Behind the Day

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – 朱锦尔 (Zhū Jǐn’ěr)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022–23; 1st stage; Astana, September 26, 2022
English Opening A28

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 Bc5 5. Nxe5 Nxe5. If 5. ... Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe5 then, by transposition, 7. g3 c5 8. d3 d6 9. h3 h5? (9. ... 0-0 10. Be2 Ne8 11. Kg2 Nc7 12. Be3 Ne6) 10. Be2 Nh7 11. Kg2 h4 12. g4 Ng5 13. Be3 Bd7 14. Qd2 Ne6 15. b4 b6 16. Rab1 Bc6 17. Rhf1 Bb7 18. Kg1 Nc6 19. Nd5 Ncd4 20. Bd1 f6 21. Kh2 Bc6 22. a4 a5 23. bxa5 bxa5 24. Qf2! Ra7 25. g5! 0-0 26. g6! f5 (26. ... Be8 27. Qg1! f5 28. exf5 Rxf5 29. Rxf5 Nxf5 30. Qg4+−) 27. Rb8! 1 : 0 Botvinnik – Keres, 5th Soviet Team Chess Cup, Moscow 1966.
6. d4 Bb4 7. dxe5 Nxe4 8. Qf3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba5 10. Bf4 0-0 11. Be2. If, instead, 11. 0-0-0 then 11. ... Qe7 12. Kb2 Rb8 13. Bd3 b5 14. cxb5 Bb7 15. Qh3 g6 16. Qe3 Rfe8 17. Rhe1 Bc6 18. a4 a6 19. Bg5 Bxc3+! 20. Kxc3 Qa3+ 21. Kd2 Qb4+ 22. Ke2 Qg4+ 23. Kd2 Qb4+ 24. Ke2 Qg4+ 25. Kd2 ½ : ½ Carlsen – Caruana, 1st FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, Santon 2019. “I knew the move 11. Be2. My opponent did not have such games, so I was not ready to castle, and in general, 11. Be2 is not such an easy line”, Goryachkina said afterwards.
11. ... d6 12. Rd1 Re8

13. c5 Qh4 14. Bg3 Qg5 15. cxd6 cxd6 16. h4 Qf5 17. exd6 Qxf3 18. gxf3 Bxc3+ 19. Kf1 Bd7 20. Bc4 h5 21. Rc1 Be5 22. Kg2 Bxg3 23. Kxg3 Rad8 24. Rhd1

“I think she did not manage to equalise, but then it became messy, and I was not sure about the evaluation”, Goryachkina says.
24. ... Be6?! Maybe not an error but a sign of erratic inconsistency. With 24. ... Kf8 25. Bb3 Bc6 Black can rightly stake a claim for equality.
25. Bb5 Bd7?? A fatal blunder of judgment, which loses the game. Despite everything, the ending ensuing after 25. ... Rf8 26. Rc7 Bxa2 27. Rxb7 Rb8! 28. Rxb8 (28. Rxa7?? Bb3 costs the Exchange) 28. ... Rxb8 29. Kf4 Kf8 should still be holdable for Black.
26. Bxd7 Rxd7 27. Rc7 Red8 28. Rxd7 Rxd7 29. Kf4

The ending is easily won for White, because of the paralysing power of her passed Pawn.
29. ... Kf8 30. Ke5 Rd8 31. Kd5 g6 32. Rc1 Ke8 33. Re1+ Kf8 34. Re7 Rb8 35. Rc7 Ke8 36. Ke5 a5 37. Re7+ Kf8 38. Kf6 b5 39. Rxf7+ Kg8 40. Rg7+ Kf8 41. Rh7 Kg8 42. Ra7 Rf8+ 43. Kxg6 1 : 0.

“In general, after yesterday’s not-so-good game, it was important for me just to get out there and play”, Goryachkina said eventually. “All in all, today I liked my game a lot”.Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE.