[Event "Pro Chess League 2023"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.02.14"] [Round "3"] [White "Gunina, Valentina"] [Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2476"] [BlackElo "2572"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D45"] [Opening "Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Meran Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/r4rOm8dU/TZkmkWzP"] [Orientation "white"] { Attacking the exposed king } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 a6 6. b3 Bb4 7. Bd2 Nbd7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O Bd6 10. Qc2 e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. cxd5 { Strategizing around playing with or against an isolated queen's pawn should be familiar to most readers. At first glance, White should be fine here, as she is capable of blockading the isolani. } 12... cxd5 13. Nd4?! (13. Bc1! { Remember the other half of the adage for playing against the isolani: blockade *then trade*. White should realize that she will never get Black's pieces off the board if she goes straight for Nf3-d4. } 13... Qc7 14. h3 Ne4 15. Bb2 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Bf5 17. Qc1 Rfd8 18. Ne2 Qa5 19. Nd4) 13... Bd7 14. Rad1 Rc8 15. Qb1 Re8 16. h3 Bb8 17. Rc1 Nc6 { Since blockading the pawn, White has made no progress towards trading into a favorable endgame. In contrast, Black has activated both rooks on open and half-open files, and now dislodges the blockader before White can defend her with another piece. } 18. Nxc6 Rxc6! { Another instructive moment. The attacking side is not supposed to want to trade pieces, but now we can appreciate that Black simply replaced a strong knight with a strong rook. White lost her best piece, however. } 19. Rfd1 Qc7 20. Kf1 d4! { Now it should be clear: White's mistake wasn't that she blockaded the d-pawn, but that she blockaded the d-pawn at a time when she would be unable to keep the blockade. Accordingly, she was better off facilitating trades, rather than temporarily achieving a blockade that, less than ten moves later, would end up with Black executing the thematic d5-d4 break anyways. } 21. exd4 Qh2 22. f4 Bxf4 23. Qd3 Bg3 24. Be3 Bxh3! 25. Bf3 Ng4 26. Bg1 Qh1 (26... Qxg2+ { would have been even prettier, but perhaps too cruel. } 27. Bxg2 Rf6+ 28. Qf3 Rxf3+ 29. Bf2 Rxf2+ 30. Kg1 Bh2+ 31. Kh1 Bxg2#) 27. Ne4 Bxg2+ 28. Ke2 Bxf3+ 29. Qxf3 Rxe4+ { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1