[Event "Chessable Sunway Sitges Chess Festival"] [Site "Sitges"] [Date "2023.12.22"] [Round "10"] [White "C R G Krishna"] [Black "Jacobson, Brandon"] [Result "0-1"] [BlackElo "2538"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A06"] [Opening "Zukertort Opening"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/u9vHrp1t/oLcz6U5T"] [Orientation "white"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 e6 4. Bb2 Bd6 5. c4 O-O 6. Nc3 Re8 7. Qc2 c5 8. Be2?! { White plays lethargically in the opening, and Jacobson is quick to punish him for it. } (8. Nb5! Nc6 { Preserving the pair of bishops comes at a cost, as } (8... Bf8 9. Be5 { provokes } 9... Na6 { or } (9... Nc6 { could lead to an immediate draw by repetition. } 10. Bc7 Qd7 11. Ne5 Qe7 12. Bd6) 10. a3 h6 { with equality. }) (8... e5 9. cxd5 e4 10. Ng1 Nxd5 11. Nxd6 Qxd6 12. a3 Bf5) 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Nxd6 Qxd6 11. d4 { does not quite equalize, but comes close. } 11... Nb4 12. Qxc5 Qxc5 13. dxc5 Nc2+ 14. Kd2 Nxa1 15. Bxf6! gxf6 16. Bb5 Nxb3+ 17. axb3 Rd8 $15) 8... Nc6 9. cxd5?! { Clarifying the center only helps Black, who already has a strong grip on the e4-square and pressure on the d4-square. White would be worse in the fixed center resulting after } (9. d4 cxd4 10. exd4 b6 11. a3 Bb7 12. cxd5 exd5 { due to Black's grip on the e4-square: } 13. O-O Ne4 $15) 9... exd5 10. a3 d4 11. Na4 Bg4!? { Black chooses an energetic pawn sac that promises an advantage. Of course, defending the pawn was perfectly fine, as well: } (11... b6 12. b4 Nd7 13. bxc5 bxc5 14. O-O Bb7 $17) 12. Nxc5 Bxc5 13. Qxc5 Ne4! 14. Qc2 Rc8 15. O-O dxe3?! { The path to an enduring advantage instead came through } (15... Nb4! 16. Qd1 d3 17. axb4 dxe2 18. Qxe2 Rc2 19. Bd4 a6 $17 { when Black is down two pawns but clearly better! The d-pawn falls shortly and the doubled, isolated b-pawns are hardly an advantage. White remains cramped while Black's pieces all flock quickly towards the king. }) 16. dxe3 Nd4 17. Qd1 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Ng5 19. Rfd1 Qb6 { Black finishes development and is ready to coordinate on an attack. Perhaps this was all planned on move 15, when it would have been easy to underestimate an essential resource for White. } 20. Rac1? { Instead, } (20. h4! { kept the balance. } 20... Nxf3+ 21. gxf3 Bf5 22. Qf1 Qxb3 23. Rd2 Rc6 24. Qd1) 20... Qg6! { Something's gotta give! } 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Kf1 (22. Kh1 { would lose to ...Rc8-c2 if not for the problems on the back rank, so Black's best move is simply: } 22... h6 $19 { when White lacks an adequate way to cover the c2-square. }) 22... Bxf3! { Counterintuitive, but saving the bishop does nothing except increase White's odds of reaching a drawn endgame. } 23. gxf3 Nh3 24. Ke1 h5 (24... Qg1+ 25. Qf1 Qxh2 26. Be5! Qxe5 27. Qxh3) 25. Rc1 Rd8 26. Bd4 Ng1 27. Qd1 Qg2 { Black's position is cleanly winning. } 28. Rc5 Nxf3+ 29. Ke2 b6 30. Rc4 Qg4 31. Kf1 Nxh2+ 32. Ke1 Nf3+ 33. Kf1 h4 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1