Kostya's Game of the Day - August 4th

IM Kostya Kavutskiy will be presenting an annotated Game of the Day each day over the course of the 120th US Open. For his first installment, he analyzes a fascinating encounter between Azerbaijani junior Alperen Kanli, playing in his first tournament on American soil, and veteran GM Jim Tarjan.

Jim Tarjan (photo John Hartmann)

Kostya writes:

For Round 1's Game of the Day, GM James Tarjan showed a model approach to create counterplay against White's setup in the Italian Game. He then followed it up with a critical exchange sacrifice that won him the game.

[pgn] [Event "2019 US Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.08.03"] [Round "1.145"] [White "Kanli, Alperen"] [Black "Tarjan, Jim"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "1971"] [BlackElo "2458"] [Annotator "Kostya"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. Qe2 O-O 6. c3 d6 7. Nbd2 Na5 8. Bb5 a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nf1 $5 {By transferring the knight before castling, White potentially saves a tempo by avoiding the typical move Re1.} Nc6 12. Ng3 Re8 13. h3 d5 14. Nh2 $2 {A common way to start White's kingside attack, but there are a few drawbacks to this move. For one, Black can develop the bishop to its best square (e6) without worrying about Ng5. Secondly, White's plan of Ng4 is just not that strong in this position. Apparently, White was playing rather quickly here, as all of his moves have been thematic. But the experienced GM Tarjan also knows how to create sufficient counterplay in this type of position.} (14. O-O {was best, as it doesn't allow Black to play Be6 so easily.} h6 {and the position is approximately balanced.} (14... Be6 15. Ng5 $1 {and Black has to give up the bishop since} Bc8 $2 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Qh5 { forces} Bxg5 18. Bxg5 $16 {with a great initiative for White.})) 14... Be6 15. Qf3 (15. Ng4 d4 $17 {and it's hard for White to progress further.}) 15... Qd7 { Simple and good, stopping Ng4 and Nf5 at once.} 16. O-O (16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. exf5 e4 $1 $17 {is a typical way for Black to overtake the initiative.}) 16... Rad8 17. Re1 d4 $1 {Initiating the typical counterplay Black seeks in these types of positions. The threat is dxc3 and b4, fighting for the d4-square.} 18. Rd1 { A good prophylactic move.} (18. Bd2 {was needed, defending c3 in advance, though Black is still ahead and can continue} c4 $1 $132 {with excellent counterplay.}) 18... dxc3 19. bxc3 b4 20. Ba4 $6 {Logical, but not the right reaction. Tarjan finds the key refutation.} ({Best was} 20. Bd2 bxc3 21. Bxc3 Nd4 22. Bxd4 cxd4 $15 {and Black's advantage would be relatively minimal, though the dark-squared bishop in this position is a nice asset.}) 20... bxc3 21. Be3 Qc7 22. Rac1 (22. Bxc6 {was necessary at this point, but still after} Qxc6 23. Rac1 Qa4 $17 {Black is winning the battle on the queenside, much thanks to the two bishops.}) 22... Nd4 $1 {A fantastic exchange sacrifice. Without this resource, White would pick up the pawn on c3 and have a stable position. But this ends all hopes!} 23. Bxd4 cxd4 24. Bxe8 Rxe8 {For the exchange Black has a monster protected passed pawn on c3, easily supported by Black's pieces. White's pieces have been left too passive to accomplish anything.} 25. Rc2 Rb8 26. Nf5 Bf8 27. Ng4 Nxg4 28. Qxg4 Rb2 $1 {White has no threats on the kingside, so Black just charges forward.} 29. Qe2 (29. Rxb2 cxb2 30. Rb1 Qc1+ $19) 29... Qb8 30. Ra1 (30. Rxb2 cxb2 31. Rb1 Ba3 {Followed by Bxa2 with a win.}) 30... g6 31. Nh4 Rxc2 32. Qxc2 Qb2 {White resigned, as Black's pawn is now unstoppable.} (32... Qb2 33. Qxb2 (33. Qd1 Ba3 $19) 33... cxb2 34. Rb1 Ba3 $19 {and Bxa2 next.}) 0-1 [/pgn]