[Event "2023 U.S. Girls' Junior Chess Championsh"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.07.25"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Yip, Carissa"] [Black "Wu, Rochelle"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2369"] [BlackElo "2253"] [Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B67"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Richter-Rauzer Variation, Neo-Modern Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/IMfCUz45"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by IM Sandeep Sethuraman } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 { The Classical Sicilian is one of Yip's favorite weapons with the black pieces, interestingly enough. } 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 Be7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. Kb1 Rc8!? { The first deviation from mainstream theory. There are still 34 games here, but it's not the most common move. } (11... b5 12. h4 Rc8 13. Ne2 Bb7 { is the most common continuation }) 12. h4 h6 13. Be3 d5! { Black should break in the center, before the position becomes suffocated. } 14. e5 Nd7 15. Qe1 (15. f4! { was a simple and strong improvement. White gains a huge space advantage, and should Black castle, as g2-g4 followed by h4-h5 and then g4-g5 will be very intimidating. } 15... h5 16. Ne2 { and the knight will find an outpost on d4. }) 15... b5 16. Qg3?! { Yip deals a very strong threat to g7, but forgets that Wu can respond with a threat of her own. } 16... Qc7! { Active defense is often the best defense, especially in the Sicilian. } 17. f4 b4 18. Ne2 Ba4! { The white defenses on the queenside begin to crumble. } 19. Rc1 Bxc2+ 20. Ka1 Qa5! { Now it looks like the game should end in a few moves, but Yip is resilient. } 21. Nd4 O-O! { The bishop is untouchable! } 22. Bd2 (22. Rxc2? Rxc2 23. Nxc2 b3 24. Na3 Bxa3 25. bxa3 Qc3+) 22... Bf5?? { This bishop was very important to Black's attack and never should have been given up this easily. } (22... Be4! { was stronger. } 23. f5 b3!! { was perhaps what Wu missed. } 24. Nxb3 Qxd2 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 { and the queen can't be taken due to the weak back rank! }) 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Nxf5 exf5 25. Bd3 Nc5 26. Bxf5 { Now the game is suddenly wide open. } 26... Rc6 27. Bc2 d4 28. Qf3 Rc8 29. Rc1! { Correctly setting up an abundance of pins that effectively stop Black's initiative in its tracks. } 29... Qb6 30. Kb1 (30. Bd3 { would have been even stronger when the bishop parked itself on c4. } 30... Qd8 31. Bc4) 30... Rd8 31. f5 d3 (31... b3 32. Bxb3 Nxb3 33. axb3 Bb4 { was the best chance to hold a draw. }) 32. Bd1 b3 33. a3! { Closing the path to the white king. } 33... Na4?? { This looks menacing, but White has a geometric move to end the game. } 34. f6! { Qf3-g4 is a huge threat now, and the kingside falls apart. } 34... Bf8 35. Rc4 Qb5 36. Rg4 { and mate will follow. } 36... Nxb2 37. Rxg7+! { Ending the game with a nice sacrifice. } 37... Bxg7 38. Qg4 Kf8 39. Bb4+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0