Sunday Afternoon

Anastasia Mikhailovna Bodnaruk – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
68th Russian Women’s Chess Championship Superfinal; Satka, September 2, 2018
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Nd7 6. Nf3 Qc7 7. Nh4 Bg6!? No intermediate moves. A recent game ran as follows: 7. ... Be4 8. f3 Bg6 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. f4 c5 11. c3 Ne7 12. Be3 Nf5 13. Bf2 cxd4 14. cxd4 a5 (Black’s pseudo-Excelsior will prove to be quite unfortunate) 15. Bd3 a4 16. Nd2 a3 17. Rb1 axb2 18. Rxb2 Ra3 19. Rc2 Rc3 20. 0-0 Bb4 21. Nf3 0-0 22. g4 Ne7 23. Be1 Rxc2 24. Bxb4 Rxa2 25. Bxe7 Nxe5 26. Bxf8 Nxd3 27. Qxd3 Qxf4 28. Bd6 Qxd6 29. Ne5 Qc7 30. Qb3 Re2 31. Qf3 Rd2 32. Qf4 Re2 33. Qxf7+ Qxf7 34. Nxf7 Re4 35. h3 Rxd4 36. Ng5 e5 37. Ne6 1 : 0 Sasikiran – Tari, 16th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2018. 8. Be2 c5 9. c3 Ne7 10. 0-0 Nc6 11. Be3 Be7 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. f4 c4 14. Nd2 Rb8 15. b3 b5 16. a4 a6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Rb1 f5 19. exf6 gxf6 20. bxc4 bxc4 21. Rxb8+ Qxb8 22. Nf3 Bd6 23. g3 Ne7. If 23. ... g5!? there might follow 24. Qa4 Nd8 25. Ne5! fxe5 26. fxe5 Be7 27. Qc2 Nf8 28. Qa4+ Nd7 29. Qc2 Nf8 with a draw by repetition. 24. Qc2 Nf5. 24. ... g5!? 25. Ne5! is still quite unclear. 25. Bf2 Kf7 26. g4 Nh6 27. Nh4 f5 28. g5 Ng8 29. Bg3 Ne7 30. Nf3 Qa7 31. Bd1 Nc6 32. Re1. The attack on the e-file is a mere mirage, so maybe 33. Qa4 was to be considered as a wise policy. 32. ... Qa3 33. Qe2. White could still have played 33. Qa4 forcing the Queen exchange, as the ending seems to be perfectly playable. 33. ... Re8 34. Qe3? White misses her last chance to rewind back to where she was before: 34. Qc2(!), once again intending Qc2-a4. 34. ... Bc7? And here 34. ... Nc5! was probably stronger, as 35. dxc5 Bxc5 36. Nd4 Nxd4 37. Bf2 Nc2! seems to win material. 35. Re2? Another very unfortunate decision. Best, and probably necessary, was 35. Be2 Nf8 (preparing for ... Re8-b8 which cannot be played at once because of Be2xc4; likewise, 35. ... Na7 36. Rb1 Rb8 doesn’t make much difference overall) 36. Rb1 Rb8 with an approximately balanced game, even if a little easier for Black. 35. ... Qa1. Black’s invasion will prove to be quite unpleasant. 36. Qd2 Ba5 37. Re3 Rb8 38. Be1 Bc7 39. Ne5+? Another time-control drama — the most stubborn defence was probably 39. Re2 Nf8∓, though with very little hopes of saving the game. Now everything falls apart: 39. ... Ndxe5 40. fxe5 Rb2 41. Bc2

41. ... Nxe5! 42. dxe5 Bb6 43. Kf1 Rxc2! 44. Qxc2 Bxe3. The End. 45. h4 Bf4 46. Qf2 Bxe5 47. Qe3 Bg7 48. h5 gxh5 49. g6+ Kf6 50. Kg2 Qb2+ 51. Kh3 f4 52. Qxf4+ Kxg6 53. Bd2 Qc2 54. Qg5+ Kf7 55. Qxh5+ Kf8 56. Qf3+ Qf5+ 57. Kg2 Qxf3+ 58. Kxf3 Kf7 59. Be1 Kg6 60. Kg4 Be5 61. Kf3 Kf5 62. Ke3 Bc7 63. Kd2 Ba5 64. Bf2 Ke4 65. Kc2 e5 66. Bg3 d4 0 : 1.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.

Anastasia Mikhailovna Bodnaruk. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.