Swedish Team and a bit of Carlsbad | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

The Swedish team has been set for the European Team Championship later this year. Hampus Sorensen and Kaan Kucuksari will play for the first time on the National team, and with me, Erik Blomqvist and Nils Grandelius on the other boards it seems like a decent team. Nils went far in the World Cup, and in the fourth round he only needed a draw against Jaime Santos Latasa in order to get through to the next round. It was one of these reverse Carlsbad:s, where White pushed the a-pawn:
   [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"]  [Site "Baku AZE"]  [Date "2023.08.10"]  [Round "4.2"]  [White "Santos Latasa, Jaime"]  [Black "Grandelius, Nils"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "D02"]  [WhiteElo "2656"]  [BlackElo "2684"]  [Annotator "Tiger"]  [PlyCount "61"]  [EventDate "2023.07.30"]  [EventType "k.o."]  [EventRounds "8"]  [EventCountry "AZE"]  [SourceVersionDate "2011.03.24"]   1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Bg4 6. Bb5 cxd4 7. exd4 e6 8.  O-O (8. c4 dxc4 9. Qa4 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Rc8 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 12. O-O Be7 13. Qxa7  O-O 14. Rfc1 Nd5 15. Bg3 h5 16. h4 Ra8 17. Qb7 Ra4 18. Qxc6 Qa8 19. Rxc4 Rxa2 {  and although White is a pawn up here, his pawn structure is so bad that if  someone is to win, it is more likely that it will be Black.}) 8... Bd6 9. Bxd6  Qxd6 10. c3 O-O 11. Re1 Ne7 12. a4 {This move aims to keep Black from  launching a minority attack on the queenside, but it also claims that Black is  not really better on the queenside.} a6 13. Bf1 Nd7 14. Qb3 {I do not like  this move. White's natural plan is to continue with a4-a5, and if Black  counters with b7-b6, then I would rather have the queen on the other side of  the board (so that White can combine threats to Black's king with an attack on  the a-pawn).} ({Now that Black has committed to a7-a6, it seems logical to play  } 14. a5 $5 {White's aim is to continue with b4 and Nd2-b3-c5. If Black is not  able to create som counterplay of his own then White could get a very  promising position.} Rac8 $5 {with the idea to put pressure on c3, thus making  it impossible for White to play b4 (and Nd2-b3-c5).} 15. h3 Bh5 16. Qe2 Rfe8  17. Qe3 Nf5 18. Qd3 Bg6 19. Qe2 Qc7 20. Rec1 Nd6 21. b4 {and it is somewhat  easier to play the white side of things.}) 14... Nc6 15. h3 ({It is quite  possible to play} 15. a5 {here too, but the queen is a bit misplaced on b3:}  Rfc8 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 h6 18. Qa4 (18. Qd1 $1) 18... Qf4 (18... b5 19. axb6  Nxb6 20. Qd1 a5 21. Bb5 {and once again, White has some initiative, due to the  weak a-pawn.}) 19. Re3 Qc7 20. Bd3 (20. Ra2 $5) 20... b5 $1 21. axb6 Nxb6 22.  Qd1 a5 23. Re2 (23. Bb5 Ne7 {and the knight is accelerated towards its ideal  square: d6.}) 23... a4 24. Bc2 a3 $5 {and Black has no cause for complaints.}  25. b4 $2 Ne7 26. Re3 Nc4 $19) 15... Bh5 16. Re3 {In combination with Qb3,  this is not a great place for the rook if White intends to continue with a4-a5,  so it signals that White is aiming for Nf3-e5.} (16. a5) 16... Rab8 17. Qa3 (  17. a5 b6 18. axb6 Rxb6 19. Qc2 Rc8 20. Qc1 a5 {and althought the engine  insists that this is about equal, I would rather play Black.}) 17... Qxa3 18.  Rxa3 Rfe8 (18... Bxf3 19. Nxf3 Rfc8 20. a5 h5 21. g3 g6 {is balanced, and  Although White can probably get the knight to c5, it is unclear how he will  proceed when there are no queens on the board. With queens on the board, the  knight on c5 binds down Black's forces and makes it possible for White to aim  some of his forces against Black's king, thus stretching Black's defences.})  19. b4 a5 ({I am not so fond of the bishop as to keep it here:} 19... Bxf3 20.  Rxf3 (20. Nxf3 a5 {and the knight is further away from the action.}) 20... a5  21. Bb5 (21. b5 Ne7 $15) 21... Red8 22. bxa5 Nxa5 {and the engine wants to go  for} 23. c4 {which is a clear statement of "I am trying to equalize".}) {  I am guessing that Nils felt that he was sure about the evaluation of this  position, and that it held no danger for him.} 20. b5 Ne7 21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. dxe5  b6 23. g4 ({White should not allow Black to calibrate his rooks on the c3-pawn.  } 23. c4 $5 Rec8 24. f4 Bg6 25. Rec3 Kf8 26. g4 Rc7 (26... dxc4 27. Nxc4 Nd5  28. Rf3 Be4 29. Rf2 {and Black has some problems with his coordination. It  does not mean that Black is in trouble, but we are once again playing for  three results.} f5 $1 30. exf6 gxf6 31. f5 exf5 32. gxf5 Rc7 33. Rg3 Rg7 34.  Rxg7 Kxg7 35. Bg2 Bxg2 36. Rxg2+ Kf8 $11) 27. cxd5 Rxc3 28. Rxc3 Nxd5 29. Rc6  Ne7 30. Rd6 {This is a dream come true for White (who needs to win the game),  since things are getting complicated:} Bc2 31. Nc4 Nd5 32. Rd7 Nxf4 33. Nd6 f6  34. Rf7+ Kg8 35. Rc7 Bb3 36. Rc3 Bd1 $1 (36... Bxa4 37. Rc4 Bxb5 38. Nxb5 fxe5  {is about equal, according to the engine, but in prectical play it might be  close to lost for Black.}) 37. Rc1 Bb3 $11) 23... Bg6 24. Nb3 h6 25. Nd4 Bh7  26. Kh2 Rbc8 27. Kg3 Rc5 {At this moment I shortly logged in to Deniz Arman's  excellent twitch stream, and I got a bit worried about what would happen when  White pushed the h-pawn. It turns out my worries were gravely exaggerated:} 28.  Be2 (28. h4 h5 $1 29. gxh5 (29. f3 Rec8 30. Kf4 Kh8 31. Kg5 hxg4 32. fxg4 Ng6 {  threatening Nxe5...} 33. Kh5 Kg8 34. Rb3 (34. g5 Ne7 $17) 34... f6 $3 35. Nxe6  (35. exf6 gxf6 36. Nxe6 (36. Rxe6 Nf4+) (36. g5 e5 37. Rf3 fxg5 38. Kxg5 Nf4 $1  $19) 36... d4+ 37. Nxc5 Rxc5+ 38. g5 dxe3) 35... Re8 36. Nxc5 Nf4#) 29... Nf5+  30. Nxf5 Bxf5 {,and with White's terrible pawn structure and Black's pressure  down the c-file, White can only dream of a draw.}) 28... Rec8 29. Bf1 Be4 ({  It is quite unneccessary for Black to play} 29... g5 30. h4 gxh4+ 31. Kxh4 Kg7  {, when the position is still equal, but with more options for both sides.})  30. Be2 Bh7 31. Bf1 ({Just like earlier} 31. h4 {, is met with} h5 $1) 1/2-1/2