鞑靼人

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk – Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
23th Women’s Russian Chess Championship; Kazan, December 1, 2014
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. b4 Nxf4 9. exf4 c6 10. Bd3 Qc7. The alternative is 10. ... b6 11. 0-0 a5 12. a3 Qc7 13. g3 Ba6 14. Bxa6 ½ : ½ Grischuk – Kramnik, World Championship Candidates, Kazan 2011. 11. g3 b6 12. 0-0 a5 13. a3 Ba6 14. Bxa6 Rxa6 15. Qe2 Ra7 16. f5 e5 17. dxe5 bxc5 18. bxc5 Re8 19. e6 Nxc5 20. exf7+ Kxf7 21. Rac1 Raa8 22. Qd1 Qd6. “Black seems OK in this position, but there is the nagging problem of his King being a bit exposed. Had Natalia’s King been on g8 then perhaps she would even stand better!”, Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett comments.

23. Na4! “A beautiful and deep concept, that hits the nail on the head! The former women’s World Champion finds the weak spot in Pogonina’s position”, Spraggett says. 23. ... Nxa4. “The point is that after 24. ... Nd7 [...] White has another shot: 24. Nb6!! Nxb6 25. Rxc6!! winning! After 25. ... Qd8 26. Rxb6! Qxb6 27. Ne5+! and mates or wins the Queen”, Spraggett says. 24. Rxc6! An inspired zwischenzug. 24. ... Qd8 Clearly not 24. ... Qxc6 on account of 25. Ne5+ with Queen and Pawn for Rook and Bishop. 25. Qxa4. “White has won an important Pawn while Black lacks coordination. The game continued sharply:”, Spraggett writes. 25. ... Bf6 26. Rd1 Re7 27. Rc5! Qd7 28. Qb3! Qxf5 29. Rdxd5 Qe6 30. Rc6! Rb8 (30. ... Qxc6 31. Rd6++-) 31. Ng5+! Bxg5 32. Qf3+ 1 : 0. A beautiful game!

Opening Ceremony of the 23th Women’s Russian Chess Championship. Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk wears a traditional Tartar hat. Photo: Etery Kublashvili.