My last Minor tournament ever! (probably)

[Event "Telford Minor 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Merry, John"] [Black "Tomlinson, Zak"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [PlyCount "49"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 {Still, nobody has played the delayed exchange against me} Bc5 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3 h6 8. c3 d6 9. h3 O-O 10. Re1 Be6 {? This move is often deemed playable, however when played alongside h6, Black's light-squares around the King are severely weakened} 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Qe7 13. Nb3 Bb6 14. Be3 {The difference here is White has RxB as an option, maintaining solid pawn structure} Bxe3 15. Rxe3 d5 16. Qe2 Nd7 {? Ra8 to either d8 or e8 were better to maintain a fight, this is too passive and weakens d5} 17. d4 {? exd5 was best, following up with Nd4 to exploit the pinned e-pawn} exd4 {? But this was the wrong reply, Nb6 or Nf6 were better} 18. Nfxd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Qf6 {? Another weak move, as Re6 is coming... I missed this} 20. exd5 exd5 21. Re6 Qh4 {The computer prefers Qg5, but this is still not looking good} 22. b4 {? The only real questionable move that White has made all game, I was expecting Re7, but even after this White is still better} Nf6 23. Nf5 Qg5 {?? Qc4 was the best move, now this is lost} 24. Ne7+ Kh8 {Kh7 or Kf7 were still losing but this loses quicker} 25. Re5 {Black resigns} 1-0

[Event "Telford Minor 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.20"] [Round "2"] [White "Tomlinson, Zak"] [Black "Goldsmith, Jennifer"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B13"] [PlyCount "19"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 {The Panov Attack of the Caro-Kann} Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 {Bg4 or just Nc6 are more conventional} 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Qb3 {Now if 7... Na5 I was eyeing 8.Qb5+ though I hadn't fully seen the combination that comes after 8...Bd7, but White would be able to play 9.cxd5 saccing the Queen on the basis that if 9...Bxb5 then comes 10.Bxb5+ 11.Nd7 Ne5 and White is slightly better} dxc4 {? This is a mistake that drops at least a pawn} 8. Bxc4 {Two undefended pawns are hit... e6 or Qb6 are best} e6 9. Qxb7 Na5 {?? Rc8 was best, this is now lost} 10. Bb5+ {Black acknowledges this by resigning} 1-0

[Event "Telford Minor 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.20"] [Round "3"] [White "Jackson, Paul"] [Black "Tomlinson, Zak"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D70"] [PlyCount "46"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 {Grunfeld Defense, three Knights variation} 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb6 7. Be3 O-O 8. Be2 Bg4 9. O-O {After White's 9th move, we have got exactly the same position as we had in Blackpool, albeit from a different move order} Nc6 {In Blackpool I played Nb8-d7 here, but discovered days later that the computer preferred Nc6... I remembered this, so I played it} 10. d5 Na5 {Inviting a couple things, firstly White could play Bxb6 to damage Black's pawns, but at the expense of losing the Bishop pair and opening a Rook file for Black} 11. Nd2 {But also, the Knight on a5 is potentially vulnerable. White would love to trap it with b4, but this loses the Knight on c3} Bxe2 12. Qxe2 c6 {This is what Black wants, to break down White's centre and open files up} 13. dxc6 Nxc6 14. Nf3 {Although this move is not bad, Rc1 would have developed a Rook whilst preventing Black from forcing an isolated pawn in the position} Bxc3 15. bxc3 Qc7 {I begin to look at c3} 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 17. Rxd8+ Rxd8 18. Rd1 Rc8 {Still looking at c3} 19. Bxb6 Qxb6 20. Qc4 Rd8 {It was here when I saw the following combination, which is not at all forced...} 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8 22. g3 {?? This loses a full piece, instead White had Qd5 or Nd4, or even h3} Qd1+ 23. Kg2 Qxf3+ {White resigns... Kxf3 is met with Ne5+} 0-1

