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Luca Moroni – Nataliya Igorivna Buksa
17th Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 28, 2019
Queen’s Pawn Game D02

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 Bxf4 6. exf4 0-0. The historical reference is 6. ... c5 7. dxc5 Qc7 8. g3 Qxc5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. c3 0-0 11. 0-0 b5 12. Ne5 Bb7 13. Qe2 ½ : ½ A. K. Rubinstein – Capablanca, London 1922. 7. Bd3 c5 8. dxc5 Qc7 9. g3 Qxc5 10. 0-0 Nc6 11. c3 Qd6. 11. ... b5 transposes into A. K. Rubinstein – Capablanca, London 1922. Another interesting option is 11. ... Rd8 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. Nb3 Bd7 14. Nbd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Re8 16. Rfe1 Rac8 17. Rad1 a6 18. Rd2 Qd6 19. Nf3 Qf8 20. Nd4 Qc5 21. Nb3 Qb6 22. Nd4 Qc5 23. Nb3 ½ : ½ Selezniev – Em. Lasker, Mährisch Ostrau 1923. 12. Re1 b6 13. Qe2. Not too dissimilar is 13. Nb3 Bb7 14. Nbd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Rad8 16. Qe2 Rfe8 17. Qe5 a6 18. Re2 Qxe5 19. fxe5 Nd7 20. f4 Nb8 21. Rae1 Nc6 22. Nxc6 Bxc6 23. Kf2 Bb5 24. Bxb5 axb5 25. Ke3 g6 26. Rd2 Ra8 27. a3 Ra4 28. Rd4 Rxd4 29. cxd4 Rc8 30. Kd3 Kf8 31. Re2 Ke7 32. Rc2 Rc4 33. Rc35 Ra4 34. Rc7+ Ke8 35. Rc6 Ra6 36. Kc3 Kd7 37. Rd6+ Kc7 38. g4 Ra4 39. f5 Rc4+ 40. Kd3 b4 41. fxe6 fxe6 42. axb4 Rc6 43. Rxc6+ Kxc6 44. Kc3 g5 45. Kc2 b5 ½ : ½ Forgacs – Leonhardt, 15th Deutscher Schachbund (DSB) Congress, Nuremberg 1906. 13. ... Bb7 14. Nb3 a6 15. a3 Rfe8 16. Rad1 b5 17. h4!↑ Rad8 18. Bb1 Qc7 19. Nbd4 Ne4 20. Qc2 g6 21. h5! White’s initiative appears real enough to be feared, so Buksa will have to defend carefully. 21. ... Nxd4 22. Rxd4 Kg7. It may even be that 22. ... gxh5 23. Qe2 f6 (intending ... e6-e5) actually were Black’s best defence. 23. Qe2 Ba8. 23. ... f6 still deserved consideration. 24. Red1 Nf6. After this, White forces the exchange of Queens, turning his dynamic motifs into a powerful bind. The following line is not forced at all, but it could even look like a sound one: 24. ... f6 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Nh4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Rd8 28. Rxd8 Qxd8 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. Qg4 Qe8 31. f5 g5 32. fxe6 Kf8 33. Ng2 Bd5 winning back the Pawn with a tenable game.

25. Qe5! Qxe5 26. fxe5 Nd7 27. Re1 Nc5 28. Rh4 Rc8 29. Nd4 Bc6 30. g4 Bd7 31. f4 a5 32. Kf2. Better seem 32. Re2 or also 32. Bc2, so as to better control — or at least contain — Black’s counterplay on the Queenside. 32. ... Na4 33. f5 gxf5. Clearly not 33. ... Nxb2?? because of 34. f6+ Kg8 35. hxg6 fxg6 36. Reh1 with an irresistible attack. If, instead, 33. ... g5 then 34. h6+ Kh8 35. Rh5 and White may still hope for better things. 34. gxf5 Nxb2 35. Rf4 Kh8. 35. ... Nc4 36. Rg1+ Kh8∞ implies very similar consequences. 36. Rg1 Rg8 37. fxe6 fxe6 38. Rf7 Rcf8 39. Rg7! Rxg7 40. Rxf8+ Rg8 41. Rf7 Rg7 42. Rf8+ Rg8 43. Rf7 Rg7 44. Rf8+ ½ : ½.

Luca Moroni vs. Nataliya Igorivna Buksa. Photo © John Saunders.