[Event "U.S. National Grade Championships 2023"] [Site "Orlando"] [Date "2023.12.17"] [Round "7"] [White "Hyatt, Jessica"] [Black "Baalla, Nura"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1777"] [BlackElo "1806"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D35"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation, Positional Variation"] [StudyName "2023 K-12 Grade Championships"] [ChapterName "Hyatt, Jessica - Baalla, Nura"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/6xQz7aU5/VZ6eGTRy"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Nf3 Re8 10. O-O Nf8 11. Ne5 g6 12. f4 Ne6 13. h3 Ng7 14. Rae1 Bf5 15. g4 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Qc7 17. Qc2 Qd6 18. f5 gxf5 19. gxf5 Nfh5 20. Bxe7 Rxe7 21. Rf3 Rxe5?! { Baalla has always been an energetic player, and here she chooses a complex material imbalance over more passive defense. But was the defense really so passive after: } (21... f6! 22. Ng4 Kh8 23. Qf2 Rg8 24. Qh4 c5 (24... Ng3!? 25. Qxg3 Qxg3+ 26. Rxg3 Nxf5 27. Rf3 Nh4 28. Rxf6 h5 $13) 25. dxc5 Qxc5 26. Qf2 $16) 22. dxe5 Qxe5 23. Qh2! { With queens on, Black has a lot of pieces and can use the g-file to attack *as long as* White cannot open the center for her other rook with an e3-e4 break. Presumably, when sacrificing the Exchange, Baalla missed that there is no satisfactory way to keep queens on without allowing e3-e4. } 23... Qf6?! (23... Re8 24. f6 Nf5 25. Qxe5 Rxe5 26. e4! (26. Kh2 Nd6 $14) 26... Nh4 27. Rf2 $16) 24. e4! { White's position opens up further, and now the rooks give White serious attacking chances with queens on. } 24... d4 25. Nd1 Kh8 26. Kh1 Qh4 27. Nf2 Rg8 28. Rg1 Qd8 29. Qg2 c5 30. Ng4 d3 31. Nh6! Rf8 32. f6 Ne6 33. Qg8+! { 1-0 White wins. } { What a spectacular finish! Black resigns rather than allow Nh6xf7# to appear on the board. } 1-0