[Event "Orchid Lekki Chess Anniversary Tournament"] [Site "Lekki, Lagos Nigeria"] [Date "2020.12.19"] [Round "5"] [White "Rotimi, Lapite"] [Black "IM Balogun, Oluwafemi"] [Result "0-1"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E90"] [Opening "King's Indian Defense: Normal Variation, Rare Defenses"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Chessnycjohnf"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/rOld1sT9/j959WnQT"] [Orientation "white"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. h3 { A modest pawn move that leads to some fascinating positions. It came to my attention when Evgeny Tomashevsky used it to great effect against some of the best King’s Indian exponents in Tbilisi Grand Prix in Georgia, 2015. The immediate point is that black’s pieces are prevented from accessing the g4 square, and therefore on the next move white can develop the c1 bishop to its natural e3 square without worrying about any Ng4 by black, an additional point is that with the center closed ( i.e. black’s central pawns on d6,e5 and white’s on e4,d5) white can play g4 (supported by the modest pawn on h3) which can stifle black’s planned f5 break. } 6... e5 7. d5 Nh5 { One of the many acceptable reactions, fighting against the g4 pawn push (8. g4 Nf4!) and getting ready to play the f5 pawn break. } 8. g3 f5 9. exf5 gxf5 10. Nh4 Qe8 { 10.… Nf4!? And 10…Nf6!? Are interesting alternatives } 11. Be2 Nf6 12. Qc2 Na6 { Trying to put pressure on the f5 pawn and hoping to induce one of black’s central pawns to move forward and make black’s structure less flexible. For instance (12. … e4 can be met by 13. Ng2 heading to the f4 square and 12. … f4 by 13. gxf4 gxf4 14. Rg1 when white is better) } 13. a3 Nc5 14. Be3 Nce4 { A really bad move. Here black was probably trying to avoid the possibility of his structure getting ruined by Bxc5 and so decides to move his knight to the center (what could be more natural), but here the knight turns out to be vulnerable. I will leave it to those who play the King’s Indian to find an improvement for black here or much earlier. I did not hit on the right idea immediately and started my calculation with the move 15. Nb5 going for a double attack on the c7 and a7 pawns but after15. … f4! And even the simple 15. … Qd8, I did not find anything promising. But the other candidate move looked promising. } 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 { 15. … fxe4 16. 0-0-0 is just better for white when whites’ pieces are better placed and black will most likely lose the e4 pawn. } 16. g4 { Undermining the support of the e4 knight, black loses a pawn by force. Although I should also mention the move 16. Bd3!? is also strong. } 16... c6 { I thought this was a good practical move, if black does nothing, white will be a pawn up, castle queenside, with better placed pieces (will have both the extra pawn and the compensation), but here at least black fights to open up the c file for the a8 rook, ensuring a little bit of counter play. } 17. gxf5 { Better than 17. Nxf5 which allows black to exchange the dormant bishop on c8 and allows the rook to enter the game too easily. } 17... cxd5 18. cxd5 Nf6 19. Rg1 Kh8 { Here, I felt white was overwhelmingly better, but with a ticking clock and many tempting options to calculate it was far from easy 20 Qc7 attacking the g7 bishop and the d6 pawn looked winning but to my horror 20…Rf7 21 Qxd6 Bf8 traps the white queen. 20 0-0-0 also did not appeal to me after I calculated 20…Bd7 21 kb1 Ba4 22 b3 Rc8 } 20. Qd2 { A move I found with my time running perilously low, white wants to trade off the defenders of the black king and the queen steps off the dangerous c file allowing white to castle without fear of a rook coming to c8. } 20... Qf7 21. Bh6 Rg8 22. Bxg7+ { A really horrible move, probably only people in kindergarten will play this way. But even they upon seeing the above comment will feel insulted. Obvious and best is 22. 0-0-0 the rooks are connected, the king will be safe on the queenside and white can continue his siege on the black king calmly. Play could go 22. 0-0-0 Bd7 23. kb1 Rc8 and here both, 24. Bxg7 Bxg7 25. Qh6 or 24. Ka1 and white retains every chance of converting his advantage. } 22... Rxg7 23. Rxg7 { Here again 23. 0-0-0 was indicated. Now suddenly from having a better position and trying to find a way to increase the pressure, I am worse, I failed to adjust to this new reality and quickly went down in flames. } 23... Qxg7 24. O-O-O Bd7 25. Kb1 Rc8 26. Ka1 b5 { Here after 26. … Rc5! Black is just better with the d5 pawn about to fall. } 27. Qe3?! { As pointed out by my opponent after the game 27. Nf3 with the idea of putting the rook on g1 was still a fight. } 27... a5! { Seeing this pawns heading towards my king, and with my flag about to fall, my fate was sealed and the moves I played from here on I will give without comments. } 28. f3 Rg8! 29. Qb6 Qg3 30. Qxd6 Qxh4 31. Qxe5 Re8 32. Qh2 b4! { The final nail on the coffin, black is a piece up and opens the white king to the assault of the black pieces. } 33. Bd3 bxa3 34. bxa3 Qa4 35. Rc1 Qxa3+ { 0-1 White resigns. } 0-1