Days on Earth

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
70th Russian Women’s Chess Championship Superfinal; Moscow, December 5, 2020
Neo-Grünfeld Defence D78

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. b3 Bf5 8. Bb2 a5 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Nh4 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Be6 12. f4 Nd7 13. cxd5. In the press conference/analysis with Grandmaster Sergei Yuryevich Shipov, Goryachkina discussed, at length, possible improvements to White’s opening play, often without coming to any comforting conclusions. Here, for instance, she fierily refuted Shipov’s suggestion, 13. Qd3, with 13. ... dxc4 15. bxc4 Nc5! winning at least a Pawn. 13. ... cxd5 14. Qd3 Nf6! A very powerful novelty which gains a tempo with respect to 14. ... f5 15. Rfc1 Qb6 16. Nf3 Rfc8 17. e3 Nf6 18. Bf1 Ne4 19. Be1 Rc7 20. Qb5 Qxb5 21. Bxb5 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Nd6 23. Ng5 Rc8? (23. ... Bc8! 24. Bd3 Bd7) 24. Rc5 b6 25. Nxe6 bxc5 26. Bd7 cxd4 27. Bxc8 Nxc8 28. Nxg7 Kxg7 29. exd4 a4 30. bxa4 Kf7 31. a5 Ke6 32. Bb4 Kd7 33. Bc5 Kc6 34. a6 e6 35. a4 Kc7 36. Kf2 Kb8 37. Ke3 Na7 38. Bxa7+ Kxa7 39. Kd3 Kxa6 40. Kc3 Ka5 41. Kb3 Ka6 42. Kb4 Kb6 43. a5+ Ka6 44. Ka4 Ka7 45. Kb5 Kb7 46. a6+ Ka7 47. Ka5 Ka8 48. Kb6 Kb8 49. a7+ Ka8 50. Ka6 h6 51. h4 h5 52. Kb6 1 : 0 Dzagnidze – Ushenina, 20th European Women’s Chess Club Cup, Skopje 2015. 15. f5. White gives consistency to all her preparations, only to be crushed by an avalanche: 15. ... Bd7 16. Rae1 Qb6 17. Ba1 Rac8 18. h3 Bh6 19. g4 Bb5 20. Qg3 Bg5 21. fxg6 hxg6 22. Nf5. White immolates her Knight for the chimera of an attack, but Black gives her no satisfaction:

22. ... Qc7 23. a4 Ba6 24. Rf3 gxf5 25. gxf5 Ne4 26. Qg4 Kh7 27. f6 e6 28. Qh5+ Bh6 29. Bb2 Ng3 30. Qh4 Rg8 31. e4 Nxe4 32. Bc1. White’s very bad “bad Bishop” enters the scene late and leaves it at once:

32. ... Qxc1! For the audience’s sake, the story ends with a Queen sacrifice. 33. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 34. Kh2 Rc2 0 : 1.

Today Goryachkina gave an impressive display of her strategic understanding as well as showing her talent. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.