[Comments by Tim Rankin]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 The Catalan Opening. 3... d5 4. Bg2 c6 More common here is 4...dxc4. 5. Qc2 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 The thematic break for Black in this position is ...e5. He does not necessarily have to play this immediately, but if he does not play it soon, White will get a much better game. 8... Re8 9. Bb2 Re7 The immediate 9...e5 would have been better. 8...Re8 was fine, but this is excessive. Bringing the queen to e8 will accomplish little. 10. Nc3 White's queen knight usually comes to d2 instead of c3 in the Catalan Opening. However, I chose to put it on c3 in this position in order to be able to isolate black's d-pawn after ... e5. 10... Bc7? This move accomplishes nothing for black. 10...e5 was called for. 11. e4 Now my pawn center gives me an advantage. 11... dxc4 Taking on e4 was probably a little better. 12. bxc4 Nb6 Black needed to play 12...e5 to challenge my pawn center. The move played is too passive and allows me to play e5 myself. 13. Ba3? Not best. The immediate 13. e5 gives me a considerable advantage. I played this because I was worried about Black dissolving my center with ...c5 after 13. e5 Nfd7. However, after 13. e5 Nfd7 14. Ne4 I missed that 14...c5 is impossible because 15. dxc5 simply traps and wins the b6 knight. 13... Re8 14. Qe2 Now 14. e5 fails to 14... Nxc4 which attacks my a3 bishop with tempo. I chose to guard the c4 pawn with Qe2 instead of Ne2 because after 14. Ne2 e5, the e2 knight would be misplaced. 14... h6? 14... e5 was absolutely necessary here, with a slight edge for White. Now I get to play e5 myself with a crushing center. 15. e5 Nh7 16. Ne4 Zeroing in on Black's weakness on d6 and further preventing a ...c5 push. 16... Na4 Played in order to prepare ...c5. However, the knight can become badly misplaced and out of play on a4. 17. Qc2 Here I felt Black's best option was to admit that ...Na4 was a mistake and retreat the knight back to b6, where it can take part in the game. 17... b5 This guards the knight, but the knight is poorly placed on a4, and now the h1-a8 diagonal has been opened for my bishop. Black now has to watch for tactics involving cxb5 and subsequently unveiling an attack on the a8 rook. 18. Bd6 Ba5 Black would like to retain his dark-squared bishop if possible. If 16...Bxd6 17. Nxd6, Black's dark squares are horribly weak and the d6 knight will make him miserable. 19. Nfd2! A move with both positional and tactical purposes. I now threaten 20. cxb5, and after Black recaptures, moving the e4 knight traps the rook on a8, winning the exchange. The knight move clears the way for me to play f4 and utilize my spatial advantage for a kingside attack. I also have the possibility of at some point playing Nb3, forcing off Black's dark-squared bishop. The d2 knight also gives added protection to c4 and is ready to jump to e4 should the other knight leave or get captured. 19... Ba6 Freeing c8 the a8 rook and eyeing my c4 pawn. It should be noted, however, that my c4 pawn is in no real danger as black's b5 pawn is tied to defending the wayward a4 knight and cannot budge. Black's queenside pieces are in such a mess that it would take several moves just for him to guard his knight--he would have to move the bishops and maneuver his queen to a6 or a5, where it, too, would be out of play. 20. c5 A difficult decision for me. This move slams the door shut behind Black's a4 knight, ensuring that it stays on a4 for a good long time. Black now has three pieces completely out of play on the queenside. The a4 knight has no hope of ever re-entering the game unless I become careless and allow Na4-c3-d5. The a6 bishop is blocked in by the fixed pawns on c6 and e6 and the pawn on b5 that is tied to the immobile a4 knight. The a5 bishop is able to trade itself for my d6 bishop or my d2 knight, but without this bishop, Black's dark squares will become fatally weak. The drawback to this move, however, is that it also slams the door shut behind my own bishop on d6. This bishop is aggressively placed on d6, unlike the a4 knight, but I will likely want to place a knight on d6. I decided that exiling all of black's queenside pieces was worth "trapping" my bishop on d6. I briefly considered 20. Nb3 but rejected it because I thought it allowed black to play 20... bxc4 21. Nbc5 Nxc5 22. Nxc5 Qc8 . I missed, however, that at the end of this variation, I could simply play 23. Qa4 winning a piece outright. 20... Rc8 Guarding c6 and preventing tactics involving the e4 knight moving follwed by a Bxc6 fork. 21. f4 My kingside attack begins. Black's position is so cramped that he will find it very difficult to defend himself once I blast the position open with f5. 21... f5? Panicking. Understandably, Black did not want to allow me to play f5, but the consequences of this move are even worse. Best was probably 21...Qd7, after which I would probably double my rooks on the f-file and play f5. 22. exf6 Nxf6 And now my d6 bishop is free to move once again, vacating d6 for the e4 knight. 23. Be5 With two huge threats, 24. Nd6 and 24. Nxf6+ followed by 25. Qg6+. If Black captures on e4, I can recapture with a knight thanks to the earlier Nfd2. 23... Bxd2!? An interesting try. 24. Nxf6+! When I played this piece sacrifice, I had not calculated out a mate or a forced win in all variations. However, it appeared to me that the mess Black would be put in would be well worth the material loss. The natural recapture 24. Qxd2?? drops a pawn and allows Black's a4 knight back into the game after 24... Nxe4 25. Bxe4 Nxc5 exploiting the pin on my d-pawn, and 24. Nxd2 is a retreat and a step in the wrong direction for me. 24... gxf6 25. Qg6+ Kf8 26. Bxf6 Threatening both the queen and Qg7 mate. I rejected 26. Qxh6+ because I couldn't see how to continue after 26... Kf7 --I missed the lethal continuation 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Bf3! 26... Qc7?? Now I have a quick forced mate. 26... Re7! was the move I was worried about here. When I played 24.Nxf6+, I did not see how to force a win after 26.. .Re7. However, I figured that Black was in such a mess here that I had to be winning despite being down a piece. Black can't even try to challenge my queen with ...Qe8 because of Qxh6+ and subsequent mate. Meanwhile, I can continue to bring pieces into the attack and go for the kill with Black seemingly helpless to defend. I highly doubt I would have found the optimal 27. Rae1!! and Fritz's zany lines that go with it (for example, 27... Bxe1 28. Rxe1 Qd7 29. Qxh6+ Rg7 30. Rxe6!! Qxe6 31. Qxg7+ Ke8 32. Be4! with a forced mate), but I felt the play I had and could find was sufficient to win. 27. Qxh6+ Kg8 28. Qh8+ and black resigned rather than play out 28...Kf7 29. Qg7#. 1-0 [Rankin T.]