[Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.10.31"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2484"] [BlackElo "2518"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 {Kosteniuk has played the Ragozin Defense four times in the last two years, and its occurrence might have been a mild surprise for Batsiashvili.} 5. Qa4+ {A relative side-move. Kosteniuk had never faced it before. And Batsiashvili had never opted for it either $1} ({ Instead} 5. Bg5) ({And} 5. cxd5 {are far more popular continuations for White.} ) 5... Nc6 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 h6 ({White got full compensation for his pawn after} 7... Ne4 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 Nxc3 10. Qc2 Ne4 11. O-O Na5 12. Ne5 Nf6 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Bd2 c6 15. Rab1 Be6 16. a4 {Giri,A (2776)-Van Foreest,J (2698) Online 2021}) 8. e3 Bd7 9. Qc2 {White is ready to bring her center in motion, thus opening room for her bishop pair. That is not a scenario her opponent can allow, and Kosteniuk is looking for a blockade with the next move, a novelty:} Na5 $146 ({Black did well in after} 9... O-O 10. Bd3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Na5 12. Be2 c5 13. a4 cxd4 14. cxd4 Rc8 15. Qb2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Rxc4 {Miton,K (2596)-Bartel,M (2601) Prievidza 2009}) 10. cxd5 exd5 11. a4 Ne4 {The first in-depth thought by the former world champion, and it seems she mixed up the ideas.} ({Stronger seems} 11... O-O 12. Bd3 {and then} c5 $1 13. dxc5 ({White should not allow the Nimzo-Indian blockade} 13. O-O $2 c4 $1) 13... Ne4 {Then, in return for the two pawns, Black will develop strong play along the light squares after} 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Qxe4 Bc6) 12. Bd3 ({Even better might have been} 12. c4 $5 { spoiling the opponent's blockade. Then White need not to worry about} Bf5 { due to the strong reply} 13. cxd5 $1 Ng3 14. Qc3 Nxh1 15. Qxa5 {and the knight on the rim will be spooked on Halloween.}) 12... Nd6 {The queenside is put in order, but what about the opposite side $2} 13. O-O O-O 14. Ne5 {White's plan is clear: open the center, mate the king.} Be8 {Taking under control the g6-point.} ({Of course not} 14... f6 $2 15. Bh7+ Kh8 16. Ng6+ Kxh7 17. Nxf8+) 15. f3 f6 16. Ng4 ({White also avoids a small trap:} 16. Ng6 $2 Bxg6 17. Bxg6 f5) 16... Qc8 {Dark clouds are gathering around the black king, and Black simply cannot afford to wait an extra move $1} ({A better try would have been} 16... Ndc4 17. e4 c5 $1 {in order to challenge the center.}) 17. e4 $1 { Now that the center in open, the next phase you already know...} dxe4 {And like a thunder...} (17... c5 {no longer helps due to} 18. e5 fxe5 19. dxe5 Ndc4 20. Nxh6+ $1 {Same idea as in the game.} gxh6 21. Bxh6 Rf7 22. Qf2 {With unstoppable mating attack.}) 18. Nxh6+ $3 {Without any further preparation or delay $1} gxh6 19. fxe4 Kg7 ({Or} 19... Rf7 20. Bxh6 {when White practically attacks for free, and the rook lift along the third rank would be decisive.}) 20. e5 $1 {Another energetic blow.} Nac4 {The last slim hope to organize a defense, but Batsiashvili is on fire.} ({Since} 20... fxe5 21. Bxh6+ $1 Kxh6 22. Qd2+ $1 {leads to mate at once.}) 21. Qf2 $1 {Not even paying attention to the knight.