Salt and Sugar

Nino Batsiashvili – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022–23; 3rd stage; New Delhi, April 1, 2023
Queen’s Pawn Game D00

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c6 3. Bf4. Batsiashvili is not interested in transposing the opening into the Caro-Kann Defence by 3. e4.
3. ... Bf5 4. f3 e6 5. e4 Bg6 6. Nh3!? After the more stereotyped 6. a3 Nf6 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. Nge2 Nc6 Black is already better, Niemann – Goryachkina, Titled Tuesday August 4, 2020 2 P.M., chess.com, August 4, 2020 (time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move).
6. ... Bb4 7. Nf2 Nf6 8. e5 Nfd7 9. h4 h6 10. h5 Bh7

11. Rh3!? White lifts the Rook to her third rank with belligerent intentions against the adverse King. If, instead, 11. Bd3 then maybe 11. ... Bxd3 12. Nxd3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 c5 with fine play for Black.
11. ... c5 12. a3 Ba5 13. b4? A totally unjustified Pawn sacrifice, making a weird echoing out-of-tune of a recommendation by Alekhine in a Winawer French sideline (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. b4!?). Much sounder was 13. dxc5 with a reasonable degree of tenability.
13. ... cxb4 14. Nb5?? Tragically consistent with the Alekhinian French pattern, Batsiashvili forgets all about Black’s light-squared Bishop! On the other hand, at this point, even the better continuation 14. axb4 Bxb4 15. Bd2 Nc6 leaves White a Pawn down without any compensation.

Black finally cashes in her second Pawn with the help of a little tactics:
14. ... Bxc2! 15. Qxc2. In desperation Black sacrifices her Queen for two Bishops, hoping for an impossible miracle on the Kingside. Of course Goryachkina concedes nothing.
15. ... b3+ 16. Qd2 Bxd2+ 17. Bxd2 0-0 18. Rg3 Kh8 19. Ng4 Nc6 20. Bd3 a6 21. Nd6 Qh4 22. Kf2

22. ... f5! 23. exf6 Nxf6 24. Nxf6 Qxd4+ 25. Be3 Qb2+ 26. Be2 Rxf6 27. Rd1 Qxa3 28. Nxb7 d4 29. Bxd4 Nxd4 30. Rxd4 Qe7 31. Na5 b2 32. Bd3 Qc5 33. Nb3 Qb6 0 : 1.

One should never mix things. Photo © Ismael Nieto/FIDE.