[Event "U.S. Women's Championship"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2023.10.05"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Krush, Irina"] [Black "Yip, Carissa"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2437"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2372"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "percy"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E94"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation, Positional Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Q3zMf6GZ/LZ5WqLnP"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 { A deviation from the main line that I'd prepared! Black typically prefers the knight on c6 to support the ... e7-e5 break; that way, White is facing a lot of pressure on the d4-pawn. But the advantages of this line are that it avoids an exchange KID, is less theoretical than the main attacking lines, and relies much more on structural understanding of the King's Indian. } 7. O-O e5 8. Be3 Qe7 9. d5 { A bit early; now, I can thrust a stake in the queenside immediately. } 9... c5 { This cements control over both the d4-square and shores up the queenside. The point is that White's attack will center around taking down the c5-stronghold, which is quite well-supported. Meanwhile, Black still has the typical plan of . .. f5-f4 and the kingside pawn storm. } 10. Ne1 Kh8 11. Nd3 { Preparing b2-b4. } 11... Ng8 { Preparing both ... f7-f5 and ... Bg7-h6 to exchange off the bad bishop. } 12. Qd2 f5 13. exf5 gxf5 14. f4 e4 15. Nf2 { Now this is the critical moment. White clearly wants to prepare g2-g4 at some point, as then e4 would be weak. But I believed this to be a double-edge sword; White's own king would be quite weakened. } 15... Bf6 { A poor move which allows White to grab a great advantage immediately. Though it is too slow here, I had a vision for my pieces: my queen on g7, putting pressure along the long diagonal and making it harder for White to break with b2-b4. My g8-knight would be relocated to e7 and hopefully g6; the rook would be on g8, and all my pieces would be in place for an efficient takeover of the g-file and attack on g2. But this is the wrong plan; White is happy to open the g-file, and will in fact do so before my pieces are properly equipped to handle it. Instead, I should have played the natural ... Ng8-f6 to cement control over both g4 and e4. } 16. h3 (16. g4 { The immediate g2-g4 would have left my pieces a bit slow to defend. } 16... h6 (16... fxg4 17. Nfxe4 Bg7 18. Ng5 Ndf6 19. f5 $18 { White is very happy }) (16... Bh4 17. g5 h6 18. Nh3! { White wants the h3-square empty for the knight; after an exchange on g5, it aims to jump to the f4-square. Barring that, White has hopes of eventually taking on h6 and cementing the knight on g5. } 18... hxg5 19. fxg5 Ne5 20. Rf4 Ng6 21. Bh5 { This is the key, as the rook is untouchable, and Black can just resign here. } 21... Nxf4 22. Nxf4 Qxg5+ 23. Kh1 { Nf4-g6 is unstoppable, and White has a devastating attack. }) 17. Kh1 { This would be the game with White a tempi ahead, and with excellent pressure on both sides. }) 16... a6 17. g4 Bh4 18. Kh2 (18. gxf5 Ndf6 19. Ng4 Bxf5) 18... h6 { The engine does not like this position, but I felt alright during the game; a complex fight was exactly what I wanted. The f5-pawn is untouchable because of ... Nd7-f6, and the pawn will be picked up on the next move. Therefore, with no immediate breakthrough, both sides are just preparing and readying their forces for the eventual opening of the kingside. } (18... b5 { Was a great shot at counterplay. White's pieces are very preoccupied on the kingside and focused on the fight around the e4- and f5-pawns; they cannot afford to leave their places by taking the pawns. } 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Nxb5 (20. Bxb5 fxg4 21. hxg4 Bxf2 22. Rxf2 Ndf6 { and White will be giving some material back. }) 20... fxg4 21. hxg4 Nb6 { and the d5-pawn is difficult to defend. The lines arising are extremely sharp, for example: } 22. Nc3 Nf6 23. g5 Bxf2 24. Rxf2 (24. gxf6?? Qxf6 25. Rxf2 Qh6+ 26. Kg1 Rg8+ 27. Rg2 Rxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Bh3+) 