Friday, May 19, 2023

Bare Bones

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Oliwia KioĊ‚basa
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2022–23; 4th stage; Nicosia, May 19, 2023
8/8/1k4p1/p1p1N2p/P3P2P/2K3P1/b7/8 b - - 0 53

Position after 53. Nd3xe5

The last key moment came at the climax of a long and arduous battle:
53. ... Bb1? Curiously, this natural move is Black’s losing blunder. Instead she should have sacrificed a Pawn by 53. ... Be6! 54. Nxg6 Kc6 55. Nf4 Bg4 with a fortress-like defence.
54. Nc4+ Ka6


55. Nd2! Elegantly forcing liquidation to a won King and Pawn ending.
55. ... Ba2 56. Nb3 Kb6. The pointe is 56. ... Bb1 57. Kb2!! winning the Bishop.
57. Kb2 Bxb3 58. Kxb3 Kc6 59. Kc4 Kd6 60. Kb5 Ke5 61. Kxc5 1 : 0.

After all, Goryachkina finally arrived at a winning Pawn endgame. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE.

No comments:

Post a Comment