IM Semen Khanin(2642)
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Eric Liu(2225)
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1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bc4Nf64.d3Bc55.c3d66.Nbd2a67.Bb3h68.O-OBa79.Re1Bd710.Nf1g5A 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.Be3g412.N3d2h513.Bg5h414.Ne3?...14.Qe2Rh515.Be3is 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....gxf315...Rxg5is also winning16.fxg5Nh5although 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.Bxf6f2+17.Kxf2Qxf6+18.Qf3Qg619.Kg1f5!20.Kh1f421.Nf5O-O-O22.Bd5Rh723.b4Ne724.Nxe7+Rxe725.h3Rg726.Nf1Qh627.Rad1Be828.Nh2Rg329.Qf1Bh530.Bb3f3!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.gxf3Rf832.Re2Bxf3+33.Nxf3Rfxf334.Qe1Rxh3+35.Rh2Rxh2+36.Kxh2Qf4+0-0-1