[Event "Cairns Cup"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.06.06"] [Round "4"] [White "Khotenashvili, Bella"] [Black "Krush, Irina"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2470"] [BlackElo "2436"] [Annotator "IM Nazi Paikidze"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D00"] [Opening "Queen's Pawn Game: Accelerated London System"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/sLZyX0Nq/aWKyLkN3"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by IM Nazi Paikidze } 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 { A good day for the London System enthusiasts! } 2... Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. Nd2 Nc6 5. Ngf3 e6 (5... Qb6 { is considered to be a very critical line, leading to a very sharp position: } 6. dxc5 Qxb2 7. Rb1 Qc3 8. Bb5 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. e4 $13 { chaos on the board, but hundreds of games in the database. }) 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg3 O-O 8. Bd3 b6 9. Qe2 Bb7 { Both players are making standard developing moves so far. White usually castles short here, but castling long is possible as well. } 10. a4!? { Bella chose an interesting sideline. With this move, White is gaining space on the queenside. However, the downside is, castling long is no longer safe for White. } (10. Rd1 { is the main theoretical continuation. }) 10... Qe7 11. a5!? { An interesting pawn sacrifice! There's no immediate follow-up that White has planned, this is what we call "an intuitive sacrifice." } 11... c4 (11... Nxa5 { Black can accept the sacrifice immediately: } 12. dxc5 Bxg3 (12... Bxc5 13. b4 $18) (12... bxc5?? 13. Rxa5 $18) 13. hxg3 Qxc5 14. Ne5 $44 { White has a sufficient compensation with the open h-file, and centralized pieces. } (14. b4?? { not like this, due to } 14... Qxc3 $19)) (11... cxd4!? { was also possible } 12. exd4 Nxa5 13. Ne5 $44) 12. Bc2 Nxa5 (12... bxa5?! 13. e4 $14 { Black messed up the pawn structure on the queenside, and now is facing the problems in the center. }) 13. Bh4! { The beginning of a powerful attack against Black's king! } 13... Qd8 14. g4 $40 Be7 15. Bxf6! { The key move in the attack. Getting rid of Black's best defender! } (15. g5? Ne4! $15) 15... Bxf6 16. h4 Be7 17. Ng5! { The idea is to provoke the pawns to move and weaken the king. } 17... h6 (17... g6 18. f4 $18 { followed by Nd2-f3 and h4-h5, which would be an unstoppable attack! }) 18. Nh7! { This is a smart idea: leaving the knight on h7 to control more squares around the king and make Black uncomfortable. } 18... Re8 19. g5 (19. Nf3 $18 { is a strong move here - it stops Black's counteryplay of ... e6-e5 ideas, which happened later in the game. }) 19... Nb3? (19... e5 { Black needs to open up the center to get some counterplay. } 20. Rg1 (20. dxe5? d4! $15) 20... g6 21. dxe5 Kxh7 22. h5 $40 { White still has a very strong attack, but this was Black's best option. }) 20. Nxb3 { A human reaction, but the computer finds an amazing resource. } (20. Qh5!! { not an easy move to find, because the reason behind this move is not obvious: } 20... Nxa1 21. Bb1!! { White sacrifices a whole rook, but the threat of Rh1-g1 and g5xh6 is deadly. } 21... Qd6 22. Rg1 e5 23. gxh6 g6 24. Bxg6 $18) 20... cxb3 21. Bd3 e5! { Irina is fighting back! } 22. dxe5 d4! 