[Event "2026 Us Junior Senior Championships Jun"] [Site "Saint Louis, US"] [Date "2026.07.16"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Ngo, Bach"] [Black "Ghazarian, Kirk"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2381"] [BlackElo "2546"] [Annotator "Foisor,Sabina"] [WhiteClock "0:24:53"] [BlackClock "0:21:16"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "2026 U.S. Invitationals Rds 1-6"] [ChapterName "Ngo, Bach - Ghazarian, Kirk"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/xf9VUyof/64aaiPFs"] [FEN "8/2k5/R4pp1/2N1pn1p/1P6/5P2/P2r2PP/4K3 b - - 0 37"] [SetUp "1"] [Orientation "white"] { Both players have handled the game well so far, but at this point Black must be careful to prevent White from exploiting the queenside pawn majority. } 37... Rxg2?? { A bit too ambitions. Instead } (37... Rc2 { had to be played, warding off b4-b5. } 38. Rxf6 Ne3 39. Na6+ Kb7 40. Nc5+ Kc7 41. Rxg6 Nxg2+ 42. Kf1 Nf4 43. Ne6+ Nxe6 44. Rxe6 Rxa2 { We reach a rook endgame that should be drawn. }) 38. b5 { Now the b-pawn will be difficult to stop. } 38... Nd4 39. b6+ Kb8 40. Kd1 { This gives Black some real chances to hold the endgame! } (40. Kf1! { The right move was certainly counterintuitive. but it does avoid all of the counterplay Black achieved in the game! } 40... Rc2 41. Nd7+ Kc8 (41... Kb7 42. Ra7+ Kc6 43. b7 $18) 42. Ra7! Rc1+ 43. Kf2 Rc2+ 44. Ke3 Rc3+ 45. Ke4 { And now the b-pawn is unstoppable! }) 40... Rc2? { The final mistake. } (40... Rg1+ { would have been the final attempt to save the game. } 41. Kd2 Rg2+ 42. Kd3 Nc6 43. Kc3 Rg1 44. Kb2 { The idea is to give checks on the first rank, keeping White's pawn from advancing further. }) 41. Nd7+ Kc8 42. Ra8+ Kxd7 43. b7 { From here on it was just a matter of time until the scoresheets were signed. } 43... Rb2 44. b8=Q Rxb8 45. Rxb8 Nxf3 46. a4 Kc7 47. Rb2 Nd4 48. a5 Nc6 49. a6 g5 50. Kd2 g4 51. Kd3 h4 52. Kc4 Kd6 53. Rb6 Kc7 54. Kc5 Nb8 55. Rd6 g3 56. hxg3 hxg3 57. a7 g2 58. axb8=Q+ Kxb8 59. Rd8+ Kc7 60. Rg8 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0