[Event "London Chess Classic 2023"] [Site "London"] [Date "2023.12.10"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Gukesh D"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [WhiteTeam "USA"] [BlackElo "2720"] [BlackTeam "IND"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C54"] [Opening "Italian Game: Classical Variation, Giuoco Pianissimo"] [StudyName "London Chess Classic"] [ChapterName "Niemann, Hans Moke - Gukesh D"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/s1cJkBGI/SYmwYwqg"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Re1 h6 9. a5 (9. Nbd2 O-O (9... g5 { is also playable here, although there seems to be more of a theoretical discussion concerning whether Black has time to play for tricks after Nf3-h4. } 10. b4 g4 11. Nh4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Qxh4 13. d4 f5 14. Ng3 f4 15. Bxf4 $16 { as seen in Ragger – Kovalev, St Petersburg, 2018. }) 10. h3 Re8 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Nf1 d5 { is a more normal line. }) 9... g5 10. Be3 g4 11. Nfd2 { Gukesh is prepared with the best move here. } 11... Bxe3 $146 (11... h5?! 12. Bxa7 Rxa7 13. Nf1! (13. b4!? h4 14. Rf1?! (14. Nf1 Nh5 15. Ne3 Qg5 16. Nd2 Nf4 17. Ndf1) 14... Nh5 15. Na3 Nf4 16. Nc2 Qg5 17. Ne3 g3 18. Qf3 gxh2+ 19. Kxh2 Be6 20. Rad1 Ra8 21. Rh1 Kd7 $17 { although White came back to win on move 40 in Yu – Ju, Lichess.org, 2021. }) 13... h4 14. d4?! (14. Ne3 $146 Kf8 15. Rf1 $14) 14... Kf8 15. Qd3 Nh5 16. g3 Ra8 17. Nbd2 Qf6 18. Ne3? exd4! 19. Nd5 Qh6! 20. cxd4 hxg3? (20... Ng7! 21. Nxc7 hxg3! $17) 21. fxg3 Nb4 22. Qe3 Nc2 23. Qxh6+ Rxh6 24. Nxc7 Rb8 25. Rf1 Nxa1? (25... Nf6) 26. Rxf7+ Kg8 27. Rf1+? (27. Rf6+! Kh7 28. Bg8+ Kg7 29. Ne8+ $16) 27... Kh7 28. Rxa1 Bd7 $16 { although White held the draw in 102 (!) moves in Kosteniuk – Supi, Chess.com, 2019. }) 12. fxe3 (12. Rxe3 h5 13. Nf1 h4 $15) 12... Nh7 13. Nf1 h5 14. Ng3 Qg5 15. Nd2 Ne7 (15... Bd7! $15 { is nice prophylaxis, also opening up the option of castling long. }) 16. Qa4+ c6 17. Qb4 { Probing weaknesses on the queenside as a means to slow down Black's attack. } 17... h4 18. Nf5 Bxf5 (18... Nxf5 19. exf5 d5 20. Qd6 f6! $15) 19. exf5 d5 20. Bb3 O-O?? 21. Ra4 { Perhaps this is why Black was better off keeping the light-squared bishop! The g-pawn falls, and with it, so does Black's gameplan. } 21... g3 (21... Nf6?? 22. Qxe7 { is the point. }) 22. Qxh4 Qxh4 23. Rxh4 gxh2+ 24. Rxh2 f6 25. e4 Rf7 26. Nf3 Rg7 27. d4 exd4 28. Nxd4 Ng5 29. exd5 Nxd5 30. Rh6 Kf7 31. Kf1 Rag8 32. c4 Nc7 33. c5+ Nd5 34. Bxd5+ cxd5 35. Ne6 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0