[Event "Superbet Chess Classic Romania"] [Site "Bucharest, Romania"] [Date "2023.05.13"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2768"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C50"] [Opening "Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal"] [StudyName "Superbet Romania GCT"] [ChapterName "Giri, Anish - Ding, Liren"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/gLTaYxXi/5kTbKFSJ"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 d6 7. c3 a5 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. a4 O-O $146 { The territory in the Italian Game is so rich, with positions as "natural" as this still being novel due to the number of move order differences. } 10. h3 g5?! { Back in the day, we were taught not to push . .. g7-g5 after committing to castling kingside. But over the past decade, Ding has been one of several top grandmasters to successfully argue that chess is not so simple. He's asking too much of this exact position, however. } 11. Nxg5! hxg5 12. Bxg5 Kg7 13. Qf3 Be6 14. Nf1 Rh8 15. Ne3 Qe7 { Both sides have continued to play the best moves after Giri's ambitious sacrifice. Now the question is how White will continue to ramp up the pressure before Black consolidates with ... Nc6-b8-d7 and walking his king out of the cold weather. } 16. O-O-O?! (16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Nb8 18. O-O-O { was more accurate, first sidelining Black's pieces. Now after } 18... e4!? (18... Nbd7 19. Rde1 Qe8 20. d4 $16) 19. Qg3 Nbd7 20. Rhe1 Rag8 { White can play } 21. Bb5! { removing the defender of the f6-knight! This is why the pawn on d5 was such an asset. }) 16... Rag8? (16... Bxe3+! { as previously demonstrated, White needed the transformation after e4xd5 to both play along the half-open e-file and to needle the d7-knight. } 17. fxe3 Nb8 18. Rhf1 { It is counterintuitive to allow White to open up the f-file like this, but it turns out there is no knockout! } 18... Nbd7 19. Bd5 (19. Bb5? c6 { is the key difference from previous discussions after Nc3-d5 and e4xd5. }) 19... Rh7 20. Qg3 Kf8 { and Black consolidates. }) 17. Rhf1 Nb8 (17... Bxe3+?? { With the extra tempo for White, this is unplayable now. } 18. fxe3 $18) 18. d4 exd4 19. cxd4 Nbd7 20. e5 dxe5 21. d5 Qb4 22. Qe2 Bxh3?! (22... Bxe3+ { Again, not an easy move to commit to, but Black's best chance was to remove the dangerous knight. } 23. fxe3 Bg4! 24. Bxf6+ (24. hxg4 Ne4 $14) 24... Nxf6 25. hxg4 Rh4 26. Rf5 { and White is for choice, but that rook on f5 wishes it was a knight. }) 23. gxh3 Kf8 24. h4 Bd4 25. Rxd4! { A great practical choice. Now the knight is no longer on the endangered species list. } 25... exd4 26. Nf5 Rxg5 27. hxg5 Ne5 28. Bb5 Nfg4 29. Kb1 $18 Kg8 (29... d3 30. Bxd3 Qxa4 { was another try, but after } 31. d6 cxd6 32. Rc1 { White is winning. }) 30. Nh6+ Nxh6 31. Qxe5 Ng4 32. Qxc7 Kg7 33. g6 Rf8 34. gxf7 d3 35. Rg1 Rxf7 36. Qc3+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0