[Event "US Open Championships"] [Site "Grand Rapids"] [Date "2023.08.05"] [Round "7"] [White "Jason Liang"] [Black "Brewington Hardaway"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2594"] [BlackElo "2432"] [Annotator "IM Sandeep Sethuraman"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C72"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense, Modern Steinitz Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/bGhelHiK/ViK72uFr"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6!? { Hardway opts for the Stienitz Deferred variation of the Ruy Lopez, which comes with an interesting trap. } 5. O-O (5. d4?! { is how White normally responds to the Philidor, but here it doesn't work with the bishop already on a4: } 5... b5! 6. Bb3 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 exd4 8. Bd5 { is how White should try to play for a win. } (8. Qxd4?? c5 9. Qd5 Be6 10. Qc6+ Bd7 11. Qd5 c4 { and Black wins a piece. }) (8. c3 dxc3 9. Qd5 Be6 10. Qc6+ Bd7 11. Qd5 { with a perpetual. })) 5... Bd7 6. c3 Nge7 7. d4 Ng6 8. Bc2 Be7 9. a4 O-O 10. d5! { White accepts Black's provocations and decides to take space. Now the knight has almost nowhere to go. } 10... Nb8 11. Na3 (11. a5! { was another strong option. }) 11... Qc8 12. Nc4 f5! { Hardaway creates his own counterplay. White's center is falling apart. } 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. Bxf5 Qxf5 15. Ne3 Qh5 (15... Qf7! { was perhaps slightly stronger to keep queens on the board. With moves like ... Ng6-f4 on the horizon, Black seems to be developing a strong initiative. }) 16. Nd2! { essentially forcing a queen trade. } 16... Qxd1 17. Rxd1 a5 18. Ne4! { Now White has a great outpost on e4 and will hold a perennial edge in this position. } 18... Nd7 19. g3 h6 20. Nc4! { The knights are perfectly placed for now, and White's last move renders the g6-knight helpless. } 20... Nf6 21. f3!? { White can't keep the both the d5-pawn and the e4-square under control without this move. } (21. Nxf6+ Bxf6 { and ... e5-e4 might come soon from Black. }) 21... Nh8 22. Kg2 Nf7 23. Be3 Rfb8 24. Ra3 (24. Na3! { was even stronger with the idea of poking at the weak pawns. } 24... c6 25. c4 { and the b-file won't open. }) 24... b6 25. b4 Nd8 26. Bf2 (26. bxa5 bxa5 27. Kf1 { and the b-file has been opened, but Black's rooks have no entry points. White is much better. }) 26... Nb7 27. h4 Rf8 28. Be1 Ra7 (28... g5! { was a huge chance to create counterplay. } 29. hxg5 Nxe4 30. fxe4 Bxg5 { and Black's pieces suddenly activate. }) 29. bxa5 Nxa5 30. Nxa5 Rxa5 31. c4 { An idea very commonly used in the Bayonet attack variation of the King's Indian Defense. White wants to open the a- and b- files and use them to attack the c7-pawn. } 31... Ra6 32. Rda1 Rfa8 33. a5!? { Liang chooses to liquidate immediately. With accurate play this should be a draw, but time pressure is near. } 33... Nd7 (33... Kf7 34. Bb4 Rc8! { was unintuitive but precise. Black wants to prepare ... c7-c6. }) 34. Bb4 Kf7 35. Kf2 Bd8 36. Ke3 Ke7 37. Kd3 Rb8 38. axb6 (38. h5! { Keeping the tension a bit longer and fixing the pawns was even stronger. } 38... bxa5 39. Bxa5 Rba8 40. Bb4 { and White has a significant advantage in the resulting endgame. }) 38... Rxa3+ 39. Rxa3 Nxb6 40. Ra7 Nc8 41. Ra4 Nb6 42. Ra3 Kd7 (42... Nxd5! { could have equalized for Hardaway: } 43. Bxd6+ cxd6 44. cxd5 Rb4 { Black's bishop looks horrible compared to the monster on e4, but the d4-square is very important. The d5-pawn will fall and Black should be fine. }) 43. Bd2 Nc8 44. h5 Ne7 45. g4 Ke8 46. Kc2 Nc8 47. Ra1 Nb6 48. Kd3 Nc8 49. Bc3 { The players keep shuffling for a while, but that's the best technique in these types of endgame positions: move until your opponent slips. } 49... Kf7 50. Rg1 (50. c5! { would have broken through immediately. }) 50... Nb6 51. Rb1 Ra8 52. Ra1 Rb8 53. Ra2 Kf8 54. Bd2 Kf7 55. Be3 Nd7 56. Ra7 Rb3+ 57. Kd2 Ke8 58. Ra8 Rb2+ 59. Kc3 Rb8?? { The rook trade seems natural, but it leads to a dead-lost endgame, mainly because of the f5-square. } (59... Rh2 60. Kd3 Rh3 { and Black has some drawing chances }) 60. Rxb8 Nxb8 61. Kb4 Be7 62. Kb5 Kd8 63. Ng3 (63. c5! { would have been even stronger: } 63... dxc5 64. Nxc5 Bf6 65. Bd2 { and the c7-pawn will fall. }) 63... Nd7 64. Nf5 Bf8 65. Bf2 Kc8 66. Ng3 Be7 67. Ne4 Kb7 68. c5! { Liang finally finds the breakthrough, and it's all over. } 68... dxc5 69. Bxc5 Bh4 70. Bb4 Nb6 71. Bf8! { With the fall of the g7-pawn, h6 will drop as well, and the White pawns will surge ahead. } 71... Nxd5 72. Bxg7 Ne3 73. Bxh6 Nc2 74. Bg7 Nd4+ 75. Kc4 Nxf3 76. h6 Bg5 77. h7 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0