Castle Crushers

Mariya Muzychuk – Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
Women’s World Chess Championship; match game 2; Krasnaya Polyana, April 3, 2015
Spanish C95

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Nb8. The Breyer Variation. 10. d4 Nbd7 11. a4 Bb7 12. Nbd2 c5 13. d5 c4 14. Bc2 Nc5 15. Nf1 Re8. The aternative was 15. ... Qc7 16. Ng3 Rfb8 17. Nh2 Bc8 18. Ng4 Qd8 with dynamic equality, Kozlitin – Kuljasevic, 15th European Individual Championship, Yerevan 2014. 16. Ng3 g6 17. Be3 Qc7 18. Nd2. If 18. Qd2 might follow 18. ... Bf8 19. Ra3 Nfd7 20. Nh2 h5 as in the game Timoshenko – Galdunts, Kherson 1991. 18. ... Bf8 19. Qe2 Nfd7 20. f3 Nb6 21. a5 Nbd7 22. Nh1. Reminiscent of the famous Nimzowitsch’s Knight retreat. After 22. h4 Black can answer 22. ... h5 closing the door. 22. ... Be7 23. g4 Qd8 24. Qf2 Bh4 25. Ng3 Rc8 26. Kg2 Nf8 27. Rf1 Bg5. Mariya considered Black taking extraordinary measures with 27. ... g5, to be followed by ... Nf8-g6 and ... Bh4xg3, “but I didn’t think Natalia was ready to part with her dark-square Bishop. If anything, I could sacrifice a Pawn on h4, and weakness of the dark squares is not that noticeable”, then Mariya Muzychuk said. 28. f4. “The key move for me was the f3-f4 break. I could not dare playing it for a while as it weakens many important squares. However, it opens up the game, and, if anything, there are finally some variations to calculate”, Muzychuk said. 28. ... exf4 29. Bxf4 Rc7. With the double effect of defending f7 and freeing c8 for the Bb7. 30. Bxg5 Qxg5 31. Nf3 Qe7

32. Nd4 Qe5. Pogonina would be content with a draw by repetition (33. Nf3 Qe7). 33. h4 h6 34. Qd2 Bc8 35. Nc6 Qg7 36. Qf4. “[...] I could not calculate everything to the end. Say, 35. Qxh6 Bxg4 36. h5, and now 36. ... f5. Maybe White is good here, but I could not see it”, Muzychuk said. 36. ... Rd7 37. Rf2 Bb7 38. Nd4 Re5 39. Nf3 Re8 40. g5. Aleksander Delchev suggests 40. h5 Nh7 41. hxg6 fxg6 42. Rh1 as “very unpleasant” for Black. 40. ... h5 41. Nd4. Time control is finally reached. 41. ... Qe5 42. Qd2 Rc7 43. Raf1 Ree7? A bad mistake. 43. ... Nh7 was called for, although after 44. Rf4 White stands better. 44. Rf6! A powerful blow! The threat is Nd4-f3 trapping the Queen. 44. ... Red7 45. R6f4. It was the right time to strike! After 45. Ndf5! Nh7 (or 45. ... gxf5 46. R1xf5 Qe7 47. Rh6 winning) 46. Nh6+ Kg7 47. Nxh5+ gxh5 48. R6f5 White’s attack is overwhelming, e.g. 48. ... Qe8 49. Qd4+ f6 50. Kh2 Kh8 51. gxf6 Rf7 52. Nxf7+ Qxf7 53. e5 dxe5 54. Rxe5+- (Delchev’s analysis). “I looked at Knight sacrifices on h5 and f5, but it didn’t work out. I did not want to take big risks sacrificing a pieces with unclear compensation in such an important game”, Muzychuk said. 45. ... b4. Hoping to distract White from attacking. On 45. ... Rd8 46. Ndf5 gxf5 47. Rxf5 Qe7 48. Nxh5 White wins. 45. ... Nh7 was the stubborn defence, but again 46. Ndf5 gxf5 47. Rxf5 Qe8 48. Nxh5 f6 49. gxf6 is a win for White. 46. Nf3 Qg7 47. cxb4 Nd3 48. Rf6 Nh7 49. Nd4 Nxf6 50. gxf6 Qf8 51. Ba4 Ne5. After 51. ... Rd8 “I think she was worried about 52. Ne6, and White gets two very strong Pawns for a Rook”, Muzychuk said. 52. Bxd7 Rxd7 53. Nf3 Ng4 54. Nxh5! gxh5 55. Qg5+ Kh8 56. Qxh5+ Nh6. Or 56. ... Qh6 57. Qxg4 Rd8 58. Ng5 Rf8 59. Qd7 Qxh4 60. Rh1+- (Malcom Pein’s analysis). 57. Kh2 Qg8 58. Rg1 1 : 0.

Mariya Muzychuk vs. Natalia Andreevna Pogonina
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Anna Muzychuk watching her sister’s game
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili