And Then There Were Seven

Antoaneta Stefanova – Anna Olehivna Muzychuk

Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament; tie-break match game 2 (25+10); Khanty-Mansiysk, November 11, 2018

Queen’s Pawn Game D00

The eight quarter-finalists are finally decided. They are (in alphavetical order): Zhansaya Abdumalik, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk, Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno, Anna Olehivna Muzychuk, Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk, 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), and Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Qb3 Nc6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Na5!? A sensible novelty by Muzychuk that may improve on 8. ... 0-0 9. Nf3 (more critical seems to be 9. Qxb7 to which Black can reply with both 9. ... e5!? or 9. ... Qe8!?) 9. ... Na5 10. Qb4 b6! 11. Be2 c5! with great play for Black, Stefanova – Koneru, 3rd SportAccord World Mind Games, Women’s Blitz Event, 北京 (Běijīng) 2013. 9. Qa4+? The erratic manoeuvres of White’s Queen will promptly cause Stefanova serious discomfort. A little better seems 9. Qb4 (9. ... b6!?). 9. ... c6 10. c5 b5 11. Qd1. Too much back-and-forth. 11. ... Ne4! 12. Rc1 g5! 13. Bg3 h5! Black already took the offensive. 14. f3 Nxg3 15. hxg3 Nc4 16. Bxc4 bxc4 17. g4

17. ... Bd3! 18. gxh5 Rb8 19. Qd2 Qa5 20. e4 f6? An unnecessary precaution, which does give White time to counterattack. Simply 20. ... Qxa3 21. Qxg5 Rb2 (and if, for instance, 22. Qe5 then 22. ... Rg8−+) would have won right off. 21. e5! Qxa3 22. exf6 Rb2 23. Qxg5?? But Stefanova misses her last chance to give Muzychuk a bit of overtime work by 23. Qe3 Kf7 24. Qe5 (24. Qxg5?? Rxg2!−+), though after 24. ... Rb7 25. Ne2! Qb2! Black should still maintain an encouraging advantage. 23. ... Rxg2!−+ 24. f7+ Kxf7 25. Qf4+ Kg8 26. h6 Qb2 27. Qe3 Kh7! Now White is in a deadly zugzwang and cannot avoid mate. 28. Qf4 Qf2+ 0 : 1.

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk and Anotaneta Stefanova riding on the rollercoaster. Photo © Press service of the Women’s World Championship 2018.