[Event "U.S. Senior Chess Championship 2024"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2024.07.24"] [Round "9"] [White "Kraai, Jesse"] [Black "Becerra Rivero, Julio"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2356"] [BlackElo "2419"] [Annotator "IM Robert Shlyakhtenko"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E90"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses"] [StudyName "2024 National Championships (Junior/Girls' Junior/Senior) Rds 7-9"] [ChapterName "Kraai, Jesse - Becerra Rivero, Julio"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/kt4PLoQ4/CuLPgAMX"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 O-O 6. h3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. g4 Na6 9. Be3 Nd7 10. h4 Ndc5 11. Rg1 Bd7 12. h5 c6 13. Nd2 a4 14. a3 (14. Be2 { would be my preference, not fearing ... a4-a3. }) 14... cxd5 15. exd5?! { From a strategic point of view, this is what White wants to do, but this underestimates Black's dynamic resources. } (15. Nxd5 Nc7 { gives Black good play; the knight will come to e6, where it controls the important d4- and f4-squares. }) (15. cxd5 b5! { also equalizes, based on } 16. Nxb5 Qb6 17. Nc3 Qxb2) 15... f5?! (15... e4! 16. Ndxe4 (16. Qc2 Qh4 17. Be2 Nd3+ 18. Bxd3 exd3 19. Qxd3 Bxg4 { also leaves White clearly worse. }) 16... Qe7 { leaves White's king in peril. }) 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. Qc2 (17. gxf5!? Bxf5 18. Qf3! e4 19. Qg3 { was also possible. }) 17... e4 18. O-O-O { White is statically better here; given a few moves to consolidate his position, he will start to take over. It was crucial for Black to seek counterplay immediately. } 18... Qf6? { That even an experienced King's Indian player such as Becerra did not find the right continuation shows just how tricky these positions can be. } (18... fxg4?! { is tempting, but in fact White just ignores the e4-pawn and plays } 19. Kb1! Bf5 20. Be2 Qd7 21. Rg2 { , when White will eventually win back the pawn with a significant structural advantage. }) (18... Nb3+! { was best, and now } 19. Nxb3 axb3 20. Qxb3 Nc5 21. Qc2 (21. Bxc5 dxc5) 21... fxg4 { is a different story: trading the a6-knight for the d2-knight greatly weakened the position of White's king. After } 22. Kb1 Rf3! { Black will be happy to sacrifice an Exchange on f3, should White play Bf1-e2. Meanwhile, ideas of ... g4-g3 are in the air. }) 19. Kb1 Rac8 20. Be2 Rfe8 { A few slow moves, and White has had time to coordinate his pieces and safeguard his king. Now White begins a series of favorable trades to take advantage of Black's long-term weaknesses. } 21. gxf5 Bxf5 22. Bg4! Nd3 23. Bxf5 gxf5 24. Nb5! { with the idea of Be3-d4. Black cannot capture on b2. } 24... Nc7 25. Bd4 Ne5 26. Qxa4 { With the a1-h8 diagonal now blocked, White can safely win the pawn on a4. Now his position is clearly winning. } 26... Nxb5 27. Qxb5 Re7 28. f4 exf3 29. Nxf3 f4 30. Bxe5 dxe5 31. d6 Re6 32. Qd7! { Winning material. } 32... Rce8 33. Rxg7+ Qxg7 34. Rg1 Qxg1+ 35. Nxg1 e4 36. Nh3 f3 37. Ng5 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0