[Event "Great Plains Open"] [Site "Lincoln, NE"] [Date "2022.11.16"] [Round "3"] [White "Mehlhaff, Samuel"] [Black "Dong, Ryan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1489"] [BlackElo "1738"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B90"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Kvfo9Uhx/0mdYdaDn"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,121,19,31,40,41,80,51,67,44,44,30,55,41,27,47,47,46,50,13,18,28,41,13, 29,20,96,73,88,83,80,85,75,8,18,16,55,32,200,90,133,61,65,67,62,72,72,17,20,32, 220,224,255,197,223,94,135,116,187,-116,300,294,296,294,311,297,295,295,295, 267,297,297,331,193,219,207,242,250,276,244,241,245,263,259,293,314,317,316, 323,329,325,333,402,351,424,304,363,379,369,271,430,425,441,462,481,347,481, 453,603,421,557,649,737,274,274,461,513,554,674,709,912,938,983,1012] } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. g4 b5 11. h4 (11. g5 { This is the main line here. } 11... Nh5 12. O-O-O O-O 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 f6 { With a characteristic fight in a theoretical position. }) 11... Rc8?! { A bit formulaic. Black loses chances associated with ...b5-b4. } (11... b4 { White's previous move allowed Black to keep his knight guarding the d5-square for another turn. As such, the transformation with Nc3-d5 and e4-xd5 is worth inspecting here. } 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb6 { The point: while White will have some compensation for the pawn, they will not be able to keep it. }) 12. O-O-O b4? 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 a5 (14... Rb8 15. Bxa6 O-O (15... Ra8 16. Bb5 Rxa2 17. g5 Nh5 18. Bc6 O-O 19. Kb1 Ra6 20. Qd3 Nb8)) (14... Nb6 { Note the difference between this position and the position after 11. ...b4. Now, after } 15. Bxa6 Rb8 16. g5 Nfxd5 { White has the useful } 17. Bb5+ Kf8 18. f4 { with a killer attack against an uncastled king and disconnected rooks. }) 15. g5 Nh5 16. Kb1 a4? { Considering that White's knight was not well-placed on the b3-square, and that Black's rook is not behind the a-pawn, this push only serves to help White rearrange his pieces more favorably. } (16... Ng3 17. Rg1 Nxf1 18. Rdxf1 O-O 19. f4 a4 20. Nc1 Nb6 { Counterplay again flowing through the b6-square. }) 17. Nc1 Qc7 18. Bd3 e4 19. Bxe4 Ng3 20. Rhg1 Nxe4 21. fxe4 Ne5 22. Rg3 Nc4 23. Qd3 a3 24. b3 Nb2? (24... Nxe3 25. Rxe3 h6! { A useful motif: as the queenside play stalls, Black can find a way to finish bringing pieces into the game. }) 25. Qb5+ Kf8 26. Rd2 Qc3 27. Bf4? { The omission of Qb5-b7 is important not so much because the rook remains on the c-file, but because the queen remains on a dangerous square. } (27. Qb7! Rd8 { Black cannot passively release pressure off the c-file. } 28. Bf4 Qc5 29. e5 { White's king is perfectly safe, and the king hunt may continue. }) 27... Nd1 28. Nd3 g6?? (28... h6! 29. Qxb4?? Qxb4 30. Nxb4 hxg5 31. Rxd1 (31. Bxg5 Nc3+ 32. Kc1 Bxg5 33. Rxg5 Rxh4 $17) 31... gxf4 32. Rf3 Rxh4 $17) 29. Rgg2?? (29. Qb7 { One last chance to avoid the trick! }) 29... Nb2? (29... Qb2+! { That's the stuff! } 30. Nxb2 Nc3+ 31. Ka1 axb2+ 32. Kxb2 Nxb5 $17 { Black has a piece for only two pawns, and the b-pawn fixes White's queenside three-versus-one majority, ensuring a relatively easy game. }) 30. Qxb4 Nxd3 31. Qxc3 Rxc3 32. Rxd3 Rxd3 33. cxd3 $18 { From here, White is in the clear. } 33... Ke8 34. Rc2 Kd7 35. Rc4 f6 36. Rc2 fxg5 37. Bxg5 Bxg5 38. hxg5 Rf8 39. Rd2 Rf1+ 40. Kc2 Rh1 41. Kc3 h5 42. gxh6 Rxh6 43. Kb4 Ke7 44. Kxa3 Kf6 45. Kb4 Rh3 46. Kc4 g5 47. Kd4 Rh8 48. a4 Rb8 49. Kc3 Kg6 50. b4 Kh5 51. b5 g4 52. Kd4 Ra8 53. Ra2 g3 54. Ke3 Kg4 55. b6 Kh3 56. d4 g2 57. Rxg2 Kxg2 58. e5 dxe5 59. dxe5 Rxa4 60. e6 Rb4 61. e7 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0