[Event "U.S. Senior Women's Chess Championship 2"] [Site "Berkeley"] [Date "2023.11.04"] [Round "2"] [White "Belakovskaia, Anjelina"] [Black "Christiansen, Natasha"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B27"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Hyperaccelerated Dragon"] [StudyName "2023 U.S. Senior Women's Championship"] [ChapterName "Belakovskaia, Anjelina - Christiansen, Natasha"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/vcXH3769/xkrQbXsr"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by JJ Lang. } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 6. e5 Nh6 7. h3 O-O 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. g4!? { Energetic and logical: the h6-knight looks far less silly when it trots to f5. But now? It's a knight on h6! } (9. Bb5 { is the trendy way to play the position. The idea is that, if Black continues with the expected ...Nh6-f5 rerouting, then after } 9... Nf5 10. O-O f6 11. Re1! { White need not even bother taking the time to capture on f6, as after } 11... fxe5 { , the bishop removes a key attacker: } 12. Bxc6 exd4 (12... bxc6 13. dxe5 $16 { is a nice position for White: she keeps a center pawn on e5, the f5-knight is misplaced now that it cannot retreat to d6, and the c- and a- pawns will be problems for Black in the endgame. }) 13. Bxd5+ { and White will emerge pawn-up. The game continued with } 13... Kh8 14. Ng5 dxc3 15. bxc3 e6 16. Bxe6 Bxe6 17. Nxe6 Qxd1 18. Rxd1 Rfe8 19. Nxg7 Kxg7 20. Rd7+ Re7 21. Rxe7+ Nxe7 22. Be3 Nc6 23. Rd1 Kf6 24. Rd7 { and Black resigned in Goryachkina –Kostiukov, Chess.com, 2022. }) 9... f6 { That said, ...f7-f6 is a central part of Christiansen's set-up, and it also frees the f7-square for the knight. } 10. exf6 exf6 { A funny position: the pawns are mostly symmetrical, with an isolated queen's pawn for each side as well as weakened kingsides. Expect lots of maneuvering thanks to the relatively fixed structure. } 11. Bg2 Re8+ $146 12. Be3 Be6 (12... f5! { would be testing: exchanges on f5 would improve Black's knight, Black also threatens the immediate ...f5-f4, and the e5-square is adequately protected. Attempts to win back the d5-pawn after } 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 { are thwarted by } 14... Rxe5 15. Bxd5+ Kh8 16. O-O Rxe3! 17. fxe3 { with a nice initiative. But this would be hard to evaluate all the way back on move 12. }) 13. O-O Kh8 14. Ne2 Ng8 15. Nf4 Bf7 16. Rc1 Nge7 17. h4 { White uses Black's lack of breaks and relatively cramped pieces to take the time to further an attack. } 17... Rc8 18. Bh3 Na5 19. b3 Rxc1 20. Qxc1 Nac6 21. Qb1 Qa5 22. Rd1 Rc8 23. g5 { Belakovskaia has shown her class in the preceding moves. The g-pawn push was inevitable as soon as she played 17. h4, as it's not like Black was going to further weaken her kingside with ...h7-h6 to prevent it. Given that, why not play five improving moves first? The mark of a strong player. } 23... f5?! { Relieving the tension prematurely. Was g5xf6 so bad for Black to have to deal with? The bishop comes back to life, the h-pawn could be a target, and the knight (and perhaps even light-squared bishop) regain access to the f5-square. Now, Black suffers more permanent coordination problems. } 24. Nd3 (24. h5 { could be nasty: taking the pawn concedes the f5-pawn, while not taking allows White to "clamp" on h6. That said, White's approach is less committal and preserves a strong position. } 24... Kg8 25. h6 Bh8 (25... Bf8 26. Ne5!)) 