Continuing our series of looking at my games from the 2026 Mid-America Open, we have a quick one today. In the first round of the event I managed to win a miniature against an expert.
Previously we've covered rounds 3, 4 and 5 from this event.
Paciorkowski, Lev (2446) - Boaz, Ben (2051)
2026 Mid-America Open, St. Louis, MO (Rd. 1)
G/60 d10
To fit all the games in one weekend, the tournament used a faster time control in the first two rounds of one hour with a ten-second delay.
1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 f5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0-0 d5!? (D)
A Stonewall Dutch! Actually, one advantage of starting with Nf3-g3-Bg2 is that in particular against the Stonewall, white does not need to play d2-d4, but instead has a stronger plan of playing for a quick e2-e4 break which is what I tried to go for in the game.
Although I did win quickly with 5.d3!? here, I will be nitpicky and point out an even more precise way for white to play that begins with 5.c4! c6 and only now 6.d3 (D)
This position scores over 70% for white according to my database. The point of including c2-c4 is that black's central formation will come under even more pressure after later including e2-e4. I will not delve into all the details here, only to say that after the most commonly played 6. ... Bd6!? (which I think is already slightly imprecise) 7.Nc3 0-0 8.e4+/- black just doesn't have a good way of keeping the tension in the position (e.g., 8. ... fxe4 9.dxe4 dxe4 10.Ng5+/- already scores in the 80-90% range for white). In light of this, I honestly think the Stonewall just is not a viable setup against Nf3-g3-Bg2, if white knows about this most critical line (which I definitely will know for next time).
In the game, after my 5.d3!? we continued 5. ... Bd6 6.Nbd2 (6.c4!) 6. ... 0-0 7.Re1 (I had come to the realization that 7.e4!? fxe4 8.dxe4 dxe4 9.Ng5 e3! 10.fxe3+= really isn't that impressive for white, which is one reason why the knight is much better on c3 than on d2, as we could then take with the bishop on e3 to avoid ruining our pawn structure.) 7. ... e5 (7. ... f4!? deserved attention) 8.e4 fxe4 (don't blink; this game is already halfway over...) 9.dxe4 d4 (D)
This position we got out of the opening is unusual and perfectly playable for black, in my opinion.
10.Nc4 (I actually did not even consider 10.Nxd4!? dxe4 11.e5 here, although I later thought about this idea.) 10. ... Qe7!? I think this is the start of black's problems. 10. ... Nc6 is a much healthier developing move. I thought for about 13 minutes before playing 11.c3 (D)
My intention was 11. ... dxc3 12.Qb3 Kh8 13.bxc3 which I thought would be comfortable for white. That perhaps may be true, but objectively black would be doing fine there after 13. ... Nc6 or 13. ... Nbd7.
However, my opponent played a much more ambitious move that, perhaps surprisingly, turns out to be the decisive mistake.
11. ... c5? Although it would be nice to keep the cramping pawn on d4, unfortunately black's position is just not well developed enough to support such an extension. As invariably happens in the Dutch, the open diagonal to the king on g8 will turn out to play an important role.
12.b4! (D) I played this quickly. During the game I only thought white would be much better, but black's position is in fact just collapsing.
12. ... Nc6?! not the most resilient, but the position is very difficult. During the game I had seen after 12. ... b6 I have at the very least 13.Nxd6 Qxd6 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.cxd4 cxd4 (15. ... exd4 16.e5+-) 16.Qb3+ Be6 17.Ba3 Qa6 18.Qb2 Rc8 19.Nxe5+- when white wins a pawn, gets the bishop pair, and will likely pick up d4 later as well. The engine confirms that is indeed winning for white.
I also had considered 12. ... Bc7 for black, which is what the engine wants to play. There I saw 13.bxc5 Qxc5 (otherwise black just lost a pawn for nothing) 14.Bf1!?+- threatening Ba3 and still triple attacking the d4 pawn. White wins material there.
After 12. ... Nc6 the game ended quickly: 13.Nxd6 Qxd6 14.bxc5 Qxc5 15.Qb3+ Kh8 16.Ba3 1-0 Black resigned as he is losing a full rook.
Actually, my opponent went on to have a really good tournament after this game, ultimately finishing with 3.5/5 and a performance over 2300, gaining 40+ rating points.
Next time though, I will know to play 5.c4! c6 6.d3 against the Stonewall.
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