[Event "Tata Steel Chess 2023 Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands"] [Date "2023.01.21"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Donchenko, Alexander"] [Black "Yilmaz, Mustafa"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2627"] [BlackElo "2609"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D38"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense, Alekhine Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/gbi5O625/lrEMx0SA"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Qc2 b6 8. Bd2 Bb7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. a3 Bd6 11. Nb5 Be7 12. Bd3 a6 13. Nc3 Bd6 14. O-O Ne7 15. b4 Ng6 16. b5 Re8 17. Rfc1 a5 18. Ne2 Ne4 19. Be1! { An astute choice, keeping the bishop despite its lack of immediate prospects on a closed board. One reason for this is that the center could always expand. Another is, given Black's outpost on e4, an extra defender of f2 could be useful. } 19... h5 20. Ng3 Nxg3 21. hxg3 Qf6 22. Bc3 Rad8 23. a4 Bc8 24. Bb2! { And now, with the f2-square no longer under pressure, White finds a way to trade the bad bishop for one of his opponent's better pieces. In the process, this further neutralizes Black's thematic kingside attack, allowing White to concentrate on the fixed weak pawns on the queenside. } 24... Bg4 25. Nh2 Be6 26. Ba3 Rc8 27. Qd1 h4 28. Bxd6 cxd6 29. g4 Ne7 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Rc1 g5 32. Rxc8+ Nxc8 33. Qc2 Kf8 34. f4 Qe7 (34... gxf4? 35. Qf2! $16 { A clever tactical shot to secure a better endgame. }) 35. Kf2 Qf6 (35... gxf4 36. exf4 Qf6 { Black's best practical chance might have been playing against pawn weaknesses. } 37. Ke3 { But White's king should be perfectly safe here. }) 36. f5! { White's winning plan is now simple: attack the weak d5-pawn, expand with e3-e4-e5, and prosper. } 36... Bd7 37. Qc7 Qe7 38. Qb7! f6 39. Bc2 Ke8 40. Nf3 Kd8 41. Qxd5 Be8 42. Bb3 Qd7 43. e4 Ne7 44. Qa8+ Qc8 45. Qa7 Qc7 46. Qxc7+ Kxc7 47. e5 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0