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A Queen is never late, everyone else is simply early

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Five-time Women’s World Chess Champion Nona Terentevna Gaprindashvili (on the left with her head bent on the board) playing at the Hoogoven Women’s International Tournament in 1963. But it’s not time yet to relegate her to history and legend, since at 75 years of age the formidable Georgian was still able to write history! Photo: Wikiwand.

Stone Mountain

Viktor Davidovich Kupreichik – Nona Terentevna Gaprindashvili
16th European Senior 65+ Chess Championship; Yerevan, June 10, 2016
Owen Defence B00

1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nf3 Ne7 5. h4!? Sharply sidelined, but Kupreichik is a strong tactical player. 5. ... d5 6. e5 Ba6 7. Bxa6 Nxa6 8. c4 Qd7 9. Qe2 dxc4 10. Qxc4 Qc6 11. Qxc6+ Nxc6 12. a3 Na5! Nona Terentevna manoeuvred very well in securing balance.

13. Be3. If 13. Nc3 there might follow 13. ... Nb3 14. Rb1 0-0-0 with satisfactory play for Black. 13. ... Nb3 14. Ra2 c5 15. Nbd2. Kupreichik temporarily sacrifices a Pawn because after 15. Nc3 0-0-0! Black is fine. 15. ... Nc1. After all, a curious destination. 16. Ra1 Nd3+ 17. Ke2 Nxb2 18. a4 c4 19. Rhc1 Rc8 20. Rc2 c3 21. Ne4 Bb4 22. Bd2. Finally White wins back his Pawn, but... what a fatigue it was! 22. ... 0-0 23. Bxc3 Bxc3 24. Nxc3 Nc4 25. Rcc1 Nb4 26. Nb5 a6 27. Na7 Rc7 28. Nd2 Rxa7 29. Nxc4 Nd5 30. Ne3. Also 30. Nd6 Rc7 must be sustainable to ensure a draw. 30. ... Rd7 31. Rab1 Nf4+ 32. Kf3 Rxd4 33. Rc4 Rxc4 34. Nxc4 Nd5 35. Nxb6 Rb8 36. a5 h5 37. Rb3 Kh7 38. Ke4 Rb7 39. Kd4 Kh6 40. Rb2 ½ : ½.

Five-time Women’s World Chess Champion Nona Terentevna Gaprindashvili
Photo © Sputnik/Saakov.

Forever Young

Nona Terentevna Gaprindashvili – Anushavan Arakelyan
16th European Senior 65+ Chess Championship; Yerevan, June 9, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Accepted D27

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 Be7 5. b3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 a6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 c5 10. Rc1 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. dxc5 Bxc5. For 12. ... Nxc5 13. Ne5 Rc8 14. Ndf3 Qa5 see Donaldson – Sadvakasov, 30th Continental Open, Los Angeles 2000. 13. Nd4. 13. Ne5 Bb4 14. Ndf3 Rc8 leads to nothing special. 13. ... e5. 13. ... Qb6 14. Bf3 Rac8 looks a better way to seek equality. 14. Nf5. Threatening Bb2xe5. 14. ... g6 15. Ng3. 15. Nh6+ Kg7 16. Ng4 Qe7 is not as strong as it looks. 15. ... Qe7 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Ba3. This turns out to be much more weakening than it may appear at first sight. After 17. ... Rac8 18. Nde4 Bb4 Black position is more tenable. 18. Bxa3 Qxa3 19. Nde4 Nxe4? From bad to worse. Black should have played 19. ... Ne8 in order to answer 20. Qd1 by 20. ... Qe7 followed by ... Ra8-a7. 20. Nxe4 f5 21. Ng5 e4

22. Qd1! Nf6 23. Ne6 Rf7? Comparatively better was 23. ... Rfc8, even though after 24. Rxc8+ Rxc8 25. Qd4 Qe7 26. Qb6! White keeps a very powerful grip on her opponent’s position. 24. Qd4 Qe7. Not 24. ... Qxa2? 25. Ng5 Rff8 26. Rc7 and wins. 25. Rc6 h6? Bad, but after 25. ... Ne8 26. Rfc1 Black is doomed anyway. 26. Rfc1 Ne8 27. Nf4 1 : 0. Being 75 years old and playing like Capablanca at 30 years of age must give great satisfaction! Bravo, Nona Terentevna!

