Russian Aristocracy

Daniela Movileanu – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
11th Women’s European Team Chess Championship; Reykjavík, November 15, 2015
Caro-Kann Defence B18

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nh3 Nd7 7. Nf4 Qc7 8. Be3. Movileanu comes up with an improvised (and convoluted) plan. 8. Bc4 Nb6 9. Bb3 e6 10. c3 Nf6 11. 0-0 Bd6 12. Qf3 0-0-0 was a reasonable option (as played in Asgarizadeh – Lalith, Asian Nations Cup, Tabriz 2014). Another plausible continuation is 8. h4 to which Black can reply 8. ... e5. 8. ... e6 9. c3 Bd6 10. Ngh5 0-0-0. Black’s game is already much easier to play. 11. Qf3

11. ... e5! 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Qh3+ Kb8 14. Be2 Ne7 15. g4? A clear mistake that result in catastrophic consequences. 15. ... Be4 16. f3. Also after 16. 0-0 g5 17. Ng2 f5! White gets into serious trouble. 16. ... Bd5 17. Qg2 g6! Questioning the overloaded Knight. The rest is easy. 18. Nf6 Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 Bxf4 20. Bxf4 Qxf4 21. 0-0 Bc4 22. Be2 Qe3+ 23. Rf2 Bxe2 0 : 1.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina. Photo: Óskar/Icelandic Chess Federation.