Chocolates for Valentina

It’s a Happy Valentine’s Day indeed for GM Valentina Gunina. She wakes up this morning as the sole leader in the 2019 Cairns Cup after seven rounds of play. Gunina, who has won her last four games, defeated IM Anna Zatonskih in Round 7 after what appeared to be a fairly sleepy opening. Gunina believed that Zatonskih stood better after 11. … Ne4 and thought that the game would be drawn, but play sharpened quickly, especially after Zatonskih’s enterprising exchange sacrifice on move 27. Gunina better navigated the mutual time pressure and took the full point in 48 moves.

[pgn]

[Event "1st Cairns Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.02.13"]
[White "Zatonskih, Anna"]
[Black "Gunina, Valentina"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E10"]
[WhiteElo "2428"]
[BlackElo "2501"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2019.02.06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 {Want to play the Benoni?} 4. e3 {Nope!} d5 5.
cxd5 exd5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 (6... Nc6 7. Nc3 Bd6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. O-O {is an
alternative, transposing into a standard IQP from the Symmetrical Tarrasch. If
you thought it was a reversed Nimzo-Indian, you're also right! There are a lot
of transpositional possibilities in Isolated Queen's Pawn positions.}) 7. Bxd7+
Qxd7 $5 {Comparatively rare.} (7... Nbxd7 {is much more common.}) 8. dxc5 Bxc5
9. O-O O-O 10. b3 Nc6 11. Bb2 Ne4 {Gunina thought White was slightly better
here and said that she would have been content with a draw!} 12. Nc3 Rad8 13.
Rc1 Qe7 14. Re1 a6 15. Qc2 Nb4 16. Qb1 f5 $5 {But this doesn't look like a
move played by someone content with a draw!} 17. a3 Nc6 18. b4 Ba7 19. Rcd1 Qf7
20. b5 $5 axb5 21. Nxb5 Bb8 22. Nc3 h6 23. Qc2 g5 24. g3 Rd7 25. Nd4 Nxd4 26.
Rxd4 {Zatonskih must have forseen what was to follow.} (26. exd4 {is a natural
alternative. White admits she's worse but Black will have a hard time
converting her advantage.}) 26... Be5 {[#]} 27. Nxe4 $5 {An imaginative
exchange sacrifice, but one that appears to be forced. Zatonskih was down to
about five minutes here, and Gunina had about seven.} (27. Rb4 $2 Rc7) 27...
Bxd4 28. Nxg5 hxg5 29. Bxd4 {White has the dark squares and an excellent
bishop for the exchange. Is it enough?} Rc7 30. Qd2 Re8 31. Rb1 Kh7 32. Rb5 {
Both players were in extreme time pressure by this point.} Rec8 33. Bb2 Rc5 34.
Rxc5 Rxc5 35. Qd4 Rc4 36. Qe5 $6 (36. Qh8+ Kg6 37. h3 $1 {(blunting ...g4) and
matters remain unclear.}) 36... Re4 (36... g4 37. Qh8+ Kg6 38. Qe5 Rc6 {
and Black is nominally better, although it's hard to see how she breaks
through.} (38... Qh7 $2 39. Qf6+ Kh5 40. Qh4+ Kg6 41. Qf6+ $11)) 37. Qh8+ Kg6
38. h4 {with the transparent threat of 39.h5#!} gxh4 39. gxh4 f4 $1 {Opening
lines to White's king.} 40. exf4 Re8 (40... Rxf4 $1 41. h5+ Kf5 42. Qe5+ Kg4 {
and the checks run out.}) 41. Qc3 (41. h5+ {is a narrow path towards a draw
according to the computer, but White will have to calculate well to make it
happen.}) 41... Kh6 42. Kf1 Qg6 43. Qg3 Kh7 44. Be5 $2 (44. Qxg6+ {doesn't
change things after} Kxg6 45. Kg2 Re2 $19) 44... Qb1+ 45. Ke2 ({Of course not}
45. Kg2 Rg8 $19) 45... Qc2+ 46. Ke3 d4+ $1 {and the White king can't avoid
going to g2.} 47. Kf3 Qd3+ 48. Kg2 Rg8 0-1

[/pgn]

Gunina’s play has been impressive throughout the Cairns Cup. Her fifth round victory over GM Marie Sebag, which I am officially dubbing the “Cairns Cup Eternal” (“Immortal” and “Evergreen” already being taken!), earned her two boxes of chocolates from the commentary team. It also inspired this delightful and delicious rendering of the key position at the Saint Louis Chess Club, courtesy of CLO Senior Digital Editor Jennifer Shahade. Here’s that Round 5 brilliancy once more, this time with extensive annotations. Viewers who are familiar with .pgn files may want to download the embedded pgn by clicking on the button on the far right of the replayable board (screenshot below). The game will then be available for study in your PGN reader of choice.

