In by the half

Irina Borisivna Krush – Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
1st Cairns Cup; Saint Louis, February 12, 2019
Nimzo-Indian Defence E39

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 0-0 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bf4 Bb7 9. Rd1 Nc6 10. e3 Re8!? A strange move, as it’s not clear what the Rook is doing here. Possible is 10. ... Nh5, provided that after 11. Bg3 f5 12. b4 Be7 13. Be2 Black does not continue with 13. ... Nxg3? (“For a player of Christiansen’s strength, this is a severe misjudgment. Apparently he forgets that White is under no compulsion to castle and that the open KR file can be used against him”, Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier wrote in his The Christian Science Monitor chess column of September 5, 1984) because of 14. hxg3 a6 15. g4!→ Reshevsky – Christiansen, Hollywood 1984, match game 7. Probably best is 10. ... Rc8 11. Be2 Be7 12. Nb5 d5 which still today may be regarded as a tabiya, Matisons – Sämisch, Karlsbad 1929. 11. Be2 Rc8 12. 0-0 h6 13. Bd6!? Krush’s Bishop raid — indeed, a novelty — seems just a bit too hasty. The older try 13. Ne5 works probably better: 13. ... Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Nh7 15. Bg3 a5 16. Na4 with an edge for White, Forintos – Rigó, 32nd Hungarian Chess Championship, Budapest 1976. 13. ... Bxd6 14. Rxd6 Ne7 15. e4 Ng6 16. Rfd1

16. ... Qc7! By so doing — at the temporary cost of a Pawn — Kosteniuk will succeed in freeing herself almost completely from her opponent’s mounting grip. 17. e5 Ng4 18. Rxd7. If 18. Nb5 Black can reply with 18. ... Qc5 19. Nfd4 a6! 20. Rxd7 Qxe5 21. Bxg4 axb5 22. Rxb7 Rxc4 regaining the Knight with approximate equality. 18. ... Qb8 19. R7d4 N4xe5 20. Ne4 Rcd8 21. Nd6 Nxf3+ 22. gxf3 e5 23. R4d2. Or 23. Nxf7 exd4 24. Qxg6 Rxe2 25. Nxh6+ Kh8 26. Nf7+ with a draw by perpetual check. 23. ... Re6 24. Nxb7 Rxd2 25. Qxd2 Qxb7 26. Qd7 Qxd7 27. Rxd7 Nf4 28. Kf1 Kf8. Kosteniuk prefers to give up a Pawn in order to get to a draw right now. 29. Rxa7 Rd6 30. Ke1 Ng2+ 31. Kf1 Nf4 32. Ke1 Ng2+ 33. Kf1 Nf4 ½ : ½.

Irina Borisivna Krush vs. Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk. Photo © Austin Fuller/Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.