[Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/dfRDZs7P/V69rLZBQ"] [Date "2022.10.19"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Solon,Nate"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D27"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Main Line"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/dfRDZs7P/V69rLZBQ"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,144,14,28,19,6,32,31,41,18,49,40,51,45,42,38,32,38,27,29,27,32,24,34, 29,31,40,48,56,53,38,24,40,34,41,32,45,34,84,98,87,102,71,83,58,48,32,116,55, 49,46,42,41,42,37,15,16,0,30,-1,23,23,35,13,25,13,15,31,31,42,42,31,20,59,49, 53,77,-84,-85,-107,-87,-71,-71,-92,-76,-138,-138,-149,-136,-150,-152,-157,-126, -151,-133,-119,-146,-141,-133,-151,-146,-144,-113,-142,-1,-46,-19,0,0,0,-17, -58,-58,-32,5,0,0,0,6,30,29,48,29,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0] } 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 { The Queen's Gambit Accepted is one of Black's most solid options. Needing a win, Ray has his work cut out for him. } 6. O-O a6 7. b3 { White has tried just about every legal move here. Currently setting up the queenside fianchetto is somewhat trendy. } 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Be2 { It might look strange to retreat a piece that's already developed, but on c4 the bishop just stares at the rock-solid e6 pawn, as well as being a target for b5 at some point, so dropping it back to e2 with an eye towards popping out on f3 is a very standard maneuver. } 10... Bd7 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. N4f3 { White's bishop on b2 is better than the counterpart on d7, but it's a tiny edge indeed. } 12... b5 13. Rc1 Rc8 14. a3 Qb6 15. Bd3 Rfd8 16. Qe2 Be8 17. h3 Nd7 18. b4 e5?! { Putting the cart before the horse. With the minor pieces crammed awkwardly into the first two ranks, it's not really the time for a pawn advance in the center. } 19. Bf5 f6 20. Ne4 Ncb8 21. Nc3 Bf7 22. Rfd1 g6 23. Be4 Qa7 24. Nd5 Nb6 25. Rc7!? { If I was Black I'd fall out of my chair when I saw this move, but it turns out to only lead to trades. } 25... Rxc7 26. Nxe7+ Rxe7 27. Rxd8+ Kg7 { You can see why Ray liked this from afar: the rook looks impressive on the back rank and the dark-squared bishop could wreak havoc on Black's king if only he could pry open the long diagonal. But it turns out Black can rally his remaining pieces and there's just not much there. } 28. Rd1 Qc7 29. g4 { Restraining ...f7-f5 and hinting at g4-g5 to open up the long diagonal. } 29... h6 30. Rc1 Qd6 31. Rd1 Qc7 32. Rc1 Qd6 33. Qc2 { Needing a win to catch up with Caruana in first, Ray turns down the repetition. } 33... Nc4 34. Rd1 Qc7 35. Nh4 Nxb2 36. Qxb2 Rd7 37. Rc1 Qd8 38. Qb1?? { Just when he had built up some pressure, this is a huge misstep. The queen needed to keep an eye on e5 to prevent Black's next move. } (38. Qc3 { would keep a pleasant edge for White based on the better minor pieces. }) 38... f5! { Black uses a double attack to snare two minor pieces for a rook. } 39. Bxf5 Qxh4 40. Bxd7 Nxd7 41. Kg2 h5 42. f3 Nb6 43. Qe4 Nc4 { Now Black is even on the verge of winning. The knight on c4 is almost worth a rook by itself. } 44. Rd1 Kh6 45. Qd3 Qg5 46. Re1 Be6 47. Kg3 Kg7 48. Re2 Qe7 49. Re1 Qc7 50. Kg2 h4 51. Rd1 e4?! { Tempting, but not best. } (51... Qb6 { would leave White in a very difficult situation. }) 52. Qc3+ Qe5 53. Qxe5+ Nxe5 54. fxe4 { Black is still better, but the queen trade definitely benefited White since at least he won't be checkmated directly now. } 54... Nc4 55. Rd8 Nxa3 56. Ra8 Kf6? (56... Nc2 57. Rxa6 Bc4 { was the way to go. Once Black collects the b4-pawn, the passed b-pawn will be incredibly dangerous. }) 57. Rxa6 Nc4 58. Rc6 g5 59. Kf2 Ne5 60. Rb6 Nd3+ 61. Kf3 Nxb4 { They play it out for awhile, but with both b-pawns eliminated neither side can win. } 62. e5+ Ke7 63. Rxb5 Nd3 64. Ra5 Kf7 65. Ra7+ Kf8 66. Ra8+ Kf7 67. Ra7+ Kf8 68. Ra8+ Ke7 69. Ra7+ Ke8 70. Ra8+ Ke7 71. Ra7+ Ke8 72. Ra8+ Ke7 { A back-and-forth game where both sides had chances. } 1/2-1/2