[Event "U.S. Senior Chess Championship 2023"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.07.24"] [Round "8"] [White "Root, Douglas"] [Black "Kaidanov, Gregory"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2469"] [BlackElo "2563"] [Annotator "Davis Zong Jr"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C44"] [Opening "Scotch Game: Göring Gambit, Double Pawn Sacrifice"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/eBNBUgnh"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by Davis Zong Jr } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3 dxc3 5. Bc4 { The Göring is a rare guest at the top level! Objectively, Black is doing well, but it sure is fun to play with White's attacking position! } 5... cxb2 6. Bxb2 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. O-O Bxc3 9. Bxc3 O-O 10. Ng5 h6 11. Nxf7 Rxf7 12. Bxf7+ Kxf7 13. e5 Ne8 14. f4 d6 15. e6+! { In the post-game interview, Root revealed that he studied this move at his university. The collegiate preparation comes in handy! White is materially down two pieces and pawn for a rook, but most of Black's pieces are sleeping at the moment and the e6 and f5 pawns won't look too friendly. } 15... Kg8 16. f5 Nf6 17. Rc1 $10 Qe7 18. Re1 a5 19. h3 Ne5 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Rxe5 b6 22. Qf3 Rb8 23. Qc6 Ne8 24. Rd1 Bb7 25. Qd7 Qg5 26. Re2 Qxf5 27. Rf2 Qc5 28. e7 Bc6?! (28... Qe5 $10 { Preventing Qd7-e6+ was important. }) 29. Qe6+ Kh7 30. Rd8 Rb7 31. Rxe8 (31. h4! { With the potential h4-h5 threat, the position is very dangerous for the second player. } 31... h5 32. Qe2 $18 { White will unpin with Kh1 and the second rook will decide the game. }) 31... Bxe8 32. Qe4+ Bg6?? { An unfortunate blunder. It is likely that Black overlooked the hanging b7-rook. } (32... Kg8 33. Qxb7 Qxe7 34. Qf3 $14 { This will likely play out to a draw. }) 33. e8=Q { 1-0 White wins. White will emerge with an extra rook, so Black threw in the towel. } 1-0