Fourmiz (Antz)

Marie Rachel Sebag – Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 23, 2015
Spanish C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. 0-0 Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. c3 Bb6 8. Na3 c6 9. Ba4 0-0 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 Bc7 12. Bc2 b5 13. d4 d6 14. Bd3. “White thought for about 16 minutes before choosing the positional 14. Bd3, clearing c2 for the Knight. I suspect that she probably spent only 2-3 minutes on that move, at most, and spent most of the time puzzling through the complications beginning with 14. f4 exf4 15. Rxf4 g5. Here both 16. Qf3 and 16. Qd3 lead to all sorts of fun tactical possibilities, but they’re probably more fun when one isn’t playing in an elimination tournament with lots of money at stake”, Dennis Monokroussos writes. 14. ... g5 15. Bg3 Qe7 16. Re1 Bb6 17. Nc2 Bd7 18. h3 Rfd8 19. Qf3 Ne8 20. Rad1 Ng7 21. Bf1 Bc7 22. c4. White enjoys a slight but lasting initiative. 22. ... a6 23. Ne3 Re8 24. b4! Rad8 25. d5! Rf8 26. dxc6 Bxc6 27. cxb5 axb5 28. Bxb5! Ba8. Clearly not 28. ... Bxb5? on account of 29. Nd5 (29. ... Qd7?? 30. Nf6+). 29. Bc4 Bb6 30. Ng4 Kh7 31. Nf6+ Kg6 32. Nd5 Bxd5 33. Rxd5 Ne6? An error, which simply cedes the f5 square. 34. Qf5+! Kg7

35. h4? Marie Rachel misses a tactical blow: 35. Rxd6!! and White wins (35. ... Nd4 36. Qxe5+). 35. ... Nd4! 36. Qg4 Rc8! 37. Bd3 Rc3 38. Rd1 Ra8! Pogonina is heroically defend herself! 39. Bb1 Rc4. “[The position] could have been completely equal had [Pogonina] spotted the neat 39. ... Rxg3! 40. fxg3 Nf5+ 41. Kh2 Ne3 followed by taking the Rook on d5 and using the counterattacking chances provided by the opposite-colored Bishops. It’s understandable that Pogonina missed or rejected this, as she was almost surely in time trouble”, Monokroussos writes. 40. Kh2 Rxb4. The time control is finally reached. 41. f4! Sebag is really still striving! 41. ... exf4 42. Bxf4 Qe6 43. Qxe6 fxe6. Safer was 43. ... Nxe6 44. Bxd6 Bc7 with a tenable position. 44. Bxd6 exd5 45. Bxb4 dxe4 46. Bc3 Ra4 47. Bxe4 gxh4 48. Rb1 Bc7+ 49. Kh3 Be5 50. Bd5 Kf6 51. Rb4 Ra3 52. Bb3 Nxb3 53. Bxe5+ Kxe5 54. axb3 Ra2 55. Rxh4 Rb2? A fatal slip. Correct was 55. ... Ra6 which would definitely assured the draw. 56. Rb4? After 56. Rxh6! Rxb3+ 57. Kh4 White gets an ending which is theoretically a win. Unfortunately, Sebag didn’t realize it. 56. ... Kf5 57. g4+ Kg6 58. Kg3 Rb1 59. Kf4 Rf1+ 60. Ke5 Rb1 61. Kf4 Rf1+ 62. Kg3 Rg1+ 63. Kf3 Rf1+ 64. Kg2 Rd1 65. Rb5 Rd3 66. b4 Rb3 67. Kf2 Kf6 68. Rf5+ Kg6 69. b5 Kg7 70. Rc5 Kg6 71. Rd5 Kf6 72. Rc5 Kg6 73. Ke2 Kf6 74. Rf5+ Kg6 75. Kd2 Rb4 76. Kc3 Rxg4 77. Rc5 Rg1 78. Kb4 Rb1+ 79. Ka5 Ra1+ 80. Kb6 h5 81. Kc7 h4? As originally shown by the guys of ChessBomb, with 81. ... Ra5!! instead of 81. ... h4? Black would have drawn: 81. ... Ra5!! 82. Kc6 (also after 82. Rc6+ Kg5 the game is drawn) 82. ... h4 83. b6 Rxc5+ 84. Kxc5 h3 drawing. 82. b6 h3 83. b7 h2 84. b8=Q h1=Q 85. Qg8+ Kh6 86. Rc6+ Kh5 87. Qg6+ Kh4 88. Rc4+ Kh3 89. Qg4+ 1 : 0.

Marie Rachel Sebag vs. Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich