BRB #10 | Chess for Charity Open Tournament: Scandinavian Defense

Hello, everyone! I'm back from my hiatus from writing blogs, and I've got some really interesting games that I'll be analyzing throughout this week! Today I'll be analyzing a game from an open tournament I played back in May, hosted by Chess for Charity! I played against Carl Tews, rated 1460. I was playing with the black pieces and opted for my favorite reply to king's pawn openings, the Scandinavian Defense. The game begins as the Bronstein Variation (Gubinsky-Melts) of the Mieses-Kotrč Scandinavian Defense.

• 1. e4, d5
• 2. exd5, Qxd5
• 3. Nc3, Qd6
• 4. d4, a6
• 5. Nf3, Nf6
• 6. Bg5, Bg4
• 7. Be2, Nc6?! (Usually in these positions, white will fianchetto the light-squared bishop on the g2 square. Instead, my opponent chooses to play 7. Be2, which is an alright developing move as well, still preparing to castle king-side, while also removing any pin which the bishop on the g4-square may have on the knight that sits on the f3-square. My next developing move, 7...Nc6?! is inaccurate. More optimal would have been 7... e6. Without this move, white is able to take more space with 8. d5.)
  
• 8. O-O, O-O-O (Instead, my opponent castles to safety, and as do I. We've castled to opposite sides of the board, however, which may usually lead to positions that are very complex, usually involving pawns racing down each side of the board towards their enemy king. However, over the next 10 turns the game will become entirely simplified to an endgame, as nearly all of the pieces are traded off of the board.)
• 9. Qd2??, Nxd4?! (Qd2 leads to losing material in the exchange-- Rather than Nxd4, Bxf3 is a more accurate way in which to initiate the series of piece exchanges.)
• 10. Nxd4, Qxd4 
• 11. Qxd4?, Rxd4 (Exchanging the queens while down a pawn is less than favorable for white.)
• 12. Bxf6, exf6
• 13. Bxg4+, Rxg4
• 14. h3?, Rd4 (h3 misses an opportunity to seize one of the open files with a Rook.)
• 15. Rfe1, Bb4 (Bb4 is very excellent here, pinning the knight to the Rook on e1.)
• 16. Red1?, Bxc3 
• 17. bxc3, Rxd1+
• 18. Rxd1, Rd8 (Once the dust has settled, white is down a pawn; entering a losing endgame.)
• 19. Rd3?!, Re8 (Better for white to take the open e-file with the Rook and keep the position complex, rather than granting black the opportunity to enter a king-pawn ending. Unsure of how the king-pawn ending would unfold, after a few minutes of thought I decided to take the open e-file myself, rather than exchanging Rooks.)
• 20. Kf1, c5
• 21. c4, b5- (21...b5- misses the opportunity to seize advantage with 21...Re4, attacking white's weak doubled c-pawn. Both players advancing their c-pawns have created weaknesses for themselves here.)
• 22. Rd5, Re5! (22...Re5! is the only good move for black in the position. This defends the weak c-pawn, as well as offers an exchange of Rooks, hoping to enter the winning king-pawn ending.)
• 23. Rxe5, fxe5 (This exchange also results in black un-doubling their pawns, making the pawn majority advantage much more pronounced, with a chain that's far more likely to pass a pawn.)
• 24. Ke2, Kd7
• 25. Kd3, bxc4+
• 26. Kxc4, Kc6
• 27. a4?!, f5 (Advancing the a-pawn simply wastes time for white. The king will not be able to assist it in becoming passed, as it cannot enter the b-file with any forward movement.)
• 28. g4, fxg4
• 29. hxg4, g6
• 30. Kd3, Kd5 (30...Kd5 is the strongest option in the position, continuing to completely cut off white's king from having any opportunities for forwarding movement. The kings will continue by traveling towards the king-side of the board together, trying to clarify the pawn break.)
• 31. c4+, Ke6! 
• 32. Ke4, h5
• 33. gxh5, gxh5 (My plan in this position isn't actually to pass and promote the passed h-pawn here, surprisingly enough-- rather, follow white's king with my own, so that I may trap it on the h-file via king-opposition.)
• 34. Kf3, Kf5
• 35. Kg3, e4
• 36. a5, h4+
• 37. Kxh4, Kf4
• 38. Kh3, Kf3 

It was in this position that my opponent likely realized that the king would be trapped on the h-file, rendering it unable to stop the e-pawn from promoting and winning the game shortly after, so white resigned. This was a very excellent game, likely one of my favorite games I've played involving the Scandinavian Defense!