Old Fort Bay Invitational 2018 part 3

This next game made me nervous for the same reason as my third round game--having beaten top rivals I now had to face one of the lower-ranked opponents, and that always feels like a trap game (as the third round ended up being). I steeled myself to play as solidly as possible.

Cross,Ted (1991) - Whyms,Chappell (1616) [B48]
Old Fort Bay Invitational Nassau (6), 07.03.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qc7 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 a6 7.a3 Nf6 8.Be2 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 b5?! 
He chose a variation that I was unfamiliar with, so it's lucky for me that he erred first. [9...d6] 
10.0-0? 
Although my move isn't bad, per se, it allows black equality in a position where I could have taken a strong advantage. [>=10.e5 Nd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Qd2 Bc5 13.0-0-0 Bb7 14.Rhe1+/-] 
10...Bd6 11.g3 Bb7 12.Bf3 
My move is fine. The computer's suggestion only leads to a slight advantage anyway. [12.Bxb5 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Ba4 0-0 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qd4+ Be5 17.Qxe4 Bxb2 18.Rab1 Qe5 19.Qxe5+ Bxe5 20.Bxd7+/=] 
12...Be5 13.Bg2 Rc8 14.Rc1 0-0 15.f4 Bxd4+ 16.Qxd4 d5 17.e5 Nd7 18.Ne2 Qb6 19.Rfd1 Rc7 20.c3 Rfc8 21.Kf2 a5 22.Qxb6 Nxb6 23.Nd4 Ba6 24.Bf1 Nc4?! 
[>=24...Rb8] 
25.Rc2 
I missed the ideas behind b3. [25.b3! Nb6 (25...Nxa3 26.Ra1+-) 26.a4 Kf8 27.axb5 Bb7 28.Ra1 Rxc3 29.Rxa5+-] 
25...a4 26.Bxc4 
The computer doesn't like my move, but I think it underestimates how bad the black bishop becomes, trapped behind its wall of pawns.
26...Rxc4 
Black definitely makes it worse with this move. [26...dxc4 27.Rcd2+/-; 26...bxc4 27.g4+/=] 
27.Ke3 Kf8 28.g4 Ke7 29.f5 Rb8? 
Now white is flat-out winning. [29...exf5 30.gxf5 Re8 31.Rf2 Bc8 32.Kd2+/-] 
30.Rf2 Rcc8 31.fxe6 fxe6 32.Rdf1 b4 33.Rf7+ Ke8 
It's lost either way. [33...Kd8 34.Nxe6+ Ke8 35.Nxg7+ Kd8 36.R1f6] 
34.Rf8+ 1-0

It was a relief to get by the 'trap game' intact! The next game was also a bit of a potential trap game, though against a stronger player. I had beaten him twice last year in this event, but I knew I would have to be accurate to do so again.

Joseph,Elton (1811) - Cross,Ted (1991) [A00]
Old Fort Bay Invitational Nassau (7), 10.03.2018

1.g3 g6 2.Bg2 Bg7 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.b3
Well, he sure chose an unusual opening variation against me!
4... d5 5.e3 c5 6.Bb2 0-0 7.Nge2 e5 8.0-0 Nc6 9.d4 
It feels like a reversed King's Indian, and I'm not a KID player at all.
9...cxd4 10.exd4 exd4 
I originally meant to play the correct move, e4, but then I thought I saw a tactic that wasn't quite there. [>=10...e4 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Rfe1 Bg4-/+]
11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Ne4 13.Qd3 Bf5 14.Na4 Nxf2? 
It could have turned out well for me had I seen this absurdly long computer line. [14...Bxb2 15.Nxb2 Qf6 16.Na4 Ng5 17.Qxd5 Rad8 18.Qc5 Nh3+ 19.Kh1 Rd2 20.Nc3 Rfd8 21.Rae1 Rxc2 22.Nd5 Rxc5 23.Nxf6+ Kg7 24.g4 Bd3 25.Ne4 Bxf1 26.Bxf1 Nxf2+ 27.Nxf2 Rc2-/+]
15.Qxd5 Nh3+ 16.Kh1 Qxd5 17.Bxd5 Bxb2 
[17...Rad8 18.Bxb7 Rd2 (18...Bxc2 19.Bg2 Ng5 20.Kg1=) 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.c4 Re8 21.Rae1 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Rxa2~~]
18.Nxb2 Bxc2 19.Rac1 Bf5 20.Bxb7 Rae8 21.Bf3?! 
It would have been all equal if not for this error. [21.Rce1=]
21...Ng5 22.g4 Nxf3 
[22...Bc8!-/+]
23.gxf5 Re2 
[23...Nxh2! 24.Rf4 Re2 25.Nd3 g5-/+]
24.Rxf3 Rxb2 25.fxg6 fxg6? 
I simply hallucinated here, totally missing that his other rook could hit me and win a pawn with check. [25...hxg6 26.a4 Rd8-/+]
26.Rxf8+ Kxf8 27.Rc8+ Kg7 28.Rc7+ Kh6 29.Rxa7 Kg5 30.h4+?? 
White makes a terrible mistake. [30.Rxh7 Rxa2 31.b4 Rb2 32.Rb7 Kf4 33.Kg1 g5 34.b5 Kf3 35.Rf7+ Ke4 36.Rb7 Kf3=]
30...Kg4? 
But I was so demoralized over what I had done on move 25 that I spent exactly zero time on my response and immediately played Kg4. White offered a draw and I accepted without even asking him to show his move. [30...Kxh4 31.Kg1 (31.Rxh7+ Kg3-+) 31...h5-+]
1/2-1/2

So, my pattern in this event so far was to play well against my biggest rivals and then play fairly poorly against the tail enders. Well, I had one of my biggest rivals ahead in the next round, so it wouldn't be so bad if that pattern held up for now!

Kendrick had 'stolen' the national championship away from me last year, and he was the only player in the Bahamas with a plus score against me, so needless to say, I was nervous.

Cross,Ted (1991) - Knowles,Kendrick (1827) [B35]
Old Fort Bay Invitational Nassau (8), 10.03.2018

1.e4 g6 
He had played the Center Counter each time with black previously.
2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 0-0 8.Bc4 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Qb4 
When he played this move, I thought I had messed up and was in trouble. It took me quite a long time to realize that I was fine.
11.Qd3 Qxb2?? 
Lucky for me he didn't see that the pawn was poisoned. [11...d5 12.Bxd5 Nxd5 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.exd5 Bf5 15.Qd2 Qxb2 16.Rb1 Qa3 17.g4 Bd7 18.Rxb7 Rac8 19.Qd4+ Kg8 20.Kd2 Rfd8~/=]
12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.Bxb2 Bxb2 14.Rb1 Nf4 15.Qd2 Be5 16.0-0 d6 17.g3 Nh5 18.f4 Bf6 19.f5 g5 20.a4 h6 21.a5 Ng7 22.Rb3 Ne8 23.Rfb1 Kg7 24.Bd5 Be5 25.Bxb7 Bxb7 26.Rxb7 Nf6 27.Qd3 Rac8 28.R1b3 a6 29.Rxe7 Rc5 30.Rbb7 Rxa5 31.Qb3 d5 32.Rxe5 1-0

It is rarely easy to beat Kendrick, so it was nice to have one turn my way quickly. And this victory put me in the driver's seat for winning the event with 6 points out of 7 games (there was a bye for each person in the event due to the number of players).