by GM Evgeniy Miroshnichenko

Opening stage didn't go well for White and it has to be careful not to get into trouble. 18...Nd7 19.Rxf8+ Bxf8 20.Bd4 Ne5 21.Bxe5?! An understandable decision to simplify the position; however the endgame as a result occurred to be something unpleasant for White. [21.Qe3 was just good enough to keep the position balanced.] 21...Qxd3 22.cxd3 23.Kf2 Be7 24.Ke2 b5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Nxb5 Rc2+ 27.Kf3 Rxb2 28.Nc3 Rb3 29.Rc1 Ba3!? Perhaps White just missed this intermediate move. [In case of 29...Bb4 30.Rb1! Rxc3 31.Rxb4 Rxd3+ 32.Ke2 Rd4 33.Rb8+ Kf7 34.Ke3 there is a dead draw on the board.] 30.Rc2 Bb4 31.Nd1 Rxd3+ 32.Ke2 Rd4 33.Nf2 Be7 34.Kf3 h5 35.g3 g5 36.h3 Kf7



White's task is not that easy as it may seem, however it's still hard to imagine how to make some progress with black. 37.Ke3 Ra4 38.g4 h4 39.Nd3 Ra3 40.Rc8 Kf6 41.Rc2 Bd8 42.Rf2+ Ke7 43.Rb2 Bc7 44.Rb7 Kd6 45.Rb5 Kc6 46.Rc5+ Kd7 47.Rb5 Bd6 48.Ke2 Kc6 49.Rb2 Ra1 50.Ne1 Ra4 One of the key-moments in this dramatic endgame. 51.Nf3? Correct idea of geting some counterplay, but executed not in the right fashion. [51.Rc2+! was needed, driving black king away from the d5 square, and after 51...Kd7 52.Nf3 Rxe4+ 53.Kd3 Ra4 54.Nxg5 and White shoudn't have any trouble.] 51...Rxe4+ 52.Kd3 Ra4 53.Nxg5



53…Kd5! Now all the Black forces becoming very active, that makes White's task to save the game incredibly tough. Being short in time, Monica failed to suceed... 54.Ke2 Bc5 55.Rb5 Ra2+ 56.Kf1 Kc4 57.Rb8 Be3 58.Rc8+ Kd3 59.Rd8+ Bd4 60.Nxe6 Rf2+ 61.Ke1 Rf3 62.Nxd4 exd4 63.Ra8 Re3+ 64.Kf2 Rg3 65.Rg8 Rxh3 66.g5 Rg3 67.g6 Kd2 68.g7 d3 69.Kf1 h3 70.Rh8 Rxg7 71.Rxh3 Rf7+ 72.Kg1 Ke2 73.Rh8 Rg7+ 74.Kh2 d2 75.Re8+ Kd1 76.Kh3 Rd7 0–1


Yildiz,Betul Cemre - Koneru,Humpy
FIDE Women's Grand Prix Ankara, 16.09.2012



In this typical hedgehog position Black seems to be in trouble, as both b5 and d5 breaks are stopped for a long while and it's really hard to find any descent counterplay. A bit provocative move in the game surprisingly worked out. 18...h5 19.Qe1 Nfd7 20.c5? Pushing too early. [As lack of Black's counterplay has been mentioned already, semi-waiting moves like 20.Kh1 or 20.Qf2 seem to be more to the point.] 20...bxc5 21.Bxa6 Rc6 22.Bf1 cxb4 23.axb4 Rxc1 24.Bxc1 Bc6 25.Nb2 d5! All of a sudden White's position turns into ruines... 26.Nd4 Bxb4 27.Qe2?! [Much more resistent would've been 27.Nxc6 Nxc6 28.Qe2 , where Black is "only" a pawn up.] 27...Bc5 28.Kh1 Bxd4 29.Rxd4 dxe4 30.fxe4 Qf6 31.Rd1 Ng4 32.Nd3 Bb5 33.Be3 Nde5 34.h3 Bxd3 35.Rxd3 Nxd3 36.hxg4 Rb1 37.Kg1 Ne5 38.g5 Qd8 39.Bf4 Ng4 0–1


