[Event "Sparkassen A-Open"] [Site "Dortmund, Germany"] [Date "2023.06.26"] [Round "3"] [White "Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim"] [Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2340"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2664"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [Annotator "WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E24"] [Opening "Nimzo-Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation"] [StudyName "Dortmund 2023"] [ChapterName "Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim - Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/GHa9RCw7/Gq1CIsMl"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 { It was not a great choice to play 1. d4 against Ponomariov because I am a 1. e4 player at heart, and it is better to stick to one's main openings against strong players like him. Why is 1. e4 a better choice for me? Because I know, understand, and feel the openings I play. } 1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 Nc6 6. f3 { Yeah, I thought I would get a fighting position, which I like playing a lot. } 6... b6 7. e4 d6 8. Bd3 Na5 9. Be3? { But the problem is that I could have prepared it better. While checking the lines, I got messed up in move orders, and, during the game, I was unsure if it was 9. Bg5 or 9. Be3. Even if I did not know the position, I still had to play 9. Bg5 because I have a weak pawn structure, and if I gave him enough time to attack without creating any threats, my pawn on c4 would fall without compensation. } (9. Bg5 { or }) (9. f4 { is theory }) 9... Ba6 10. Qe2 Qd7! { The only move to keep the advantage. Also, it threatens to attack the pawn on c4; unfortunately, there is no good way to protect it. You can see how slow 9. Be3 was. } 11. a4 O-O-O 12. Nh3 Qc6 13. O-O (13. c5 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 dxc5 15. Qa6+ Qb7 $17) 13... Bxc4 14. Rfb1 d5 15. Nf2 Nd7 16. Rb4 f5 17. Qc2 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 dxe4 19. fxe4 Nc5 20. Qc2 Nxe4 21. Nxe4 Qxe4 22. Qxe4 fxe4 23. Re1 Rd6 24. Rb5 Rd5 25. Bf4 Rxb5 26. axb5 Rf8 27. Rxe4 Kd7 28. Be5 g6 29. Re1 Nc4 30. Ra1 Nxe5 31. dxe5 Rf5 32. Rxa7 Rxe5 33. c4 Kd6 34. Kf2 Re4 35. Ra4 Rd4 36. Ke3 e5 37. h3 h5 38. g3 g5 39. Ke2 h4 40. g4 e4 41. Ke3 Ke5 42. Ra8 Rd3+ 43. Ke2 Rxh3 44. Rc8 Rc3 45. Rxc7 h3 46. Kd2 h2 47. Rh7 Ra3 48. c5 Kd4 49. Kc2 Ra1 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1