Late Afternoon

Tea Gueci – Marina Brunello
44th Italian Women’s Chess Championship; Cosenza, December 4, 2017
Sicilian Defence B90

As it was expected the game between Tea Gueci and Marina Brunello was a hard fight, back and forth, with some crazy side effects on both sides. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 0-0 10. 0-0-0 a5 11. a4 Nc6 12. g4 Nb4 13. Kb1 Nd7. Varying from 13. ... Rc8 14. g5 Nh5 15. Rg1 f5 16. gxf6 Rxf6 17. Bg5 Rf7? (17. ... Rxf3) 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Qxd6 which left Black a Pawn down for no compensation, Abrahamyan – M. Brunello, 32nd Reykjavík Open, Reykjavík 2016. 14. Rg1!? A new, but not very useful move. More to the point is 14. h4 Nb6 15. Qf2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Bxc4 17. f4; for instance: 17. ... exf4 18. Bxf4 Bxb3 19. cxb3 Qd7 20. Qf3 Rfe8 21. Nb5 Ra6 22. g5 Bf8 23. Rhf1 Rc6 24. Bxd6! Bxd6 25. Nxd6 Rf8 26. Qf5 Qe7 27. Nxf7! Rc5 28. e5 Rd5 29. Rc1 Rdd8 30. e6 Rd5 31. Qe4 Re8 32. Nh6+! Kh8 33. Rf7 1 : 0 Lastin – Iskusnyh, 60th Russian Chess Championship Higher League, Krasnoyarsk 2007. 14. ... Nb6 15. Qf2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Bxc4 17. Bb6 Qb8. Black sacrifices temporarily a Pawn in order to seize the initiative. 18. Nxa5 Be6 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. exd5 Bd7 21. b3 Rc8 22. Rge1?! Gueci is not interested in Stockfish’s line 22. f4 Bd8 23. Nc4 Rxc4 24. bxc4 Rxa4 25. Bxd8 Qxd8 26. fxe5 Qa5 with a very likely draw by perpetual check. 22. ... Ra6! 23. Re4 Qa8 24. Nc4 f5?! A little too prudent. It came natural to dare 24. ... Bxa4! 25. bxa4 Rxa4 26. Na5 Rxa5 27. Bxa5 Qxa5 28. Qd2 Rc3! with plenty of compensation for the Exchange. 25. gxf5 Bxf5 26. a5! Bxe4 27. fxe4. Curiously enough, White ended up sacrificing the Exchange for only a Pawn, but quite good chances of counterplay on both wings. 27. ... Rf8 28. Qg2 Rf6 29. Qh3 Qe8 30. Ne3. Aiming for tricky tactics. 30. ... Ra8 31. Nf5 Bd8? This ambitious move is really antithetic. The place for the Bishop was at f8 (31. ... Bf8). 32. Rg1. And now, probably due to time pressure, Brunello commits harakiri: 32. ... Rg6? 32. ... g6∞ was imperatively called for. 33. Rxg6 Qxg6 34. Qc3? Gueci, too, must have been short of time, for otherwise she would have realized that 34. Bxd8 Qg1+ 35. Kb2 Rxd8 36. Nxd6! was completely winning. 34. ... Qf6 35. Qb4 g6 36. Nh6+ Kg7 34. Qc3 Qf6 35. Qb4 g6 36. Nh6+ Kg7 37. Be3? Both opponents are under time pressure. Here 37. Ng4 Qe7 38. Ne3 was still tenable. 37. ... Qe7 38. Bg5!? A last-ditch trick. 38. ... Qxg5? It worked! 38. ... Qd7 would have left White with no future. 39. Qxb7+ Kxh6 40. Qxa8. The ending is now extremely unclear, since White’s united passed Pawns excellently compensate for her material deficit. 40. ... Kh5 41. b4 Qg1+ 42. Ka2 Bg5 43. Qc8 Qd4 44. Qh3+ Bh4 45. Qf3+ Kg5 46. Kb3 h5 47. a6 Qb6 48. Qd3 Bf2 49. Qc4 Kf4 50. Qc6 Kxe4

51. a7? Gueci’s nerves eventually broke and she made her final mistake by throwing away the a-Pawn. Instead 51. Ka4 would seem naturally to grant at least a draw. Now Brunello does no longer miss her chance: 51. ... Qxa7 52. Qxd6 Qd4 53. Qxg6+ Kxd5 54. Qf7+ Ke4 55. Qxh5 Ke3 56. Qh6+ Ke2 57. Qa6+ Kd2 58. Qh6+ Be3 59. Qc6 e4 60. c3 Qd3 61. b5 Bd4 62. b6 Qxc3+ 63. Qxc3+ Bxc3 0 : 1.