} ({Although there is nothing wrong with the obvious} 21. exd6 Nxd6 {when practically any sensible move wins for White} 22. c4 (22. Qf2) (22. Qd2)) 21... f5 ({Not that the knight is going anywhere} 21... Nf7 22. Qxf6+ Kg8 23. Qg6+ Kh8 24. Qh7#) 22. exd6 Nxd6 23. Bf4 {White is dominating, and the rest is a perfect execution of dark-squares attacking strategy.} Bg6 24. Qh4 Nf7 25. Rae1 Re8 26. Rxe8 {Simply adding more resources to the attack.} Qxe8 27. Re1 Qxa4 28. Re7 {When the rook occupies the seventh rank, mate becomes inevitable. } Qa1+ 29. Bf1 h5 ({Or} 29... Rh8 30. Be5+) 30. Be5+ Kf8 31. Rxc7 Qc1 32. Qe7+ Kg8 33. Qf6 1-0 [Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.10.31"] [Round "5"] [White "Hovhannisyan, Robert"] [Black "Najer, Evgeniy"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2622"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Bc4 Qb6 8. Bb3 e6 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. Qd2 Nd7 11. O-O-O Nc5 12. f4 Bd7 13. f5 O-O-O 14. Kb1 Kb8 $146 (14... g6 15. fxe6 fxe6 16. Qe3 Qa5 17. Qg3 Qc7 18. Rhf1 Bg7 19. Rf7 Be5 20. Qe3 Qa5 21. Nce2 Rdf8 22. Rxf8+ Rxf8 23. Nf3 Bg7 24. Rxd6 {1/2-1/2 (24) Fischer,W (2437)-Williamson,H (2503) ICCF email 2019}) 15. Qe3 Nxb3 16. cxb3 Be7 17. Qg3 Bf6 18. Nf3 Bc8 19. fxe6 Bxe6 20. Rd3 Rd7 21. Na4 Qb4 22. a3 Qa5 23. Rxd6 Rc7 $1 {A nice concept. White doesn't have anything on the h2-b8 diagonal, and b3 is now hanging.} 24. Rd3 Bxb3 25. Rxb3 Qxa4 26. Nd2 Qd4 27. Qd3 $2 ({A much better square is} 27. Qe3 {when} Qxe3 28. Rxe3 Rhc8 29. Nf3 Rc2 30. e5 Be7 31. g3 {is only slightly better for Black.}) 27... Rd8 ({Also strong is} 27... Qf2) 28. Qxd4 Rxd4 {Now Black wins an important pawn. Perhaps Hovhannisyan could have defended better because as it goes, Black soon gets a completely winning position.} 29. e5 Bxe5 30. Nf3 Rd5 31. Nxe5 Rxe5 32. h4 Rce7 33. Rhh3 Re4 34. Rhg3 f6 35. h5 Rh4 36. Rh3 Rxh3 37. Rxh3 Re5 38. Rg3 Rg5 39. Rxg5 fxg5 40. Kc2 Kc7 41. Kd3 Kd6 42. Kd4 h6 43. a4 Ke6 44. a5 g6 45. hxg6 Kf6 46. b4 h5 47. b5 axb5 48. Kc5 h4 0-1 [Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.10.31"] [Round "5"] [White "Saric, Ivan"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2644"] [BlackElo "2659"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 Bb7 12. Be3 (12. Re1 O-O 13. Be3 exd4 14. cxd4 Ne7 15. e5 Nfd5 16. Bg5 dxe5 17. dxe5 Re8 {Giri,A (2777)-Aronian,L (2782) Online 2021}) 12... Nxe4 13. Re1 exd4 14. cxd4 d5 15. Nbd2 Ne7 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Ne5 $146 (17. Ng5 Bd5 18. Bxd5 Qxd5 19. Rc1 Qd7 20. Qh5 g6 21. Qh4 f5 { Ter Sahakyan,S (2640)-Sargsyan,S (2596) Yerevan 2021}) 17... O-O 18. Qg4 Bd5 { Starting from here, White loses the thread of the game.} 19. Bxd5 $6 ({Good for equality was} 19. Bh6 Ng6 20. Bg5 $1 Qd6 (20... f6 $6 21. Nc6 $1) 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxe4) 19... Qxd5 20. Rac1 c5 21. dxc5 $2 {A serious miscalculation.} ( 21. Qd7 Rb7 $1 22. Qxd5 Nxd5 23. dxc5 Rc7 {is only slightly better for Black, who will take on e3 and c5 next.}) 21... Qxe5 22. Bf4 Qxb2 23. Qd7 Ng6 24. Bd6 {This was White's point, but it doesn't work.} e3 $1 {The strongest.} 25. Rf1 ( 25. fxe3 Rfd8 $1 26. Qxa7 Nh4) 25... exf2+ 26. Kh1 Rbe8 $1 {You can leave tactics to Shirov.} 27. Rcd1 (27. Qxa7 Qxc1) 27... Bb8 28. Bxf8 Kxf8 29. g3 Bxg3 30. c6 Qc2 {0-} 0-1