[Event "KC FIDE Invitational"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/Kvfo9Uhx/mhwZezwy"] [Date "2022.12.04"] [Round "5"] [White "Fei, Irene"] [Black "Brooks, Michael"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1799"] [BlackElo "2341"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A41"] [Opening "Queen's Pawn Game"] [StudyName "FIDE chess in the midwest"] [ChapterName "Fei, Irene - Brooks, Michael"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Kvfo9Uhx/mhwZezwy"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,100,29,29,65,50,64,62,101,55,47,13,22,-2,51,-30,-31,-30,-22,-3,-3,-19, 10,12,-4,5,0,5,-9,-38,-32,-47,-49,-72,-5,-8,-27,-27,-17,-21,-21,-13,5,1,1,-4, -12,-17,0,0,2,0,0,-4,0,0,0,-29,-29,-42,9,-44,-42,-414,-422,-430,-437,-465,-475, -611,-483,-589,-491,-521,-437,-426,-427,-433,-443,-450,-451,-518,-468,-466, -463,-498,-458,-552,-577,-614,-598,-826,-757,-1097,-825,-1101,-1270,-1120, -1480,-29983,-1663,-1714,-29988] } 1. d4 d6 2. Bf4 Nd7 3. Nf3 g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. h3 e5 6. Bh2 Ne7 7. c4 (7. Be2 { This flexible move is more popular, but after } 7... O-O 8. O-O b6 { Black has a good score, for instance after } 9. c4 Bb7 10. Nc3 exd4 11. Nxd4 { both of Black's bishops have good prospects, and White has neither space nor coordination to show for it. }) 7... O-O 8. Nc3 Nf5 9. Be2 exd4 10. exd4 Re8 11. O-O Nf8 12. d5! { White correctly stops the Black knight from re-routing to the e6-square. } (12. Re1 { As is often the case in these slower openings, one passive move would give Black the initiative, for instance after } 12... Ne6 13. d5 Ned4) 12... Nd7 13. Re1 (13. Rc1 { Black's knight is re-routing to the c5-square, which makes b2-b4 an appealing move for White. So she should play something that defends her c3-knight. }) 13... Nc5 14. Qc2 (14. Qd2 { Keeping an additional unit of pressure on the d4-square. } 14... Nh4 15. b4 Ne4 (15... Qf6 16. bxc5 Qxc3 17. Rad1) 16. Nxe4 Rxe4 (16... Bxa1?! { This move is too greedy, but requires both calculation and careful evaluation to reach this conclusion. } 17. Nxd6! Nxf3+ 18. Bxf3 Rxe1+ 19. Qxe1 cxd6 20. Qxa1 { where White stands better due to the powerful central pawns and bishop pair. }) 17. Rac1 { White's position should be fine. }) 14... Nh4 15. Nxh4? (15. b4? { This does not work as well now, because after } 15... Qf6 16. bxc5 Qxc3 { there is a very subtle tactical nuance with White's queen on c2 instead of d2. } 17. Rac1 (17. Qxc3 Bxc3) 17... Qxc2 18. Rxc2 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Bf5! 20. Rcc1 Bh6!) 15... Qxh4 16. Bg3 Qd8 17. Qd2 Bf5 18. Rac1 Bxc3 19. Qxc3 Ne4 20. Qb3 Nxg3 21. Qxg3 Qf6 22. Qb3 b6 23. Bf1 Bd7 24. Qc2 a5 25. Qd2 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 Re8 27. Rxe8+ Bxe8 { Black follows a tested and true strategy in the war of experience against youth, trading into a roughly equal endgame. } 28. b4?! { White jumps at the first opportunity to inject dynamics in position. This is not an obviously wrong strategy, as her light-squared bishop is restricted by her pawns, compared to her counterpart's free range. } 28... axb4 29. Qxb4 { But now she has a permanent weakness in terms of the split queenside pawns, which will matter long after queens are traded. } 29... Kf8 30. Be2? (30. Qa3 { White's compensation for the split pawns comes on the a-file, so this move seemed intuitive. } 30... Qe7 31. Qa8 Kg7 32. a4 h5 33. a5 { White has equalized, as she has solved her a-pawn problem and has a more active queen to compensate for her passive bishop. }) 30... Qa1+ 31. Kh2?? { White misses a simple tactic, but it is instructive to see how a few impatient and indecisive moves contributed to the situation. } (31. Bf1 Qxa2 32. Qc3 { White's quest for activity continues, as Black's queen remains relatively sidelined. } 32... Kg8 33. Qf6 { Bad bishops can make good defenders: White can pressure the backwards pawn on c7 while Black will struggle to make headway against the pawn on c4. }) 31... Qe5+ 32. Kg1 Qxe2 33. a4 Qc2 34. Qa3 Qxc4 35. a5 bxa5 36. Qxa5 c6 37. dxc6 Qxc6 38. Qa1 Kg8 39. Qf6 d5 40. Qd8 Kg7 41. Qg5 Qe6 42. Qf4 Qe4 43. Qd6 d4 44. Qb4 Bc6 45. f3 Qe3+ 46. Kh2 Qc3 47. Qd6 d3 48. f4 Be4 49. Kg1 d2 50. Kf2 Bd3 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1