[Event "U.S. Junior Chess Ch"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/cfnNS6tI/z36xZklu"] [Date "2022.07.07"] [Round "1"] [White "Hong, Andrew"] [Black "Brodsky, David"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2504"] [BlackElo "2496"] [Annotator "Shlyakhtenko,Robert"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B99"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation, Main Line"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/cfnNS6tI/z36xZklu"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,39,39,33,51,37,71,62,62,27,21,32,61,43,51,19,18,12,39,21,28,14,24,10, 10,21,39,47,36,36,56,19,-1,-15,-23,-119,83,83,77,77,177,171] } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. h4 Nb6 13. g5 Bxd4 14. Rxd4 Qc5 { A well-known position that Brodsky had twice played from the black side. } 15. Qf2 $146 { The novelty, which apparently is not given in GM Anish Giri's Chessable course on the Najdorf! The position of the two queens give white some tactical chances. } 15... hxg5 { Forced. } (15... Bd7 { loses a pawn to } 16. Qd2 { , which is one of the main points of 15. Qf2. }) 16. e5! gxf4 17. Bd3 f5? { Sometimes in analysis we check only the way our opponents are "supposed" to play, failing to consider humanly natural - but flawed - defenses. In the post-game interview, Hong revealed that this move came to him in the shower and he rushed back to check the refutation. During the game he quickly blitzed out the right line: } (17... d5! { is the only move. Now White has two main continuations: } 18. Rg1 { (this is the move Andrew planned) } (18. Ne4 dxe4 19. Rd8+ Kxd8 20. Qxc5 Nd7 21. Qg1! exd3 22. Qxg7 { is the most obvious, but after } 22... Rh5! 23. Qxf7 Rf5 24. Qxe6 Nf8 25. Qd6+ Ke8 26. h5 Be6 27. Qxd3 Rd8 { black somehow coordinates his pieces and stops white's h-pawn. }) 18... g6! { and the position is quite unclear but certainly playable for White. One wonders how much deeper Hong's preparation extended here. } (18... Rxh4? 19. Qxh4 Qxd4 20. Rxg7 { leads to a decisive attack. }) (18... Bd7 19. Rxg7 O-O-O { fails to save Black's king in view of } 20. Rc4!)) (17... Qxe5 { is too risky. I doubt that Black can survive the onslaught after } 18. Re1 Qh5 19. Rxf4 Nd7 20. Ne4 O-O 21. Rg1) 18. exf6 e5 19. fxg7 Rg8 20. Bg6+ Ke7 { If White retreats with the rook, Black trades queens and wins the endgame. If this looks too good to be true, that's because it is! } 21. h5!! { The passed pawns are worth more than the rook. } 21... Qxd4 (21... exd4 22. Ne4 { does not save Black either. }) 22. Qh4+ Kd7 23. h6 Kc6 (23... Kc7 { was discussed by Andrew in his post-game interview with Yaz and the gang. He showed a beautiful way to win: } 24. Rd1 Qe3+ 25. Kb1 Qh3 26. Qe7+ Qd7 27. Qf8 Qd8 28. Qf7+ Bd7 29. a4!! { and Black is in a bad way. }) 24. Be4+ Kc7 25. Qf6! { Avoiding a clever trick. } (25. h7? { in fact loses: } 25... Rxg7 26. h8=Q Rg1+ 27. Rxg1 Qe3+!! { (an easy-to-miss intermediate move) } (27... Qxg1+ 28. Nd1 { wins for White. }) 28. Kd1 Qxg1+ 29. Kd2 Nc4+ 30. Ke2 Bg4+ { and White must give up both of his queens. }) 25... Bd7 (25... Na4!? { is refuted most simply by } 26. Qf7+ Bd7 27. Nd5+ Kc6 28. Nf6+ Kb6 29. Qb3+! Bb5 30. Rd1) 26. Rd1 { The most accurate. Because of his weak king, Black cannot reroute his pieces to defend against the pawns. The rest is easy. } 26... Qe3+ 27. Kb1 Kb8 28. h7 Ka7 29. hxg8=Q Rxg8 30. Qf7 Rc8 31. g8=Q Rxc3 { A desperate try, but Hong has everything covered. } 32. bxc3 Qxe4 33. Qff8 Nc8 34. Qg1+! { Ending all hopes. A win typical of Andrew's main strengths: excellent opening preparation supported by precise calculation. } 1-0