[Event "U.S. Chess Championships 2024"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2024.10.11"] [Round "01"] [White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"] [Black "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2590"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C43"] [Opening "Petrov's Defense: Modern Attack, Murrey Variation"] [StudyName "2024 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship"] [ChapterName "Mishra, Abhimanyu - Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/K5XjRsoK/uhmujIAM"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/ChessLifeOnline"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 { [%clk 1:30:58] } 1... e5 { [%clk 1:30:55] } 2. Nf3 { [%clk 1:31:18] } 2... Nf6 { Petrov's Defense has long been considered one of Black's must solid responses to 1. e4. After Caruana revived ideas of playing this opening for a win around a decade ago, everybody takes this opening seriously, making it even harder for either side to make progress. } { [%clk 1:31:20] } 3. d4 { This move is played about a fourth as often as 3. Nxe5, signaling Mishra's desire already to avoid some of the played-out main lines. } { [%clk 1:31:06] } 3... Nxe4 { [%clk 1:31:45] } 4. Bd3 { By far, this is the main move in the position. That said, you might trick some players up at lower levels in the Traxler-esque positions emerging from: } { [%clk 1:30:49] } (4. dxe5!? Bc5 5. Bc4 Nxf2 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ Kg6! { Black is required to find moves like this, making it a tricky and trappy weapon for White in blitz. } (7... Ke8? 8. Bg5! Be7 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Kxf2 $16) 8. Qxc5 Nxh1 9. Nc3 $10 { The position is objectively equal, despite Black's extra rook! One of the forced drawing lines can be seen below: } 9... h6 10. Qc4 Nc6 11. Nd5 d6 12. Nf4+ Kh7 13. Qd3+ Kg8 14. Qd5+ Kh7 15. Qd3+ Kg8 16. Qd5+ Kh7 17. Qd3+ { Nepomniachtchi, I.. - Aronian, L.., 1/2-1/2, Skilling Open KO 2020, https://lichess.org/BXHeQ3lC }) 4... Nc6!? { [%clk 1:32:08] } (4... d5 { is usually seen first. } 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Bd6 $10 { when White has had marginal success, at best, breaking through with either 8. Nc3 or 8. c4. }) 5. Nxe5 { [%clk 1:29:40] } 5... Nxe5 { [%clk 1:32:31] } 6. dxe5 { [%clk 1:30:01] } 6... Nc5 { [%clk 1:32:57] } 7. Bc4 { [%clk 1:26:46] } 7... d6 { [%clk 1:33:06] } 8. Qf3 { [%clk 1:23:07] } 8... Ne6 { [%clk 1:33:30] } 9. exd6 { [%clk 1:22:45] } 9... Bxd6 { [%clk 1:33:50] } 10. Nc3 { [%clk 1:21:45] } 10... O-O { [%clk 1:33:48] } 11. Be3 { [%clk 1:20:46] } 11... Bc5 $146 { The first new move of the game, and clearly Yoo is still in prep. } { [%clk 1:33:08] } (11... Be5 { has been seen before, when } 12. Bd3 Qh4 13. O-O-O $14 { creates at least the appearance of an imbalance with opposite-sided castling and a possible trade on c3. Black's choice with 11. ... Bc5 is even more stubborn and hard to crack. }) 12. Bd3 { [%clk 1:12:02] } 12... Bxe3 { [%clk 1:29:12] } 13. Qxe3 { [%clk 1:11:16] } 13... Qd6 { Black prepares ... Qd6-f4 and likes the chances of holding the symmetrical endgame after a queen trade. } { [%clk 1:23:29] } 14. O-O-O { [%clk 1:08:06] } 14... Qf4 { [%clk 1:23:40] } 15. Rhe1 { [%clk 1:03:37] } 15... Qxe3+ { [%clk 1:20:02] } 16. Rxe3 { At low depths, the engine has been somewhat optimistic for White until now, giving an evaluation of around +0.5 or +0.6, which probably explains why this line hadn't been tried before. But now, given time to "settle," the engine is down to +0.3 and struggling to find any sort of plan for White. } { [%clk 1:02:40] } 16... Rd8 { [%clk 1:19:17] } 17. Bc4 { These trades all but ensure a draw. } { [%clk 0:46:51] } (17. Rde1!? { was the only chance to play for anything. But after } 17... Kf8 18. Bc4 Bd7 { Black's position looks ultra-solid. For instance: } 19. Ne4 h6 { and it's hard to suggest a plan for White. } 20. g3 Nd4 21. c3 Be6 $10) 17... Rxd1+ { [%clk 1:17:05] } 18. Kxd1 { [%clk 0:47:10] } 18... Kf8 { [%clk 1:10:33] } 19. Nb5 { [%clk 0:39:26] } 19... Bd7 { [%clk 1:08:58] } 20. Bxe6 { From here, there is absolutely nothing for either side to play for. } { [%clk 0:38:33] } 20... Bxb5 $10 { [%clk 1:09:12] } 21. Bg4 { [%clk 0:35:48] } 21... Rd8+ { [%clk 1:07:44] } 22. Ke1 { [%clk 0:36:01] } 22... Bc6 { [%clk 1:06:20] } 23. Bf3 { [%clk 0:36:09] } 23... Bxf3 { [%clk 1:06:44] } 24. Rxf3 { [%clk 0:36:30] } 24... Rd6 { [%clk 1:05:05] } 25. Ke2 { [%clk 0:32:24] } 25... Ke7 { [%clk 1:03:34] } 26. Re3+ { [%clk 0:31:54] } 26... Kd7 { [%clk 1:03:56] } 27. Rd3 { [%clk 0:32:02] } 27... Ke7 { [%clk 1:04:19] } 28. Re3+ { [%clk 0:32:25] } 28... Kd7 { [%clk 1:04:46] } 29. Rd3 { [%clk 0:32:47] } 29... Ke7 { [%clk 1:05:12] } 30. Re3+ { [%clk 0:33:10] } 30... Kd7 { [%clk 1:05:39] } 31. Rd3 { [%clk 0:33:34] } 31... Ke7 { [%clk 1:05:51] } 32. Re3+ { Draw by repetition. Black got the "effortless" draw he wanted out of the opening, while White seemed frustrated by the lack of resources in the position. } { [%clk 0:33:21] } 1/2-1/2