[Event "2023 NHS Under 1200"] [Site "Washington D.C."] [Date "2023.04.02"] [White "Zachary Nowel"] [Black "Andrew Minuti"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1190"] [BlackElo "1138"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C02"] [Opening "French Defense: Advance Variation, Lputian Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/gWVmQS5K/5wVqyKtI"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by JJ Lang } 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 Nh6 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5 9. Bb2 a5 10. b5 Na7 11. a4 Bb4+ 12. Nbd2 Bd7 13. Bd3 Ne7 14. Qe2 Rc8 15. O-O O-O 16. Rac1 Rc7 17. Rxc7 (17. Bxh7+! { Does it work? You better believe it! } 17... Kxh7 18. Ng5+ Kg6 19. Qg4 Nf5 20. Ndf3! $18 { There are so many wrinkles in these sacrifices. The idea of Nd2-f3-h4 is a pretty unusual one, however. }) 17... Qxc7 18. Rc1 Qb6 19. Nb3 Rc8 20. Rxc8+ Naxc8 21. Qc2 Ng6 22. Nc5 Bxc5 23. dxc5 Qd8 24. Qd2 b6 25. c6 $18 { What I like about White's play is that, without taking any risk, he built on a great position, trading rooks while keeping superior structure. Maybe he misevaluated the "Greek Gift" or maybe he wasn't even looking for it, but either way, he understood his positional strengths and navigated the game towards their favor. } 25... Be8 26. Bd4 Nge7 27. Qe3 Nf5 28. Bxf5 exf5 29. Ng5 h6 30. Nf3 g5 31. g3 Qc7 32. h4 g4 33. Ne1 Kh7 34. Ng2 Bxc6 35. bxc6 Qxc6 36. Qb3 Qc4 37. Qxc4 dxc4 38. Ne3 b5 39. axb5 a4 40. Nxc4 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0