[Event "U.S. Junior Championship - Girls"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2024.07.24"] [Round "9"] [White "Ehsani, Yassamin"] [Black "Gaw, Chloe"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2083"] [BlackElo "2000"] [Annotator "IM Robert Shlyakhtenko"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D27"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Accepted: Classical Defense, Main Line"] [StudyName "2024 National Championships (Junior/Girls' Junior/Senior) Rds 7-9"] [ChapterName "Ehsani, Yassamin - Gaw, Chloe"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/kt4PLoQ4/FWY4CKMF"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Nc3 b5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. Nd2 Nbd7 12. Nb3 Bb6?! (12... Ke7! { is the only path to equality. Though White gains the bishop pair, she has invested several tempi to do so. Play may continue } 13. Nxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 (14. f3 b4 15. Nd1 a5 { in Ivanchuk – Kramnik, Chess24.com, 2020, was also fine for Black, although White eventually won. }) 14... Nce4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bb2 Rac8 17. Rfc1 (17. Bxg7? Rhg8 18. Bd4 Nc3! { and Black wins. }) 17... f6 18. f3 { and now } 18... Rhd8! { equalizes. }) 13. a4! b4 14. a5! { A standard positional trick. This in-between move allows White to separate Black's queenside pawns. } 14... Bc7 15. Na4 Bd6? { Incredibly, after this natural move Black's position is already clearly worse. } (15... Bd5! { Black's position is strategically worse, and she must seek counterplay immediately. White's best reply is } 16. Bf3! Ne4 17. Bxe4 Bxe4 18. Bd2 { , retaining a better position, but with her bishop pair gone, it's a different story. }) 16. f3! { Showing excellent understanding of this endgame. Shutting down Black's bishop with f2-f3 and e3-e4 is one of White's main strategic ideas in this opening. } 16... Nd5 17. Rd1! { White doesn't rush with e3-e4; first, the f1-square is cleared for the bishop. } 17... Ke7 18. e4 Nf4 19. Bf1 e5 20. Be3 { Black has failed to get any counterplay, while White has accomplished two major strategic objectives: splitting Black's queenside pawns and blunting the b7-bishop. Ehsani converted the advantage with confidence. } 20... Ne6 21. Nb6 Nxb6 22. axb6 Rhc8 23. Na5 Bc5 24. Bxc5+ Nxc5 25. Nxb7 Nxb7 26. Bxa6 Rab8 27. Rd5 Rc6 (27... f6 { is met by } 28. Rad1! { followed by Rd5-d7. The following line is important: }) 28. Rxe5+ Kf6 29. Rf5+ Ke7 30. Bf1!? Rxb6 31. Ra7 Ke8 32. Re5+ Kf8 33. Bc4 Nd6 34. Bd5! { Not allowing Black to trade a pair of rooks on b7. } 34... g6 35. Ree7 Ra6 36. Rxf7+ Nxf7 37. Rxa6 { The rest is a matter of technique. } 37... Ne5 38. b3 Rc8 39. Ra8 Rxa8 40. Bxa8 Ke7 41. Kf2 Kd6 42. Ke3 Kc5 43. Bd5 g5 44. h3 Ng6 45. g3 Ne7 46. Bb7 Ng6 47. f4 gxf4+ 48. gxf4 Kd6 49. e5+ Ke6 50. Ke4 Ne7 51. f5+ Kd7 52. Bd5 Ke8 53. f6 Ng6 54. e6 Kd8 55. e7+ Kd7 56. Bc6+ { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0