Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Perfidious Albion

Elisabeth Pähtz – 艾丽斯·李 (Alice Lee)
2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss Tournament; Douglas, October 25, 2023
English Opening A20

1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. d4 e4 4. Nc3 d5 5. Nh3 Bb4 6. Qb3 Ba5 7. Bg5 f6!? Nothing trascendental, but 7. ... Qb6 8. cxd5 h6 9. Bd2⩲ isn’t entirely satisfying either, J. J. Cox – Hillarp Persson, 7th London Classic Open, London 2015.
8. Bd2 dxc4 9. Qxc4


9. ... b5. 9. ... f5 10. Nf4 is also quite unpleasant for Black.
10. Qb3 Qxd4!? Very risky.
11. 0-0-0 Qe5


12. Nxe4? Too hasty. More methodical would have been 12. Bg2 Be6 13. Qc2 with advantage for White.
12. ... Qxe4?? The young Asian American hope, at her début on the world stage, pays the price of her inexperience, and will soon see the worst of it. Simply 12. ... Bxd2+ 13. Nxd2 a5! would have left Black with a perfectly playable game.
13. Bxa5+− Be6 (13. ... Nd7 14. Bg2! Qxg2 15. Qe3+ ~ 16. Nf4+−)


14. Bg2! Qe5. Not 14. ... Qxg2 because of 15. Qxe6+ followed by mate.
15. Rd8+ Kf7 16. Qa3! The King hunt proceeds inexorably.
16. ... b4 17. Bxb4 g5 18. Bc3 Qb5 19. Qf8+ Kg6 20. Qe8+ Bf7 21. Be4+ f5 22. Rd6+ Kh5 23. Bf3+ 1 : 0.

No comments: