13 September 2018

Earthquake Before Tie-Break

Dmitry Kryakvin reports about the Superfinal conclusion

The night preceding the last round woke your correspondent at 5 a.m. The feeling was such that hotel walls and floor were giving you a slight shake. “Too much work! Never comes to any good, - thought I and and turned over to change sides. The morning news informed about the earthquake focus only 50 kilometers away from Satka. On the positive side, it was not that violent. However, some of the neighboring villages were given an evacuation notice. Overall, guests of Victoria endured the night mishap quietly, the earthquake resonating most with the residents of upper floors. Even if someone was anxious and ready to flee with with things in hands, a native of Kamchatka Natalia Pogonina reacted calmly, saying that 5 magnitude earthquakes would usually pass unnoticed there!

By the way, the jolts reoccurred just before the round; however, being a meager three or four magnitude, it passed as much as neglected.

The penultimate round determined the standings for the final round of the Superfinal. All three leaders won in the women's section, while Alina Kashlinskaya continued the pursuit.


Gunina – Pogonina

 


62...Qd4 63.Qb7+ Qd7 

Black does not mind a draw by repeating moves after 64.Qe4, but Valentinа's indomitable fighting spirit eventually played into her opponent’s hands to score an important point. 

64.Qa8? Qd3+ 65.Bc2 Qc4 66.Qb7+ Nc7 67.Kc1 Qf1+ 

White is already on the backfoot, and stronger is an immediate 67...Qc3! Here Gunina again declines the repetition, upon which Pogonina grabs two vital pawns. 

68.Kb2 Qc4 69.Qa7? Qxb4+ 70.Ka2 Qc3 71.Bb3 Qxe5, bringing the edge home.


Shuvalova – Girya

 


 

White’s chances in this sharp duel seemed very promising over a long period. Shuvalova's side was also favored by commentators, but a critical moment saw Girya dealing a heavy tactical blow. 

22...Nxg2! 23.Bb4 

In the case of 23.Qxg2 Rxd2 the white king is exposed and the b2-pawn is en prise, which might be the lesser of evils, though. 

23...Qf7 24.Kh1 

24.Qxg2 is refuted by 24...Rdg8 25.Rg4 Rxg4 26.Qxg4 Rg8. At the time it seemed as if the knight was doomed; however, not only did it survive the ordeals, but had a decisive say in the outcome of the battle as well. 

24...Ne3! 25.Rf4 Nxg4 26.Rxf7 Nxe5 27.Rf6 Nd3 28.Bc3 e5  and Girya went on to convert her edge in a technical manner.


Galliamova – Goryachkina



   

The first half was dictated by Galliamova, but upon keenly observing the weakened situation of the white king, Goryachkina directed her "bad" bishop in that direction. Galliamova should have created a passed pawn to draw the black army away: 33.b4 axb4 34.Bxb4, whereas the Kramnik-type of transformation would have justified itself but for the kingside situation. 

33.Nb7 Qc7 34.Nxa5 Rxa5 35.Bxa5 Qxa5 36.Rxc6 Nf8! 37.f4? 

A time trouble error. It was worth pulling back the rook to support the passers: 37.Rc1 Ne6 (37...Qb4 38.Ra1) 38.Qc3. 

37...Ne6 38.f5 

38.Kf2 would have stopped Black's immediate threats. 

38...Nd4 39.Rc4 

39.Rc1 Qb4 looks dubious for White. 

39...Nxb3!

The knight is invincible due to a checkmate, and Black went on to win the game: 40.Kf2 f6 41.g4 hxg4 42.Rc8+ Kh7 43.Rc4 Nd2 44.Rc2 Nf3 45.Kg3 Qxa4 46.Rb2 Ng5.


Kashlinskaya – Tomilova

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.00 Nc6 7.Nc3 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7 9.Bg5 00 10.Qd2 Na5? 

Black blundered the move order, but 10...b6 was not losing, as in Anand – Dreev. 

11.Bd3 b6 12.Qf4 Bb7 13.Qh4 g6 

There is no 13...h6 14.Bxh6 Bxf3 15.gxf3 gxh6 16.Qxh6 Qxd4 17.Kh1 Qxd3 18.Rg1+, and the first impression is such that Black’s dubious experiment is not refuted – 14.Ne5 Nd5. However, Kashlinskaya comes up with a beautiful refutation.

 


 14.d5! Bxd5 

Losing is 14...exd5 15.Rfe1 or 14...Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 16.Bxe7, whereas the engine-offered 14...h5!? runs into White’s developing a potent offensive via 15.Rfe1 Nxd5 16.Bxg6! fxg6 17.Rxe6. 

15.Ne4 Bxe4 16.Bxe4 h6 17.Bxh6 Rc8 

Dropping a piece is 17...Nxe4 18.Qxe4 Re8 19.b4. 

18.Bxf8 Qxf8 19.Rac1, and after some time-trouble adventures White gradually brought her up an exchange edge home. 

Clear first in the men’s section is now with Dmitry Jakovenko after outsmarting Daniil Dubov. The young Moscow player handled the opening creatively, sacrificing a pawn and ably maintaining tension in a complex ending; however, the ending wizard threw in the last obstacle in his young opponent’s way in time pressure.


Jakovenko – Dubov



39...Rh3? 

After 39...Rh1 40.Ra2 h5 41.Rxa6+ Kd7 White is not in time to eliminate the е5-pawn due to the h-pawn marching fast. Thus, after 42.Rh6 h4 43.d6 Ra1! the white king is stopped from approaching the black pawns. 

40.Ra2 Rxf3 41.Rxa6+ Kd7 42.Ra7+ Kd6 43.Ra6+ Kd7 44.Re6 Rxf2 45.Rxe5 Ra2 

The board has only two pawns left for each side, but the black passers are not in time to make it to the queening rank: 45...Rf1 46.Kd3 f3 47.Ke3. And who will be there to stop the white "bulldozer"? 

46.Rf5 Ra4+ 47.Kd3 Ra3+ 48.Kd4 f3 49.e5 Ra4+ 50.Kc5 Ra5+ 51.Kc4 Ra4+ 52.Kb5 

The king keeps the black rook at bay, tempoeing it to promote the connected passers. 

52Ra3 53.Rf7+ Ke8 54.e6 Re3 55.Kc5 Black resigns. 

Dmitry Andreikin drew his game, and Vladimir Fedoseev used it to narrow the gap on the leader by showing a unique "sense of the king."


Khismatullin – Fedoseev

 


Denis was pressing for the entire first half of the game, Fedoseev’s defense was subtle until he suddenly plunged headlong with his king. 

40... Kh6! 41.Bc3 Bh4 42.Kf1 Bg3 43.Ke2 Qe7 44.Kd1 Kg5 

Khismatullin, in his turn, relocated the king to the queenside, vacating the flank for ease of hunting down the opponent’s monarch. However, it was easier said than done. “As slippery as an eel!” – wrote Robert Fisher about Tigran Petrosian’s king. 

45.Kc1?! 

Inaccuracy. It is anybody’s game after the prophylactic 45.Kc2 Kh4 46.Qf1 c5 47.Kb3.  

45...Kh4 46.Qf1 c5! 

Fedoseev suddenly strikes at the other end of the board and puts White up against hard problems to solve after 47.bxc5 Qxc5 48.Kc2 Bf2 49.Kb3 Kg3, the black king eyeballs the white pawns greedily. 

47.b5 axb5 48.axb5 Qe8 49.Qd1 

White has yet to keep his position together after 49.Na5 Nd6 50.Bb2 c4 51.gxh5 gxh5 52.Ba3 Nxb5; therefore, Denis is on a right path activating his queen. 

49...Qxb5 50.Qd5 Ng5 51.Nxe5 Qxb6 

 


52.Qd7? 

A final slip in this full-fledged battle. White pieces’ energy was likely sufficient to save their king after 52.gxh5 gxh5 53.Nd7 Qa6 54.Bf6: 54…Kxh3 55.Bxg5 Qa3+ 56.Kc2 Qxf3 57.Nxc5 Qe2+ 58.Kb3 f3 59.Nd3, and looming ahead is a drawn endgame “queen and bishop vs queen". 

52...Bf2 53.gxh5 gxh5 54.Qf5 Nxh3 55.Ng6+ Kg3 

Triumph of Black!s master plan. Their king breaks into the white camp like a wolf into a sheep's pen, forcing Denis’s resignation. 

56.Kc2 c4 57.Bd2 Qb3+ 58.Kc1 Be3 White resigns. 

The ultimate day of the competition had the guild of commentators visited by Ian Nepomniachtchi, who had quickly drew his fellow countryman Daniil Dubov and used his free time to post a message in social networks, addressing it to the natives of Satka. However, commenting jointly with Sergey Shipov cheered Ian up so that the grandmaster showed the audience many beautiful and other than obvious lines. 

