[Event "U.S. Senior Women's Chess Championship 2"] [Site "Berkeley"] [Date "2023.11.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Marinello, Beatriz"] [Black "Tsodikova, Natalia"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A48"] [Opening "East Indian Defense"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/vcXH3769/gjDODR8u"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Be2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. b3 { White chooses a calm way to avoid the locked centers of the King's Indian Defense, always preserving the option to expand later if she so chooses. } 6... c6 { When White plays b2-b3 against the King's Indian, usually the typical ...e7-e5 thrust regains its power even when it looks like it is undefended: } (6... e5 7. dxe5 Nfd7 { scores well for Black, albeit in a small sample size. When looking through the database, one of the higher-profile match-ups actually features Marinello as White! } 8. Bb2 dxe5 9. Qc1 c6 10. Rd1 Re8 11. Nbd2 (11. Nc3! e4 12. Nd2 { provokes } 12... f5 { when now White gets more play against Black's underdeveloped pieces with } 13. Nc4 $16) 11... e4 12. Ne1 Bxb2 13. Qxb2 Qf6 14. Qxf6 Nxf6 { when White's pieces end up having a hard time achieving much of anything. The position is equal, but Black won (only on move 32, despite the relative dryness here) in Marinello – Abrahamyan, Saint Louis, 2010. }) 7. Bb2 Qc7 8. c4 Nbd7 9. Nc3 Re8 10. Rc1 e5 11. d5 { Not forced, but White reasons that the closed structure would be advantageous here. } 11... c5 12. Qc2 a6 $146 13. a3 Nf8 14. b4!? { I'm not sure about this plan: sure, Black wants to play ...b7-b5, but the exchange of b-pawns on c4 would only fix the queenside and allow White to expand on the kingside. } 14... b6?! (14... cxb4 15. axb4 Bg4 16. Nd2 Bxe2 17. Nxe2 Rec8 $14 { is a totally different game: White is playing on the queenside, but she does have weaknesses, and Black is totally free from any "squeeze" as long as she can stop a well-timed c4-c5. }) 15. Nd2 Bd7 16. e4 Rab8 17. b5 a5 18. Rcd1 { With the queenside under control, White can now go back to the kingside. This move prepares Rd1-d3, pointing out that the rook is no longer useful on the c-file now that there is no way for Black to ever open it. } 18... g5?! { This move prepares ...Nf8-g6, and also prevents f2-f4. But I can't imagine White would want to open the center here, given that Black has no breaks in the center or queenside, allowing White to play much slower. But the real problem is that the knight has no prospects from g6. } (18... h5!? 19. Kh1 N8h7! { Instead, it might make sense on g5! At the very least, this move preserves Black's chances of the thematic ...f7-f5 break to achieve counterplay. } 20. Bd3 Rf8 21. Rfe1 Rbe8) 19. Rfe1 Ng6 20. Nf1 Nf4 21. Ne3 { White is happy to trade off her bad bishop, so the knight makes no threat here. } 21... Qc8 22. Bc1 h6 23. Bf1 Kh8 24. Ne2 N6h5 25. Ng3! { The other downside to ...g7-g6 is now clear: the pesky f5-square. } 25... Nxg3 26. fxg3 Ng6 27. Be2 Ne7 28. Rf1 Rf8 29. g4 $16 { Black is completely frozen, and White has more space to maneuver her pieces. } 29... f6 30. Rf2 Kg8 31. Rdf1 Be8 32. g3 Bg6 33. Qd3 Qe8 34. Bd2 Bh7 35. Bf3 Kh8 36. Qe2 Qd7 37. Nf5 Nxf5?! { Black wants to trade pieces since it's unclear what to do with them. But now White gets more of a grip on the f-file and more mobility for her light-squared bishop. } 38. gxf5 Rg8 39. Bh5 Bf8 40. Rg2 Qg7 41. Qg4 Be7 42. Kf2 Rgf8 43. Rh1 Rg8 44. h3 Bf8 45. h4 Rb7 46. Ke2 Qe7 (46... gxh4 47. Qxh4 $18) 47. hxg5 fxg5 48. Rf2 { Black has no good blockaders. } 48... Qf6 49. Rfh2 Re7 50. Rh3 Rc7 51. R1h2 Rd7 52. Qf3 Re7 53. Bg4 Rc7 54. Qh1 { So unhurried! So methodical! Karpov would be proud. } 54... Re7 55. Rxh6 Bxh6 56. Rxh6 { The queen must leave her blockading square, as expected. } 56... Qf7 57. f6 Rc7 58. Bf5 { that's that! } 58... Ra7 59. Bxh7 Qxh7 60. Rxh7+ Rxh7 61. Qf3 Rf8 62. Qf5 Rh2+ 63. Kd3 g4 64. Bg5 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0