[Event "U.S. Championship"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.10.15"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Tang, Andrew"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2496"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "WGM Katerina Nemcova"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C41"] [Opening "Philidor Defense: Lion Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/b0nfXV2i/pUxyZoUB"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. a4 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Re1 h6 9. a5 Qc7 10. h3 Re8 11. Ba2!? { Immediately hiding the bishop from the c-file and potential attacks after ... b7-b5. } (11. Be3 { This is the most popular line in this opening. } 11... Nf8 12. d5 Ng6 (12... cxd5?! 13. Bxd5 Be6 14. Nb5 Qb8 15. c4 $16 { Rakshitta – Bhakti, Delhi, 2022. }) 13. Bb3 c5 14. Nd2 Nh7 15. a6 bxa6 16. Bc4 $16 { Xiong – Firouzja, Chess.com, 2022. }) 11... Bf8 12. Bd2 Rb8 13. d5 b5? (13... cxd5!? { It was better to trade these pawns and also additional material in the center. } 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Nf6 16. c4 { And perhaps it was this position that Tang did not like. Despite the well-positioned bishop in the center, the engine is not giving any significant advantage to White. }) 14. dxc6 Qxc6 15. Nh2!? { Dominguez is transferring the knight to a better square while freeing the f3-square for his queen. } (15. b4!? { This move looks very nice as it takes control of the c5-square not allowing the black knight to jump there. }) 15... Bb7 16. Ng4 (16. b4!? { Computer still likes this move that restricts Black's pieces. }) 16... b4 17. Nxf6+ Nxf6 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. Bxd5 Qc7 20. Bb3! { This is an excellent positional move. Dominguez is retreating with his bishop instead of allowing his opponent to trade it off. This bishop is a force on the a2-g8 diagonal and it also protects the weak c2-pawn. It would be very unfortunate to trade him for the less powerful bishop on b7. } 20... Bc6 21. a6 Be7 22. Qh5 (22. Qg4! { A very strong move that either wins a pawn or destroys the whole position in front of the black king. It is unclear why Dominguez did not play this move. } 22... Kf8 (22... Bf6 23. Bxh6 $18) (22... Kh7 23. Bxf7 $18) 23. Qf5! Bd8 24. Rad1 Kg8 25. Bxh6!! gxh6 26. Qg6+ Kf8 27. Qxh6+ Ke7 28. Rd3 $18 { with a lethal attack on the f7-pawn and the d6-pawn. }) 22... Bf6 23. Be3 Red8 24. Qg4 Kf8 25. Red1 $16 { White still keeps a significant positional advantage due to his active pieces and Black's messy pawn structure. } 25... Bb5 26. Qf3 { White is putting a lot of pressure on the f6-bishop and the f7-pawn behind him. Black has serious troubles defending both. } 26... Bg5 { Tang decided to give up a pawn in hopes of trading both bishops and activating his pieces. } (26... Rbc8 27. Bxh6! $18) (26... Qe7?! 27. Bd5! Kg8 28. c4 bxc3 29. bxc3 Rbc8 30. Rdb1 $18 { And White will infiltrate via the b7-square. }) 27. Bxg5 hxg5 28. Qh5 Bc4 29. Qxg5 Bxb3 30. cxb3 Qc2 31. Qe3 { White pieces are simply too good at targeting black weak pawns. } 31... Qxb2 32. Qxa7 Qxb3 33. Rxd6! Rdc8 34. Qd7 { White plans on advancing with the a-pawn. } 34... Qc3 35. Rad1 b3 36. a7 Ra8 37. Qb7 Kg8 38. Rd7 Qc2 { Tang did not manage to reach move 40 and lost on time. } (39. R1d2! Qc1+ 40. Kh2 Qc4 41. R2d5 { And Black won't be able to defend the attack on the seventh rank. } 41... Rf8 42. Rxf7!! Rxf7 43. Qxa8+ Kh7 44. Qe8 Rxa7 45. Qh5+ Kg8 46. Rd8#) 1-0