[Event "U.S. Junior Chess Championship 2023"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.07.24"] [Round "8"] [White "Liang, Jason"] [Black "Guo, Arthur"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2499"] [BlackElo "2483"] [Annotator "Davis Zong Jr"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C78"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Neo-Arkhangelsk Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/HcgdjjLm"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by Davis Zong Jr } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 O-O 7. d4 Ba7 8. Re1 d6 9. h3 b5 10. Bc2 Bb7 11. Be3 exd4 12. cxd4 Nb4 13. Nbd2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 { Both sides have navigated the opening well. In return for the bishop pair, White has a large center. } 14... Qd7 15. a4 Rfe8 16. d5 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 c6 18. dxc6 Bxc6 19. axb5 Bxb5 20. Nd4 Rac8 21. Qb3 Rc5 22. Rae1 Rec8 23. Rf3 Ne8 24. Rg3 Qe7 25. Qa3 g6 26. Qa1 Ng7 27. b4 R5c7 28. N2f3 f6? { Up to this point, both sides have been playing almost perfectly, but this move is an error, severely weakening Black's king. It is likely that Guo was afraid of White's e4-e5, but pushing the pawns in front of the castled king allows White a large advantage. } (28... d5 29. exd5 Qxb4 $10 { Black can follow up with ... Qb4-c3, offering a queen trade and steering the game towards a drawn position. }) 29. Nh2 f5 30. Rge3 f4? (30... fxe4 31. Ng4 Kh8 32. Nxb5 axb5 $16) 31. Rf3 Rf8 32. Rc3 Rfc8 33. Rec1? (33. Rxc7 { keeps more pieces on the board: } 33... Qxc7 34. Nxb5 axb5 35. Nf3) 33... Rxc3 34. Rxc3 Re8? (34... Rxc3 35. Qxc3 Qxe4 36. Ng4 Qe7 37. Nh6+ Kf8 38. Qb3 { looks scary, but after } 38... Ke8 { , White has no immediate win and is only slightly better. }) 35. Rc1 h5 36. Nhf3 Kh8 37. Re1 Qf6 38. Nxb5? { White should keep the queens on the board to menace Black's weakened king. } (38. Qc3 Bd7 39. Qc7 Re7 40. h4 Ne8 41. Qc4 $18 { Black is tied up and will lose the a6-pawn — and likely the game — shortly. }) 38... Qxa1 39. Rxa1 axb5 40. Ra6?! (40. Ng5! $16) 40... Rxe4 41. Rxd6 Nf5 42. Rxg6 Rxb4 43. Rf6 Ng7 44. Ne5 Kg8 45. Nd3 Rd4 46. Nxf4 Ne8 47. Rf8+ Kxf8 48. Ne6+ Ke7 49. Nxd4 Nc7 $10 { White does have an extra pawn, but Black's outside passed pawn generates enough counterplay. } 50. Kf1 Kd6 51. Ke2 Ke5 52. Kd3 Nd5 53. Nf3+ Kf5 54. Kd4 Nf4 55. Nh4+ Kg5 56. Ke4 Ne6 57. g3 Kf6 58. Nf3 b4 59. Kd3 b3 60. Kc3 Nc5 61. Nd2 b2 62. Kc2 h4 63. gxh4 Kg6 64. Nf3 Ne4 65. Ne5+ Kh5 66. f3 Nd2 67. Kxb2 Kxh4 68. f4 Kxh3 69. Kc3 Kg3 70. Ng6 Kg4 71. Kxd2 Kf5 72. Kd3 Kxg6 73. Ke4 Kf6 74. f5 Kf7 75. Ke5 Ke7 76. f6+ Kf7 77. Kf5 Kf8 78. Ke6 Ke8 79. f7+ Kf8 80. Kf6 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2