Thursday, March 19, 2015

Melodrama

Deimantė Daulytė – Monika Bobrowska-Soćko
Knockout Women’s World Chess Championship Tournament; playoff game 2; Krasnaya Polyana, March 19, 2015
French Defence C03

The Lithuanian Woman Grandmaster won the first playoff game and achieved a decisive advantage in the second one. In mutual time trouble Daulytė could simply give mate in one and qualify to the next round, however, she put her Queen en prise and resigned immediately. Such a chess suicide changed dramatically the contest, and Bobrowska-Soćko dominated in the next two games mini-match.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. 0-0 g5 9. Nb3. For 9. Bb1 g4 10. Ne1 h5 see Dembo – Bobrowska-Soćko, 40th Women’s Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012. 9. ... h6. With 9. ... c4 Black could win a piece, but after 9. Nxg5 cxd3 10. Nxe6! Qb6 11. Nf4 she would expose her King to a very powerful attack. 10. Nxc5 Nxc5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Re1 Bd7 14. Be3 Bf8 15. Bd4 Bg7 16. b4 Rc8 17. Qe3 Nxd4 18. cxd4 Qb6 19. a3 0-0 20. Rec1 a5 21. b5 a4 22. h4 gxh4 23. Nxh4 Qa5 24. Rab1 Rxc1+ 25. Rxc1 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 27. Nf3 Bd7 28. Qc1 Bf8 29. Qb2 Be7 30. g3 Kf8 31. Kg2 Ke8 32. Nh2 Qe1 33. Qc2 Qa1 34. Qxa4 Qc3. It hardly makes sense to analyze such a playoff game, as it is much more about energy and stamina than about chess skill. At this point it seems better 34. ... Qxa3 35. Qxa3 Bxa3 36. Ng4 h5 37. Nf6+ Ke7 38. Nxh5 Bb2 and Black looks very close to equality. 35. Qa8+ Bc8 36. Nf3. Here, too, White has a much stronger plan: 36. b6!, paralyzing the Black Queenside. 36. ... Kd8 37. Bf1 Bxa3 38. Qa4 Be7 39. Qa2 Kc7 40. Qb1 f5. This make matters worse. It would have been better to submit to 40. ... Bd7 41. Qh7 Be8 42. Qxh6 Qc2 with a laborious defence. 41. exf6 Bxf6 42. Qh7+. White misses her chance to get a clear edge by 42. b6+ Kd6 43. Qg6! (43. ... Bxd4 44. Nxd4 Qxd4 45. Qg8). 42. ... Kb6 43. Qxh6 Bxd4 44. Qf8 Bg7 45. Qd8+ Qc7 46. Qg5 Ka7 47. Qe3+ b6 48. Nd4 Bb7? The crisis. Black should have played 48. ... Bxd4! 49. Qxd4 e5! which would have equalized the position. 49. Qa3+ Kb8 50. Nxe6 d4+ 51. Kg1 Qd7 52. Nxg7 Qxg7 53. Qd6+ Qc7 54. Qxd4 Qc1 55. Qxb6 Qe1 56. Qd8+ Ka7. And now White checkmates in one move (with a Pawn): 57. b6 mate. Instead, a soap opera tragic drama happened...


57. Qa5+?? “White w/ mate in 1, played 57. Qa5+ & eliminated herself from WWC”, Zsuzsa Polgár tweeted. 0 : 1. “It’s what chess players have to face under extreme pressure. Even a 2400 misses mate in 1 while hanging Q on same move! She needed a draw to qualify to next round and she ‘saw’ a perpetual”, Polgár said.

Deimantė Daulytė vs. Monika Bobrowska-Soćko. Photo: World Women’s Chess (@worldwomenchess)

No comments:

Post a Comment