[Event "U.S. National Elementary School Championship 2024 K6"]
[Site "Columbus, Ohio"]
[Date "2024.04.28"]
[Round "06"]
[White "Muneepeerakul, Analaya"]
[Black "Yang, Andre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1854"]
[BlackElo "1962"]
[TimeControl "5400+10"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "A36"]
[Opening "English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/ChessLifeOnline"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/RWJ340a8/zNU5O7z9"]
[Orientation "white"]
1. e4 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 e6 6. d3 d6 7. Nge2 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Nd4 10. Qd2 Rb8 11. Bh6 Nxe2+ 12. Nxe2 d5 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Qf4 Ra8 15. Nc3 dxc4 16. dxc4 Qd4 17. Nb5 Qf6 18. Qd6 e5 19. Qxc5 Be6 20. Nc7 Rac8 21. Nxe6+ fxe6 22. Qxa7 Rxc4 23. Qxb7 Rc2 24. Kh1 Rf7 25. Qb5 Nc6 26. f3 Nd4 27. Qb6 Rfc7 28. b4 Ne2 29. a4 Qg5 30. Qf2 Qh6 31. a5 Nf4 32. gxf4 Rxf2 33. Rxf2 Qh4? { Black seems to think that this move gains tempo on the rook, or at least that the queen will have an easier time getting around the e-pawn embargo to reach the queenside. But, it turns out the queen was better on the f4-square, flowing to the queenside through the c1-square (after a trade of rooks) } (33... Qxf4! { Black wants to trade rooks as to make it harder for White to find the firepower to back up the queenside pawns. Now if } 34. a6 { , Black forces a trade with } 34... Rc1+ 35. Rf1 Rxf1+ 36. Rxf1 Qe3 { and the queen is able to disrupt White's rook (and unsafe king) just enough to hold the balance: } 37. b5 Qb6 38. Ra1 Qd4! $10 (38... Qa7?? 39. b6 Qxb6 40. a7 $18) 39. Rc1 Qb6 $10) (33... exf4? 34. a6 Ra7 35. b5 $18) 34. Rff1! { White takes the opportunity to cover the back rank a second time. The rooks don't need to "look active," as they are most powerful behind the a- and b-pawns. } (34. Rfa2 { is too slow: } 34... Qxf4 35. b5?? (35. h3? Rc1+ 36. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 37. Kh2 Qf4+ 38. Kh1 Qc1+ $10) 35... Rc1+ $19) 34... Qd8 { This was Black's defensive plan, but } 35. b5 { the pawns are a-movin'! } 35... Rb7 36. Rfb1 Qa8 37. b6 Qa6 38. Bf1 { 1-0 White wins. } { With two rooks and a bishop, White had plenty of pieces to cover every key square in the connected pawns' path. } 1-0