Battle of Castle Black

Natalia Andreevna Pogonina – Pia Cramling
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 30, 2015
Sicilian Defence B41

“Pogonina was in a must-win situation against Pia Cramling, and surprisingly Cramling helped her by playing a very sharp and provocative line of the Sicilian. Black's position was already difficult, but Cramling's 20th and 21st moves were practically suicidal. 20...Rc8 created tactical problems involving a possible Nd6, while 21...Qd8 guaranteed a swap of the dark-squared bishops. This exchange was massively in White's favor, and the rest of the game was just a demolition job. Pogonina's last move, 38.Nd7+, was a nice finishing touch, and now she has the psychological momentum going into the rapid tiebreaks”, Dennis Monokroussos writes.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. Be2 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. e5 Nd5 8. 0-0 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Be7. For 9. ... Bxc3 10. Ba3 Qa5 11. Bd6 see Giri – Vitiugov, Reggio Emilia 2012. 10. Bf4 0-0 11. Qd3 b6 12. Bf3 Ra7 13. Be4 g6 14. Rfd1 Bb7 15. Bxb7 Rxb7. “Aun a costa de quedar un poco peor la primera parte del plan se ha conseguido. Sacar a la rusa de la preparacion. Ahora toca llegar a un final”, Pia’s husband, Grandmaster Juan Manuel Bellón López tweeted. 16. Rab1. “En esta posicion solo me preocupa que Blancas consigan llevar la Toor a h3 y presione en esa columna. Peligroso”, Bellón López said. 16. ... Qc8 17. a4 Qc5. “My opponent went into a variation that is considered dangerous for Black – a strange choice in a situation when you need a draw to advance. We arrived at a complicated position with good attacking chances for White. My maneuvering was probably not ideal, but her 17. ... Qc5 gave me a tempo for 18. Nb3 and 19. Nd2, after which White should have a very comfortable edge”,, then Natalia Andreevna Pogonina said. 18. Nb3 Qc7 19. Nd2 Nc6 20. Qg3 Rc8 21. Ne4 Qd8 22. Bg5 Bxg5 23. Nxg5 Na5 24. Ne4 Nc4 25. Rd4 Kg7 26. Re1 h6 27. h4 Qc7 28. f4. “What about 28. Rxc4?”, Anastasia Karlovich asked after the game. “I looked into it, but not very deeply. Now I see that I don’t have to regain an Exchange after 28. ... Qxc4 29. Nd6, but can simply continue the attack. Looks good for White, too”, Pogonina answered. 28. ... b5 29. h5 Qd8 30. axb5 axb5 31. Qg4 Qe7 32. Rd3 Rg8 33. Nf6 Rh8 34. Rg3 d5 35. hxg6 fxg6 36. Qxg6+ Kf8 37. Ra1 Ra7. Also after 37. ... Nb6 38. Ne8! White wins.

38. Nd7+! 1 : 0. “No hay mas que felicitar a Pogonina por su victoria y esperar que haya suerte en los desempates mañana. Tiene merito la rusa remontando”, Bellón López said. Such a gentleman!

Natalia Andreevna looking for inspiration
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Natalia Andreevna Pogonina vs. Pia Cramling
Photo: Vladimir Barsky