TCC-42 Round 3

Vadim has a queenside pawn majority but Black's position is solid enough.  Yusupov played 13.Nxd4 in a game in 2001 and beat his lower rated 2318 opponent. I retreated my freshly outposted knight on c5 in order to challenge Vadim's knight on e5. Vadim opts for wholesale piece exchanges and has nagging control of the d-file. I eventually gain the d-file but can do little with it and the game ends in a draw.

Marius declines to trade Queens giving Black an isolated pawn. This is probably the correct decision since Black would have excellent piece play. James slows down his initiative by deciding to redeploy his bishop with Be7. Bringing the rooks to the open files in the center seems to suggest itself.  His knight manuever to g4 gives Marius the initiative as he wastes no time claiming the central files for himself! Marius wins a pawn and the game.