[Event "Superbet Chess Classic Romania"]
[Site "Bucharest, Romania"]
[Date "2023.05.10"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2785"]
[BlackElo "2789"]
[Annotator "Lang, JJ"]
[Variant "From Position"]
[ECO "?"]
[Opening "?"]
[StudyName "Superbet Romania GCT"]
[ChapterName "Firouzja, Alireza - Ding, Liren"]
[FEN "3rr3/1pp1qpk1/1b1n1np1/p5N1/P4B1P/2P1p1P1/BP2Q1K1/3R1R2 b - - 0 30"]
[SetUp "1"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/gLTaYxXi/EOC2nIy1"]
[Orientation "white"]
{ An incredibly complicated position. }
30... Nfe4? (30... Nde4!! 31. Nxf7 (31. Rxd8 Rxd8 32. Bxe3 Nxg3! 33. Ne6+ (33. Kxg3 Bxe3 34. Ne6+ { transposes. }) 33... fxe6 34. Kxg3 Bxe3 35. Qxe3 e5 $17) 31... Rxd1! 32. Rxd1 (32. Qxd1 Nxg3! 33. Bxg3 e2 $19) 32... Nf2 33. Re1 Qd7! 34. Ng5 Nd3 35. Rf1 Qc6+ 36. Kh2 Nf2 37. Nf3 { with a strong position after } 37... Qe4 { . This is such a rich
illustration of players' needs to balance calculation with evaluation, as this
final position was not a tactical win by any means. }) 31. Bxd6! { The
critical difference is this resource was unavailable if Black simply moved his
d-knight first. } 31... Nxd6 32. Bxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Qxf7 34. Nxf7 Rxd1 35. Qxd1 Kxf7 36. Qe2 { Of course, Ding saw all of this when he played 30. ... Nfe4. Indeed,
this position should be playable for Black, with the obnoxious passed e-pawn
essentially playing the role of "third piece" against White's queen. } 36... Ke7?? { Now, Black abandons the weak g-pawn, and White is once again able to play for
a win. } (36... Kg7! { By staying near the battleground on the kingside, Black
would be able to play to the strengths of his pieces without allowing White's
queen as much room to cause problems. } 37. g4 Re7 38. h5 Re5 39. hxg6 Kxg6 { and White's job is much harder. The g-pawn has no clear way to push, and Black
safely controls the f5- and f5- squares the g-pawn could support the queen on. }) 37. Kf1 Rf8+ 38. Ke1 Rf2 39. Qg4 Kf6 40. Qg5+ Kf7 41. Qd5+ Kf6 42. g4! Rxb2 43. g5+ Ke7 44. Qe5+ Kd7 45. Qg7+ Kd6 46. Qxg6+ Ke5 47. Qe8+ Kf4 48. g6 Rb1+ 49. Ke2 Rb2+ 50. Kd3 Rd2+ 51. Kc4 Rg2 52. Qf7+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0