One Spring Friday Before Easter

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Jolanta Zawadzka
20th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship; Antalya, April 19, 2019
Queen’s Gambit Declined D31

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 Nf6 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c6 7. Nf3 0-0 8. a4 b6 9. Ba3 Re8 10. cxd5 exd5!? This is certainly playable, but probably not more convincing than 10. ... cxd5 11. Bb5 Bd7 12. Bd3 Nc6 13. Bd6 Ne4= 赵骏 (Zhào Jùn) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 42nd Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化市 (Xīnghuà) 2011. 11. Rc1 Ne4 12. Nd2!? 12. Bd3 Ba6 13. 0-0⩲ was simpler and probably better. 12. ... Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Qg5 14. h4 Qf6 15. c4 Ba6

16. cxd5? Strangely, Goryachkina makes a trivial mistake which leaves White in a very uncoordinated and uncomfortable position. The text would have made sense only after ... Nb8-d7, so as to meet ... Ba6xf1 with the zwischenzug Rc1xc6. 16. ... Bxf1 17. Kxf1 cxd5∓ 18. h5!? h6! The interpolation of h4-h5 and ... h7-h6 only helps Black, as White has no realistic chance of mounting a Kingside attack. 19. Qd3 Qe6 20. Rh4? White’s artificial Rook lift marks the ultimate separation of White’s Rooks from each other, in fact conceding the open c-file to Black. Since 20. Rc7 Nd7 21. f3!? Rec8∓ may likewise lead to unpleasant results, it’s not easy to give good advice. 20. ... Nd7 21. Rf4 Rac8. Whatever White plays, Black will take command of the c-file, with consequences easy to imagine. It’s already enough for Goryachkina, who quickly disintegrates: 22. g4 Nf6 23. Qd1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 Rc8 25. Bd2 a5 26. Kg2 Rc4 27. Rf5 Qe4+ 28. Kh3 Rc2 29. Re5. Or 29. Bxa5 Nxg4! winning by force (but not 29. ... bxa5?? on account of 30. f3!). 29. ... Qd3 30. g5 hxg5 0 : 1.