[Event "2023 U.S. Chess Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis, United States"] [Date "2023.10.16"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Niemann, Hans"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2674"] [BlackElo "2769"] [Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi"] [Variant "From Position"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "2023 U.S. Championship rds 10-11 + Yip annotations"] [ChapterName "Niemann, Hans - So, Wesley"] [FEN "r2q1rk1/1pp3p1/2n1pn1p/4p3/p2pP3/2PPRNNP/PP3PP1/R2Q2K1 w - - 0 15"] [SetUp "1"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Q3zMf6GZ/UgX3dIb7"] [Orientation "white"] 15. Re1 { White's Italian only led to him having less space. Here, So could exert some serious pressure on Niemann's position, but the three-time U. S. champion did not take his chances. } 15... Qd6?! (15... Nd7 16. Rc1 Qe7 17. cxd4 exd4 18. e5 a3 { Black is surely better, as he has clear plans for his knight on d7: he can either go to b6 and d5, or to b6 and a4. }) 16. cxd4! Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Qxd4 18. Qc2 Nd7 19. Re3 a3 20. Rb1 axb2 21. Rxb2 { White's pawn structure is bad, but he is active enough now. } 21... b6 22. Nf1 Ra3 23. Nd2 Rc3 24. Qb1 Ra8 25. Nf3 Qd6 26. Rd2 Qa3 27. Re1 Qa5 28. Rc1 Qa3 29. Rcd1 Rf8 30. d4 Rcxf3 31. gxf3 exd4 (31... Qe7 { was the last try, but this time it involves some risk and it is far less convincing. }) 32. Rxd4 Qxf3 33. Rxd7 Qxf2+ 34. Kh1 Qf3+ 35. Kh2 Qe2+ 36. Kh1 Qf3+ 37. Kh2 Qe2+ 38. Kh1 Qf3+ 39. Kh2 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2