The Fleeting Moment

Désirée Di Benedetto – Polina Sergeevna Shuvalova
32nd World Youth Chess Championship Girls Under-18; Porto Carras, October 29, 2018
Semi-Tarrasch Defence D41

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 0-0 11. Bc4 b6 12. 0-0 Nd7 13. Rad1 Bb7 14. Rfe1 Rc8 15. Bb3 Re8 16. h3 Nf6 17. Qf4 Nh5 18. Qh2 Nf6? Better to trust the man who never loses: 18. ... h6 19. Ne5 Nf6 20. Qf4 b5 21. Re3 Rc7 22. Nd3 Rc3 23. Nc5 Rxe3 24. Qxe3 Bc6 25. Rc1 Qb6= Mamedyarov – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), Candidates Tournament, Berlin 2018. 19. d5! Di Benedetto bravely plays all out to accomplish her “mission impossible”. 19. ... exd5 20. e5 Nd7 21. Nd4 Rc5!? A novelty that is neither better nor worse than 21. ... f6 22. e6 Nc5 23. Nf5 Nxb3 24. axb3 Rc6 25. Qg3 with a powerful initiative, Mulyar – Burke, 12th Philadelphia Open, Philadelphia 2018. 22. Ba4!? Ra5 23. Bc6! Qc8. Now engines advocate 24. Bb5! which leaves White with a powerful bind and serious threats such as e5-e6 or Rd1-c1. Di Benedetto plays more naturally: 24. Bxd7! Qxd7 25. f4! Rxa2 26. f5 Ra4? Black goes straight into her opponent’s hands, but there weren’t particularly good moves. For instance, if 26. ... Kh8 then 27. e6! with vehement attack. Comparatively best was perhaps 26. ... Qe7, though after 27. f6 Qf8 28. Qg3 White keeps the upper hand. 27. f6! Kh8. Not 27. ... gxf6? because of 28. exf6 Kh8 29. Qc7!! and finis. 28. Qf4 Rg8 29. fxg7+ Rxg7. Di Benedetto has played a fantastic game and is now about to take Shuvalova off the crown:

30. Re3?? But she incredibly misses 30. Qf6! with the double threat of Nd4-f5 and Rd1-d3-g3, against which Black has no decent defence (30. ... Qxh3?? 31. Qxg7+!). 30. ... Qe7! 31. Qf6. Just too late. 31. ... Qxf6 32. exf6 Rg8 33. Re7 Bc8 34. Rxf7. Not surprisingly, after missing her big chance, White disintegrates. The rest does not require comment. 34. ... Bxh3 35. Rd2 Bg4 36. Nc6 Bh5 37. Re7 Rf4 38. Re5 Rxf6 39. Ne7 Re8 40. Rdxd5 Bf7 41. Rd7 a5 42. Rb5 a4 43. Nc6 Re1+ 44. Kh2 Be8 0 : 1.

Off Season

Agnieszka Buchta – Désirée Di Benedetto
32nd World Youth Chess Championship Girls Under-18; Porto Carras, October 23, 2018
2r1b3/1p4p1/pP1kp1p1/P2pN3/3B1K1P/2P3P1/5P2/8 b - - 6 35

Position after 35. Kf3-f4

Black is the Exchange ahead, but, in return, she’s wholly tied up to the defence of the g6-Pawn, which gives White — who’s also threatening Kf4-g5 — enough compensation, despite of material unbalance. Di Benedetto then clings to her significant time advantage (she has more than 16 minutes left, while her opponent is down to 50 seconds), and goes all out by speculatively returning the Exchange so as to attack White’s Queenside Pawns: 35. ... Rc5!? 36. Kg5?? Buchta has not time to think, and moves on as nothing were happened. Instead, she ought to have played 36. Bxc5+ Kxc5 37. Ke3! d4+! 38. Kd3 dxc3 39. Kxc3 Kd5 (not 39. ... Kb5? on account of 40. Kd4! Kxa5? 41. Kc5 and Black is in zugzwang) 40. Nd3 e5 with a likely draw in prospect. 36. ... Rxa5. Now the ending is easily won. 37. Nxg6 Bxg6 38. Kxg6 e5 39. Be3 Ra1 40. h5 Rh1 41. Bg5 d4! 42. cxd4 exd4 43. Bd2 Kc5 44. g4 Kb5 45. Kxg7 a5 46. h6 a4 47. h7 Rxh7+ 48. Kxh7 a3 49. g5 a2 50. g6 a1=Q 51. g7 Qb1+ 52. Kh6 Qh1+ 53. Kg6 Qe4+ 54. Kh6 Qe6+ 55. Kh7 Qf5+ 56. Kh6 Qf7 57. Kh7 Kxb6 58. Bh6 Kc5 59. Bd2 b5 60. f4 b4 61. Kh8 Qh5+ 62. Kg8 b3 63. Kf8 Qf5+ 64. Ke7 Qg6 65. Kf8 Qf6+ 0 : 1.

