Kostya's Games of the Day: August 8th and 9th

IM Kostya Kavutskiy will be presenting an annotated Game of the Day each day over the course of the 120th U.S. Open. After missing yesterday due to travel, he presents two games today.

Don't forget to watch the livestream from Orlando beginning tonight at 7pm EDT. Kostya will co-host with IM Eric Rosen on our US Chess Twitch channel. Kostya writes:
In our first game, GM Illia Nyzhnyk plays a model strategic effort, transforming a lead in development into a positional advantage (dominating the c-file) and keeping a large plus deep into the endgame, smoothly converting and winning in the style of Botvinnik.
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[Event "2019 US Open 6-Day Schedule"]
[Site "Orlando, Florida, United Stat"]
[Date "2019.08.07"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Nyzhnyk, Illia"]
[Black "Jei, Tianhui"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D41"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Be7 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O
b6 $2 {Logical, but flawed. Black needed to first take on c4 and leave White
with an isolated pawn.} ({There's tons of history and theory in the position
after} 8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 {where White gets the early initiative but Black will
keep the better structure in the long-term.}) 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 {
The structure is now symmetrical, but that doesn't mean things are equal! In
such positions, the only way to fight for an edge is to get a lead in
development. Here White is already a little ahead and is also on move, which
Nyzhnyk is able to use to maximize his advantage.} 11. Qc2 {A good start,
gaining a tempo and improving the queen.} h6 12. Bf4 Bd6 {Stopping Bc7 and
trying to exchange pieces.} (12... Bb7 {could run into trouble after} 13. Bc7
$1 Qe8 14. Rfe1 Nc6 15. Bh7+ Kh8 16. Bf5 $16 {where Black can hardly move.})
13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Rfc1 $1 {A fantastic move. How many of us would play Rac1
here without blinking, preparing to develop the f1-rook to e1? Well with both
moves the idea would be to play Qc7, but with Rfc1 White can avoid the trade
of bishops in case of Ba6, keeping a much larger advantage--a grandmaster move!
} (14. Rac1 Ba6 (14... Bb7 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. Rxc7 {Black can play} Ba6 $1 {
trading off bishops and getting much closer to equalizing. In the game, with
White's rook on a1, White could instead play Bf5 in this position, keeping a
huge advantage.})) 14... Be6 (14... Ba6 {shows the point of White's play:} 15.
Bh7+ Kh8 16. Bf5 $1 $16 {Keeping the c-file under control and planning to
infiltrate Qc7 next.}) ({And after} 14... Bb7 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. Rxc7 Ba6 17. Bf5
$1 $16 {White would have a huge advantage. But with the rook on f1, this would
not be possible, and Black would be much closer to equalizing.}) 15. Qc7 $1 {
Transferring White's advantage into the endgame.} Qxc7 16. Rxc7 Nd7 17. Rac1 {
White now dominates the c-file, but it's not always so simple to grow the
advantage in this kind of position. A plan for further improvement is needed.}
a6 $6 {I'm guessing the idea was to prevent Ba6, but this does weaken Black's
position further.} 18. h3 $1 {Following the Soviet Chess School principle of
'Do not hurry!' - Before doing anything else, White creates luft and stops Bg4
ideas.} Rfb8 19. R1c6 {Threatening Rxe6.} Nf8 20. Ne5 b5 21. f4 $1 {Including
another piece into the attack. The threat of f4-f5 is very uncomfortable for
Black.} Rc8 22. f5 Rxc7 23. Rxc7 f6 {This ends up losing a piece but was a
good try, as Black was completely lost anyways.} ({After} 23... Bc8 {White can
take on f7 either way and will continue to dominate the position.}) 24. fxe6 {
White could have just moved the knight away and kept a huge advantage, but
Nyzhnyk finds a tactical refutation of Black's idea:} Nxe6 (24... fxe5 25. e7
$18 {is over.}) 25. Re7 Nf4 26. g3 $1 {The only way, keeping an extra piece
for White.} Nxh3+ 27. Kg2 fxe5 28. Kxh3 e4 29. Bc2 $18 {Black has two pawns
for the piece but it's far from enough, as White's pieces are way too active.}
Kf8 30. Re5 Rc8 31. Bb3 Rc1 32. Bxd5 Rc2 33. Bxe4 Rxb2 34. Bg6 1-0

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In today's second game, NM Matthew O'Brien plays in the style of Spielmann, sacrificing an exchange early in the opening for a somewhat speculative attack. But the attack plays off, as IM Elliot Winslow is unable to find a sufficient way to deal with White's threats. An energetic win!
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[Event "2019 US Open 6-Day Schedule"]
[Site "Orlando, Florida"]
[Date "2019.08.08"]
[Round "6.10"]
[White "Obrien, Matthew J"]
[Black "Winslow, Elliott Charles"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2307"]
[BlackElo "2222"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be3 c6 6. Qd2 Nbd7 {Not the most
common move, but logical.} (6... b5 7. Bd3 {is the main line.}) 7. Bh6 O-O (
7... Bxh6 8. Qxh6 $14 {is usually not a lot of fun for Black to play, with the
king stuck in the center.}) 8. e5 $5 {A very interesting and direct
continuation.} ({The main move is} 8. O-O-O {and I would encourage readers to
check out the game after} Qa5 9. h4 $40 {as played in 1-0 Vitiugov, N (2720)
-Harsha,B (2481) Gibraltar 2019}) 8... dxe5 9. dxe5 (9. Bxg7 {was also worth
consideration:} Kxg7 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. O-O-O Qb6 12. e6 $1 $36 {with an
extremely sharp position.}) 9... Bxh6 10. Qxh6 Ng4 11. Qf4 $146 {A new move,
though it's not clear if O'Brien was prepared here.} (11. Qg5 Qb6 12. O-O-O
Nxf2 13. Bc4 Nxd1 14. Rxd1 Kg7 {was played in 0-1 Stefanova,A (2481)-Vocaturo,
D (2620) Batumi 2018}) 11... Qb6 $1 {Critical, hitting both f2 and b2. White's
reply is forced.} 12. O-O-O $1 {Offering the exchange, which by this point
Black is simply obliged to take.} (12. Qxg4 Qxb2 $19) 12... Nxf2 13. Bc4 ({
Stockfish likes} 13. Re1 $5 {with a huge mess after} Nxh1 14. Qh6 Rd8 15. e6
Nf8 16. exf7+ Kh8 17. Qg5 Bf5 18. Qxe7 Nd7 $13) 13... Kg7 $1 {An important
move, stopping Qh6.} (13... Nxh1 $6 14. Qh6 $1 {is too dangerous for Black.}
Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Nf2 16. Nxf7 $1 Rxf7 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qxh7+ Kf6 19. Re1 $16) (
13... Nxd1 $6 {threatening Qe3+ would also be an error:} 14. Nxd1 $1 Kg7 {
Otherwise Qh6.} 15. h4 $1 h5 16. g4 $1 $40 {with a vicious attack.}) 14. Ng5 {
Going after the f7-pawn and giving Black problems to solve.} (14. h4 $5 {
was another possibility.}) 14... Nxd1 (14... h6 $1 {was best, just giving up
f7 on the spot, but at the same time forcing White to lose coordination.} 15.
Nxf7 g5 16. Qd2 Nxh1 17. e6 $1 $132 {and the position would remain incredibly
complicated, but overall Black's chances would not be worse.}) 15. Rxd1 Nf6 $2
{Likely overestimating the importance of defending f7, Black decides to
instead give up a knight. However, this doesn't delay White's attack much.} (
15... e6 {was possible but after} 16. Rf1 $1 $18 {Black would continue to have
serious problems.}) (15... Nc5 16. Nxf7 Be6 {was another try, though here
White wins with} 17. Qh6+ Kxf7 18. Na4 $3 {with the point:} Nxa4 19. Rf1+ Kg8
20. Bxe6+ $18) ({Again the key idea} 15... h6 $1 {was needed, though White's
attack would rage on after} 16. Nxf7 g5 17. Qg3 $44 {threatening Nxg5, where}
Rxf7 $6 18. Bxf7 Kxf7 19. Qf3+ Kg7 20. Rf1 $1 Qd8 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. e6 $18 {
is winning for White.}) 16. exf6+ exf6 17. Nge4 {White now has two active
knights for the rook, and Black's king is still in huge trouble.} Bf5 18. g4 $1
{Not giving a moment of respite.} Bxe4 19. Nxe4 Rae8 20. Qxf6+ Kg8 21. Nd6 $1 {
Once again targeting f7!} Qe3+ 22. Kb1 {Black resigned - Qe7 can be met with
Nxe8, winning.} 1-0

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