Khanty 07: Leaders advance

[Event "4th WGP 2014"] [Site "Khanty Mansiysk 2014"] [Date "2014.04.16"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Girya, Olga"] [Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D58"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [SourceDate "2014.01.04"] [WhiteClock "0:05:09"] [BlackClock "0:03:30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Be2 dxc4 9. Bxc4 {Kosteniuk has been using the Queen's Gambit Declined with a certain amount of success out of the opening in this event.} Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Qe2 a6 12. a4 c5 13. Rfd1 {White retains some pressure and it is not so obvious where all of Black's pieces are going to go, but on the other hand she doesn't have any real weaknesses.} Qe8 14. Rac1 Bd6 15. d5 e5 16. Bg3 Nh5 17. Ne4 Bb8 18. Bh4 f5 19. d6+ $1 {The start of a beautiful concept.} Kh8 20. Be7 $1 {White sacrifices a full piece to maintain a stronghold over the position; specifically the light squares. Practically this is very hard to play against.} (20. Ng3 g5 $1 {is harmless for Black.} 21. Nxg5 hxg5 22. Bxg5 Nxg3 23. hxg3 Qg6 $15 {White retains some compensation but that is it.}) 20... fxe4 $6 (20... Bxe4 {made much more sense to me} 21. Nh4 Nhf6 22. f3 Bb7 23. Nxf5 $16 {and White keeps pressure. It's surprisingly hard to figure out what to do as Black. }) 21. Nh4 Nhf6 22. Be6 $1 {Inching closer on the lightsquares.} Bc6 (22... g6 $5 {Trying to patch things up} 23. Bxd7 $1 Nxd7 24. Bxf8 Nxf8 25. d7 Nxd7 26. Nxg6+ Qxg6 (26... Kg7 27. Nf4 {and despite Black's material advantage her bishops are clearly not very good and I would take White.}) 27. Rxd7 {is clearly better for White.}) 23. Bf5 Rf7 24. Ng6+ Kg8 25. Qc4 {Black is still holding, but what to move?} Ra7 26. b3 $1 {I love this move. It shows patience and restraint. Despite being down a piece, Girya simply defends the a4 pawn and prepares to infiltrate with the queen on e6, taking advantage of Black's lack of moves. Delightful!} Nd5 27. Bxd7 $6 (27. Rxd5 $1 Rxf5 28. Rxc5+ Kh7 29. Nf8+ Nxf8 30. Rxc6 {also favored White, who starts to pick up pawns.}) 27... Rxd7 $2 (27... Qxd7 {was the last chance to resist, but its a hard move to make.} 28. Nxe5 Qf5 29. Nxf7 Qxf7 {and surprisingly White has lost a lot of her coordination, but she certainly shouldn't be worse.}) 28. Rxd5 Bxd5 29. Qxd5 {The rest is easy for Girya. Despite being down an exchange, Black simply has no moves.} Bc7 {And now a little combination to wrap it all together.} 30. Nxe5 Rdxe7 31. Nxf7 Rxf7 (31... Qxf7 32. dxe7 $18) 32. dxc7 Qc8 33. Qd8+ Rf8 34. Rd1 Kh7 35. h3 (35. Qxf8 Qxf8 36. Rd8 Qf6 37. g3 {also won, but the text is more precise.}) 35... c4 36. bxc4 Qf5 37. Qxf8 Qxf8 38. Rd8 Qf6 39. c8=Q { A beautiful example of an intuitive sacrifice and the power of practical play. Great job!} 1-0