Short Stories from the Twenty-First Century

Désirée Di Benedetto – Anna Maria Sargsyan
43rd Women’s Chess Olympiad; Batumi, September 27, 2018
Slav Defence D17

If nothing else, at least the Italian women’s team is keeping safe the country’s honour at the 43rd Chess Olympiad. 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5 12. Ne3 gxf4 13. Nxf5 0-0-0 14. Qc2 Kb8 15. 0-0 fxg3 16. hxg3 a5 17. Rfd1 h5 18. Rac1 Nc5. Italian men too set their footsteps upon this long and theoretical line: 18. ... Bc5 19. Ne4 Bb4 20. Rd4 Nb6 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Rd1 Rxd1+ 23. Qxd1 Qd7 24. Qxd7 Nbxd7 25. b3 Kc7 26. Nd4 Nc5 27. Kf1 Ned7 28. e3 Ne5 29. Ke2 Ng6 30. f4 Ne7 31. Bf3 Nxe4 32. Bxe4 Bc3 33. Kd3 Be1 34. Bf3 h4 35. gxh4 Bxh4 36. Bh5 f6 37. e4 Kd6 38. Kc4 Bf2 39. Nf5+ Nxf5 40. exf5 Be3 41. Bf7 Bxf4 42. Be6 b5+ ½ : ½ David – S. Brunello, 77th Italian Chess Championship, Cosenza 2017. 19. Rxd8+. Or else 19. Ne4 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Nxe4 21. Qxe4 Bb4 22. Bh3 f6 23. Kg2 Qf7 24. Nd4 Ka8 25. Bf5 Rd8 26. Rh1 Rd6 27. Nf3 Nd7 ½ : ½ Smirnov – Al Sayed, 7th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2008. 19. ... Qxd8 20. Ne4 Nxe4 21. Qxe4 f6. Another modus vivendi could be 21. ... Qf6 22. Nd4 Bg7 but then after 23. b4! White should still have prospects for initiative. 22. Nd4 Qe8? This mistake suddenly precipitates Black into hopeless ruin. Best was 22. ... h4! 23. f4 Ng4∞ 24. Bf3 f5! 25. Nxf5 Bc5+ 26. Kf1 Re8 with enough compensation for the Pawn. 23. f4 Bh6. A pin upon which Black obviously relied when playing 22. ... Qe8, but a prompt disappointment will be there for her. 24. Rc3! Ng4

25. Nxc6+! White sacrifices her Knight and launches a mating attack. 25. ... bxc6 26. Rb3+ Kc7 27. Qd4 Qc8 28. Rb6. Even stronger was 28. Bxc6! for if 28. ... Kxc6 then 29. Rb6+ Kc7 30. Qd6 mate. Almost incredulous, White held her breath and went for a safe, sure and prosaic victory. 28. ... Qe6 29. Rxc6+ Qxc6 30. Qa7+ Kd6 31. Bxc6 Kxc6 32. Qa6+ Kd7 33. Qb5+ Ke6 34. Qc4+ Ke7 35. Qc5+ Ke6 36. Qxh5 Rg8 37. e4 Ke7 38. Qc5+ Kf7 39. Qc7+ Kf8 40. Qc8+ Kf7 41. Qc7+ Ke8 42. Qxa5 Bf8 43. Qb5+ Kf7 44. Qh5+ Ke7 45. a5 Nh6 46. Qc5+ Kd7 47. Qd5+ Kc7 48. a6 1 : 0.

