Bravura

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Women’s Candidates Tournament; Kazan, June 10, 2019
Caro-Kann Defence B10

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Nxe4. Goryachkina, quite understandably, stays away from Pavlovian theory: 5. ... Nbd7 6. Nd6# 1 : 0 Keres – Arłamowski, 1st Przepiórka Memorial, Szczawno Zdrój 1950. 6. Qxe4 Qa5 7. Bc4 Bf5 8. Qe2 e6 9. Ne5!? Gunina tries a new move A recent rapid game continued: 9. 0-0 Be7 10. Bb3 Nd7 11. d4 0-0 12. h3 Rfe8 13. Bf4 Qb6 14. Rad1 a5 15. a4 Rad8 16. Rfe1 Bb4 17. Bd2 Bxd2 18. Rxd2 h6 19. Qd1 Nf6 20. c3 Ne4 21. Rde2 Nf6 22. Rd2 Ne4 23. Rde2 Nf6 24. Bc4 Nd5 25. Ne5 Nf4 26. Rd2 Ng6? (26. ... f6) 27. Nxf7! Kxf7 28. g4+− Ter-Sahakyan – Grandelius, 2nd PRO Chess League Group Stage (15+2), Chess.com 2018. 9. ... Be7 10. c3 Bf6 11. d4 Bxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7. Gunina has nothing to lose by now, but her next bold attack leaves her very (too much) over-extended on the Kingside. 13. g4!? Bg6 14. f4 b5 15. b4?! Indeed, 15. Bb3 Nc5= leads nowhere for White, but the text is even more committal than that. 15. ... Qd8 16. Bb3 Qh4+ 17. Kd1? An appreciation of White’s compensation for the Pawn after 17. Qf2 Qxg4 may well be discouraging, but the move in text is by no means disastrous.

17. ... Rd8. There is nothing wrong, of course, with making such a sound, winning move, but a human sensibility might have been tempted also by the air of Paul Charles Morphy’s “Opera Game”: 17. ... 0-0-0!−+ to be finishing soon with a Rossinian crescendo. 18. Bd2 h5 19. f5!? exf5 20. e6. Gunina plays her last tricks on her impenetrable opponent, who concludes the game with inexorable accuracy. 20. ... Nf6 21. exf7+ Kf8 22. Kc1 Ne4 23. Be1 Qg5+ 24. Kb2 hxg4 25. a4 Bxf7 26. Bxf7 Kxf7 27. axb5 cxb5 28. Rxa7+ Kg6 29. Qxb5 Rd1 30. Qc6+ Kh7 31. Qc7 Rg8 32. Kb3 Rb1+ 33. Ka4 Qe3 34. Kb5 Rxe1 35. Rxe1 Qxe1 36. c4 Nc3+ 37. Ka5 Qa1+ 38. Kb6 Qg1+ 39. Ka6 Qd4 40. Qf7 Qd6+ 41. Ka5 Qg6 42. Qd7 Rf8 43. c5 f4 44. Ra6. 44. c6 allows a pretty finish: 44. ... Qg5+ 45. Kb6 Qb5+ 46. Kc7 Qb8 mate. 44. ... Qf5 45. Qd4 Qc2 46. Kb6 Rb8+ 47. Kc6 Qg2+ 0 : 1.

Goryachkina is just keeping doing the best she can and make the most out of her games. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili