Rapid Game Analysis: 03 April 2026 (Part 3)

This is the final rapid game from a small 3-round event. We have so far looked at rounds 1 and 2 where I was up against two expert-strength players. This game, I am playing none other than GM Alex Yermolinsky, a two-time US champion who used to be in the top 25 in the world back in the 1990s. Although that was a while ago, he is still obviously a very strong and experienced player, and I was curious to see how he would approach the opening against me. I'm playing the black pieces this game.

Yermolinsky, Alex (2442) - Paciorkowski, Lev (2448)
03-Apr-2026 Rapid, St. Louis, MO (Rd. 3)
G/15+3

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.Be3 (D)

I did not shy away from a fight this game, entering the King's Indian which is one of the sharpest ways black can play against d4/c4/Nf3 systems. In response, Alex has chosen quite a rare move for white which I suspect was to try and quickly get me out of my own opening knowledge (mission successful). The way I see it, there are the following main systems white can choose from in the position after 5. ... 0-0:

• Classical Main Line with 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 - this is where most KID theory is
• Petrosian System: 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 - this is kind of rarely seen nowadays, and I believe not considered to be too dangerous for black
• Gligoric-Taimanov System: 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 - this has a little more poison to it and certainly could be considered a more serious weapon for white
• Exchange Variation: 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5 - this is very rare nowadays, but it used to be a penchant of GMs like Ulf Andersson, who would try to use their technical prowess to win the resulting drawish endgames
• A Makogonov-type system with 6.h3. This is also a serious move. In the traditional move order, white plays h2-h3 before necessarily committing the knight to f3.

After a small amount of thought, I played 6. ... Ng4 I was a little surprised to find out after the game that this is a fairly uncommon move for black, even though it seems like the natural way to test white's early placement of the dark squared bishop without including h2-h3. The main alternative would be 6. ... e5 when white would have the option of transposing back into a Gligoric system with 7.Be2 (which perhaps black would prefer not to allow) or we could go into more uncharted territory with a line like 7.d5!? Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4.

The game continued 7.Bg5 This is the only move that could ask any serious questions to black; otherwise I would just play e7-e5 right away. 7. ... h6 8.Bc1!? (D)

This is pretty unusual though. In my database I could only find one high-level blitz game where this was played. Over the board, the only move I was still a little concerned about was 8.Bh4, keeping the pin on the e7 pawn. It turns out this move has been used with some success by white, mostly in faster time controls. Black will have to decide if it is worth it to commit to g6-g5 so that we can achieve our desired ...e5 break in the center, a decision which is not obvious if you've never looked at this before.

8. ... e5 There is nothing wrong with this natural move, and I think black has equalized. 9.dxe5 This was also white's choice in a 2025 blitz game Paravyan-Lazavik. The try 9.h3!? exd4! (as was my intention during the game) 10.Nxd4 Ne5 is nothing special for white, while 9.d5!? f5 only enters a traditional KID structure where it seems like black has gained several useful tempi.

9. ... Nxe5 My choice here deviates from any established previous games. I did consider 9. ... dxe5, but felt concerned about my knight on g4 being out for lunch in those positions, and I have to constantly think about if white can take on e5 after ...Nf6. The aforementioned blitz game went 9. ... dxe5 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Nd5 eventually ending in black's favor [0-1 (42) Paravyan (2582) - Lazavik (2605), Blitz 2025]. For what it's worth, the engine does actually slightly prefer my move, so perhaps there was something to my intuition after all.

10.Nxe5 Otherwise black will quickly be able to organize some pressure on the c4 pawn with ...Be6. 10. ... dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.Nd5 Na6 (D)

This kind of endgame is always strategically a little risky for white, since the d4 square is a proper outpost for black, while the d5 square can still be covered by my c-pawn after ...c6. In this particular position, black also has a small lead in development. White could try here to liquidate the position with 13.c5!? when I was planning 13. ... Nxc5 14.Nxc7 Rb8=, but actually, because black has such a lead in development, the engine even suggests the insane-looking 13. ... Rxd5!(!?) 14.exd5 Nb4! 15.Kd1 Nxd5 when black apparently can fight for an advantage in that position despite being an exchange down. I don't think I ever would have seriously considered that during the game but it's a neat concept to see!

13.Be3 Be6 14.0-0-0 c6 15.Nc3 b6!? Not strictly necessary, but I wasn't convinced by 15. ... Bf8?! 16.Rxd8 Rxd8 17.Bxa7+= when there is not quite enough compensation for black. Nothing much happens for a while 16.Be2 Bf8 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Rd1 Rxd1+ 19.Kxd1 Bc5 It is almost always desirable for black to exchange the dark squared bishops in this structure, leaving white with a more passive light squared bishop. 20.Bxc5 Nxc5 21.Kd2 Kf8 22.Ke3 Ke7 23.h4 g5 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.b3 (25.b4!? would always have been risky because of 25. ... Nb7! when white's c-pawn can become a target later after ...Nd6) 25. ... f6 26.Bd1 Bf7 27.Bg4 Kd6 28.g3 a5 29.Be2 Ne6 30.Na4 Kc7 31.Nc3 Nd4 32.Bd1 b5 33.cxb5 cxb5 34.Ne2 Nxe2 35.Bxe2 b4 (D)

The start of an interesting bishop ending. During the game I was correct in thinking that this should objectively be a draw, but white is the one who has to be careful, since all of my pawns are on the opposite color square from my bishop. In general, my immediate plan is to use the pressure from my Bf7 to achieve ...a5-a4-a3, then look for some way to make progress after that.

36.f4 gxf4+ 37.gxf4 Kb6 38.fxe5 fxe5 39.Bd1 Kc5 40.Bc2 Be8 41.Bd1 Bb5 Here I am just moving around to gain some time from the increment. At this point I had about 30 seconds and Alex had about a minute and a half on the clock. 42.Bc2 Bf1 43.Bd1 Bg2 44.Bc2 Bh3 45.Bd1 Be6 46.Kd3 a4 (D)

The first real decision for white to make. Should this pawn be taken, or is it OK to allow black to achieve ...a4-a3?

It turns out that both options still draw, although it would start to get very tricky for white after 47.bxa4!? Bxa2. So understandably, Alex allows my pawn to go forward, but at the same time that also feels like a big accomplishment for black. 47.Ke3 a3 48.Kd3 (of course white can never allow 48.Be2? Bxb3!-+) 48. ... Bc8 49.Ke3 Ba6 50.Bc2 Bf1 51.Bd3 Bh3 (51. ... Bxd3 52.Kxd3 is a dead draw) 52.Bc2 Bg4 53.Kd3 Bf3 54.Ke3 Bh5 55.Kd3 Bf7 56.Ke3 Kd6 (D)

After some more shuffling to gain time on the clock, here I start to march my king over to the kingside to try and invade somehow. My bishop on f7 always keeps c4 under control, so white will never be able to invade with his own king on the queenside. White's bishop also always has to stay on c2 or d1 to prevent ...Bxb3.

57.Bd1 Ke7 58.Bc2 Kf6 (D)

Again white has a decision to make. Should anything be done now to stop my king from invading too far? Had I been playing white, I think my intuition would have been (of course, in a classical game these things should be decided by pure calculation, not intuition. This doesn't apply in fast time controls though.) to try 59.Kf3 Kg5 60.Kg3, but that is not so easy because black can try to set up a zugzwang position - e.g. 60. ... Bh5 61.Bd3! (61.Bb1? Bd1-+ is zugzwang) 61. ... Bg4 62.Bc2! Be2 (D)

Here white is only surviving because of 63.Kf2! momentarily attacking my bishop. Any other move loses, e.g. 63.Bb1? Bd1!-+ Here in the post-game analysis perhaps that doesn't seem so hard, but over the board with little time that isn't obvious.

In the game Alex decided on 59.Bd1 which also draws, but at least my king can invade more now. 59. ... Kg5 60.Bc2 Kg4 61.Bd1+ Kg3 62.Bc2 Kg2 63.Ke2! (white cannot allow my king to f1) 63. ... Bh5+ (D)

Quick - where should white go with the king? Only one move holds the draw.

64.Kd3! (D) Threatening to invade through c4 now that my bishop has momentarily left that diagonal.

I actually can win white's bishop in the variation (I didn't have time to calculate this during the game) 64. ... Kf2 65.Kc4 Ke3 66.Kxb4 Kd2 67.Bb1 Kc1 68.Kxa3! (68.Bd3? Kb2!-+) 68. ... Kxb1 but white is just in time to run back with his king to eliminate my e-pawn: 69.Kb4! Bf3 70.Kc5 Bxe4 71.Kd6=

So I go back with my bishop. 64. ... Bf7 65.Ke2! Be8 and try to dislodge white's king from another diagonal, where I keep c4 defended at the same time. 66.Kd3 (just to show how careful white has to be, 66.Bd3? loses after 66. ... Bh5+! when white's king can no longer go to the needed d3 square. The last finesse is 67.Ke3 Bf7! threatening to take on b3 68.Bc2 Kf1-+) 66. ... Bb5+ 67.Ke3 (D)

White is still holding on by the slimmest of margins. 67. ... Kf1 68.Bd3+! would lead to a drawn K+P endgame: 68. ... Bxd3 69.Kxd3 Kf2 70.Kc4 Ke3 71.Kxb4 Kxe4 72.Kxa3 Kd3 73.b4 e4 74.b5 e3 75.b6 e2 76.b7 e1=Q 77.b8=Q and this is a draw. By the way, white also would have to be sure that 67. ... Kf1 68.Bd3+ Ke1? 69.Bxb5 Kd1 doesn't work for black - in fact, white's extra bishop is winning there, but only with 70.Kd3 Kc1 71.Kc4 Kb2 72.Kxb4 Kxa2 73.Bd3! Kb2 74.Bb1!!+- and white wins. Without this resource, or if the bishop couldn't get back there in time, black would actually be winning.

67. ... Ba6 (D)

68.Bd1? After a lengthy defense, the difficulty of chess finally makes itself felt and my esteemed opponent goes astray. The only move was 68.Bb1! to still keep the Bd3+ resource available in case of ...Kf1.

68. ... Kf1-+ White cannot effectively deal with this king invasion, although my opponent kept kicking and fighting, still finding an ingenious defensive idea in the next few moves. 69.Bg4 Ke1 70.Be2!? (D)

I remember being quite startled by this because it just comes out of nowhere. 70. ... Bxe2? is stalemate! Fortunately, I have better options.

70. ... Bc8 White now cannot deal with both ...Be6 and ...Kd1. 71.Bc4 Kd1 72.Kd3 Kc1 73.Bd5 Ba6+ 74.Ke3 Kb2 75.Kd2 Bc8 (75. ... Kxa2 76.Kc2 Be2! is also winning with the idea Bd1+!) 76.Kd3 Ba6+ 77.Kd2 Bf1 78.Kd1 Bd3 0-1 Now my bishop goes to b1 and cleans up white's queenside.

It is really incredible to see how complex a bishop endgame can be with such a limited number of pawns left on the board. This game also goes to show how difficult defending such an endgame can be, even if you know or feel it should be a draw.

Rapid Game Analysis: 03 April 2026 (Part 2)

We have another rapid game to look at. Previously we looked at round 1 from this event. This game I am black against another expert.

Vadderaju, Sudeep (2138) - Paciorkowski, Lev (2448)
03-Apr-2026 Rapid, St. Louis, MO (Rd. 2)
G/15+3

Sudeep is a talented youngster and I've seen his rating steadily go up over the last couple years. I am sure he will be over 2200 before too long.

1.e4 e5 I have played pretty much all of black's main moves against 1.e4 (e5, Sicilian, Caro and French) at some point in my past and this time decided to try e5. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6!? (D)

This is a pretty rare line that has been quite fashionable at the top level recently, being played by the likes of Carlsen, Caruana, and other strong GMs. Even though it is not the theoretically "best" move for black (surely 3. ... Bc5 should be better), it is still playable and leads to less explored positions. My opponent reacted in the most typical and principled way: 4.d4 exd4

Actually 4. ... Nf6!? is also possible and has been played by Caruana before. 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 7.Nxe5 Nxe4 is equal [1/2-1/2 (80) Zhigalko (2572) - Caruana (2795), Blitz 2026]. That is a little dry for my taste against a lower-rated opponent, so I think I prefer 4. ... exd4 instead.

5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0+= (D)

One of the main tabiyas of this variation. White is of course a little better objectively speaking, but black is not without his own ideas, which I had a little bit of knowledge about. The most common move in this position is 8.h3, a useful bit of prophylaxis against either ...Ng4 or ...Bg4. My opponent played the second-most common move, 8.Re1, to which I knew the following nice idea for black: 8. ... Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Ng4! (D)

This move has several ideas. Black can follow-up with Ne5 and/or Bf6, harassing white's exposed pieces in the center. There is also sometimes the idea of Bh4!? to hit the f2 pawn and try to provoke a weakening of white's kingside. Finally, if we can chase the bishop away from c4, then f7-f5 becomes possible to challenge white's center.

Instead of this, 9. ... c6!? 10.Bf4+= seemed quite pleasant for white, with pressure on the d6 pawn [1-0 (58) Yankovsky (2468) - Hess (2624), 2012]. I also am not a fan of 9. ... Be6!? since it walks right into 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.e5!+=, a typical idea for white.

My opponent thought for a little and played the most ambitious move 10.Nd5 I was also familiar with 10.h3 Ne5 when 11.Be2 is semi-forced (11.Bb3? c5! 12.Qd5 c4! 13.Ba4 a6!-/+ and this bishop is in serious trouble. Also bad is 11.Bf1? Bxh3!-/+). Then black continues with 11. ... f5!, meeting 12.Nd5 with 12. ... Bh4!=, with an interesting position, since 13.g3?! Bf6=- would be good for black due to white's weakened kingside.

Another interesting idea to point out that I discovered from post-game analysis is if white plays 10.Bf4 Bf6 11.Qd2, then out of nowhere black can generate an initiative on the kingside with 11. ... g5! 12.Bg3 h5!

Anyway, in the game after 10.Nd5 I played the thematic 10. ... Bh4 (D)

It's a tricky position for white. Maybe the most obvious move is 11.g3 but that understandably feels risky, leaving a juicy hole on f3 for my knight. Black's idea there (and my intention) would be 11. ... c6! 12.gxh4!? Ne5! 13.Be2 cxd5 14.exd5 Bf5 when white has an extra pawn but I think anyone there is preferring black with white's shattered pawn structure and weakened king (although the engine still proclaims equality).

Instead my opponent played 11.Be3?! but black is more than happy to make that trade, winning the bishop pair. 11. ... c6 12.Nf4? Just losing a pawn. 12.Nc3 Bf6 13.Qd2 Nxe3 14.Qxe3=- was needed. 12. ... Bf6 13.Qd2 Nxe3?! Actually 13. ... Bxb2 14.Rad1 Be5!-+ would be much stronger, since black even keeps ideas like Qh4 there. 14.Rxe3 Bxb2 15.Rd1 (D)

However now it is my turn to make a mistake. 15. ... Bf6? It's hard for me to explain this move. I wanted to play the much more natural 15. ... Be5!-/+ but somehow overthought things and talked myself out of it, not sure about 16.Ne2, with the idea of f2-f4. But even that is not a real threat, since it will expose the g1-a7 diagonal, e.g. 15. ... Be5! 16.Ne2 b5 17.Bb3 a5 18.a4 b4 19.f4 Bf6 20.Qxd6? Qb6-+ with a double threat on e3 and of ...Rd8.

16.g3?! Instead 16.Nh5!=- would have been strong, since 16. ... Be7?? 17.Rg3! g6 18.Qh6+- is even winning for white, and 16. ... Be5 17.f4! would make the position unclear. 16. ... Qb6 17.Kg2 (17.Qxd6? Rd8-+) 17. ... Bd7? Again I didn't quite figure out that I need to play 17. ... Be5, then 18.Nd3 Bd4-/+. I thought I was setting a trap, but it turns out my trap has a lot of holes in it. 18.Rb3 I thought 18.Qxd6 Bg4 would be dangerous, but actually after 19.Rb3! there white is not worse. 18. ... Qc5 (D)

19.Be2?! In fact, 19.Rxb7 is fine for white, which I was coming to the realization of over the board as my opponent was thinking. 19. ... Bc8 20.Rb4! a5 21.Ra4!= looks awkward but black has no way to win material there. Also fine for white are 19. ... Bg4 20.Be2! or 19. ... Qxc4 20.Rxd7 Qxe4+ 21.f3.

19. ... Rae8? completely returning the favor. I knew I was going to have to give back the pawn, and just wanted to make sure all my pieces were activated. But a much better way was 19. ... b5 20.Qxd6 Qxd6 21.Rxd6 Rfd8! 22.Rbd3 Be8-/+ when the endgame will still be very unpleasant for white thanks to my two strong bishops.

20.Qxd6? Thankfully my opponent grabs the wrong pawn! 20.Rxb7 Bc8 21.Rb3 Rxe4 22.Qxd6 would be fine for white since my own pawns on the queenside are also going to be weak. 20. ... Qxd6 21.Rxd6 Bc8=- (D)

Time to take stock. Even though material is equal, black has a stable advantage here. The bishop pair is powerful in this position, and white has some weak pawns too. The superficial activity of white's pieces is meaningless since I have no targets in my position.

