[Event "U.S. Women's Championship"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2023.10.07"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Zatonskih, Anna"] [Black "Eswaran, Ashritha"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2363"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2273"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "Nemcova"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E92"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Exchange Variation"] [StudyName "2023 U.S. Championships rds 1-9"] [ChapterName "Zatonskih, Anna - Eswaran, Ashritha"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/b0nfXV2i/mHjAjKvQ"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Nxe5 h6 11. Bf4 Nh5? { A big mistake by Eswaran. This move allows Zatonskih to get a really comfortable position. } (11... g5! { Eswaran should have continue with this important move, forcing the bishop to retreat, and gaining time to finish development. Despite being a pawn down, Black has counterplay in such positions. White has to worry about the king in the center, possible attacks on the e5-knight, and an overall lack of cooperation of her pieces. }) 12. Bxh5! gxh5 13. O-O $14 Nd7 14. Nxd7 Rxd7 15. Nd5 c6 16. Nc7 Rad8 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Rab1 Rd4 19. b3 Rxe4 20. Be3 Bd4 21. Rbd1 Kf7 22. Rd3 Ke7 23. Rfd1 c5 24. Bxh6 Rg8 25. Be3 Reg4 26. g3 e5 27. Kg2 e4 28. Bxd4!! (28. R3d2 { A normal retreat is also winning, but it is not nearly as cool as the sacrifice! } 28... Bxe3 29. fxe3 h4 { A nice try from Black to go for a counterplay, but it is not leading to anything. } 30. Rd7+ Kf6 31. Rxb7 hxg3 32. h3! $18 { Blocking any potential counterplay. }) 28... exd3 29. Bxc5+! { An important intermediate move. } 29... Ke6 30. Rxd3 $18 { The rest of the game is a nice illustration of the power of pawns with a bishop. Players who are insecure about material imbalance will benefit from observing the ease of converting this advantage into a full point. } 30... a6 31. Rd6+ Kf5 32. Rd5+ Kg6 33. Be3 Re8 34. Kf3 Rf8+ 35. Bf4 Re8 36. h3 Rxf4+ 37. Kxf4 Re2 38. Rd6+ Kf7 39. Kf3 Rxa2 40. Rb6 Rb2 41. Rxb7+ Ke6 42. Rb6+ Ke5 43. Rxa6 Rxb3+ 44. Kg2 Rc3 45. Ra5+ Kf6 46. Rxh5 Rxc4 47. Ra5 Kg6 48. g4 Rc3 49. f3 Rc2+ 50. Kg3 Rc3 51. Ra6+ Kg7 52. h4 Rb3 53. h5 Rb5 54. f4 Rb7 55. g5 Rc7 56. Kg4 Rb7 57. h6+ Kh7 58. Kh5 Rb5 59. Ra7+ Kh8 60. Kg4 Rb6 61. f5 Rb5 62. g6 Rb8 63. Re7 Ra8 64. f6 Rb8 65. Rh7+ Kg8 66. f7+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0