[Event "2023 U.S. Senior Chess Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis, United States"] [Date "2023.07.16"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Shabalov, Alexander"] [Black "Kaidanov, Gregory"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2453"] [BlackElo "2563"] [Annotator "WGM Jennifer Yu"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C55"] [Opening "Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/ZBuAQUT7/wJKScqoo"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by WGM Jennifer Yu } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. a4 Na5 8. Ba2 c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. h3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. d4 exd4 13. cxd4 d5 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Nbd2 (16. Rxe6 Nf4 17. Qxd8 Nxd8 18. Re4 Nxh3+) 16... Bb4 17. Rxe6 Nf4 18. Re4 Kh8 19. Qb3 Nd3 20. Re2 { Defending the d2-knight after a possible ... Nd3xc1. } 20... Nf4 21. Re4 Nd3 22. Re2 (22. Rg4! { This active defense of the d2-knight is better, in retrospect. Pressure on the g7-pawn will become useful in many lines. The point is that after } 22... Nxc1? (22... Na5 23. Qe6 Qe7 24. Qxe7 Bxe7) 23. Rxc1 Bxd2 24. Qxb7! { , the g7-pawn is under fire. } 24... Ne7 25. Rd1 Rb8 26. Qe4 $16) 22... Rc8 { Repetition declined! White runs into a real problem now on how to defend his minor pieces. } 23. Nf1?? { Shabalov misses Kaidanov's tactic } (23. Qd1 { This is ugly, but necessary. } 23... Nf4 24. Re4 h6 { Black enjoys a comfortable position where White is underdeveloped and undercoordinated. }) 23... Rxf3!! 24. gxf3 Nxc1 { Now, the rook falls after 25. Rxc1 Qg5+, so White resigned. } 0-1