[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 "?"] [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