ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024
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This week's pair of games are by Tanisha Boramanikar, who is from Aurangabad in the west of India. Just ten years old, she has already represented her country three times at Asian and world events at the under 8 and under 10 level. She's currently rated just under 1400 but obviously improving rapidly.
Tanisha Boramanikar
When Tanisha offered a couple of months ago to send me some games, I was intrigued but wondered just how publishable they would be. Long ago when I was that young my play was very uneven at best. And while youth chess has made giant strides in recent years, it still takes time to improve.
I needn't have worried. While there are plenty of mistakes of course, both games are most instructive.
Looking back through these columns I can see that in general I've tended to err towards using games by players who are of strong club standard or better and I'd welcome more submissions by lower rated ones.
While I will point out mistakes - that's partly what I'm here for - this is a forum to highlight the positive rather than the negative. If your "Agony" is too horrible then I'll happily discard it but as it happens in this case, Tanisha's Agony, while it went against her, was a fascinating battle and at the very least no less interesting than her "Ecstasy" game.
[Event "Asian Youth Girls U-10"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Boramanikar, Tanisha"] [Black "Davaakhuu, Munkhzul"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C25"] [Annotator "Speelman,Jonathan"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2015.07.13"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qg4 Qf6 $2 {This is a fairly well known opening trap. White's lead in development is such that she can ignore the threat against f2.} 5. Nd5 $1 Qxf2+ 6. Kd1 d6 $2 (6... Kf8 {is much the best. White is still better but it would be very hard for a really strong player to thread their way through the complications let alone a child. Helped by an engine.(Houdini), I found this main line:} 7. Nh3 h5 $1 ({if} 7... Qd4 8. d3 { the queen is trapped} Nf6 9. Nxf6 d5 10. c3 $1 dxc4 11. cxd4 Bxg4+ 12. Nxg4 { and a census reveals that White has an extra piece}) 8. Qg5 Qd4 9. d3 Be7 { The point of 7...h5!. The bishop now gains a tempo on the queen so Black's queen has time to escape.} 10. Qg3 Nf6 {[#]} 11. c3 (11. Rf1 Nxe4 $1 12. Nxe7 d5 13. Qg6 Nf6 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Rxf6 Qg4+ 16. Qxg4 Bxg4+ 17. Rf3 dxc4 18. Nf2 Bxf3+ 19. gxf3 {This ending looks a bit better for White but is obviously still a fight}) 11... Qc5 12. Rf1 {There are obviously also other moves including Ng5} b5 13. Bb3 Bb7 {[#] White has more than enough for a pawn and indeed can regain it immediately with Nxc7. But this is very unclear and seems miles away from the game though the whole line starting with 6...Kf8 is only 7½ moves long.}) 7. Qxg7 Nd4 {[#] Alternatives also lose. If} (7... h5 8. h3 { is simplest}) 8. Nxc7+ $2 {This ought to win but I much prefer} (8. c3 { making room for the king to run} b5 {at least takes some of the pressure off f7 but after simply} 9. Bd3 Ne6 10. Qxh8 Qxg2 (10... Kf8 11. Nf3 Qxg2 12. Rf1) 11. Qxg8+ $1 (11. Kc2 Kf8 12. Nf6) 11... Qxg8 12. Nf6+ Kf8 13. Nxg8 Kxg8 { White has a whole extra rook in a totally safe position.}) 8... Kd8 9. Nxa8 { As it happens, it doesn't matter that Black has a free move. But in tactical positions like this it's much better to keep the initiative, not least because if you have a serious threat it's easier to see your opponent's possible moves and so calculate accurately.} Be6 {[#]} 10. Bd3 (10. Nh3 $1 Bxh3 (10... Qh4 11. Bxe6 $1) 11. Rf1 {wins immediately}) 10... h5 11. h3 Bg4+ $1 {An ingenious way of continuing the battle.} 12. hxg4 Qxg2 13. Qxh8 Qxh1 14. Qxg8+ Ke7 15. Qg5+ Kd7 16. Qe3 Ne6 (16... hxg4 {was more challenging but} 17. b4 $1 Nf5 (17... Nxc2 18. Bb5+ Kc8 19. Qg5 Qxg1+ 20. Kxc2) 18. Qe1 Bxg1 19. exf5 {wins easily}) 17. Qe1 Bxg1 {[#]} 18. b3 $2 (18. gxh5 {would have prevented Black from creating a passed pawn and left her without any hope}) (18. c3 hxg4 19. Kc2 { was also better than b3 though of course you shouldn't allow that pawn.}) 18... hxg4 19. Qf1 Nf4 20. Bb5+ Ke7 21. d3 $2 (21. d4 $1 {was still winning because the bishop can retreat to e2} g3 22. Be3 Qh5+ 23. Be2 $1 g2 24. Qxg2) 21... g3 {[#]} 22. Be3 $2 (22. Bxf4 exf4 {is apparently a draw since the passed pawn is so strong that Black can achieve (at least) perpetual check:} 23. Ke2 $1 (23. Kd2 $2 Be3+ 24. Kc3 Qh8+ $1 25. Kb4 Bd2+ 26. Ka3 Qc3 {and White gets mated though when I turned off the engine it took quite a while to see that if} 27. Rb1 (27. Nc7 Qxc7 $1 {and the black square attack continues}) 27... Qb4+ 28. Kb2 Bc3+ $1 (28... Qd4+ 29. Ka3 Bb4+ 30. Ka4 {[#] wasn't at all clear to me and indeed Houdini confirms as I'd begun to suspect, that White escapes and is winning}) 29. Kc1 Qd4 30. Ra1 g2 {and mate follows}) 23... Qh5+ 24. Qf3 Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Be3 26. Nc7 Qg1+ 27. Ke2 Qh2+ 28. Kf1 (28. Ke1 $2 g2) 28... Qg1+) 22... Qh5+ {Here Tanisha resigned and indeed she is quite lost:} (22... Qh5+ 23. Kd2 Qh2+ 24. Kc3 Bxe3 25. Qh1 Bd4+ 26. Kb4 Bxa1 27. Qxa1 g2) 0-1
