Sliding Doors

雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) – Gunay Vugar qizi Mammadzada

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 2nd stage; Gelfand Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, June 13, 2021

3r2k1/1p3pp1/p1p1rn1p/4N3/PP1Pp2q/4P2P/5PP1/2RQ1R1K w - - 1 28

Position after 27. ... Rb8-d8

28. Qb3 h5?! A tricky move, which allows White’s minority attack to gain momentum. ⌓ 28. ... Nd7 with only a slight disadvantage. 29. f3 (29. b5!± axb5 30. axb5 cxb5? 31. Rc7+−) 29. ... Qg5? (29. ... Nd5!? Δ 30. Nxf7 Rf8⇄) 30. f4 Qg3? (30. ... Qf5 31. b5±)

31. f5?? 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) misses here her finisher: 31. Nxf7! Kxf7 32. f5+− winning by force. Not surprisingly, now it is Black who wins: 31. ... Rxe5! Going for mate. White was probably hoping for 31. ... Re7 32. Ng6 followed by Ng6-f4. 32. dxe5 Rd2 33. Rg1 Ng4! 0 : 1.