Smuk GM, part 2 | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

The tournament was, for most of the part, a race between Yuri Solodovnichenko, Sergei Ovesejevitsch, and Kassa Korely. I stayed at the same place as Kassa, and I know he was less than happy with his play in the beginning, but in the end he collected a few good wins. In the 6:th round he won a game against the Indian youngster Aarav Dengla in such a simple fashion that I just had to go through the game to understand what happened:
   [Event "Smuk Skak GM"]  [Site "Skanderborg"]  [Date "2022.08.18"]  [Round "6"]  [White "Korley, Kassa"]  [Black "Aarav Dengla"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "D02"]  [WhiteElo "2432"]  [BlackElo "2382"]   1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 c6 5. O-O Nf6 6. a4 Ne4 $5 {A rather weird  move in this situation. Normally the knight has nothing to do here unless  there is already a knight on c3 or d2.} ({Personally I would be a bit worried  about playing a move like a4 at this stage, since it invites} 6... a5 {This  makes c2-c4 (the natural continuation) less attractive since that would weaken  the b4-square forever. Still, White can continue with something like} 7. b3 O-O  8. Nbd2 Bf5 9. Bb2 Na6 10. Ne5 {aiming for expansion on the kingside. It is  probably also possible to play for the c4-idea still (although I fail to see  how the inclusion of a4/a5 benefits White).}) 7. c4 $5 dxc4 {A bit greedy, but  perhaps there is some logic in this as the knight can try to support the pawn  from d6. Still, it seems to me that it is better to just castle and ask White:  "what next?"} 8. Na3 ({also makes sense since after} 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 {  the a4-pawn makes sense, as it makes it harder for Black to back up the  c4-pawn with b7-b5. Chess is often about playing moves which make the position  of your pieces make sense.}) 8... Nd6 9. Re1 {Kassa plays very logically,  aiming for e2-e4.} O-O (9... Bf5 10. Ne5 (10. Ng5 $5) 10... Be6 11. e4 Nd7 (  11... O-O) 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. e5 Nf5 14. Nxc4 {and Black minor pieces look  awkwardly placed.} Nb6 15. Na5 $1) 10. e4 ({The engine happily recommends} 10.  h3 $5 Bf5 11. Ng5 h6 12. e4 hxg5 13. exf5 Nxf5 {, but here it starts to drift  in its judgement. A human might calculate this line up to...} 14. Bxg5 Na6 15.  g4 Nxd4 16. Bxe7 Qc7 17. Bxf8 Rxf8 18. Nxc4 {, about here. It seems that Black  has decent compensation on the dark squares after} Rd8 19. Ra3 $1 Nc5 20. Rae3  Nde6 $1) 10... Bg4 {The weakest point in White's position is d4, so Black sets  about to swap one of the defenders.} 11. Bf4 Na6 $6 {The knight does little to  affect the fight in the center from here.} ({Better was} 11... Nd7 {,  intending to continue with e7-e5. In order to keep the balance White will be  forced to continue with} 12. Bxd6 exd6 13. Nxc4 {, but Black clearly has no  complaints here after} Qf6 $1 14. e5 $6 dxe5 15. dxe5 Qe6) 12. Qd2 $1 {This  breaks the bind on the knight, and keeps Na6 away from the b4-square (en route  to d3). If Black does nothing White will continue with Rac1 and take back the  pawn, and up with some advantage.} Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qb6 14. Red1 $1 {It is very  important to keep the center pawns intact and not rush them forward, thus  giving outposts for Black's knights.} Qb3 $5 {An ambitious move. When I  watched the game from the sidelines, I thought Black was doing quite well  here, so it surprises me somewhat to find out that White has good compensation  here, not only for the first pawn, but also for a second!} (14... Rad8 15. Qc3  c5 16. e5 cxd4 17. Rxd4 Nf5 18. Rxc4 Nd4 19. Nb5 $1 {and White has some  initiative, although Black should be fine.}) 15. Qc3 (15. Kg2 $5 Qxa4 16. Qc1  $1 Qb4 17. e5 Nb5 18. h4 $1 {and here, if Black tries to hold on to the pawn  with} Rab8 {, then after} (18... Nac7 19. Nxc4 e6 20. h5 {and it is quite  clear that White has compensation for the pawn.}) 19. h5 Nxa3 20. bxa3 Qa4 21.  Rb1 e6 22. Bg5 {The engine claims that the position is totally winning for  White. One possible continuation is} Nc7 23. h6 Bh8 24. Be7 Nd5 (24... Rfe8 25.  Bd6) 25. Bxd5 cxd5 26. Bxf8 Kxf8 27. Rb4 {and with the bishop on h8 being out  of play for any foreseeable future, it is no surprise that White is winning.})  15... Rfd8 $2 {The youngster is trying to not force matters more than  necessary, but he misses a tactic...} ({Instead} 15... Qxa4 16. Bxd6 exd6 17.  Nxc4 Qb4 {was fine for Black.}) 16. e5 $1 {The reason why this is so good is  connected to the fact that; when the c4-pawn falls, Black's queen is out of  good choices.} Nc8 (16... Nf5 17. Nxc4 Qb4 18. g4 Bh6 19. Bxh6 Nxh6 20. Ra3  Rab8 21. Qc1 Kg7 22. e6 f6 23. Rdd3 {and Black's queen is in trouble, which  forces} b5 24. axb5 cxb5 25. Na5 {and there is no defence against Nc6, while  the knight on h6 is another problem which is a long time from being solved.})  17. Nxc4 Qb4 (17... Qxc3 18. bxc3 {equals resignation in such a position. All  Black's counterplay was connected to the d4-pawn being weak. Now, instead, the  b-file is White's, the bishop pair is strong, and after Nc4-a5 Black's pawns  will fall one after another.}) 18. d5 $1 {Suddenly all White's pieces are in  the right place.} c5 19. d6 exd6 20. Qc2 $1 {Kassa is quite good at spotting  these details. Now Bd2 is a big threat.} d5 21. Bxd5 Rxd5 22. Rxd5 Nb6 23. Nxb6  Qxb6 24. Rd6 Qa5 25. Rad1 {The rest is simple.} Re8 26. Qc4 Qb4 27. Rd8 Rf8 28.  Rxf8+ Bxf8 29. b3 Nc7 30. Qxb4 cxb4 31. Rd7 Ne6 32. Be3 1-0