Stockfish + Bongcloud vs. 2100

[Event "Stockbong Challenge"] [Site "Binghamton"] [Date "2022.01.01"] [Round "1"] [White "Stockfish 14.1"] [Black "Wilson, Matthew"] [Result "1-0"] [BlackElo "2127"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Ke2 {The Stockbong challenge: I made Stockfish play the Bongcloud. It's move 2 and I already have a big advantage, so maybe I can hope to survive?!} d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Ke1 e5 5. Qf3 Nf6 $2 {I took the wrong approach to this game. Black needs to keep pieces on the board since White can't castle. But I was happy to trade down towards a draw. I did look at 5...Qd6. However, I didn't like 6.Bc4 followed by Nc3 and Ne4 - White would get trades anyways and his pieces would be centralized.} (5... Qe6 {(SF) is stronger.} 6. b3 Nc6 7. Bc4 Qe7 8. Nc3 Nd4 {is great for Black}) 6. Qxd5 Nxd5 7. Nc3 Be6 8. Nxd5 ({ I was planning to meet} 8. Bc4 {with} Nf4) 8... Bxd5 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Bb5 Rc8 {I thought it was important to avoid doubled c-pawns. I did consider 11...Kd7, but I felt that the text was better. The rook commonly goes to c8 in these Maroczy bind structures. If instead 11...Kd7, I will probably have to spend a tempo on ...Kc7 sometime in the future} 12. d3 Be7 13. b3 O-O 14. Bc4 Nd4 15. Kd2 Bg5+ $6 {Giving away my advantage. Stockfish prefers 15...f5.} 16. Kd1 Bxc1 ({At first, I thought I was winning material with} 16... Bg4+ 17. f3 Nxf3 {, but then I spotted} (17... Bxc1 18. Kxc1 { and now there is no fork on f3}) 18. h3 $1 ({not} 18. gxf3 $2 Bxf3+ 19. Ne2 ( 19. Ke1 Bxc1 $1 20. Rf1 Bb2 $1) 19... Bxc1 $1 20. Rf1 Bxe2+) 18... Bh5 19. Bxg5 Nxg5+ 20. g4 Bg6 (20... Nxh3 {(SF) is better, but after} 21. gxh5 Nf2+ 22. Kd2 Nxh1 23. Rxh1 {, the minor pieces outweigh the rook}) 21. h4 { followed by 22.h5, trapping the bishop}) 17. Kxc1 Rfd8 18. a4 ({ During the game, I wasn't sure about} 18. Re1 f6 19. f4 Bxc4 20. bxc4 exf4 { , but Stockfish shows that Black is at least equal here:} 21. Nd5 (21. Re7 $2 Re8 $1 22. Rxb7 Re1+ 23. Kb2 Rxa1 24. Kxa1 Nxc2+ {followed by ...Nc2-e3xg2}) 21... Re8 $1 {Now 22.Ne7+ doesn't work, so White has to play 22.Kd2 and try to recover the pawn}) 18... f6 19. Nb5 Bxc4 ({My original intention was} 19... a6 20. Nxd4 Bxc4 {but then I saw} 21. Nf5 $1 {winning material}) 20. bxc4 Nxb5 { A concession} (20... Kf7 {is best (SF). The tactical justification is} 21. Nxa7 Ra8 22. Nb5 Nxb5 23. cxb5 Ra5 $1 {and Black will recover the pawn}) (20... Nc6 {is simple and White doesn't have much}) 21. axb5 Ra8 22. Kd2 Rdb8 (22... a5 $2 23. bxa6 Rxa6 24. Rxa6 bxa6 25. Rb1 {and White dominates the open file. The text aims to open the b-file under more favorable conditions}) 23. h4 ({ I was expecting} 23. Rhb1 {in order to prevent ...a5. But Stockfish correctly judges that ...a5 weakens my position}) 23... a5 $6 {This gets me in trouble} ( 23... b6 24. Ra6 Rb7 25. Rha1 { and my rooks are very passive. However, White can't break through:} h5 26. Ke3 Kf7 27. Ke4 Ke6 28. c3 (28. f4 exf4 29. d4 Kd6) 28... g5 {. Even if the White king could somehow get to d5, I could reorganize my defense with ...Rd8+ ... Rdd7}) 24. bxa6 Rxa6 25. Rhb1 (25. Rxa6 bxa6 26. Ra1 Rb6 27. Ra5 Rc6 { and Black should be able to hang on}) 25... Rxa1 26. Rxa1 Kf7 27. Ra5 Rc8 $2 { The decisive mistake, which I played quickly} ({I rejected} 27... b6 28. Ra7+ { since I didn't want to surrender the 7th rank. But Stocky shows that Black can hold:} Kg6 29. Rc7 (29. Ke3 Rd8 {followed by ...Rd6}) 29... h5 30. Ke3 Ra8 31. Rb7 Ra6 {Black's pieces look awkward, but White can't move forward without allowing counterplay.} 32. Ke4 (32. g3 Kh6 33. Ke4 Ra2 34. Rxb6 Rxc2 35. Ke3 e4 $1 36. Kxe4 Rxf2 37. d4 cxd4 38. c5 Kg6 39. Kxd4 Kf5 40. Rb3 Ke6 {triple zeros} ) 32... Ra2 33. Rxb6 Rxc2 34. Ke3 Kf5 35. Rc6 g5 36. hxg5 fxg5 37. Rxc5 Kf6 { and White can't make progress}) 28. Rb5 Rc7 29. Ke3 Ke6 30. Ke4 {I was expectin g 30.g4, but as we will see in the next note, White is not afraid of ...f5+} Rd7 {Sacrificing a pawn for activity} (30... f5+ 31. Ke3 Kf7 32. f4 exf4+ 33. Kxf4 {and the White king will invade on the dark squares}) 31. Rxc5 Rd4+ 32. Ke3 Rxh4 33. Rb5 Rg4 34. g3 h5 35. Rxb7 g5 {Trying to create a passed h-pawn, but Stockfish quickly turns it into a weakness} 36. Rh7 h4 37. gxh4 gxh4 38. c3 Kd6 {I spent a lot of time on this move.} (38... Kf5 {was the main alternative. The idea is to kick out the White rook so I can push the h-pawn} 39. f3 $1 Rf4 40. Rh8 $1 Kg6 41. c5 Kg7 42. c6 $1 {and the pawn promotes}) 39. f3 $1 Rf4 { Now my "active" rook is nearly trapped. I hoped that it would keep White's king cut off, but itisn'tenough} ({I looked at} 39... Rg2 40. Rxh4 Rc2 { , but I didn't like my position after} 41. f4 {. Either I let White have connected passers or my e5-pawn is weak. Stocky's main line continues} Rxc3 42. fxe5+ fxe5 43. Rh6+ Kc5 44. Re6 {and White wins}) 40. d4 { Now the passers just march down the board} Ke6 41. c5 Kd5 42. Rh8 Kc6 43. Rc8+ Kd7 44. Rf8 Rf5 ({I thought} 44... Ke7 {lost to} 45. dxe5 { , but Stockfish finds} Rf5 $1 {. Instead 45.c6 wins}) 45. d5 Rf4 46. c6+ Kd6 47. Rd8+ Kc7 48. Rd7+ Kc8 49. Rh7 Rc4 50. Kd3 Rc5 51. c4 f5 52. Kc3 e4 53. Kb4 exf3 54. Rh8+ Kc7 55. Kxc5 1-0