[Event "FIDE Women GP Shimkent 2024"] [Site "Shimkent"] [Date "2024.10.31"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Paehtz, Elisabeth"] [Black "Munguntuul, Batkhuyag"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B19"] [WhiteElo "2458"] [BlackElo "2344"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "34"] [GameId "2107147184299257"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] {[%evp 0,34,19,28,68,74,53,31,31,37,54,48,48,38,38,28,27,27,29,35,33,21,21,7,13,5,-5,-28,-43,-55,36,84,59,63,50,-103,178]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. Bd3 {There is a point to this old-fashioned move, which we'll see in a bit.} (8. h5 {has been the more common move for a very long time, as the h-pawn exerts a cramping effect on Black's kingside.} Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 {etc.}) 8... Bxd3 9. Qxd3 e6 10. Bd2 (10. Bf4 {is also common (and in the 8.h5 versions as well).}) 10... Ngf6 11. O-O-O Be7 12. Qe2 O-O ({It might be better for Black to be coy about the placement of her king and play something like} 12... Qc7) ({or} 12... Qb6 {.}) 13. Nf1 $14 c5 14. g4 $1 {This, to play g5 next, is the point of omitting 8.h5.} cxd4 (14... Nxg4 15. Rg1 Ndf6 $146 (15... h5 {has been almost automatic in the few games to see this line, but it's a mistake.} 16. Ng3 g6 17. Nxh5 $1 gxh5 18. Nh2 f5 19. Nxg4 hxg4 20. Rxg4+ $1 Kf7 {White has done everything right so far, but as we'll see the win remains far from trivial. Here are some beautiful lines to show the way:} 21. d5 $3 {was the winning move.} ({Instead, the game continued with the clever but mistaken} 21. Rg6 $2 {, which would have lost had Black played correctly.} Kxg6 $2 (21... Nf6 $1 $19) 22. Rg1+ Bg5 23. Qxe6+ Rf6 24. Rxg5+ $11 (24. Qd5 $1 $14) 24... Kh7 25. Rh5+ Kg7 26. Rg5+ Kh7 27. Rh5+ Kg7 28. Rg5+ {½-½ Hoolt,S (2323)-Unuk,L (2278) EU-chT (Women) 22nd Batumi 2019 (3.11)}) 21... exd5 (21... fxg4 22. dxe6+ Ke8 23. Bh6 $1 Qb6 24. Qxg4 $1 Ne5 25. Qh5+ Nf7 26. Re1 $3 {It's almost impossible to find all of this at the board without an engine - but now you won't have to.} Qb4 27. c3 Qxh4 28. exf7+ Kd7 29. Qf5+ Kc6 30. Bf4 $1 (30. Re6+ Bd6 31. Rxd6+ $1 Kxd6 32. Bf4+ Kc6 (32... Ke7 33. Bg5+ Qxg5+ 34. Qxg5+ Kxf7 35. Qd5+ Kg6 36. Qxb7 $18) 33. Qe6+ Kb5 34. c4+ Kb4 35. Bd2+ Ka4 36. Qd7+ b5 37. Qxb5#) 30... Rfd8 31. Re6+ Rd6 32. Bxd6 Bxd6 33. f8=Q Rxf8 34. Qxf8 $18) (21... Qb6 $2 {doesn't really defend e6, as} 22. dxe6+ Qxe6 23. Rg7+ {wins the queen (while maintaining a mating attack).} Kxg7 (23... Kf6 24. Rg6+ $18 (24. Bc3+ Ne5 25. Rdg1 f4 26. Qe4 Qf5 27. R1g6+ Qxg6 28. Qxg6#)) 24. Qxe6 $18) 22. Rf4 Nf6 23. Rxf5 Qc8 24. Qf3 Rg8 25. Re1 Qd7 26. Bg5 Rg6 {Black has everything covered for the moment, so now it's time for the proverbial back-breaking straw:} 27. h5 Rxg5 28. Rxg5 $18) 16. Ne3 (16. Ne5 h5 17. Nxg4 hxg4 18. Ne3 cxd4 19. Nxg4 {transposes.}) 16... h5 17. Nxg4 hxg4 (17... Nxg4 $2 18. Ne5 Bf6 19. Nxg4 hxg4 20. Rxg4 cxd4 21. Rdg1 d3 $1 22. Qf3 $1 dxc2 23. Bc3 e5 $8 24. Qg2 Kh8 25. Rxg7 $16 {/+-}) 18. Ne5 cxd4 19. Nxg4 $14 {is the best Black can do, and she'll still need to be very careful to keep her king from getting mated.}) 15. g5 $16 {White is clearly better here, but weird things keep happening to White in this line. We saw above White failing to win a won game in the Hoolt-Unuk game, and in this position White has only managed to go 1 out of 3 - 1 out of 4, with this game.} Nd5 16. gxh6 $2 {This natural error was made in two of the three previous games as well.