In a Bind

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Meruert Kamalidenova
2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Tournament; Douglas, October 29, 2023
Sicilian Game B54

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3. In his book “My 60 Memorable Games”, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1969, p. 156, Bobby Fischer — maybe a bit exaggeratedly — called this “A passive non-developing move which leads to nothing. White wants to gain control of d5, establishing a Maróczy bind with c2-c4, Nb1-c3 etc. But after going to all that trouble he can’t prevent ... d6-d5 after all. Correct is that tired old move — 5. Nc3”.
5. ... e5 6. Nb3 a5. The “refuting” 6. ... d5 7. Bg5 Be6 is the object of deep analysis by theoreticians, and apparently, it works well enough.
7. a4 Be7 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. c4 0-0 10. Be3 Be6. 10. ... Na7 11. Nc3 Be6 12. Qd3 Nh5 is also reasonable for Black, McShane – Ponomariov, 37th Biel International Chess Festival, Biel/Bienne 2004.
11. Nc3 Nb4. After 11. ... Nd7 12. 0-0 Nc5 13. Nd5 Bg5 14. Bf2 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nxb3 16. Qxb3 Nb4 17. Rad1 Rc8 18. Rfe1 b6 19. Re2 f5 20. Be1 Rf6 21. Bxb4 axb4 22. Qxb4 Rg6 23. Qc3 Bf4 24. g3 Qh4 25. Rg2 Black’s intended attack did not prove a sufficient compensation for her material deficit, Ovod – Bodnaruk, 71st Russian Women’s Chess Championship Superfinal, Ufa 2021.
12. 0-0 Nh5. Learning from the past: 12. ... Rc8 13. Qe2 Qc7 14. Rac1 Bxc4 15. Bxc4 Qxc4 16. Qxc4 Rxc4 17. Nxa5 Rc7 18. Rfd1 Ra8 19. Bb6 Rcc8 20. Nb5 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Nd7 22. Ba7 Nc5 23. Nxb7 Nbd3 24. Rc3 Nxb2 25. Nxc5 dxc5 26. a5 Rd8 27. Bxc5 Rd1+ 28. Kf2 Ra1 29. Ke2 Bxc5 30. Rxc5 f6 31. Rc2 Na4 32. a6 Nb6 33. a7 Ra5 34. Rc6 1 : 0 Jobava – Kamalidenova, 5° GM–IM Mix, Cattolica 2022. If, instead, 12. ... 0-0 then 13. Qe2⩲ (Ftáčnik’s analysis).
13. g3 Bg5 14. Bf2

14. ... g6 (14. ... f5!? 15. Qe2 f4 16. g4 Nf6 17. Nd5 Nxg4!?∞)
15. Qe2 Qc7 16. Nc1 f5 17. exf5 Bxf5 18. Ne4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 b6 20. Nd3

20. ... Bd2? The Bishop gets itself in trouble. 20. ... Nf6 is worth considering as after 21. Qe2 Nc6 22. Rad1 Rf7 23. Ne1 Raf8 24. Nc2 Rd8 25. b3 White stands better, but nothing near to what it would take to win.
21. c5! dxc5? After 21. ... bxc5 22. Rad1 White wins back the Pawn with great advantage, yet it was a lesser evil than the text.
22. Nxe5 Nf6 23. Qc4+ Kg7 24. Rad1

24. ... Rad8? 24. ... Qxe5 25. Rxd2 Rad8 holds material equality, but cannot save the game: 26. Re1 Qc7 27. Rde2 with overwhelming centralisation.
25. f4 Rd5 26. Qe2 Rfd8 27. Nc4 Bxf4 28. gxf4 Rxd1 29. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Qxf4 31. Bg3 Qe4 32. Nxb6 Ng4 33. Qd7+ Kh6 34. Qd2+ Kg7 35. Qf4 Qb1+ 36. Bf1 1 : 0.

Goryachkina played in her element with vigour and strength. Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE.