[Event "U.S. Championship"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.10.17"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Tang, Andrew"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2698"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2496"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "FM Davis Zong Jr"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C88"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Closed"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Q3zMf6GZ/UTfKmPUC"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 d5?! { A typical thrust in the famous "Marshall Attack," but one small detail favors White here: d2-d3 instead of c2-c3 being played. His pawn structure is thus more stable and the queenside minor pieces are one tempo quicker to enter the game. (Editor's note: there's a reason the early d2-d3 in the Ruy Lopez is sometimes called "the anti-Marshall!") } (8... d6 9. c3 { and a normal closed Ruy Lopez ensues. }) 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 $16 Nd4!? { Tang accepts that the pawn is lost and goes for counterplay. } (10... Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 { is a good setup in the Marshall, but here it's not as effective. } 12. Re1 Bd6 13. Nd2! $16) 11. Nc3 Nb4 12. a3 Nxb3 { Beginning a series of trades that liquidate the board. } 13. axb4 Nxa1 14. Nc6 Qd7 15. Nxe7+ Kh8 16. Nxc8 Rfxc8 17. Re4 $16 { Sevian is planning a vicious kingside attack utilizing all of his pieces, so Tang is hard-pressed to find a defense here. } 17... Qc6 (17... a5! { Queenside counterplay was the only choice. If the second player could somehow get the a1-knight involved or at least make White work for it, he might be doing okay. } 18. bxa5 f5 19. Rf4 Re8 $16 { Black is setup to protect the cornered horse with Ra8xa5 if necessary. }) 18. Re5 Qd6 19. Rc5 a5! { Better late than never! Tang strikes back on the a-file. } 20. Ne4 Qd7 21. bxa5 Rxa5 22. Bd2 Ra2 23. h4 Rca8 24. Bc1 b4 25. Qh5 Nxc2?? { This looks natural, as the knight is taboo, but Sevian doesn't have to capture it. } (25... f6!!) 26. Ng5! { The only move, and it gets the job done. Black's king is severely weakened and will be forced out into the wrath of White's pieces. } (26. Rxc2?? Qxd3 { is a draw. White even has to find some precise moves to bail out with a perpetual. } 27. Re2 Qd1+ 28. Kh2 Qxc1 29. Ng5 h6 30. Qxf7 hxg5 31. Re8+ Rxe8 32. Qxe8+ Kh7 33. Qh5+) 26... Qxd3 27. Nxf7+! $18 Kg8 28. Ne5 Qd6 29. Rxc2 Ra1 30. Kh2 Rf8 31. f4 $18 { A solid two pieces for a rook in a middlegame is too much for the second player. } 31... c5 32. Be3 b3 33. Rxc5 Re1 34. Rc3 Qa6 35. Qf3 h6 36. Rxb3 Qa1 37. Rb7 Rh1+ 38. Kg3 Qa6 39. Qd5+ Kh8 40. Rb6 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0