Monday, March 27, 2017

The Cucumber Queen


“Five with a plus”. Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov sums up both his match as well as the tournament in Jūrmala (pictures, games). See http://chess-news.ru/node/22902.

A merciless Sveshnikov closed his friendly six game Rapid chess match against Gaprindashvili by a score of 5 to 1. “Nona Terentevna played interesting chess”, Sveshnikov afterwards argued. “She only lacked that extra bit of energy. But strangely, after two days of play I feel tired, while she is fresh like a cucumber. I am admired!”.

Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov – Nona Terentevna Gaprindashvili
Exhibition Rapid chess match game 6; Jūrmala, March 26, 2017
Owen Defence B00

1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Nd2 e6 4. Ngf3 g6 5. Bd3 Bg7 6. h4!? A novelty but no fundamentally new concept. On the other hand, the position after Black’s 5th move may be well regarded as a theoretical tabiya with respect to Gaprindashvili’s opening repertoire. Here is just one reference: 6. c3 d6 7. Nf1 Nd7 8. Ng3 Ne7 9. h4 h6 10. Bd2 a6 11. b4 c5 12. Rb1 Qc7 13. a4 e5 14. bxc5 bxc5 15. h5 g5 16. d5 c4 17. Bc2 a5 18. Be3 Ba6 19. 0-0 Nc5 20. Nh2 0-0 21. Ng4 Rfb8 22. Qf3 Bc8 23. Nf6+ Kf8 24. Nh7+ Kg8 25. Nf6+ Kf8 26. Nh7+ Kg8 ½ : ½ Jonkman – Gaprindashvili, 1st BDO Chess Tournament, Haarlem 2005. 6. ... h6 7. Nf1 d6 8. Ng3 c5 9. c3 Ne7 10. Be3 Nd7 11. Qd2 Qc7 12. 0-0 Nf6 13. e5!? dxe5 14. Nxe5 Nfd5 15. Bb5+ Nc6. 15. ... Kf8 was also possible, and maybe even better. 16. Bf4 Nxf4 17. Qxf4 Rc8? I think that she should have first played 17. ... 0-0(!) in order to unpin the Knight. 18. Ne4! Now this is possible, and may become quite annoying. 18. ... 0-0 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. Nf6+ Kh8? Gaprindashvili had, by now, lost the match, so maybe it was worth trying 20. ... Bxf6 21. Qxf6 Qd8 22. Qf4 g5!? (22. ... Qd5 23. f3).


21. g4! Now White launches a vehement attack on the Kingside, that between ups and downs arrives at its destination. 21. ... cxd4 22. cxd4 Qe7 23. g5 Rfd8 24. Rac1 Bb7 25. Nfg4. Even stronger seems 25. d5!+− for if 25. ... exd5 then 26. Rfe1 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 (Δ Rc1-c7) 27. ... Rc8 28. Re1 finis. 25. ... Kg8. It is not a panacea, but 25. ... Kh7 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. gxh6 Qxh4 28. f3 Bxe5 29. dxe5 Kh8 30. Qf6+ Qxf6 31. Nxf6 Rc2 32. Rf2 (Stockfish) is only good to hold on just a while longer – the White Knight paralyses Black’s Kingside. 26. gxh6 Bxe5? Gaprindashvili should, at any cost, have tried 26. ... Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rxd4! 28. Qxd4 Qxh4 forcing her opponent to find 29. Kf1! – in fact the only potentially winning move. 27. dxe5. Stronger was 27. Qxe5 Qf8 (or 27. ... f5 28. Nf6+ Kf7 29. Nh7!+−) 28. Nf6+ Kh8 29. Nd7+ f6 30. Nxf6 Qxh6 31. Ne8+ Kg8 32. Qxe6+ Kf8 33. Nd6+−, but Sveshnikov is content with playing the cat and mouse game. 27. ... Ba6 28. Rxc8 Bxc8 29. Rc1 Bb7 30. Qg5 1 : 0.

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