Little by Little

Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
68th Russian Women’s Chess Championship Superfinal; Satka, September 4, 2018
Semi-Slav Defence D45

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Be2 Bd6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. a4 a5 9. b3 b6 10. Bb2 Bb7 11. Rc1. The alternative is 11. Qc2 Rc8 (or 11. ... Qe7 12. Rad1 Rad8 13. Bd3 Rfe8 14. Rfe1 e5 15. e4 dxc4 16. Bxc4 exd4 17. Nxd4 with a slight edge, Pr. Nikolić – van Delft, 9th Leiden Open A 2015, Leiden 2015) 12. Rac1 Qe7 13. Qb1 Rfe8 14. Rfd1 h6 15. h3 Qf8 16. Qa1 Qe7 17. Qb1 Qf8 18. Qa1 Qe7 19. Qb1 ½ : ½ Azarov – Checa, 12th Philadelphia Open, Philadelphia 2018. 11. ... Rc8 12. Bd3 Re8 13. Re1 Bb4 14. Re2 h6 15. Rec2 Qe7 16. Na2 Bd6 17. Ne5 Bxe5!? Goryachkina needs to win to retain chances of first place, so she plays for something less predictable than 17. ... c5 18. cxd5 exd5 which appears to give Black quite a reasonable game. 18. dxe5 Ne4 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Nc3 Nxe5 21. Nxe4 Rcd8 22. Qh5 Ng6 23. c5 Rd5 24. Qe2 bxc5!? Playing for the unbalance, even at the cost of ceding material on the Queenside. 24. ... Red8 seems much more suitable for equalising. 25. Nxc5 Red8 26. g3 e5 27. e4 R5d6 28. Bc3 Ra8 29. Qe1 Bc8. Goryachkina just says bye-bye to the a5-Pawn, but her bet will succeed because Galliamova will be feeling very scared of Black’s “threats” on the Kingside. 30. Rd2. So White has not the courage to cash in with 30. Bxa5 probably fearing the consequences of 30. ... Nh4!? (30. ... Bh3 31. f3!) 31. gxh4 Rg6+ 32. Kf1! (32. Kh1? Bg4!↑) 32. ... Qxh4 33. f3! which, according to engines, should not lead anywhere for Black, but anyone seated at the board — luckily for the chess fans — perceives things in a different way. 30. ... Bh3 31. Rxd6 Qxd6 32. Qe3 h5! “Time flies like an arrow”. Goryachkina’s move must have sounded as particularly unpleasant to Galliamova, who was already much short of time. 33. Nb7. If 33. Nd3 Black could reply with 33. ... Rb8 keeping all together, and looking for something to happen. 33. .. Qc7 34. Nxa5? Time-lack anxiety causes Galliamova to overestimate too much her two united passers on the Queenside. I doubt that after 34. Nc5 Black would have offered the possibility of repeating by 34. ... Qd6, so, more likely, she would have continued 34. ... h4 with uncertain chances. 34. ... Rxa5 35. Bxa5 Qxa5 36. Rxc6 Nf8 37. f4?? And finally, not surprisingly, just a few moves before time control, Galliamova makes her final mistake. 37. Rc5? Qa6! would also have lead to a nightmare, but 37. Rc1(!) seems to offer White much better chances of achieving a draw.

37. ... Ne6! 38. f5? Wrong again, but with little regret — for after 38. Kf2 Nd4 39. Rc3 f6 White would be doomed anyway. 38. ... Nd4 39. Rc4. 39. Rc3?? Qxc3! loses on the spot. 39. ... Nxb3! 40. Kf2. Not 40. Qxb3 Qe1 mate. 40. ... f6 41. g4. The Knight is still untouchable: 41. Qxb3 Qd2+ 42. Kf3 (42. Kg1 Qe1 mate) 42. ... Bg2 mate. The rest is easy. 41. ... hxg4 42. Rc8+ Kh7 43. Rc4 Nd2 44. Rc2 Nf3 45. Kg3 Qxa4 46. Rb2 Ng5 47. Re2 Qc4 48. Re1 Nf3 49. Re2 Qf7 50. Qc5 Qh5 51. Kf2 Qh4+ 52. Ke3 Qg5+ 0 : 1.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.

Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.