The Strength of a King

Marina Brunello – Alisa Galliamova
18th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship; Riga, April 13, 2017
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. Bb3 Ba7 7. Nbd2 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Ne4 0-0 10. 0-0 Bg4 11. Re1. For 11. h3 Bh5 12. Ng3 Bg6 13. Re1 Qd6 14. Nh4 see Collutiis – Blagojević, 41st Chess Olympiad, Tromsø 2014. 11. ... f6 12. Ng3 Qd7 13. Qe2 Rfe8 14. Qe4 Be6 15. Bd2 Rad8 16. Rad1 Kh8 17. Qh4 Nde7 18. Bc2? Subjectively speaking, it’s hard to feel any enthusiasm for White’s opening (I just see a lot of Queen moves!), but the text move is really a big mistake! Comparatively best was 18. Be3 with a still tenable position. 18. ... Ng6 19. Qa4 Bg4 20. Bc1

20. ... f5? Luckily for Brunello, Galliamova misses the devilish interference 20. ... Bxf3 21. gxf3 Bd4!!−+ with the deadly threat of ... Qd7-h3 followed by ... Ng6-h4. 21. Bg5 Bxf3 22. gxf3 f4 23. Bxd8 Rxd8 24. Qe4 fxg3 25. hxg3 Qh3 26. d4. Probably the only move, as after 26. Qg4 Bxf2+! 27. Kxf2 Qxh2+ 28. Ke3 Nf4! (but not 28. ... Qxc2?? because of 29. Rd2 trapping the Black Queen) 29. gxf4 exf4+ 30. Ke4 Qxc2 31. Qxf4 Qf2! White cannot enjoy her Exchange advantage due to her own King dramatically exposed to attack on the open board. 26. ... Rf8 27. Qd5 exd4 28. Bxg6 dxc3! 28. ... hxg6? 29. Re4! g5! 30. Qxg5 Qf5∞ is maybe tenable but certainly much less clear. 29. Qf7! Marina persuades her opponent to be content with a perpetual check by means of a very brilliant offer. 29. ... Qxg3+ 30. Kh1 Qh3+ 31. Kg1 Qg3+ 32. Kh1 Qh3+ 33. Kg1 Qg3+ ½ : ½.

Filigree

Humpy Koneru – Alisa Galliamova
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 23, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D45

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. 0-0 Be7 9. b3 dxc4 10. bxc4 c5 11. Ne5 cxd4 12. exd4 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. Bf4 g5. Alisa is choosing a very risky line! 15. Bg3 h5 16. h3 h4. “I felt that 16. ... Nc5 was very interesting because after 17. Be4 Nxe4 Black keeps the Bishop on b7. If Black wants to continue its attack, having this light-squared Bishop is very important”, then Koneru said. 17. Bh2 g4. Now, after “17. ... Nc5 I could have played 18. Be2. And there is no flexibility to play ... g5-g4”, Koneru says. 18. Be4! Humpy’s play is crystal-clear. If 18. hxg4 there might follow 18. ... Bb4 19. Ne4 h3 with an unclear position, Ganguly – Romanko, Chigorin Memorial, Saint Petersburg 2014. 18. ... Bxe4 19. Qxe4 gxh3 20. Nb5! Threatening Qe4xa8.

20. ... Rb8. Temporary like Achilles. If 20. ... hxg2 there might follow 21. Rd1 Rb8 22. Rd4 (Koneru’s analysis), but the immediate 20. ... Rc8 was worth considering. 21. gxh3 a6 22. Nd6+ Bxd6 23. exd6 Qg5+ 24. Kh1 Rc8. Back to her roots. Black is intending ... Qg5-c5-c6 in order to change Queens. 25. Rae1. A powerful centralization! The threat is f2-f4-f5. 25. ... Kd8. If 25. ... Qc5 then 26. Qg4 as 26. ... Qxc4 is met by 27. Qg5 f6 28. Qg7 (Koneru’s analysis). 26. Rg1 Qc5 27. Qf4 Qf5 28. Qxf5 exf5 29. Re7 Rf8 30. Bf4 Rxc4. A little better is 30. ... Rc6 31. Bh6 Rh8 32. Rxf7 Rxd6, but after 33. Be3 White’s position is still imposing. 31. Bh6 Rh8 32. Rxf7 Kc8 33. Rgg7 Nc5 34. Be3 Rd8 35. Bxc5 Rxc5 36. Ra7 Kb8 37. Rgb7+ Kc8 38. d7+ 1 : 0.

Humpy Koneru vs. Alisa Galliamova
Photo: Vladimir Barsky

Alisa – Folge deinem Herzen

Alisa Galliamova – María Carolina Luján

Women’s World Chess Championship; playoff game 2; Krasnaya Polyana, March 19, 2015

Queen’s Pawn Game A46

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b5 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 e6 5. 0-0 c5 6. b3 Nc6 7. Bb2 Qb6 8. a4 b4 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Nbd2 d5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. e4 Rd8 13. exd5 Rxd5 14. Qe2 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Rxe5 16. Qg4 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Bd4? María Carolina starts to go astray. After 17. ... Qc6+ 18. Kg1 Ke7! the chances are fairly even. 18. Rad1 f5 19. Qh4 Bc3 20. Nf3. Equally strong or even stronger appears to be 20. Nc4 Qc6+ 21. f3 Rd5 22. Ne3 with an edge for White. 20. ... Re4 21. Qh5 Qb7 22. Kg1 Qe7. If 22. ... Bf6 then 23. Qh6! followed by the doubling of the Rooks on the d-file. 23. Ng5 Rg4? A mistake most clearly refuted by Alisa’s next move.

