Cover Story / Nakamura, Krush are champs
GM Robert Hess
GM Gregory Kaidanov
dangerous lying in store, and knowing that the g3 idea didn’t work out well for Camilla, it was not surprising she’d choose to steer the game into e4 waters.
2. ... Bg7 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nc3 d5
GM Alejandro Ramirez
GM Yasser Seirawan
12. ... Qb6 Putting some pressure on b2 to make
it difficult for the Bc1 to develop. 13. Nb3
Instinctively, I was happy to see this
move, as I didn't think it could be optimal to start taking pieces out of the center. Of course, it has its logic—now the bishop can be developed. The computer sug- gested 13. a4 with the point that on the natural a5 White can now play 14. Be3 and on 14. ... Qxb2 15. Qd2. Now we see the point behind 13. a4—the queen does- n’t have a retreat to a3. But it’s hard to come up with such deep positional tacti- cal ideas in a rapid game.
13. ... Qc7 So this hybrid Modern/Caro idea was
the plan for the day. White has to show a lot of precision to get an advantage, and in rapid games precision is nearly impossi- ble to achieve. Incidentally, I used this line in the Women’s Rapid and Blitz World Championship in Batumi a week later, and won nearly all my games from this position. The one game I lost in blitz had nothing to do with the opening.
5. h3 5. e5 is also possible. 5. ... Nf6 6. Bd3 Again, 6. e5 is more critical.
6. ... dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nxe4 8. Bxe4 O-O 9. O-O Nd7 10. c3 e5
Anna once reached this position against
a German amateur some years ago, and here she varies with 11. Bc2 (instead of 11. Bg5). This was a logical improvement, since the bishop belongs on this square anyway, while we don’t yet know the best squares for White’s other pieces. I remem- ber my computer pointing out 11. Bc2 as its top move, and briefly looking at it, but I had no concrete recollections of what I’d looked at, and was playing on my own from this point.
11. Bc2 exd4 12. Nxd4 The capture on d4 was normal, but
after it, it’s actually unclear which path to take to clear equality.
There was nothing more for the queen to do on b6. 14. Re1 Nf6 15. Qf3 Be6 One thing I understood about this posi-
tion was that it was problematic to develop the bishop on c8. The knight retreat to b3 gave him the e6 square.
16. Bf4 Qb6 17. Be3 Qc7 18. Bf4 Qb6 Anna had quite a bit less time here, and
I thought the game was pretty even by this point, so a three-fold repetition would have been a reasonable decision on her part. But I wasn’t surprised she found a way to play on—as I said in the beginning, it’s psychologically difficult to give up the white pieces in a match of just two games.
19. g4
GM Alexander Stripunsky
when Anna played it, it seemed logical to me. White secures the g3-square for her queen (taking away h5).
19. ... a5
I also could have inserted 19. ... Bd5 immediately: 20. Qg3 Rac8 21. Be5 Ne8 22. Bxg7 Nxg7.
20. Bd6 Rfe8 21. Qg3 a4 22. Bc7
Black breaks through after 22. Nc5 Qxb2 23. Nxe6 Rxe6. 22. ... Qa7 23. Nd4 Bd5 This was the position I was going for
when I played 19. ... a5. The queen is fine on a7, and the bishop has a great outpost on d5—remember how it looked on c8 a few moves ago. Black’s position is already preferable.
24. Be5
Essentially, this tactical oversight
decided the game—not in an objective sense, but in a “turning point” kind of sense. White could certainly have defended better afterwards, but Black’s initiative combined with a pawn advantage and a big-time advantage was too much to over- come.
24. ... Ne4 25. Bxe4
25. Rxe4 Bxe4 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 and Black is up an Exchange.
25. ... Bxe5 26. Qf3 Bxd4 27. Bxd5 cxd5 28. cxd4 Qxd4 29. Red1 Qxb2 30. Qxd5 Re2 Trying to make some active moves.
The strong players watching appar- ently didn’t approve of this move, but
31. Rdb1 Qf6 32. Rf1 Rd8 Bringing the last piece into the game.
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