Longtime readers know that I have struggled to secure any hint of a victory when playing against players over-the-board (OTB). I have won (and lost) my share of online blitz and standard games on [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com) and [lichess](http://www.lichess.org), but capturing that first victory at a real tournament was elusive. This might not seem like much to a seasoned chess player, but not being able to obtain even a slight advantage in so many games was frustrating. See [here](http://www.campfirechess.com/mhcc-july-2016-round-1-the-stuff-of-nightmares/), [here](http://www.campfirechess.com/game-analysis-mhcc-2016-4-surber-vs-martinez-0-1/), and [here](http://www.campfirechess.com/analysis-mhcc-march-2016-game-3/). However, that frustration came to a close recently with my first OTB victory!
[pgn]
[Event “MHCC 2017”]
[Site “San Antonio, TX”]
[Date “2017.04.26”]
[Round “4”]
[White “OTB Opponent”]
[Black “Surber, Wesley”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B00”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 2.0 (30s)”]
[PlyCount “46”]
[EventDate “2017.??.??”]
[Source “Campfire Chess”]
[SourceDate “2014.10.11”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2015.09.13”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bd3 {B00: Queen’s Fianchetto Defence,
Nimzowitsch Defence} (4. Nc3 Bg4 5. d5 Nb8 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Nbd7 8. g4 g6 9.
Be3 Bg7 10. O-O-O c5 11. Qe2 b5 12. g5 Nh5 13. Nxb5 Rb8 {1-0 (34) Carlsen,M
(2851)-Petrosian,T (2611) chess.com INT 2016}) 4… e5 {LiveBook: 17 Games} 5.
Be3 (5. Bb5 $5 {looks sharper.} exd4 6. Nxd4 Bd7 7. Nc3 Be7 8. O-O) 5… d5
$146 (5… exd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. Bxd4 c5 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Bb5+ Bd7
11. Bxd7+ Kxd7 {1-0 (20) Wachtel,A (908)-Breitkopf,R Heidesheim 2013}) 6. exd5
{White is slightly better.} (6. Nxe5 $5 {creates asymmetry.} dxe4 7. Bb5 Bd7 8.
Nc3 Bb4 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. O-O) 6… Nxd5 7. Nxe5 {-0.44/20} ({White should try}
7. Qe2 $11 {0.17/15}) 7… Nxe5 8. dxe5 Nxe3 9. fxe3 Bc5 10. Qf3 O-O {0.54/18}
(10… Qg5 $15 {-0.37/18}) 11. Nc3 {-0.06/18} ({White should play} 11. Qe4 $14
{0.54/18} g6 12. Qf4) 11… c6 {1.11/18} (11… Qg5 $11 {-0.06/18 remains
equal.}) 12. O-O-O {0.00/17} (12. Qe4 $16 {1.11/18} g6 13. Qf4) 12… g6 $2 {
2.05/18 [#]} (12… Qg5 $11 {0.00/17 and Black stays safe.}) 13. h4 {0.63/18} (
{Weaker is} 13. Bxg6 Qg5 14. Bh5 Qxe5 $14) ({Better is} 13. Ne4 $1 $18 {2.05/18
}) 13… h5 $2 {2.60/18} (13… Qc7 $14 {0.63/18}) 14. Bxg6 $1 $18 Qe8 (14…
fxg6 15. Rxd8) 15. Bxh5 Qxe5 16. Ne4 Bf5 17. Ng3 $2 {1.11/17} (17. Nxc5 $18 {
3.07/19} Qxc5 18. e4) 17… Be6 18. Rde1 $2 {0.00/18} (18. e4 $18 {1.62/16})
18… Bxa2 {1.22/18} (18… Ba3 $1 $11 {0.00/18 keeps the balance.} 19. bxa3
Rad8) 19. Qg4+ $16 Kh8 20. Qf5 $2 {-#11/14 [#]} (20. Qg5 $16 {0.98/19} Qxg5 21.
hxg5) 20… Bxe3+ {Black mates.} 21. Kd1 Rad8+ 22. Ke2 Qxg3 23. Rh3 Bc4+ 0-1
[/pgn]
Because it has been awhile since I posted anything of significant here on *Campfire Chess*, I thought it would be a good idea to share this game with my readers to help celebrate my victory. My opponent was very challenging, but errors were made that turned things in my favor.