[Event "North American Open 2022"] [Date "2022.12.28"] [Round "6"] [White "Mikaelyan, Arman"] [Black "Wang, Jason"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Jason Wang"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A09"] [Opening "Réti Opening: Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit"] [StudyName "North American Open (Wang annotations)"] [ChapterName "Mikaelyan, Arman - Wang, Jason"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/vFd6hQmq/cm40oLnl"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,70,25,21,27,-16,2,6,-1,5,32,-2,-5,30,0,3,3,-14,-14,-41,-10,-10,-28, -13,-13,-13,-13,-12,-4,-28,8,-6,-4,-19,-11,1,-12,7,6,6,52,0,0,0,27,18,7,7,35, -5,61,30,33,36,55,55,103,70,66,74,139,73,124,-4,3,-414,-510,-529,-543,-620, -622,-654,-657] } 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 { Mikaelyan surprises me immediately in the opening. } 2... d4 3. b4 { White's idea in this opening is to play against my possibly weak d4-pawn. } 3... c5 { I had remembered studying this line in the past, but I spent about 30 minutes in the opening phase trying to recall what I looked at. } (3... g5!? { This is an interesting idea. [Note, White cannot take the pawn because after } 4. Nxg5? { Black has a double-attack on the hanging knight and the hanging b4-pawn with } 4... e5! { and Black's big center secures an advantage. -Ed.] }) 4. e3 Nf6 5. exd4 cxd4 6. Bb2 e5! 7. Nxe5 Bxb4 8. Qa4+ Nbd7 9. Bxd4 (9. Nxd7? { I had set a trap, where now } 9... Qe7+ 10. Ne5+ Bd7 $19 { was the idea. }) 9... Qe7 10. Be2 O-O 11. Nd3 Nc5 12. Nxc5 Bxc5 13. Bxc5 Qxc5 14. Nc3 Bd7 15. Qc2 Bf5?! { This move is very complacent and invites White's queen to a better square. } (15... Bc6 { This was better, as now after } 16. O-O Qg5 { provokes a weakness. } 17. g3 Rad8 18. Rad1 Qc5 $13 { Again, my strong bishop and White's weaknesses compensate for the lost pawn. }) 16. Qb2 Rad8 17. O-O Bd3?! { Resigning myself to an inferior position. I thought that I would have enough counterplay, but White still has some resources to play for a win. } (17... b6 { This move, saving the b7-pawn, would have been better, and the position is still unclear. }) 18. Bxd3 Rxd3 19. Qxb7 Rxd2 20. Rac1 h6 21. h3 Rc8 22. a4 Rd7 (22... Rd4 23. Nb5 Rd7 24. Qf3 a6 25. Nc3 (25. Na3 Qb4) 25... Rd4 { In this line, I manage to win the c4-pawn with an equal position. }) 23. Qb1 Rdc7 24. Nb5 Re7?! (24... Rb7 { This was preferable. }) 25. Rfd1 Re2 26. Nd4 Re4 27. Nb3! { White is willing to sacrifice the a4-pawn in order to advance his c-pawn. } 27... Qb4 28. c5 Qxa4 29. c6 Ree8?! { This move is objectively very dubious, but I wanted to keep more pieces on the board. } (29... Rxc6 30. Nc5 Qxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Rxc5 { This is apparently equal, but I preferred to keep more pieces on the board, especially since we were reaching time pressure. This position is quite calm, whereas in the game, there is still quite some room for White to make errors. }) 30. c7? { My gamble pays off. White pushes his pawn too fast. Instead, he should have supported it with his knight first. } (30. Nd4 { Now, c6-c7, along with Nd4-b5, are coming will full force. Black's position is difficult. }) 30... Qb4 31. Rc6 Nd5! { The only move, but a sufficient one. If Rd1-xd5, I have Re8-e1+, winning White's queen. I am also threatening both Nd5-c3 and Rc8-xc7. We both had very little time here, so I was quite content with letting Mikaelyan think here. He thought and thought, and then I noticed him pick up the queen. All of a sudden, I thought, "perhaps he wants to play Qf5! How did I miss that?" But just as quickly, I realized that I had Nd5-e7, forking his queen and rook. "Please, please, please," I thought... } 32. Qf5?? { Yes! } 32... Ne7! { Simple yet effective. White cannot avoid the loss of a whole rook. } 33. Qxc8 Rxc8 34. Rd8+ Kh7 35. Nd2 Nxc6 $19 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1