3. h4!? but Magallanes was not one to back down with his own idea of Qd6-Qb4-Qb2-Qa1! Although the engine mercilessly points out improvements for both sides (notably the "refutation" with 10... b6!!) the complexity of the position was difficult to traverse. Fortune favors the bold and FM Rozman's unrelenting aggression (15. c4! 19. h5! 20. Bxe7!!) crashed through Black's fortresses and was a stepping stone to attaining his final IM Norm. Congratulations!} 1-0