[Event "U.S. Championship 2023"]
[Site "St Louis"]
[Date "2023.10.12"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Xiong, Jeffery"]
[Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2693"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "C47"]
[Opening "Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/b0nfXV2i/jjQ9Jv4D"]
[Orientation "white"]
{ A battle of youngsters, or can they really be considered youngsters with a
14-year-old in the section? Whatever the case, both players showed their class
in this game. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4!? { Formerly a very
popular opening at the top level that has since died down in popularity
because of White's inability to gain a tangible advantage in recent games. } 4... exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O d5! { By far the most popular
move and for good reason. Niemann utilizes his doubled pawns to take control
of the center and immediately begin a push to equalize } 9. exd5 Bg4 (9... cxd5 10. Bg5 c6 11. Qf3 Bd6 { is the main line, and there's really nothing wrong
with this either. At this level it's mainly just personal preference and the
mood of the players that day. }) 10. f3 Bh5 11. dxc6 (11. Bg5!? { is another
way to try for more. } 11... Qd6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. dxc6 (13. Ne4 Qxb2 14. dxc6!? { is perhaps the most testing line, with only one game played so far; a victory
for GM Yu Yangyi over GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. }) 13... Bxc3 14. bxc3 Qxc3 15. Qe1 Qxc6 16. Be4 Qb6+ { and Black has equalized completely. }) 11... Qd4+ 12. Kh1 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qxc3 14. Rb1 (14. Bf4 Qxc6 { and White has the bishop pair, but
there is a lack of targets within the Black camp, so it will be very difficult
to make anything of it. }) 14... Bg6! { When the opponent has the bishop pair
it's a good idea to trade one off; they diminish greatly in value when there
aren't two of them patrolling each set of squares and complementing each other
perfectly. } 15. Rb3 Qxc6 16. Bb2 Rad8 17. Qa1 Bxd3 18. cxd3 Rfe8 { Now with
Black's pieces fully developed, it will be very difficult for White to gain
any sort of advantage with his fianchettoed bishop. } 19. Rc1 Qa6 20. Ra3 Qb6 21. Rb3 Qf2!? { Niemann isn't particularly happy to repeat, instead going for
a slightly more messy position where he hopes to outplay Xiong. A very strong
trait in a chess player and one that served the current World Champion very
well in his final game of the match! } 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Rb2 (23. Qxf6?? { is obviously a huge blunder: } 23... Re1+ 24. Rxe1 Qxe1#) 23... Qh4 24. Qb1 Re3 25. Rb4 { White must untangle quickly or he runs the risk of being tied down
completely. } 25... Qf2 26. Rb2 Qh4 27. Rb4 Qf2 28. Rb2 Re2! { Again Niemann refused
an offer to repeat! Complete confidence and a huge determination to win. } 29. Rxe2 Qxe2 30. h3 Qxd3 31. Qxd3 Rxd3 32. Rxc7 { But now this game is very dry.
It is important to note that in these endgames, the pawns on the f-file are
not as weak as they seem, in fact, sometimes these can be beneficial,
especially when dealing with a four-versus-three majority. } 32... Ra3 33. Rc2 Kg7 34. Kh2 f5 35. Kg3 Ra4 36. f4 Kg6 37. Rc6+ Kg7 38. Rc2 Kg6 39. Rc6+ Kg7 40. Rc2 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. No mistakes by either player leads to a well
fought draw at the 40th move } 1/2-1/2