Thrasymachus

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina – Nigel David Short
16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 31, 2018
Alekhine Defence B04

British Grandmaster Nigel David Short decided today to give an impulse to women’s chess by losing a “book” game to Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina, at least showing that she had read and studied Nigel Davies’s monograph “Alekhine’s Defence” (Everyman Chess, London, 2001) with much attention! 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Be2 Bg7 6. c4 Nb6 7. exd6 cxd6 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Bg5!? Nc6 10. h3 Bf5 11. Nc3 h6 12. Be3 d5 13. c5 Nc4 14. Bc1 (Δ b2-b3) 14. ... b6 15. b3

15. ... bxc5!?? Black opts for the most controversial line. As Davies argues, after 15. ... N4a5 16. cxb6 axb6 17. Be3 (or 17. Bf4 g5 18. Bg3 Nb4 19. Qd2 Nac6 20. Rfc1 Be4 21. Nb5 Bxf3 22. Bxf3 Rc8 23. h4 with an edge, Sermek – Moscatelli, Vienna 1991) 17. ... Kh7 18. Rc1 Be6 19. Qd2 White also stands better, Brodsky – Pesotsky, 57th Ukrainian Chess Championship, Kharkiv 1988. 16. bxc4 cxd4 17. Nxd5 e6. If 17. ... d3 then 18. Bxd3 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Bxa1 20. Bxh6 Bg7 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Qc3+ Kg8 (22. ... f6 23. Ng5 Qd6 24. Nc7 is also good for White, Khmelnitsky – Pesotsky, Kiev 1989) 23. Re1 Re8 (if 23. ... Qa5 then 24. Qe3 threatening Qe3-h6, Khmelnitsky – Kozlov, Naberezhnye Chelny 1986) 24. Ne5 Nxe5 25. Qxe5 with powerful threats, Hervet – Cimolai, correspondence game, 1993. 18. Ba3 exd5. Jumping right into the book. The alternative is 18. ... Re8 19. Nf4 e5 20. Nd5 d3 21. Bxd3 Bxd3 (the immediate 21. ... e4 deserves consideration) 22. Qxd3 e4 23. Qe3 exf3 24. Qxf3 with clear advantage to White, Khmelnitsky – Palatnik, Kherson 1989. 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20. cxd5!? That’s Gunina’s first new move, and it is not worse than 20. Rc1 dxc4 (no better at all is 20. ... Kg8 21. Bd3 Be6 22. Qa4 Ne5 23. Nxe5 Bxe5 24. f4 Bc7 25. c5 Qf6 26. Qc6 Qd8 27. Rce1 1 : 0 Sermek – Řezníček, Komerční Banka Open, Pardubice 1997) 21. Bxc4 (Black has no worthy compensation for the Exchange) 21. ... Qd6 22. Bd3 Bd7 23. Bb5 Rd8 24. Qa4 Ne5 25. Nxd4 Qxd4 26. Qxd4 Nf3+ 27. gxf3 Bxd4 28. Bxd7 Rxd7 29. Rfd1 Ke7 30. Kg2 Bb6 31. Rxd7+ Kxd7 32. f4 Ke6 33. Kf3 Kf5 34. Rc6 Bd4 35. Rd6 Bb6 36. a4 f6 37. a5 Bc7 38. Rd7 1 : 0 Sermek – Sutter, Biel/Bienne 1994. 20. ... Qxd5 21. Bd3. Gunina knows already everything about how to win. Short resignedly goes to his doom: 21. ... Nb4 22. Bxf5 Qxf5 23. Rb1 Nd3 24. Rb7 Kg8 25. Qb1 Qd5 26. Rb5 Qc4 27. Rd1 Nf4? Just blundering the Knight, but other moves would not have saved the day either. 28. Rb8+ 1 : 0.

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina vs. Nigel David Short. Photo © Sophie Triay.