La Tueuse

Marie Rachel Sebag – Anna Yurievna Ushenina
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 20, 2015
Sicilian Defence B22

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 dxe5 8. dxe5 Ndb4 9. Qb3 e6 10. 0-0 Na5 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Qa4 Bxb5 13. Qxb5+ Nac6 14. Nc3 a6 15. Qe2. Nothing special is happening! For 15. Qc4 Qd3 16. Qg4 Qf5 see Skripchenko – Cmilyte, Women’s World Chess Championship, Antakya 2010.

15. ... Qd3 ½ : ½. Black stands quite a bit better, as the White e-Pawn is a likely target. If 16. Rd1 then 16. ... Qxe2 17. Nxe2 Rd8 as in the game Krzyzanowski – Baklan, Wrocław 2010, whereas against 16. Qd1 Black can reply with 16. ... Rd8 as in the game Boruchovsky – A. Kovačević, 12th European Individual Championship, Aix-les-Bains 2011.

Marie Rachel Sebag vs. Anna Yurievna Ushenina
Photo: Boris Dolmatovsky