[Event "1000GM Winter GM/IM Invitational 2024"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/sZBlQ3aL/hAgLRsYa"] [Date "2024.01.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakada, Akira"] [Black "Lee, Alice"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2374"] [BlackElo "2380"] [Annotator "Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A13"] [Opening "English Opening: Agincourt Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/sZBlQ3aL/hAgLRsYa"] [Orientation "white"] 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 { Akira employs an English-Catalan approach, not yet committing to the fate of the d2-pawn. } 3... dxc4 { Alice seeks immediate clarification of the central tension, which is one of the several theoretically sound ideas. Nevertheless, Black has to take care to develop the queenside properly under the watchful gaze of the g2-bishop. } 4. Qa4+ Nd7 5. Qxc4 a6 6. Qc2! { Definitely not a beginner-friendly game as White is bringing the queen out early and moving her twice! However this is a good prophylactic retreat to avoid ... b7-b5 with tempo. Black needs to solve the problem of the c8-bishop. } { [%csl Rc8][%cal Gg2a8] } 6... Ngf6 7. Nf3 Rb8 8. O-O Bd6?! { Alice's last two moves seem a bit disconnected, and it was more consistent to follow through with the plan of pushing the b-pawn. I forgot where and how exactly I read this, but someone said it was usually not a good idea to point your bishop towards an over-protected pawn (like the d6-bishop at g3 here). I'm not sure how true it is, but here the bishop on d6 is definitely misplaced if White starts pushing the d- and e- pawns into the center! } (8... b6 { [%cal Gc8b7] } 9. Nd4 { [%cal Rd4c6] } 9... Ne5) 9. d4 O-O 10. Rd1 { A good move as Akira was anticipating ... e6-e5. } { [%cal Rd1d8] } (10. e4 { works too as after } 10... e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Rd1 $16 { , Black is getting pushed back with tempo. } { [%cal Gf2f4] }) 10... b5 (10... Qe7 { seemed consistent with Alice's previous setup } { [%cal Ge6e5] }) 11. Ne5 (11. e4 $18 { [%cal Re4e5] }) 11... Bb7 12. Nc6 Bxc6 13. Qxc6 { Alice has solved the problem of the passive light-squared bishop, but at the cost of queenside weaknesses and leaving the g2-bishop without an adversary. } 13... Nd5 (13... Rb6! 14. Qc2 c5 { was the last chance for some sort of breathing room! White is still (permanently) better due to the bishop pair, but at least Black is getting some pawn breaks in. }) 14. e4 N5b6 15. Nd2 e5 16. Nf3 Qe8 17. b3 { A queen is known to be a terrible blockader as she is vulnerable to attacks, but as we'll see here the c6-queen is extremely annoying for Black! } { [%cal Gc1b2,Ga1c1] } 17... exd4 18. Nxd4 Nc5 19. Bb2 Ne6 20. Rac1 Nxd4 21. Bxd4 Qe7 22. e5 Ba3 (22... Bxe5 23. Re1 f6 24. Bc5 $18 { [%cal Rc5f8] }) 23. Qxc7 Qxc7 24. Rxc7 { The backwards c-pawn falls and White's advantage is decisive in many ways, including the difference in activity between the pieces. } 24... Rfd8 25. Bf3 Nd5 26. Ra7 Nb4 27. e6 fxe6 28. Rxg7+ Kf8 29. Rxh7 Nxa2 30. Bf6 Rxd1+ 31. Bxd1 Kg8 32. Rg7+ Kf8 33. Bh5 { An impressively smooth win for Akira over the very talented IM Alice Lee. I think the opening battle resulted in a position that Alice was not fully comfortable in and the style of the game allowed Akira to show off his positional strength. } 1-0