Unnoticedly

The rating favourite of the field, Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina is now half a point behind her frenemy Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno after making two Großmeister-Remisen in a row (one with Lagno herself in 7 moves), which earned her more than a few perplexed looks from bystanders and kibitzers. Indeed, such a peaceful attitude may well signal that Goryachkina, whose relations with the Chess Federation of Russia are sometimes difficult to delineate, thinks or fears that the upper hierarchies of Russian chess are not rooting for her as much as Lagno.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Daria Stanislavovna Voit
74th Russian Women’s Chess Championship; Barnaul, Monday, August 24, 2024
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Qa5+ 7. Nd2 e6 8. Nf3 Qa6 9. c4

9. ... Bb4. If 9. ... Nh6 then 10. b3 Nf5 11. Bb2 Be7 12. g3 Nd7 13. Qc2 g6 14. a4 b6 15. 0-0 0-0 16. Rfc1 Rfc8 17. a5!? Qb7?! (17. ... c5 18. axb6 Qxb6 19. cxd5 exd5 20. Qd3 cxd4 21. e6!) 18. a6! with the better game for White, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Shuvalova, 5th Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event, chess.com, November 13, 2023, Quarterfinal match game 7 (time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move).
10. 0-0 Ne7 11. Rd1 c5 12. dxc5 Nbc6 13. Qc2

13. ... Bxd2 14. Bxd2. An insipid novelty which allows Black to equalise easily and quickly. Therefore, White must retake with the Knight: 14. Nxd2 Nxe5 15. cxd5 Nxd5 (a little better may be 14. ... exd5 15. b4⩲) 16. Ne4 0-0 17. b3!± 倪诗群 (Ní Shīqún) – 肖依依 (Xiào Yīyī), 5th “一带一路” (“One Belt One Road”) Women’s World Chess Summit, 西安 (Xī’ān) 2023, (time control: 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move).
14. ... Qxc4 15. Qxc4 dxc4 16. Rdc1 Ng6 17. Rxc4 Ngxe5 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Re4 Nd7 20. Bc3 0-0 21. b4 a5 22. a3 axb4 23. axb4 Rxa1+ 24. Bxa1 Rc8 25. Re1 b6 26. Rd1 ½–½.

Bobby Fischer would say, “To get squares, you gotta give squares”. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Chess Federation of Russia.