[Event "U.S. National Grade Championships 2023"] [Site "Orlando"] [Date "2023.12.15"] [Round "2"] [White "Lu, Maximillian"] [Black "Devin Scanlon"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2371"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A00"] [Opening "Anderssen's Opening"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/6xQz7aU5/jnExfG5N"] [Orientation "white"] 1. a3 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. b4 Bg7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. d3 a5 8. Nbd2 axb4 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Qxa1 Qb6 11. O-O Qa6 12. c4 Qxa1 13. Rxa1 Na6 14. b5 cxb5 15. cxb5 Nc7 16. b6 Na6 17. Ra5 Rd8 18. Ba3 e6 19. e4 dxe4 20. dxe4 Nd7 21. Nc4 Nf6 22. e5 Rd1+ 23. Bf1 { Black has played solidly against his opponent's... interesting... opening move (1. a3, which should not come as a surprise to those who followed him in the Denker earlier this year). But with that scary pawn on b6, ideas of Ra5xa6 must be on Black's tactical radar. This explains Black's eagerness to play a knight move that attacks the b6-pawn. But is that Black's only weakness? The c8-bishop screams, "No!" } 23... Nd5?? { Black goes after the pawn, but it cannot be taken. As a result, the knight is misplaced here, unable to defend key squares such as the d6-square or the squares on the b-pawn's path. } (23... Ne4! { covers the crucial d6-square. } 24. Kg2 (24. Nd6 Nxd6 25. exd6 { is not dangerous, as Black more-than-covers the d7-square. Of course, Black still has to be careful. Passive defense gives White some tricks, for instance } 25... Bf8 { but Black has better: } (25... Bc3! { is a nice idea, keeping White's rook from easily accessing the c-file. } 26. Rb5 Bd7 27. Rb3 Bf6 $19) 26. Ne5 Bxd6 27. Bxd6 Rxd6 28. Ra1 { Although, even here, Black holds } 28... Nb4! { as long as they don't get greedy with: } (28... Rxb6?? 29. Rc1 $18) 29. Rc1 Nc6)) 24. Nd6 Bd7 { Likely, this is why Black thought that 23. ...Nd5 was fine, as the bad bishop gets out and then White moves and then after ...Bd7-c6 the position is stable. But with an advanced pawn like the one on b6, "and then White moves" is not concrete enough! The sharp IM was ready. } (24... Nxb6 25. Rb5! { Loose pieces drop off! This is what Black had to calculate before committing to 23. ...Nd5. If the pawn can't be taken, there is no justification for the move. } 25... Nd5 26. Nxc8 $18) 25. Rxa6! bxa6 26. b7 Rb1 { Maybe Black even calculated this far, which would be impressive in its own right, but the problem with relying on concrete calculation is if you miss one thing, that changes everything. } 27. Nb5! { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0