Lausanne GP: Harika and Goryachkina in the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/6/2020 – A one-move blunder by Nana Dzagnidze gave Harika Dronavalli a sudden win in round four of the Women's Grand Prix in Lausanne. Harika is now sharing the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina, who took down Antoaneta Stefanova with the white pieces. The third winner of the day was Zhansaya Abdumalik, who duly took advantage of Alexandra Kosteniuk's bad form to inflict her third straight loss in Switzerland. | Photo: David Llada

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Not the nicest way to win

Competitive chess is such a gruelling endeavour that for a player to see her rival blundering the game away in a single move usually provokes not the best of feelings. That is what happened to Harika Dronavalli in round four after Nana Dzagnidze played the unfortunate 26.e5 and had to give up the full point two moves later. It must be noted that Harika had a more comfortable position, nonetheless.

This was Harika's second consecutive win, which leaves her sharing the lead on 3 out of 4 with Aleksandra Goryachkina. The Russian star defeated Anotaneta Stefanova from the white side of a tactical queenless middlegame. Fittingly, Harika and Goryachkina are paired up against each other in round five — Harika will play White.

A half point behind the leaders stand Alina Kashlinskaya and Anna Muzychuk, after both saved inferior positions against Pia Cramling and Ju Wenjun respectively.

Marie Sebag

Marie Sebag from France | Photo: David Llada

Two round-four encounters faced players that were co-leading after the first three days of action. In one of them, Dzagnidze handled the opening ambitiously against Harika. The Indian player once again showed that she is an all-around player, capable of dealing with all sorts of setups, though. By move 25, when the abrupt conclusion came, it was Harika (with Black) who had the more comfortable position:

 
Dzagnidze vs. Harika
Position after 25...Be4

Dzagnidze's 26.e5 loses immediately to 26...xc1 27.xc1 g5, when Black is both threatening mate on g2 and to capture twice on c1.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nb5 D00: 1 d4 d5: Unusual lines. Na6 7.h3 7.h3 scores better than 7.Be2. Ne4 8.Bd3 The position is equal. c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3
10...c5N Predecessor: 10...Qa5 11.Qd2 c5 12.c4 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Nb4 14.cxd5 cxd4 15.exd4 Nxd3 16.cxd3 Rd8 0-1 (29) Maksimovic,B (2306)-Vucinic,G (2411) Valjevo 2018 11.0-0 Bd7 11...c4!? 12.Be2 Nc7= 12.c4 cxd4 13.exd4 Nb4 14.cxd5 Ba4 15.Qd2 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 Qxd5 Threatens to win with ...Bb5. 17.c4 Qf5 18.Qe3 Rac8 19.Rac1 Bc2 20.Bh6 Rxc4 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Qxe7 Rfc8 23.Rfe1 next Ng5 is good for White. R4c7 Black is pushing. 24.Qd6 White wants to play d5. Rc6 25.Qa3 Be4 ...Bxf3 is the strong threat. 26.Ne5? 26.Rxc6= Bxc6 27.Ne5 26...Rxc1-+ 27.Rxc1
27...Qg5! Double Attack. Accuracy: White = 73%, Black = 100%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Dzagnidze,N2515Harika,D25180–12020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.4

Nana Dzagnidze

It was a painful defeat for Nana Dzagnidze | Photo: David Llada

Goryachkina, the other player that now shares first place with 3 points, was up against Stefanova's Pirc Defence in the meantime. Ju Wenjun's latest challenger for the World Championship crown decided to exchange queens early in the game, trusting that her lead in development would be enough to create winning chances. The strategy worked out well, as one step in the wrong direction by Stefanova allowed White to get a clear edge:

 
Goryachkina vs. Stefanova
Position after 23.Nd6

Black's 23...e5 gave Goryachkina a chance to push her forces forward. There followed 24.f4 g4 25.xb7 e3 26.e1 xf1 27.xe6:

 
Position after 27.Rxe6

The series of exchanges clearly favoured White. Now after 27...xb7 28.e7+ g8 29.xb7 Black gets to capture the g and h-pawns while White gets Black's counterparts on the a and c-files. The big difference is that White's more centralized knight can delay Black's path to promotion, gaining enough tempi to win the pawn race.

Goryachkina did not falter in her calculations and got her second win of the event after 48 moves.  

