[Event "2023 US Open Championships"] [Site "Grand Rapids"] [Round "4"] [White "Kostya Kavutskiy"] [Black "Steven J Szpisjak"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2479"] [BlackElo "2200"] [TimeControl "40/100, SD/30, inc/30"] [Board "10"] [Annotator "JJ Lang"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D37"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights, Vienna Variation"] [UTCDate "2023.08.02"] [UTCTime "14:46:28"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/bGhelHiK/7lv8O2QN"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:33:24] } 1... e6 { [%eval 0.2] [%clk 1:40:46] } 2. Nf3 { [%eval 0.29] [%clk 1:32:54] } 2... Nf6 { [%eval 0.38] [%clk 1:41:05] } 3. c4 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:33:17] } 3... d5 { [%eval 0.17] [%clk 1:41:22] } 4. Nc3 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:33:26] } 4... dxc4 { [%eval 0.17] [%clk 1:40:42] } 5. e4 { [%eval 0.34] [%clk 1:27:11] } 5... Bb4 { [%eval 0.51] [%clk 1:40:47] } 6. Bxc4 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:27:18] } 6... Nxe4 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:38:26] } 7. O-O { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 1:27:37] } 7... Nxc3 { [%eval 0.42] [%clk 1:32:56] } 8. bxc3 { [%eval 0.5] [%clk 1:28:00] } 8... Be7 { [%eval 0.44] [%clk 1:32:57] } 9. Ne5 { [%eval 0.57] [%clk 1:28:13] } 9... Nc6 { [%eval 0.39] [%clk 1:31:04] } 10. Qg4 { [%eval 0.39] [%clk 1:27:27] } 10... O-O { [%eval 0.38] [%clk 1:28:03] } 11. Re1 { [%eval 0.35] [%clk 1:27:16] } 11... f5 { [%eval 0.51] [%clk 1:21:55] } 12. Qf3 { [%eval 0.39] [%clk 1:26:22] } 12... Nxe5 { [%eval 0.42] [%clk 1:20:12] } 13. Rxe5 { [%eval 0.27] [%clk 1:26:43] } 13... Bd6 { [%eval 0.81] [%clk 1:14:05] } 14. Rxf5 { [%eval 0.52] [%clk 1:22:44] } 14... Rxf5 { [%eval 0.67] [%clk 1:08:00] } 15. Qxf5 { [%eval 0.78] [%clk 1:22:42] } 15... Qf6 { [%eval 0.82] [%clk 1:07:38] } 16. Qe4 { [%eval 0.71] [%clk 1:19:55] } 16... c6 { [%eval 1.13] [%clk 0:55:41] } 17. Bd2 { [%eval 0.73] [%clk 1:14:20] } 17... Bd7 { [%eval 0.67] [%clk 0:52:41] } 18. Re1 { [%eval 0.78] [%clk 1:13:20] } 18... Re8 { [%eval 0.87] [%clk 0:47:06] } 19. g3 { [%eval 0.61] [%clk 1:11:31] } 19... g6 { [%eval 0.99] [%clk 0:45:28] } 20. h4 { [%eval 1.07] [%clk 1:07:10] } 20... Qf5 { [%eval 1.05] [%clk 0:44:32] } 21. Qe3 { [%eval 0.98] [%clk 0:59:52] } 21... Kh8 { [%eval 1.46] [%clk 0:39:54] } 22. Bd3 { [%eval 1.65] [%clk 0:59:33] } 22... Qf8 { [%eval 1.88] [%clk 0:35:07] } 23. h5 { [%eval 0.86] } { Black has to be very careful to survive this attack. } { [%clk 0:51:31] } 23... gxh5 { [%eval 0.8] } { The only move, but not a bad one! } { [%clk 0:33:35] } 24. c4 { [%eval 0.6] [%clk 0:49:35] } 24... Qg7 { [%eval 0.5] [%clk 0:29:43] } 25. Kg2 { [%eval 0.48] [%clk 0:45:53] } 25... h4 { [%eval 1.1] [%clk 0:28:03] } 26. Rh1 { [%eval 0.58] [%clk 0:44:02] } 26... Be7 { [%eval 0.69] } { With only one rook and two minor pieces, White does not have a whole lot of extra material to invest in an attack. So it is imperative that every piece is centralized quickly. } { [%clk 0:28:01] } 27. Qe2?! { [%eval -0.4] [%clk 0:32:07] } (27. Qe4! c5 (27... Rf8 28. Bf4! { threatening Bf4-e5, trading off dark-squared bishops, and snapping off the h-pawn. This is the type of resource unavailable with the queen on e2 instead of e4. }) 28. Rb1 { Computers. Can't live with them, can't live without them. The engine insists White has a small edge playing the full board here. } 28... b6 (28... Bc6? 29. d5! exd5 30. cxd5 Bd7 31. Bc3! { is the nice tactical refutation. }) 29. Bf4 Bf6 30. Rh1 { Looking at the board, I guess Black has lost flexibility on the queenside thanks to Rh1-b1-h1, but what human plays like this? } 30... Bc8 31. Rxh4! { now works, as } 31... Bb7 32. d5 Re7 33. Rh6 exd5 34. Qf5 dxc4+ 35. Kh2 { keeps an advantage. But this mixture of ultra-flexible and ultra-sharp play is so unhuman. I'm including these variations primarily to show how difficult it would be to maintain even a modest advantage in this position. }) 27... Bf6?! { [%eval 0.46] [%clk 0:25:33] } (27... Rf8 { Black could prevent Bd2-f4 this way, which was more active. }) 28. Qh5 { [%eval 0.05] [%clk 0:30:54] } 28... e5 { [%eval 0.52] [%clk 0:24:34] } 29. Rxh4 { [%eval -0.03] [%clk 0:26:52] } (29. Bh6 { was not much better: } 29... Qg8 30. dxe5 Rxe5 31. Qf3 Bg5 $14) 29... Bxh4 { [%eval -0.03] [%clk 0:22:56] } 30. Qxh4 { [%eval -0.02] } { White has compensation for the Exchange in the form of the bishop pair on the open board, but unfortunately, Black can just "sit tight" and has no serious losing chances. } { [%clk 0:27:14] } 30... exd4 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:17:14] } 31. Bg5 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:22:43] } 31... Re6! { [%eval 0.0] } { Astute. Returning material to clarify the position. } { [%clk 0:15:55] } 32. Bf5 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:22:33] } 32... Kg8 { [%eval 0.0] [%clk 0:12:32] } 33. Bxe6+ { [%eval -0.01] [%clk 0:19:28] } 33... Bxe6 { [%eval -0.06] [%clk 0:12:53] } 34. Bh6 { [%eval -0.05] [%clk 0:19:46] } 34... Qe5 { [%eval -0.05] [%clk 0:11:17] } 35. Bf4 { [%eval -0.05] [%clk 0:08:51] } 35... Qe4+ { [%eval -0.04] [%clk 0:10:15] } 36. Kh2 { [%eval -0.04] } { Excellent defense from Black in the type of position that many players would be unable to hold against a player of Kavutskiy's caliber. } { [%clk 0:09:16] } 1/2-1/2