Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Cast Auditions

Srishti Pandey – Antoaneta Stefanova
4th Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship; Qualifier 1 Swiss; time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, May 24, 2022
2br1r1k/5qpp/ppn5/2p2p1P/2PnpN2/PP4Q1/1B3PP1/3RRBK1 w - - 0 29

Position after 28. ... a7-a6?!

29. b4! White’s gamble to dismantle the defence of the d4-Knight will prove successful, even though, perhaps, from an objective viewpoint, she ought to have played 29. Ng6+! Kg8 30. Nxf8 Qxh5 31. Nxh7 Kxh7 32. b4± with the better game. 29. ... cxb4?? A disastrous mistake, which loses material. After the correct 29. ... Rfe8 30. h6 Rd6!∞ the situation was far from clear. 30. axb4 Nc2 31. h6! N2d4 32. b5 axb5 33. cxb5 g5. Drama of desperation. 34. bxc6 gxf4 35. Rxd4! Not the only winning move, but a very elegant one. 35. ... fxg3


36. Rxd8+? Obviously, this is a big misstep which could cost dearly. Now 36. Rd3+! was the consistent corollary of White’s Queen sacrifice, whereupon there would have followed 36. ... Kg8 37. Rxg3+ Qg6 38. Bc4+ Rf7 39. Rxg6+ hxg6 40. Bxf7+ Kxf7 41. c7 with an easy win. 1 : 0. Yet Black’s resignation is a major blunder! With 36. ... Kg8! the game would go on for long, probably without a winner.

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