[Event "XVII Campeonato Continental Absoluto de"] [Site "Medellin, Colombia"] [Date "2024.05.26"] [Round "4"] [White "Rodriguez Vila, Andres"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2417"] [BlackElo "2645"] [Annotator "Lu,Max"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A05"] [Opening "King's Indian Attack: Spassky Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/0UbLVlAk/fkSfHOL5"] [Orientation "white"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b5 { Slightly unusual, but a good choice for an open tournament when playing down. Xiong is aiming for an imbalanced game while preventing White's favored c2-c4 setups. } 3. e3!? { I personally have never seen this move before, and it's an interesting attempt to take advantage of Black's errant queenside thrust. However, committing to the g3-e3 structure already is rather limiting for White and unlikely to challenge the queenside play } 3... a6 (3... c6!? { An alternative plan suggested by the engine. Admittedly, it looks very strange, but it seems the idea is to build a strong wall of light-squared pawns } 4. Bg2 e6 5. O-O d5) 4. a4 b4 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O e6 7. d4 { Now the drawback of e2-e3 becomes clear: White's dark-squared bishop is blocked in by that pawn. If White was planning to play a2-a4 anyway, inducing Black to play ... a7-a6 at the cost of playing e2-e3 does not seem like a worthwhile tradeoff. } 7... Be7 8. c4 d6 9. b3 c5 10. Bb2 O-O 11. d5?! { In these positions, an unprompted d4-d5 thrust is usually not the best plan, especially when it involves a (temporary) pawn sacrifice. Transforming the position into a Benoni structure when Black has already gotten in the key ... b7-b5 break, while tempting, doesn't put as much pressure on Black as simply maneuvering and improving White's position. } 11... exd5 12. Nh4?! { A common follow-up to the d5-push, but an inaccuracy in this position due to tactical reasons.. } (12. cxd5 { was to be preferred, and Black can't even win the pawn. } 12... Nxd5 13. Ne1 Nc3 { Black's only way to remove himself from the pin is to give the pawn back. } 14. Nxc3 Bxg2 15. Nxg2 Bf6 (15... bxc3 16. Bxc3 $14 { with a better structure for White. }) 16. Rc1 bxc3 17. Bxc3 Bxc3 18. Rxc3 $14 { and White is slightly more comfortable due to the backward d6-pawn. }) 12... Ne4 13. cxd5 { Perhaps White was counting on the typical Queen's Indian idea of } (13. Nf5 { but it fails to } 13... Bf6 { taking advantage of the undefended bishop and rook, allowing Black to hang on to his extra pawn. }) 13... Bxh4 14. Bxe4 Bf6 (14... f5! { would've been a strong intermediate counterattack, gaining space, forcing White's Bishop back, and preventing e3-e4 solidifying the White center. } 15. Bg2 Bf6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Nd2 Nd7 $15) 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 { Having left White with the comparatively 'bad' bishop, Xiong is quite comfortable on the dark squares and with his position overall. } 16. Nd2 a5 17. Qc2 g6 18. Rfe1 Nd7 19. Nc4 { Although the knight looks strong on this outpost eyeing the a5- and d6-pawns, these pawns are defended and the knight doesn't have any clear targets beyond them at the moment. Moreover, Black can always threaten to trade the powerful knight off with ... Nd7-e5 or ... Bb7-a6 at a certain moment. } 19... Rfe8 20. f4 { Preventing the aforementioned ... Nd7-e5 break, bust at the cost of slightly weakening the e-pawn. For now, it's not an issue, but in the long term, it could become one. Playing solid with } (20. Rac1 { was another viable option, challenging Black to formulate a concrete plan to make progress. Play could continue } 20... Ne5 21. Nd2 Rac8 22. f4 Nd7 23. Nc4 Ba6 24. Bd3 { where it's about equal. }) 20... Ba6 { Xiong switches to the alternative route to dislodging the c4-knight. Black's pieces are nearly all in their prime position, so the position calls for an active solution to seizing