[Event "Pan-American Team Championships 2024"] [Site "McAllen, TX"] [Date "2024.01.06"] [Round "4"] [White "Sorokin, Aleksey"] [Black "Oparin, Grigoriy"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2667"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E45"] [Opening "Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Bronstein (Byrne) Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/gHRNAaI3/U0Ma0p4r"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Ne2 Ba6 6. Ng3 O-O 7. e4 Nc6 8. Bg5 h6 9. h4 e5!? (9... d6 { is the more "solid" defense on the surface, but is actually associated with capturing on g5 and playing more ambitiously. Here, White illustrates a nice strategy associated with a quick rook lift: } 10. Rc1! hxg5 11. hxg5 g6 12. gxf6 Qxf6 13. Qa4 Qg5 14. Kd1 Bb7 15. d5 Bxc3 16. Rxc3 Nd4?! (16... Ne5) 17. Nh5! Rfe8 18. Rg3 Qe7?? 19. Qb4 exd5 20. Qd2 Qe5 21. f4 Qh8 22. f5 dxe4 23. fxg6 e3 24. g7 Qh6 25. Nf6+ { and Black resigned in Chandra – Castellanos Villela, Juan Dolio, 2023. }) 10. d5 Nd4 11. a3 Bc5 $146 { Black baits b2-b4. } (11... Be7!? { Don't be fooled by the database, especially when there's a small sample size. Black won with this move, but was clearly on the ropes for most of the game before being dead lost. But White did not find the right continuation in the blitz game, so the database says Black wins 100% of the games with this move. } 12. Nf5! Nxf5 13. exf5 d6 14. Bxf6?! (14. Qf3 e4 15. Qh3 Nd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. g4 $16) 14... Bxf6 15. Ne4 Bc8? (15... Bxh4!) 16. Qf3 (16. Qh5!) 16... Bxh4 17. Bd3 Bg5 18. Rh5 g6? 19. Nxg5! hxg5 20. Rh6 Kg7?? (20... Qf6) 21. f6+ Kxh6 { The critical moment. } (21... Qxf6 22. Rh7+ $18) 22. g4?? (22. O-O-O $18 { , or 22. Kd2, wins. Black needs two moves to play ...Kh6-h7 and ...Rf8-h8. After the text, he has them. But here, he only gets one. }) 22... Kh7 23. Kd2 Rh8 { and White resigned in Sarana – Artemiev, Chess.com, 2023. }) (11... Bxc3+!? $146 { is also interesting and might be the clearest path to a solid game. } 12. bxc3 { The knight is trapped, but, then again, White's bishop is still en prise. } 12... Nc2+ 13. Qxc2 hxg5 14. hxg5 Nh7 { with the point that the queen is misplaced on c2, unable to play Qd1-h5, and Black should therefore be solid here. }) 12. b4 Be7 13. Nf5 Re8 14. Be3 c5 15. b5 Bc8 16. g4 d6 17. g5 Bxf5 18. exf5 e4! { So far, perfect play from both sides. Black has succeeded in getting White to close down the queenside, although he had to lose time with his light-squared bishop in the process. White has used this time to expand further on the kingside, but Black gets counterplay in the center. } 19. Bg2!? { A shrewd practical decision. White asks Black how confident he is that the knight is still worth giving up as White improves his development. } (19. gxf6 Bxf6 { At the cost of a piece, Black dominates the center, uses the b2-b4-b5 expansion to dominate the long diagonal, and no longer has any kingside play to worry about. }) 19... Nd7? (19... Nxf5! { The only path to equality involved making the correct decision here: } 20. gxf6 Bxf6 21. Kd2! (21. Rc1 Nxh4 $13) 21... Bxc3+ 22. Kxc3 a6 23. bxa6 b5! 24. Bf1 Qf6+ 25. Kc2 Nd4+ { with a perpetual check, as 26. Bxd4 cxd4 gives Black a serious attack. }) 20. Bxe4 (20. Nxe4? Nxf5 $15) 20... Ne5 21. Rg1?! (21. Kf1! Nxc4 22. Bf4 Bf8 23. Bb1 $16) 21... hxg5 22. hxg5 Bxg5! { White was banking on continued pressure on the g-file, but Black is able to refute this strategy. } 23. Bxg5 Nef3+! { Hence the value of Ke1-f1 earlier as prophylaxis. } 24. Kf1 Nh2+! (24... Nxg5?? 25. Qg4 { was what White had to be expecting. The point is that, now, Black loses even with } 25... f6 { due to } 26. f4 $18) 25. Kg2 (25. Ke1?? Ndf3+ 26. Ke2 Nxg5 $19 { with the point that there is no longer a Qd1-g4 play with the king on e2. }) 25... Qxg5+ 26. Kxh2 Qh4+ 27. Kg2 Rxe4! { The point! This nets an equal position with best play. } 28. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 29. Kh3?? { White fights for more, but missed a key resource for Black. } (29. Kf1! Nc2 30. Rb1 Qxc4+ 31. Qe2 (31. Kg2? Nd4 $19 { with ...Qc4xd5+, winning. }) 31... Qxe2+ 32. Kxe2 Nd4+ 33. Kd3 Nxf5 $44) 29... Ne2! { Black shuts down the Qd1-g4 resource once again, and now regains his Exchange on the way to a winning endgame. } (29... Qxf5+? 30. Qg4 { is good for equality, and White presumably liked his attacking chances here. }) 30. f6 { Attempts to save the Exchange, such as } (30. Re1 { get swiftly checkmated! } 30... Qf3+ 31. Kh4 Qxf2+ 32. Kg4 Qf4+ 33. Kh5 Ng3#) 30... Qf5+ 31. Kg2 Qg5+ 32. Kh2 Nxg1 33. Qxg1 Qxf6 34. Rc1 Qh4+ 35. Kg2 Re8 36. Re1 Re4 37. Rxe4 Qxe4+ 38. Kh3 Qh7+ { with the pure pawn ending coming up next, White packs it in. } 0-1