 
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1.Nf3 g6 2.e4 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be3 0-0 6.Qd2 a6 7.Bh6 B08: Pirc Defence: Classical System. c5 8.Bxg7 Kxg7
9.dxc5N White is slightly better. 9.0-0-0 looks sharper. cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qa5 11.f3 Nc6 12.Nb3 Predecessor: 9.h4 h5 10.0-0-0 Nc6 11.d5 Na7 12.Ng5 b5 13.Ne2 b4 14.Kb1 Nb5 15.f3 0-1 (37) Gabrielian,A (2499)-Kobo,O (2494) St Petersburg 2018 9...dxc5 10.Qxd8 10.Qe3 seems wilder. Bg4 11.Qxc5 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Nc6 13.f4 10...Rxd8 11.e5 Nfd7 12.0-0-0 Black must now prevent e6. Nc6 13.Bc4 Nb6 13...b5!? 14.Bd5 Bb7= 14.Rxd8 Nxd8 15.Rd1 Bd7 16.Ng5 Bc6 17.Bf1 h6 18.Nge4 White is more active. Ne6 19.g3 f5 20.exf6+ exf6 21.a4 f5 22.a5 Nd7 Much weaker is 22...Bxe4 23.Nxe4 fxe4 24.axb6± 23.Nd6 Ne5?
Black cannot hold the game after this. 23...Rd8 24.f4!+- Ng4
24...Nf7 25.Nxb7! Ne3 25...Bxb7 26.Rd7+ 26.Re1 Nxf1 27.Rxe6 Bxb7 28.Re7+ Double Attack Kg8 ...Bf3 is the strong threat. 29.Rxb7 Nxh2 Endgame KRN-KRN 30.Nd5 Nf1 31.Nc7 Rf8? 31...Rc8 32.Nxa6 Nxg3 32.Nxa6 Nxg3 33.Nxc5 h5 34.a6 And now a7 would win. h4 aiming for ...h3. 35.a7 h3 36.Nd3 Ne4 37.Rb8 White mates. h2 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.a8Q+ Kg7 40.Qxe4 Remove Defender fxe4 KN-K3P 41.Nf2 e3 42.Nh1 Kf6 43.b4 Kf5 44.b5 Kxf4 45.b6 Kf3 46.b7 Kg2 47.b8Q Kxh1
48.Qg3! Double Attack. Accuracy: White = 95%, Black = 50%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Goryachkina,A2579Stefanova,A24691–02020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.5

Aleksandra Goryachkina

Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: David Llada

Meanwhile, Alexandra Kosteniuk's woes continue in Lausanne. From a highly theoretical Ruy Lopez, she lost her third game in a row and now sits in dead last place on ½ out of 4. Facing Zhansaya Abdumalik with the white pieces, Kosteniuk incorrectly advanced on the kingside when she should have prioritized what was going on in the centre of the board:

 
Kosteniuk vs. Abdumalik
Position after 18...Qb7

Instead of 19.g4, White could have tried to prevent Black from opening up the centre with a pawn push on the d-file by playing 19.♘dc4. After the text, Abdumalik could have gone for 19...d5 immediately, but first played 19...h6. However, Kosteniuk once again failed to transfer her knight to c4 and played 20.h2 instead — now came 20...d5, and opening up the position gave Black lots of play.

Abdumalik did a good job of improving her position. White eventually needed to give up the bishop pair, and when Black's strong rooks took the second and third ranks it was all over:

 
Position after 36.Rf1

Kosteniuk resigned after 36...c2 37.ff2 d1, with a lethal mating threat on h1.

 
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1.e4 0 e5 0 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 0 3.Bb5 0 a6 0 4.Ba4 0 Nf6 5 5.0-0 5 Be7 29 6.d3 54 b5 33 7.Bb3 4 d6 5 8.a4 32 Bd7 6:49 9.c3 1:00 0-0 2:49 10.Re1 3:41 Na5 4:27 11.Bc2 0 c5 24 12.Nbd2 1:35 Qb6 6:28 13.Nf1 1:54 b4 3:52 14.Ne3 4:56 Rac8 3:46 15.h3 3:25 Rfe8 2:26 16.Nd2 0 Be6 4:53 17.Qe2 5:00 Bf8 2:37 18.Qf3 12:54 Qb7 6:03 19.g4 3:37 h6 0 20.Kh2 13:42 d5 6:03 21.Nf5 4:11 Nh7 5:33 22.Qg2 2:06 dxe4 3:14 23.Nxe4 7:10 Qd7 2:34 24.Rg1 31 Kh8 0 25.Qg3 1:26 Nb3 2:02 26.Bxb3 4:23 Bxb3 7 27.f4 1:18 Rcd8 5:11 28.cxb4 1:51 cxb4 1:59 29.fxe5 1:21 Qxd3 0 30.Qxd3 6 Rxd3 5 31.Bf4 8 Ng5 1:47 32.Nxg5 1:50 hxg5 6 33.Bg3 3:07 Rc8 4:03 34.Rg2 24 Bd5 0 35.Re2 1:18 b3 1:20 36.Rf1 4:25 Rc2 1:09 37.Rff2 6 Rd1 32 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kosteniuk,A2504Abdumalik,Z24710–12020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.6

Zhansaya Abdumalik, Alexandra Kosteniuk

Zhansaya Abdumalik beat former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk | Photo: David Llada

Marie Sebag and Mariya Muzychuk signed the one 30-move draw of the day; Ju Wenjun was a pawn up but could not break Anna Muzychuk's defences; and Pia Cramling missed some massive winning chances after Alina Kashlinskaya sacrificed a piece for two pawns out of the opening. Cramling kept the extra knight until the queen endgame, when her biggest miss came on move 47:

