[Event "All Girls Nationals 2024 U16"] [Site "McCormick Place Chicago"] [Date "4.??.??"] [Round "3.101"] [White "Mou, Iris"] [Black "Guo, Ella"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2307"] [BlackElo "1735"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Squarehopper"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B52"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation, Main Line"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/nuHDZ5nX/KZSsvPX6"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. c3 (5. O-O { is by far the main move here. } 5... Ngf6 6. Qe2 e6 7. c3 { would reah a similar position, however. }) 5... Ngf6 6. Qe2 e6 7. d4 (7. O-O { Transposes to some of the main lines after 5. c3. }) 7... cxd4 8. cxd4 { White has achieved her Alapin-style set-up with pawns on e4 and d4. But Black's "small center" is also flexible, and the fact that White has delayed castling gives Black some chances with ... Bf8-b4: } 8... Be7 (8... d5 9. e5 Bb4+! { is a key difference compared to the 5. 0-0 lines. Now } 10. Nbd2 { is best, but part of the reasoning for playing c2-c3 and d2-d4 so quickly was to attempt to still develop the knight to c3 after playing c3xd4. So, this is a concession. } (10. Nc3? Ne4 { allows Black to create a serious weakness on c3. } 11. Bd2 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 { Worse is } (12. bxc3 Rc8 13. Rc1 Nb6 $17 { is even more suffocating, with two strong knights against a bad bishop in a fixed center. }) 12... Nxc3 13. bxc3 Rc8 14. O-O Nb6 $15) 10... Ne4 11. O-O Nxd2 12. Bxd2 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 O-O $14 { White has preserved a small space advantage, but with only one minor piece (and no light-squared bishop), her attacking chances are minimal. }) 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O Rc8 { Now that both sides have castled, we've reached a more "standard" position for these Rossolimo lines. } 11. Bf4 Nb6 { Consistent with the attempt to play along the open c-file. } 12. Rac1 Re8 13. Rfd1 a6 14. h3 Qd7!? (14... d5! { At some point, Black needs to make a decision in the center, or else she risks her position being rendered passive and appropriately punished on the kingside. } 15. e5 Nfd7 { A lovely point: without White's light-squared bishop on d3 hammering the h7-square, there is less need for a knight to "stay home" on f6, and instead re-routes to c6 via b8, attacking White's backwards d-pawn. } 16. b3 Nb8! $10 { [%cal Gb8c6] }) 15. b3 (15. Ne5!? { is an interesting, complicated idea. Black can ignore it, but if } 15... dxe5 (15... Qd8! { is probably better and } 16. Nd3 Nfd7 $14 { is a typical sort of shuffle, with the knight coming to the g6-square via f8. } { [%cal Gd7f8] }) 16. dxe5 { then best is } 16... Nfd5 { and after } 17. exd5 Nxd5 (17... exd5 18. Be3! Bd8 19. Bxb6 Bxb6 20. Rxd5 $16 { White has won a pawn. }) 18. Qg4! Rcd8 19. Rd3 $16 { with initiative. }) 15... Red8 16. Be3 Na8?! { Unable to make decisions about her center, Black starts playing a bit passively. } (16... d5 { is still playable, but now after } 17. e5 { we have to figure out what the knight's doing. But, it turns out, this isn't so hard. Black's plan is clear: double rooks on the open c-file, and redeploy the knight on f5 via ... Nf6-e8-g7-f5, with ... g7-g6 also guarding against attacks on the h7-square. } 17... Ne8 18. Qd3 Rc6! 19. h4 Rdc8 20. Ng5 g6! $10 { and the knight can possibly re-enter via the f5-square. }) (16... Qe8 { is also clever, with the plan of pushing ... d6-d5 after freeing the d7-square for the f6-knight. }) 17. e5!? { White's impulse to punish Black's passive play is understandable. The d5-square is not as well-protected now, and opening the d-file reveals pressure on the queen. But better was to slowly improve her position, for instance with } (17. a4! { anticipating that, from the c7-square, Black's knight was eyeing the b5-square, and now has to go back to the drawing board. }) (17. d5 { is also promising, fixing Black's d-pawn for good. } 17... exd5 (17... e5?! 18. a4 $16 { and Black's pieces are experiencing serious coordination problems. }) 18. exd5 Nc7 19. a4 $16) 17... Nd5! { Black correctly determines that doubled d-pawns are not the end of the world, nor are these weaknesses to be permanent. } 18. Nxd5 exd5 19. Bf4 Nc7 { Suddenly, Black's knight makes sense. White is not in time to prevent both ... Nc7-b5 and ... Nc7-e6. Indeed, the e6-square now comes with tempo against White's bishop. } 20. Qe3 Ne6 21. Bg3 (21. exd6 Bxd6 22. Bxd6 Qxd6 23. Re1 g6 $10 { Black should be happy with this position. The d-pawns are both isolated, and Black's knight is no worse than White's. }) 21... Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Ng5?? (22... dxe5! 23. dxe5 (23. Nxe5 Qb5 $10 { and what is White's attack? Note that } 24. Qf3 Bf6 25. Qh5 Bxe5 26. Bxe5 Qd3 $10 { is one of many ways for Black to trade into a good knight versus bad bishop ending. }) 23... d4 { is the point. With no c- or e-pawn for White, this is not your typical IQP. Black's pawn is a menace. } 24. Qe4 d3 25. Rd1 Qd5 $17 { with better endgame chances due to the thorn in White's side on d3. }) 23. exd6? { Overcomplicating things, allowing Black to save her piece: } (23. Nxg5! { Possibly, there is a transcription error here, and this was not playable. }) 23... Nxf3+ 24. Qxf3 Bxd6 25. Qxd5 { Now, White has the dangerous passed d-pawn. She wins the endgame with ease: } 25... g6 26. Bxd6 Qxd6 27. Qxb7 Qxd4 28. Qxa6 Qb2 29. Rc8 Rxc8 30. Qxc8+ Kg7 31. Qc5 { A strong move. It's not about the number of pawns, but rather their speed. Black's queen will now be poorly place on the a2-square, while the b-pawn is covered all the way to b6. } 31... Qxa2 32. b4 Kf6 33. Kh2 Ke6 34. Qc6+ { And now to b7! } 34... Ke7 35. b5 Qxf2 36. Qc7+ Kf6 37. b6 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0