[Event "USCF/WS/23VP14 (USA)"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2023.10.03"] [White "Bernhardt, Steve"] [Black "Higgins, Brian"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1800"] [BlackElo "1638"] [Annotator "Irons,Robert"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B36"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Maróczy Bind"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/1JR2l3d0/PL9BrFIV"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 Ng4?! (10... h6 11. Bd2 Bd7 $14) 11. Qd2 Be6 12. Rac1 Ne5 (12... Nf6 13. Rfd1 Qa5 { looks a bit better than the text. }) 13. Nd5 f6?! (13... Re8 14. Rfd1 Nd7 { following up with either ... Nd7-f6 or ... Nd7-c5 is better than the text. }) 14. Be3 b6 15. h3 Rc8 16. Nf4?! (16. b4 Bf7 17. f4 Nd7 { and White has many options here, all leaving him better off. The text move doesn't help White's position: there is no better square for the knight. }) 16... Bf7 17. b3 Qd7 18. Nd5 Qb7 19. f4 Nc6 20. Bf3 Rcd8 21. a3 Kh8 22. Rc2 Bxd5? (22... Qd7) 23. exd5 { I prefer } (23. cxd5 { here since White is prepared to to double rooks on the c-file. The c6-square would be a serious weakness without a White pawn on c4. }) 23... Nb8 24. Bd4 Nd7 25. Re1 Rfe8 26. Qc3 Nf8 27. Rce2 Rd7 { White's redevelopment is aggressive, while Black's is defensive. } 28. g4 h6 29. g5 hxg5 30. fxg5 Nh7 31. h4 (31. gxf6 Bxf6 32. Bxf6+ Nxf6 33. Bg4 Rc7 34. Be6 { looks even better. }) 31... Rf8 32. Be4 Kg8 33. Bxg6 b5 34. Bf5 Rc7 35. g6 { Winning the knight, and shortly thereafter the game. } 35... bxc4 36. gxh7+ Kh8 37. bxc4 Rf7 38. Rg2 Qb8 39. Be6 Rf8 40. Qg3 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0