[Event "Larry Evans Memorial"] [Site "Reno, NV"] [Date "2023.04.08"] [Round "3"] [White "Atwell, Rose"] [Black "Kudrin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2203"] [BlackElo "2424"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B27"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Hyperaccelerated Dragon"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/F73s9jnE/qvutUv55"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by JJ Lang (and Rose Atwell in quotations) } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Bg7 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. Bc4 { "Developing with a tempo" - RA } 7... Qh5 (7... Qd8 { is by far the most popular move, and it scores much better for Black. } 8. Nxd4 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. N2f3 Qc7 11. Qe2 a6 12. Bb3 e6) 8. Qb3 Nh6 9. Nxd4 O-O 10. O-O Bxd4?! $146 (10... Nd7 { was tried unsuccessfully in a blitz game last year, although Black's position appears preferable to the game. } 11. N2f3 Ne5 12. Bd5 Nf5?! (12... Nhg4 13. h3 Nf6 14. Nxe5 Nxd5) 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. Nf3 Bd6 15. h3 { and White won on move 36 in Christiansen – Guseinov, Chess.com, 2022. }) 11. cxd4 { "I have a lonely pawn in the center, but it’s okay because Black has weak squares near his king." - RA } 11... Nc6 { White has a slight lead in development, and should have the favorable side of the isolani imbalance. } 12. Qc3 Na5 13. Bd3 { "This move is a little too passive. His king is weak. Instead I should have played 13. b3 and developed my other bishop to b2, so it can attack." - RA } (13. b3! { Black is following the maxim of "trade and blockade" against the isolated queen's pawn, but Atwell missed a chance to offer a trade on her own terms. This would be a favorable transformation of structure, and if Black doesn't take White up on her offer, the inclusion of Bc1-a3 further accelerates her attacking chances. } 13... Nxc4 14. bxc4 { and it is hard to suggest a move for Black. } 14... Bf5 (14... b5 { might be the best practical try, following Josif Dorfman's advice that the statically worse side ought to be looking for dynamic rejoinders. } 15. Bb2 bxc4 16. Rfe1 Nf5 17. d5 f6 18. h3 $16 { would certainly have helped Black shake up the position, but White is still for choice given her threat of g2-g4 and the lingering Bb2-a3 targeting the backwards e7-pawn. }) 15. Ba3 Rfe8 16. Rfe1 e6 { would leave Black's position dreadfully passive with a bad bishop to boot. }) 13... Be6 14. Nf3!? { This "invisible mistake" allows Kudrin to equalize. } (14. Ne4 { The knight wants to outpost on c5 for as long as it can. } 14... Ng4 15. h3 Nf6 16. Nc5! { threatening both Nc5xe6 and Qc3xa5! } 16... Nc6 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Be3 $16) 14... Rac8 15. Qd2 Ng4 16. b3 Nc6 17. h3 Nf6 18. Be2 Qa5 19. Qxa5 Nxa5 { Mission accomplished for Black: the queens are off and the isolated pawn is still stuck on d4. } 20. Ba3 Rc7 21. Ne5 { This was presumably the point of her earlier Nd2-f3, knowing that the e5-square is often the headquarters of White's attack. It is less ominous here without queens, but it is still a dominant piece that Black will have to reckon with eventually. } 21... Nd5 22. Bf3 Rfc8 23. Rfe1 { "This endgame is around equal, but I have a little more activity." - RA } 23... Kf8 24. Bc5 b6 25. Ba3 Rd8 26. Rac1 Rdc8 27. Bxd5 Rxc1 28. Bxc1 Bxd5 29. Ba3 { At this point, we are starting to see what Rose presumably saw all along: even without queens, she still had plenty of attacking chances to point to in order to justify her structural weakness in the center. } 29... Rc7? { "After this he is lost. Black’s last chance to hold was 29. ... Ke8, which looks scary for him, but I don’t have any useful knight jumps." - RA } (29... Ke8 30. Ng4 e6 31. Nf6+ Kd8) 30. Ng4 Be6 (30... f5 31. Nf6 $16) 31. Nf6! { Now White is winning material by force. } 31... Rc2 32. d5 Rxa2 33. Bb4 Kg7 34. dxe6 Nc6 { "Here 34. ... Kxf6 doesn’t work because the pawn promotes after 35. Bc3+ Kg5 36. exf7." - RA } (34... exf6?? 35. e7) (34... Kxf6 { is somehow even worse, leading to a promotion by force! } 35. Bc3+ Kg5 36. exf7) 35. Nd5 { White has managed to win a piece, and there's nothing Black can do about it. } 35... fxe6 36. Rxe6 Nxb4 37. Nxb4 { "Black is just down a piece." - RA } 37... Ra1+ 38. Kh2 Kf7 39. Re3 { Very solid and pragmatic! She is in no hurry to beat her first grandmaster, instead killing any chance he has at complicating the position. } 39... Rc1 40. Nd5 e6 41. Nf4 Rc6 42. Nd3 Ke7 43. Ne5 Rc7 44. f4 a5 45. Nc4 Rc6 46. Rd3 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0