Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 part 2

After starting day one 3-0, I hoped to continue my good fortune into day two, but it wan't to be. Playing FM Cecil 'Carver' Moncur with black is never fun. He had beaten me thus in the national championships a couple months earlier, so I knew going in it would be tough.I prepared hard and it seemed like it was working out for me at first.

Moncur,FM Cecil (1876) - Cross,Ted (1995) [D36]
Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 Nassau (4), 05.03.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Qc2 c6 7.Nc3 g6 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.Bh6 Ng4 12.Bg7 Rg8 13.Be5 Ngxe5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qc7
Believe it or not, I had had this position on my board during my preparation, but after Carver played his next move, I couldn't remember the line. I'm not a fan of the Queen's Gambit, but this line had felt like my best shot at trying to beat Carver, so I had worked hard at it in my prep.
16.f4 0-0-0
Castling isn't bad, but the better way to play it was [16...f6 17.e4 fxe5 18.exd5 0-0-0 19.0-0-0 exf4 20.Qc4 Bd6 21.dxc6 Qxc6 22.Qxc6+ bxc6-/+]
17.0-0-0 h6?
Here is where I went astray and lose my advantage. This pawn move haunts me the rest of the game. Better was still [17...f6-/+]
18.g3 Kb8 19.Kb1 f6 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Rhe1?!
The computer doesn't like this move, preferring e4, leading to equality.
21... Qg7?!
Leads only to equality. Playing g5 leaves black with a slight edge.
22.Qc2 Rge8 
Again g5 was the better move. [>=22...g5 23.f5 Rge8 24.e4 Qe7 25.a4 a6=]
23.e4 Bxc3 24.Qxc3 Qxc3 25.bxc3 dxe4 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Rxe4 Rd7?
Reaching this endgame, I needed to assess it better. It is equal, but it's easier for white to play. I had a choice between active rook play or passive, and I chose the latter...wrongly. [27...Rd2 28.Re6 Rxh2 29.Rxg6 h5 30.f5 Kc7 31.Rg7+ Kb6 32.Rh7 Rg2 33.Rxh5 Rxg3 34.Kc2 a5=]
28.Kc2 Rg7?! 
Here is where I strayed down the path of passivity. Kc7 still offered equality. [>=28...Kc7]
29.Re8+ Kc7 30.Rh8 h5 31.Re8 Kd6 
My move isn't a mistake, per se, but there was an easier route to a draw. [>=31...g5=]
32.Re5 b6 
Again my move is okay but there was a simpler drawing route. [32...Re7 33.Rg5 (33.Rxe7?! Kxe7 34.h3 Ke6 35.g4 hxg4 36.hxg4 Kd5 37.Kd3 b5=) 33...Re2+ 34.Kb3 Rxh2 35.Rxg6+ Kc5 36.Rg5+ Kd6=]
33.Kd3 c5?? 
And then I blow it. It may be hard to see, but this was my last moment to activate my rook enough to be able to draw. [33...Rf7 34.Rg5 Rf6=]
34.Rg5 Ke6 35.f5+ Kf6 36.Rxg6+ Rxg6 37.fxg6 Kxg6 38.Kc4 Kg5 39.h3 a6 40.Kd5 Kf5 41.Kc6 Ke4 42.g4 hxg4 43.hxg4 Kd3 44.Kxb6 c4 45.g5 Kxc3 46.g6 Kb2 47.g7 c3 48.g8Q c2 49.Qb3+ 1-0

Well, that was a distressing way to start day two of the tournament, especially after my preparation had worked so well to earn me an edge with the black pieces. I could still finish the first half of the tournament with four out of five if I could win the second game of the day.

Cross,Ted (1995) - Karelina,Polina (1681) [B07]
Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 Nassau (5), 05.03.2017

1.e4 d6 
Paulina always plays the Pirc, so it's easy to look at these lines, but she always varies it a little, so it's hard to nail down any particular strategy.
2.d4 Nf6 3.f3 e5 4.d5 Be7 5.c4 a5 6.Nc3 Na6 7.Nge2 0-0 8.Be3 Nd7 9.Qd2 Ndc5 10.g4 c6 11.Ng3 cxd5 12.cxd5 Bd7 13.Bxa6?! 
I had a comfortable edge here, so this plan of trading the bishop and castling was just wrong. [13.Nf5+/=]
13...Nxa6 14.0-0?! 
[14.Nf5 b5 15.h4 b4 16.Nd1 Bxf5 17.gxf5 Rc8 (17...Bxh4+? 18.Kf1 g5 19.Bf2 Bxf2 20.Nxf2 Nc5 21.Ng4 f6 22.Kf2+/=) ]
14...Rc8 
[>=14...g6=]
15.Nf5 Bxf5?! 
I was happy to get the open g file. [15...b5 16.Kh1 Re8 17.Rac1+/=]
16.gxf5 Nc5 17.Kh1 Qd7 18.Rg1 
My move is fine and more human. The computer shows a tactic leading to a larger edge. [18.Bh6! f6 (18...gxh6 19.Qxh6 Kh8 20.Rg1 Rg8 21.f6 Nd3 22.Rg7+-) 19.Rg1 Rf7 20.Qe2 Na4 21.Nb5 Bd8 22.Be3 Bb6 23.Bxb6 Nxb6 24.a4+/-]
18...Kh8 19.Rg2!? 
The computer likes my move, but I think I prefer the rook to go to g3. [>=19.Rg3]
19...b5 20.Rag1 Rg8 21.Rg3 b4 
[21...g6 22.Nd1 a4 23.R3g2 Bf6 24.Bh6+/=]
22.Nd1 Bf6 23.Qg2 
[23.Nf2 Qe7 24.Ng4 Bh4 25.Rh3+-]
23...Nd3 24.Rh3 g6?? 
[24...Rgd8 25.Qg4 Qe8 26.Nf2 Nf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.e5 Bxe5 29.Ne4 Qg8 30.Ng5 Bf6 (30...h6?? 31.Rxh6+ gxh6 32.Qh5 Qf8 33.Nxf7+ Qxf7 34.Qxf7+-) 31.Nxh7 Qxh7 32.Rxh7+ Kxh7 33.Qh3+ Kg8 34.Qh6 Kf8 35.Qh8+ Ke7 36.Re1+ Kd7 37.Qh5 Rf8 38.Qg4 Rh8 39.Qg1 Rc5 40.Rc1 Rhc8 41.Rxc5 Rxc5 42.Qf2 Be5 43.Kg2 Ke7 44.Kh3 Rxd5 45.a4 bxa3 46.bxa3 Rc5 47.a4+/-]
25.Rxh7+ Kxh7 26.Qh3+ Kg7 27.Qh6# 1-0

So, while I wasn't happy dropping a game to Carver,  I had to be fairly happy going four out of five through the first half of the tournament. I was in first place and just hoped to continue playing well through the second weekend.