[Event "U.S. Women's Chess Championship 2023"] [Site "St. Louis, United States"] [Date "2023.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Lee, Alice"] [Black "Eswaran, Ashritha"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2388"] [BlackElo "2273"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E70"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Kramer Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/ChessLifeOnline"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Q3zMf6GZ/O9cQPxn2"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by JJ Lang } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. Ng3 h5 7. Be2 e5 8. d5 a5 9. Bg5 Qe8 10. h4 Nh7 11. Be3 Na6 $146 (11... Qe7 { has been seen before both in 1991 and 2013: } 12. Qd2 (12. Nf1 { led to a peaceful result in Beecham – Sanchez, ICCF, 2013. }) 12... Bf6 13. O-O-O Bxh4?? 14. Nxh5! Bg5 15. f4! exf4 16. Nxf4 Nd7 17. Rh2! { when White won summarily with checkmate on move 34 in Paehtz – Van Wely, Mondorf, 1991. }) 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. O-O-O a4 14. Kb1 Nc5!? (14... a3! { An incredibly important move, provoking b2-b3 as to limit the queen's flight squares. As a result, this prepares a thematic sacrifice with ... f7-f5. } 15. b3 f5 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Bxh5 Qe7 18. Bc1 Nb4! 19. Qd2 e4! $17 { when Black's dark-squared bishop emerges as a monster. }) (14... f5? { fails now, as White can keep her pieces coordinated: } 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Bxh5 Qe7 17. Bc1 a3 18. Bg6 Nb4 19. Qb3 $16) 15. Nb5 Qc8 16. f3 Rd8 17. Qd2 Bf8 18. Rc1 Bg7 19. Bd1 Rf8 20. Bc2 b6 21. Ne2 f5 22. exf5 gxf5 23. Ng3 f4?! (23... Be8 { is more patient, and it would be interesting what White had in mind here. That said, with such pressure on Black's exposed pawns, she doesn't have to *do* much of anything. }) 24. Bxc5 fxg3 25. Be3 Ra5 26. Qe1 Bxb5 27. cxb5 a3 28. b4?! { Perhaps the only real error for Lee. This gives Black some play if she is brave enough to capture the b-pawn: } 28... Ra7 (28... Rxb5! 29. Bd2 (29. Qd2 Nf6! { already sees Black roaring back in the center. }) 29... Rxd5 30. Bb3 Nf6 31. Rh3! { allows White to push, but clearly this position is far more resilient for Black than the game continuation. } (31. Qxg3 { leads to a draw after some wild complications. As an illustration: } 31... Qf5+ 32. Ka1 Kh8 33. Rxc7 Ne8 34. Bxd5 Qd3 35. Qg5 e4+ 36. Qxg7+ Nxg7 37. Bc3 Qxd5 38. Rxg7 Qd3 39. Rc7+ $10)) 29. Qxg3 Rf6 30. Be4! { Since Black's counterplay before centered on ... Ra5xb5-xd5, shoring up the weakness here is very astute. Lee now wins comfortably. } 30... Ra4 31. Bd2 Rf4 32. Rc4 Qd7 33. Bxf4 exf4 34. Bxh7+ Kxh7 35. Qxf4 Qxb5 36. Qe4+ Kg8 37. Re1 Ra8 38. Rxc7 Rf8 39. Qc4 Qa4 40. Rc8 Rxc8 41. Qxc8+ Kh7 42. Qc2+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0