Muzychuk,A - Ju Wenjun
FIDE Women's Grand Prix (1), 16.09.2012
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Qd2 Nc6 11.Nb3 Be6 12.h4 Rg8 [12...gxh4 13.Bxh4 Qb6?! (13...Rc8!?) 14.0–0–0 Rc8 15.Kb1 h5 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Nce5 18.Re1± had been played in Carlsen,M (2815)-Grischuk,A (2747)/Monte Carlo 2011/] 13.hxg5 hxg5 14.0–0–0



14…Qb6?! A novelty, but quite a dubious one, at least to my taste. [Typical for this line 14...Bxc3 seem to solve Black's problem of finding a good place for the queen - after 15.Qxc3 Qb6 there is no white knight heading to d5, so Black should be fine there.] 15.Nd5! Bxd5 16.exd5 Nce5 17.Re1?! [17.Kb1! would be a critical test for Black's idea.] 17...f5! The only but sufficient way to get a counterplay for Black. 18.f3 f4 19.fxg4 fxg3 20.Bd3 Qf2 21.Rhf1 Qxd2+ 22.Nxd2



22…Nxg4 Resulting position doesn't offer too many active possibilities for both sides, as White fully controls the light squares, and so does Black with dark. [Only 22...Nxd3+ could've been slightly unpleasent for White, however after 23.cxd3 Rc8+ 24.Kb1 Rc5 25.Rf5 Be5 26.Nf3 Rxd5 27.Nxe5 dxe5 28.Kc2 draw seems to be the most probable outcome of the game.] 23.Bf5 Nf2 24.Nc4 Kd8 25.Nb6 Rf8 26.Be6 Ra7 27.Nc8 Ra8 28.Nb6 Ra7 29.Nc8 Ra8 30.Nb6 Ra7 31.Nc8 1/2


Zhao,Xue - Stefanova,Antoaneta
FIDE Women's Grand Prix Ankara, 16.09.2012
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qb3 e6 5.Bg5 a5 6.a3 a4 7.Qc2 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Qb6 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.e4 Ba6 12.Be2 c5 13.d5 exd5


Black's opening looks quite dubious to say the least, and position in a diagram seems to be ready for a final blow... 14.Bxf6?! Strange decision. Objectively the position is still better for White, but why to give the bishop away? [Nothing would save Black after 14.e5! Ne4 (14...Ng4 15.Nxd5 Qc6 16.Qe4 doesn't change much - Black's position is lost.) 15.Nxd5 Qa5+ 16.Kf1 Nxg5 17.Nxg5 Bb7 18.Bf3 Nxe5 19.Qf5 Bd6 20.Re1+-] 14...Nxf6 15.e5 Nd7 16.Nxd5 Qb7 17.Qe4 0–0–0 18.Rd1 Re8 19.Qf5 Be7 20.Qxf7 Bd8 21.e6 Nf6 22.Ne5 Rhf8


23.Qxb7+? Giving away the advantage. [The only way to keep it on the winning track was a bit sophisticated 23.Nxf6! Qxf7 (23...Bxf6 24.Qd7+ Kb8 25.Bf3+-; 23...Rxf7 24.exf7 Rf8 25.Bg4++-) 24.exf7 Rxe5 25.Nd7 Rxe2+ 26.Kxe2 b4+ 27.Ke3+-] 23...Bxb7 24.Nxf6 gxf6 25.Nf7 Rxe6 26.Nxd8 Rxd8 27.Rxd8+ Kxd8 28.f3


28…Re3? Antoaneta decided to return a favor! [Black shoudn't be worse after 28...Bc6 ] 29.Kf2 Rb3? Of course that was the idea of Black's previous move, but objectively [29...Re6 30.Bxb5 Rb6 31.Bxa4 Rxb2+ 32.Kg3 Ra2 33.Rd1+ Kc7 34.Rd7+ Kb6 35.Rxh7 Rxa3 would offer Black excellent practical chances to escape.] 30.Rd1+ Ke7 31.Rd2 Black's rook is trapped- there is no defence against 32.Bd1. During the rest of the game Black did her best to desperately save the game, but that was obviously not enough... 31...b4 32.Bc4 bxa3 33.Bxb3 axb3 34.bxa3 c4 35.Ke3 c3 36.Re2 Kd6 37.Re1 Kc5 38.Kd3 c2 39.Kc3 Bd5 40.h4 h5 41.Kb2 Kd4 42.Re8 f5 43.Rd8 Kc5 44.Rc8+ Kd4 45.a4 Ke3 46.a5 f4 47.a6 Kf2 48.Rc5 Ba8 49.Rg5 Bc6 50.a7 Bb7 51.Kc1 Bc6 52.Kd2 Ba8 53.Rg8 Bd5 54.a8Q Bxa8 55.Rxa8 Kxg2 56.Rh8 Kxf3 57.Rxh5 Kg4 58.Rh8 f3 59.Rf8 1–0


