[Event "2023 U.S. Junior Chess Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis, United States"] [Date "2023.07.16"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Hong, Andrew"] [Black "Liang, Jason"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2520"] [BlackElo "2499"] [Annotator "WGM Jennifer Yu"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B12"] [Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/XXFxP2fE"] [Orientation "white"] { (Annotations by WGM Jennifer Yu) Following a bloody first round with all decisive results, IM Andrew Hong was the only player to win his second game in a row to grab an early lead. In contrast to the long endgame grind from Hong’s first round win, this game was a sharp battle where a single mistake led to a devastating king hunt. } 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Nc6 6. Qf4 e6 7. Nc3 Nb4 8. Qd2 a6 9. a3 { Already, there is only one game left in the database. } 9... Nc6 10. Bd3 Nge7 11. O-O Ng6 12. Re1 Be7 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Qd3 g5 { Instead of castling, when White would enjoy a comfortable space advantage, Liang opts for active counterplay at the expense of a weaker king. } 15. h3 f6 16. Qg6+ Kf8 17. exf6 gxf6 18. h4 Rg8 19. Qd3 (19. Qh6+ Kf7 20. Qh5+ Rg6 21. hxg5 fxg5 22. Re3 Kg7 { Black is okay after the tactics. } 23. Nxg5 Rxg5 24. Rg3 Rxg3 25. Bh6+ Kg8 26. fxg3 Bf6 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Rf1 Ne5 29. Qxf6+ Qxf6 30. Rxf6 Bd7) 19... Qe8 20. hxg5 fxg5 21. Ne2 Qg6 22. Qe3 { This is a difficult position to evaluate, but Liang's aggressive option to leave his king in the center has worked well in creating a lot of play. However, with both kings coming under fire, it's very easy for somethign to go quickly wrong. } 22... Bf6 23. c4 g4 (23... dxc4?! 24. Qc5+ Kf7 25. Qxc4) 24. Nf4 Qf5 25. cxd5 (25. Nh2? { Retreating and losing the momentum isn't an option. } 25... d4 (25... dxc4 26. Nxe6+? Bxe6 27. Qxe6 Qxe6 28. Rxe6 Kf7 29. Re1 c3 $17) 26. Qg3 Kf7 27. Bd2 Ne5 $17) 25... gxf3 (25... e5 26. Nh4 (26. dxc6 exf4 { challenging Hong to find the only move that holds the balance. } 27. Qb3! { with the point after } 27... gxf3 28. Re8+! Kxe8 29. Qxg8+ Ke7 30. Bd2 { The game is far from over, but the weak black king is enough compensation for the piece. }) 26... Bxh4 27. Nd3 Bg5 28. Qg3 Ne7 29. Rxe5 Qf6) 26. dxc6 fxg2? { This natural move loses the game. Liang loses the last bit of protection over his king and Hong proves merciless. } (26... e5 27. Qxf3 (27. cxb7 Bxb7) 27... b6 28. c7 Ra7 29. Qc6 exf4 30. Re8+ Kg7 31. Rxg8+ Kxg8 32. Bd2 Bb7 33. Qxb6 Qd5 34. c8=Q+ Bxc8 35. Qxa7 { This game is incredibly hard to play, as evidenced by positions like this where you can analyze a line with 10 sharp moves in a row and still do nothing more than slap on an "equal sign" evaluation. } 35... Bb7 36. Qb8+ Bd8 37. f3 Qxd2) 27. cxb7 Bxb7 28. Nxe6+ Kf7 29. Qb6! Be4 30. Qc7+! Kxe6 31. Qc4+ Kd7 (31... Ke5 32. Bd2 Bh4 33. f4+ Kf6 34. Rxe4 $16) 32. Bf4 Qh3 33. Rad1+ Ke7 34. Qc7+ Kf8 35. Bd6+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0