24... Qd8 25. Qb2 Qg8 26. Bf4 Rd8 27. Nde5 (27. b4 { Stockfish suggests the calm plan of expanding on the queenside. The center is locked, the kingside is under control, so why not take charge of the other flank? } 27... Re8 28. b5 Na5 29. Qa3 { pressuring the a-pawn } 29... b6 30. Bg2 Nc8 { defending the a-pawn, to liberate the a5-knight } 31. Nfe5 $16 { with a clamp on the center and the c4-square under control. Total domination of the entire board! This is a nice example of a "computer move" that would be hard to spot (who in their right mind would be thinking about the queenside on move 27?) but actually makes a lot of sense! }) 27... Be8 28. Re1 Qf8 29. Bf1 a6 30. Qd2 Nc8?! { A strategic error: Black wanted to be able to recapture on c6 with her other knight as to prevent White from playing Bf4-e5. See notes to White's next move. } 31. Nxc6! { Why would White trade off her dominant knight? Two reasons. First, Black's light-squared bishop is so bad, and now that White can trade off the dark-squared counterparts, she is closer to achieving an endgame where Black's bad bishop's "badness" will be pronounced. Second, the f3-knight is currently superfluous, in the sense that there are not a whole lot of great squares it can go to with the other knight on e5. } 31... Bxc6 32. Be5 Nd6 33. Qf4 Ne4 34. Rc1 Rc8 35. Bxg7+ { Again, I want to call attention to the class of White's play. Her 31st move was aimed at trading off dark-squared bishops, but since Black had no way to prevent the trade, she did not "automatically" chop on g7. Instead, she found a few improving moves first. } 35... Qxg7 36. Qe5 (36. Ne5 $16 { The engine says that White's queen-knight tandem is powerful, perhaps moreso than an endgame without queens. But White has had a clear strategic plan, and makes the practical decision to not second-guess it now. }) 36... Qxe5 37. Nxe5 { A pivotal moment! White threatens Bf1xa6, and moves like ...a6-a5 only further weaken Black's position, as White has Rc1-c5 after kicking Black's knight off e4. Presumably, White traded into this position precisely for this reason. But Black had one key resource here. } 37... Kg7? (37... Bd7! 38. Rxc8+ (38. Re1 Be8 { even with rooks on, White's task is much harder if she does not control the c-file! For instance, } 39. f3 Ng3 40. Kf2 Nh5 { A deep point: White "should" be able to move the knight and reach the seventh rank via the e-file, but } 41. Nd3 Bb5! { allows Black to trade off her worst piece! } 42. Nc5 Bxf1 43. Kxf1 Nf4 44. Re7 b6 45. Nxa6 Rc1+ { and Black is just as active! }) 38... Bxc8 $14 { without rooks, there is no obvious way to attack the weak pawns on d5 and b7. Black can follow the old adage that "bad bishops make good defenders" and, while it won't be pleasant, it will be much harder for White to break through in this pure minor piece ending. }) (37... a5 38. f3 Nd6 39. Rc5 $16) 38. Bxa6! Nd6 39. Bd3 { With the extra pawn, Black no longer has resources like ...Bc8-d7 to trade into minor piece endings, as those will be lost with White capable of creating an outside passer. } 39... Kf8 40. Kg2 Ke7 41. Kf3 Nf7 42. Kf4 Nd6 43. f3 Be8 44. Rxc8 Nxc8 45. h5 Nd6 46. h6! { Those of us still learning this game often struggle with when to "keep the tension". Surely, Black never wanted to play ...g6xh5, so why relieve the tension here? Well, White has a very clear plan. Check back in on move 60. } 46... Kf8 47. a4 Ke7 48. Ke3 Kd8 49. Be2 Kc7 50. Kd2 b6 51. Kc3 Kb7 52. Kb4 Kc7 53. Ba6 Kb8 54. Bd3 Kb7 55. a5 bxa5+ 56. Kxa5 Kc7 57. b4 Nb7+ 58. Ka6 Nd6 59. b5 Nc8 60. Bxf5! { Hello there! The point of 46. h6 was to set up the threat of taking on f5, pushing g5-g6, and promoting the h-pawn *once* Black's forces were lured queenside to defend against the passed b-pawn. Playing the full board! } 60... Bxb5+ 61. Kxb5 Nd6+ 62. Kc5 Nxf5 63. Nxg6 Kd7 64. Nf8+ Ke7 65. Nxh7 Kf7 66. Nf6 { A fantastic performance from Belakovskaia! } 1-0