The Will

Dronavalli Harika – 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí)

Knockout Women’s World Chess Championship Tournament; match game 2; Tehran, February 24, 2017

Sicilian Defence B51

“C’mon [Dronavalli Harika]. All the best. Just play chess today & try keep the play going. You have played very well”, 15th World Chess Champion Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand solemnly wished his countrygirl, just before the game started. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. 0-0 Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bc4 b5 8. Bf1 e5 9. d4. For 9. a4 b4 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Be7 12. Nbd2 exd4 13. Nb3 0-0 14. Nfxd4 d5 see Cornette – Pap, Schachbundesliga 2015-2016, Erfurt 2016. 9. ... Be7 10. d5 Na7 11. Nbd2 0-0 12. Bd3 Nc8 13. Nf1. As very usually happens, the Rossolimo Sicilian has transposed into a kind of Spanish Game. 13. ... Nb6 14. h3 Qc7 15. Ng3 a5 16. Bg5 Rfe8 17. Qc1 h6 18. Be3 c4 19. Bc2 b4. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) prepares to sacrifice her c-Pawn for some interesting positional compensation. 20. Qd1 Reb8 21. Nd2 Nh7 22. Qe2 Rc8 23. Bxb6 Qxb6 24. Nxc4 Qc5 25. Bd3 bxc3 26. bxc3 Bg5 27. Rab1 Rab8 28. Nf1 Nf8 29. Kh2

29. ... h5? The Bishop pair and the weakness of the c3-Pawn partially compensated Black for the minus Pawn, but now 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) quite crazily decides to sacrifice another Pawn for something that does not exist. 30. Qxh5 Bf4+ 31. Kg1 Bb5? The postgirl just wants to jump in, both feet into the abyss... 32. Qe2. Simpler seems to be 32. Rxb5! Rxb5 33. g3 Bh6 34. Nxd6 Qxd6 35. Bxb5 Rxc3 36. Rb1 leaving Black in trouble two Pawns down – the analysis is by Georges Bertola from his commentary for Europe Échecs. 32. ... Bxc4 33. Rxb8 Rxb8 34. Bxc4 Qa3 35. Bb5 Qxc3 36. a4 Rc8 37. g3 Bg5 38. Ne3 Qb4. “It was probably necessary to eliminate the White Knight by 38. ... Bxe3!, in spite of the pawn minus, as the Bishops of opposite colour ending is just a chimera”, says Bertola. 39. Nc4 Nd7 40. Nxa5 Rc2 41. Qxc2 Qxe1+ 42. Kg2 Nc5. The alternative – apparently more defensible than the text – was 42. ... Qxa5 43. Bxd7 liquidating to a Queen and opposite coloured Bishops endgame two Pawns down. 43. Nc6! Bd2 44. Bd3. After 44. Nxe5! dxe5 45. Qxc5 Qxe4+ 46. f3 Qd4 47. Qxd4 exd4 48. Kf2 (Bertola’s analysis) not even the Bishops of opposite colours might have saved Black from the too many White Pawns eager to promote. 44. ... g6 45. h4 Bc3 46. Be2 Nxa4 47. Ne7+. Stockfish’s “first thought” 47. Qd3! Nc5 48. Qf3 also appears to be the best thought, carrying serious threats to the Black King. 47. ... Kf8 48. Nc8 Bd4 49. Bf3 Qb4 50. h5 gxh5?? A tremendous blunder for which no explanation is possible. 50. ... Qc5 51. Qxa4 Qxc8 was called for, and good enough to hope for a draw. 51. Qc1? Most certainly it’s a flashy blind spot, and it will not be the last one. 51. Qc7! Qd2 52. Kh3! would have led to a mating attack. 51. ... Bc5? 52. Qh6+? And now Harika misses 52. Qg5!+- Qb7 53. Qd8+ Kg7 54. Ne7 with an easy and ready win. 52. ... Ke8 53. Bxh5 Qxe4+ 54. Bf3 Qg6? Everything is mounted as a tragicomedy of mistakes. 54. ... Qd4! 55. Nxd6+ Bxd6 56. Qxd6 Nc5 would have ensured Black robust drawing chances. 55. Qh4 Kd7 56. Be4? As the show must go on, no matter that 56. Bg4+ Kc7 57. Qe7+ Kb8 58. Qd8 Kb7 59. Qd7+ Kb8 60. Ne7 was devastatingly easy. 56. ... f5 57. Ne7? Just another bid for immortality! Now White misses 57. Qe7+! Kxc8 58. Bd3! and mate in three moves. 57. ... Qf7 58. Bxf5+ Kc7 59. f3 Nb6 60. Be6 Qg7 61. Nf5 Qf8 62. Qh7+ Kb8 63. Ne7 Nc4 64. Nc6+ Ka8 65. Qg8? Now Harika makes the grand offer of exchanging Queens, and this is also the best way to offer her opponent unexpected drawing prospects... 65. ... Qxg8 66. Bxg8 Kb7 67. g4 Be3 68. Nd8+ Kc7 69. Ne6+ Kd7 70. g5 Ke7 71. Bh7 Nb6 72. g6 Nxd5? “72. ... Bh6! must lead to a draw: 73. g7 Bxg7 74. Nxg7 Nxd5 75. Nf5+ Kd7”, writes Bertola. 73. g7 Nf6 74. g8=Q Nxg8 75. Bxg8 Kd7 76. Nf8+ Kc6 77. Ng6 Bg5 78. Kh3 Kc5 79. Kg4 Bd8 80. Nf8 Ba5 81. Ne6+ Kc4 82. Kf5 Kd3 83. Ng5 Kd4 84. Ba2 Bb4 85. Ne6+ Ke3 86. Bd5 Ba5 87. Ng5 Kd4 88. Ke6 Bc7 89. Ne4 Ke3 90. Nxd6 Kf4 91. Be4 Ba5 92. Nb7 Bc3 93. Nc5 Kg5 94. Nd3 Bd2 95. Kxe5 Bc3+ 96. Ke6 Bd2 97. Bc6 Kg6 98. Ke5 Kg5 99. Ke4 Kf6 100. Nf2 Ke6 101. Bd5+ Kd6 102. Ba2 Kd7 103. Ng4 Bg5 104. Ne5+ Kc7 105. Bb3 Bh6 106. Nc4 Bg5 107. Ba4 Kd8 108. Ne3 Kc7 109. Bb5 Kd6 110. Nf5+ Kc5 111. Be8 Kb4 112. Nd4 Bh6 113. Ne2 Kc5 114. Bf7 Bg5 115. Ba2 Bh6 116. f4. Finally, Harika feels ready to demontrate the Bishop and Knight checkmate – actually just a bit too erratically. 116. ... Bxf4 117. Nxf4 Kb4 118. Kd4 Kb5 119. Bd5 Kb4 120. Bc4 Ka3 121. Nd3 Ka4 122. Kc5 Ka3 123. Be6 Ka4 124. Nb4 Ka3 125. Kc4 Kb2 126. Bg4 Kc1 127. Kc3 Kb1 128. Nc2 Ka2 129. Be6+ Kb1 130. Ne3 Ka1 131. Nc4 Kb1 132. Nd2+ Ka1 133. Nb3+ Kb1 134. Bf5+ Ka2 135. Be4 Ka3 136. Bb1 Ka4 137. Nd4 Ka5 138. Kc4 Kb6 139. Bg6 Kc7 140. Kd5 Kd7 141. Nc6 Kc7 142. Kc5 Kd7 143. Bf7 Kc8 144. Be6+ Kc7 145. Ne5 Kb7 146. Bd5+ Kc8 147. Kd6 Kd8 148. Bf7 Kc8 149. Kc6 Kd8 150. Ng6 Kc8 151. Bd5 Kd8 152. Kd6 Ke8 153. Bb3 Kd8 154. Ba4 Kc8 155. Bc6 Kd8 156. Ne5 Kc8 157. Bd7+ Kb7 158. Nc4 Ka6 159. Kc7 Ka7 160. Bb5 Ka8 161. Nb6+ Ka7 162. Nc8+ 1 : 0. All’s well that ends well. The last “gift” the Knockout pageant needed was a worldwide remake of Ushenina – Girya, FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014, 1st stage, Geneva 2013.

Dronavalli Harika vs. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí)
Photo © David Llada