A miss is as good as a mile

Kirill Alexeyevich Alekseenko – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
74th Russian Chess Championship Superfinal; Ufa, October 11, 2021
Queen’s Gambit Declined D36

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Qc2 0-0 9. Bd3 Re8 10. Nge2 a5 11. 0-0 Na6 12. a3 Nc7 13. Na4!? Alekseenko has prepared something new for Goryachkina, who only a little time ago had faced 13. f3 Ne6 14. Rad1 b5 15. Bf5 Nf8 16. Bd3 Ne6 17. Kh1 Ba6 with a satisfactory play, Zakhartsov – Goryachkina, 28th Russian Team Championship Premiere League, Sochi 2021. 13. ... Ne6 14. f3 b5 15. Nac3 Bb7 16. Rad1 b4 17. Na4 Nd7 18. Bf2

18. ... c5 19. Bb5 Ba6! In order to reply to 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. Nb6 with 21. ... Qb5 with at least equality. 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21. dxc5 Ndxc5 22. axb4 axb4. 22. ... Nxa4 23. Qxa4 Bxb4 24. e4 Qa8 25. Rxd5 (after 25. exd5 Nc7 White’s d-Pawn will fall sooner or later) 25. ... Rc8 also gives good chances for compensation. 23. Nxc5 Bxc5 24. Nf4

24. ... b3!? Trying to avoid what will happen next. 25. Qc1 Nxf4?! More consistent was 25. ... Bd6! 26. Nxd5 Qb8 with some play for the Pawn. 26. Qxc5 Ne6 27. Qxd5 Qxd5 28. Rxd5

28. ... Ra2? Black’s last chance was to temporarily sacrifice a second Pawn with 28. ... Rc8 29. Rd3 Rc2 30. Rxb3 Ra2 31. Rb1 Nc5 in a bid to besiege the b2-Pawn and eventually capture it, thus escaping, with a little bit of luck, in a drawish 4 vs. 3 Pawns on the same side Rook endgame. 29. Rb1! Rc8 30. Be1! Rc4. If 30. ... Rc2 then 31. Bc3 equally follows. 31. Bc3 Nc5 32. Rd8+ Kh7 33. Rb8 f6 34. Kf1 Kg6 35. Rc8 Rxc3. Desperation. 36. bxc3 Nd3 37. Rd8 Nc5 38. Rc8 Nd3 39. Rb8 Rf2+ 40. Kg1 b2 41. Rd8 Rd2 42. c4 1 : 0.

Goryachkina did not manage to hold a materially unbalanced endgame against Alekseenko. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

Day Two of Year Zero

Fabiano Caruana – Kirill Alexeyevich Alekseenko
Candidates Tournament 2020; Yekaterinburg, March 18, 2020
Nimzo-Indian Defence E20

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 c5 8. d5 exd5 9. exd5 0-0 10. Be2 (10. Nf3 Bd6 11. Be2 Bg4 12. 0-0 Nbd7 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Rxf3 Qe7 15. Bg5 Rae8 16. Qd2 Qe5 17. Bf4 Qe7 18. Bg5 Qe5 19. Bf4 ½ : ½ Goryachkina – Oparin, 16th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2018) 10. ... Re8 11. Nf3 Bg4 12. 0-0 Nbd7 13. d6!? Caruana’s move constitutes a new way to unbalance the play somewhat. A recent game went 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bh4 Bd6 15. Qc2 Qb8 with reasonable prospects for equality, Lombaers – Schoppen, 80th Noteboom Open, Leiden 2020. 13. ... Bf8 14. h3 Bh5 15. Nb5 Re6. Dancing on the razor’s edge. 16. Bf4 a6 17. Nc7 Re4 18. Bh2. 18. Nxa8 Rxf4 19. Nc7 Nb6! looks quite unclear. 18. ... Rc8 19. g4 Bxg4. Black is forced to give up the Bishop for a few Pawns, after which, Caruana said, he felt very good about his prospects, besides having time advantage. 20. hxg4 Nxg4 21. Bd3 Nxh2 22. Bxe4 Nxf1 23. Qxf1

23. ... Bxd6? The decisive mistake. Black first ought to play 23. ... Nf6! and only then pick up the third Pawn. 24. Nd5 g6 25. Qh3 Kg7 26. Kh1 Ne5 27. Nh4 h5. In serious time pressure, Alekseenko isn’t able to defend himself effectively. On the other hand, after 27. ... Rc6 28. Rg1 Black’s position was also quite discouraging. 28. Rg1 Bf8. Black is short of time and moves: if 28. ... Rc6 then 29. Nf5+! Kf8 30. Nh6! and finis. 29. Nf4 (29. Nxg6!+−) 29. ... Ng4

30. Nxh5+! gxh5 31. Bf5 Be7 32. Bxg4 hxg4 33. Qxg4+ Bg5 34. Qh5 1 : 0.

Caruana kept up his mating attack until Alekseenko’s resignation handshake offer. Photo © Lennart Ootes.