The focus was zeroed in on the games Pogonina - Kashlinskaya, Girya - Bodnaruk, Goryachkina - Gunina, Vitiugov - Jakovenko, and Fedoseev - Andreikin. 

There quickly ends in a draw the game between Girya and Bodnaruk - an upset Girya quickly leaves the recreational center DK "Magnezit", no longer believing in having any chances at taking the championship. However, the fight only flares up, and at the adjacent board the main tournament troublemaker wriggles out from the grasp of the current champion.


Goryachkina – Gunina



 

Another duel in the Fisher Caro-Kann gave Black a worthy position, but right now Alexandra could punish her rival for a somewhat pretentious transfer of the rook to f6. 

35.Qe1! e6 

It is vital that the c3-pawn is defended: 35...Qa3 36.g5 Rf5 (36...Rc6 37.Rxe7) 37.Rxf5 gxf5 38.Qe5+, 35...Kf8 36.Rbb5 or 35...Rxf4 36.Kxf4 f6 37.Rb7 fxe5+ 38.Qxe5+, with a solid edge in the endgame. 

36.Rbb5, and White’s pressure is quite annoying for Black. 

However, the tables turn before the time trouble. 

35.Qf3?! Qa3! 36.Rbe1 Qb2 37.R1e2 Qb1 38.Re1 Qc2 39.R5e2 

White can no longer repeat moves by 39.R1e2 Qd1 40.Re1? Rh3+, and Valentina gobbles up the a4-pawn. 

39...Qxa4 40.g5 

More simple is 40.Rxe7 g5 41.f5, denying the black rook any parking lots. 

40...Rf5 41.Rxe7 Rh5 42.Qe3? 

A decisive blunder, it was not worth giving up command of the big diagonal with 42.Qe4! 

42...Qc2 43.Re2 Qb1 44.Re1 Qb8! 

This geometry thwarts all White’s threats, while pending is 45.Re8 Rfxg5+ 46.Kf2 Rh2+; this said, the black pawn is fast to run towards the queening square. The queen has done a great job in this game! 

45.Kg2 Qa8+ 46.Re4 a4 47.Kg1 a3 48.d5 

The last attempt, but there is no way out any longer. 

Rxd5 49.Qb6 Rf5 50.Qd4+ Kh7 51.Ra1 a2 52.Qxc4 Qb7 53.Qd4 Qb2 54.c4 Qh2+ 55.Kf1 Rhxg5 56.c5 Rg2 White resigns.

There is no need mentioning how upset Goryachkina was. It seemed as though the athlete was not at all solaced by the bronze medal. There happened something quite unexpected at the closing ceremony. All of a sudden the host announced: “The award for the endgame versus Aleksandra Goryachkina goes to... Aleksandra Goryachkina!” The hall exploded with laughter, which a chess player from Salekhard gave a hearty laugh as well. 

Another funny thing had to do with voting on Sergei Shipov's channel about the people’s choice award for representatives of the fair sex. Anastasiya Protopopova edged out Alexandra Kosteniuk by a smidgen. I am very happy for Anastasiya, the only confusing thing was a photo put out for display at the voting, which showed another girl not even remotely resembling the heroine of the Higher League. I am sure that they voted so not because of a correct or incorrect photo, but because of the strong-willed qualities displayed by the charming first timer at the home stretch.

No intrigue seemed likely to crop in in the women’s section. Natalija Pogonina won a pawn while retaining piece pressure, and should the Saratov athlete convert, it would have immediately landed her first. However...


Pogonina - Kashlinskaya

 


A simple winner is 37.Rc5 Kf8 38.Kg3 Ke7 39.Kf4 to centralize the king, as well as a tactical 37.Bxf7+! Kh8 (37...Kf8 38.Bc4) 38.Rc4 Nxb5 39.Rb4 Rf6 40.Bxg6, appropriating a second pawn. However, Natalija Pogonina captured the pawn differently, walking into a cute trap. 

37.Rxf7? Kh8! 38.g4 Nxb5, and Kashlinskaya had no problems defending a three vs two endgame. 

Meanwhile, in the men’s section Jakovenko equalized vs Vitiugov with a precise play, while the game of Dmitry's competitors saw a real miracle.


Fedoseev – Andreikin

 


Black successfully carried out a central breakthrough, and, in defending his position, Fedoseev was forced to give up a pawn. Now in lieu of 30…а5 Andreikin walks into a trap 30... f5?! 31.Bd5! Bxd5 32.Bd6 

White recaptures the piece, which results in a drawn opposite-colored bishop ending. 

