[Event "U.S. Junior Chess Championships 2024"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2024.07.18"] [Round "3"] [White "Wang, Justin"] [Black "Ladan, Nicholas"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2211"] [Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C72"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense"] [StudyName "2024 U.S. National Championships (Junior/Girls' Junior/Senior)"] [ChapterName "Wang, Justin - Ladan, Nicholas"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/HdJRwKaQ/f3MjhD2r"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. d4 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 exd4!? { This line leads to a position where Black is up a pawn, but at the cost of a severe lag in development. } 10. Rd1 (10. Re1 Qf6 11. Qb3 Ne7 12. Qb7 { is the usual continuation. }) 10... Qf6 11. Qb3 Ne7 12. Qb7 Rc8?! (12... Rd8 13. Qxc7 g5! { is the path to equality, as Black will soon bring out his pieces and maintain the d4-pawn. }) 13. Nd2 g5 14. Nf3 Rg8? { This is too slow. } 15. Nxd4?! { Logical, but it misses an even better move. } (15. e5! { Ripping apart the center! } 15... dxe5 16. Re1 { and the e5 pawn is unguardable. } 16... Bg7 17. Rxe5 { With Bc1-g5 coming, there's little Black can do to save his crumbling position. }) 15... Kd7 16. Nf3 g4! { Counterplay is vital here. } 17. e5! { Both sides are playing with tempo, and it leads to an exciting game. } 17... Qf5 18. exd6 gxf3 19. dxe7+ Kxe7 20. g3! { This looks incredibly dangerous, but the king miraculously survives. } 20... Kf6?? { Losing all this material isn't a viable solution } (20... Qxh3 21. Qb4+ Kf6 22. Qc3+ Kg6 23. Qxc6+ Bd6 24. Qxf3 { and the king is saved. }) (20... Rg6! { was a necessity } 21. Rd3 Bg7 22. Bd2 Kf8 23. Rxf3 Qxh3 24. Re1 { and White is clearly for choice, but with moves like ... h5-h4 coming, Black's chances cannot be discounted. }) 21. Qxc6+ Bd6 22. Rd3! { Forcibly removing the biggest threat. } 22... Qxh3 23. Rxf3+ Ke7 24. Bh6! { Cutting off the escape. } 24... Rce8 25. Re1+ Kd8 26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. Bg5+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0