[pgn]

[Event "1st Cairns Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.02.10"]
[White "Gunina, Valentina"]
[Black "Sebag, Marie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2501"]
[BlackElo "2476"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2019.02.06"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nb3 $5 {Gunina: "I
played something new... I don't know if it works." It's hard to call anything
'off-beat' these days, but Gunina plays a sideline here that has recently
become popular. I don't think it's any better than more traditional main lines
like 6.Be2, 6.Bg5, or 6.Be3, but it has the advantage of being flexible and
less studied.} e6 7. g4 {Now the game takes on the contours of a Keres Attack.}
b5 8. g5 (8. Bg2 {is the main move:} Bb7 9. g5 Nfd7 {and White has a range of
choices, including} (9... b4 {is met by} 10. Nd5 $5 exd5 ({worse is} 10... Nxd5
$6) 11. gxf6 (11. exd5 Nfd7 12. Qd4 Qb6 13. Qe4+ Be7 14. O-O {and I'm not
convinced that White has quite enough comp}) 11... dxe4 12. Qg4 {1-0 (45) Wei,
Y (2700)-Gao,R (2552) China 2016}) 10. h4 (10. f4) (10. O-O) (10. a3) (10. Be3)
10... Nc6 11. f4 {which transposes into the game.}) 8... Nfd7 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. f4
Nc6 11. h4 Nb6 {[#] A new move.} (11... b4 {has been seen in correspondence
play and over-the-board.} 12. Ne2 Qb6 13. Rh3 a5 14. Be3 Qc7 15. c4 e5 16. f5
Nc5 17. Ng3 a4 18. Nc1 Nb8 19. Nd3 Nxd3+ 20. Qxd3 Nd7 21. Rd1 Ba6 22. b3 Nc5
23. Qc2 Bb7 24. Nh5 Nd7 25. Rg3 Bc6 26. f6 g6 27. Ng7+ Bxg7 28. fxg7 Rg8 29.
Qd2 axb3 30. axb3 Ke7 31. Rf3 Bxe4 32. Rxf7+ Kxf7 33. Bxe4 Ra6 34. Bd5+ Kxg7
35. Bxg8 Kxg8 36. Qxb4 Qc6 37. Rd5 Nb6 38. Bxb6 Rxb6 39. Qa4 Qxa4 40. bxa4 {
1/2-1/2 (40) Bartel,M (2653)-Zubov,A (2612) Gjakova 2016}) 12. Qg4 $5 {With
the Queen on g4, e2 is available for the c3-Knight after ... b4, and White can
try to play f4-f5 quickly. Still, this seems rather committal.} (12. Qe2 {
brings the game back towards more typical Keres Attack waters.}) ({Stockfish
thinks White can just barrel ahead with} 12. f5 b4 13. Ne2 e5 14. f6 $5) 12...
b4 13. Ne2 Nc4 {Hitting b2, temporarily tying down the c1-Bishop, and looking
at the e3 square after ... Qb6+.} 14. O-O a5 (14... Qb6+ $5) 15. c3 e5 16. fxe5
(16. f5 $2 a4 $1 17. Nd2 Ne3 {picks up the exchange}) 16... dxe5 17. Qf3 Qc7
18. cxb4 Nxb4 19. Nc3 a4 {[#]} (19... Nc2 {seems consistent with Black's play,
but things get very complicated after} 20. Nb5 Qb6+ 21. Kh2 ({One square makes
