[Event "Women"] [Site "Saint Louis, US"] [Date "2024.03.14"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Krush, Irina"] [Black "Paikidze, Nazi"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2421"] [WhiteTeam "USA"] [BlackElo "2319"] [BlackTeam "USA"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D31"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Queen's Knight Variation"] [StudyName "American Cup 2024"] [ChapterName "Krush, Irina - Paikidze, Nazi"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/R6LLNwTu/UVoUsROa"] [Orientation "white"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 Nf6 6. e3 O-O 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 c5 9. Ne2 b6 10. O-O Ba6 11. f3 Re8 12. Ng3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nc6 14. Bb2 { This is a tabiya of this variation, which can even begin with 4. f3. Black must anticipate White's intended e3-e4 break with hyperaggressive play to follow. Here, she plays a bit passively and is caught off guard by a thematic Exchange sac. } (14. Ra2 { has been tried, but is less consistent in this variation with ... Bc8-a6-xd3, as White has no option but to push e3-e4, which will require a bishop on b2 anyways. See IM Robert Shlyakhtenko's discussion in the February issue of Chess Life magazine. }) 14... Qd7 (14... h5 { and }) (14... c4 { are Black's main tries. }) 15. e4 dxe4 16. fxe4 Ne5 (16... Rad8? { has been played six times, but loses! } 17. Rxf6! gxf6 18. Nh5 Qd6 19. Rf1 Kh8 20. Nxf6 Rg8 21. e5 { and Black resigned in Navara – Kraus, Prague, 2019. }) (16... Qg4 { is possibly Black's best try, although Ipatov has several model games from 2012 dismantling it. } 17. e5 Nh5? (17... Nd5 18. Rf3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Nce7 20. Raf1 Rf8 21. Ne4 Ng6 22. Nd6? (22. Bc1! Qe6 (22... f6 { is of course unplayable before Ne4-d6! } 23. exf6 Nxf6 24. Nxf6+ Rxf6 25. Rxf6 gxf6 26. Rxf6 $18) 23. Bg5 { White is preventing ... f7-f6 to squeeze Black even more. } 23... Rae8 24. Nd6 $16 { with tempo. }) 22... Nh4 (22... f6!) 23. Rg3 Qe6 24. Ne4 Ng6 25. Ng5 Qc6 26. Rgf3 h6 27. Ne4 Rac8 28. Nd6 Rc7 29. Qb3 Qa8 30. a4 Nh8 31. e6 Re7 32. Rf5 Nf6 33. Rxf6 gxf6 34. Nf5 Rxe6 35. d5 Re2 36. Nxh6+ Kh7 37. Ng4 { and Black resigned in Ipatov – Khanin, St. Petersburg, 2012. }) 18. Qf5! Qxf5 19. Nxf5 g5 20. Nh6+ Kg7 21. Nxf7 Nf4 22. Nxg5 { and Black resigned on move 36 in Ipatov – Baron, Athens, 2012. }) 17. Qe2 Ng6 18. Rxf6! { This has all been played before, with great results for White, as early as 2010! } 18... gxf6 19. Nh5 Re6 20. d5 Rd6 21. c4 Ne5 22. h3 $146 (22. Qf2 { is also good, and White won swiftly after } 22... Kf8 23. Qg3 Re8 24. Qg7+ Ke7 25. Rf1 { and Black resigned in Aleksandrov – Stupak, Minsk, 2010. }) 22... Qe7 23. Rf1 Re8 24. Ng3 Qf8 25. Nf5 Kh8 26. Qh5 b5 27. Nh6 Kg7 28. cxb5 c4 29. Ng4 Qe7 30. Nxe5! { White breaks through and it's game over. } 30... c3 (30... fxe5 31. Bxe5+ { was the idea, as } 31... Qxe5 { gets mated by } 32. Rxf7+ Kg8 33. Qxh7#) 31. Bxc3 Qc7 32. Nc6 Rxe4 33. Qg5+ Kf8 34. Bxf6 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0