With a Little Help from My Friends

Mariya Muzychuk – Nana Dzagnidze
11th Women’s European Team Chess Championship; Reykjavík, November 15, 2015
Sicilian Defence B41

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. a3 b6 8. Be3 Bb7 9. f3 Be7 10. Rc1 d6 11. Be2 Nbd7 12. 0-0 0-0 13. b4 Rac8 14. Qe1 Rfe8 15. Qf2 Qb8 16. Rfd1 Bd8 17. g4. For 17. Nb3 Bc7 18. g3 d5 see Eljanov – Perdek, Polanica-Zdrój 1996. 17. ... Ne5 18. g5 Nfd7 19. Na4 d5 20. cxd5 Rxc1. Dzagnidze’s move is not the best idea, because now White has a free hand in what she plays next. 21. Bxc1 exd5 22. f4 Nc4. A theoretical novelty, but to no avail for Black’s cause. If, instead, 22. ... Nc6 (Esenov – Hujbert, Budapest 2015) then 23. Nf5! looks very strong. 23. exd5 Bxd5

24. Nf5 Be6 25. Nxg7 Kxg7 26. Bxc4 Bxc4 27. Rxd7. White is a Pawn ahead and dominates the board. The rest is quite easy. 27. ... Kg8 28. Qd4 Bxg5 29. Qxc4 Re1+ 30. Kg2 Qe8 31. Rd5 Bh4 32. Nxb6 Re2+ 33. Kh3 Bf6 34. Qc8 Qxc8+ 35. Nxc8 1 : 0.

Mariya Muzychuk and her sister Anna are having dinner with the Ukrainian national chess team. Photo: Oleksandr Sulypa.