[Comments by Tim Rankin]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 The dubious Marshall Defense. No matter which way Black recaptures on d5, White subsequently gains a tempo. 3. cxd5 Qxd5 Or 3... Nxd5 4. e4 with a better center. 4. Nc3 Qa5 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bd2 Now Black must watch for discovered attacks on his queen from the d2 bishop. 6... Bb4 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 c5? This natural-looking break has a huge drawback--it traps Black's bishop in on b4. I took advantage of this to win a pawn with a better position. 9. a3 Bxc3 Forced 10. Bxc3 Qc7 11. dxc5 Nbd7 Not 11... Qxc5 which walks into the skewer 12. Bb4 12. b4 b6 Here the c5 pawn is attacked 3 times and defended only once, and 13.cxb6?? is impossible due to the hanging bishop on c3. My next two moves fix this problem. 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Rc1 and my extra pawn on c5 gives me a solid queenside majority. 14... Bb7? This only helps me strengthen my extra pawn by allowing it to become a protected passed pawn on c6. 15. c6! Bc8 Not 15... Bxc6 which drops a piece to 16. Nd4! (Not 16. b5?? Bxf3 with material equality.) 16. b5 a6 Black wants to undermine my c6 pawn by removing its supporter at b5. 17. a4 e5 Threatening the pawn fork 18...e4. I defend this, at the same time developing a piece and adding support to my c6 pawn, the source of my advantage. 18. Qc2 h6 Here castling would be a natural and decent move. However, I decided instead to eliminate his light-squared bishop for several reasons: It occupies c8 (the queening square), it is on the same color as my queenside pawn chain, and, perhaps most importantly of all, it guards d7, which will likely become an important invasion point for my rooks. Eliminating his bishop also prevents any counterplay he may get from moves such as ...Bg4. 19. Bf5! axb5 20. Bxc8 Rfxc8 21. axb5 and Black's weakness on the light squares will soon show through. 21... Ra5 22. Qb2 Not only does the queen now defend b5, but it also attacks the e5 pawn and guards against black's potential invasion points on the a-file. 22... Ne4 Black is doing everything in his power to weaken my queenside pawns. This move threatens 23...Nd6 followed by winning the b5 pawn. Black is allowing me to grab the e5 pawn, but the removal of the b5 pawn for the e5 pawn would greatly benefit Black here. My c6 pawn, the strong point of my position, would be stripped of pawn protection, and my dangerous queenside majority would be replaced by a rather dormant kingside majority. Thus, instead of greedily taking on e5, I must defend my b5 pawn, but how? A passive defense such as 23. Rb1 does no good (in fact, it outright fails to 23...Nd6 24. Qe2 Nxb5!). I looked for a way not only to defend my b5 pawn but to improve my position in the process, and I found it in 23. Rd1! Nd6 24. Rd5 and my queenside pawns are solid as granite, yet my pieces are not reduced to passivity in guarding them. The queen on b2 hits e5 and allowed the rook to leave the first rank by guarding a1 (preventing an ...Ra1+ skewer), and the rook is posted powerfully on d5, not only guarding b5 but also hitting the e5 pawn and waiting for the other rook to double behind it. Without a light-squared bishop, Black has little hope of driving away the d5 rook. 24... f6 Black admits he can no longer increase the pressure on b5 and guards his e5 pawn, which was attacked 3 times. However, now his light squares are incredibly weak, and the diagonal leading to his king is open. 25. O-O Finally! I have castled and am ready to bring my second rook into play. 25... Rca8 26. Rfd1 Ra2 Not a move to be feared--the queen is no longer needed on b2 since the king is already castled and Black has weakened his position to guard e5. This move in fact simply forces the queen to a better square. 27. Qb4 Now the d6 knight is attacked 3 times and guarded only once, and once it moves, the invasion of my rook on d7 will prove lethal. Without a light-squared bishop, Black is helpless to defend d7. 27... Rd8?! Setting on e final trap for me. If I grab the seemingly hanging d6 knight, I get severely punished due to my weak back rank (e.g. 28. Rxd6?? Rxd6 29. Rxd6 Qxd6! 30. Qxd6?? Ra1+). However, in moving to d8, Black's rook has abandoned its counterpart on a2, and the diagonal leading to Black's king has already been weakened by ...f6. Thus, 28. Qb3! threatening both Qxa2 and Rxd6+ and winning at least a piece. Black resigned. None of this, however, would have been possible had I not played the crucial Rc1-d1-d5 maneuver, which both cemented my queenside pawns and greatly strengthened my position, taking advantage of Black's weak light squares. 1-0 [Rankin T.]