32Kf7 33.Bxf8 Be6 34.Bd6 Rc8 35.Rxc8 Bxc8 

An easy draw was secured by 36.Kf2, but Fedoseev played 36.b5?!, underestimating 36Ke8! Resulting in a failure now is 37.Bb8 Kd8 38.Bxa7 (38.Kf2 Bd7) 38...Kc7 – and the bishop is trapped. Out of despair, Fedoseev plunged headlong with his king towards h7, but it was all to no avail: 37.Kf2 Bd7 38.Ke3 Kd8 

 


39.Kf4 Bxb5 40.Kg5 a5 41.Kh6 Be8 42.Kxh7 Kd7 43.Bf8 b5, and it was not difficult for the connected passers to have a decisive say in the followup game: 44.g4 fxg4 45.fxg4 b4 46.h4 Kc6 47.h5 gxh5 48.gxh5 Bxh5 49.Kh6 Kb5 50.Kxh5 b3 White resigns. 

However, as was rightly pointed out by Ian during the broadcast, White had a good chance of drawing the game by resorting to a trick described in detail in Mark Dvoretsky’s books: 39.Kd4 Bxb5 40.g3 Kd7 41.Bf8 a5 42.f4 Bf1 43.Ba3 Kc6 44.Be7 Kb5 (44...b5 45.Bd8 a4 46.Be7) 45.Bd8! Ka6 46.Bc7 b5 47.Bd8 b4 48.Kc5! – the passers are stopped, and the black king will never make it to the kingside. It is not hard to imagine a mental anguish that Dmitry Jakovenko was going through... 

UPD. Already in Chelyabinsk, Grigoriy Oparin approached me to suggest not committing the pawn to a5 immediately, but transferring the black king to a4 first! Only then should Black push his pawns, having in mind the king’s breakthrough to the kingside if need arises.  The position requires in-depth analysis anyway. 

Meanwhile, "bronze" in the men's section was taken by Evgeny Tomashevsky after outsmarting Mikhail Kobalia. In this game the post opening feeling was such that Black had an extra pawn and an hour of thinking time, but then, influenced by strong moves of the Saratov grandmaster, the feeling faded away. An hour and a pawn were gone as well. 

And here we go, having the team of arbiters’ dream of a double tie-break come true! Andreikin vs Jakovenko and Girya vs Pogonina. Following a short break the opponents resumed their seats at the boards. This time luck did not side with the athletes from Ugra.


Pogonina – Girya

Tie-break (g1)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 00 6.Ngf3 b6 7.00 Bb7 8.b3 Bc3



A rare move, but the one favored since long ago by grandmaster Meier. In lieu of a habitual 9.Rb1, Pogonina comes up with a powerful home prep. 

9.Ba3!? Bxa1 10.Bxf8 Qxf8 11.Qxa1 Nbd7 12.Ne5 Rd8 13.Rc1 c5 14.Nxd7 Rxd7 15.dxc5 Qxc5 16.cxd5 Qe7 17.Qe5! 

Mutual elimination of material paves the road for the queen to show up in the thick of actions. Olga’s defense was meticulous up to a certain moment. It burned up much of her clock time, whereas Pogonina’s replies came almost instantly. 

17Bxd5 18.Bxd5 Rxd5 19.Rc8+ Rd8 20.Qb8 Rxc8 21.Qxc8+ Ne8 

Failing to take advantage of the home rank exposure, Pogonina did manage to restrict the opponent’s army. 

22.Nc4 Kf8 23.e4 Qc7 24.Qa8 Ke7 25.a4 f6 26.h4 h5 

Black's main issue is her passive knight, which is premature to bring into action yet. 26...Nd6 27.Qg8. 

27.Ne3 Nd6?! 

More precise is 27...Kf7.

 


  

28.e5!? Nf7? 

Now Black loses a root pawn. Correct is 28...fxe5! 29.Qh8 Qc1+ 30.Kg2 Qc6+ 31.Kh2 Qf3, bringing the queen into action. 

29.exf6+ gxf6 30.Qf3! 

There is no defending the h5-pawn without parting with the а7-one, whereas a counterplay attempt is fended off easily. 

Qc1+ 31.Kh2 Ne5 32.Qxh5 Qe1 33.Kg2 Qb4 34.Qh7+ Kf8 35.Qc2 Qe7 36.Qe4 Kg7 37.f4 Ng6 38.h5 f5 39.Qd4+ Black resigns. 

