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It was the penultimate round of the Cairns Cup. Anna Zatonskih entered the round leading the standings with 4½ points. Bella Khotenashvili, who had lost her first two encounters, came from winning four games in a row and stood a half point behind in sole second place. Alexandra Kosteniuk had just lost against Nana Dzagnidze and seemed to be out of contention for the top spots, as she had 3 points to her name.
Zatonskih had white against an out-of-form Zhansaya Abdumalik. Kosteniuk had white against a Khotenashvili on fire.
Once all was said and done, both Zatonskih and Kosteniuk scored full points. While the eventual champion made the most of a small edge in an endgame, Kosteniuk prevailed in an incredibly sharp tactical struggle.
Already in a winning position, the Swiss grandmaster promoted her b-pawn to a (second) queen — on the other side of the board, it had been four moves since Khotenashvili’s own queen pair had stood powerless near the white king.
Black could not give mate along the first rank since the queen on b6 is ready to defend from g1. Now White is simply a rook up, and Kosteniuk only needed three more moves to force her opponent’s resignation.
But the game was not as straightforward as the final sequence shown above. Kosteniuk, in fact, misplayed her superior position a couple of times. Well-known author and trainer Robert Ris looked at all the details and shared it with his YouTube audience.
In this video course, twenty-nine examples with multiple questions are presented in the interactive format, which is ideal for a range of playing strengths. Step by step you will be taken through the complex positions.