24. Nxf7! Qxf7. Sheer desperation, but 24. ... 0-0 29. Nh6+ is no better. 25. Rd8+ Ke7 26. Rd7+ Kxd7 27. Qxf7+ Kd6 28. Qxa7 Rd4 29. a5 Rd5 30. a6 Rg8 31. Qb7 Ke5 32. a7 Rdd8 33. Qxh7 Kf6 34. Kg2 Rge8 35. Qb7 Rg8 36. h4 f4 37. Kh3 e5 38. g4 Rh8 39. g5+ Kf5 40. Qf7+ Ke4 41. Kg4 Kd4 42. Qc4 mate.

Dulce de leche

María Carolina Luján – Alisa Galliamova
Women’s World Chess Championship; Krasnaya Polyana, March 17, 2015
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 Nbd7 8. Be2 Qc7 9. g4 b5 10. g5 Ne5 11. Qg3. For the very sharp and unclear 11. Qh3 b4 12. Ncb5 see Nguyễn Hoàng Huy – Nguyễn Hoàng Nam, Đà Nẵng 2008. 11. ... Nfd7 12. a3 Nb6 13. Rd1 Bb7 14. 0-0 Rc8 15. Qh3 Nbc4 16. Bc1 Be7 17. f4 Nc6 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Rd3 h6? “I didn’t like her 19. ... h6 – after this move Black cannot castle, and White can develop a strong attack on the Black King that is stuck in the center. Defending such positions is very difficult, and especially in the time trouble”, then María Carolina Luján said. 20. Bf3 Rg8

21. g6! Bd7 22. gxf7+ Kxf7 23. f5 Bf6 24. Bh5+ Ke7 25. Kh1 Ne5 26. Rg3 Qb7 27. Qg2 a5? A bad move, implying fatal loss of time. The immediate 27. ... Rxc3! was called for. 28. Bxh6 Rxc3 29. bxc3 Bc6 30. Rf4 Kd8 31. fxe6 Qe7 32. Rxf6! 1 : 0.

María Carolina Luján
Photo: María Carolina Luján (@imcarolinalujan)

chess24.es (@chess24es)

呆河马

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) at the press conference.
Photo: Cathy Rogers

Alisa Galliamova – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
19th Women’s European Club Cup; Bilbao, September 19, 2014
Queen’s Pawn Game A40

Notes by Grandmaster Ian Rogers, Chess Life Online, September 19, 2014

Apart from the race for first place, the other side issue of interest was Hóu Yìfán’s race to overtake the newly retired Judit Polgár as the top woman in the world. Hóu was fortunate to defeat Anna Ushenina (against whom she won her most recent world title match easily) in the fifth round but her game the next day, which moved Hóu to within four points of Polgár, owed nothing to luck.

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6!? “I just wanted a game”, said Hóu, channelling Carlsen. 3. e4 Bb7 4. d5!? Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+. “Probably Black should play 5. ... Qe7 but after 6. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 7. Qd2 I must exchange Queens and I wanted to keep Queens on the board”, explained Hóu. 6. Qxd2 d6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. f4?! “Too ambitious”, said Hóu. “She should just develop her pieces”. 8. ... e5! 9. g3?! exf4 10. gxf4 Qh4+ 11. Qf2 Qxf2+ 12. Kxf2 Ngf6 13. Re1 0-0 14. Bh3 Nc5 15. Re3 Rae8 16. Kf3 c6! 17. Nge2 cxd5 18. exd5 b5!

19. Rxe8? Now White’s position collapses. 19. b4! was playable because Hóu’s intended 19. ... bxc4 fails to 20. Rxe8 Rxe8 21. bxc5 Nxd5 22. Rb1!. 19. ... Rxe8 20. Rd1 bxc4. The rest is easy for Hóu, with Galliamova adding time trouble to her woes. 21. Rd4 g6 22. Ng3 h5 23. Bf1 h4 24. Nge2 Ba6 25. Rd2 Nd3 26. Nd4 Ne1+ 27. Kf2 Ne4+ 28. Nxe4 Rxe4 29. Bg2 Nxg2 30. Kxg2 Rxf4 31. Nc6 c3! 32. bxc3 Bf1+ 33. Kg1 Bh3 34. Rd1 Rg4+ 35. Kf2 Rg2+ 36. Kf3 Rxa2 37. c4 Kg7 38. Kf4 Rc2 39. Rd4 Rxh2 40. Nxa7 Bd7 41. Nc6 Rg2 42. c5 Rg4+ 43. Ke3 Rxd4 44. Nxd4 dxc5 0 : 1.

Bilbao, September 18, 2014. Women’s World Chess Champion, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), playing for Cercle d’Échecs de Monte-Carlo. Photo: David Llada

Trampin’

19th Women’s European Club Cup; Bilbao, September 19, 2014
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

• Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez, ECC 06: Winners!, Chess News, September 20, 2014