 
Kashlinskaya vs. Cramling
Position after 47.Qd5

White would have been doomed after 47...♞f4, with the mating threats unstoppable after 48.♕d7+ ♚h6, and White has no more checks. Cramling opted for 47...xh4+ instead, and Kashlinskaya's stubborn defence eventually allowed her to save a half point.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 c5 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 d5 E11: Bogo-Indian. 8.e3 0-0 9.b3 was the old line (9. cxd5). b6 The position is equal. 10.Bb2 Bb7 11.f3 e5 12.Nf5
12...Bc8N Predecessor: 12...g6 13.Ng3 Nbd7 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.b4 a5 16.Bb5 axb4 17.Qxb4 Rc8 18.e4 Bc6 1-0 (41) Erdos,V (2636)-Zaragatski,I (2467) Deizisau 2013 13.Nxg7 13.g4 13...Kxg7= 14.Bxe5 Re8 15.Bb2 dxc4! ...Qxd2+ is the strong threat. 16.Qf2 16.g4= 16...Kf8 Much weaker is 16...b5 17.Qg3+ Kf8 18.Qg5 17.Bxc4 Strongly threatening Qh4. Ba6! 18.Rd1 Qe7 19.Bxa6 19.0-0 Bxc4 20.bxc4 19...Nxa6 20.0-0 Rad8 21.e4 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 next Qd4 is good for White. Rd8 23.Rc1 23.Rxd8+ Qxd8 24.Qd4 Qxd4+ 25.Bxd4 23...Ne8 24.b4 Nac7 25.h3 Rd3 26.Qg3 Ne6 27.Rc8 Rd8 28.Qe5 28.Rxd8 keeps fighting. Qxd8 29.Kh2 28...f6-+ 29.Qb8 29.Qc3 was the only defense. 29...Rxc8 29...Rd1+-+ 30.Kh2 N6c7 31.Bxf6 Qd6+ 32.e5 Qd2! 30.Qxc8 Kf7 31.Qc4 Qd6 32.Qb5? 32.Bc3 32...Nf4 32...Qd2 33.Qd5 Qxb2 34.Qd7+ Kf8 35.Qxe6 Qxa3 33.Qc4+-+ Kf8 White must now prevent ...Qd2! 34.Bc1 34.Qc2 34...Qd3 34...Qd1+-+ is more deadly. 35.Kh2 Ne2 35.Qc6? 35.Qxd3 was the crucial defense. Nxd3 36.Bh6+ Ke7 37.Kf1 35...Ne2+ 35...Qd4+ 36.Kh2 Ne2 37.Bh6+ Ke7 38.Qb7+ Ke6 39.Qd5+ Qxd5 40.exd5+ Kxd5 36.Kf2 intending Bh6+. Nxc1 37.Qxc1 Qd4+ 38.Kg3 Nd6 39.Kh2 Nc4 40.Qh6+ Kg8 41.Qh4 Ne5 42.Qg3+ Kh8 43.h4 h5 44.Qf4 Kg7 45.Qf5 Qf2 46.Qxh5 Ng6! 47.Qd5?
47.Qf5-+ 47...Qxh4+? 47...Nf4! mates 48.Qd7+
Double Attack 48...Kh6! 49.Qg4 Ne2 50.Qd7 Qg1+ 51.Kh3 Qh1+ 52.Kg4 Qxg2+ 53.Kf5 Qh3+ Double Attack 54.Kxf6 Qxd7 55.a4 Nf4 56.Ke5 Ng6+ Double Attack 57.Kf6 Qd6+ 58.Kf5 Kh5 59.b5 Nxh4#
48.Kg1 Qg3 Black should play 48...Qe1+-+ 49.Kh2 Qh4+ 50.Kg1 Qg3 49.Qd7+ 49.Qd8 is a better defense. 49...Kh6 50.Qc8 Qe1+ 51.Kh2 Qd2 52.Kh1 Qd1+ 53.Kh2 Qd6+ 54.Kh1 Qd4? 54...Qe5-+ 55.Qc1+ Kg7 55.Qc1+ Kh7 56.Qc7+ Kh6 aiming for ...Qa1+. 56...Kg8!? 57.Qb8+ Nf8 58.Qxa7 Qd1+ 59.Kh2 Qd6+ 60.Kh1 Qd1+ 61.Kh2 Qd6+ 62.Kh1 Qd8 57.Qh2+ Kg7 And now ...Qa1+ would win. 58.Qc7+ Kh6 Accuracy: White = 43%, Black = 57%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kashlinskaya,A2484Cramling,P2470½–½2020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.1
Ju,W2583Muzychuk,A2539½–½2020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.3
Sebag,M2443Muzychuk,M2552½–½2020FIDE Womens GP Lausanne 20204.2

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Standings after Round 4

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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