[Event "National Elem School Championship K-3"] [Site "Baltimore"] [Date "2023.05.14"] [Round "7"] [White "Ted Wang"] [Black "Linxi Zhu"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1900"] [BlackElo "2004"] [Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B50"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Delayed Alapin Variation, with d6"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/OZkFHWFD/bkqfz2Yz"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 { A "quiet" Sicilian, but it comes with a nasty trap if Black gets too greedy. } 4... g6 (4... Nxe4?? 5. Qa4+ { would be quite embarrassing. }) 5. O-O Bg7 6. Bb5+ { Wang has done his homework! White loses a tempo with the bishop, but claims that he has enticed Black into fianchettoing and will now play d2-d4 to create a strong center. } 6... Nc6! { Zhu has also done his homework! This is the least natural blocking move, but it is where the knight wants to be, and it doesn't allow a bishop trade. } (6... Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8. Qe2 { was a much more common continuation. }) 7. d4 O-O 8. d5 Nb8?! { The first slip-up. It seems like the most natural square, but the only place this knight can go now is to d7, where it will block in the c8-bishop and hinder Black's development. } (8... Na5 { is actually more accurate, when Black is threatening ... a7-a6 and ... b7-b5. If White plays } 9. Bd3 { then Black plays } 9... a6 { anyways and Black is fine. }) 9. Bd3?! { Moving a piece three times in the first nine moves is usually a red flag. Here the consequences are minimal with such a closed position, but still it's not ideal. } (9. Re1 { is better and much more natural, so it's difficult to explain the move in the game. } 9... e6 { Black has to create a square for the light-squared bishop. } 10. dxe6 Bxe6 11. Bf4 d5!? { gets rid of a weakness, but opens the position when you're behind in development. } 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bg3 { and White has the lead in development. }) 9... a6 10. a4! { A strong prophylactic move, and now its difficult for Black to make moves with such little space. } 10... e5? { and Zhu immediately goes astray. This is what happens when you make it uncomfortable for your opponent to make moves. } (10... e6! { was necessary to alleviate Black's lack of space. } 11. Qb3 exd5 12. exd5 Nbd7 { and the trade of the e7-pawn for the e4-pawn has made the d5-pawn a bit loose and created some squares for the black pieces, so Black isn't too much worse here. }) 11. Ne1 (11. Na3! $16 { a common motif with the knight headed to c4 and a pawn on a4 that will eventually fix the black queenside with a4-a5. }) 11... c4!? { Giving White a chance to misstep, but Wang is too strong for that. } 12. Bc2! { Keeping the more important e4-pawn. } 12... Bg4 { provokes a move that improves White's position, but Black just had no alternatives. } (12... Nbd7 13. Be3 $16 { taking away the only good square for the knight. }) 13. f3 Bd7 14. Qe2 Qc8 15. Be3 Nh5 16. Nd2 b5! { If Black is going to get back into this game he needs to change the nature of the position, because White has controlled the whole game so far and is easily better. } 17. axb5 Bxb5 18. Ba4?! { and when you create counterplay you get results; Wang makes his first real error of the game. The bishop on b5 looks like it holds the position together, but Black's queenside was frozen so White should have played on the kingside. } (18. g3! { slow improvement and Black has nothing. } 18... Nd7 19. Ng2) 18... Nd7 19. Nc2 Nf4! { Every KID player knows this idea to rejuvenate the KID bishop which turns into a monster. } 20. Bxf4 exf4 { The doubled pawns are worth it. } 21. Nb4 Ne5 22. Qd1? { White is rattled and he starts retreating, not a great sign. } (22. Rfd1 { There was nothing terribly wrong with the normal moves, but Black's position is already favorable with the new outpost on e5. } 22... Qb7 23. Kf1 Rfc8 $17) 22... Qc5+ 23. Kh1 a5! { Highlighting the miscoordination in the white camp. } 24. Nc2 (24. Nc6 { was no better: } 24... Nxc6 25. dxc6 Qxc6 { and Black is simply up a pawn. }) 24... Bxa4? { The wrong trade; Black should have kept the bishops, because White's a4-bishop was out of play and it would take some moves to bring it back. } (24... Ba6! { now it's hard to bring the bishop back. } 25. Nd4 Nd3 $19 { and too many things are hanging. }) 25. Rxa4 Nd3 26. Nxc4! { The best chance to create some counterplay. Against a dark-squared bishop, placing pieces on light squares is very effective. } 26... Nf2+ 27. Rxf2 Qxf2 28. Nxd6 { The best practical chance for counterplay with passed pawns. } 28... Ra6?? { and now White is suddenly better. Two pawns for the exchange and a coming avalanche of pawns. } (28... Rab8! { would have created threats for White to take care of. } 29. Nc4 Rfc8 { and ... Rc8xc4 is a real threat. } 30. h3 Rxc4! { and the white position crumbles after } 31. Rxc4 Rxb2 32. d6 Bf6! $19 { and the d-pawn is going nowhere. }) 29. Nc4 Rd8 30. Nb4?! { Based on mutual blindness, but a good move in spirit. } 30... Rf6 (30... axb4!! { The last equalizer. } 31. Rxa6 bxc3 32. bxc3 Bxc3 { Black is down a pawn and has a "bad" bishop against a good knight but is somehow fine. That's why nobody can blame either player for missing this. The reason this is so good is the threat of ... Bc3-e1, when Ra6-a1 is impossible, so White is the one that has to be careful. } 33. h3 Be1 34. Qd3 { White is on thin ice. } 34... Rb8 35. Kh2 Qg3+ 36. Kh1 Qf2 { with perpetual. }) 31. Nd3 { Now once White consolidates, the pawns will crush the rooks. } 31... Qh4 32. Qe1! { The queen trade would effectively end the game, so Black must waste another tempo. } 32... Qh5 33. Rxa5 g5 34. h3 Rh6 35. Kg1! { Not the top engine move but a good example of how prophylactic moves in completely winning positions can be useful practically, especially with low time. } 35... Qg6 36. Qa1 g4 37. hxg4 Qg5 38. Qe1 (38. Ra8! { was even simpler. }) 38... Rc8 39. b3 Qd8 40. Ra2 Ra8 41. Rc2?! { Now some passive play has let Black back into the game, but from here White's technique is flawless. } 41... Qb8 42. b4 Qb5 43. Ncb2 Bf8? { The final error. } (43... Ra2! { was the last shot at counterplay. } 44. Nc1 Ra1 45. Nbd3 { and White was still winning, but there's work to be done. }) 44. c4 Qb6+ 45. c5 Qf6 46. e5 { White's position is overwhelming. The rest is easy. } 46... Qg5 47. c6 Rh4 48. c7 Qh6 49. Nf2 Rc8 50. Qd1 Bd6 51. exd6 Qxd6 52. Rc6 Qd7 53. Ne4 Kh8 54. Qd4+ f6 55. Qxf6+ Qg7 56. Qxg7+ Kxg7 57. d6 Rh6 58. d7 Rxc6 59. dxc8=Q Rc1+ 60. Kh2 Kf7 61. Qd7+ Kg6 62. Qd6+ Kg7 63. Qe5+ Kg8 64. c8=R+ Rxc8 65. Qe6+ Kg7 66. Qxc8 h5 67. Qd7+ Kg6 68. Qf5+ Kh6 69. Qg5+ Kh7 70. Nf6+ Kh8 71. Qh6# { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0