Not enough ink

Luca Moroni – Nataliya Igorivna Buksa
17th Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 28, 2019
Queen’s Pawn Game D02

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 Bxf4 6. exf4 0-0. The historical reference is 6. ... c5 7. dxc5 Qc7 8. g3 Qxc5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. c3 0-0 11. 0-0 b5 12. Ne5 Bb7 13. Qe2 ½ : ½ A. K. Rubinstein – Capablanca, London 1922. 7. Bd3 c5 8. dxc5 Qc7 9. g3 Qxc5 10. 0-0 Nc6 11. c3 Qd6. 11. ... b5 transposes into A. K. Rubinstein – Capablanca, London 1922. Another interesting option is 11. ... Rd8 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. Nb3 Bd7 14. Nbd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Re8 16. Rfe1 Rac8 17. Rad1 a6 18. Rd2 Qd6 19. Nf3 Qf8 20. Nd4 Qc5 21. Nb3 Qb6 22. Nd4 Qc5 23. Nb3 ½ : ½ Selezniev – Em. Lasker, Mährisch Ostrau 1923. 12. Re1 b6 13. Qe2. Not too dissimilar is 13. Nb3 Bb7 14. Nbd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Rad8 16. Qe2 Rfe8 17. Qe5 a6 18. Re2 Qxe5 19. fxe5 Nd7 20. f4 Nb8 21. Rae1 Nc6 22. Nxc6 Bxc6 23. Kf2 Bb5 24. Bxb5 axb5 25. Ke3 g6 26. Rd2 Ra8 27. a3 Ra4 28. Rd4 Rxd4 29. cxd4 Rc8 30. Kd3 Kf8 31. Re2 Ke7 32. Rc2 Rc4 33. Rc35 Ra4 34. Rc7+ Ke8 35. Rc6 Ra6 36. Kc3 Kd7 37. Rd6+ Kc7 38. g4 Ra4 39. f5 Rc4+ 40. Kd3 b4 41. fxe6 fxe6 42. axb4 Rc6 43. Rxc6+ Kxc6 44. Kc3 g5 45. Kc2 b5 ½ : ½ Forgacs – Leonhardt, 15th Deutscher Schachbund (DSB) Congress, Nuremberg 1906. 13. ... Bb7 14. Nb3 a6 15. a3 Rfe8 16. Rad1 b5 17. h4!↑ Rad8 18. Bb1 Qc7 19. Nbd4 Ne4 20. Qc2 g6 21. h5! White’s initiative appears real enough to be feared, so Buksa will have to defend carefully. 21. ... Nxd4 22. Rxd4 Kg7. It may even be that 22. ... gxh5 23. Qe2 f6 (intending ... e6-e5) actually were Black’s best defence. 23. Qe2 Ba8. 23. ... f6 still deserved consideration. 24. Red1 Nf6. After this, White forces the exchange of Queens, turning his dynamic motifs into a powerful bind. The following line is not forced at all, but it could even look like a sound one: 24. ... f6 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Nh4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Rd8 28. Rxd8 Qxd8 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. Qg4 Qe8 31. f5 g5 32. fxe6 Kf8 33. Ng2 Bd5 winning back the Pawn with a tenable game.

25. Qe5! Qxe5 26. fxe5 Nd7 27. Re1 Nc5 28. Rh4 Rc8 29. Nd4 Bc6 30. g4 Bd7 31. f4 a5 32. Kf2. Better seem 32. Re2 or also 32. Bc2, so as to better control — or at least contain — Black’s counterplay on the Queenside. 32. ... Na4 33. f5 gxf5. Clearly not 33. ... Nxb2?? because of 34. f6+ Kg8 35. hxg6 fxg6 36. Reh1 with an irresistible attack. If, instead, 33. ... g5 then 34. h6+ Kh8 35. Rh5 and White may still hope for better things. 34. gxf5 Nxb2 35. Rf4 Kh8. 35. ... Nc4 36. Rg1+ Kh8∞ implies very similar consequences. 36. Rg1 Rg8 37. fxe6 fxe6 38. Rf7 Rcf8 39. Rg7! Rxg7 40. Rxf8+ Rg8 41. Rf7 Rg7 42. Rf8+ Rg8 43. Rf7 Rg7 44. Rf8+ ½ : ½.

Luca Moroni vs. Nataliya Igorivna Buksa. Photo © John Saunders.

