[Event "US Open"] [Site "Rancho Mirage, CA"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "3"] [White "Eric Liu"] [Black "IM Semen Khanin"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2225"] [BlackElo "2642"] [Annotator "JJ Lang"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C54"] [Opening "Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo, with a6"] [StudyName "Annotated Games from Rancho Mirage"] [ChapterName "Eric Liu - IM Semen Khanin"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/FRzmURsX/rWH05N2l"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. Nbd2 a6 7. Bb3 h6 8. O-O Ba7 9. Re1 Bd7 10. Nf1 g5 { A trendy and very fun line in the Italian. Black has not, and now most likely will not, castle kingside, so what's the harm? } 11. Be3 g4 12. N3d2 h5 13. Bg5 h4 14. Ne3? (14. Qe2 Rh5 15. Be3 { is counter-intuititve, but the time lost with the bishop moves is compensated for by Black's misplaced rook. }) 14... Rh5! 15. f4? { violating the principle of not playing on the part of the board where the opponent is strongest. } 15... gxf3 (15... Rxg5 { is also winning } 16. fxg5 Nh5 { although perhaps the more adventurous among us could learn something from the way the IM rejected a possibly superior sacrificial continuation in the face of a line that kept material equality and a clear initiative. }) 16. Bxf6 f2+ 17. Kxf2 Qxf6+ 18. Qf3 Qg6 19. Kg1 f5! 20. Kh1 f4 21. Nf5 O-O-O 22. Bd5 Rh7 23. b4 Ne7 24. Nxe7+ Rxe7 25. h3 Rg7 26. Nf1 Qh6 27. Rad1 Be8 28. Nh2 Rg3 29. Qf1 Bh5 30. Bb3 f3! { Black's maneuvering has been precise and instructive, but the whole point of his advantage was that White lacked dynamic counterplay in the center, meaning that speed was not of the utmost importance. Once Black's pieces eventually, inevitably reached their key squares, this break was borderline inevitable. } 31. gxf3 Rf8 32. Re2 Bxf3+ 33. Nxf3 Rfxf3 34. Qe1 Rxh3+ 35. Rh2 Rxh2+ 36. Kxh2 Qf4+ { 0- } 0-1