Back to Black

Valentina Evgenyevna Gunina – Anna Yurievna Ushenina
20th Women’s European Chess Club Cup; Skopje, October 20, 2015
Réti Opening A06

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 c5 3. b3 a6 4. Bb2 Nc6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. 0-0 g6!? Most usual is 6. ... Bg4 7. d4 e6. 7. c4? Strategically wrong since it concedes too much central space to Black. Both 7. Ne5 and 7. d4 would seem to ensure a small edge for White. 7. ... d4! 8. exd4 cxd4 9. Re1 Bg7 10. Bf1. It prevents ... d4-d3, but, as a matter of fact, loses a tempo. A smoother – even though at the same time passive – continuation would be 10. d3 0-0 11. Nbd2 e5 with approximate equality. 10. ... 0-0 11. a3 e5 12. d3 Re8 13. Nbd2 b6 14. b4 Qc7 15. g3 Bb7 16. Bg2 h6 17. Rc1 Rad8 18. Qb3 Bf8 19. Re2 a5 20. c5 axb4 21. cxb6 Qxb6 22. Nc4 Na5 23. Nxa5 Qxa5

24. Nxe5? A serious error which leads to disastrous consequences. Correct was 24. axb4 and if 24. ... Qd5 then 25. Qxd5 Nxd5 26. Rxe5 Nxb4 27. Rxe8 Rxe8 28. Bxd4 Nxd3 with equality. 24. ... Rxe5 25. axb4. After which White will remain a piece behind with no compensation. But, in any case, 25. Rxe5 Qxe5 26. Bxb7 Rb8 27. Bc6 bxa3 28. Bxd4 Rxb3 29. Bxe5 Ng4 30. Ba1 a2 31. Kg2 Rb1 32. Rf1 Bc5 was equally hopeless. 25. ... Rb5 26. bxa5 Rxb3 27. Bxb7 Rxb7 28. a6 Ra7 29. Rc6 Bg7 30. Re5 Nd5 31. Bxd4 Ne7 32. Rc4. The last mistake, but 32. Bxa7 Nxc6 33. Bb6 Rb8! also loses. 32. ... Rxd4 0 : 1.

Anna Yurievna Ushenina
Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich

Absolutely Anything

Bela Khotenashvili – Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
20th Women’s European Chess Club Cup; Skopje, October 19, 2015
English Opening A29

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Rb1 a5 9. d3 0-0 10. Be3 Be6 11. d4 Bf5!? The personal touch. For 11. ... e4 12. Nxe4 Bxa2 13. Ra1 Bc4 14. b3 Bd5 15. Nc5 Nd7 see Agdestein – Romanishin, 12th Miguel Najdorf Memorial, Warsaw 2014, while for 11. ... exd4 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 Qxd4 14. Bxd4 Nc4 see 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì) – 李超 (Lǐ Chāo), 1st Hǎinán Dānzhōu Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament, 儋州 (Dānzhōu) 2010. 12. Rc1 Nc4 13. d5 Nb4 14. a3 Na6 15. Nd2 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Qd7 17. Nc4 Bg5 18. h4 Bh6 19. Kh2 Rae8 20. d6. The phase which follows is quite interesting and, whatever may have been her actual merits, slowly but surely, Bela manages to gain ground. 20. ... Be6 21. Nd5 cxd6 22. Nxa5 e4 23. b4 f5 24. Nc4 Kh8 25. Qd4 Qd8 26. Rfd1 Bf7 27. Rc2 Nc7 28. Nxc7 Qxc7 29. Rdc1 Rd8 30. Na5 Qe7 31. Rc7 Rd7 32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Qb6 Bd5 34. Rd1 Bc6 35. Nc4 d5 36. Qc5 Qe8 37. Nd6 Qe7

38. Bh3? With only 40 seconds left to reach move 40, Khotenashvili commits a grave oversight which costs her a Pawn. Instead, after 38. b5! Bxb5 39. Rxd5 Bc6 (39. ... Bd7 40. Qc7 Qe6 41. Rxf5! is no better) 40. Nxf5 White comes out a Pawn ahead. 38. ... Bxe3! 39. Qxe3 Qxd6 40. Qf4? The exchange of Queens is offered too hastily. More stubborn was 40. Qb6 since after 40. ... f4!? 41. b5 Qxa3 42. gxf4 Qb3 43. Qc5 Rg8 44. Rc1 Qxb5 45. Qxb5 Bxb5 46. Be6 Bxe2 47. Bxg8 (or 47. Bxd5 Re8 48. Bxb7 g6) 47. ... Kxg8 although Black retains excellent winning chances, White can still hope for a draw with the very best play. 40. ... Qxf4 41. gxf4 g6 42. a4 Bxa4 43. Rxd5 Rc8. Now Alexandra Konstantinovna confidently concludes the game by her excellent technique. 44. h5 Kg7 45. hxg6 hxg6 46. b5 Rc2 47. Bf1 b6 48. Kg3 Rc3+ 49. Kf2 e3+ 50. Kg3 Rb3 51. Rd7+ Kh6 52. Rb7 Rxb5 53. Bg2 Rb2 54. Bd5 Rxe2 55. Rxb6 Re1 56. Bc4 Rc1 57. Be2 Bc6 58. Rb3 Rg1+ 59. Kh3 Re1 60. Rb2 g5 61. fxg5+ Kxg5 62. Bd3 f4 63. Rc2 Rh1+ 64. Rh2 Rd1 65. Be2 Rd2 0 : 1.

