[Event "2023 U.S. Senior Chess Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis, United States"] [Date "2023.07.21"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Dlugy, Maxim"] [Black "Akopian, Vladimir"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2524"] [BlackElo "2612"] [Annotator "FM Alex King"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A45"] [Opening "Indian Defense"] [StudyName "2023 National Championships"] [ChapterName "Dlugy, Maxim - Akopian, Vladimir"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/j7ijuYm2"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by FM Alex King } 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. dxc5 { A sideline from London specialist Dlugy. } 3... Na6 4. e4!? { But this is really rare; instead the most common move is 4. Qd4. } 4... Nxe4 5. Bxa6 Qa5+ 6. b4 Qxa6 7. Qd4 { The position is strategically unbalanced: Black has a central supermajority and the bishop pair, but White has centralized pieces and a queenside supermajority. } 7... d5 8. Ne2 e6 9. Nbc3 Nxc3 10. Nxc3 f6 11. Qd3 $17 { After this White lands in a difficult position. } (11. a4!? e5 12. Qxd5 exf4 13. Nb5 $13 { is the engine's suggestion, with messy complications. }) 11... Qxd3 12. cxd3 a5! { Destabilizing White's advanced pawns, although this implies a piece sacrifice. } 13. Na4 axb4! 14. Nb6 Ra6 15. Nxc8 Bxc5 16. Rc1 b6 17. Nd6+ Kd7 18. Nb7 Rc8 19. Nxc5+ bxc5 20. Rc2 c4 21. Rb2? $19 { Probably a decisive mistake. } (21. Bc1!? $17 { may be survivable for White, although practically it's still dangerous. }) 21... e5 22. Bc1 cxd3 { Now Black has three strong pawns for the piece, and much better activity. } 23. Kd1 Rac6 24. Bd2 Rc2 25. Rxc2 Rxc2! 26. Bxb4 Rxf2 27. Bd2 Rxg2 28. a4 Rg4 29. a5 Ra4 30. Rg1 g5 31. Rg3 Ra1+ 32. Bc1 e4 33. Kd2 Rxa5 34. Rh3 Ra2+ 35. Kd1 Ke6 36. Rxh7 d4 37. Rh3 Rg2 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1