[Event "Asian Youth Girls u-10"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Boramanikar, Tanisha"] [Black "Khodadadi, Fatemeh"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Speelman,Jonathan"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2015.07.13"] 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 {The Morra Gambit is for some reason rather sneered on by opening theory. But it's pretty hard to defend unless you know exactly what you're doing and very dangerous indeed in a junior tournament.} g6 ({ The main line starts} 3... dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. Qe2) ({If Black wants to avoid the gambit then} 3... Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 {is a line of the c3 Sicilian}) (3... d3 {is also reasonable and say} 4. Bxd3 (4. c4) 4... Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Nf6 {or} (6... g6)) 4. cxd4 d5 5. Bb5+ $5 {This allows Black to exchange off the white squared bishops which ought in principle to help her in this sort of position. But it does stabilise the centre.} (5. e5 Nc6 6. Nc3 Bg7 {is normal when White doesn't want to play} 7. Nf3 {because} Bg4 {is most annoying so you'd normally choose between 7.h3 and 7.Bb5}) 5... Bd7 ( 5... Nc6 6. Nc3 (6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qxg2 {is bad for White} 8. d5 Qxh1 9. dxc6 ) 6... Nf6 (6... dxe4 $2 7. d5 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. dxc6 bxa4 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. Bf4 {and White is much too quick}) 7. e5 Ne4 8. Nge2 {is quite a nice version for White who has good control of the centre with no problems regarding ...Bg4.}) 6. Bxd7+ Qxd7 7. e5 {Now there's no pin with ...Bg4 so White can happily play Nf3 in a moment.} Bg7 {This position would be a very nice Franch/Caro for Black if ,...g6 hadn't been played but here the potential black square weaknesses have to be borne in mind.} 8. Nf3 f5 $6 {This prevents a later kingside attack by White but takes any pressure off the centre and weakens e6. Posiitonally speaking, if we compare the position in the centre to the Czech Benoni - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 - it is seldom correct after ...f5 by Black to then exchange on e4 as has effectively happened here (...c5xd4). On the other hand the exchange of bishops - black squared in the Czech Benoni - white squared here - is a positional gain.} (8... Nc6 9. O-O f6 {was normal and perfectly playable}) 9. O-O (9. h4 {was quite a normal reaction when h5 must be a threat.} h6 10. Nc3 e6) 9... e6 10. Nc3 {[#]} a6 $2 {When you're behind in development as Black is here you have to be extremely careful. This prevents Nb5 but creates a weakness on b6 which turns out to be competely fatal and Tanisha now takes advantage excellently. The only question was whether a6 deserved one or two question marks.} (10... Nc6 {is bad because of} 11. Nb5 {but it's far from obvious since after the counterpunch} Nxe5 {White needs to find} 12. Ng5 $1 Qxb5 (12... Nf7 13. Nxe6 $1 {is the point}) 13. Nxe6 Qd7 14. Nxg7+ Qxg7 15. dxe5 Ne7 16. Bg5 {with a winning position}) (10... Ne7 11. Bg5 Nbc6 {was normal. White has the advantage but the game continues.}) 11. Na4 $1 {Both hitting b6 and preparing Nc5 to hit e6.} Qc6 (11... Qc7 12. Ng5 Ke7 13. Nc5 {is over}) 12. Be3 b6 13. Rc1 Qb7 14. Ng5 $1 Ke7 15. Qb3 {[#] threatening both Nxb6 and Nc5} Nd7 16. Qb4+ Ke8 17. Qd6 $1 Nf8 18. Rc7 Qb8 19. Qc6+ Nd7 20. Qxd7+ Kf8 21. Qf7# {A very nice attack by Tanisha who gave her opponent absolutely no chance after the disastrous 10...a6?} 1-0
Did you enjoy the column and instructive analysis by GM Jonathan Speelman? Do you wish you could have a world-renowned grandmaster analyzing your play? You can! Just send in two of your games: one success story (Ecstasy) and one loss (Agony). Tell why you chose them, where or when they were played, and if they are selected, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free one-month Premium subscription to ChessBase Account.
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