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Humpy Koneru – Alisa Galliamova
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 23, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D45

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. 0-0 Be7 9. b3 dxc4 10. bxc4 c5 11. Ne5 cxd4 12. exd4 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Bf4 g5. Alisa is choosing a very risky line! 15. Bg3 h5 16. h3 h4. “I felt that 16. ... Nc5 was very interesting because after 17. Be4 Nxe4 Black keeps the Bishop on b7. If Black wants to continue its attack, having this light-squared Bishop is very important”, then Koneru said. 17. Bh2 g4. Now, after “17. ... Nc5 I could have played 18. Be2. And there is no flexibility to play ... g5-g4”, Koneru says. 18. Be4! Humpy’s play is crystal-clear. If 18. hxg4 there might follow 18. ... Bb4 19. Ne4 h3 with an unclear position, Ganguly – Romanko, Chigorin Memorial, Saint Petersburg 2014. 18. ... Bxe4 19. Qxe4 gxh3 20. Nb5! Threatening Qe4xa8.

20. ... Rb8. Temporary like Achilles. If 20. ... hxg2 there might follow 21. Rd1 Rb8 22. Rd4 (Koneru’s analysis), but the immediate 20. ... Rc8 was worth considering. 21. gxh3 a6 22. Nd6+ Bxd6 23. exd6 Qg5+ 24. Kh1 Rc8. Back to her roots. Black is intending ... Qg5-c5-c6 in order to change Queens. 25. Rae1. A powerful centralization! The threat is f2-f4-f5. 25. ... Kd8. If 25. ... Qc5 then 26. Qg4 as 26. ... Qxc4 is met by 27. Qg5 f6 28. Qg7 (Koneru’s analysis). 26. Rg1 Qc5 27. Qf4 Qf5 28. Qxf5 exf5 29. Re7 Rf8 30. Bf4 Rxc4. A little better is 30. ... Rc6 31. Bh6 Rh8 32. Rxf7 Rxd6, but after 33. Be3 White’s position is still imposing. 31. Bh6 Rh8 32. Rxf7 Kc8 33. Rgg7 Nc5 34. Be3 Rd8 35. Bxc5 Rxc5 36. Ra7 Kb8 37. Rgb7+ Kc8 38. d7+ 1 : 0.

Humpy Koneru vs. Alisa Galliamova
Photo: Vladimir Barsky