Flying Carpet

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Alexander Anatolyevich Donchenko
17th Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 24, 2019
Modern Benoni A77

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. Nd2 Nbd7 8. e4 Bg7 9. Be2 0-0 10. 0-0 Re8 11. a4 Ne5 12. Qc2 a6. Another way is 12. ... g5!? 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 h6!?= Gligorić – R. J. Fischer, Interzonal Tournament, Palma de Mallorca 1970. 13. Ra3 Bg4 14. Bxg4 Nfxg4 15. h3 Nf6 16. a5 Qe7. On one hand, vintage theory gives 16. ... c4!? 17. f4 Ned7 18. Nxc4 Qc7∞ Boersma – Timman, 33rd Dutch Chess Championship, Leeuwarden 1977. On the other hand, Donchenko knows his Benoni nuances very well. 17. Na4 Ned7 18. Nc3 Ne5 19. Na4 Ned7 20. Nc3. Tacitly offering a draw by threefold repetition of position (20. ... Ne5), which Black surprisingly refuses to accept: 20. ... Rac8 21. Nc4 Ne5 22. Nb6 Rc7 23. Bg5 h6 24. Bh4 c4!? Donchenko opts for a thematic Pawn sac, which, however, appears a little doubtful. The alternative was 24. ... g5 25. Bg3 Nh5 26. Bh2 Nf4 with perhaps more chances for counterplay, even if White, after 27. Kh1 or 27. f3, should get the better of it. 25. Ra4 Ned7. Or 25. ... g5 26. Bg3 Nfd7 27. Nd1(!) with a big strategic advantage for White. Black prefers to give up the Pawn, for no compensation whatsoever. 26. Nxc4 Rec8 27. Nb6 Nxb6 28. axb6 Rc5. Maybe it was a little better to exchange a pair of Rooks by 28. ... Rc4 29. Rxc4 Rxc4 (then there would have followed 30. Qb3 with great advantage to White). 29. f4! With the devastating threat of e4-e5. 29. ... Re8? This simply allows Khademalsharieh to give execution to her own threat, but also after 29. ... Qe8 30. Bf2 White would have likely arrived — soon or later — to wherever she was heading (e4-e5).

30. e5! dxe5 31. fxe5 Qxe5 32. Bxf6 Bxf6 33. Qf2. Threatening both the Rook and the Bishop. 33. ... Bg5. If 33. ... Rxc3 34. bxc3 Kg7 then 35. Re4! Qxe4 36. Qxf6+ Kg8 37. Qxf7+ Kh8 38. d6 winning handily. 34. Re4! Khademalsharieh elegantly finishes with a well-calculated sequence. 34. ... Be3 35. Qxe3 Rxc3 36. Qf2! Qxe4 37. Qxf7+ Kh8 38. bxc3 Re7 39. Qf8+ Kh7 40. Rf7+ Rxf7 41. Qxf7+ Kh8 42. d6 Qe1+ 43. Qf1 Qxc3 44. Qf8+ Kh7 45. Qe7+ Kg8 46. Qd8+ 1 : 0. For if 46. ... Kh7 then 48. Qc7+ finis.

Sarasadat Khademalsharieh vs. Alexander Anatolyevich Donchenko. Photo © John Saunders.