[Event "North American Open"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/pOkAg2Ib/Fj5LH4G9"] [Date "December 29, 2022"] [Round "9"] [White "Aakaash Meduri"] [Black "Mardon Yakubov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2126"] [BlackElo "2194"] [TimeControl "90+30 SD/30"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/acashmoney"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A43"] [Opening "Benoni Defense: Benoni-Indian Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/fCavf2it/gyoNWOXM"] [Orientation "white"] { Time on arrival: 56 min vs 90 min } 1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. Bf4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 (6. Nf3 d6 7. a4 { Playing against the Benoni in thematic fashion. Black often lacks space in such positions, so pushing the a-pawn reduces options on the queenside. }) 6... d6 7. Qd2 b5!? { A surprising thrust. Black's point is that White's center is fragile. } 8. Bxb5 Qb6 9. Nge2 (9. e5 Ng4 10. Nge2 dxe5 11. Bg3 a6 12. Bc4 Nh6 $10 (12... Qxb2 13. Rb1 Qa3 14. O-O $14 { Black is up a pawn but lacks coordination. })) 9... Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Qxb5 11. c3? { A natural mistake which just highlights how difficult White's position is becoming. } (11. Rb1 Ba6 12. b3 { The idea is c2-c4 next to block the a6-f1 diagonal. } 12... Qxe2+ 13. Qxe2 Bxe2 14. Kxe2 { Black has a beautiful bishop, but it grasps at thin air. The position is about equal. }) 11... Ba6 12. N4g3 Nd7 13. O-O Ne5 14. Bxe5? { I worried about letting the knight dance through all the weak squares. But perhaps I overreacted. } (14. b3 Qd3 (14... c4 15. a4 Qd7 (15... Qxb3?? 16. Rfb1 { Oops! })) 15. c4 Qxd2 16. Bxd2 Nxc4 17. bxc4 Bxa1 18. Rxa1 Bxc4 { Black is still for choice. But having two minors against the rook and pawn makes it competitive. }) 14... Bxe5 (14... dxe5! { eliminates the counterplay I got in the game. }) 15. f4 Bg7 16. f5 { I already knew that I had a wretched position and felt seeking counterplay made logical sense. The position is already close to lost. } 16... Rab8 17. Rab1 Qd3 18. Qg5 Qxd5 19. Nf4 Qd2 20. Rf2 $19 { It is move 20. Thanks to my fashionably late arrival, I have 8 minutes on my clock while my opponent has 43. With a 30 second increment and an additional 30 minutes rewarded at move 40, I need to play my remaining moves at an average of about 54 sec per move. } 20... Qe3 { I am losing both on the clock and the board. There is no time to debate strategic nuances. I'm all-in with this superficial kingside attack. If I am to lose, hesitation will only hasten my defeat. } 21. Qg4 { My opponent spent a lot of time on this position, and it gave me time to sniff out the move he was thinking about and remember an idea from GM Vladimir Kramnik's Chessable course. Paraphrased: There are two ways to win a chess game. 1) Beat your opponent or 2) Let your opponent beat themself. Since option 1 was clearly out of the question, hello option 2! } 21... Bd3? { Black tries too hard to finesse a win from the dominant position. } (21... e6 22. fxe6 fxe6 { Black's king is perfectly fine. My superficial attack is going nowhere. }) 22. Nf1 { Stockfish doesn't approve, but I think this is the consistent way of playing against a fellow human. Black feels they are so clearly winning, so why would they give up the bishop pair so easily? } (22. Nxd3 Qxd3 23. Re1 { I won't pretend to understand why Stockfish likes this better. }) 22... Qe4 23. Ng3 Qc4 { Black adamantly refuses the repetition. Can you blame them, given the position just a few moves ago? } (23... Qe3 24. Nf1 Qxf2+ 25. Kxf2 Bxb1 $19) 24. Rd1 Bxf5 25. Nxf5 gxf5 26. Qxf5 { I have 4 minutes against my opponent's 14. I am still worse, but a massive momentum shift has occurred in just six moves. It is typical in moments like these for the momentum to continue... } 26... e6 27. Qg5 f6? (27... h6 28. Qg3 Kh8 $13) 28. Qg3 Kh8? (28... Qxa2 29. Nh5 Rb7 30. Qxd6 { White will capture a bunch of pawns. In mutual time pressure, anything can happen. }) 29. b3 $18 { From the depths of hell, my pieces now spring to life. Even in great time pressure, the moves come easily. } 29... Qe4 30. Re2 Qf5 31. Nxe6 Rg8 32. Qxd6 Qg4 33. Rde1 Rbe8 34. Ng5 Ref8 (34... Rxe2 35. Nf7#) (34... Qxg5 35. Rxe8) 35. Ne6 Re8 36. Ng5 { A cheeky repetition to get closer to move 40. } 36... Ref8 37. Nf3 Bh6 38. Kh1 Rg6 39. h3 Qc8 40. c4 { The bonus time has been reached. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief having survived the worst position of my tournament. The rest is a matter of technique. } 40... Rfg8 41. Nh4 R6g7 42. Re7 Bg5 43. Rxg7 Rxg7 44. Nf3 Qf5 45. Re8+ Rg8 46. Rxg8+ Kxg8 47. Qb8+ Kg7 48. Qxa7+ Kh6 49. Qe7 Qb1+ 50. Qe1 Qxa2 51. Nxg5 fxg5 { Another queen and pawn endgame up a pawn. But my king is safer than in the previous round, so I have less checks to worry about! } 52. Qe6+ Kh5 53. Qf7+ Kh6 54. Qf8+ Kg6 55. Qxc5 Qxb3 56. Qd6+ Kf5 57. c5 Qe6 58. Qxe6+ Kxe6 59. Kh2 Kd5 60. Kg3 h5 61. Kf3 Kxc5 62. Ke4 Kd6 63. Kf5 g4 64. hxg4 hxg4 65. Kxg4 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0