Ozturk,Kubra - Ruan,Lufei
FIDE Women's Grand Prix Ankara, 16.09.2012


A lot of things has happened during the game, but the result of it was decided in a timetrouble. 38.Qe2? Simply dropping a pawn. [38.Qxd5 Bxd5 39.Bf2 would keep the material balance, as 39...Bxc5?? is of course impossible - 40.Bf5+-] 38...Re8!? [There was nothing wrong with simple 38...Qxc5 ] 39.Qf1 Bxc5 40.Bb3 Qd6 41.Rd1 Qc7 42.Bg3 Be4 43.f5 Qb6 44.Be6 Rd8 45.Qe2 Rxd1 46.Qxd1 Bd4 47.Qh5 Black made few inaccuracies, however White is still a pawn down... 47...g6? [47...Qd8 should've been prefered.]


48.Qh6? [For some misterious reason White declines 48.fxg6 Bxg6 49.Qd5 with all chances to hold, as somewhat loose black king's position offers reasonable counterplay.] 48...Qc5 49.Qf4 [That was still not too late to switch to the correct plan - 49.fxg6 ] 49...Bg1+! 50.Kh1 Be3 Now it's all over - White is forced to exchange the queens and to give away second pawn... 51.Qb8+ Kg7 52.Kh2 Qc2 53.Qc7+ Qxc7 54.Bxc7 Bxf5 55.Bd5 Bd3 56.Kg3 Bc4 57.Bb7 b4 58.Kf3 Bc5 59.Ke4 Bxa2 60.Bxa6 Kf7 0–1


Monguntuul,Batkhuyag - Kosintseva,Tatiana
FIDE Women's Grand Prix Ankara, 16.09.2012



Once again, a lot of fight at the starting stage of the game, Black seemed to be clearly better at some point, but then Tatiana has to be careful not to get into trouble. 48.b5!? An intresting attempt to break Black's fortress. 48...Bxb5 49.Rg8 f4! The only but sufficient resource! 50.Rxg6 [50.Bxf4 Kf7! 51.Rb8 Rxd4 52.Rb7+ Kf8! and Black should hold this.(Careless 52...Ke6? would lead to disaster after 53.Rg7 Kf5 54.Rf7+ Kg4 (54...Ke6 55.Rf6+ , and White wins g6 pawn.) 55.Be3!+-) ] 50...e3! 51.fxe3 fxe3 52.Kg3 e2 53.Kf2 Ke8 54.Rh6 Rf7+ 55.Bf6 Kd7 56.Rxh5 Ke6 57.Rh3 Ra7 58.Re3+ Kf5 Strong passed pawn secures Black from being worse there. White tries the only remaining idea - 59.Re5+ Kg6 60.Rxb5 cxb5 61.Kxe2 Kf5 62.Kd3 Ra1 63.Kc3 Rg1 64.Kb4 Rxg2 65.d5 Rd2


66.Kxb5?! [Much more chances to succeed would be offered after 66.Kc5! b4 67.b3 , and White going to win the third pawn for exchange. Still, after 67...Rd3 68.Kc4 Rd2 69.Be7 Rd1 70.d6 Ke6 71.Kxb4 Rc1! 72.Kb5 Rc8 73.b4 Rb8+ 74.Kc5 Rc8+ 75.Kd4 Rb8 Black should hold the draw.] 66...Rxd5+ 67.Kc6 Rd2 68.b4 Ke6 69.b5 Rc2+ 70.Kb7 Rg2 71.b6 Kd7 72.Kb8 Rg4 73.b7 Rg3 74.Be5 Rxg5 75.Ka7 Rg8 76.b8Q Rxb8 1/2