[Event "ch-USA 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.10.29"] [Round "10"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D26"] [WhiteElo "2709"] [BlackElo "2634"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2020.10.09"] {[%evp 0,71,19,23,23,-16,22,25,42,42,53,42,79,60,36,27,43,50,30,50,52,50,35,34, 45,45,53,61,68,40,40,-6,11,3,-14,0,1,3,41,51,-46,-25,-25,-17,-18,-19,-19,-25, -16,-13,-13,-13,-13,-5,-14,-10,-26,-9,-8,0,-16,-13,-13,-13,-13,-7,-7,-7,-7,-7, -7,-7,-7,-4]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. a3 a6 8. dxc5 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bxc5 10. b4 Be7 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Nbd2 Rd8 13. Nb3 Bd7 14. Rdc1 $146 Rac8 15. Nfd4 Ne4 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Na5 Nxf2 $2 {Clever, but bad. } (17... Nd6 {should have been played, when White has a modest plus with the bishop after} 18. Nxc6 Rxc6 19. Bb3 {.}) 18. Bd4 $6 (18. Bxa6 $1 {was best.} Be4 (18... bxa6 $4 19. Nxc6 $18 {results in fatal material losses for Black.}) 19. Bxb7 Rxc1+ 20. Rxc1 Nd3 21. Rd1 Bxb7 (21... Nxb2 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23. Bxe4 { wins for White, whose queenside passers are far more significant than the opposite-colored bishops.}) 22. Nxb7 Rd5 23. Bd4 Nxb4 $1 24. axb4 e5 {Given the short time control, I don't know if the players reached this point in their calculations or not. At any rate, here's where it gets intricate, and possibly too difficult to work out given the short time control.} 25. Ra1 $1 ( 25. Na5 exd4 26. Nc6 {keeps a meaningful advantage, though I don't know if it's enough to win.}) 25... exd4 26. Ra8+ Bf8 27. e4 $1 {This resource - and even to think that there could be a resource here - is easily missed.} Rb5 28. Nc5 d3 29. Nd7 g5 30. Rxf8+ Kg7 31. Ra8 Rxb4 32. Ra1 Rxe4 33. Rd1 $18 {and White should eventually win.}) 18... Ng4 (18... e5 $1) 19. h3 $2 (19. Bxa6 $1 $14) 19... Bg5 $1 {A nicely calculated tactical defense. Now it's equal, and the fate of the U.S. Championship is decided.} 20. hxg4 Rxd4 21. exd4 Bxc1 22. Rxc1 Bd5 {If White maintains the status quo, ...b6 comes next. Black regains his sacrificed piece, and the resulting ending is easily held.} 23. Rc2 (23. Rb1 Bxc4 24. Nxb7 Bd5 25. Nc5 f6 {is also equal. White can take on a6, but Black's counterplay will suffice.} 26. Nxa6 Rc2 27. b5 Rxg2+ 28. Kf1 Rxg4 $11) 23... b6 24. Bd3 Rxc2 25. Bxc2 bxa5 26. bxa5 h6 {Not to avoid a back-rank mate, obviously, but to fix White's pawn on a light square and to make sure his own pawn isn't fixed on a light square.} 27. Bd3 Bb7 28. Kf2 Kf8 29. g3 Ke7 30. Ke3 Kd6 31. Be2 f6 32. Bd3 Ke7 33. Kd2 Kd6 34. Ke3 Ke7 35. Kd2 Kd6 36. Ke3 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.10.29"] [Round "10"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2673"] [BlackElo "2770"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2020.10.09"] {[%evp 0,59,28,39,22,15,13,4,31,29,25,-12,138,-30,10,6,-14,-18,-14,-24,3,27,-9, -102,85,-16,5,-11,-3,15,21,-53,-76,-41,-39,-32,-26,-25,-11,-64,-21,-8,-1,-14, -14,-20,-6,-47,-18,-14,-13,-13,-20,-11,13,1,5,-15,7,-9,1,-12]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 (5. Bxc6 {is FAR more popular these days, and you're about to see why.}) 5... d5 6. exd5 (6. Nbd2 {is playable but nothing special.}) 6... Qxd5 7. Bc4 Qd6 8. b4 Bb6 9. a4 O-O {This is known theory, but if you're new to it you're probably wondering why White isn't just winning a piece with 10.a5. I'd recommend analyzing it for yourself first, and then continuing with the notes.} 10. Nbd2 (10. a5 $2 Bxf2+ 11. Kxf2 e4 12. dxe4 Nxe4+ 13. Ke1 Qf6 (13... Qg6 {is also possible and interesting.}) 14. Bd5 Rd8 15. Qb3 Re8 (15... Bf5) (15... Rxd5) 16. Bxe4 Rxe4+ 17. Kf2 Ne5 18. Qd1 $8 Bd7 19. Rf1 Bc6 $17) 10... Bf5 11. Ba3 (11. a5 $6 Bxf2+ 12. Kxf2 Bxd3 13. Bxd3 Qxd3 14. Re1 e4 15. Nb3 (15. Nh4 $2 Qxc3 $19 {isn't all that healthy for White's king, and it's very unhealthy for the cascade of white pawns falling on the queenside.}) 15... Qxc3 ({Black has little to complain about after} 15... Qxd1 16. Rxd1 exf3 17. gxf3 $11 {/=/+, either.}) 16. Bd2 Qd3 $15) 11... e4 12. dxe4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Qxd6 cxd6 {This line is a drawing machine for Black, so it's surprising that Robson went for this. Yes, Caruana once beat Aronian in this variation, but the other 15 games in the database finished in a draw.} 15. O-O-O Rac8 16. Bd5 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 Ne5 18. Nxe5 dxe5 19. Kb2 Rfd8 ({Aronian played the very dubious} 19... Bxf2 {, but just about everyone else played So's move.} 20. Rxe5 Bh4 21. Rd1 Bf6 22. Re3 Rc7 23. b5 Rfc8 24. Bb4 h5 25. Kb3 b6 26. Rdd3 g6 27. Re4 Bg7 28. Rde3 f5 29. Re8+ Rxe8 30. Rxe8+ Kf7 31. Ra8 g5 32. c4 Be5 33. h3 g4 34. a5 f4 35. hxg4 hxg4 36. Rf8+ Ke6 37. Bd2 f3 38. gxf3 g3 39. axb6 axb6 40. Be3 Rd7 41. Re8+ Kf5 42. Bxb6 Rd3+ 43. Kb4 Rxf3 44. Rf8+ Ke4 45. Rxf3 Kxf3 46. Bg1 Kg2 47. Bc5 Kf3 48. b6 Ke4 49. b7 g2 50. Kb5 Bf4 51. Bg1 Bg3 52. Kc6 Be5 53. Kd7 {1-0 (53) Caruana,F (2832)-Aronian,L (2765) London 2018}) 20. Rhd1 (20. Rxe5 Rxc3 21. Rd1 Rcc8 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Re7 h5 (23... Bd4+ 24. Kb3 b5 {1/2-1/2 (24) Van Leeuwen,E (2484)-Unen,J (2475) ICCF email 2019}) 24. Rxb7 Bxf2 25. b5 Rd5 26. Bb4 h4 27. a5 Rg5 28. a6 Rxg2 29. Kb3 Rxh2 30. b6 Bxb6 31. Rxb6 h3 32. Rb5 Re2 33. Rh5 Re6 34. Rxh3 {1/2-1/2 (34) Huschenbeth,N (2605)-Kryvoruchko,Y (2682) Warsaw 2020}) 20... e4 21. R5d2 $146 (21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23. Kb3 {1/2-1/2 (23) Verst,P (2363)-Kornev,A ICCF email 2017}) 21... Rxd2+ 22. Rxd2 Rd8 23. Re2 f5 24. Kc2 Kf7 25. f3 exf3 26. gxf3 Re8 27. Rd2 Rd8 28. Re2 Re8 29. Rd2 Rd8 30. Re2 {Excellent prep for So in a situation where a draw is a very good result, but very poor preparation by Robson unless he was taken by surprise.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.10.29"] [Round "11"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2736"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2020.10.09"] {[%evp 0,60,31,21,35,-10,-10,2,4,-28,26,1,1,1,1,-1,-6,-24,-20,-2,-2,-4,39,38, 52,-5,33,33,41,7,66,62,60,50,55,55,77,77,45,45,46,55,162,18,9,11,33,32,32,42, 18,20,15,15,18,11,10,11,11,6,6,6,6]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4 11. g3 Qh5 12. O-O g5 13. cxd5 Bxc3 14. bxc3 exd5 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. e6 gxf4 17. exd7 Bxd7 18. Qxe4 fxg3 19. fxg3 b6 20. Nf5 Rae8 {The foregoing would be very interesting, exciting, notable etc....if it hadn't been played dozens of times before.} 21. Qd5 (21. Ne7+ Kg7 22. Qd4+ f6 $11 {is the alternative line.}) 21... Bxf5 22. Rxf5 Qe2 (22... Qh6 23. Rg5+ (23. Raf1 Re2 24. Rg5+ Kh8 25. Qd4+ f6 26. h4 Rxa2 27. c4 Re2 28. Rf4 Rc2 29. c5 bxc5 30. Rxc5 Rxc5 31. Qxc5 Qg7 32. Kh2 Rg8 33. Qf2 Rf8 34. Ra4 Rf7 35. Qf3 Qg8 36. Ra6 Qd8 37. Qf2 Kg7 38. Rxa7 {1/2-1/2 (38) Lukasova,A (2270)-Gromotka,H (2389) ICCF email 2017}) 23... Kh8 24. Qd2 Qe6 ( 24... Qc6) 25. Rd1 Qe3+ {1/2-1/2 (25) Dosi,A (2577)-Nilsson,S (2509) ICCF email 2012} (25... f6 26. Rd5 {1/2-1/2 (26) Celestini,M (2270)-Mauro,L (2414) ICCF email 2018})) 23. Raf1 Qe3+ 24. R1f2 Qe1+ 25. Kg2 (25. Rf1 {is another way to make a draw.}) 25... Qe4+ 26. Qxe4 {A massive improvement over a previous game of their to reach the same position. (By "massive improvement" I really mean "no improvement at all".)} (26. Kh3 Qxd5 27. Rxd5 Re7 28. Rg5+ Kh8 29. a4 Re3 30. Rgf5 Kg7 {1/2-1/2 (30) So,W (2786)-Nakamura,H (2787) Saint Louis 2018}) 26... Rxe4 27. Rg5+ Kh8 28. Rgf5 {Boldly taking the game into new territory.} (28. Rd5 Re7 29. a4 Rc8 30. Rf3 Rec7 31. a5 Kg7 32. axb6 axb6 33. Rg5+ Kf8 34. Rb5 {1/2-1/2 (34) Barath,M (2321)-Reuker,J (2377) Lueneburg 2018}) 28... Kg8 29. Rg5+ Kh8 30. Rgf5 Kg8 {Jokes aside, this is exactly what So wanted: a nice, easy draw to clinch the U.S. Championship title. Congratulations!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.10.29"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Lenderman, Aleksandr"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E62"] [WhiteElo "2634"] [BlackElo "2673"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2020.10.26"] {[%evp 0,117,51,5,22,-9,52,16,11,4,27,8,34,38,30,8,30,12,10,0,61,60,46,56,56, 40,48,40,40,49,3,17,0,18,14,12,12,16,9,4,22,30,13,21,57,36,60,12,58,27,0,7,27, 27,83,69,100,86,96,95,79,80,90,95,89,81,86,79,80,73,79,98,93,80,100,121,106, 133,175,198,203,199,201,206,213,198,181,181,243,179,258,179,179,173,173,173, 181,195,204,208,222,218,225,225,226,250,252,251,251,211,221,198,532,566,633, 658,693,743,743,743]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 