The Four Seasons

Dronavalli Harika – Nana Dzagnidze

Knockout Women’s World Chess Championship Tournament; match game 1; Tehran, February 20, 2017

French Defence C03

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 c5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. exd5 exd5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. 0-0 Bg4 9. Nb3 Bd6 10. h3 Bh5 11. c3 Nge7 12. Re1 Qc7 13. Be3 Ne5 14. Be2 Nc4

15. Bg5! f6. Not 15. ... Nxb2? because of 16. Bxe7!! Nxd1 17. Bb5+! axb5 18. Bxd6+ winning material – that’s why computers are kept under lock and key when two human beings play each other. 16. Bc1 0-0 17. Nfd4 Bf7 18. Bg4 Kh8 19. Ne6 Bxe6 20. Bxe6. The Bishop pair implies a somewhat better position for White, but it does not seem easy to transform the better into the best. 20. ... Rad8 21. Nd4 Nc6 22. b3 Nxd4 23. cxd4 Na5 24. Bb2 Nc6 25. Bg4 Qa5 26. a3 Bb8 27. Qd3 Rfe8 28. b4 Qc7 29. g3 Ba7 30. h4 g6 31. Rxe8+ Rxe8 32. Bf3 Qd6 33. Kg2 Kg7 34. Bc3. Woman Grandmaster Tania Sachdev, commenting her countrygirl’s game for ChessBase.com, regards 34. h5 as a better way of putting pressure on Black’s shoulders; for instance: 34. ... f5 35. hxg6 hxg6 36. Rh1 Rh8 37. Rxh8 Kxh8 38. b5 “With too many weaknesses in blacks position”. 34. ... Rc8 35. Re1 Ne7 36. Bb2 Rc4 37. Qe2 Nf5 38. Bg4 Bxd4 39. Bxf5 gxf5?? A dramatic blunder by Dzagnidze, likely due to time trouble. Simply 39. ... Bxb2 40. Bd3 Rc1 was good enough to survive. 40. Qe8! Bxb2 41. Re7+ Qxe7. No other way to avoid mate. 42. Qxe7+ Kg6 43. Qe8+ Kg7 44. Qd7+ Kg6 45. h5+ Kh6 46. Qxd5 Rc2. Surrender. 47. Qb3! 1 : 0. Then, after losing the 2nd game, Harika deservedly got through the tie-break and will play 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) in the semifinals.

Dronavalli Harika
Photo: Anastasiya Valeryevna Karlovich