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14th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival (@GibraltarChess)

Proximity

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Alfia Nasybullina
67th Russian Women’s Chess Championship; Vladivostok, June 6, 2014
Dutch Defence A90

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Qc2 Bd6 5. g3 f5 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. b3 Qe7 9. Ne5 Bd7. The alternative 9. ... Nbd7 10. Bb2 Ne4 11. f3 Nef6 looks sounder, Alekseev – Radjabov, Kasparov Cup, Moscow 1998. 10. Nd3 Nh5? lt ain’t no use to decentralize the Knight. For 10. ... Be8 11. Bf4 Nbd7 (for 11. ... Bxf4 12. Nxf4 Nbd7 13. Nd2 Bf7 14. e3 Ne4 15. Nf3 dxc4 16. bxc4 e5 see K. D. Georgiev – Pr. Nikolić, 17th Bora Kostić Memorial, Vrsac 2012) 12. Nd2 Bh5 13. Rfe1 Rac8 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. c5 Qe7 16. Nf3 Ng4 17. h3 Ngf6 18. b4 Ne4 19. a4 g5 20. Nfe5 Be8 21. Nxd7 Qxd7 22. Ne5 Qg7 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. f3 Bg6 25. Qd2 Rf5 26. Kh2 Rcf8 27. Rf1 h5 28. b5 see Goryachkina – Arabidze, 31st World Junior Girls Chess Championship, Kocaeli 2013. 11. Nd2 Be8 12. Nf3 h6 13. Bd2 Nd7 14. a3 a5 15. c5! Beginning the positional assault on the Queenside. 15. ... Bb8 16. b4 axb4 17. axb4 Rxa1 18. Rxa1 Nhf6 19. b5! At last the decisive breakthrough! 19. ... e5. Not good, but it’s hard to suggest anything else useful. If 19. ... bxc6 then 20. Bb4 followed by c5-c6 with devastating effect. Also the comparatively best 19. ... Ne4 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Ra6 leaves Black no hope. 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Nb4 exd4 22. Nxc6 Qxe2 23. Nfxd4 Qc4. A bad move which loses the Queen, but neither 23. ... Qh5 24. Ne6 nor 23. ... Qg4 24. h3 Qh5 25. Ne6 would have been of any avail.

24. Bxd5+! 1 : 0. For if 24. ... Qxd5 then 25. Ne7+.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Photo: ruchess.ru

Приключения пчёлки Майи (Maya the Bee)

Shamsiddin Vokhidov – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
54th World Junior Chess Championship; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 7, 2015
Spanish C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 d5 10. exd6 Qxd6 11. Qe3+ Be7 12. Nc3 c6 13. Re1 Be6 14. Ne4 Qe5 15. Bd2 0-0 16. Bc3 Qf5 17. Qg3 Qg6 18. Qc7 Bd5 19. Qxe7 Rfe8. The peaceful alternative is 19. ... Rae8 20. Qg5 ½ : ½ Shirov – Ki. Georgiev, 32nd Bosnia Chess Tournament, Sarajevo 2002.

20. Qg5. If, instead, 20. Nf6+ then 20. ... gxf6 21. Qxe8+ Rxe8 22. Rxe8+ Kg7 23. g3 h5 and, although the position is materially balanced, Black can rely on a volatile initiative, Caspi – Erenburg, Israeli Team Chess Championship 2008/2009, January 9, 2009. A critical line is 20. Qxb7 Bxe4 21. g3, but after 21. ... c5 22. Qb5 Qf5 23. Re3 a6 24. Qe2 Bc6 there will be further simplification, after which – thanks to the opposite coloured Bishops – White’s extra Pawn is quite meaningless. 20. ... Bxe4 21. Qxg6 Bxg6 22. Rac1 f6 23. f3 Kf7 24. Kf2 c5 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. Bd2 Re6 27. Be3 Rb6 28. b3 Rd6 29. c3 b6 30. b4 c4 31. Bd4 a6 32. Ra1 Bf5 33. a5 b5 34. Re1 h5 35. h4 Rd8 36. Kg3 Rd5 37. Kf4 Bd7 38. Kg3 Be6 39. Re2 Rd7 40. Kf4 Rd5 41. Kg3 Bd7 ½ : ½.

Shamsiddin Vokhidov vs. Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Photo: FIDE World Junior U20 Championships 2015

Starring Role

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Bharata Koti Harsha
54th World Junior Chess Championship; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 5, 2015
Queen’s Indian Defence A40

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxf3 6. exf3 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 d5 8. Nc3 Ne7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bg2 0-0 11. 0-0 Nbc6. For 11. ... Nd7 12. f4 c6 see Korobov – Pixton, World Youth Chess Championship Under 16, Oropesa del Mar 2001. 12. f4 a6 13. Rad1 Qd6 14. Rfe1 Rfe8 15. Qd3 g6 16. h4 Kg7 17. h5 b5 18. Qf3 Red8 19. hxg6 hxg6 20. g4 Qf6 21. Qg3 Qd6 22. Rd2 Rd7 23. Bh3 Rh8 24. Ne2 Rdd8 25. Rc1 Na5 26. Bg2 c6 27. Rdc2 Nb7 28. Qe3 Rh4 29. Bf3 Rhh8 30. Ng3 Rde8 31. Qe5+ f6 32. Qe3 Nd8 33. Re2

33. ... Kf7? A critical moment. The most consistent continuation 33. ... Nf5! 34. Qxe8 Rxe8 35. Nxf5+ gxf5 36. Rxe8 Qxf4 produces a very unbalanced position in which Black is certainly not worse. Now Aleksandra Yuryevna puts Black in a squeeze: 34. Rce1 Qd7 35. Qa3! Goryachkina attacks on both wings at the same time, virtually forcing Black to give up the a-Pawn. 35. ... Nc8 36. Rxe8 Rxe8 37. Rxe8 Kxe8 38. Qxa6 Ne6 39. Ne2 Ne7 40. Qa8+ Kf7 41. Qb8!! Although only 16 years old, Goryachkina exhibits a mastery of technique that is reminiscent of all Kasparov’s “Great Predecessors”! 41. ... Qc7 42. Qxc7 Nxc7 43. Kf1 Ke6 44. Ke1 Kd6 45. Kd2 b4 46. Nc1 Ne6 47. Ke3 c5 48. dxc5+ Nxc5 49. Bd1 g5 50. fxg5 fxg5 51. f4 gxf4+ 52. Kxf4 d4 53. Be2 Nd5+ 54. Kf3 Ne6 55. Nd3 Ng5+ 56. Kg3 Ne4+ 57. Kh4 Nd2 58. g5 b3 59. a3 Ke7 60. Kh5 Nc3 61. Bg4 Nce4 62. Kh6 Nd6 63. g6 N2e4 64. g7 Nf6 65. Kg6 Nde8 66. Bd1 1 : 0.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova

Снежная королева (The Snow Queen)

Russian Chess Federation (@ruchess_eng)

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Photo: ruchess.ru

– Do you read any chess news during a tournament, or do you zone out of everything? – I read chess news, but not always. When I lose, I don’t feel like visiting the website and reading something bad about myself. Which is why I just don’t visit some websites, but when I am in a good mood, why not read how they praise me? (smiles). [Read more].

• Eteri Kublashvili, Aleksandra Goryachkina: “It’s Easier for Me to Play in Round Robins”, ruchess.ru, August 30, 2015