Temporary like Achilles

Aleksandra Konstantinovna Kostenjuk – Tuvshintugs Batchimeg
Khanty-Mansiysk, April 12, 2014
Spanish C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3. Alina l’Ami: “The Mongolian had to defend as Black for the second time in a row and (again!), in the same Berlin with 4. d3, just like in her yesterday’s game against Tatiana Kosintseva. It is a common occurrence in top level chess, especially in round robin tournaments, that players are trying to hit in the same weak spot; in short, this is called ‘seeking for Achilles’ heel’. Since during a tournament one doesn’t have the time nor the energy to correct the eventual errors of his (or her) repertoire, it does happen once in a while that a player is caught on the wrong foot more than once, thanks to this strategy”. 4. ... Bc5 5. 0-0 Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. Nd2 c6 8. Ba4 d6 9. c3 Bb6 10. Bb3 h6 11. Nc4 Bc7 12. Qf3. An alternative is 12. Ne3 0-0 (but 12. ... Bc7 13. Qf3 g6 14. g4 h5 is unclear, Nepomniachtchi – Sargissian, Wijk aan Zee 2008) 13. Qf3 g6 14. Bd2 Kg7 15. Rad1 Qe7 16. Rfe1 a5 17. a4 Be6 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Ng4 Ng8 20. Qh3 h5 21. Ne3 Rf7 22. d4 Nf6 23. f3 and I prefer White, Pogonina – 阮露斐 (Ruǎn Lùfěi), China vs. Russia, 宁波市 (Níngbō) 2008. 12. ... Be6 13. Ne3 Qd7 14. d4 Bg4. Perhaps the losing move! We would have preferred 14. ... exd4 15. cxd4 0-0. 15. Qg3 0-0 16. f4 h5 17. Bc2 Rfe8. Just one remark: 17. ... exd4 18. cxd4 d5 was worth considering (if 19. e5 then 19. ... Ne4) and possibly better than the text. 18. fxe5 dxe5 19. d5 Qd6 20. Nxg4 hxg4 21. Bg5 Nh7 22. Bh4 g5 23. Qxg4 Qg6 24. Bf2 cxd5 25. Qe2. One of my beloved students suggests the greedy, purely Chinese move 25. Qd7, but I much prefer – even without any in-depth – the modest text move. Life is often a bargain and not everyone in the world are Chinese! 25. ... Nf6 26. exd5 e4 27. Rad1 Rad8 28. c4 Qh6 29. g3 e3 30. Be1. Of course 30. Bxe3?? fails to 30. ... Bb6. 30. ... Be5 31. Ba4 Re7 32. Bb4 Bd6. After 32. ... Rc7 33. d6 Rcc8 34. d7 Black can resign. 33. c5 Re4 34. Bc3 Be5 35. Bc2 Bxc3 36. Bxe4 Bb4 37. Bf3 Bxc5 38. b4 Bxb4 39. Qxe3 b6 40. Rc1 Re8. The big skewer 40. ... Bc5 41. Rxc5 bxc5 42. Qxc5 is useless as White’s preponderance is decisive. 41. Qd4 Bd6 42. Rc6 Nd7 43. Qa4 Re3 44. Rc8+ Nf8 45. Qxa7 Be5 46. Bg4 Qh7. On 46. ... Qg7 47. Rxf7! wins. 47. Qe7 1 : 0. Alina l’Ami: “As for the Russian former women world champion... she was not pleased with her technique: ‘I was surprised that Black was able to hold on to the game for so long, I am sure I missed some things, since I thought I should have won before the time control’. Nevertheless, a point is a point and Alexandra [Aleksandra] is back in town with 50%”.

Sašenka Kostenjuk watching the wheels
Khanty-Mansiysk, April 12, 2014
Photo: Kirill Merkuriev