[Event "U.S. Junior Championship - Open"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2024.07.21"] [Round "06"] [White "Hardaway, Brewington"] [Black "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2459"] [BlackElo "2607"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] [Annotator "Matt Clibanoff"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B36"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon, Maróczy Bind"] [StudyName "2024 U.S. National Championships (Junior/Girls' Junior/Senior)"] [ChapterName "Hardaway, Brewington - Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/HdJRwKaQ/EAtyMP2u"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 { [%clk 2:00:56] } 1... c5 { [%clk 2:00:35] } 2. Nf3 { [%clk 2:01:19] } 2... Nc6 { [%clk 2:00:45] } 3. d4 { [%clk 2:01:40] } 3... cxd4 { [%clk 2:01:10] } 4. Nxd4 { [%clk 2:02:02] } 4... g6!? { Yoo is a madman. An Accelerated Dragon??? Yet again, the young GM proves that he simply doesn't care about modern opening conventions. } { [%clk 2:01:25] } 5. c4! { Maroczy time. Usually the best Black can hope for here is a draw. } { [%clk 2:02:08] } 5... Nf6 { [%clk 2:01:49] } 6. Nc3 { [%clk 2:02:32] } 6... d6 { [%clk 2:02:10] } 7. Be2 { [%clk 2:02:43] } 7... Nxd4 { [%clk 2:02:34] } 8. Qxd4 { [%clk 2:03:08] } 8... Bg7 { [%clk 2:02:59] } 9. Be3 { [%clk 1:58:10] } 9... O-O { [%clk 2:03:22] } 10. Qd2 { [%clk 1:52:44] } 10... a5 { Black walks the a pawn down in an attempt to undermine White's queenside pawns. White is more or less powerless to stop this attempt. } { [%clk 2:03:27] } 11. O-O { [%clk 1:50:51] } (11. b3?? Nxe4 { [%cal Bg7a1,Be4c3] }) 11... a4! { [%clk 2:03:49] } 12. f3?! { A fine move, but a little inaccurate. } { [%clk 1:48:51] } (12. Rab1! { Crucial to get the rook off the long dark-squared diagonal. } 12... Qa5 13. Rfc1 { Now White is ready to rock. }) 12... Qa5 { [%clk 2:01:35] } 13. Rab1 { [%clk 1:40:59] } 13... Be6 { [%clk 1:58:52] } 14. Rfc1 { The difference between this line and the 12 .Rab1 line is that Black has slightly more pressure on the c4-pawn here because of White's wasted tempo with 12. f3. The trade off is that White's c3-knight can now move freely without fear of losing the e-pawn. } { [%clk 1:34:51] } 14... Rfc8 { [%clk 1:56:50] } 15. b4! { A logical push. } { [%clk 1:12:20] } 15... axb3 { En Passant. Masters of the game will know this move is always forced :) } { [%clk 1:56:10] } 16. axb3 { [%clk 1:12:44] } 16... Qb4 { [%clk 1:52:25] } 17. Nd5!? { I recently played a game like this that very rapidly liquidated into a draw. After some analysis, I've started calling this Nc3-d5 maneuver the "Maroczy bailout move." White can play this basically whenever he wants to get a bone-dry ending. Given that White doesn't have much to push for, this isn't a bad move. } { [%clk 1:07:24] } 17... Qxd2 { [%clk 1:47:57] } 18. Bxd2 { [%clk 1:07:48] } 18... Ra2!? { Yoo opts for a complex exchange sacrifice. } { [%clk 1:30:57] } (18... Nxd5! 19. cxd5 Bd7 { For those of us who like to play it safe, this will liquidate into a draw. } 20. Rxc8+ Rxc8 21. Rc1 Rxc1+ 22. Bxc1 { Just shake hands. Nothing is going to happen here. }) 19. Nxe7+ { [%clk 1:04:53] } 19... Kf8 { [%clk 1:30:33] } 20. Nxc8 { [%clk 1:05:19] } 20... Rxd2 { [%clk 1:30:58] } 21. Nxd6 { [%clk 1:05:36] } 21... Nh5 { [%clk 1:26:38] } 22. Bf1 { [%clk 0:54:42] } (22. Bd3! { Allegedly the best move. } 22... Nf4 23. Rc2 Rxd3 24. Nxb7 { White will retain a material lead, but the pressure against his king will be serious. }) 22... Rxd6 { White has a rook and two pawns for two pieces. According to a conventional scoring system he should be one point to the good, but Black's bishop pair gives more than adequate compensation. Yoo has succeeded in his goal of complicating this position. } { [%clk 1:26:40] } 23. Rd1 { [%clk 0:54:36] } 23... Ra6 { [%clk 1:22:54] } 24. Rd2?! { White already steps in it. The issue is, the a1-square is unusable for the rooks and the d-file is their only useful avenue. Here, however, the rook will take hits from Black's bishop. } { [%clk 0:51:47] } (24. c5! Ra2 25. b4 Be5 26. g3 { And White is holding, albeit uncomfortably. }) 24... Bc3 { [%clk 1:19:53] } 25. Rc2 { [%clk 0:50:34] } 25... Bb4 { [%clk 1:18:32] } 26. g3 { Locking the knight out of f4, but it's a bit too little too late. Black has stopped the queenside pawn advance and White's rooks are awkward. } { [%clk 0:38:15] } 26... Ra5 { [%clk 1:16:30] } (26... Ra3! { Another try. } 27. Kg2 b6 { White's queenside pawns aren't going anywhere. Why is this such a problem? Well, if the queenside pawns can't move, the light-squared bishop is stuck behind the c4-pawn and the rooks won't ever be able to get active. }) 27. Kg2 { [%clk 0:33:22] } 27... f5 { [%clk 1:12:46] } 28. c5 { [%clk 0:25:17] } 28... fxe4 { [%clk 1:11:18] } 29. fxe4 { [%clk 0:25:43] } 29... Nf6! { White can't do anything with the c-pawn, so Black rightly ignores it. } { [%clk 1:09:33] } 30. Bc4 { [%clk 0:20:49] } 30... Rxc5 { [%clk 1:08:37] } 31. Rf2 { [%clk 0:16:03] } 31... Ke7 { [%clk 1:08:48] } 32. Rbf1 { [%clk 0:16:12] } 32... Bc3 { [%clk 1:06:01] } 33. Bxe6 { [%clk 0:15:48] } 33... Kxe6 { White finally gets rid of Black's bishop pair, but his extra pawn isn't going to fix the piece imbalance here. } { [%clk 1:06:25] } 34. Rc2 { [%clk 0:14:52] } 34... b5 { [%clk 1:02:57] } 35. Kf3 { [%clk 0:14:01] } 35... b4! { Locking the bishop in place and freeing the c5-rook from its defensive job. } { [%clk 1:00:55] } 36. Ra1 { [%clk 0:12:04] } 36... Nxe4!! { [%clk 1:00:05] } 37. Ra6+ { [%clk 0:11:38] } (37. Kxe4?? Re5+ 38. Kf3 Bxa1 { Game over. }) 37... Kd5 { [%clk 0:59:57] } 38. Ra7 { [%clk 0:08:30] } 38... Kd4 { [%clk 0:59:33] } 39. Re2 { [%clk 0:07:06] } 39... Nd2+ { [%clk 0:59:13] } 40. Kg2 { [%clk 0:07:32] } 40... Nxb3 { [%clk 0:56:15] } 41. Rxh7 { The best White can hope for, but not nearly enough. At this point we can utter an oft-maligned phrase and say "it's a matter of technique" for Black. } { [%clk 0:07:55] } 41... Kc4 { [%clk 0:56:33] } 42. Rb7 { [%clk 0:05:33] } 42... Nd4 { [%clk 0:56:16] } 43. Rf2 { [%clk 0:05:35] } 43... b3 { [%clk 0:56:33] } 44. h4 { [%clk 0:05:30] } 44... Rb5! { Rooks behind the pawn. The trade only hurts White. } { [%clk 0:55:15] } 45. Rc7+ { [%clk 0:05:45] } 45... Kd3 { [%clk 0:55:24] } 46. Kh3 { [%clk 0:05:47] } 46... b2 { [%clk 0:55:37] } 47. Rxb2 { [%clk 0:06:14] } 47... Rxb2 { The game carried on for a few more moves, but it is well and truly over here. } { [%clk 0:55:57] } 48. Kg4 { [%clk 0:06:16] } 48... Rb4 { [%clk 0:55:51] } 49. Rd7 { [%clk 0:06:35] } 49... Ke4 { [%clk 0:56:15] } 50. h5 { [%clk 0:05:46] } 50... gxh5+ { [%clk 0:56:14] } 51. Kxh5 { [%clk 0:06:11] } 51... Ne2 { [%clk 0:56:19] } 52. g4 { [%clk 0:06:25] } 52... Nf4+ { [%clk 0:56:45] } 53. Kh6 { [%clk 0:06:49] } 53... Rb6+ { [%clk 0:57:09] } 54. Kh7 { [%clk 0:07:01] } 54... Rb8 { [%clk 0:57:36] } 55. Re7+ { [%clk 0:07:20] } 55... Kf3 { [%clk 0:58:00] } 56. Re3+ { [%clk 0:07:41] } 56... Kxe3 { [%clk 0:58:25] } 57. g5 { [%clk 0:08:04] } 57... Rh8# { 0-1 Black wins. } { [%clk 0:58:49] } 0-1