Replay

赵雪 (Zhào Xuě) – Natalia Andreevna Pogonina

Women’s World Chess Championship; playoff game 1; Krasnaya Polyana, March 28, 2015

Benkö Counter-Gambit A58

“In the first game she once again allowed me to play the Benkö gambit and went for a sideline, which gave me a good game”, then Natalia Andreevna Pogonina said. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. g3 0-0 8. Bg2 d6 9. Nf3 Nxa6 10. 0-0 Qb6 11. Nd2. “If I decided to repeat the Benkö in her shoes, I would play the most principled lines. I guess she thought I used the gambit only as a one-time desperate attempt, and did not even prepare for it for today” Pogonina said. Yesterday 赵雪 (Zhào Xuě) preferred 11. Re1. 11. ... Nc7 12. Nc4 Qb4 13. Ne3 Ba6 14. Rb1 Nb5 15. Bd2 Nd4 16. Re1 Rfb8 17. b3 Nd7 18. Qc1 Qb7 19. Nc4 Ne5 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. e3 Nb5 22. Nd1 Bg7 23. a4 Nc7 24. Bc3. “Very quickly Pogonina got a nice position, but at one point White could have escaped, by playing 24. b4 instead of 24. Bc3”, Grandmaster Evgeny Miroshnichenko writes. 24. ... Bxc3 25. Nxc3 Bd3 26. Rb2 Qb4 27. Rd1 Ba6 28. Rdd2 Ra7 29. Na2 Qa3 30. Qc2 Rab7 31. Nc1 Qb4 32. Ra2 Qa5 33. Qd1 Rb4 34. h4 h5 35. Kh2 Ne8! Natalia Andreevna repositions the Knight to more effective squares. 36. e4 Nf6 37. f3 c4! Black breaks – ans cracks – White’s Queenside. 38. bxc4 Bxc4 39. Ra1 Rb2 40. Rxb2 Rxb2

41. Qd4? White’s position was bad and perhaps lost in any case, but the text move makes matters much worse. After 41. Nd3 Rd2 42. Qe1 Bxd3 43. Rd1 Rxg2+ 44. Kxg2 Qa6 Black stands better, but the game it’s not over yet. 41. ... Rc2! The end is inevitable. 42. Qe3 Qb4 43. Nd3 Bxd3 44. Qxd3 Rxg2+ 45. Kxg2 Qb2+ 46. Kh3 Qxa1 47. Kg2 Qxa4 48. Qc3 Qa2+ 49. Kh3 Qf2 0 : 1.

Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili