Last But Not Least

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina – Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk
19th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship; Vysoké Tatry, April 14, 2018
Giuoco Piano C50

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Be7 7. c3 d6 8. Nbd2 Nh5!? 9. Bg3 Nxg3 10. hxg3 Bf6. 10. ... 0-0 may transpose into 11. Qe2 Bf6 12. a3 Ne7 13. Nf1 c6 14. Ne3 d5 15. Ba2 Be6 16. Nh2 Bg5 17. Nf3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Ng6 19. 0-0 Re8 20. Rfe1 dxe4 21. dxe4 Bxa2 22. Rxa2 Qb6 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Raa1 ½ : ½ Gabrielian – Martirosyan, 2nd Open, Yerevan 2017. 11. Nf1 Ne7 12. Ne3 c6 13. Bb3 d5 14. Qe2 (14. g4!? g6∞) 14. ... a5 15. 0-0 a4 16. Bc2 Be6 17. Rad1 dxe4 18. dxe4 Qb6. 18. ... Qc7 19. b4 0-0 may be a quieter version of the same sound. 19. Nc4 Bxc4? Her Majesty embarks herself into adventures. Safer seems 19. ... Qc7 in order to reply 20. Nd6+ with 20. ... Kf8 eventually followed by ... Ne7-c8. 20. Qxc4 Qxb2 21. Bxa4 b5 22. Qd3! 0-0. Clearly not 22. ... bxa4?? because of 23. Qd7+ Kf8 24. Qd8+ and mate next move. 23. Bb3! Ng6 24. Nh2! After 24. Qd6 Qxc3 25. Rc1 White regains her Pawn with interest, but it’s not clear at all whether it’ll be enough to win the game. 24. ... Rad8 25. Qf3? 25. Qe3! (Δ Qe3-c5) 25. ... Qa3 26. Ng4 was probably the most promising way to claim an advantage. 25. ... Rxd1 26. Rxd1 c5! 27. Bd5 c4 28. Ng4 Bg5 29. Qf5 Qe2! A providential “scratch”. If 29. ... Ne7? then 30. Bxf7+! Kh8 31. Qe6 with White clearly in charge. 30. Rb1 Ne7 31. Qf3 Qxf3? This seems dramatically inconsistent with her 29th move. Best was 31. ... Qc2! 32. Rxb5 Nxd5 33. Rxd5 f6 and Black should regain the Pawn with a pretty balanced play. 32. gxf3 Bd2. Of course, after 32. ... Rb8 33. Bxc4 Black loses at least another Pawn. 33. Rxb5 Nxd5 34. exd5 Bxc3 35. Ne3. The ending is hopeless for Black as she is unable to keep at bay both White’s passers. 35. ... Rc8 36. d6 e4? This is desperation, but also after 36. ... Kf8 37. Rb7 f6 (37. ... Bd4? 38. Nxc4!+−) 38. Rc7 Rd8 39. Nxc4 Bb4 40. Rc6 Black cannot save the endgame. 37. fxe4 Bd2 38. Nxc4 Bg5. The Knight is taboo (38. ... Rxc4 39. d7+−). 39. d7 Rd8 40. Rd5 Ra8 41. Nb6 Rb8

42. Rxg5! An easy but pretty finish. 42. ... hxg5 43. Nc8 Rb1+ 44. Kg2 Rd1 45. Ne7+ 1 : 0. For if 45. ... Kf8 then 46. Nd5.

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina. Photo: Oleksandr Martynkov.