The return game’s opening was handled into the Queen’s Gambit, which Girya had already employed in the main part of the event to defeat Pogonina. Girya was again for choice out of the opening, but Pogonina’s play was easy and quick as opposed to White’s using up much time to think over her moves. A draw was agreed in a position objectively difficult for Girya, and Pogonina became the Russian champion!


Jakovenko – Andreikin

Tie-break (g1)



 

White is for choice due to opponent’s exposed camp, and an attempt at getting counterplay nearly failed Andreikin. 

20a5? 21.bxa5 bxa5 22.Qb6 Nc4 

With Black’s pieces bound hands and foot, there is no resorting to a passive stance: 22...Ne8 23.Bb5 Nd8 24.Rxc7 Rxc7 25.Bxe8 Rxc1+ 26.Nxc1 Qxe8 27.Nb3. 

23.Bxc4 Nb4 24.Bxd5! 

An important intermezzo. White ends up grabbing more material! 

24Nxd5 25.Rxc7 Rxc7 26.Qxa5 

26.Rxc7! Qxc7 27.Qxe6+  was a quick end of the game in White’s favor, but now Dmitry Andreikin launches a deadly counterattack out of thin air. 

26...Rxc1+ 27.Nxc1 h6 28.Qc5 Qe8 29.Qc2 f4 

Probably easier was 30.e4, because in the game the black knight managed to get at the white king. 

30.exf4 Nxf4 31.Ne2 Nh3+ 32.Kf1 Qa8 33.Ne1 

Now White absolutely needs to come up with tough and only moves: 33.Qg6! Bxf3 34.Qxe6+ Kh8 35.Qxh3, retaining a substantial edge. 

33...Ba6 

 


34.Nd3? 

Nf4 was a threat; therefore, necessary was 34.Qd2! g5 35.Nd3 Qe4 36.f3 Qf5 37.gxh3 Bxd3 38.Kg2. Now the black queen comes to aid his minors, and Jakovenko had to give back excessive material. 

34...Qe4 35.f3 Qe3 36.gxh3 Bxd3 37.Qd1 Qxf3+ 38.Ke1 Qxh3 

Later Andreikin lamented about not having retreated 38...Ba6!? – and White is in for a difficult defense. Dmitry the junior preferred transposing into the queen's ending with an extra pawn, but Jakovenko immediately showed his mighty class and encyclopedic knowledge of endgames.39.Ng3 Ba6 40.Qf3 Qxh2 41.Qa8 + Kh7 42.Qxa6 Qxg3 

39.Ng3 Ba6 40.Qf3 Qxh2 41.Qa8+ Kh7 42.Qxa6 Qxg3+ 43.Kd2 Qf4+ 44.Kc3 e5 45.dxe5 Qxe5+ 

Two pawns should be obviously superior to one. However, one pawn moves faster on the one hand, and avoiding a perpet in a deftly manner is an issue on the other. 

46.Kb3 h5 47.a5 Qd5+ 48.Kb4 Qd2+ 49.Ka4 h4 50.Qe6 Qd4+ 51.Kb5 Qd3+ 52.Kb6 h3 53.Qe5!



A beautiful queen centralization according to Capablanca! After 53...Qd8+ 54.Kb7 Qh4 55.Qh2! the pawn is about to march forward. It was worth trying anyway, whereas in the game after  

53Qg6+ 54.Kc7 Qf7+ 55.Kb8 Qf6 56.Qh5+ Qh6 57.Qf5+ g6 58.Qd7+ Kg8 59.Qe6+ Kh8 60.Qe8+ Kh7 61.Qd7+ Jakovenko delivered a perpet. 

An exciting duel and equally exciting bailout. Game two was also full of nerves.


Andreikin – Jakovenko

Tie-break (g2)

 


Several moves ago Black rejected the proposed draw and a potential "Armageddon.” Probably, Jakovenko did not relish the prospect of facing a renowned blitz specialist, but the aggressive tactics in the second rapid game did not pan out either. 

23...Nxe3? 24.fxe3 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Qg5+ 26.Kh1! Qg3 27.Qb2 Qxh3+ 28.Kg1 Qxf3 29.Qf2 Qh5 30.Bc4 

White’s bishops are very powerful, while Black’s pawn chain is compromised and goes nowhere. Dmitry Andreikin doubled rooks along the d-line, traded queens, took the c5-pawn and started quickly pushing his pawns towards the queening square. The Ryazan grandmaster, same as Natalija Pogonina, repeated his success of 2012! 

This is how the Satka contest has come to an end! Whether the champions are going to drive their Renault prize cars will become known from their upcoming interviews!