Fickle Fortune

Bela Khotenashvili – Zhansaya Daniyarovna Abdumalik
1st Cairns Cup; Saint Louis, February 9, 2019
Queen’s Pawn Game D00

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. h4!? A kind of dernier cri for the so-called London System. 5. ... h5!? 6. Nb5 Na6 7. Nf3 c6 8. Nc3 Nc7 9. Bd3 0-0. Or 9. ... Ng4 10. Qd2 0-0 11. 0-0-0!? a5∞ Matlakov – Chigaev, Russian Blitz Chess Championship, Sochi 2016 10. Qd2 Ne6. 10. ... Ng4 would have transposed into the aforementioned game Matlakov – Chigaev. 11. Be5 c5 12. Ng5 Ng4!? 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. f3 Nf6 15. 0-0-0!? Not surprisingly, Khotenashvili’s aiming for a sharp attack with heterogeneous castling. If 15. dxc5 Black may likewise continue 15. ... Qc7(!) 16. 0-0-0 Qxc5 with a double-edged game. 15. ... Qa5 16. g4!? White is hoping for something like 16. ... hxg4 17. Qh2! which would give her at least the initiative, but Abdumalik obviously has other plans. 16. ... c4!

17. Be2!? Here 17. Bf5!? may seem much more enterprising, although after 17. ... b5! (17. ... gxf5? 18. gxf5 Nc7 19. e4!+−) 18. Bxe6 Bxe6 19. gxh5 b4 (19. ... Nxh5? 20. Qh2!+−) 20. Nxe6+ fxe6 21. Ne2 (21. h6+ Kf7 22. Ne2 Qxa2 23. Qxb4 Rab8 is roughly balanced) 21. ... Nxh5 (21. ... Qxa2? 22. Qxb4+−) 22. Rhg1 c3∞ the situation is terribly unclear. 17. ... b5 18. gxh5? This is White’s only serious mistake. 18. e4! b4 19. Nxd5 c3! is still really unclear. 18. ... b4 19. h6+ Kh8 20. Nb1 Rb8 21. c3. 21. a3 c3! is disastrous as well. 21. ... Qxa2 22. cxb4 Nxg5 23. hxg5. 23. Nc3+ Qa1+ 24. Kc2 Bf5+ 25. e4 Ngxe4 26. Rxa1 Nxd2+ 27. Kxd2 Rxb4 is also hopeless. 23. ... Bf5. The rest is (or better: it should be) suffering drama. 24. Qc3 a5! There is no hurry for the Queen to capture White’s Knight. 25. e4 axb4 26. Bxc4 Qxb1+ 27. Kxb1 bxc3 28. Rh2 Nh7. 28. ... Bxe4+! 29. fxe4 Ng4 was much simpler and quicker. 29. Bxd5 Be6 30. f4 Bxd5 31. exd5 Rfd8 32. Rc2 cxb2 33. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 34. Kxb2 Kg8? It’s hard to understand why Black didn’t play 34. ... Rxd5 which should have won easily and intuitively. 35. Ra1 Nf8. Now 35. ... f6(!) was the most coherent continuation, so as to disrupt White’s Pawn phalanx; after 36. d6 Rxd6! 37. Ra8+ Nf8 38. h7+ (or 38. f5!? Kf7−+) 38. ... Kxh7 39. Rxf8 Kg7 followed by ... Rd6xd4 with an easily won ending. 36. Kc3 Nd7? Abdumalik showed quite a poor technique so far, but now she loses her last chance of breaking the tie on the Kingside by 36. ... f6(!), which would have still given her the opportunity to earn a laborious victory. 37. Ra6! The intention is to play d5-d6 virtually forcing a draw. 37. ... Nf8 (37. ... f6 38. d6=) 38. Kc4 Nd7 39. Kd3 (39. d6=) 39. ... f6 40. Ra7? (40. d6=) 40. ... Kf7? The 40th move is finally reached, but at what price! With their last move White and Black compromised, respectively, their drawing and winning chances — as for Black, 40. ... fxg5 41. fxg5 Kf7 was the best (and last) opportunity to take advantage of White’s (last) omission. 41. d6! Finally! 41. ... exd6

42. Ke4? Quite incredibly, Khotenashvili brings her opponent back to before the 40th move! Apparently she didn’t find the “elegant” solution to her struggle for survival: 42. f5! gxf5 43. h7 Kg7 44. g6! Kxg6 45. Rxd7 Rh8 with a draw expressly coming. Foreseeably Abdumalik did not give her opponent another chance: 42. ... fxg5 43. fxg5 Ke6 44. d5+ Ke7 45. Kd4 Rc8 46. Ra1 Ne5 47. Ra7+ Kf8 48. Rh7 Rc4+ 49. Ke3 Nf7 50. Rg7 Rg4 51. Rxg6 Rxg5 52. Rf6 Rxd5 0 : 1.

Bela Khotenashvili vs. Zhansaya Daniyarovna Abdumalik. Photo © Austin Fuller/Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.