a difference:} 21. Kh1 Qxb5 22. Qxf7+ Kd8 23. g6 h6 24. Bxh6 Nxa1 25. Bxg7 $4 (
25. Rxa1 Nd6 $17) 25... Rxh4+ 26. Kg1 Bxg7 {and the dark squares around
White's king are very drafty.}) 21... Qxb5 22. Qxf7+ Kd8 23. g6 h6 24. Bxh6 (
24. Rd1+ Nd6 25. Rb1 {saves the rook but gives Black good counterplay.}) 24...
Nxa1 25. Bxg7 Bxg7 26. Qxg7 Rxh4+ (26... Re8 $5 27. Rf7 Kc8 28. Bh3+ Kb8) 27.
Kg3 {and Black has to find} Rg4+ $1 28. Kxg4 Ne3+ 29. Kg5 Nxf1 {when,
improbably, White can get back most of her material!} 30. Qf6+ Kc7 31. Bxf1 Qd7
32. Qxe5+ Qd6 33. Qxd6+ Kxd6 34. Nxa1 $13) 20. Nb5 $1 {Gunina said after the
game that she saw the whole variation through 24.Bxh5 before playing 20.Nb5! A
very impressive bit of calculation and attacking power.} Qd7 $2 (20... Qb6+ $1
{doesn't appear to make that much difference - the knight gets taken all the
same - but the gain of tempo in doing so is key. After} 21. Kh2 Qxb5 22. Qxf7+
Kd8 23. g6 h6 24. Bxh6 axb3 {the position is an unclear mess! A few sample
lines:} 25. Bg5+ (25. Bxg7 Bxg7 26. Qxg7 Rxh4+ 27. Kg3 Rf4 $8 $13) (25. Rac1
bxa2 26. Rfd1+ Nd5 $8) 25... Kc8 {the king gets to c8 and has hopes to survive.
Meanwhile White is down two pieces. Anything can happen.}) 21. Bh3 $1 Qxb5 $2 {
It's very risky to leave the defense of f7 and allow White's attack, but what
else could Sebag do?} (21... Qe7 {is relatively better, although after} 22. Nd2
Nxd2 $2 (22... Na5 {is needed, when White retains a serious initiative after
the delightful} 23. b3 $1 {with the idea of Bc1-a3, again trying to lure the
Queen away from f7!}) 23. Bxd2 {and White will draw the Queen from the defense
of the f7 square:} Nc2 (23... Ba6 24. Bxb4 Qb7 25. Bxf8 Kxf8 26. Nd6 $1) 24.
Nd6+ $1 Qxd6 25. Qxf7+ $18) 22. Qxf7+ Kd8 23. g6 $1 {Allowing the bishop to
come to g5!} h6 {[#]} (23... hxg6 24. Bg5+ Be7 25. Qxe7#) (23... Be7 24. Bg5 $1
Bxg5 25. Rad1+ $18 {and look at the poor Black King, all alone in the
crossfire!}) 24. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 ({If} 24... Be7 25. Qxg7 Re8 (25... Rxh6 26.
Rad1+) 26. Rad1+ Kc7 27. Rd7+ $1) ({and} 24... Rxh6 $2 {fails to} 25. Qxf8+ Kc7
26. Qxg7+ {etc}) 25. Rad1+ Nd5 (25... Bd6 26. g7 Re8 27. Be6 {takes aim at the
only defender of the d6-Bishop.}) 26. g7 Bxg7 27. Qxg7 axb3 (27... Re8 28. Rf7
$1) 28. Rf7 $1 Qc5+ 29. Kh2 Ke8 30. Rf8+ $1 {Maurice: "Was this one of the
best games you've ever played?" Gunina: "Probably, yes!"} (30. Rf8+ Rxf8 (30...
Qxf8 31. Qd7#) 31. Qd7#) 1-0