Désirée Di Benedetto. Photo © Chess Daily News.

G+

Marina Brunello – Désirée Di Benedetto
44th Italian Women’s Chess Championship; Cosenza, December 7, 2017
Sicilian Defence B49

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Be2 b5 8. Nxc6 dxc6. The alternative is 8. ... Qxc6; for instance: 9. a3 Bb7 10. Qd2 Rc8 11. 0-0 Nf6 12. Bf3 Qc7 13. Bf4 e5 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Rfd1 Rd8 17. Qe2 0-0 18. Nd5 Qc4 19. c3 Bc6 20. Qc2 Bg5 21. g3 g6 22. h4 Bh6 23. Be2 Qc5 24. b4 Qa7 25. a4 Qb7 26. axb5 axb5 27. Qb3 Kg7 28. Bf3 f5 29. exf5 gxf5 30. Bg2 f4 31. Be4 fxg3 32. fxg3 Be3+ 33. Kh1 Bf2 34. Rd3 Kh8 35. Qc2 Rf7 36. Qe2 Rg8 37. Rf1 Rgf8 38. Qh5 Rg7 39. Qe2 Rgf7 40. Kg2 Ba7 41. Rxf7 Rxf7 42. Qh5 d6 43. Kh2 Qd7 44. Rf3 Qe6 45. Qxf7 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Potkin, Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup, Almaty 2016. 9. f4 Bb7 10. Bf3 Be7. If 10. ... e5 then 11. fxe5 Qxe5 12. Bd4 Qg5 13. Qe2 and White stands better, Bologan – Morozevich, World Rapid Chess Championship, Berlin 2015. Maybe 10. ... Nf6 is the best option Black has; for instance: 11. e5 Nd5 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Bd4 Be7 14. 0-0 0-0 ½ : ½ Kosanović – Hulak, Pula 1990. 11. e5. For 11. Qe2 Rd8 12. 0-0 e5 see Riazantsev – Grachev, 67th Russian Chess Championship Higher League, Vladivostok 2014. 11. ... Nh6 12. Ne4 Nf5 13. Bc5 Rd8. 13. ... Bxc5 14. Nxc5 Rd8 15. Qe2 transposes into the game. 14. Qe2 Bxc5 15. Nxc5 Nd4 16. Qf2 Nxf3+ 17. gxf3! That’s the killer move! White opens the g-file and prepares for giving mate!

17. ... Rd5. Comparatively better is 17. ... 0-0, although after 18. Rg1 Kh8 19. Qh4 (Δ Rg1xg7) 19. ... h6 20. Ke2! White still retains a powerful attack. 18. Rg1 Kf8. Now it’s late for 18. ... 0-0 as after 19. Ne4 the curtain falls. 19. Rd1 Bc8 20. b4 Qd8 21. Ke2! f6 22. Ne4! Black’s position is totally hopeless and the end comes quick and easy. 22. ... fxe5. 22. ... Qe7 23. Qh4 makes no difference. 23. Qc5+ Qe7 24. Qxe7+ Kxe7 25. Rxg7+ Kd8 26. fxe5 Rxd1 27. Kxd1 h5 28. h4 Bd7 29. Nf6 1 : 0.

Time clock

Désirée Di Benedetto – Elena Sedina
44th Italian Women’s Chess Championship; Cosenza, December 3, 2017
rq5k/3nb1pp/b3p3/1Npp3B/P4P2/1PB1P1rP/1Q4P1/2R2RK1 w - - 11 28

Position after 27. ... Rg6-g3

The position in the diagram shows what can happen when a Benkö Counter-Gambit goes wrong. White to move and win: 28. Rf3! Deflecting the Black Rook. 28. ... Rxf3. Any other move loses as well. 29. Bxg7+ Kg8 30. gxf3 Bxb5 1 : 0. And Black resigns without waiting for 31. Qg2! which would result in too serious heavy losses for her.