9-Year-old girl wins against WIM Mariam Mkyrtchyan - The Underdog

by Arne Kaehler
6/7/2024 – Bodhana Sivanandan is another name on the list of super talents, which you should keep in the back of your head. The 9-year-old girl, playing for England, beat WIM Mariam Mkrtchyan from Armenia. Roughly 300 Elo points, and 10 years of age, separated the two players. Robert Ris shows us how this happened.

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

The Underdog!

with IM Robert Ris

We all love stories where a vastly underrated player surprises everyone by beating a much stronger player. Fortunately, we are all human.

But how do these things happen? What are the moves that lead to success? And what can we learn from these examples for the times when we face a stronger opponent?

Dutch IM Robert Ris presents us with real-life examples of such encounters from the past month. Together with his co-host Arne Kaehler, they look at the tactics and strategies that led to the upset victory.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3 dxc4 6.Bg2 Bb4 6...Nbd7 6...b5 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bg5 8.Ne5 8...Nbd7 9.e4 9.Qc2 ½-½ (37) Papaioannou,I (2578)-Michelakis,G (2437) Ermioni Argolidas 2005 9...h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Qe2 Bxc3 11...b5 12.a4 bxa4!? 13.Qxc4 13.Nxa4 a5 13...c5 14.dxc5 a5 12.bxc3 b5 13.e5 13.a4 a6 14.axb5 cxb5 13...Qe7 14.Nd2 Bb7 15.Rfb1 15.f4 Rab8 15.Ne4 c5 15...Rfb8 15...Nb6 16.a4 a6 17.Ne4 c5 18.axb5 18.Qe3 18...axb5 19.Rxa8 Bxa8 20.Nd6 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 cxd4 22.cxd4 Qf8 23.Qf3? 23.Rxb5? Rxb5 24.Nxb5 Qb4 25.Nd6 c3-+ 23.Nxb5 Qc8= 23...Nf6! 24.Qc6 24.exf6 Qxd6 25.Qg4 Qd5+ 26.Kg1 Qg5-+ 24.Nxb5 Nd5 24...Nd5 25.Nxb5 25.Rxb5 Rxb5 26.Nxb5 Qb4 27.Nd6 c3 28.Qe8+ Kh7 29.Qxf7 Qxd4 30.Qxe6 Qd3-+ 25...Rc8 26.Qb7 c3 27.Nd6 Rc7 28.Qb3 c2! 29.Rc1 Qa8! 30.Qf3 30.Rxc2 Nf4+ 31.Kf1 31.Kg1 Qg2# 31...Qh1# 30...Qc6 31.Ne4 Qc4 32.Qg4 Kh8 32...Qxd4?? 33.Nf6+ 33.Nd6 Qc6 34.Kh3 Nb4 35.d5 Nxd5 35...Qxd5?? 36.Qxb4 36.Qf3 Kg8 37.Qb3 Qc3 38.Qxc3 38.Qb8+ Kh7-+ 38...Rxc3 39.Nb5 Rc5 40.Nd4 Nb4 41.f4 Rc4 41...Nd3?? 42.Rxc2= 42.Nb3 Nd3 43.Ra1 c1Q 44.Nxc1 Rxc1 45.Ra8+ Kh7 46.Ra7 Kg6 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mkrtchyan,M2354Sivanandan,B20650–12024E2024th European Women-ch 20242.45

Robert Ris has authored plenty of FritzTrainers for ChessBase — these are his newest, and perfect for every "Underdog"

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.

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