The Matrix Reloaded

Anastasia Mikhailovna Bodnaruk – Nataliya Igorivna Buksa
17th European Women’s Individual Chess Championship; Mamaia, May 27, 2016
Spanish Game C83

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Be3 0-0 11. Nbd2 Qd7 12. Bc2 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Bg4. Curiously enough, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv Law Faculty student Nataliya Igorivna Buksa is on the footsteps of her countrywoman Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk. 14. Qd3. It “promise[s] nothing”, Grandmaster Adrian Bohdanovych Mikhalchishin said. In the 2nd game of the Women’s World Chess Championship match in Lviv between 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk, Chinese Grandmaster preferred 14. Bf4 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Rad8 16. Rfd1 Qe6 17. Qe3 when, rather than 17. ... Rd7, Black should have played 17. ... Na5!? 18. b3 c5 as 19. a4?! c4! would give Black a satisfactory play. 14. ... g6 15. Bh6 Rfe8 16. Rad1. Also after 16. Rfe1 Bf5 17. Qd2 Bxc2 18. Qxc2 Nd8 19. Rad1 Ne6 20. h4 c5! Black gets excellent chances, Kokarev – Short, 2nd International Chess Open, Kolkata 2015. 16. ... Bf5 17. Qd2 Bxc2 18. Qxc2 Nd8 19. Nd4 f6 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Nb3 Nb7 22. f4. Less committal seems 22. Be3 a5 with approximate equality.

22. ... Qg4. With the threat of ... Re8-e2. 23. Qd3 Rad8 24. f5? After 24. Rde1! the game was still quite even. 24. ... g5. Cutting off the White Bishop. Bodnaruk will pay very dearly for its liberation. 25. Nd4 Nc5 26. Qh3 Qxh3 27. gxh3 Kf7 28. Nf3 Ne4 29. Kg2 c5 30. h4. Finally! But it’s too late. 30. ... gxh4 31. Kh3 d4. Black’s preponderance is overwhelming. 32. cxd4 cxd4 33. Ne1 Rd5 34. Nd3 Nd6 35. Bf4 Nc4 36. Bc1 Ne3 37. Bxe3 dxe3 38. Nf4 Rxf5 39. Kg4 h5+! A pretty conclusion. 40. Nxh5. Not 40. Kxf5 Re5 mate. 40. ... Rxh5 41. Kxh5 e2 42. Rxf6+ Kxf6 43. Re1 Kf5 44. Kxh4 Kf4 45. Kh3 Ke3 0 : 1.

Nataliya Igorivna Buksa. Photo: Chess-News.ru.

Baptism of Fire

Inna Grigoryevna Gaponenko-Yanovska – Nataliya Igorivna Buksa
75th Ukrainian Women’s Chess Championship; Lviv, December 6, 2015
Spanish Game C63

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. d3 fxe4 5. dxe4 Nf6 6. 0-0 Bc5 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. Nxe5 0-0 9. Bg5 Qe8 10. Bxf6 Rxf6 11. Nd3 Bd4 12. Nd2 d6 13. c3. If 13. Qe2 then 13. ... Qg6 14. Kh1 Ba6 15. Rab1 Raf8 16. f3 Qg5 17. Rfd1 ½ : ½ Spassky – Antunes, 28th Chess Olympiad, Thessaloníki 1988. 13. ... Bb6 14. e5!? A very interesting novelty by Gaponenko-Yanovska who gives back her extra Pawn in order to grab the initiative. For 14. c4 Qg6 15. Kh1 Bg4 16. f3 Be6 17. f4 Bg4 18. Qe1 Re8 see Macieja – Radjabov, Chess World Cup, Baku 2015, match game 1. Instead, for 14. Qe2 Ba6 15. c4 Qf7 16. b3 Re8 17. Kh1 see Bruzón Batista – Gomez Fontal, 62nd Cuban Chess Championship, Santa Clara 2000. 14. ... dxe5 15. Ne4 Rf8 16. Ndc5 Bf5 17. Qe2 Qe7 18. b4 a5 19. a3 Qh4 20. Kh1 Kh8 21. Rae1 axb4 22. axb4 Ra3 23. Qb2 Ra7? It seems to me that by 23. ... Rfa8! Black would have avoided some of the upcoming problems. 24. Qe2 Ra3 25. Ng3 Bxc5 26. bxc5 Bg6 27. Qxe5 Bd3. Black is down a Pawn and she must necessarily strive for some counter-play. 28. Rg1 Ra4 29. Qe7 Qxe7 30. Rxe7 Rc4 31. Rxc7 Rxc5 32. Rc1 h6 33. f3 Rb8 34. h3 Kh7 35. Kh2 Rb3? A serious mistake. After 35. ... Rb1 36. Rxb1 Bxb1 37. Ne2 Black should, indeed, defend a difficult ending a Pawn down, but that would have been by far the lesser evil.

