Rush Hour

Anna Muzychuk – Laurent Fressinet
14th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 28, 2016
Four Knights Game C47

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bc5 6. Be3 Bb6 7. Qd2 Ng4 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Bxb6 axb6. A coreographic Pawn Cube. 11. f3. For 11. h3 Ne5 12. f4 Ng6 13. g3 h5 14. h4 Ke7 see Bagi – Melkumyan, 34th Zalakaros Open 2015, Zalakaros 2015. 11. ... Nf6 12. 0-0-0 Ke7 13. Be2 h5 14. h4 b5 15. a3 Be6 16. f4 g6 17. Rhe1 Ne8 18. Bf3 Bg4 19. Bxg4 hxg4 20. g3 Nd6 21. Rd3 Rhd8 22. Nd1 c5 23. Ne3 c6

24. e5. If 24. Nxg4 there might follow 24. ... c4 25. Rde3 b4 26. Ne5 c3! with obvious compensation. 24. ... Nc4? There’s evidently something wrong with Fressinet’s calculations, and so 24. ... Ne4 was the move which was called for. For instance: 24. ... Ne4 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Nf1 Nf2 27. Nd2 f5! 28. exf6+ Kf8 29. Rf1 Re8! 30. Nf3! Ne4 31. Ne5 Nxg3 32. Re1 Rd8! 33. Nxg4 Nh5 with a tenable position – at least compared to the actual continuation of the game. 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Nxg4 b4 27. a4 b5 28. b3 Na3. If 28. ... Na5 then 29. axb5 cxb5 30. Rd1 and White, a Pawn ahead, should win the ending quite easily. 29. a5! “Meanwhile there’s a bigger sensation – Anna Muzychuk is beating Laurent Fressinet!”, the gurus of chess24.com tweeted. 29. ... c4. “The sister of the Women’s World Chess Champion never gave the French Grandmaster a chance. Another line is 29. ... Ra8, but White wins smoothly all the same: 30. e6 f5 31. Ne5 Kxe6 32. Nxg6+ Kf6 33. Ne5 c4 34. h5”, Woman Grandmaster Zsuzsa Verőci said. 30. Rd1! In spite of her time trouble, Anna plays best rather than better. 30. ... Ra8 31. Nf6 Rxa5 32. Rd7+ Ke6 33. g4 Ra8 34. Rd6+ Ke7 35. Rd7+ Kf8 36. e6! fxe6 37. Nh7+ Kg8 38. Nf6+ Kf8 39. h5! gxh5 40. Nh7+. Anna repeated moves to reach the time control. 40. ... Kg8 41. Nf6+ Kf8 42. g5! 1 : 0. Well done, Miss Muzychuk! Needless to ask, of course, who is Anna and who is Mariya?

Anna Muzychuk vs. Laurent Fressinet
Photo: John Saunders