[Event "National Middle School (K-8) Championship"] [Site "Round Rock, Tx"] [Date "2023.04.22"] [White "Likhit Bhangale"] [Black "Brewington Hardaway"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1856"] [BlackElo "2431"] [Annotator "FM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D00"] [Opening "Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System, Steinitz Countergambit"] [StudyName "National Middle School (K-8) Championships"] [ChapterName "Likhit Bhangale - Brewington Hardaway"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/JIs7Thj7/RZXiinuF"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by FM Sandeep Sethuraman } 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 { Yet again the London is essayed but, true to his style, Brewington chooses the most aggressive response. } 3... cxd4 4. exd4 Nc6 5. c3 Bf5 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 e6 8. Nf3 Bd6 9. Bg3 Nge7 10. Nbd2 { The opening has led to an equal game, and a rather dry position, but you can expect Brewington to be looking for any chances he can get to mix things up. } 10... Nf5 11. O-O Nxg3 12. fxg3!? { A brave choice, and not half bad. The activity from the open f-file partially compensates for the ruined pawn structure. Still, capturing towards the center was advisable. } (12. hxg3 O-O 13. g4 { I like this idea, taking space on the kingside and preparing a common maneuver. } 13... Qf6 14. g3 h6 15. Kg2 { Now, the white rooks take the h-file and start a vicious attack. It is worth noting that, even though this plan exposes White's king slightly, it is not a concern here for concrete reasons that London players must understand. First, the center is relatively stable. Second, although Black can play to open the center with ... e6-e5, doing so is double-edged, leaving an isolated d-pawn that could be vulnerable. Third, the exchange of light-squared bishops means the open center will be harder for Black to exploit against a king on g2. }) 12... O-O 13. Rae1 Qe7 14. Kh1 Rae8 15. a3 { Too slow. The difference between top players and club players is that in positions like these, top players play every move with a plan. Black has developed in a way that is preparing a future central expansion to make use of his bishop, and with a2-a3, white is not accomplishing anything. Presumably, the intention was to play c3-c4, but neither ... Nc6-b4 was a threat nor does c3-c4 achieve anything. } (15. g4 { was a good start. After } 15... f6 16. g3 Bc7 17. Kg2 { White can justify his pawn structure. }) 15... f6 { Perhaps a bit premature, making a2-a3 useful because now the opening of the center with c3-c4 will provide White with more avenues to attack Black's king. } (15... h6 16. Re2 Qc7 17. Rfe1 Ne7 { Black can slowly poke and prod at White's slight weaknesses. }) 16. c4! { White recognizes that allowing Black to gain the center is too dangerous so he strikes first. } 16... Qd7 17. Re3 (17. cxd5 exd5 18. Nb1 { was also viable with the idea of targeting the d5-weakness and maybe trading everything on the e-file. }) 17... Ne7 (17... Bc7 { and now Black can try to put some pressure on the d4-pawn. }) 18. cxd5 exd5?! { A surprising choice. It becomes very difficult to create any sort of winning chances in this type of symmetrical structure. } (18... Nxd5 { would have created more imbalances. } 19. Re2 Rc8 20. Rfe1 Rfe8 { and the pawn is very tough to attack, while Black can try infiltrating on the c-file and by pushing the queenside pawns. }) 19. Rfe1 Kh8 20. Nb1 Nc8 21. Nc3 { Very logical, and now threatening mass trades. So far Bhangale has put up an amazing effort against the top seed, who is over 2400 and well on his way to the IM title. } 21... Nb6 22. Qe2 (22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Rxe8+ Qxe8 24. Qf5 { would have massively simplified things, and made it very difficult for Black to create winning chances, as he would always be stuck to the d5-pawn. }) 22... Rxe3 23. Qxe3 a6 24. Qe6 { Trading the wrong pieces. Knights work best with queens, while bishops work best with rooks. } 24... Qc6?! { The eternal question — to trade or not to trade — can even stump titled players. } (24... Qxe6 25. Rxe6 Rd8 26. Nh4 Kg8 { and Black suddenly has good winning chances due to his better pawn structure and superior minor piece. }) 25. Nh4? { The Knight was perfect on f3 defending the back rank and controlling the center. On h4, it can be controlled by Black's next move. } 25... g6! { Thematic. } 26. Nf3 { And the knight has to come back immediately. } 26... Kg7 27. g4 Rf7 28. Qe2 Re7 { Brewington has made good use of the extra tempi to gain activity and take the e-file on his own terms. } 29. Qf2 Qe8 30. g3 Rxe1+ 31. Qxe1 (31. Nxe1 { was preferable, with the idea to reroute to d3. }) 31... Qxe1+ { Another exchange dilemma, and Brewington goes astray again. } (31... Qd7 { would have posed White some tough questions. } 32. g5 { is likely what deterred Black, but after } (32. h3 { is far too weakening for my liking }) 32... fxg5 33. Nxg5 Qf5 34. Ne6+ Kf6 35. Nc5 Bxc5 36. dxc5 Qf3+ 37. Kg1 Nc4 { Black's activity puts him far ahead and gives him great winning chances. }) 32. Nxe1 Nc4 33. Nd3 (33. Nd1 { was more prudent to restrict the c4-knight. }) 33... Ne3 { Taking advantage of White's misstep. } 34. Nf4 Kf7 (34... Bxf4! 35. gxf4 Kf7 36. h3 f5 37. g5 Ke7 { and Black's king will make it to the queenside and mop up the pawns. This was winning for Black. }) 35. Nfxd5 Nxg4 36. Kg2 Ke6 37. h3 Nh6 38. Ne3 Nf7 { Again, it seems that Bhangale has weathered the storm and is on his way to getting that coveted half-point, but Brewington won't give up that easily. } 39. b4?! { Fine by the engine, but there's no need to weaken the queenside. } (39. h4 { would have been a nice way to restrict the f7-knight. }) 39... f5 { Putting the pawns on the opposite color of the bishop is very instructive. } 40. Na4! { White must create counterplay on the side that he is stronger. } 40... Kd7 41. Nd5 { But leaving the kingside completely defenseless is also ill-advised. } 41... Ng5 42. Nac3 Ne6 43. Ne2 Kc6! { Important: realizing that the d5-square is key as a breakthrough point. } 44. Ne3 Nc7 (44... Ng5! { was even stronger, controlling the e4- and f3-squares. } 45. d5+ Kd7 46. h4 Ne4) 45. Nc3 Be7 46. d5+ Kd7 47. Na4? { Now Black is clearly winning. } (47. Nc4 Ne8 48. b5 { would have kept White in the game, but } 48... Nd6 49. Ne5+ Kc7 50. bxa6 bxa6 51. Nc6 Bf8 { and Black would have great chances to score the full point. }) 47... b5! { Nice: fixing the White pawns on dark squares and controlling every key square. } 48. Nb6+ Kd8 49. Nc2 Ne8 50. a4 Kc7 51. a5 Nf6 { Now none of White's pieces can move. } 52. Kf3 Kb7 53. Kf4 Bd6+ 54. Kg5 Ne4+ 55. Kh6 Nxg3 56. Kxh7 f4 { The pawn cannot be stopped. } 57. Kxg6 f3 58. h4 f2 59. Ne3 Bf4 60. d6 Bxe3 61. d7 f1=Q 62. d8=Q Qf5+ 63. Kg7 Nh5+ 64. Kg8 Qg6+ 65. Kf8 Qg7+ 66. Ke8 Nf6+ { 0-1 Black wins. White resigned here } 0-1