h6 (9... Be6) 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 Kg7 13. Nxc7 Rb8 14. Nd5 e4 15. Nd2 e3 16. fxe3 Bxb2 17. Rab1 Ba3 18. Rb3 $146 (18. Nb3 Bf5 19. Rbd1 Rbc8 20. Nd4 Nxd4 21. exd4 Be6 22. Rd3 Bf8 23. Ne3 Bxc4 24. Nxc4 Rxc4 25. Bxb7 Rcxd4 26. Rfd1 Bc5 27. Rxd4 Rxd4 28. Rxd4 Bxd4+ 29. Kg2 {1/2-1/2 (29) Vidit,S (2726)-Dubov,D (2699) chess.com INT 2020}) 18... Bf8 {Black is totally fine here - at least equal and maybe a tiny bit better.} 19. Nf3 Bc5 (19... Bg4 $142) 20. Ne1 $1 Bg4 21. Nd3 Bf8 $6 (21... b6 $142) 22. Bf3 $6 (22. N5f4 $142 $14) 22... Be6 (22... Bxf3 $142 23. Rxf3 (23. exf3 $2 Na5 24. Rc3 b5 $17) 23... b6 $11) 23. Rc3 $14 g5 (23... Na5 $142) 24. Nf6 (24. Nc7 $142 ) 24... Kxf6 25. Bxc6+ Kg7 26. Bd5 Bxd5 $2 (26... Re8 $11) 27. cxd5 Rbc8 $2 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. e4 $18 f6 30. Kf2 Bd6 (30... Rc4 $142) 31. Rc1 Re8 32. Rc4 Kg6 33. Kf3 h5 34. h3 a6 35. a4 Kg7 (35... Re7 $142) 36. a5 Kg6 37. e3 Kf7 38. Nc5 (38. g4 $142) 38... Bxc5 $2 39. Rxc5 Re7 40. h4 Kg6 41. Rc8 Rd7 42. hxg5 fxg5 43. Rg8+ Kf6 44. Re8 Kf7 45. Re6 Kg7 46. d6 Kf7 47. Rh6 Kg7 48. Rxh5 Kg6 49. Kg4 Rxd6 50. Rxg5+ Kf7 51. Rd5 Rg6+ 52. Kf5 Rf6+ 53. Ke5 Re6+ 54. Kd4 b6 55. Rf5+ Kg6 (55... Ke7 56. Re5) 56. Kd5 Re8 57. axb6 a5 58. b7 a4 59. Rf1 1-0 [Event "ch-USA 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.10.29"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "2567"] [BlackElo "2709"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2020.10.26"] {[%evp 0,76,25,36,46,72,79,29,23,38,37,-2,39,21,42,24,46,-2,39,48,44,6,6,4,5, 17,24,8,21,0,0,-4,51,37,52,61,56,21,123,105,161,123,144,61,75,64,107,59,78,38, 35,25,28,-1,22,26,-3,-8,-1,-19,-16,-26,-12,-20,-12,12,3,0,10,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0, -213,-215]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Qc2 Qc7 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. d3 c4 8. dxc4 Qxc4 9. Nbd2 Qc7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Re1 g6 12. a4 Bg7 13. a5 Rc8 14. axb6 axb6 15. Nd4 Qb8 16. b3 O-O 17. Nc4 Rfe8 18. Ba3 Nxe4 $2 (18... Nc5 $15) ( 18... d5 19. exd5 Bxd5 $15) 19. Rxe4 Bxe4 20. Qxe4 $18 Nc5 21. Qe3 $2 (21. Qe2 $18) (21. Qb1 $18) 21... Nxb3 22. Nxb3 Rxc4 23. Nd4 $16 b5 24. Bd5 $2 (24. Bf1 $16) (24. Rb1 $16) 24... Ra4 $15 25. Bb3 $2 Ra6 26. Nc2 $6 (26. Bb2) (26. Ra2) 26... e6 $2 $11 (26... Qa7 $19) 27. Re1 Qa7 28. Qxa7 Rxa7 29. Bxd6 (29. Bb4 $11 ) 29... Bxc3 30. Rb1 Rd8 31. Bf4 Rad7 32. Na3 b4 33. Nc4 (33. Nb5 $11) 33... Ra7 34. Kf1 Ra1 35. Rxa1 Bxa1 36. Ke2 Bc3 37. Ne5 Ra8 {Ramirez missed his chance to win the game before, but he should manage to hold this ending without too much trouble. Unfortunately, he thought too much at the moment about what would be needed for a successful fortress, and forgot about immediate, short-term tactical issues.} 38. Kd3 $4 (38. Nd3 $11) (38. Nc4 $11) 38... g5 $19 0-1