[Event "Club Championship 2026"]
[Site "Ballarat"]
[Date "2026-06-11"]
[White "James Watson"]
[Black "Declan Smith"]
[WhiteElo "1876"]
[BlackElo "2060"]
[Result "0.5-0.5"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Qc2 { This move order is typical to prevent ...Bf5 } 6... O-O 7. e3 c6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. Nge2 { Nf3 would normally be associated with the queenside minority attack. this live usually indicates the center expansion with f3/e4 } 9... Re8 10. O-O { 0-0-0 is also a common idea, especially after Nge2 } 10... Nf8 11. Bh4 g6 12. Rab1 { it is a little bit inconsistent to play for the minority attack with the knight on e2 instead of f3, however I changed my mind mid game } 12... a5 13. a3 b5 { this is one way that black sometimes deals with the minority attack, however it usually occurs after b4 and the exchange of the pawns } 14. Ra1 { So I started considering if there is benefit playing without b4 and instead setting up a4 and rerouting the knight to b3 via b1 and d2 } 14... N8d7 15. Bg3 { hoping to set up tactics such as 16...Nh5/e5?? 17.Nxd5! } 15... Bb7 16. h3 Bf8 17. Nc1 Nb6? 18. Nxb5 { Ironically the biggest objective advantage white had the entire game is by not gaining the material here. still I think this is the best move against a human as now only white ever has winning chances } 18... cxb5 19. Bc7 Qc8 { only move for black to keep things equal and one Declan had seen right away, myself as white I hadn't actually noticed this was a resource (James) } 20. Bxb6 Qxc2 21. Bxc2 Rec8 22. Bd3 Nd7 23. Bc5 Nxc5 24. dxc5 Bc6 25. Nb3 a4 26. Nd4 Bxc5 27. Rfc1 Be8 28. Rc2 Bxd4 29. Rxc8 Rxc8 30. exd4 Rb8 31. b4 axb3 32. Rb1 Ra8 33. Rxb3 Ra4 34. Rb4 Rxa3 35. Bxb5 Ra1+ 36. Kh2 Kf8 37. Bxe8 Kxe8 38. Rb5 Rd1 39. Rxd5 Rd3 40. g4 Ke7 41. Kg2 Ke6 42. Re5+ Kd6 43. Re4 f5 44. gxf5 gxf5 45. Rh4 Ke6 46. Rh6+ Ke7 47. Rxh7+ Ke6 48. Rh6+ Ke7 49. Rh4 Kf6 50. f3 Kg5 51. Kg3 Rd2 52. Rf4 Kf6 53. h4 Kg6 54. h5+ Kg5 55. h6 Kxh6 56. Rxf5 Rxd4 57. Rf4 Rd1 58. Rg4 Rg1+ 59. Kf4 Rxg4+ 60. Kxg4 Kg6 61. f4 Kf6 62. f5 Kf7 { Draw agreed. Somewhat disconcertingly The game had basically a completely flat evaluation for the entirety never moving beyond equal. The souless engine simply concludes the entire endgame was simply 0.00 the entire time. not even a 0.2 when white was up 2 pawns. } *