Царица (Tsaritsa)

沈阳 (Shěn Yáng) – Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 20, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D36

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 c6 6. Qc2 g6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3 Bf5 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nbd7 11. Bh6 Ng4 12. Bf4 f5 13. h3 Ngf6 14. Ng5 Nf8 15. g4? A venturesome move if not decidedly committal. 15. 0-0 N6d7 16. Nf3 looks much sounder. 15. ... Ne4 16. Be5 Rg8 17. Nf3 Bb4 18. Nd2 Ne6 19. Ncxe4 fxe4 20. Qb3 Qe7 21. h4 0-0-0 22. 0-0-0 Rgf8 23. Rdf1? White’s move is obviously useless. A lesser evil would have been 23. g5 Nc5! 24. dxc5 Bxd2+ 25. Rxd2 Qxe5 26. Qc3 Qxc3+ 27. bxc3 Rf5 with only a small plus to Black.

23. ... Nc5! 24. dxc5 Bxd2+ 25. Kxd2 Qxe5 26. Kc1 d4! Opening up lines against the enemy King. 27. exd4 Rxd4 28. Kb1 Rd2! 29. h5 g5! Alexandra Konstantinovna has obtained an overwhelming position. 30. h6 Kb8. It is not clear why Black didn’t capture the Pawn at c5 (30. ... Qxc5). 31. Rd1 Rdxf2 32. Rhe1 Kc8. Acknowledging and correcting her previous error. 33. a3 Re8 34. Qb4 e3! 35. Qd4 Qxd4 36. Rxd4 Rf4 37. Rd3 e2 38. Kc2 Rxg4 39. Kd2 Rge4 40. Rg3 Rd8+ 41. Kc2 Rd5 0 : 1.

沈阳 (Shěn Yáng) vs. Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
Photo: Boris Dolmatovsky