[Event "Russian Championship Superfinal"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2020.12.12"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2784"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackElo "2752"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E20"] [Opening "Nimzo-Indian Defense: Kmoch Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/JoaBN"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/KkidFGCL/GOYfx6IC"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 { A very sharp choice against the solid Nimzo-Indian Defence. White plans a quick expansion in the centre. } { [%cal Ye2e4] } 4... d5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 { The White centre looks dominating, so Black needs to challenge this before White gets his coordinated. } 7... c5 (7... e5) 8. d5 exd5 9. exd5 O-O 10. Be2 Re8 11. Nf3 Bg4 12. O-O { All theory so far, of course.. } 12... Nbd7 13. d6 { A very committal move. The advanced pawn restricts Black's movement, but could easily end up weak. } 13... Bf8 14. h3 Bh5 15. Bf4 Qb6 16. b3 Rad8 { So far both players have been playing quite logically. Now Nepo finds an instructive move to strengthen the defence of the advanced pawn. } 17. Ra2! { [%cal Ya2d2] } 17... h6 18. a4 { [%cal Ya4a5] } 18... Bxf3?! { Karjakin misjudgs the following sequence of moves. Normally, exchanging the bishop unprovoked like this is unecessary. } 19. Bxf3 Ne5 20. Nb5 Bxd6 { Karjakin's point, but this is tactically flawed. } 21. a5! { Nepo never misses a tactical opportunity. } 21... Qa6 22. Rd2 Nxf3+ 23. Rxf3 Ne4 (23... Be7 24. Nc7! { [%cal Yc7a6,Yc7e8] } 24... Qc6 25. Nxe8 Rxe8 $16) 24. Nxd6 Nxd2 25. Qxd2 Re6 26. Rd3 { The knight is well protected and survives easily - White is winning. } 26... b6 27. Nf5 Rxd3 28. Qxd3 Qb7 29. Qd5! Qxd5 30. cxd5 Re1+ 31. Kf2 Rd1 32. Ke2 { 1-0 Black resigns. } { The pawn is poisoned, so Black resigned. } 1-0