A Breath of Autumn

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk – Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk
4th Trophée Anatoly Karpov; Cap d’Agde, October 27, 2015
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 0-0 8. Qd2 Qe8 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. 0-0-0. 9th Women’s World Chess Champion 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)’s husband, Grandmaster Mohammed Ahmed Al-Modiahki from Qatar, tried here 10. h4, but after 10. ... Ne5 11. Ng5 f5 12. 0-0-0 h6 White didn’t achieve anything, Al-Modiahki – Sandipan, FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship, Dubai 2014. 10. ... Ne5 11. Nxe5 dxe5 12. c4 Qa4 13. Kb1 Be6 14. Qc3 Bf6 15. Qb3 Qxb3 16. axb3 Be7 17. f3

17. ... a5! Mariya takes the opportunity to seize a volatile initiative, not sufficient, however, to secure her any significant advantage. 18. c3 a4 19. bxa4 Rxa4 20. b3 Ra3 21. Kb2 Rfa8 22. Ra1 Rxa1 23. Rxa1 Rxa1 24. Kxa1 f5 25. Kb2 b6 26. Kc2 g5 27. h3 h5 28. Kd2 Kg7 29. Ke2 Kf6 30. Bc2 Bd6 31. Bf2 Be7 32. Bb1 Bd6 33. Bc2 Be7 34. Bb1 Bd6 35. Bc2 Be7 ½ : ½. “It was an interesting game”, then Mariya said. “I decided to play the Russian Defence. For me it’s never easy to select an opening when I have to face my sister. We played each other so many times. Perhaps I stood a little better in the ending, but I couldn’t find any sort of winning plan. We arrived at the playing hall one after another, but just before we were together. We just needed ‘a breath of fresh air’ each on her own”.

Mariya Muzychuk
Photo © Pierre Textoris/CapÉchecs