[Event "2026 National Invitational Tournaments"] [Site "Grand Rapids, MI"] [Date "2026.08.03"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Colville, Julian"] [Black "Muhammad Azimzade"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2447"] [BlackElo "2086"] [Annotator "Foisor,Sabina"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "2026 U.S. Open and Invitationals, Pt. 1"] [ChapterName "Colville, Julian - Muhammad Azimzade"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/GybCbfWL/a9wO9H2H"] [FEN "2r1r1kb/4pp2/p1bp1npB/qp6/4P1P1/2N2P2/PPP4Q/1K1R1B1R w - - 0 18"] [SetUp "1"] [Orientation "white"] 18. Bf8! { [%anno "ChessLifeOnline", chesslifeonline] Not the only winning move, but a beautiful Sicilian Dragon motif that we don't always get to see in action. } (18. Bd2 { [%anno "ChessLifeOnline", chesslifeonline] was another clean way to win, taking advantage of the weakness of the h-file and discovered attack! } 18... Bg7 19. Nd5 Qa4 20. Nxf6+ exf6 21. b3 Qd4 22. Qh7+ Kf8 { [%anno "ChessLifeOnline", chesslifeonline] And now... } 23. Qxg7+! Kxg7 24. Bh6+ Kg8 25. Rxd4 $18) 18... Nh5 19. gxh5 Be5 20. Qh3 Kxf8 21. hxg6 fxg6 22. Qe6 Bd7 23. Qxg6 e6 24. Bxb5! { [%anno "ChessLifeOnline", chesslifeonline] Another well-known sac in the Sicilian! } 24... Re7 25. Bxd7 Rb8 26. Bb5 Bxc3 27. Rdg1 Rf7 28. Qg8+ Ke7 29. Qxb8 Bxb2 30. Qe8+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0