23. Rg1 dxc3 24. gxh6 (24. bxc3?? Qc7 $19 { Black's counterplay here is very strong. Suddenly, White's king starts to look vulnerable. }) 24... cxb2 25. Rd1! { Bella deserves enormous credit here for having the patience to not take on g7 with a check! } (25. Rxg7+?? Kh8 26. Rd1 Bb4+ 27. Kf1 Qxh4 $19 { as it turns out, this line is losing for White. Black's king is well hidden and safe on h8. }) 25... g6 (25... Bb4+ 26. Kf1 Qxh4 { the difference becomes obvious now: because Black's king is still on g8, White has a winning move: } 27. Nf6+!! Kf8 (27... Kh8 28. hxg7#) 28. hxg7+ Ke7 29. Qg4 $18) 26. Qxb2 (26. Ng5! Bxg5 27. Rxg5 $18 { with a fantastic position for White. }) (26. e6 { is an interesting move, but it doesn't work out for White } 26... Kxh7 27. exf7 Bb4+ 28. Kf1 Qxh4 29. Bxg6+ Kxh6 30. fxe8=Q Qh3+ 31. Rg2 Qxg2#) 26... Kxh7 27. Qxb3 { Bella sacrificed a piece, but her queen is eyeing the deadly f7- and g7- squares. Black needs to be careful. } 27... Bd5 28. Bxg6+ (28. Bc4!? Bxc4 29. Qxc4 Bb4+ 30. Qxb4 Qc7) 28... fxg6 29. Rxd5 Qc7 30. h5 (30. Rd7 { is a very tempting tactic. } 30... Qxe5 (30... Qxd7?? 31. Qf7+ Kxh6 32. Qxg6#) 31. Qf7+ Kh8 32. Rxg6 Bb4+ 33. Kf1 Re7 34. Rxe7 Qxe7 35. Qc4 Qc5 36. Qf7 Qe7 { but Black miraculously survives! }) 30... g5 31. e6?? { In time trouble, Bella gives Irina a chance to turn things around. } (31. Rd7 Qxe5 32. f4 $13 { this position is a mess, but the computer evaluates it as equal; the play is still for three results. }) 31... Rad8?? { Irina returns the favor in time trouble, and blunders an important idea: } (31... Kxh6 $19 { was simply winning for Black! }) 32. Qd3+ Kh8 33. Qd4+! { Now the game is over. } 33... Bf6 34. Qxf6+ Kh7 35. Qf5+ Kh8 36. Qf6+ Kh7 { Repeating to gain some time and get closer to move 40 (to gain 30 minutes). } 37. Qf5+ { This is still winning for White, but Bella could have ended game quickly instead, with: } (37. Rd7+!! Rxd7 38. Qg6+ Kh8 39. Qxe8+ Kh7 40. Qxd7+ Qxd7 41. exd7 $18 { checkmate in four. }) 37... Kh8 38. Rxg5 Qc1+ 39. Ke2 Qc4+ 40. Ke1 Qc1+ 41. Ke2 Qc4+ 42. Kf3 Qxd5+ 43. Qxd5 Rxd5 44. Rxd5 Rxe6 { Unfortunately for Black, White picks up one of the queenside pawns with check and goes into an easy winning rook ending. } 45. Rd8+ Kh7 46. Rd7+ Kxh6 47. Rxa7 Kxh5 { From here on, Bella demonstrated a great endgame technique to convert her advantage into a win. } 48. e4 Kg6 49. Ke3 Re5 50. f4 Rb5 51. f5+ Kg5 52. Rg7+ Kf6 53. Rg6+ Kf7 54. Kf4 Rb1 55. Ke5 Rb5+ 56. Kf4 Rb1 57. Rc6 Rb4 58. Rd6 Ke7 59. Re6+ Kf7 60. Rh6 Ke7 61. Ke5 Rb5+ 62. Kd4 Rb4+ 63. Kd5 Rb5+ 64. Kc4 Rb1 65. e5 b5+ 66. Kc5 Rc1+ 67. Kxb5 Re1 68. Rh7+ Kf8 69. e6 Re5+ 70. Kc6 Rxf5 71. Kd6! { One last accurate move. } (71. Kd7?? Rd5+ 72. Kc6 Rd1) 71... Kg8 72. e7 { Transposing into a queen versus rook ending, which is easily winning due to Black's king already being in the corner. } (72. Ra7 $18) 72... Kxh7 73. e8=Q Rg5 74. Ke6 Kg7 75. Qe7+ Kh6 76. Kf6 Rg6+ 77. Kf5 Ra6 78. Qd8 Kg7 79. Qd7+ Kh6 80. Qc8 Ra5+ 81. Kf6 Rf5+ { One last trick before resigning. } 82. Kxf5 { 1-0 White wins. } (82. Qxf5?? { stalemate. }) 1-0