[Event "All Girls National 2024 U18"]
[Site "McCormick Place Chicago"]
[Date "4.??.??"]
[White "Sophia Rosenholtz"]
[Black "Meghan Paragua"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1725"]
[BlackElo "2195"]
[Annotator "Lang, JJ"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "E05"]
[Opening "Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/nuHDZ5nX/R5sGrwfl"]
[Orientation "white"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 { Black goes for
the sharpest line against White's Catalan. } 7. Ne5 (7. Qc2 { has been the "main
line" for some time, but White's choice is playable. }) 7... Nc6! { The best
move, and a suggestion that Black is prepared here, as it is not an obvious
move to come up with over the board! } 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. e3 (9. Bxc6?! { scores
poorly for White, and it's instructive why. After } 9... Rb8 10. Nc3 Bb7 11. Bxb7 Rxb7 12. e4 c5 13. d5 Rd7! { , the rook turned out to be well-placed on b7!
Now, Black just has the better pieces after the resulting simplifications. } 14. Qe2 exd5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Qxc4 Nb4 $17) (9. Na3 Bxa3 10. bxa3 Ba6 11. Qd2 Rb8 12. Qa5 Qc8 13. a4 Rd8 14. Ba3 Rxd4 15. Rfb1 Rb6 16. Bc5 Rd7 17. Rd1 (17. Bxb6 cxb6 18. Qc3 Nd5 $44) 17... Rxd1+ { is the main move, which retains equality. } (17... Rd5!? $146 { is the neural net's suggestion, insisting that Black is
better! } 18. Bxd5 cxd5 19. Bxb6 axb6 20. Qb4 Nd7 { when it is White who has to
find the "only move" } 21. Qe7 c5 22. Qd6 h6 23. Rac1 d4 $17 { with more than
enough compensation for the double-Exchange sac! }) 18. Rxd1 Rb8 19. Bxc6 Bb7 20. Bb5 e5 (20... Bd5?! 21. Ba6 Bb7 22. Bxc4 Nd5 23. Qd2 a6 24. f3 Qe8 25. Bb3 Bc6 26. e4?! (26. Qa5 $16) 26... Nb6 27. a5 Na4 28. Ba7 Rc8 29. Bd4 Bb5 30. Qg5 { ½-½ (30) Iturrizaga Bonelli,E (2652)-Schroeder,J (2541) London 2016 }) 21. Bxc4 Qh3 22. f3 Ng4 23. Qxa7 Re8 24. Bb3 { 1-0 (52) Andersen,M (2597)
-Roberson,P (2396) Porto Carras 2018 }) 9... Rb8 10. Qc2 Ba6 (10... c5! { immediately also made sense, as White is not in a positoin to maintain her
center, but this requires an appreciation of why White's rook is not so
dangerous on the d-file: } 11. Rd1 cxd4 12. Rxd4 Nd5! 13. Qxc4 { Black's point
is that the pin cannot be exploited, since White's queen is unfortunately
placed. } (13. e4? Bf6! 14. Rd2 Nb4 15. Qxc4 (15. Rxd8?? Nxc2 $19 { is the
point: White's underdeveloped queenside is a problem. }) 15... Ba6 16. Qb3 (16. Rxd8 Bxc4 17. Rxf8+ Kxf8 18. Na3 { saves material, but Black's lead in
development and control of the center guarantees a lasting plus on the open
board. } 18... Bd3 $17) 16... Nd3 $19 { with a dominant position for Black. })) 11. Rd1 Qd7?! (11... c5 12. dxc5 Nd5! { , as before, transposes more or less to
ideas we have already seen. }) (11... Nd5 { is also good, but of course it is
best if Black commits to a quick ... c6-c5, and it's clear she had not
correctly evaluated this idea. }) 12. Nd2 Rfd8 13. Nxc4 Bxc4 14. Qxc4 Nd5?! (14... c5! { It was absolutely necessary for Black to undouble the pawns
before White completes development. } 15. b3 cxd4 16. Rxd4 Nd5! { But, again,
there's no escaping this resource. But at least here, with the inclusion of
b2-b3, it is easier to find } 17. e4?? Bf6 { although much better is } (17... Rb4!)) 15. b3! $16 { The opening has been a huge success for White: she has won
back her pawn, left Black with weak pawn islands on the queenside, and
retained the only bishop pair. It is not easy for Black to push either ...
c6-c5 or ... e6-e5, either, meaning that White should enjoy lasting pressure
in the center to get the most out of her bishop pair. } 15... Rb6 { Without finding a
way to create counterplay or disrupt White's center, Black's pieces remain
tangled up in passive defense. } 16. Bd2 Rdb8 17. Rac1 Qc8 18. Rc2 (18. e4 { is of course strong for White, but Rosenholtz must be praised for following
the maxim of "do not hurry" when nursing a static advantage against a much
higher rated player. It is so easy to get impatient and lose one's edge in
complications, so this calm move shows great maturity. }) 18... h6 19. h3 Bb4 20. e4! { Black's position has, arguably, not improved at all in the past few
turns. The trade of dark-squared bishops shouldn't bother White so much. } 20... Bxd2 21. Rcxd2 Nf6 22. Kh2 Qd7 23. d5?! { But if White intended d4-d5, then it was
more important to keep the dark-squared bishop on the board, hence why 18. e4
was perhaps better than giving Black time to trade bishops. } (23. Rc1 $16 { White need not rely on d4-d5 to claim an advantage, so why not play on other
half-open files? }) 23... cxd5 24. exd5 e5? { Black's reasoning is logical,
keeping White's bishop stuck behind a pawn on the same color, while also
opening up the sixth rank for her misplaced rook. } (24... exd5! 25. Bxd5 Rd6! { is a great resource for Black. Even if White goes for the testing } 26. Bc6 { then Black should be happy with the two rooks for the queen: } 26... Rxd2! 27. Bxd7 Rxd1 28. Bb5 Rd2) 25. Rc2! { White correctly understands the
position and sees that the lasting pressure on the half-open c-file is more
important than her slightly awkward bishop. } 25... Ne8 { If Black's knight must stay
here to defend the c-pawn, then it is far worse than White's bishop.
Additionally, if the c-pawn falls, then d5-d6 both introduces a dangerous
passer into Black's camp and fixes the problem of White's bishop. } (25... Rc8 26. Qc5 Qd6 { If Black does not play this move, White has d5-d6. For instance: } (26... Qf5 27. d6! Nd7 28. Qc4 c5 29. Rcd2 $16) 27. Rdc1 $16) 26. Rdc1 Qe7 27. Re1 Rc8 28. Rce2?! (28. Qc3! { was more precise. Black's ... Ne8-d6 no
longer comes with tempo, meaning that she must play more passive, weakening
moves such as } 28... f6 { and allow White to continue the attack with } 29. f4 $16) 28... Nd6 29. Qd3 Qf6 { Note that, now, White cannot take on e5 without
dropping the f2-pawn. This was another subtle downside of stacking the rooks
instead of playing 28. Qc3. } 30. Kg1 Re8 31. f4 e4! { Black was just in time
to meet f2-f4 with this important break. She now enters a pawn-down endgame
with only heavy pieces and thus more chances to hold. } 32. Bxe4 Nxe4 33. Rxe4 Rxe4 34. Qxe4 Rb8 35. Qe5 Qb6+ 36. Kg2 Rd8 { The players were too low on time
to continue taking notation here. It looks like, despite Paragua's excellent
defense to survive and reach this endgame, Rosenholtz was still able to make
use of the extra pawn and win in the end! } 1-0