[Event "Haring Tournament of Girls Champions"]
[Site "Rancho Mirage, CA"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Lee, FM Alice"]
[Black "Yan, FM Ruiyang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2359"]
[BlackElo "2343"]
[Annotator "Lang,JJ"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "D37"]
[Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/FRzmURsX/S9pD0hRK"]
[Orientation "white"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 a6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be6 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. Qc2 c6 10. O-O h6 11. Bf4 Qc7 12. Bg3 O-O 13. Rfe1?! { An odd
choice. Presumably White is signaling an intention to push e4, but it is
unclear how she plans to play with the isolated d-pawn. } 13... Rfe8 14. Nd2 (14. e4?! { would give a clear advantage to black because after } 14... dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxg3 17. hxg3 Nf6 { Black has successfully traded two sets of minors and
White has no kingside attack to speak of as compensation for her isolated pawn. }) 14... Bxg3 15. hxg3 Qd6 16. a3 a5 17. Na4 b6 18. Rab1 c5 19. dxc5?! { Faced with another difficult choice about how to transform the position, White
elects to stick Black with a 'hanging pawns' structure on d5 and c5. But
neither pawn is particularly weak, resulting in Black only cementing a space
advantage.. } (19. Nc3 Rac8 20. Nf3 { Keeping the tension, forcing Black to make
a decision or at least reveal more information about her intended piece
placement, was preferable to conceding the center. }) 19... bxc5 20. Nc3 Ne5 21. Nf3 Bg4 22. Nh2 c4?! { By committing to this push, Black commits to a
permanent weakening of the d5 pawn. This gave White a nice chance to remove a
crucial defender with } 23. Bf1 (23. Nxg4!? cxd3 24. Nxf6+ Qxf6 { with some
chances for counterplay after } 25. Qd1) 23... Bh5 24. Qd2 Bg6 25. Rbc1 Nd3 { By now, the choice to push c4 has paid off for Black. White has no way to
attack the weak d5 pawn for the forseeable future. } 26. Bxd3 Bxd3 27. g4?! (27. Nf3 Qb6 28. Nd4 { Blockading the backwards pawn is objectively better, but
practically speaking provides White with little to no counterplay. }) 27... Rab8 28. f3 Qb6 { We have now entered the surgical stage of the game. White can
barely move, and as each move creates new weaknesses, Black uses her space
advantage to re-route her pieces to exploit them. } 29. Nd1 Nd7 30. Nc3 Nf6!? (30... Nc5 { I would love to know what spooked Black from playing what appeared
to be this intended move. } 31. Nxd5 Qd8 32. e4 Nb3 { would rid Black of her
weak central pawn, open up more lines for her pieces, and net an exchange. But
perhaps she was concerned about introducing unnecessary imbalances into the
position, providing White with more chances for counterplay. }) 31. Nd1 d4! 32. Qf2 Qe6 (32... Nd5 33. e4 Nf4 { would be even more crushing. }) 33. e4 Qb6 34. Nf1 Bxf1?! (34... Nd7 { with the re-route to e5 seemed more patient and in
the spirit of Black's dominating position. }) 35. Kxf1 Nd7 36. Rxc4? { In an
impossible positon, White seeks out clarity, and is now clearly lost. } 36... Qa6 37. Qxd4 Ne5 38. Ne3 Nxc4?! (38... Rbd8! 39. Qc3 Rd3! 40. Qc1 Rxe3! { was the precise finale. }) 39. Nxc4? (39. Qxc4 Qxc4+ 40. Nxc4 { Of course
White would not want to trade queens into this likely lost endgame, but she
does have more practical chances to hold here considering that Black's queen
was the anchor of her attacking chances in the middlegame. }) 39... Red8 40. Qc3 Rdc8 41. Rc1 (41. b3 a4!) 41... Rc6 42. a4 Rb4 43. b3 Qb7! { and the knight
is still pinned! } 44. Rc2 Rxb3 45. Qxa5 Rb4 46. Qd8+ Kh7 47. e5 g6 48. Qd3 Qa6 49. Qd5 Kg7 50. e6 Rbxc4 51. e7 Rxc2+ 52. Kg1 Qa7+ { 0- } 0-1