To Queue or Not to Queue

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk – Antoaneta Stefanova
17th Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 30, 2019
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 g6. More appropriate seems 7. ... e6 8. 0-0 Ne7 which may eventually transpose into 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qe2 Be7 11. f4 0–0 12. Nd2 a5 13. Nf3 Ba6 14. Be3 a4 15. Rac1 Qb8 16. Rc2 Rd8 17. Rfc1 c5 18. h4 Nf8 19. cxd5 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Rxd5 with an uneasy but holdable position for Black, Karjakin – Short, Kiev 2008, rapid match game 1. 8. 0-0 Bg7 9. Re1 Nh6 10. Bf4 Qb6 11. Qd2 Nf5 12. Nc3 a5. Obviously 12. ... Qxb2?? leads to disaster: 13. Rab1 Qa3 14. Nb5! (14. ... cxb5 15. Bxb5+ Kf8 16. Bc6+−). 13. Na4 Qd4 14. b3 h5 15. c3 Qa7 16. c4 dxc4 17. Bxc4 0-0 18. Rad1. White’s powerful centralisation certainly inspires more trust. 18. ... Ba6 19. Qd3. White could have played 19. Bxa6 Qxa6 20. e6 at once, but probably Muzychuk wasn’t seeing clear after 20. ... Nd4. 19. ... Bxc4 20. Qxc4 Qb7 21. Rc1 Rac8? After this, Stefanova quickly disintegrates. Best was 21. ... Rfd8(!) in order to reply to 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Rxc6 with 24. ... Nd4 24. Rcc1 Ne6 which gave Black the option of regaining her Pawn or penetrating to the second (seventh) rank with the Rook.

22. e6! f6? A little better was 22. ... Qb4, but then after 23. exf7+ Rxf7 24. Qxb4 axb4 25. Bd2 Bh6 26. Bxh6 Nxh6 27. Nb6 White would have won at least a Pawn (27. ... Rc7 28. Nd5!) with a likely won ending. 23. Red1! g5? From bad to worse, but by now the entry of the White Rook could not be avoided (23. ... Rfd8? 24. Rd7!+−). 24. Rd7 Qb5 25. Bc7! Rfe8. 25. ... Qxc4 26. Rxc4 Ra8 27. Rc5 is likewise hopeless. 26. Nb6 Rxc7 27. Qxb5 cxb5 28. Rcxc7 Bf8 29. Rc8 1 : 0.

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk vs. Antoaneta Stefanova. Photo © John Saunders.