And Then There Were None

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Dinara Ramazanovna Saduakassova
1st Women’s Chess World Cup; match game 1; Krasnaya Polyana, July 25, 2021
Nimzo-Indian Defence E37

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. Nf3 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qxc5 11. e3 Nxd2 12. Nxd2. Most unconvincing is 12. Qxd2 dxc4 13. Qc3 on account of 13. ... Qa5 14. Bxc4 Qxc3+ 15. bxc3 Ke7! 16. Ke2 b6 17. Bb5 Bb7 18. Bxc6 Bxc6 19. c4 Rac8 20. Nd2 b5 21. cxb5 Bxb5+ 22. Kf3 Rhd8 23. Nb3 Rc3 24. Na5 Ba4 25. Rhc1 Bc2 26. Kg3 Rd5 27. Ra2 Rg5+ 28. Kf4 Rgc5 29. Rb2 g5+ 30. Kg3 Be4 31. Rxc3 Rxc3 32. a4 Bd5 33. h4 gxh4+ 34. Kh3 f5 35. Rb4 Rc5 36. Nb7 Rc4 37. Rxc4 Bxc4 38. Kxh4 Kd7 (the White Knight is dominated) 39. a5 Kc7 40. Nc5 Kc6 0 : 1 赵雪 (Zhào Xuě) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 1st Women Masters Chess Tournament, 无锡 (Wúxī) 2011. 12. ... dxc4 13. Bxc4 Qe7. The alternative 13. ... 0-0 14. b4 Qe7 15. Bd3 h6 16. Qc3 Qf6 constitutes an interesting theoretical reference: 17. Qxf6 gxf6 18. 0-0-0 f5 19. Be2 e5 20. Nc4 Be6 21. Nd6 Rab8 22. Rd2 Rfd8 23. Kb2 Kf8 24. Rhd1 Ke7 25. Nc4 Rxd2+ 26. Rxd2 Rc8 27. Rc2 f6 28. Na5 Nxa5 29. Rxc8 Bxc8 30. bxa5 Kd6 31. Kc3 Kc5 32. f4 exf4 33. exf4 Be6 34. g3 Bd5 35. Bd3 Be6 36. Be2 Bd5 37. Bd3 Be6 ½ : ½ Krush – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 42nd Women’s Chess Olympiad, Baku 2016. 14. 0-0 0-0 15. b4 Bd7 16. b5. A natural move, hoping for something more than 16. Qb2 Rfd8 17. Be2 Be8 18. Rfd1 Rac8 19. Rac1 Nb8 20. h3 Ba4 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Rc1 Rxc1+ 23. Qxc1 Qd8 24. Ne4 Bc6 25. Nc5 b6 26. Na6 Bb7 27. Nxb8 Qxb8 28. Qd1 Qc7 29. Qa4 Qc6 0. Qxc6 Bxc6 31. h4 Kf8 32. f3 Ke7 33. e4 e5 34. Kf2 h6 35. Bc4 g5 36. hxg5 hxg5 37. Ke3 Bd7 38. g4 f6 39. Kd2 Kd6 40. Kc3 Be8 ½ : ½ Dreev – Predke, 72nd Russian Chess Championship, Izhevsk 2019. 16. ... Ne5 17. Be2 f6 18. Qe4 Be8 19. f4 Bg6

20. Qb4. After the exchange of Queens White can hope at most for a very slight edge in the ending, which, however, proves not enough to break Saduakassova’s defence: 20. ... Qxb4 21. axb4 Bd3 22. Kf2 Bxe2 23. Kxe2 Nf7 24. Ne4 b6 25. Rfd1 f5 26. Nf2 (26. Nd6 Nxd6 27. Rxd6 Rfe8 28. Rd7 e5 29. g3 exf4 30. gxf4 Re4=) 26. ... e5 27. Rd7 Rfe8 28. g3 exf4 29. gxf4 Rec8 30. Ra2 h6 31. Nd3

31. ... Rd8 32. Rxd8+ Rxd8 33. Rxa7 Nd6 34. Rc7 Nxb5 35. Rc6 g5 36. Ne5 gxf4 37. Rg6+ Kh7 38. exf4 Rd4 39. Rxb6 Rxb4 40. Kd2 Rd4+ 41. Ke3 Re4+ 42. Kd3 Rd4+ 43. Ke3 ½ : ½.

Usually, a draw does not make the news headlines, but in fact today Saduakassova ended Goryachkina’s 9-game winning streak with White. Photo © Eric Rosen.