22.Bf3 Be5 23.Rd1 Rd8 (It was worth considering 23. ... g5!? 24.Nd3 g4=- but I felt this would be too loosening) 24.Rbd3 Bc7 25.h3 f5! Correctly deciding to challenge white's center and open the position further. 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Rxd8+ Bxd8 (D)

28.e5!? It is hard to know how white should proceed, but this is not a bad practical attempt. If white is able to get the pawn to f4, then this protected passer on e5 will become a strong asset that should give better drawing chances. The question though is whether white has enough time to accomplish that. It turns out the answer to that question is no, but this isn't obvious during a rapid game.

28. ... Bb6? But I do not react in the best way. I considered the stronger and more obvious 28. ... Bc7! but didn't see after 29.Nd3 how to prevent white from achieving Be2 and f2-f4, when my Bc7 is doing nothing anymore. But actually what I misevaluated was that after 29. ... Kf7 30.Be2 Ke6 31.f4 Kd5!-+ black is simply winning because the king is too active and heading for the queenside pawns. 29.Be2=- Kf7 30.Bc4+ Ke7 (D)

31.Kf3? This should be the losing move, although I still was not understanding this position entirely correctly. The only move was 31.Ne2! followed by f2-f4. However, 31.Nd3? would not be the same because after 31. ... Bd4 32.f4 b5! 33.Bb3 a5! white is forced into some decisive concession on the queenside (e.g., 34.a4 Ba6 35.Kf3 bxa4 36.Bxa4 Bb5-+ and the outside passed a-pawn will decide the game). 31. ... Bd4 32.Nd3 g5 33.Ke2 (D)

33. ... f4? I thought that I needed to stop white from getting f2-f4 in at all costs, but what I didn't appreciate is that similar to the last variation, 33. ... b5! 34.Bb3 a5!-+ is winning because white cannot avoid the creation of a major weakness on the queenside - either a passed pawn or a fixed target e.g. if he plays a2-a3.

34.gxf4 gxf4 (D)

35.Nxf4? The last decisive mistake, after which black is definitely winning. What I think both of us failed to realize here is that actually 35.Kf3! Bxh3 36.Ke4! Bb6 37.Nxf4 would suddenly be very unclear, with white having two dangerous passers of his own and a strongly centralized king.

35. ... Bxe5-+ White now loses the e5 pawn and has no counterplay. 36.Nd3 (36.Kf3 Bxf4 37.Kxf4 Bxh3-+) 36. ... Bf6 37.Nf4 Bg5 38.Nd3 Bxh3 39.f4 Bf6 40.Ke3 Bf5 41.Bb3 Kd6 42.Nf2 Bd8 43.Ne4+ Ke7 44.Nc5 not losing the knight would prolong the game but should not change the outcome 44. ... Bb6 45.Kd4 Kd6 0-1

Rapid Game Analysis: 03 April 2026 (Part 1)

Hello and welcome back! I played a few interesting rapid games for us to look at this time. Without any further preamble, let's jump right in. Time control was 15 minutes plus 3 seconds per move.

Paciorkowski, Lev (2448) - Wilson, Matthew (2108)
03-Apr-2026 Rapid, St. Louis, MO (Rd. 1)
G/15+3

My first opponent is a solid expert player from Illinois. If you've seen some of my other recent games, you can probably guess what opening I played as white. Despite the seemingly quiet nature of the position we got, this turned out to be a super interesting game.

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.0-0 e6 5.c4 c6 6.Qb3 (D)

This is a fairly well-known position in the Lasker System (where black sets up c6-Bf5) against the Reti. Here most commonly played is 6. ... Qb6, when I was pretty familiar with white's main ideas. However, my opponent played differently with 6. ... Qc8!? (D)

This is much less common but not necessarily a worse option. I continued 7.d4!? after a bit of thought, which is a little unusual. Typically, white instead treats these positions with 7.d3 (D)

The idea is then to take on d5 and quickly play e2-e4. I was aware of this plan, but somehow just decided to try something different this game. After 7.d3, we could get the following continuations:

• 7. ... Be7 is the most natural and best move for black, to which white carries out his plan: 8.cxd5 exd5 9.e4! dxe4 10.Nd4 Bg6 11.dxe4 0-0 (taking on e4 is way too risky for black with the king still on e8) 12.Nc3+= This classic middlegame structure is what white is aiming for.
•  7. ... Nbd7!? gives black the option of Nc5, but delays castling by another move. In particular, without the bishop on e7 yet, white can play a little more energetically now with 8.Nh4! Bg4 9.cxd5 exd5 10.e4! Be7 (10. ... Be2? 11.Rd1 Nc5 12.Qc2 Bxd3 13.exd5+ is crushing for white) 11.Qc2 0-0 12.h3 Be6 13.Nc3+= according to the engine, this is actually a slightly more preferable version of this structure for white. I think the reason is that the Be6 is a little misplaced, giving black less pressure against the e4 pawn.
• 7. ... h6?! is a typical move to give the Bf5 a hidey-hole on h7, but here it is just too slow: 8.cxd5 exd5 9.e4! dxe4 10.dxe4 Be6 (10. ... Bh7? 11.Ne5+- is already very strong for white) 11.Qc2+/- an even better version of this structure for white, with more of a lead in development.

Anyway, in the game after 7.d4!? we proceeded h6 8.Nc3 Bd6 9.Bd2 I think I briefly considered 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nh4 Bh7 11.e4!? dxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Re1 0-0 14.Bxe4 but wasn't entirely sure I wanted to enter this IQP. That position could be dangerous for black though, if I can get my knight to f5. 9. ... Nbd7 10.Rac1 Qb8 11.Rfe1 Instead I went for a different plan of playing e2-e4 without taking on d5. 11. ... 0-0 12.Nh4 Bh7 13.e4?! (D)

I do remember my spider senses tingling here that I am leaving the d4 pawn unprotected momentarily, but in these faster time controls you cannot afford to think too long to understand every nuance and have to accept that you will make some imprecisions. However, my intuition was correct - black has a great thematic reaction here in 13. ... e5! which thankfully my opponent didn't play. After 14.dxe5 Nxe5-/+ the knight arrives on d3, while 14.exd5 exd4!=- is messier but black is definitely not worse. To avoid this, I should have still preferred 13.cxd5 exd5 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Bxe4 17.Rxe4+= when this position is no picnic for black. White's ideas of Qf3-Nf5 are dangerous.

13. ... dxe4 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Bxe4 16.Rxe4= (D)

Black still has nothing to complain about from the opening. White has no advantage in this well-known structure. I thought I might have some practical attacking chances because for the moment black's queen is still very far away from the kingside, but it's really nothing serious.

16. ... Nf6 17.Ree1 Rd8 18.Qf3 Bf8! (D) This is actually the best move, although I'm not sure I would have naturally considered it had I been playing black. During the game I was planning 18. ... Be7!? 19.Nf5!? (instead 19.Bf4 Qc8 20.d5! is a stronger idea that deserves attention) but the engine is not impressed, happily agreeing to 19. ... exf5 20.Rxe7 Rxd4 21.Bc3 Re4! when this is apparently just equal. Bad for black is 18. ... Nd7? 19.d5+/-

The point is that 19.Bxh6!? gxh6 20.Qxf6 Bg7= is not that impressive for white, since black will regain the pawn on d4 and still have a pretty safe king and a powerful bishop. I could have played something slow here like 19.Bc3, but instead I tried to make for an improvement on the Bxh6 ideas and played 19.d5!? (D)

Quite an interesting move, played on a mix of calculation and intuition. I'm trying to trade my center pawn for the h6 pawn in a way that opens the position more, where perhaps it will be easier to make something of black's weakened king.

19. ... cxd5 Definitely the most human way to capture, keeping f5 under control. After 19. ... exd5!? 20.Bxh6 gxh6? 21.Qxf6 Bg7 22.Qf3+- would just be crushing for white since Nf5 will come soon. So instead black would probably have to enter 20. ... dxc4 21.Bg5 when white's attacking position looks scary. Apparently that is still playable for black, but only if he finds 21. ... Rd3!=

20.Bf4!? I thought this might be a good move to throw in to disrupt black's piece coordination somewhat, but that is debatable. 20. ... Bd6 forced 21.Bxh6 Be5! (D)

My opponent finds another good move that was not at all obvious to me. Instead 21. ... gxh6?! 22.Qxf6 would have been more dangerous for black since the bishop really needs to be on g7 instead of d6 here (hence why I played the intermediate 20.Bf4). I also had calculated 21. ... Bb4? 22.Bf4! Qc8 23.cxd5 Bxe1 24.Rxc8 Raxc8 and was not 100% sure how to evaluate it from afar, but did feel like it could just be winning for white because I have 25.dxe6 fxe6 26.Qe2, picking up e6 when black's king is very weak. Engine confirms that position is indeed completely winning for white, so nice to know I at least calculated something correctly.

22.Bg5 I was right to reject 22.Qe2? gxh6 23.Qxe5 Qxe5 24.Rxe5, although not because of 24. ... d4? (from far away I thought the passed d-pawn could be dangerous in the endgame). Actually black just has 24. ... Rac8-/+ and my c-pawn is pinned.

Instead of my move, the engine suggests the unbelievable 22.Bxg7!? which does not win for white, but leads to a very unclear position after 22. ... Kxg7 23.Qe3 Bxb2 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Rb1. Apparently that is "equal". Ok... I don't play chess this way though.

22. ... dxc4!? I was happy to see this. I did not really have a convincing plan in case of 22. ... Bxb2! when white would still have full compensation for the pawn, but it is not obvious what we are supposed to do. 23.Rxc4+= Now we just have equal material with my pieces being so much more active. Black needs to play carefully to avoid getting into trouble, but this is a hard task in a rapid game. 23. ... Rd5? (D)

Such a natural move, overprotecting the Be5, blocking my queen's access to b7, clearing room for the queen to come to the kingside, and even eyeing my bishop on g5. Plus, the rook is super-defended on this outpost. However, tactics are tactics, and white has a great opportunity here which I quickly spotted. The engine instead suggests 23. ... Rd4=. Even 23. ... Bxb2!? is technically playable. I thought 24.Rb4 Bd4 25.Rxb7 would be dangerous, but compy just plays 25. ... Qd6= and says everything is fine.

24.Nf5!+/- Suddenly black is in trouble. 24. ... exf5 25.Bxf6 Qd6 (forced) 26.Rxe5 Rxe5 27.Bxe5 Qxe5 28.Qxb7+/- is a clean extra pawn for white. Understandably not liking this, my opponent instead played 24. ... Qd8? (D)

If your gut tells you white should have something here, you would be correct. I did see white's winning idea, but was starting to get pretty low on time and decided not to invest into calculating it fully. The idea I saw briefly was 25.Nxg7! Kxg7 26.Rg4! (D)

Unfortunately I did not look into this further since it seemed like black has multiple squares to run the king out of the g-file, when the Nf6 is still adequately defended. And I did not want to invest all of my time making sure none of Kf8, Kh7 or Kh8 (not to mention giving the queen) are OK for black. However, this actually is pretty straightforward. No matter where the king goes, white just plays Rxe5, and then Bxf6, when even with no immediate mate we will have a pawn and a strong attack for the exchange. Black can reach an endgame with 26. ... Kh7 27.Rxe5!? (27.Rh4+ Kg7 28.Ree4!+- is even more crushing actually, but that is more complicated) 27. ... Rxe5 28.Bxf6 Re1+ 29.Kg2 Qd5, but even there white has 30.Qxd5 exd5 31.Rg7+ Kh6 32.g4!+- the only good move, with a winning position because of black's weak king.

