[Event "National Elem School Championship K-5"] [Site "Bal"] [Date "2023.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Vihan Jammalamadaka"] [Black "Krishna Rallabandi"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1871"] [BlackElo "2095"] [Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D85"] [Opening "Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/OZkFHWFD/XLqyXAZC"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 { The Grunfeld Defense. Black's plan is to capture on c3 to give a target for the g7-bishop that can be exploited with ... c7-c5 and ... Nb8-c6 to pressure the d4-pawn and the white center as a whole. } 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+!? { Not completely out of the blue by any means, but still definitely a surprise. Usually players develop their knight first as in almost all cases it belongs on f3, while with the bishop you don't know if it should go to b5, d3, or even sometimes c4. However, this provokes a ... c7-c6 move by Black that is basically a throwaway since he will always go c5. } (7. Nf3 c5 8. Be3 (8. Rb1 { is another line with a lot of history, and this move in particular is very common in the Grunfeld as it gets the rook off of the dangerous long diagonal while preventing Black from developing his bishop for the time being. }) 8... Qa5 9. Qd2 Nc6 { shows Black's usual method of applying pressure and White's typical attempts to maintain his space advantage. }) 7... c6 8. Ba4 O-O 9. Ne2 { The point of an early Bf1-b5+. White prefers to keep an eye on the c3-pawn and maybe allow for an eventual f2-f4. } 9... b5! { Not a random expansion, it's actually a useful move that fixes the White pawns and opens up the b7-square for the c8-bishop. } (9... c5 { is the alternative, but Rallabandi didn't fancy losing a tempo, and instead makes use of the pawn's provoked placement on c6. } 10. O-O Nc6) 10. Bb3 a5 11. O-O Ba6 (11... Nd7 { is the more common continuation where usual developments include } 12. Bg5 a4 13. Bc2 Nb6 { and with his bind on the queenside and the light squares, Black can never be worse. }) 12. Bb2? { The bishop doesn't belong here. For one, its staring into it's own pawns, but it also becomes target to a4-a3 ideas from Black, and and Be3 Qd2 Bh6 ideas are out of the window. } 12... Nd7 13. Re1 Nb6 (13... a4 14. Bc2 e5! { would have taken advantage of White's misplaced pieces. } 15. Qd2 Qc7 $15 { and it's not clear how either of the white bishops will re-enter the game, while Black's bishops seem to be on the perfect squares }) 14. Ba3 { Impressive. It's not easy to move a bishop you just placed on b2 2 moves ago, but Jammalamadaka finds one of the top moves } 14... Qc7 15. Ng3 Rfd8 (15... b4!? { An interesting variation } 16. cxb4 a4 { and Black's idea becomes clear. It's a common motif, sacrificing a pawn to close down one of the opponent's pieces } 17. Bc2 Nc4 18. Bc1 Qb6 $15 { and the difference in the quality of pieces is as clear as day }) 16. Qf3 e5?! { It would have been better to take care of f7 instead of having the queen babysit } (16... e6 $17 { Now White's pieces are all developed, but they're on the wrong squares. The knight is very restricted and the bishops point at nothing. }) 17. Bc5 exd4 18. e5! { taking advantage of the slight airiness around the black king. } (18. cxd4?! { wasn't as strong. } 18... Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Rxd4 20. Qf6 Rad8 21. Nf5!? { The only way to justify the sacrifice. } 21... gxf5 22. exf5 { White looks like he's gone crazy, but it's zeros! } 22... Qd7 23. Qg5+ Kh8 24. Qf6+ Kg8 { with perpetual. }) 18... Nd5 (18... d3! { the best defense. } 19. e6 { the point of getting the pawn to e5! } 19... Nc4! { shutting down an important piece for White's attack. } 20. e7! { creating this passer ties down the black pieces allowing White to start operations elsewhere: } 20... Re8 21. Qxd3 $16) 19. cxd4 a4 20. Bc2 (20. Bxd5 { was another path and it's up to personal preference here. } 20... Rxd5 21. Rac1 $16 { Black has the two bishops, but the one on a6 is nothing to brag about, and White has full control of the dark squares. }) 20... Bf8 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Ne4 (22. Rac1! { was a huge chance to exert maximum pressure on Black. Bc2-e4 is a huge threat. } 22... Qe7 23. Bb1 b4 24. Ne4 { and White's pieces are finding great squares while Black's bishop is still staring into space. }) 22... Rad8 23. Rad1 Bc8 24. Nd6 f6 (24... Rxd6! { eliminating the knight and pawn was definitely worth one of Black's rooks. Now either a knight or bishop on d5 would anchor Black's position and make it very difficult for White to make progress. } 25. exd6 Qxd6 26. a3 Be6 { and Black is completely fine. }) 25. Qg3 fxe5 26. dxe5 Be6 27. Bxg6! { Jammalamadaka is always on the lookout for tactics. Black's last move loosened the bishop, and this is the perfect way to take advantage. } (27. h4! { was an equally good option. Black will have huge problems stopping the initiative. }) 27... Kh8? { just because White won a pawn doesn't mean the attack is over. It was time to bail out into an endgame, but Rallabandi wanted pieces on the board. } (27... Qg7 { was the lesser evil. } 28. Bh5 Qxg3 29. hxg3 Nc3 { and at least Black has some counterplay. } 30. Rc1 Nxa2 31. Rxc6 Nb4 32. Rc3 a3! { and White is better, but has to be careful not to let the connected passers through. }) 28. Qh4 { A bit fancy, as moving the bishop back was perfectly fine. } (28. Be4 Qe7 29. Rd2 { and White is just up a pawn for nothing. }) 28... Qg7 29. Bf5?? { Now this is definitely too much. White was too engrossed in tactics. And this one falls prey to one. } (29. Be4! { was natural and good. The e5-pawn is poisoned, and White is again just up a pawn. }) 29... Rxd6! { Removing the defender, and now Black is just completely winning. } (29... Bxf5?? 30. Nxf5 Rxf5 31. Qxd8+ { was undoubtedly what White was hoping for. }) 30. Bxh7? { It was time to cut losses. } (30. exd6 Bxf5 31. h3 { and White is lost but the d6-pawn gives some realistic chances to create counterplay. }) 30... Rf4 31. Qg3 Rg4 32. Qf3 Rd7 33. Bf5 Bxf5 34. Qxf5 Rf7 (34... Rxg2+ { first was more forcing. }) 35. Qc8+? (35. Qh5+ { was the last chance. } 35... Kg8 36. g3 { and White is down a piece and dead lost but at least he's not mated. }) 35... Rf8 36. Qxc6 Rxg2+ 37. Kh1 Rxh2+! { Now it's forced mate. } 38. Kxh2 Rxf2+ 39. Kh3 Nf4+ 40. Kh4 Rh2# { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1