[Event "US Championship"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/iLDop9iy/BuMTJ9Bj"] [Date "2021.10.17"] [Round "9"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Naroditsky, Daniel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Yu,Jennifer"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C55"] [Opening "Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Modern Bishop's Opening"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/iLDop9iy/BuMTJ9Bj"] [Orientation "white"] { Many people often dismiss draws between top grandmasters as boring affairs. That is the last thing that anyone would describe this game as! This battle between Wesley So and Daniel Naroditsky features open kings in the center and sacrificed pieces. With this draw, So maintains his position as tied for first place in the Open Championship. } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 g5 { A newer idea to gain kingside space that has mainly been played online. } (5... d6 6. O-O g6 7. d4 Qe7) (5... Bc5 6. O-O d6 { transposing into the main line Italian. }) 6. d4 d6 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qe2 { Declining the queen exchange. } (8. Qxd8+ { and interesting enough, all were online games played during quarantine } 8... Nxd8 9. h4 (9. Nxe5 Nxe4 10. O-O Nd6 11. Bb3 Be6 { 1/2-1/2 (37) Karjakin,S (2752)-Oparin,G (2652) Chess.com INT 2020 }) 9... g4 10. Nxe5 Bd6 11. Nd3 Nxe4 12. O-O $14) 8... Bd6 (8... g4 { before White gets a chance to play h2-h4 himself. This is useful because it prevents White from locking up the kingside as Black always has the possibility of pushing a pawn to h4. } 9. Nfd2 h5 10. Nf1 Rg8 { preventing Bg5 after h4 }) 9. h4 { Securing a pawn on h4 before Black pushes ...g5-g4, gaining space and closing the kingside. } 9... g4 10. Nh2 Qe7 11. Nf1 { This seems a little hasty, as this allows ...Nf6-h5 because the h2-knight is no longer attacking the g4-pawn. } (11. Nd2 { intending to transfer the knight to f1-g3 before maneuvering the h2-knight back into the center of the board through f1-e3. Black's f6-knight no longer has a chance to create counterplay by going to h5-f4 since it is tied to the defence of the g4 pawn. Additionally, a knight maneuvre to g3 stops ...Nh5 ideas completely. One possible line is } 11... Bd7 12. Ndf1 O-O-O 13. Ng3 Kb8 14. Nhf1 { and once the knight gets to e3 White has a pleasant position with a safe king, active pieces, and control over important central squares. }) 11... Nh5! { Narodistsky seizes the chance to create counterplay immediately by sticking the knight into f4 where it will be a thorn in white's side. } 12. Ne3 (12. g3? { to prevent ...Nh5-f4 doesn't exactly work as intended. Black has } 12... Nf4! { anyways! After } 13. gxf4 exf4 { Black has more than enough compensation. The c6-knight is heading towards e5 where it is eyeing the f3-square, and the monster pawns on f4 and g4 are ready to push at any moment. } 14. Na3 Ne5 { It's difficult for White to find a move, and playing "natural moves" can end badly. For example, } 15. Bd2 g3 16. f3 Bg4! 17. fxg4 f3 $17 { and the pawns are suffocating }) 12... Nf4 13. Qf1 (13. Nd5 Nxe2 14. Nxe7 Kxe7 (14... Nxc1 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. Nd2 Nxa2 17. Rxa2 a6 18. h5 { And once again activity trumps material. The white knight is heading towards a f1-e3 reroute where it eyes the juicy d5- and f5-squares d5 and targets the g4-pawn. With a timely Rh1-h4, White can easily gain the pawn back and enjoying excellent piece activity. }) 15. Kxe2) 13... Be6 14. g3?! { Most likely dismissing our outright missing Black's plan. } (14. Nd5 { again anticipates Black's plans to attack the white king. } 14... Bxd5 15. exd5 Na5 16. Bb5+ c6 17. dxc6 O-O-O! (17... bxc6 18. Ba6 { we get a very strange position that is playable for both sides }) 18. Be3 (18. cxb7+?! Kb8! { the white king is going to be in danger soon while the black king is ironically safe behind white's b7 pawn }) 18... bxc6 19. Ba6+ Kb8 20. Nd2) 14... O-O-O! { Just like before the f4-knight is untouchable! } 15. Nd5 { Played a move too late - Black is fully developed and has the initiative. } (15. gxf4? exf4 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Bxd5 Ne5 18. Nd2 c6 19. Bb3 Bc5 $17 { when White's position is falling apart and he will soon have to shed material. Black's pieces are all harmonized while White's pieces are on top of each other and the king has nowhere to go. }) 15... Bxd5?! (15... Qe8 { . This position is difficult to understand, but it's important to note that the f4-knight is almost always untouchable. Taking it would mean opening the White king up to attack, and Black always has many options to win the material back. Key point: usually when a player has a positional advantage, the tactics work out in their favor! } 16. Be3 (16. gxf4?! exf4 17. Nxf4 Bxc4 18. Qxc4 Nd4! { an amazing move putting White's awkward pieces on full display! } 19. Qxd4? Bxf4 $19) (16. Nf6 { , attempting to repeat the position, but the repetition can easily be avoided } 16... Qf8 17. gxf4 Bxc4 18. Qxc4 exf4 $17 { and ...Nf6-e5 comes with an extra flourish of attacking the white queen }) 16... Na5 17. gxf4 (17. b3 Nxc4 18. bxc4 f5 { Black always has more ideas to poke holes in white's position }) 17... Bxd5 18. Bxd5 exf4 19. Bd4 Be5 { with ...c7-c6 coming }) 16. exd5 Na5 17. gxf4 { Despite the king being stranded on d1, it's now safe to capture the knight because of the exchanges a move earlier. White has a pawn jammed into d5, instead of another piece as in some other lines, and the fewer pieces there are on the board, the less attackers Black has. It turns out that Black still has sufficient counterplay because of the placement of the white king, but not enough to push for an advantage like in some of the lines we examined before. } 17... exf4+ 18. Kd1 Nxc4 19. Qxc4 { Note that it's easier for White to develop now, along with the increased piece activity, when compared to some of the lines without exchanges on d5. } 19... g3 20. fxg3 fxg3 21. Re1 Qf6?! (21... Qd7! { maintains equality because the wueen won't be under attack if White develops with Nd2-e4. Additionally, this stops any Qc4-g4+ in-between moves. If White continues as in the game with } 22. Nd2? g2! { it's not clear how White can stop the pawn } 23. Nf3 (23. Kc2 Qf5+ 24. Ne4 Rhe8 25. Bd2 Bh2 $19) 23... Rde8 24. Re3 Rhg8 $19) 22. Nd2 Kb8 (22... g2?? 23. Qg4+ { highlights the difference of the queen on f6 vs d7 }) 23. Ne4 Qf5 { The pendulum is starting to swing the other way. White is about to develop all his pieces, and he still has an extra piece. But he must reckon with the advanced g-pawn and his king stuck in the center. } 24. Be3 (24. Nxd6! { looks like it loses the d-pawn, but not for free! In exchange White gets to exchange queens and develop the remainder of his pieces - definitely worth a meager pawn. } 24... Rxd6 25. Qe4 Rxd5+ (25... Qf2 26. Qd4 { White will trade queens anyway } 26... Qf3+ 27. Kc2) 26. Kc2 g2 27. Qxf5 Rxf5 28. Be3 $16) 24... Rhe8! { Correctly calculating that White has nothing better than perpetual check after taking on d6. } (24... g2 25. Bg1 Be7 26. Kc2 Bxh4 { but it's incredibly difficult to evaluate the position and all of its elements. It turns out that after } 27. Qd4 b6 28. Re2 Rhe8 29. Rd1 { White is able to consolidate his position for now and hold on to his material advantage. }) 25. Nxd6 (25. Bg1 { is always possible but it's risky to allow Black into the position to attack the king. After } 25... Re5 26. Nxd6 Rxd5+ 27. Kc1 R5xd6 { White should survive, but it's unintuitive and scary for a human to play into. }) 25... Rxd6 26. Bxa7+ Kxa7 27. Qa4+ (27. Rxe8 Rxd5+ 28. Kc1 g2 29. Re1 Qf2 30. Qxd5 Qxe1+ 31. Kc2 Qxa1 { the position is equal. }) 27... Kb6 28. Qb4+ Ka6 29. Qa4+ Kb6 30. Qb3+ Ka7 31. Qa4+ Kb6 { A wild affair where the end result does not tell the full story of this roller coaster of a game! } 1/2-1/2