Instead I played what I thought was also a strong move that seemed not to require any calculation at all: 25.Ne3? (D)

During the game I saw 25. ... Rd7 26.Ng4 and thought surely this must be very strong for white. Amazingly, black is surviving there with the calm 26. ... Bxb2! when 27.Rf4? Qa5!-+ would even win for black, forking e1 and g5. I didn't see that...

Instead my opponent played the more human 25. ... Rd3, pinning my knight. But I thought I could now clean up black's queenside pawns. 26.Qxb7 Rb8 27.Qxa7 Rxb2+= I was correct to acknowledge that black has enough activity not to be in too much trouble, but an extra pawn is still an extra pawn...

We continued 28.Qa6 Rb8! My opponent played this part of the game extremely well under pressure. 29.Ng4 Rd1 30.Rc1! Rxc1 31.Rxc1 Bb2 32.Rb1 Ra8 33.Qe2 Bd4? This slip starts to get black into trouble though. The precise 33. ... Qd5!+= would maintain the status quo. 34.Rd1+/- This pin is hard to deal with, although white cannot actually win the bishop. The real problem, which I failed to fully appreciate during the game, is that white can now generate an attack against black's king while the rest of his pieces are tied up. 34. ... Ra4 35.Nxf6+ gxf6 36.Be3 e5 37.Qc2? This is not it. Necessary was 37.Qg4+ Kf8 38.a3!+- when black is just totally paralyzed, while white can then start running the h-pawn. That was a bit too hard for me with only a few seconds on my clock though. 37. ... Rb4? (37. ... Qa8!+=) 38.Bxd4? (38.a3! Rb7 39.Qf5!+- playing for the attack was winning again) 38. ... Rxd4= 39.Rc1 Rd2 40.Qa4 Qd4 41.Qxd4 Rxd4 (D)

After all the drama, we wind up in a rook endgame where white is still up a pawn, and black's kingside structure is compromised. This should be a draw, but proving that is not necessarily easy for black when you are just playing on increment.

42.Rc2 Just from my intuition, I didn't feel like 42.Ra1 Ra4 was too promising. Indeed, black draws fairly easily there just by bee-lining counterplay with his king against my f2/g3/h4 pawns: 43.a3 Kg7 44.Kf1 Kg6 45.Ke2 Kf5 46.Kd3 Kg4 47.h4 Kf3! 48.Ra2 e4+ 49.Kc3 e3=

42. ... Rd1+ 43.Kg2 Ra1 44.g4 My idea was to play for some kind of restriction first, then try to figure something out. 44. ... Kg7 45.Kf3 Kg6 46.h4 f5!? 46. ... Rh1= looked much safer to me. 47.Rc6+ (D)

47. ... f6? Chess is so cruel sometimes. After playing a great game, this one move throws everything away and loses. Instead, just 47. ... Kg7= would stay in the drawing margin, when white could hardly hope to win after 48.gxf5 Rxa2, although I would still try something.

48.g5+- Rxa2 49.Rxf6+ Kg7 50.Rxf5 1-0 I don't have the rest of the moves, but I was able to convert from there. What a game!

Game Analysis: 2026 Mid-America Open, Round 3

We are back with another game from my recent tournament in St. Louis! Previously we looked at my round 5 game from this event, where I was white against a young expert. Here we will look at the game I played in round 3 against an also young, slightly higher rated master-strength player. I was white this game.

Paciorkowski, Lev (2446) - Tkachenko, Erik (2185)
2026 Mid-America Open, St. Louis, MO (Rd. 3)
40/80 SD30; d30

From my reading of Erik's USCF rating history, it looks like he crossed 2200 at some point last year (deservedly so). Erik and I have played several times by now, with him winning one of those encounters in a game I analyzed on my YouTube channel.

1.Nf3 (Of course) 1. ... Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d4 d5 (D)

The first interesting moment in the opening. Those of you reading who might be more familiar with my repertoire probably know that I really like 6.c3!? (D) here:

I have been able to use this seemingly innocuous line to great effect against players in the 2000-2200 rating range. The most common alternative by far (that black is usually prepared for) is 6.c4, which is objectively white's best try for a (small) advantage.

What is the purpose behind 6.c3 then? Actually, it is a devious bit of prophylaxis against black's symmetrical plan of c7-c5. If black now tries 6. ... c5?!, white's point is to take this pawn: 7.dxc5!+=, when it turns out that c2-c3 will be quite useful in making black's life harder as he tries to regain this pawn. There are some details, but white ends up with an edge, and black must play precisely to limit this to a small edge.

In my experience playing this as white, actually 6. ... c5 is one of the most commonly played moves under around 2400 - above that rating, players with black usually seem to know this nuance and play something else.

Now you might wonder, why can't black just play 6. ... c6 and follow in copycat fashion? Then white reveals his real plan - to break with e2-e4 before black is ready for e7-e5: 7.Nbd2 Nbd7 8.Re1 Re8?! (this is already inaccurate from black) 9.e4! dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Rxe4+= (D)

White has a lasting edge in this structure. Although it doesn't necessarily look that bad, I can tell you from experience it is hard to play black here, and I've won countless blitz/rapid and classical games from this position (which may be a subject of a different post).

Back to the game. After 6.c3!?, my opponent played the somewhat unusual 6. ... Bf5!? (D)

This is a logical idea which I was familiar with, although from my experience black usually first starts with 6. ... c6, and then after 7.Nbd2 plays 7. ... Bf5. Then after 8.Re1 (hinting at Nh4 followed by e2-e4), most people play the natural 8. ... Ne4?!, which is inaccurate, since white just gets a great position with the bishop pair after 9.Nh4 Nxd2 10.Nxf5! gxf5 11.Bxd2+=. I've also had a lot of blitz games like this.