[/pgn]

GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who was tied for first going into the round, could only draw with GM Harika Dronavalli. The game followed theory for sixteen moves, and soon it was Dronavalli who was playing for two results. But despite being two pawns up, the Indian GM could not overcome the drawish nature of the opposite colored bishops, and Kosteniuk saved the half point. She is at 5.5/7, half a point behind Gunina with two rounds to go.

[pgn]

[Event "1st Cairns Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.02.13"]
[White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Black "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "2532"]
[BlackElo "2471"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2019.02.06"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. a4 Qa5 8. Qd2
Nbc6 9. Nf3 f6 {Kortchnoi's move.} 10. Bd3 fxe5 11. Nxe5 cxd4 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13.
cxd4 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 O-O 15. Ke3 e5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 {Barlov-Raicevic (Medulin
1983) was drawn here.} 17. f3 Bd7 18. Re1 Rae8 19. Kd2 Rxf3 $1 20. Rxe5 Rxd3+
21. cxd3 Rxe5 22. Rb1 Bc6 23. Rb4 d4 {Dronavalli thought she had to give up
the d-pawn to open up the position and gain winning chances.} (23... a5 24. Rd4
{and the king on d2 is improved}) (23... Rh5 24. h4 d4 25. g3 {was Seirawan's
suggestion, trying to keep the rooks on and grind.}) 24. Rxd4 Ra5 (24... Bxg2 {
was an obvious alternative, but Dronavalli was unsure about the positions after
} 25. Rd8+ (25. Bb2 Bd5) 25... Kf7 26. Rd7+ Re7 27. Rxe7+ Kxe7 28. a5 {and
it's a question of whether the two pawn majorities on the wings are enough to
win. White's d-pawn probably gives enough counterplay along with the opposite
colored bishops.}) 25. Bb2 Rxa4 26. Rxa4 Bxa4 27. Bd4 a6 28. h4 Kf7 29. Kc3 g6
30. Bb6 Ke6 31. Kb4 Bc6 32. g3 Kd5 33. Ka5 Bd7 34. d4 Kc4 35. Bc5 b5 36. Be7
Bc8 37. Bc5 Bb7 38. Be7 Kxd4 {Dronavalli didn't expect that this could be a
draw with the extra a- and b-pawns, laconically telling Ashley that she felt
like she had to "go back and learn endings." Such are the travails of the
opposite colored bishops!} 39. Bb4 Ke5 40. Bc5 Ke6 41. Bb4 Kf5 42. Bc5 Kg4 43.
Bd6 Bc8 44. Bc7 Kf3 45. Bd6 Bb7 46. Bc7 Be4 47. Bd6 Bd3 48. Kb4 Be2 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

GM Irina Krush entered Round 7 in clear third place, and despite her loss to GM Bela Khotenashvili, she remains there at 4.5/7. Krush came out of the opening well, but things quickly spiraled out of control and by move 25 Khotenashvili had a significant advantage.  Krush’s kingside was soon tied in knots and after 44.Nc5! the end was near.

[pgn]

[Event "1st Cairns Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.02.13"]
[White "Khotenashvili, Bela"]
[Black "Krush, Irina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2491"]
[BlackElo "2435"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2019.02.06"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 g6 $5 (6... Bf5 {
is more common.}) 7. c3 Bg7 8. h3 O-O 9. Bd3 Bd7 10. O-O Qc8 11. Re1 a6 12. Ne5
Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ne8 14. Bg5 Qd8 15. Qb3 Nc7 16. Qxb7 Rb8 17. Qa7 Ne6 18. Bh4 Rxb2
19. Nb3 {Krush: "When I took on b2 and she played ...Nb3 I saw this whole
thing and I thought there was a lot of potential in Black's pieces so I wasn't
worried about Black's position."} g5 20. Bg3 Bb5 {Krush: "I spent a lot of
time on ...Bb5 which was actually the whole intention of ...g5."} (20... a5 {
was offered by Ashley by an improvement, with the idea that after} 21. Qxa5
Qxa5 22. Nxa5 Nc5 {Black has tremendous play.}) 21. Bf5 {"I didn't really look
at Bf5 carefully enough."} ({Krush: "The reason I spent some time on it is
because is what I had missed earlier was that they actually have this move
Rac1 which I hadn't noticed when I played ...g5."} 21. Bxb5 axb5 22. Rac1 {
"tries to take away the c2 square, trapping the rook."} Qa8 {"and
unfortunately that gives away the e7 pawn, but that's not the end of the story
because"} 23. Qxe7 Rxa2 24. Nd4 {"and I was a little concerned about my
kingside but I have an intermediate move here like"} Re8) 21... Nf4 22. Bxf4
gxf4 23. Qd4 {"An annoying little move."} Bc4 ({Krush described the
commentator's idea of} 23... Re2 24. Qxf4 e6 {"is a hundred times better than
what I got in the game" as she wouldn't lose the h-pawn.}) 24. Qxf4 e6 $6 ({
Krush thought} 24... Bxb3 {might improve}) 25. Qc1 $16 Re2 26. Rxe2 Bxe2 27.
Bxh7+ Kxh7 28. Qc2+ Kg8 29. Qxe2 Qc7 30. f4 Qxc3 31. Rf1 a5 32. Kh2 a4 33. Rf3
Qb4 34. Nc1 Rb8 35. Nd3 Qd4 36. Qd1 Rc8 37. Rg3 Qe4 38. Qg4 Qg6 39. Qd1 Qe4 40.
Qg4 Qg6 41. Qh4 (41. Qxg6 $2 {allows Black the hopes of a draw:} fxg6 42. Rxg6
Kf7 43. Rg3) 41... Qh7 42. Qe7 Qe4 43. Qf6 ({The commentary team was playing
with the pretty variations after} 43. Nc5 Qxf4 44. Nxe6 Qxe5 (44... fxe6 45.
Qxg7#) 45. Nxg7 Qxe7 46. Nf5+ Kf8 47. Rg8+ Kxg8 48. Nxe7+ $18) 43... Qh7 44.
Nc5 {with the clear idea of 44.Nxe6 fxe6 45.Qxe6+} Kh8 (44... Rxc5 45. Qd8#)
45. Qxf7 Rxc5 46. Rg5 Rc8 47. Rh5 Qxh5 48. Qxh5+ Kg8 49. Qg6 1-0