36. Re1 Rbxc3 37. Ree7. Black has regained her Pawn, but the penetration of both White’s Rooks to the seventh rank is overwhelming. 37. ... Rg5 38. h4 Rg6 39. Nh5 Rc2 40. Nf4 Bf1 41. Kg1! It makes no sense to play 41. Nxg6 Rxg2+ 42. Kh1 Rxg6 that would uselessly complicate matters. 41. ... Bb5 42. Nxg6 Kxg6 43. Rxg7+ Kh5 1 : 0.

Inna Yanovska Gaponenko vs. Nataliya Buksa
Photo: Ukrainian Chess (Facebook)

The Cutting Edge

Nataliya Igorivna Buksa – Piotr Sabuk
January “Lviv Tradition”; Lviv, February 1, 2015
Spanish Game C92

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. d5 Ne7 13. Nf1 h6 14. Ng3 Nd7. For 14. ... c6 15. dxc6 Bxc6 16. Qc2 Qc7 17. a4 Qb7 take a look at Ageichenko – Butnorius, Klaipėda 1979. 15. Bc2 Nb6 16. b3 c6 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Ba3 Ng6 19. Nf5 Ra7 20. Ne3 Nf4 21. c4 bxc4 22. bxc4 Qd7 23. Rb1 Na4 24. Qd2 Ne6 25. Bxa4 Bxa4 26. Nf5 Rd8 27. Qa5 Bc6 28. Rbd1 Qb7? Here Sabuk appears to have miscalculated. After 28. ... Qc7 29. Qxc7 Rxc7 30. Bxd6 Bxd6 31. Rxd6 Rxd6 32. Nxd6 Rd7 it’s hard to say whether Black has enough for the Pawn, but this, surely, would have been a lesser evil. 29. Bxd6? But Buksa misses the stronger continuation: 29. Nxe5! Bxe4 30. Nxf7! Kxf7 31. f3! which leaves Black facing insurmountable problems. 29. ... Bxe4 30. Qxe5!? Bold play. 30. N3h4 deserved consideration as a safer course. 30. ... Bxf3 31. gxf3 Qxf3 32. Rd5? Buksa, being confident in her own tactical skill, decides to speculate on the time scramble thrilling, at the cost of seriously worsening her position. On the other hand, after 32. Nd4 Qxh3 Black would just stand better.

32. ... Rxd6! 33. Rxd6 Bxd6? There must have been severe time pressure on here; otherwise Sabuk probably would not have missed 33. ... Nf4! 34. Nh4 Nxh3+ 35. Kh2 Ng5 winning easily. 34. Qxd6 Nf4?? A terrible blunder in time trouble. Correct was 34. ... Kh7! neutralizing Buksa’s trick. 35. Re8+ Kh7 36. Rh8+! Sabut simply overlooked this trivial check! 1 : 0. For after 36. ... Kxh8 37. Qf8+ mate follows next move.

Nataliya Igorivna Buksa vs. Piotr Sabuk. Photo: Olexandr Prohorov.

Nataliya Igorivna Buksa. Photos: grandcoach.com.

The Two Queens

• Відтепер у Львові дві королеви (The two Ukrainian Queens), golos.com.ua, September 24, 2015

Last April Stryi-born Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk won Women’s World Chess Championship. And now, just a few days ago, Nataliya Igorivna Buksa, a young law student at the Ivan Franko University, Lviv, won World Girls Junior Championship.

Triumphant welcome to the new World Junior Girls Chess Champion Nataliya Igorivna Buksa on her arrival at the Lviv Railway Station. Photo: Yevhen Kravsa.

Lviv-Glavny (Ukrainian: Льві́в-Головни́й) is the main railway terminal in Lviv, Ukraine. It is one of the most notable pieces of Art Nouveau architecture in former Galicia. The station was opened to the public in 1904, and celebrated its centennial anniversary on 26 March 2004. Artwork: BlueEyedSoul1.