the initiative. } 21. Nxa5 c4! { Xiong understands the time to strike is now! By sacrificing a second pawn, he opens up the position for his pieces to spring into action and secures the critical c5-square for his knight where it will attack e4, b3, and a4. } 22. Nxc4 (22. bxc4?! { would be weaker on account of } 22... Nc5 23. Bf3 Rxe3 $17 { winning back one of the pawns with a much more comfortable position for Black. }) 22... Rac8 23. Rab1 Bxc4 24. bxc4 b3! { Xiong sacrifices the third pawn! Yet, the pawn count doesn't matter because White is hard-pressed to take advantage of it. Only one of White's extra pawns is a passed pawn, and Black's domination of the dark squares allows Black to effectively play against White's two other extra pawns. Crucial to the position is maintaining the initiative, as White cannot be given a free hand to slowly convert his material advantage. This time, however, Xiong is counting on a tactical resource to recover some material. } 25. Rxb3 Nc5 { The point! White's rook and bishop are forked. } 26. Bg2 { White is forced to save his bishop and sacrifice the Exchange. However, he will still have an Exchange and three pawns for the rook. Materially, this is more than enough compensation. On the other hand, Black's control of the dark squares and open files to attack White's pawns gives him good chances. } 26... Nxb3 27. Qxb3 Qd8 28. Bf1?! { A logical but dubious move. White cannot allow Black to seize the initiative and activate his major pieces with tempo. White is already on the back foot, and so should focus on consolidating the position. } (28. Qc3 { would've been prudent to take the queen out of potential ... Rc8-b8 attacks and to prevent Qc3-a5 activating Black's queen. }) 28... Qa5 29. Rb1 Qd2 { Now the queen has penetrated into White's position, and Black is clearly better. White will lose one of his extra pawns, with the other two left weak and isolated. } 30. Rb2 Rxe3 31. Rxd2 Rxb3 32. Ra2 Re8 { The computer gives } (32... Rb1 33. a5 Rxc4 34. a6 Rc8 { as the preferred line, but as a human it is understandable why Xiong opted not to go for this. The advanced a6-pawn is powerful, especially when defended by the light-squared bishop, and White may have a6-a7 threats at any moment. }) 33. a5 Ree3 { Setting up a lateral defense to get behind White's pawns. It's still tricky, though, as White is about to make two far-advanced passed pawns. } 34. c5 dxc5 35. d6 Kf8 36. a6? { A natural move, but a mistake. Pushing the pawn too early allows Black to gain tempi by perpetually threatening a rook trade, which then gives him time to bring his king in to stop the pawn. } (36. Bc4! { It's critical to activate the bishop and prevent Black from threatening to trade rooks. Surprisingly, due to the advanced nature of White's pawns, it is hard to meaningfully attack White's bishop because of the various promotion threats. } 36... Rbc3 { would even be a mistake due to } 37. a6 Ra3 38. Rb2 { threatening Rb2-b8 and d6-d7, leaving Black's rooks paralyzed. }) 36... Ra3 37. Rc2 (37. Rb2 { doesn't work now because Black can play } 37... Reb3 { forcing White's rook off the file. }) 37... Rec3 38. Rd2 Ke8 39. Bb5+ Kd8 40. Re2 Re3 { Once again, the lateral rook brigade shows its power. All of White's attempts to get his rook active are quashed immediately. } 41. Rc2 Reb3 42. Bf1 Rc3 { After pushing White's bishop back to the suboptimal f1-square, Xiong calmly defends his pawn and threatens to invade on the back rank. Now that his king is on d8 — much closer to the d6-pawn than it would have been on f8 — the game is over. } 43. Rb2 Rc1 { Xiong's rooks dominate the bishop and pawns, and he will start pushing the passed c-pawn toward promotion. Overall, a clean and instructive technical performance from Xiong that also showcased his handling of the initiative. Following this solid game, he continued his ultra-solid play to defeat two more grandmasters and draw the other five of his remaining games. } 0-1