[/pgn]

IM Elisabeth Paehtz will rue her near-miss against GM Marie Sebag. 33.Ra3 doesn’t look like a slip, but it allowed Sebag enough counterplay to hold a tricky technical rook ending. 33.Ra7! would have been crushing.

[pgn]

[Event "1st Cairns Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.02.13"]
[White "Paehtz, Elisabeth"]
[Black "Sebag, Marie"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2466"]
[BlackElo "2476"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2019.02.06"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nb3 Nbd7 7. g4 h6 8. h4
Ne5 9. f3 e6 10. Qe2 Qc7 11. Rg1 b5 12. f4 Nc4 13. g5 hxg5 14. hxg5 Nd7 15. g6
Be7 16. gxf7+ Kxf7 17. a4 Bf6 18. axb5 Nxb2 19. Bxb2 Bxc3+ 20. Bxc3 Qxc3+ 21.
Qd2 Qxd2+ 22. Nxd2 Nc5 23. Nc4 Nxe4 24. Bg2 d5 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Nd6+ Kf8 27.
b6 Rb8 28. Nxc8 Rxc8 29. Rxa6 Rb8 30. c4 Rh2 31. c5 Rc2 32. Rg5 e3 33. Ra3 $2 (
33. Ra7 $1 g6 (33... Rd8 34. b7) 34. Rh7 Kg8 35. Rd7 $18) 33... Kf7 34. Rxe3 (
34. Ra7+ $2 Kf6 35. Raxg7 Rd8 {and now White has enough counterplay to hold.})
34... Rh8 35. Kd1 Rhh2 36. Rge5 Rhd2+ 37. Ke1 Rh2 38. Re2 Rhxe2+ 39. Rxe2 Rxc5
40. Rb2 Rc8 41. Ke2 Kf6 42. b7 Rb8 43. Ke3 g5 44. fxg5+ Kxg5 45. Kd4 Kf5 46.
Rf2+ Kg6 47. Rg2+ Kf6 48. Rb2 Kf5 49. Kc5 e5 50. Kb6 e4 51. Kc7 Re8 52. b8=Q
Rxb8 53. Rxb8 e3 54. Kd6 Ke4 55. Kc5 e2 56. Re8+ Kd3 57. Rxe2 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

And IM Zhansaya Abdumalik nearly added another victory to her column, but it turns out that one square can make a big difference. If Abdulmalik had played 28.Rf4 instead of 28.Rf3, she would have had excellent chances to defeat GM Nana Dzagnidze. Instead the wily Russian Grandmaster was able to weave a perpetual and split the point.

[pgn]

[Event "1st Cairns Cup 2019"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2019.02.13"]
[White "Abdumalik, Zhansaya"]
[Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2468"]
[BlackElo "2513"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2019.02.06"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5
9. Nd1 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc5 12. c3 Qb6 13. Nf2 a5 14. Be2 b4 15. O-O
Ba6 16. Bxa6 Rxa6 17. Qe3 bxc3 18. bxc3 O-O 19. Nd3 Bxd4 20. cxd4 Qa7 21. Rac1
Nb6 22. f5 Nc4 23. Rxc4 dxc4 24. f6 gxf6 25. Nc5 Kh8 26. Qh6 Rg8 27. Qxf6+ Rg7
28. Rf3 $2 (28. Rf4 h5 29. Rh4 Qb6 30. h3 $1 {Preventing perpetuals. (This is
what Abdumalik missed.)} Ra8 31. Rxh5+ Kg8 32. Qh4) 28... Qb6 29. Nxa6 Qxd4+
30. Rf2 c3 31. Qf3 c2 32. Qc6 Rxg2+ 33. Kxg2 Qg4+ 34. Kh1 Qd1+ 35. Kg2 Qg4+
1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Abdumalik gets Black against Gunina in today’s Round 8, while Dzagnidze takes the White pieces against Kosteniuk. The two tournament leaders will meet in the final round on Friday. Tune in to uschesschamps.com at 12:50pm CST to follow all the action!