[Event "2023 U.S. Girls' Junior Chess Championsh"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.07.25"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Mangalam, Shreya"] [Black "Lee, Alice"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1972"] [BlackElo "2393"] [Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B10"] [Opening "Caro-Kann Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/0X9MNbmu"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by IM Sandeep Sethuraman } 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 e6 4. e5 c5 5. c3 d4!? { Lee doesn't want to transpose to a French and instead goes for a suboptimal move to get her opponent out of preparation. } (5... Nc6 6. d4 { would be a roundabout way to arrive at a famous position from the Advanced French. }) 6. Bf4?! { The bishop develops, but it defends the e5-pawn which wasn't in need of defense just yet. } (6. g3 { would have been more useful, taking advantage of the newly opened diagonal. }) 6... Ne7 7. Bg3 Nf5 8. Bf4 Be7 9. g4 Nh4 10. Nxh4 Bxh4 11. c4 (11. Bg2 { would have tied the bishop to the b7-pawn and prevented Black from developing in such a natural manner. }) 11... Bd7 12. Bg2 Bc6 13. O-O Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Nc6 15. Qe2 h5! { With such an extended kingside, this is the perfect move to create a strong kingside initiative. } 16. Nd2? { Once faced with pressure, it becomes exponentially more difficult to find good moves, and that's exactly what happens here. This is simply too slow. } (16. gxh5 Kd7! { A famous king maneuver. } 17. a3 Be7 { and Black has a very slight edge, but White is basically fine. }) 16... Bg5! { A nice touch to force the trade of bishops. } 17. Bxg5 (17. Bg3?? h4 18. f4 hxg3 19. fxg5 Rxh2+) (17. Qf3 { was the last try, but } 17... Bxf4 18. Qxf4 Qh4 { and White's position quickly falls apart. }) 17... Qxg5 18. f4 Qxg4+ 19. Qxg4 hxg4 20. Ne4 Nb4 { The weaknesses in White's position are apparent, and with a pawn to the good, this endgame is all but over. } 21. Kg3 (21. Nxc5? Nc2) 21... Nc2 (21... Nxd3 { was also completely winning. }) 22. h4 (22. Rac1 Ne3 { and with ... Rh8-h3 about to follow, this is hopeless already. }) 22... Nxa1 (22... gxh3 23. Rac1 Ne3 { was also very strong. }) 23. Rxa1 b6 24. Kxg4 Ke7 { Black has a better pawn structure and is up an Exchange. The rest is a matter of technique, which Lee readily shows. } 25. Rh1 Rh7 (25... f5+! 26. exf6+ gxf6 27. Kf3 Rh7 { and the h-pawn will drop soon. }) 26. Nd6 f6 27. a3 Rah8 28. Nb5 fxe5 29. fxe5 Rh5 30. Nxa7 g5! { The h4-pawn will drop, and so will its e5 counterpart soonafter. } 31. Nb5 Rxh4+ 32. Rxh4 gxh4 33. Kh3 Rh5 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1