Olga Zimina – Bela Khotenashvili
Knockout Women’s World Chess Championship Tournament; match game 1; Tehran, February 11, 2017
Grünfeld Defence D85
After two draws in the first two games, Olga Zimina and Bela Khotenashvili go to playoff. In the first game, Zimina kept the upper hand all the time, even though it is not clear how she could have won. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 0-0 10. Rc1 Nd7 11. Bd3 Nf6 12. h3 Rd8!? It seems a strange place for the Rook. For 12. ... b6 13. 0-0 Bb7 14. d5 c4 15. Bb1 e6 see Nefediev – Shishkin, 10th Chigorin Memorial B, Saint Petersburg 2002. 13. 0-0 Bd7 14. d5 c4 15. Bb1 e6 16. Bg5 exd5. Black sacrifices the Exchange for only one Pawn, but her two powerful Bishops, the strongly placed Knight, and the weakness of the White’s e5- and c3-Pawns, may well give her hopes for compensation. 17. e5 Ne4 18. Bxd8 Rxd8 19. Qe3 Nc5 20. Nd4 Re8 21. f4 f5 22. Qe2 Ne6 23. Nxe6 Bxe6
24. g4 Qc5+ 25. Kh2. Here 25. Kh1! fxg4 26. f5! would seem more to the point to claim the initiative. 25. ... fxg4 26. hxg4. Now 26. f5 would be less effective due to 26. ... g3+! with quite an unclear game. 26. ... Bf7 27. g5 b5 28. Qf2. The decision to exchange Queens may seem obvious and at zero risk. However, Black will manage to create sufficient counterplay thanks to her potential couple of passers. 28. ... Qxf2+ 29. Rxf2 Bf8 30. Kg3 a5! 31. Rh1 b4 32. cxb4 axb4 33. Rfh2 d4 34. Rxh7 Bg7 35. Be4 d3. Khotenashvili’s “immaterial” compensation is worth a draw. 36. R7h2 Rd8 37. Rd1 Bf8 38. Rdh1 Bg7 39. Rd1 Bf8 40. Rdh1 Bg7 ½ : ½.
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