Peace at the Last

Nils Axel Grandelius – Dronavalli Harika
23rd TePe Sigeman & Co. Chess Tournament; Malmö, May 11, 2017
Sicilian Defence B23

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. e5 e6 7. Be4? A silly (new) move which is not only useless, but even deleterious. For 7. 0-0 d5 8. exd6 Bxd6 9. Ne4 Be7 10. b3 f5 11. Ng3 Bf6 12. Rb1 g6 see Grischuk – Vachier-Lagrave, 3rd Norway Blitz 2015, Stavanger 2015. 7. ... d5 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. Bxc6+. One should not make such a concession, but White didn’t know where to put the Bishop after an eventual ... Ng8-f6. 9. ... Qxc6 10. 0-0 Nf6 11. d4 cxd4 12. Qxd4 b5! Black stands already well, despite her slight delay in development – both her Bishops are eager to plant themselves on important diagonals. 13. Ne5 Qc5. This modest move surprised me a bit, but maybe even Morphy would have done so – and, in any event, it denotes Harika’s great confidence in her own judgment. 14. Rd1?! Here’s another cryptic loss of something ineffable. Since White stands worse, I think he would have done better to play 14. Qxc5 Bxc5 15. Be3 trying to keep his discomfort to the (best) minimum (possible). 14. ... Qxd4 15. Rxd4 Bc5 16. Rd3 Bb7 17. Bg5 Be7! 18. Rad1 Rc8! 19. R1d2 h6! Harika is playing with timely dynamism, and by simple means she totally overwhelmed – even in a strategic sense – her opponent. 20. Bh4. Of course, Grandelius is not in the mood to expose himself voluntarily to an unnecessary danger such as 20. Bxf6 gxf6 soonly followed by ... Rh8-g8. 20. ... g5! 21. Bg3 Nd5. 21. ... Ne4 might have been even stronger, but Black would have to withstand some complications, which Harika usually tries to avoid. Alas, it’s not always possible! 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Ng4 h5 24. Ne3 Be4 25. Rd4 Bc6 26. Be5 f6 27. Bd6

27. ... Bd8! Harika’s synchronization in the background is really in the style of Wilhelm Steinitz. 28. Bc5 Kf7! 29. c4 Bc7? A strange circumlocution. 29. ... f5! followed by ... Bd8-f6 appears to be much stronger and hugely advantageous. 30. Bd6! The tenacious Swedish Grandmaster finds the way to climb up to the surface. 30. ... e5 31. R4d3 bxc4 32. Nxc4 Bb5 33. Bxc7 Bxc4 34. Rd7+ Kg6 35. R2d6?? A comical blunder made under time pressure, when by now White was safe. After 35. b3 Bb5 36. Re7 Rhe8 (or 36. ... Rh7) the game was pretty balanced. 35. ... Rhe8? Harika was also short of time and, very unluckily for women’s cause, missed 35. ... Bb5! 36. Re7 Rhe8! (37. Rxe8 Bxe8) with decisive material gains due to White’s back rank abyss. 36. g4! hxg4 37. Rd8? Zeitnot! The immediate 37. a4 was a “must”. 37. ... Rcxd8? The drama of Zeitnot. 37. ... Rexd8 38. Bxd8 Be2! would have retained much greater winning chances. 38. Bxd8 Re6 39. Rxe6 Bxe6. Now the endgame is probably a draw (however not yet so easy to draw for White), thanks to the opposite-colour Bishops. 40. a4 Bb3 41. a5 f5 42. Bc7 e4 43. Bd8 f4 44. Be7 Bc4 45. Bd8 Kf5 46. Be7 e3 47. fxe3 fxe3 48. Kg2 Kf4 49. Bf6 Bd5+ 50. Kf1 Bc4+ 51. Ke1 Bb5 ½ : ½.