The way my opponent played, starting with 6. ... Bf5, black still has the option to play c7-c5 in one move, instead of putting the pawn on c6. But somehow the queenside feels looser, since white could consider 7.Qb3 here, when black cannot yet react with the desirable ...Qb6.

In the game I just quickly played 7.Nbd2, continuing with my plan of Re1, then Nh4 and e2-e4. The main alternative indeed looks like 7.Qb3, when it seems most people (going by the Lichess online database at least) defend the b-pawn with 7. ... Qc8 (D)

If white were to now continue with the typical 8.Nbd2?!, it will be black who gets a good position after 8. ... c5!, intending 9.dxc5 Na6=-. But instead of that, white can switch gears and play 8.c4! (that's modern chess for you, taking two moves to put the pawn on c4 after all...) After 8. ... c6 (the immediate 8. ... dxc4!? should also be considered) 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.Qxc4+= (D) we get the following structure:

This line can continue, but it looks to me like black needs to be careful not to allow white to achieve e2-e4, which would give us a great position. Indeed, online this position scores about 60% for white.

After 7.Qb3, instead of 7. ... Qc8, the only other reasonable move is 7. ... b6!? (D)

This of course looks much riskier as it opens the h1-a8 diagonal for my own bishop. Here 8.Ne5 looks promising, intending to increase the pressure on this diagonal with c3-c4. After 8. ... c6 9.c4 (9.Nd2!?) black has some problems to solve. For example, the seemingly natural 9. ... Ne4? would run into 10.cxd5 cxd5 (10. ... Qxd5? 11.g4! Be6 12.Qe3! f5 13.gxf5 gxf5 14.Nc3+- wins material for white) 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Be6 13.Rd1! +/- when it is clear that black will struggle to complete development comfortably, with c3-c4 looming. Instead, black should prefer 9. ... Be6 when white can try 10.cxd5 Bxd5 11.Bxd5 Qxd5 (11. ... cxd5!? 12.Nc3+= is just nice for white) 12.Nc3! Qxb3 (12. ... Qxd4!? is playable for black, but white has 13.Nxf7! there, when black has to find some only moves to stay in the game after 13. ... Rxf7 14.Rd1 Qc5! 15.Rd8+ Bf8 16.Bh6) 13.axb3=, reaching an imbalanced endgame that is objectively equal, but I wouldn't mind continuing to play white there.

A bit of a digression, but I think this analysis is enough to conclude that after 6. ... Bf5!?, 7.Qb3 definitely poses some practical difficulties for black, after either 7. ... Qc8 8.c4! or 7. ... b6!? 8.Ne5.

Let's see what happened in the game then. After my 7.Nbd2, black played 7. ... Qc8. This is a perfectly sound move, and black even has several decent alternatives to this. I think for this reason I would prefer 7.Qb3 in the future, as it limits black's options more. I then played 8.Re1 (D)

My opponent now played the natural-looking 8. ... Ne4?!. My intuition during the game was correct that this should be somehow good for white. Instead, 8. ... c5!= is a pretty healthy alternative.

After 8. ... Ne4?!, I continued with the thematic reaction I knew for white, 9.Nh4 (D)

Really black's problem is just that there is now no way to avoid losing the bishop pair, which will be enough of an advantage for white to be seriously happy. My opponent mixed things up here with a good move, 9. ... c5! (D), which at least gives me some decisions to make. (Instead, 9. ... Nxd2?! 10.Nxf5! gxf5 11.Bxd2+/- is a pretty clear advantage for white, especially after 11. ... e6 12.g4! fxg4 13.e4+/-.)

White now has to decide, do we take on f5 straight away or take on c5 first? Or should we take on f5 at all, and instead take on e4? What order would we make these captures in? I don't think there is one right decision, and had my first think of the game here, at 7 minutes. In the end, I decided on 10.dxc5!?

I considered 10.Nxf5 gxf5, but then only with the follow-up 11.Nxe4!? fxe4+=, which did not seem so impressive for white, as black has managed to clog up the diagonal for my light squared bishop. However, instead 11.c4! (D) would actually be quite powerful:

This position would be hard for black to handle. I think it is possible to just intuitively play this for white, even without calculating too many variations. We are just aiming to fully blast open the position for the bishops, even at the cost of a pawn. In fact, the extra pawn would be completely meaningless for black after the compliant 11. ... Bxd4? 12.e3 Bg7 13.cxd5 Nxd2 14.Bxd2! Bxb2 15.Rb1 Bg7 16.e4+-. Black can do better with 11. ... dxc4 but then 12.d5! Nd6 13.e4!+/- keeps opening up the position and gives white a serious advantage.

Anyway, after my 10.dxc5!?, black then made a slightly strange decision in 10. ... Na6?! (D)

This is a dubious move for black, but only because it allows a very strong attacking idea for white that we both didn't see. I was mostly expecting 10. ... Qxc5, when I was intending 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.Be3 Qb5 13.f3 Bf5 14.Nxf5 gxf5 15.Qb3 Qxb3 16.axb3 Nc6 17.Red1+=, when I thought white would keep at least an edge with the bishops. (In case of 10. ... Nxc5?, I was correct in thinking that 11.Nxf5 Qxf5 12.e4+- would be very good for white, since black is just not prepared for the position to open up there.)

