[Event "2023 U.S. Junior Chess Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis, United States"] [Date "2023.07.16"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Stearman, Josiah"] [Black "Mishra, Abhimanyu"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2444"] [BlackElo "2591"] [Annotator "WGM Jennifer Yu"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B90"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, English Attack"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/2XLBKFIu"] [Orientation "white"] { (Annotations by WGM Jennifer Yu) An exciting game filled with fireworks is Stearman - Mishra. After a bold rook sacrifice by Stearman, Mishra wasn’t able to find the best defensive option and Stearman accurately converted to a winning queen vs two rook endgame. However, Mishra still had some tricks up his sleeve and managed to save the game. } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 h5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Bf5 12. Be2 Bh4+ 13. g3 Be7 14. O-O-O Nd7 15. Kb1 O-O 16. h3 Bg6 17. g4 a5 18. f4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Nf6 20. Bf3 h4 21. Rhe1 a4 22. Nd4 a3 23. b3 Nd7 24. Be4 Bxe4 25. Rxe4 Nc5 26. Re2 Bf6 27. g5 Bxd4 28. Qxd4 Qd7 29. Bd2 Rae8 30. Bc3 f5 31. Qxh4! { Sacrificing a rook for the attack! } 31... Rxe2 32. g6 Rfe8 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Ba5 { The key idea: cutting off Black's king from escaping to d8 via the e7-square. } 34... Ne6?? (34... b6! { is the only move that doesn't lose. The key difference is, in this line after . .. Nc5-e6, White no longer has Ba5-b4 ideas. } 35. Bxb6 Ne6 36. Qh8+ Ke7 37. Qh4+ Kf8 38. dxe6 Qxe6 39. Qh8+ Qg8 40. Qh4) 35. dxe6 Qxe6 36. Bb4! Rd8 37. Qh8+ Ke7 38. Qxg7+ Ke8 39. Bxa3 (39. Qh7 { is sharper, but this move wins immediately without entering the imbalanced endgame. } 39... Qf6 40. Bc3! Qe7 41. g7 Kd7 42. Bb4 $16 { White is threatening Bb4-xd6 and promotion next move. }) 39... Rg2 40. Qh8+ Kd7 41. Rxd6+ Qxd6 42. Qg7+ Kc8 43. Bxd6 Rxd6 { White's many extra pawns should ensure victory, but it's always tricky when dealing with two rooks. } 44. Qf8+ Kc7 45. Qf7+ Kb6 46. g7 Rdg6 47. Qxf5 Rxg7 48. a4 Ka7 49. b4 b6 50. Kb2 R2g5 51. Qf2 Kb7 52. h4 R5g6 53. Kb3 Rh7 54. Qf3+ Ka7 55. Qe3 Rgh6 56. a5 Kb7 57. Qe4+ Ka7 58. axb6+ Kxb6 59. c4 Rxh4 60. Qe6+ Ka7 61. b5 Rh1 62. Kb4 { This is incredibly tricky, but the best way for White to proceed is to prevent Black from having one rook behind the pawn and rook in front on the seventh rank. } (62. Qf6 { This move prevents a rook check on the a-file and prepares Kb4 } 62... Rb1+ (62... R7h6 63. Qd4+ Kb8 64. Qe5+ Kc8 65. Kb4) 63. Ka4 Rhh1 64. Ka5 Ra1+ 65. Kb4 Rab1+ 66. Kc5 { Black doesn't have a rook for defense on the seventh rank anymore. }) 62... Rb1+ 63. Kc5? { Once the black rook is allowed to come to c7, it will be difficult to kick it out without allowing liquidation on c4. } (63. Ka3 Ra1+ 64. Kb2 Rah1 65. Qe3+ Kb8 66. Qe5+ Ka7 67. Kb3) 63... Rc7+ 64. Kd6 Kb8 65. Qe2 Rc1 66. Kd5 R1xc4! { That's one way to force a draw! } (66... Rd1+ { On the broadcast, Yasser pointed out that he preferred this way of earning the draw for aesthetic reasons. } 67. Ke6 Rd4 { But, of course, it is much harder to engineer a repetition from this position, no matter how badly the players would want to shake hands. }) 67. Qxc4 Rxc4 68. Kxc4 Kb7 69. Kc5 Kc7 70. b6+ Kb7 71. Kb5 { Now, the repetition of moves practically forces itself. } 71... Kb8 72. Kc6 Kc8 73. b7+ Kb8 74. Kb6 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2