24... Ng4+ 25. Bxg4 Bxg4 { Black is down a pawn, but doing well with White's weak king and light squared domination. }) 19. Rg1 Ndf6 20. a4 { A bit hasty; perhaps it was best to focus on breaking with a2-a3 and b2-b4 rather than the immediate a2-a4. Now, b2-b4 becomes less viable. } 20... Bd7 21. Rg2 Rae8 { Here it is already a bit tricky, and Black is trying to convince White to take on f5. The point of ... Ra8-e8 is that we now plan to take on f2. After Be3xf2, we will have ...e4-e3, winning a piece. So after the forced Rg2xf2, we will take on g4 and win a pawn. } 22. gxf5 (22. Ncd1 { This is the best move, but it's not a particularly pretty or natural one to play. White's queenside rook is locked out of the fight on the kingside, but now there are ideas for a break (b2-b4) on the queenside anyway. }) (22. Rag1 { White wants this move to work, but it unfortunately doesn't with the tactics on the kingside: } 22... Bxf2 23. Rxf2 fxg4 24. hxg4 Nxg4+ 25. Rxg4 (25. Bxg4 Qh4+) 25... Bxg4 26. Bxg4 Qh4+ 27. Bh3 Nf6 28. Rg2 Rg8 { and Black's attack is too strong. }) 22... Bxf5? (22... h5! { Black wants very much so to place a knight on f5. Here, the point is Nh6xf5, and White cannot do much about the plan } 23. Rag1 Nh6) (22... Bxf2 23. Rxf2 Qf7 { This was another way to get the knight on f5; we release the pressure on e4 first, and then plan ...Ng8-e7-xf5. }) 23. Rag1 Qc7? { Here, I began panicking in time pressure. White's biggest threat right now is some sort of b2-b4 break, and I wanted to stall it. } 24. Bd1 (24. b4 { White should've played this immediately; luckily, her sights were more focused on the kingside. This sacrifices a pawn for the purpose of gaining control of the d4-square, which is infinitely more valuable. } 24... cxb4 25. Ncd1 a5 26. Bd4 { With the knight jumping to e3 next, Black is doing quite poorly. }) 24... Qb6 25. Ne2 a5 26. Nc3 (26. Ng3 Bh7 27. b3 { White would also be close to winning with this plan; the long diagonal is opened, and White can reroute her pieces to eye down the weak king (queen on b2, eventually a bishop on c3, knight jumps to h5 or g4). }) 26... Qd8 27. Nb5 Ne7 28. Qc3 Rf7 (28... Rg8 { This was necessary to avoid the trap coming next move; however, I'd completely missed it. }) 29. Bh5 Ref8 30. Bxf7 Rxf7 31. b3 Kh7 32. Bc1 Ng6 33. Qe3 Qf8 34. Qe2 b6 35. Be3 Qe7 36. Nc3 Bxf2! { After a lot of quick shuffling under joint time trouble, I make the equalizing move. The knight on f2 is more valuable than the bishop, mainly because I need to allow my knights into the game via h5 and h4. Further, with the removal of the knight, the light squares become much weaker on the kingside (e.g., f3 and h3). It becomes much more difficult for White to sufficiently manuever and break through on the open file. } 37. Qxf2 Nh5 { With ... Ng6-h4 coming, White's best option is to give the Exchange back. } 38. Rxg6 Bxg6 39. Qg2 Rg7 { However, I'm now doing quite well because there are many weaknesses that can be played against — the kingside light squares and the weak f4-pawn, for two — while my king is enjoying its safety behind all my pieces on the kingside. } 40. Qg4 Qf6 41. Ne2 Bf7 42. Qd7 Qb2 43. Qf5+ Kh8 44. Qc8+ Kh7 45. Qf5+ Kh8 46. Qc8+ Bg8 47. Rxg7 Nxg7 48. Qg4 { After some repetitions for the extra time, here is the critical moment. } 48... Bf7?! { This only lands me an opposite-colored bishop endgame, which, though I'll be up two pawns, White can hold. } (48... h5! { This leads to simple domination by Black. } 49. Qg2 Nf5 50. Bg1 h4 { White's knight cannot go anywhere, and Black now has plans of slow improvement; at some point, we can push the e pawn or take on b3. Meanwhile, it is very difficult for White to find moves. } 51. Qg4 Bh7 $19 { Black is winning. }) 49. Qg2 Nf5 50. Bg1 Bh5 51. Ng3 Qxg2+ 52. Kxg2 Bf3+ 53. Kf2 Nxg3 54. Kxg3 Bd1 { Though all the pawns on the queenside are dropping, White is fast enough. } 55. f5 Bxb3 56. Kf4 Bxc4 57. Kxe4 Bf1 58. Bh2 Bg2+ 59. Ke3 Bxh3 60. Bxd6 Bxf5 61. Bc7 Bd7 62. Bxb6 Bxa4 63. Bxc5 Bd7 64. Kd2 Kg7 65. Kc3 Kf6 66. Bf2 Ke5 67. Kb2 Kxd5 68. Bh4 Bb5 69. Bd8 a4 70. Bh4 Bc6 71. Bd8 Bb5 72. Bh4 Bc6 73. Bd8 Bb5 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2