Nona Terentevna Gaprindashvili
Photo: msy.gov.ge

Attack on Avengers

Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov – Nico Schouten
15th European Senior Chess Championship; Eretria, May 3, 2015
Spanish Game C80

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4. Siegbert Tarrasch’s dogma. 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 c6 10. a4!? Probably Vasiukov is improvising. The “book” line is 10. Be3 Be7 11. Nd2 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 O-O 13. Qc3 Bb7 14. f4 a5 15. a3 b4 16. Qd2 a4 17. Ba2 bxa3 18. bxa3 Bxa3 19. Rfb1 Bc8 20. Bxd5 Qxd5 21. Rxa3 Qxd2 22. Bxd2 Bf5 23. Rb2 Rfd8 24. Be3 h5 25. h3 Rdb8 26. Rxb8+ Rxb8 27. Rxa4 Bxc2 28. Rc4 Rb1+ 29. Kf2 Rb2 30. Kg3 Bf5 31. Rxc6 Rxg2+ ½ : ½ R. J. Fischer – Addison, 18th U.S. Chess Championship, New York, December 11, 1966. 10. ... Rb8. Not bad, but I’d very much like 10. ... b4! 11. Be3 Nc5 with equality. 11. axb5 axb5 12. Be3 Be7 13. c3 0-0 14. Nd2 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 f6 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Bc2 Qd6 18. b4 Qd7 19. f4 Qg4 20. h3 Qh5 21. Rf3 Qf7. Black has lost too much time moving his Queen (five moves in a row!). No wonder White easily obtains a winning attack. 22. g4 Bd7 23. Raf1 Bd8. More involution. 24. f5 Bb6 25. Bxb6 Rxb6

26. f6! Rbb8. On 26. ... g6 27. Qh6 followed by h3-h4-h5 is crushing. 27. Qg5 Rfe8. An error, but an excusable one, for even after 27. ... g6 28. h4! Kh8 29. Qh6 Bxg4 30. Re3 White’s attack is overwhelming. 28. fxg7! 1 : 0. For if 28. ... Qe7 then 29. Rf8+! and mate next move, whilst after 28. ... Qxg7 29. Bxh7+! Kh8 (29. ... Kxh7 30. Rf7 and mate in two moves) 30. Bg6! Black is busted.

Solving in Style

John Denis Martin Nunn – Sergey Smolin
15th European Senior Chess Championship; Eretria, April 30, 2015
Modern Defence B06

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 a6 4. Be3 d6 5. h4 h5 6. Qd2 b5 7. 0-0-0 Bb7 8. Nh3 Nd7 9. Ng5 e6 10. Kb1 Ngf6. If 10. ... Ne7 might follow 11. f3 Nb6 12. b3 Qd7 13. g3 b4 14. Ne2 a5 15. Bh3 as in the game Domínguez Pérez – Kamsky, 1st SportAccord World Mind Games; Blindfold’s Event; 北京 (Beijīng) 2011. 11. f3 0-0 12. g4 b4? A bad move, as the White’s Knight is very happy to move to the Kingside for assisting in the attack. A possibly better idea was 12. ... hxg4 13. h5 gxh5 14. Ne2! gxf3 15. Ng3 c5, where Black can still hope to get some counter-play. 13. Ne2 hxg4. Black has no time for 13. ... a5 on account of 14. Ng3! hxg4 15. h5! with consequences very similar to the game. 14. Ng3! gxf3? This only helps White’s attack, but even after 14. ... c5 15. h5 gxh5 16. Nxh5 (16. Rxh5? is met by 16. ... cxd4) 16. ... Nxh5 17. Rxh5 Nf6 18. Rh4 White retains a powerful initiative. 15. h5! Nxh5. A lesser evil would have been 15. ... gxh5 16. Rxh5 c5 (16. ... Nxh5 transposes to the game) 17. Rh4 with the same point as mentioned above.

16. Rxh5! White sacrifices the Exchange to shatter Black’s defence. 16. ... gxh5 17. Nxh5 Nf6 18. Qh2 Re8 19. Bd3 e5 20. Nxg7 Kxg7 21. Nh7! A pretty coup. 21. ... Ng4. On 21. ... Nxh7 22. Qh6+ leads to mate. 22. Rg1 Bc8. Else 22. ... f5 23. Qh6+ Kf7 24. Ng5+ and wins. 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Nf6+ Qxf6 25. Qxf6 1 : 0.

John Denis Martin Nunn in 1982
Photo: Wikipedia