[Event "FIDE World Cup 2019"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2019.09.22"] [Round "4.8"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Duda, J....."] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2730"] [Annotator "Xiong, J"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B03"] [Opening "Alekhine Defense: Four Pawns Attack, Trifunovic Variation"] [StudyName "Xiong on Blitz"] [ChapterName "Xiong, Jeffery - Duda, J....."] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/r8rkgYXg/niKWLNiq"] [Orientation "white"] { Let me show you a blitz game that I played in the 2019 FIDE World Cup against the world class GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. I eliminated him with this victory, but Duda won the next World Cup in 2021. This match was bitterly fought. We traded wins in the classical and rapid time control games. I was able to finally hold him to a draw in the first blitz game and now, with the white pieces, I wanted to take the full point. } 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4 d6 5. f4 Bf5 6. Nc3 e6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. Be2 dxe5 10. fxe5 Nc6 11. O-O { [#] My coach and I had prepared this line very carefully, and I think that it's important to play opening lines in blitz that you are extremely familiar with, so you can play those first moves using little time. } 11... f6 12. exf6 Bxf6 { White has a clear weakness on the e6-square, and all my pieces are pointed towards the center. } 13. b3?! { More natural is } (13. Qd2! { , followed by Ra1-d1 when all my pieces are well-placed. }) 13... Qe7 14. Qe1 { A typical idea, moving the queen off the d-file to avoid any pins. } 14... Rad8 15. Rd1 Bg4? { Missing my response. The correct } (15... Nb4 { would have been challenging to deal wtih. Wild complications ensue after } 16. Qg3 c5 { . }) 16. Ne4! { The black position is awful after I eliminate the dark-squared bishop. } 16... h6 { I think Duda missed the in-between move } (16... Bxf3 17. Nxf6+! { . }) 17. Qg3 Bf5 18. Nxf6+ Rxf6 { There are many promising options, so I spent some time here. } 19. Nh4 (19. Ne5 { Centralizing is usually a good idea, and in blitz, it's great to to keep things simple. After } 19... Nxe5 20. dxe5 Rg6 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8 22. Qf4 { I missed that the rook would be stuck on g6. }) 19... Bc2 20. Rxf6? { A miscalculation. Again, it was best to just keep things simple with } (20. Rd2 { . }) 20... Bxd1 (20... Qxf6! 21. Rf1 Nxd4! { Black would be back in the game! }) 21. Rg6? { Again allowing Black back into the game. I should have found the correct } (21. Rxh6! Bxe2 22. Rh8+ { . }) 21... Nxd4 22. Bd3 Ne2+ 23. Bxe2 Bxe2 24. Bxh6 Rd1+?? { A panic move, but this happens in blitz! } (24... Qc5+ 25. Qe3 Qxe3+ 26. Bxe3 { Black is worse, but there are decent drawing chances. } 26... Kf7 { Black is worse but there are decent drawing chances in this endgame. }) 25. Kf2 Qf8+ 26. Nf3! { This is what Duda missed. } 26... Rd7 (26... Bxf3 27. Rxg7+ Kh8 28. Rh7+ { . }) 27. Kxe2 { Now I'm just up a piece. } 27... Kh7 28. Ng5+ Kh8 29. Nxe6 Qf5 30. Bxg7+ Kg8 31. Bd4+ Kf7 32. Rf6+ { This was a topsy-turvy game with many mistakes. That's blitz! It's almost impossible to be perfectly accurately in fast time controls, but as long as your mistakes are smaller than your opponent's, you can win. With this win I advanced to the quarter-final of the World Cup, and as a teenager representing my country on the world stage, I was very proud! } 1-0