[Event "Spielvogel, 2020"] [Site "Mechanics Institute"] [Date "2020.02.27"] [Round "4"] [White "Bas van Riel"] [Black "Sean Macak"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1681"] [BlackElo "1504"] [ECO "A60"] [Opening "Benoni: 3.d5 e6"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.dxe6 {(bas) this is probably the first time in my whole chess-life, that I played the Benoni opening in classical chess! No wonder that I was spending oodles of time in the opening whereas Sean was flashing his moves out almost instantly. Indicating that he knows his stuff, while I had to 'invent the wheels' each move.} fxe6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.e3 Qb6 8.Qc1 O-O 9.Nc3 a6 10.a3 Rd8 {(bas) this move gave me the impression that Sean was 'out of book' from hereon, otherwise he would have played the obvious 10..d5} 11.Bd3 d5 12.O-O d4 13.exd4 cxd4?! {(bas) 13..Nxd4; Swapping a pair of knight is suggested by the engine} 14.Na4 {(bas) I had the choice between Ne4 or Na5, and it took me ages to decide. Ne4 was rejected because the position would be too simplified for my liking, after the exchange of two sets of light pieces. The option of following up with 15.c5 and later b4, if needed, looked very attractive to me, although I had to calculate the impact of black's Nd5.} Qc7 15.c5! Nd5 16.Bxe7 {(bas) I was prepared to swap my better bishop against black's. But now I had a clear target: black's weak pawn on e6, with his queen in the firing line.} Qxe7 17.Re1 Kh8 18.Bc4 Rb8 19.Qg5! {(bas) A natural move, Increasing the pressure and creating activity for white's rook on a1.} b5!? {(bas) I did not see a better move, but it broke up black's pawn structure} 20.cxb6 Nxb6 21.Nxb6 Rxb6 22.b4 {(bas) best move} Qd6 23.Qc5? {(bas) I missed the nice idea: 23.Qh4, g6;24.Qh4, e5; 25.Ng5, and Bd3 with a great attack, whereas black's pieces are uncoordinated and the pawns weak.} Ne7 24.Rad1 Nf5 25.Ne5 Rb7 26.Nd3? {(bas) 26.Qxd6, Rxd6; 27.Rc1! and black is in serious trouble (+4.3)} Re7 27.Ne5 Rc7? {(bas) 27.Bb7 was needed.} 28.Qxd6 Rxd6 29.Bb3 {(bas) not the best move, as Sean would now have surviving chances after 29...Bb7, with +1.5 advantage for white.29. Bd3 instead was called for.} g6? 30.Rc1! {(bas) all of a sudden black is completely lost, thanks to the marvelous knight on e5, which controls all the crucial squares, ie. c6, d7, f7. Sean played a logical and solid game, except for some minor slip-ups. I enjoyed the various challenges Sean threw at me...} {#r} 1-0