Великий Сибирский Путь

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk – 沈阳 (Shěn Yáng)
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 21, 2015
Spanish C84

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 0-0 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Be3 Nd4 11. Bxd4 exd4 12. Nd5 c5 13. Nxe7+. A rather more energetic continuation is 13. a4! Be6 14. Nxf6+! Bxf6 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Qe2 with a small plus for White, Motylev – Eljanov, 15th Karpov Tournament, Poikovsky 2014. 13. ... Qxe7 14. Re1 Nd7 15. h3 Be6 16. Ba2 Qf6 17. a4 Rfb8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bxe6 fxe6

20. e5. “It was not easy, though one can hardly get such impression by playing out the game. After the opening I did something wrong and started to dislike my position. Despite spending 40 minutes on my two next moves, I still could not find a proper plan. Fortunately, the position still was roughly equal. I am not so sure about my Pawn sacrifice 20. e5, but I decided to go for it as I figured it would be easier to play having the initiative”, then Kosteniuk said. 20. ... dxe5 21. Qe2 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Qf4 23. Ra7 Rd8 24. b3 h6 25. Qe1 b4 26. Qe2 Kh8 27. Rxd7. “27. Rxd7 tactics is also not necessary – Black could hardly make any progress at all”, Kosteniuk said. 27. ... Rxd7 28. Nxe5 Qc1+ 29. Kh2 Ra7 30. Ng6+ Kh7 31. Qxe6 Qg5 32. Nf8+ Kh8 33. Ng6+ ½ : ½.

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili