[Event "Women Candidates Pool A"] [Site "Monaco MNC"] [Date "2022.11.04"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Black "Lei, Tingjie"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B47"] [WhiteElo "2534"] [BlackElo "2535"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.10.25"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Qd3 d5 9. Qg3 Qxg3 10. hxg3 Nf6 11. g4 Bb7 12. a4 Be7 13. g5 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Be3 O-O-O 16. Bc4 h6 17. gxh6 gxh6 18. Rxh6 Rxh6 19. Bxh6 Rh8 20. Be3 Rh1+ 21. Bf1 Bd6 22. O-O-O c5 23. Rxd6 Rxf1+ 24. Kd2 Kc7 25. Bxc5 Rxf2+ 26. Bxf2 Kxd6 27. g3 Ke5 28. Bb6 Kf5 29. Ke3 Bc6 30. b3 e5 31. Bc7 f6 32. Bd8 Be8 33. g4+ Kxg4 34. Bxf6 Kf5 35. Bh4 Bc6 36. c4 Be8 37. Bg3 Bh5 38. Kd2 e3+ 39. Kc3 Bd1 40. a5 Ke6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Women Candidates Pool A"] [Site "Monaco MNC"] [Date "2022.11.05"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Lei, Tingjie"] [Black "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2535"] [BlackElo "2534"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.10.25"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,83,35,16,28,-7,44,44,51,57,51,51,51,51,51,22,26,22,13,-3,32,36,17,14,45,43,39,34,34,34,30,38,57,46,38,34,23,50,86,93,69,78,115,111,102,101,108,125,145,140,188,191,184,198,191,202,199,199,191,169,180,180,203,200,194,150,146,152,149,152,152,205,237,233,278,306,301,301,351,370,384,399,453,598,679,978]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Qa4+ {A sideline, though with 1670 appearances in the database it might be better to think of it as a secondary main line, if that slightly oxymoronic phrase can be forgiven.} ({The more conventional} 7. Be3 {was played in game 2.}) 7... Nd7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 Nb6 (9... c5 {is the most common choice, used by players like Nepo, MVL, Svidler and Duda.}) 10. Qb4 (10. Qa3) ({and} 10. Qa5 {are other normal options.}) 10... Qd6 11. O-O Bg4 $6 {Not a very good move. Anna Muzychuk has generally seemed like a well-prepared player, but not on this occasion, as she ends up playing a weird, hokey-pokey like plan over the next few moves.} (11... Qxb4 12. cxb4 {and now both 12...Bg4 and 12...Bd7, both of which have been played, are completely equal according to the computer - likewise the untested 12...Rd8, though that's likely going to transpose to the 12...Bg4 line.}) 12. Qb3 Be6 13. d5 (13. Qc2 Bc4 14. h4 $14) 13... Bg4 14. h3 {The conjunction of White's last two moves justifies Black's plan, as she gets a relatively decent grip on the dark squares along with traditional Gruenfeld counterplay against White's center.} (14. Rb1 $142 $14) (14. Rd1 $142 $14) 14... Bxf3 15. Bxf3 c6 $11 16. Ba3 Qc7 (16... Qf4 $1 $11 {was best, with the semi-threat of ...Be5. (White can move the f1-rook in reply without getting mated or losing material, but it's still meaningfully unpleasant for White to have Black's pieces camping out in front of her king.)}) 17. Rae1 cxd5 18. exd5 Bf6 (18... Be5 $142 $1 $11) 19. Re4 (19. c4 $1) 19... Rfc8 $2 (19... Nc8 $1 {was better, heading for the traditional blockading square (d6).} 20. Rc4 Qe5 $1 21. Qxb7 Nd6 22. Bxd6 exd6 $1 $11) 20. Bg4 $16 Rd8 $2 (20... Nc4 $1) 21. c4 $18 h5 22. Be2 Rac8 23. Re1 (23. Qe3 $142) 23... Rd7 $2 (23... Nd7 $1 24. Bxe7 (24. g4 $142 $1 h4 25. Bxe7 Nc5 26. Bxf6 $3 Nxb3 27. axb3 $18) 24... Nc5 25. Bxc5 Qxc5 26. Qxb7 Kg7 $16 {Although Black is two pawns in arrears, White will have a difficult time overcoming or working around Black's grip on the dark squares.}) 24. g4 $1 h4 25. Qe3 (25. g5 $1 Bxg5 26. Bg4 $1 f5 27. Re6 Bf6 28. c5 $1 Nxd5 29. Bf3 $18 {was not an easy line to work out.}) 25... g5 26. Bd3 Na4 27. Bxe7 (27. Re6 $1 {is a cool engine idea that might lead to lawsuits if played in a tournament game.}) 27... Rxe7 28. Rxe7 Qxe7 29. Qxe7 Bxe7 30. Rxe7 Nc5 31. Bf5 Kf8 32. Rxf7+ Kxf7 33. Bxc8 b6 {Black has good control over the dark squares, but it's not quite good enough. Give Black a pawn on f6 or a queenside pawn on c7 or d6 and she's drawing; here, White has two majorities, and that will overload Black's defenses.} 34. Bf5 Kf6 35. d6 Nb7 36. d7 Ke7 37. f4 gxf4 38. Kf2 Nd6 39. Kf3 Nxc4 40. Kxf4 Nd6 41. g5 Nb7 42. Ke5 1-0