Cairns Cup: Zatonskih widens the gap, Paehtz in sole second place

by Klaus Besenthal
6/10/2023 – In the sixth round of the Cairns Cup played on Friday, Anna Zatonskih won her game with black against Gunay Mammadzada and now stands alone at the top of the standings with a 4½/6 score. Elisabeth Paehtz is in second place after beating Nana Dzagnidze with white to reach a 3½/6 score. Zatonskih’s lead is not quite so clear, however, if you consider that the table is somewhat ‘skewed’ after Humpy Koneru withdrew due to health issues. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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Paehtz grabs second win

In her game against Elisabeth Paehtz, Nana Dzagnidze lost the thread in a critical phase of the game and played two bad moves in quick succession. Paehtz then had a clear advantage, which she converted into her second victory of the event.

Paehtz now stands in sole second place a full point behind Anna Zatonskih. The tournament leader is set to rest in Saturday’s seventh round, while Paehtz will face Bella Khotenashvili with the black pieces.

Paehtz, Elisabeth24791–0Dzagnidze, Nana2513
Cairns Cup 2023
Saint Louis09.06.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Bc4 Nc6 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Bb3 Qa5 12.0-0 Rfc8 13.Rad1 Nd7 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.f4 Bxb3 16.axb3 Qc5+ 17.Rf2 Nf6 18.Qe2
At first glance the black position looks good, but there were a few things for Dzagnidze to consider here: the a8-rook is not active, nothing can be achieved along the c-file and White can create breaks with moves like e4-e5 or f4-f5, after which her rooks could become dangerous on then open f-file. 18...Rd8 Also good was 18...Rf8 Now the a8-rook can come into play and the f-file is already prophylactically occupied. 19.Rd3 Here came 19.Nd5! in order to prevent d6-d5: Nxd5 20.exd5± 19...h5?! Consistent and correct was 19...d5! After 20.e5 Ne4 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.Qxe4 Rxd3 23.Qxd3 a5 White's extra pawn does not play a major role. 20.h3 These two pawn moves rather helped White, who got a safe square for the king on h2. a6? And that was probably just a loss of time. Quite good was 20...Qa5± and now comes 21.Nd5?! due to Qa1+ 22.Kh2 Qxb2= which is not particularly good. 21.Nd5! e6 22.b4 Qb5 23.Nc7 Qxb4 24.Nxa8 Rxa8
In this position, White had a clear advantage. 25.c3 But here better was 25.e5! Ne4 26.c3 Qc4 27.Re3 Qxe2 28.Rfxe2 d5 29.c4± It is foreseeable that the white rooks will become very active soon. 25...Qxe4 26.Rxd6 h4 27.Rd4 Qf5 28.Qe5 Rc8 29.Qxf5 gxf5
This position was again tenable for Black. Unlike in the previous variation, the white rooks cannot move freely here. 30.Rfd2 a5 31.Ra4 Rc5 32.Rd1 Ne4 33.Ra2 b6 34.Rd4 Rb5 35.Kf1 Kf6 36.Ke2 Ke7 37.Rd3 f6?! When you have to hold a static construction together, such pawn moves are always critical. 37...Rc5= 38.b4 Nd6? A rather gross mistake, which makes it easy for White to penetrate over the d-file. After this move, Black was lost. 38...e5!± 39.Rad2 Nf7 40.bxa5 Rxa5 41.Rd7+ Ke8 42.Rb7 Rc5 43.Rxb6 Rxc3 44.Rxe6+ This can be seen as the logical consequence of the missed f7-f6. Kf8 45.Rd7 Rg3 46.Rxf6 Rxg2+ 47.Kf3 Rg3+ 48.Kf2 Rg7 49.Rxf5 Kg8 50.Rdxf7 With an easy win in the pawn endgame.
1–0

Elisabeth Paehtz

Fully focused — Elisabeth Paehtz | Photo: Bryan Adams

Results - Round 6

Standings - Round 6

Cairns Cup 2023

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In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.


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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.

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