Dungeonscape

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Divya Deshmukh
2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Tournament; Douglas, October 27, 2023
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. Rd1 Qa5 10. a3 Rd8 11. Nd2 d4 12. Nb3 Qb6 13. Na4 Bb4+ 14. axb4 (14. Ke2 Qa6 15. Nxd4 Be7 16. Nxc6 Qxc6 17. Rxd8+ Bxd8 18. Kd1 b6 19. Nc3 Ba6 20. Qa4 Qxa4+ 21. Nxa4 Rc8 22. Nc3 ½ : ½ T. V. Petrosian – Lutikov, 5th Soviet Team Chess Cup, Moscow 1966)
14. ... Qxb4+ 15. Nd2 Qa5 (15. ... e5 16. Bg5 Qa5 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. b3 Nb4 19. Qb1 e4 ½ : ½ Ivkov – Musil, International Tournament, Maribor 1967)
16. Qb3. After 16. b3 Nb4 17. Qb1 b5 (17. ... d3 18. f3! leaves Black with little or nothing to show for the sacrificed Bishop, Gheorghiu – P. Ostojić, 8th International Tournament, Monte Carlo 1969) 18. Nb2 Bb7 19. f3 “White repulsed White’s attack in Doroshkievich – Gipslis, [34th USSR Chess Championship, Moscow 1967] preserving his material advantage”, Max Dlugy wrote in his book “Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2: The Classical Variation”, International Chess Enterprises, Seattle, 1990, p. 227, but probably Goryachkina knows more about it than he does.
16. ... e5 17. Bg5 Nb4 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Be2 Bd7 20. Ra1 dxe3 21. fxe3 b5 (21. ... Bc6? 22. Ra3+−)
22. 0-0. And not 22. cxb5? because of 22. ... Be6 23. Qd1 Rac8 24. 0-0 Nc2 winning the Exchange.
22. ... bxa4 23. Qc3 f5 (23. ... Nc6 24. Ne4±)
24. Nf3 f6 25. Nh4

A critical position from a theoretical point of view, which Goryachkina has deeply studied and thought over.
25. ... Qc5? The same cannot be said for Deshmukh who, apparently, is oblivious of the dangers inherent to her weakened Kingside Pawn formation. The theoretical debate is focused on 25. ... Nc6 26. Qa3 e4 27. Bd1! Ne5 28. Bxa4 Qxa4 29. Qxa4 Bxa4 30. Rxa4 f4 and now:
a) 31. Rxf4 Rd1+ 32. Rf1 Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Rb8 34. b4 Nxc4 35. Nf5 Rb5= Aronian – Caruana, 10th London Chess Classic, London 2018, match game 3 (time control: 25 minutes plus 5 seconds per move);
b) 31. c5 fxe3 32. Rxe4 Rab8 33. Rxe3 Rxb2 34. h3 Rc2 35. Rxf6 Rxc5 36. Ra6! Nc6 37. Nf3 Rc8 38. Re6 Rc7 39. Kh2 Kg7 40. Ra4 h5 41. Ra6 Ne7 42. Nd4⩲ Karjakin – Anand, 6th Gashimov Memorial, Shamkir 2019.
26. Nxf5 Bc6? 26. ... Bxf5 27. Rxf5 Nd3! 28. Rf3! e4 29. Rg3+ Kf7 30. Rf1 was also very embarrassing for Black, but nothing better comes to mind.

27. Qe1! Her Majesty moves to the Kingside for the final assault.
27. ... Kh8 28. Qh4 Qf8 29. Ng3 Qe7 30. Rxf6 Nc2 (30. ... Rd6 31. Raf1 Rxf6 32. Rxf6 Rg8 33. Nf5! Rxg2+ 34. Kf1 Rxh2 35. Rxc6!+−)
31. Nf5 Qb7 32. Rf1 Rg8

33. Rxc6! Qxc6 34. Bf3 Qb6 35. c5! Qd8 36. Qe4 Qc7 37. Qxc2 1 : 0.

As Goryachkina said in a recent interview, “In most cases, opening preparation takes longer than the game itself”. Photo: ChessBase India.