One Spring Friday Before Easter

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Jolanta Zawadzka
20th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship; Antalya, April 19, 2019
Queen’s Gambit Declined D31

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 Nf6 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c6 7. Nf3 0-0 8. a4 b6 9. Ba3 Re8 10. cxd5 exd5!? This is certainly playable, but probably not more convincing than 10. ... cxd5 11. Bb5 Bd7 12. Bd3 Nc6 13. Bd6 Ne4= 赵骏 (Zhào Jùn) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 42nd Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化市 (Xīnghuà) 2011. 11. Rc1 Ne4 12. Nd2!? 12. Bd3 Ba6 13. 0-0⩲ was simpler and probably better. 12. ... Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Qg5 14. h4 Qf6 15. c4 Ba6

16. cxd5? Strangely, Goryachkina makes a trivial mistake which leaves White in a very uncoordinated and uncomfortable position. The text would have made sense only after ... Nb8-d7, so as to meet ... Ba6xf1 with the zwischenzug Rc1xc6. 16. ... Bxf1 17. Kxf1 cxd5∓ 18. h5!? h6! The interpolation of h4-h5 and ... h7-h6 only helps Black, as White has no realistic chance of mounting a Kingside attack. 19. Qd3 Qe6 20. Rh4? White’s artificial Rook lift marks the ultimate separation of White’s Rooks from each other, in fact conceding the open c-file to Black. Since 20. Rc7 Nd7 21. f3!? Rec8∓ may likewise lead to unpleasant results, it’s not easy to give good advice. 20. ... Nd7 21. Rf4 Rac8. Whatever White plays, Black will take command of the c-file, with consequences easy to imagine. It’s already enough for Goryachkina, who quickly disintegrates: 22. g4 Nf6 23. Qd1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 Rc8 25. Bd2 a5 26. Kg2 Rc4 27. Rf5 Qe4+ 28. Kh3 Rc2 29. Re5. Or 29. Bxa5 Nxg4! winning by force (but not 29. ... bxa5?? on account of 30. f3!). 29. ... Qd3 30. g5 hxg5 0 : 1.

Ora et labora

Jolanta Zawadzka – Lela Javakhishvili
5th Women’s World Chess Team Championship; 成都市 (Chéngdū), April 21, 2015
Sicilian Defence B47

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qc7 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 8. Bd3 b5 9. Qe2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bc5 11. 0-0-0 Ne7 12. a3 0-0-0 13. Rhe1 h5. Was this improvised? For 13. ... Kb8 14. Kb1 Nc8 15. Qg4 g6 16. Na2 see Kilpatrick – Barbosa, 51st World Juniors, Athens 2012, whilst for 13. ... g6 14. g3 f5 see Arun – Konguvel, 9th Parsvnath Open, New Delhi 2011. 14. g3 d5. The right move at the wrong time! 15. exd5 exd5 16. Be3 Bd6. From bad to worse. 17. Bd4 f6 18. Bxb5! axb5 19. Nxb5 Bc5 20. b4 Bb6 21. Qxe7 Qxb5

22. Qxg7? Jolanta misses a very neat tactical point: 22. Qe6+ Kc7 23. Qxb6+! Qxb6 24. Re7+ Kd6 25. Rde1! Kc6 (if 25. ... Qxd4 then 26. R1e6 mate) 26. R7e6+ Rd6 27. Rxd6+ Kxd6 28. Bxb6 which would lead to a decisive advantage for White. Later on it was Lela who could have tried to play for a win, but after all roller coasters in the middle game she was content with a draw. 22. ... Bxd4 23. Rxd4 Qb6 24. Rd3 d4 25. Re7 Rhe8 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27. Qf7 Rd8 28. Qxh5 Be4 29. Rd2 f5 30. Qf7 Kb8 31. Qe7 Rc8 32. Qe5+ Kb7 33. g4 Qa6 34. Qxd4 Qxa3+ 35. Kd1 Qf3+. Alternatively, Black might have considered 35. ... Bf3+ 36. Ke1 Re8+ 37. Kf2 Bc6 retaining some winning possibilities. 36. Kc1 Qa3+ 37. Kd1 Qf3+ 38. Kc1 ½ : ½.

Jolanta Zawadzka
Photo: Liu Yunpeng