[Event "2023 Charlotte Open"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/Vtivm59j/HrX6pKTd"] [Date "2023.01.15"] [Round "4"] [White "Bortnyk, Olexandr"] [Black "Grabinsky, Aaron"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2476"] [Annotator "G Oen"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C77"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Tarrasch Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Vtivm59j/HrX6pKTd"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. d4 exd4 8. Nd5 O-O 9. e5 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Qe7 12. O-O Bxd2 13. Qxd2 Bb7 14. Rfe1 Qc5 15. Be4 h6 16. Qf4 d5 17. exd6 cxd6 18. b4! { A surprising and wonderful move which kickstarts an attack. } 18... Qxb4 19. Qf5 { The point of this pawn sacrifice was to get Black's queen off of the fifth rank in order to bring White's queen to the kingside. } 19... g6 20. Qf6 Qc4 21. Bxg6! { A tempting sacrifice, but one which Bortnyk backs up with strong calculation. } 21... Ne5 (21... fxg6 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 23. Qxh6+ Kg8 24. Qg6+ Kh8 25. Re4 $18 { is a standard idea. }) 22. Bf5! { Black threatened ...Ne5-xg6, so this is the only move to keep the attack going. } (22. Be4 Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Qe6 { and White runs out of gas quickly. }) 22... Bc8 (22... Nxf3+ 23. gxf3 Rfe8 (23... Bc8 24. Bd3! Qd5 25. Qxh6 $18) 24. Qxh6 { and White has the decisive threat of Bf5-h7+, followed by mate. }) 23. Nh4 { White's simple threat is 24. Bxc8 and 25. Nf5, after which Black cannot adequately defend against Qf6-g7#. } 23... Ng4 24. Bxg4 Bxg4 25. Re4 h5 (25... Be6 26. Ng6!! { A beautiful coup-de-grace which Bortnyk pointed out in post-game analysis. } 26... fxg6 (26... Kh7 27. Nxf8+ Rxf8 28. Rh4! { with immediate mate. }) 27. Qxg6+ Kh8 28. Qxh6+ Kg8 29. Qg6+ Kh8 30. Rh4#) 26. Rxg4+ hxg4 27. Nf5 { There is no answer to Qf6-g7#. A great attacking game by the eventual tournament champion. } 1-0