} (16. Nxd4 $1 {is the correct move, played in one earlier game - not that that one worked out well for White in the end either. (Oddly, that too was from a women's event.)} Qb6 17. Nb3 $6 $14 (17. Be3 $1 $16) 17... Rfc8 (17... a5 $142) 18. Kb1 $16 a5 19. Ne3 a4 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Be3 Qc7 22. Nd4 a3 23. Nf5 Qe5 $2 24. Nxe7+ Qxe7 25. Rxd5 $2 (25. gxh6 $18) 25... axb2 $2 (25... Nb6 $19) 26. Qd3 $15 Ne5 27. Qb5 $4 (27. Qd4 $15 {had to be played.}) 27... Nc4 $19 {And it's over.} 28. Bc5 Qe4 $1 29. Rhd1 Na3+ {0-1 Froewis,A (2113)-Ferkova,D (2068) EU-ch (Women) 19th Stary Smokovec 2018 (8)} 30. Bxa3 Qxc2#) 16... Qb6 $1 $11 17. Ng5 $4 {Losing immediately.} (17. Rg1 $1 {is White's only satisfactory move here, and wasn't played in the previous games (or this one). It does transpose to one earlier game, though, which finished in a draw.} Ba3 18. Rxg7+ Kh8 19. bxa3 Nc3 20. Bxc3 dxc3 21. Rh7+ Kg8 22. Rg7+ Kh8 23. Rh7+ {½-½ Rafiee,M (2338)-Hainke,G (2302) Bundesliga 2122 Germany 2022 (8.8)}) ({One previous game went} 17. Qe4 $2 Nc5 $2 $11 (17... Nc3 $3 18. Bxc3 dxc3 19. Rxd7 Rad8 20. Ne5 Qxb2+ 21. Kd1 {Here White would be winning, were it not for} Qb5 $3 $19) 18. Qg4 Bf6 19. Bg5 Na4 20. b3 Qb4 21. Bxf6 Qa3+ 22. Kd2 Qb4+ 23. Kc1 Qa3+ 24. Kd2 Qb4+ 25. Kd3 $4 {In the battle between wishing and reality, reality scores another point.} Nc5+ {0-1 Codenotti,M (2464)-Kreisl,R (2427) Mitropa Cup 36th Balatonszarszo 2017 (2.2)} 26. Ke2 d3+ {and goodbye, White queen.}) ({Here's another predecessor:} 17. Ne5 $2 {Not a good move, but we will at least finally see White win a game.} Nxe5 18. Qxe5 Bf6 19. Qg3 Rfc8 $2 {Don't prepare to do what can be done immediately.} (19... d3 20. c3 Rac8 21. Qxd3 Nb4 22. Qb1 Qa6 $19 {and Black will crash through somewhere - d3, a2, c3, or some combination thereof.}) 20. Bg5 $15 Rxc2+ $11 (20... d3 $4 {is now too late.} 21. Bxf6 Rxc2+ 22. Kb1 $18) 21. Kxc2 Rc8+ 22. Kd2 Qxb2+ 23. Ke1 Bxg5 $2 (23... Nc3 $1 24. Nd2 $8 Qb5 $1 25. Qg4 Bxg5 {Closing the g-file.} 26. hxg5 Rc5 27. f4 Nxd1 28. g6 $1 Ne3 29. gxf7+ Kxf7 30. Qxg7+ Ke8 31. Qg8+ Kd7 32. Qf7+ $11) 24. Qxg5 g6 25. Qe5 {1-0 Hury,T (1970)-Praczukowski,S (2086) Lazy Baltic Pearl op-A 20th 2024 (6)}) ({Incredibly, not only are players unable to handle this position right, but annotators aren't up to the challenge either. On one site, the following line is offered:} 17. hxg7 {given as equal, followed by} Rfc8 18. h5 {without any further punctuation. In fact, all three moves are poor, especially White's. (See the next line for details.)}) (17. hxg7 $4 Rfc8 (17... Ba3 $1 18. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 19. Rg1+ (19. bxa3 Nc3 $19) 19... Kh8 20. Bb4 $1 Qxb4 21. c4 Nc3 $1 22. Qc2 Nxa2+ 23. Kb1 Nc3+ 24. Kc1 Bxb2+ 25. Qxb2 Qxb2+ 26. Kxb2 Nxd1+ 27. Kc2 Nxf2 $19) 18. h5 $4 (18. Ne1 $1 N7f6 $1 {Otherwise White is better.} 19. Rh3 $1 Nc3 $1 20. Bxc3 dxc3 21. Rxc3 Rxc3 22. bxc3 Nd5 23. Rxd5 $1 Ba3+ 24. Kd2 exd5 $19 {Black will probably win with best play.}) 18... Ba3 $1 19. bxa3 Rxc2+ $1 (19... Nc3 {also wins.}) 20. Kxc2 Rc8+ 21. Bc3 (21. Kd3 Qb5+ $19) 21... Nxc3 $19 {is obviously catastrophically bad for White.} 22. Qe1 Nxd1+ 23. Kxd1 Qb1+ 24. Ke2 Qb5+ 25. Kd1 Qa4+ 26. Ke2 Qc4+ 27. Kd1 Qc2# {is just one example - and Black didn't need great precision to win, either.}) 17... Ba3 $1 (17... Ba3 $1 18. bxa3 Nc3 19. Bxc3 dxc3 $19 {is mate in a move or two unless White starts throwing away all her pieces, beginning with 20.Qb5 (or 20.h7+ Kh8 21.Qb5, if you want to be nitpicky).}) 0-1