[Event "U.S. Women's Championship"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.10.12"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Yip, Carissa"] [Black "Cervantes Landeiro, Thalia"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2372"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2303"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "IM Carissa Yip"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B56"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Kupreichik Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Q3zMf6GZ/yVZIhoSP"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bd7 { Cervantes played this in a previous round, so I briefly checked the line before the game. ...Bc8-d7 is not a very good setup in the Sicilian, particularly against the English Attack, as Black typically prefers to play ...e7-e5 and put a bishop on e6. If they try to do the same here, then ...Bd7 is a waste of a tempo. } 6. f3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. g4 { White is already doing well, as we have an English Attack in the Najdorf line with Black including ...Bc8-d7 (a not very useful move), and White including g2-g4 (already starting an attack and eyeing the kingside. Also of note is that the bishop prevents the knight on f6 from rerouting to d7 after g4-g5. } 8... Nxd4?! { Another inaccuracy, as the queen develops with tempo and White is frequently quite happy with an exchange of center knights in a Sicilian. } (8... e5 { Black could have also attempted to place a stake in the center, but this concedes the 5. ...Bd7 surprise as a failure. } 9. Nb3 Be6 { Unfortunately best for Black, but here now they are fully down a tempo in a main line Najdorf. }) 9. Qxd4 Bc6 (9... e5 { is now a near-impossible plan for Black, as White has won too many tempi now in order for it to be justified. } 10. Qd2 { White is very happy }) 10. O-O-O b5 11. g5 Nd7 12. Kb1 e6 13. f4 Qa5 14. Bh3 b4 15. Nd5 { I chose this move for the thematic knight on d5 sacrifice, and because I felt it was close to untouchable. Some lines I calculated were: } (15. Ne2 { An alternative plan was to reroute the knight to g3, and then move the rooks to the center files and look to open up Black's king. Because of the queen on d4, Black is unable to develop the dark-squared bishop, and the kingside pieces are entirely out of commission. } 15... Nc5 16. Ng3 Rb8 17. Rhe1 { Black cannot generate play against White's king very easily (the best plan is to move the king and then try pushing the a-pawn, but it is very slow). Meanwhile, f5-f6 or g5-g6 is coming quickly and aiming to blast open Black's king. }) 15... Nc5 (15... exd5!? { Best, but I feel it's practically very dangerous } 16. exd5 Bb7 { Natural } (16... Bb5 17. Rhe1 Kd8 18. Bd2 { Collecting a second pawn, and Black's king is weak down the e-file. Further, after taking on b4, I felt that Black would have a bit of trouble trying to navigate the bishop off the awkward b5 square (as a2-a4/c2-c4 trapping become up for grabs). }) 17. Qe4+ Be7 (17... Kd8 18. Rhe1 Kc7 19. Bxd7 Kxd7 20. Qf5+ Kc7 21. Qxf7+ Kb8 22. Bd4 { and the rook is infiltrating. }) 18. Rhe1 Qd8 19. Bd4 Kf8 20. Re2 { Black does not have a very good way to stop Rd1-e1 and us from taking on e7. }) 16. Nxb4 Bxe4 17. Rhe1 Rb8 18. Bd2 Qb5 (18... Qb6 { This move order does not allow the same trap as in the game. But White has very strong play against Black's king with the e4-pawn out of the way. } 19. f5 d5 20. Bc3 { White defends b2, threatens to take on d5, and is crashing through via the central files. }) 19. Bf1 Qb7 20. Nxa6 Nxa6 21. Rxe4 Nc5 22. Re3 { With the dust settled, White has the two bishops and a weak king to play against, while Black's bishop and kingside rook cannot do anything. } 22... Be7 { Black gives up another pawn in hopes of bringing some pieces out. } 23. Qxg7 Kd7 24. Bc1 { Covering my bases. } 24... d5 25. Bh3 Rbf8 26. Qe5 { Threatening to take on d5 and driving the king away again. } 26... Ke8 27. f5 Bxg5 28. Rc3 (28. fxe6 f6 29. Qd6 Bxe3 30. Rxd5 { This was another nice line I calculated, temporarily giving up a rook but opening all files to get to Black's king. But I thought what was played in the game was safest and also winning. }) 28... Nd7 29. Qe2 Bxc1 30. Kxc1 { Now that many of Black's defenders have been exchanged, it becomes impossible to hold on to both the e- and d- pawns. } 30... e5 31. Rcd3 f6 32. Rxd5 Rf7 33. Qh5 Kf8 34. Bf1 { Rerouting the bishop to more useful diagonals. } 34... Qa7 35. Qh6+ Kg8 36. Bc4 Nf8 37. Rd8 { Resignation occurred in view of: } 37... Qc5 38. Rxf8+ Qxf8 39. Rg1+ { A very nice geometrical finish! } 1-0