[Event "XXXIII Pan-American Youth U12 Open"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/NdPr3HIs/8JlgMBQ8"] [Date "2023.08.16"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Lu, Yiding"] [Black "Yang, Maxwell"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1974"] [WhiteTeam "USA"] [BlackElo "1829"] [BlackTeam "USA"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B90"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Adams Attack"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/NdPr3HIs/8JlgMBQ8"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. g4 h6 9. Rg1 g5 10. Nd2 Qc7 11. Nc4 Be6 12. Ne3 Qa5 13. Bd2 Qb6 14. Bg2 Nbd7 15. Ncd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Qxb2 17. h4 Nc5 18. Nf5?! { A thing of curiosity, I'm not sure I've ever met a "bad" Nf5 in the Sicilian before, but it turns out that if Black is precise in the reply, White is without improving moves. } 18... Nce4?! (18... gxh4! { when White has no way to improve their position with normal moves, and with the very nice point that the h6-pawn is not hanging due to a nice tactic: } 19. Bxh6?? Rxh6 20. Nxh6 h3! 21. Bxh3 (21. Bf3 Qc3+ 22. Kf1 Nce4 { with impending damage on the dark squares. }) 21... Qc3+) 19. Rb1 Qxa2 20. Rxb7 { Note that, with the knight still on c5, Ra1-b1-xb7 was not a threat. } 20... Bf8 { And without the rook on b7, the pressure on the e7-bishop was not meaningful, as Black would happily recapture with a safe king tucked in on e7. But now White has a characteristic attack against Black's uncastled king. It's fascinating how close this was to not working out, as it looks so natural. } 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Bb4 Rc8 23. Ne3 Bg7 24. Qf3 O-O!? { Black plays a very tactical quasi-sacrifice, but the question will be whether the king is actually safe on the kingside after the dust settles. } 25. Qxe4 Qb1+ 26. Nd1 a5 27. hxg5 hxg5? { Black correctly assesses that g5xh6 followed by g4-g5 would continue the kingside pressure, and that the pinned b4-bishop is not going anywhere any time soon. Unfortunately, Black forgot just how vulnerable the king will be on multiple focal points of the attack. } (27... axb4 28. gxh6 Bxh6 29. g5 Bg7 30. Kd2 { I'd say, no, Black's king is in danger. But this is much more of a game. }) 28. Rh1! f5 (28... Qxc2 { Or, perhaps, Black was banking on this move, forgetting that they still never recouped the no-longer-pinned b4-bishop! } 29. Qxc2 Rxc2 30. Bxd6 $18) 29. gxf5 Rf6 (29... axb4 30. f6 $18) 30. Qg4 Rcf8 (30... axb4 31. Rxg7+! Kxg7 32. Qxg5+ Kf7 33. Rh7+ $18) 31. Qxg5 R8f7 32. Rb8+ Rf8 33. Rg1 Rf7 34. Rxf8+! { Black resigns rather than play the only legal recapture ... Kg8xf8 and get met with Qg5-d8#. } 1-0