Here I played the "normal" 11.Nxe4?! and we will see what happens in the game. I rejected 11.Nxf5! gxf5 12.Nxe4 dxe4 (D)

I saw this kind of position and thought black should be OK because my bishop on g2 is blocked in now. Even if I get the break f2-f3, that will weaken my kingside. However, white has a killer idea here that is quite advanced: 13.Qd2!! What's this about? 13. ... Nxc5 14.Qg5! e6 15.Be3! (D)

I don't blame myself at all for missing this queen maneuver, but it is still instructive to point out. Black's kingside simply comes under too much pressure. The immediate threat is g3-g4, which black would not have a good answer to. However after 15. ... Nd7 16.Bd4! forces the ugly 16. ... f6, when white just plays 17.Qh5+/- and breaks with f2-f3 next. Black's king is vulnerable and his central clump of pawns is very fragile in the face of white's powerful bishops.

In the game, after 11.Nxe4?! Bxe4 (11. ... dxe4?! 12.Nxf5 gxf5 13.Qd2!!+/-) 12.Bxe4 dxe4 I tried the ambitious 13.Qd5!? (D) (white could still play the position with equal material arising after 13.Be3 Nxc5 14.Qc2 f5 15.Ng2+= and try to use the queenside pawn majority long-term.)

My opponent played 13. ... Qc6!? I did see that black also could have played 13. ... Nxc5 14.Be3 Na4!=, when he has enough counterplay, but thought I might still "figure something out" once we got to that position.

I was happy to trade queens, and we got the following endgame after 14.Qxc6 bxc6 15.Be3 Rab8 16.Rab1 (D)

Objectively this is about equal, although during the game I was optimistic since I didn't see a way for black to win back the pawn right away, thanks to some tactical tricks.

In particular, I had prepared the trap 16. ... Rb5?! 17.Rec1! when 17. ... Nxc5? 18.c4+- wins a piece for white. Otherwise, if 17. ... Rfb8?! instead, then 18.b4+/- secures my queenside, now that c3 is guarded (the point of 17.Rec1). I also had seen 17. ... Ra5!? 18.a4!? when 18. ... Rxa4? (black should prefer 18. ... Rb8! 19.b3+= when I thought the Ra5 is just trapped, but the engine makes it still playable for black) 19.Ra1!+/- will regain the extra pawn with a serious advantage to white.

In light of this, black played 16. ... Rb7 17.Rec1 Rfb8!? Instead, it would have been better to immediately start with 18. ... Nc7!, intending 19.b4 a5=. Now I get to make both of black's rooks ineffective with 18.b4+= (D)

White is starting to take control of the game, but it's still tricky. Black now continued 18. ... Nc7 and I also got my knight back towards civilization with 19.Ng2!? (D), which although natural, is apparently not the most precise. It was more important to play 19.Bf4!, then if 19. ... Rd8 20.a4!+=, which I did not consider. The point is to prevent black's knight from reaching b5 as it did in the game. (The immediate 19.a4!? a5! is more effective for black with both his rooks still on the b-file.)

The game is reaching a critical moment. During the game I did see black's only good continuation here: 19. ... Nb5! 20.Rb3 Nxc3! 21.Rbxc3 Bxc3 22.Rxc3 Rxb4 (D)

I think I correctly evaluated this position as unclear. Normally you expect minor pieces to outmatch a rook, but in this particular case, my Ng2 is atrociously placed, and black's rooks are very active and can attack my a2 pawn. If white is careless, this is definitely the kind of position that can spiral out of control. That is why to avoid this, I should have preferred 19.Bf4! instead of my 19.Ng2!?.

Unfortunately for my opponent, he had to find this option and correctly judge that this position is OK for him to enter, because otherwise black is worse. After 19.Ng2!?, he instead played 19. ... a5?! 20.a3 Nb5? (D) (relatively best was 20. ... axb4 21.axb4 Nb5 22.Bd2+=, but white is in control, and can kick the knight out with c3-c4 eventually, then think about creating a passed pawn with b4-b5)

A good exercise position. White has an amazing winning idea that almost looks like it comes out of a study. I can see why black was excited here, because if white does not find this idea, then black is indeed much better.

I played 21.bxa5! Nxc3 (21. ... Nxa3 would be similar) 22.Rb6! Nxe2+ 23.Kf1 Nxc1 (D)

It may still not seem clear what white is doing, because 24.Bxc1? Bc3!-+ collects the a5 pawn and even wins for black. However, the whole point of this operation is revealed now after my next move: 24.a6!!+- (D)

I rarely give myself double exclams, but I really do think I deserve this one. This position is just incredible! White has casually sacrificed two pawns and an entire rook, and then rather than recapturing the offending knight on c1, we simply attack black's rook on b7. It's an unusual tactical pattern because the rooks on b8 and b7 are actually trapped! It is pretty clear that 24. ... Rxb6 25.cxb6 is hopeless for black, e.g. 25. ... Nd3 26.b7+- or 25. ... Rd8 26.Bxc1 Bd4 27.Be3+- and there is just no way to stop the pawns.

My opponent tried 24. ... Rd8 25.axb7 Rd1+ but this is not mate! 26.Ne1 The b-pawn costs black a piece. The game ended after 26. ... Be5 27.b8=Q+ Bxb8 28.Rxb8+ Kg7 29.Rb1 1-0 To add insult to injury, even the knight on c1 is lost too.

A good example of how a seemingly quiet opening line does not necessarily lead to a quiet game. That Qd2-g5 idea was very neat and in general is a good attacking method to remember. In fact, it reminds me of a game where Ding Liren found a similar odd-looking but strong queen maneuver and carried out a powerful attack (I am blanking at the moment on who his opponent was).

Really though, the game was more or less in the balance up until my opponent walked right into my pawn promotion idea after 20. ... Nb5?. Similar to my round 5 game we previously looked at, the deciding moment came down to calculation and the spotting of a key tactical idea. So-called "colinear" moves like 22.Rb6! in particular are easy to miss. Then, finding 24.a6!! requires you to first let go of the assumption that you must automatically recapture a piece. Both of these are mental blocks that I feel like I have gotten better at overcoming through training over the years, which evidently served me well this game.