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk
Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich

Monday or Tuesday

Lela Javakhishvili – Tea Gueci
20th Women’s European Chess Club Cup; Skopje, October 18, 2015
Modern Benoni A61

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bf4 Bg7. In my not always good old times someone explained to me that Black should play here 7. ... a6 in order to force 8. a4, thus avoiding the Queen check at a4. Needless to say, it’s likely that something has changed in the meanwhile (:. 8. Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qb3 Qc7 10. e4 0-0 11. Nd2 Re8. Another try is 11. ... Nh5 12. Be3 f5 13. exf5 gxf5 14. Be2 Nf6 (after 14. ... f4 15. Bxc5 f3 16. Bxf3 Rxf3 17. gxf3! Qxc5 18. Qxb7 Black’s attack fails: 18. ... Bxc3 19. bxc3 Nf4 20. Rg1+ Kf7 21. Ne4 Qxd5 22. Qxd5+ Nxd5 23. Rd1 Bc6 24. c4 Ne7 25. Nxd6+ Ke6 26. Ne4 Bxe4 27. fxe4 Nd7 28. f4 Nf6 29. e5 Ne4 30. Rd4 Kf5 31. Rg7 Nc6 32. Rf7+ Ke6 33. Rdd7 Rb8 34. Ke2 Rb4 35. Rxh7 Rxc4 36. Kd3 Ra4 37. Ke3 Kf5 38. Rdf7+ Ke6 39. Rc7 Kd5 40. Rhd7+ Kc5 41. Rd8 1 : 0 Kortschnoi – Nunn, 3rd Phillips & Drew Kings Chess Tournament, London 1984) 15. h3 Na6 16. a3 Qf7 17. Rd1 Nc7 18. Nc4 Rad8 as occurred in the game Loiseau – Abasov, 54th World Junior Chess Championship, Khanty-Mansiysk 2015. 12. Be2 Na6. The double-edged alternative 12. ... b5!? 13. Bxb5 Nxe4 14. Ncxe4 f5 15. Be2 fxe4 16. Nc4 appears very unclear and substantially favourable to White, Uhlmann – Milić, Zonal Tournament, Mariánské Lázně 1961. We feel, however, it’s worth exploring in a little more detail. 13. 0-0 Rad8. Also 13. ... Rab8 14. Rfe1 clearly favours White: 14. ... Re7 15. Bb5 Nh5 16. Bg5 f6 17. Be3 Rbe8 18. Be2 Bh8 19. Bxh5 gxh5 20. Bf4 Rd8 21. e5 fxe5 22. Bg5 Rg7 23. Bxd8 Qxd8 24. Nce4 b5 25. Re3 c4 26. Qa3 Bc8 27. Qxd6 Rd7 28. Rg3+ 1 : 0 Uhlmann – Dely, Erfurt 1955. 14. Rfe1 Bc8? This is a bad mistake after which Black’s position disintegrates. Tea ought to have tried harder to improve on 14. ... Nb8 15. h3 a6 16. a4 Bc8 17. a5 Nfd7 18. Nc4 Ne5 19. Ne3 Nbd7 20. Bg5 f6 21. Bf4 g5 22. Bg3 Ng6 23. Bg4 Nde5 24. Bxc8 Rxc8 25. Nf5 Bf8 26. Re3 h5 27. Ne2 Ne7 28. Bxe5 Nxf5 29. exf5 c4 30. Qd1 dxe5 31. Nc3 Bc5 32. Ne4 Qf7 33. Rc3 Red8 34. Rac1 Bb4 35. Rxc4 Rxc4 36. Rxc4 Bxa5 37. Qb3 Kg7 38. Rc5 b6 39. Rc6 Rxd5 40. Rxf6 Qd7 41. Rg6+ Kf8 42. Qa3+ 1 : 0 Kovalenko – Venevtsev, King’s Gambit B, Lipetsk 2008. 15. Nb5 Qe7 16. Nxa7 Nb8

17. Bb5! Bd7 18. Nc4! Bxb5. If 18. ... Nxd5 then 19. Bxd6 and Black’s position falls apart. 19. Nxb5 Nxe4. Again, if 19. ... Nxd5 there follows 20. Bxd6 with devastating effect. 20. Nbxd6 Qf6 21. Nxe8 Rxe8. This is tantamount to resignation, but 21. ... Qxf4 is equally met by 22. Qf3 with an easy win for White. 22. Qf3 1 : 0.

