[Event "U.S. Championship"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2023.10.07"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2698"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "Nemcova"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C54"] [Opening "Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/b0nfXV2i/D1FNvRqn"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 d6 7. c3 a5 8. Re1 h6 9. Nf1 Bb6 10. h3 Be6 11. Bb5 Bd7 12. Ba4 Ne7 13. Bc2 Ng6 14. d4 Re8 15. Ng3 Bc6 16. Be3 a4 17. a3 exd4 18. Bxd4 Nd7 19. Nf5 $14 { White enjoys a very nice position here. White's pieces are centralized and there are several threats to the black position. } 19... Nde5 20. Bxb6 cxb6 21. N3d4 b5 22. Ne3 { Although White has a better pawn structure and several outposts, it is not easy to find a direct way to grow White's advantage. } 22... Qg5 23. Ndf5 h5 24. Kh1?! (24. f4! { A computer move! The engine does not worry about the pawn; instead it sees how it will open the f-file, force the black queen to retreat, and improve the white queen from its current d1-square. } 24... Nxf4 (24... Qxf4? 25. Qxh5 { Black may have even trouble with finding safe squares for this queen. }) 25. h4! Qf6 26. Rf1 Ne6 27. Qxh5 $16) 24... h4! 25. Qd2 Nf4! $15 { The tables are turning, and it is Shankland now who enjoys the initiative. } 26. f3 g6 27. Nd4 d5! { Opening up the center and the diagonal for c6-bishop. } 28. exd5 Nxd5 29. Nc4 Qxd2 30. Nxd2 f5! { Black's pieces are dominating the position, while the white pieces are quite restricted. } 31. Re2 Nf4 32. Re3 Nd5 33. Re2 Nf4 34. Re3 Kf7 35. Rae1 Kf6 36. Kh2 Nd5 37. R3e2 Nf4 38. Re3 Re7 39. Kg1 Rae8 40. Kh1 Nd5 41. R3e2 Nf4 42. Re3 Nxf3!! $19 { A very nice final tactic of the game, leading to a much better endgame with two extra pawns. } 43. Rxe7 Nxe1! 44. Rxe8 Bxe8 45. Bd1 Nexg2 46. Bf3 Ne3 47. Bxb7 Nxh3 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1