The Sound of Silence

Dinara Ramazanovna Saduakassova – Gawain Christopher B. Jones
34th GAMMA Reykjavík Open; Reykjavík, April 9, 2019
King’s Indian Defence E62

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0-0 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. 0-0 e5 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. cxd5 Ne7 13. e4 Qd7 (13. ... c6 14. dxc6 Nxc6 ½ : ½ Adorjan – Kupreichik, 10th European Team Chess Championship, Debrecen 1992) 14. Qb3 c6 15. Rfd1!?TN (15. dxc6 Nxc6 ½ : ½ Berkes – Naiditsch, 16th Hungarian Team Chess Championship, Budapest 2016) 15. ... cxd5 16. exd5 Nf5

17. d6 Nxd6 18. Qd5 Rad8 19. Nxe5 Qf5 20. Nd3 Qxd5 21. Bxd5 Rfe8 22. Rac1 Re7 23. Kf1 Nf5 24. Bb3 Nd4 25. h4!? Probably in order to prevent a future ... Bf6-g5, but saving the Bishop by 25. Ne1 followed by Bb3-c4 (and Bc4-d3 in case of ... b7-b5) seems safer. 25. ... Nxb3 26. axb3 a5!? Who knows, perhaps Black could put up some sort of an initiative with 26. ... Rd6!? 27. b4 Kg7 — now, in any case, White draws quite easily. 27. Rc5 b6 28. Rc6 Bd4 29. Nf4 Red7 30. Ne2 Bxb2 31. Rxd7 Rxd7 32. Rxb6 Ba3 33. Rb5 Rd1+ 34. Kg2 Bb4 35. Nf4 Rb1 36. Nd5 Rxb3 37. Ne7+ Kg7 38. Nc6 Rc3 39. Nxb4 axb4 40. Rxb4 h5 ½ : ½. A honourable result for Kazakhstani International Master against the top seed in the GAMMA Open.

Saduakassova in Reykjavík’s magnificent Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre. Photo: szacharnia.blogspot.com.

Saduakassova is one of the only two female chess players named in the “Entertainment & Sports” category of this year’s Forbes “30 Under 30 Asia” list. Screenshot: Forbes.