Lela Javakhishvili in 2012
Photo: Stefan64

Red Sea

Mariya Muzychuk – Valeria Dotan
28th Women’s European Chess Club Cup; Eilat, October 15, 2012
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. 0-0 e6 8. d5. Playing for an advantage in space – Benoni-style. 8. ... Ne5? A serious error of position judgment. Black must keep the position closed with 8. ... e5 9. a4 Be7 10. Nd2 0-0 11. Nc4 Nb6 12. Ne3 Bg5 as in the game Alekseev – Timofeev, 61st Russian Chess Championship, Moscow 2008. 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. f4! Qc7. 10. ... Bd6 11. dxe6 Bxe6 12. f5 is no better. 11. Qh5 Bd6. If 11. ... g6 might follow 12. Qxe5 Qxe5 13. fxe5 Bg7 14. Na4! Bxe5 15. Nb6 Rb8 16. Nc4 with a huge advantage. 12. f5! g6? From bad to worse. Obviously 12. ... 0-0? 13. f6 is also very bad play, so Black King should perhaps think to move towards the Queenside by 12. ... exf5 13. exf5 b6. 13. fxg6 fxg6 14. Qh4. That’s the point: Black cannot castle. The end is near. 14. ... Be7 15. Bg5 Qd8. This is as bad as any other move.

16. Qf2! A very pretty solution! 16. ... Qd7. 16. ... Rf8 loses to 17. Qxf8+ Bxf8 18. Bxd8. 17. Qf7+ Kd8 18. dxe6 1 : 0. For if 18. ... Qxe6 (18. ... Qc7 19. Qf8+ Rxf8 20. Rxf8 mate) then 19. Bxe7+ (19. Rad1+ Kc7 20. Nd5+ Kb8 21. Bxe7 is also convincing) 19. ... Qxe7 20. Rad1+ Bd7 21. Rxd7+ Qxd7 22. Qf6+ finis.

Mariya Muzychuk
Photo: Chessdom

永动机 (Perpetual motion)

Alisa Mikhailovna Galliamova – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
19th Women’s European Chess Club Cup; Bilbao, September 19, 2014
Queen’s Pawn Game A40

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. d5 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 d6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. f4 e5 9. g3 exf4 10. gxf4 Qh4+ 11. Qf2 Qxf2+ 12. Kxf2 Ngf6 13. Re1 0-0 14. Bh3. An impulsive move, which will have unpleasant consequences. Wisdom demands 14. Nf3 Nh5 15. e5 Nxf4 16. exd6 c6 (16. ... cxd6 17. Nb5) 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Rg1 Rae8 with an even game. 14. ... Nc5 15. Re3 Rae8 16. Kf3 c6. Undermining the hostile centre. 17. Nge2 cxd5 18. exd5 b5 19. Rxe8. Alisa understimates the power of the hostile Queen’s Bishop and will have to pay the price, but it’s not easy to suggest anything better. The puerile 10. Nxb5? is met by 10. ... Nxd5! and even after 19. b4 Na4! 20. Nxa4 Nxd5! Black comes out clearly better. 19. ... Rxe8 20. Rd1 bxc4 21. Rd4 g6 22. Ng3 h5 23. Bf1 h4 24. Nge2 Ba6 25. Rd2 Nd3 26. Nd4 Ne1+ 27. Kf2 Ne4+ 28. Nxe4 Rxe4 29. Bg2. No better is 29. Nf3 Rxf4 with an easy win. 29. ... Nxg2 30. Kxg2 Rxf4 31. Nc6

31. ... c3! A fine vacating sacrifice. 32. bxc3 Bf1+ 33. Kg1 Bh3 34. Rd1 Rg4+ 35. Kf2 Rg2+ 36. Kf3 Rxa2 37. c4 Kg7 38. Kf4 Rc2 39. Rd4 Rxh2 40. Nxa7 Bd7 41. Nc6 Rg2 42. c5 Rg4+. Sic et simpliciter. Another way is 42. ... Rg3 with the deadly threat of 43. ... g5+ 44. Ke4 f5#. 43. Ke3 Rxd4 44. Nxd4 dxc5 0 : 1.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Francisco Javier Ochoa de Echagüen.