[Event "Telford Minor 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.21"] [Round "4"] [White "Tomlinson, Zak"] [Black "Duffell, Andrew"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B14"] [PlyCount "75"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 {The Panov once again... as I played this move I said "go on then" to which my opponent laughed} Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Nc3 e6 {This is the Panov-Botvinnik structure} 7. Bd2 {c5 instead was recommended, but this is not terrible} Ne4 8. c5 Be7 9. Bd3 {f5 now is an interesting shout} Nxd2 {Black never considered this} 10. Qxd2 a6 11. a3 Bf6 12. Bc2 b5 {Computer slightly preferred b6, now White has a passed pawn} 13. b4 Bb7 {Now both sides should castle} 14. Rb1 {? I played this to allow pushing a4 but really should castle} Qc7 {I was waiting for Black to castle first because I had planned to play Qd3 then meet g6 with h4... this never happened though} 15. a4 bxa4 16. Nxa4 O-O 17. Nb6 Rab8 18. Ra1 {? Again castles was best, now there's a shot with 18...Nxd4 19.Nxd4 Qe5+ and Black wins a pawn} Na7 {? Black did not see this, but instead was focused to remove the pesky Knight on b6} 19. Qd3 g6 20. Ba4 {Threatens Nd7, but I also figured this Bishop would be more useful on this diagonal} Rfd8 21. O-O {Finally White castles on move 21 } Nc8 22. Nxc8 Bxc8 23. Rfb1 {Now during my opponent's move I saw he had e5 which threatened both e4 and Bf5, so I was already planning on Qe3} e5 {But here I saw that I could in fact take the pawn, because if 24...Bf5 there could follow 25.Qe3 Bxb1 26.exf6 and I'm actually threatening mate with Qh6 then g7} 24. dxe5 Bf5 25. Qe3 {I think it was here when my opponent realised this, he did say after the game that he missed Qh6} d4 {? This is just a free pawn, Bg7 was the move} 26. Nxd4 {Now after Qxe5 there's a long sequence where, after the Queen's come off, White can give up the exchange by playing Nxf5 then if Bxa1 White has Ne7+ followed by Nc6 winning back the exchange... I saw this OTB } Rxd4 {?? My opponent played this hoping for Qxd4, which is met by Bxe5 and Black can equalise} 27. exf6 {This instead is simply winning, now all White needs to do is simplify} Qf4 28. Re1 {Threatens mate} Re4 29. Qxf4 Rxf4 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Bxe8 Bd3 {? Rxb4 was best} 32. b5 {Now White can get 2 very strong passed pawns} Rxf6 33. b6 Re6 34. Bd7 Re7 35. b7 Rxd7 36. b8=Q+ Kg7 37. c6 Re7 38. Qd6 {Black actually lost on time here, but the game can be resigned anyway} 1-0

[Event "Telford Minor 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.21"] [Round "5"] [White "Morris, Nigel"] [Black "Tomlinson, Zak"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E33"] [PlyCount "58"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 Nc6 5. Nf3 b6 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 Bb7 {So far copying the moves from our first game} 8. e3 {Now it is different. In Doncaster he played Bg5 and e3 came later.} a5 9. Be2 {I thought Bd3 was more natural} O-O 10. b3 Ne4 11. Qc2 f5 {Inspired by a win I had vs a 160 rated player with a similar set up in the Nimzo} 12. Bb2 Ne7 13. O-O Ng6 14. Ne1 { White wants to play f3, I saw only one move that prevents it immediately} Qg5 15. Nf3 Qh6 {This seemed good to me, but my centre looks vulnerable, Fritz suggests Qe7} 16. Rad1 Ng5 17. d5 {Many good lines have opened up for White now, Black needs to be careful} c6 {?? This was a mistake, but the point is quite deep... Black does not lose any material anytime soon, but White's pieces become much better mobilised... Either Nxf3 or pushing with f4 were recommended} 18. dxe6 dxe6 19. Rd7 Rf7 20. Rfd1 c5 {Now Nxg5 is the top recommended move, I was OK with this at the time because Qxg5 came with a mate threat, then I can improve my Bishop somehow} 21. Rxf7 {? This move was possibly played hoping for Kxf7, where then NxN+ leads to Rd7+ winning a piece} Nxf7 22. Rd7 Rb8 {I thought this was crafty, it looks passive but I want to play Bxf3 and have BxB not come with tempo} 23. Qc3 {? turns out this is a mistake, as the Bishop needed to be able to see the e5 square, the Queen is now blocking it} Bxf3 24. Bxf3 Nge5 {Makes sense that the g6 Knight comes here and not the f7 Knight, which would potentially let g7 fall} 25. Rd2 Nxf3+ 26. gxf3 Ng5 {Multiple threats here, Rd7 is the best move for White... sometimes if you can't defend, then you should attack instead} 27. e4 {?? This is now losing} Nxf3+ 28. Qxf3 Qxd2 29. Bxg7 {? One last cheapo, if Kxg7 then Qg3+ picks up the Rook} Qg5+ {This wins the piece... White resigns} 0-1