Rap to Earth

Yulia Nikolaevna Grigorieva – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
70th Russian Women’s Chess Championship Superfinal; Moscow, December 9, 2020
Caro-Kann Defence B12

In order to keep up with the unstoppable Polina Sergeevnaa Shuvalova (who won today her fifth game in a row, thus maintaining the sole lead with a perfect score), Goryachkina has had to take big risks out of her own control. 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bd3 Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Ne2 Qa5+ 7. Nd2 Ne7 8. 0-0 Qa6 9. c4 Nd7 10. b3 Nf5!?TN (10. ... c5 11. Nc3 Nc6= Graham – Conquest, 14th Four Nations Chess League — Division 1, Coventry 2005) 11. Nc3 (11. Ng3⩲ Δ 11. ... Nh4 12. f4) 11. ... Rd8 12. Nf3 Nb6 13. g4 Ne7 (13. ... dxc4!? 14. bxc4 Ne7) 14. Nd2? Maybe White should have contented herself with 14. Ng5 h6 15. Nb5! cxb5 16. cxb5 Qa5 17. Bd2 Qa3 18. Bc1 Qa5 drawing by repetition. 14. ... h5!→ 15. f3 Ng6 16. f4 hxg4 17. f5 Rh3. It was hard to resist the temptation of first penetrating with the Rook, but perhaps 17. ... Nh4 at once was more to the point. 18. Qc2 Nh4 19. fxe6 fxe6 20. Ne2 g5. To prevent Ne2-f4. The position is exceptionally complex, and what follows may be well worth further analysis.

21. Rf6. Another hard-to-resist move. 21. ... Bb4 22. Kh1? 22. Rxe6+? Kd7! gives Black a too precious tempo. Best seems 22. Ng3 Kd7 23. Qd1 after which may follow, for instance, 23. ... Bxd2 24. Qxg4 Bxc1 25. Qxe6+ Kc7 26. Rxc1 Rxg3+ 27. hxg3 Qxa2 28. Rf7+ Kb8 29. gxh4 Qxb3 with a likely draw. 22. ... Kd7! 23. Qh7+ Kc8 24. Qf7

24. ... Bxd2? 24. ... Kb8! 25. Qxe6 dxc4! appears to be Black’s strongest continuation. 25. Qxe6+ Kb8 26. Bxd2 Nf3 27. Rxf3! Forced and good. 27. ... Rxf3 28. Qxg4 Rff8 29. Bxg5 Rde8 30. c5 Rf2 31. Re1 Nc8 32. Bf4 Qd3? Yet another hard-to-resist adventure. Wiser was 32. ... Qa5 33. Ra1 Qa6 offering to repeat moves. 33. Kg1 Rxe2 34. Qxe2 Qxd4+ 35. Qe3 (35. Be3? Rg8+ 36. Kf1 Qh4↑) 35. ... Qb4 36. Bg3 Ne7 37. Qf2 Rg8 38. Kh1?! Why not first 38. e6+? 38. ... a6! 39. Rf1 d4? (39. ... Ka7!∞) 40. e6+ Ka7 41. Bd6! Nc8? Certainly not good, but 41. ... Nd5 42. Qe1 is also quite depressing. 42. Qf4? Only Grigorieva can tell why she did not attack the Rook with 42. Qf7+− (42. ... Qb5 43. Rf2). 42. ... Qb5 43. Re1 (43. Rg1! Re8 44. Qe4) 43. ... Nxd6 44. Qxd6? White picks the wrong recapture. The right way was 44. cxd6! Qd5+ 45. Qe4 Qxd6 46. e7 Re8 47. Qe6! forcing the exchange of Queens and the transition to a drawn Rook ending.

44. ... Qd3! 45. Qf4 Qc2 46. Qf3? Comparatively better was 46. Rg1 Re8 47. Qxd4, although after 47. ... Qf5 Black should be able to exploit the exposed position of White’s King. 46. ... d3−+ 47. e7 Rh8 48. Kg1. A way like another to surrender. 48. ... Qxh2+ 49. Kf1 Rg8 50. Qf2 Qh1+ 0 : 1.