[Event "3rd Cairns Cup 2023"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2023.06.04"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Khotenashvili, Bella"] [Black "Zatonskih, Anna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2478"] [BlackElo "2327"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "136"] [EventDate "2023.06.03"] {[%evp 0,136,23,23,23,-15,-8,0,7,8,8,0,-3,-1,6,-9,2,2,2,-45,26,-19,-11,-11,-12,-6,1,-30,-35,-16,-12,-32,14,13,17,18,18,2,10,12,5,5,11,-20,-1,-8,0,-37,15,18,25,25,55,62,112,39,40,25,29,29,22,20,81,20,17,16,96,61,81,74,103,29,17,15,65,-82,-78,-95,-46,-91,-84,-84,-84,-88,-88,-88,-81,-81,-81,-84,-88,-89,-86,-90,-88,-238,-238,-261,-268,-261,-256,-298,-269,-284,-291,-291,-296,-293,-327,-358,-364,-422,-422,-418,-420,-489,-462,-493,-517,-517,-590,-651,-506,-535,-2,-713,-747,-778,-797,-807,-850,-865,-874,-1002,-1012,-1012,-1022,-1666,-537]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. e4 dxe4 8. dxe4 e5 9. c3 a5 10. Qc2 Be6 11. Ng5 Bd7 12. Nc4 Bc5 13. Ne3 h6 14. Nf3 Re8 15. Bd2 Qc8 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Nb8 18. Rfe1 Bf5 19. Qa4 Nd7 20. Nh4 Nf6 21. Qb5 Bb6 22. Nxf5 Qxf5 23. Be3 Bxe3 24. Rxe3 e4 25. c4 Ng4 26. Re2 Nxh2 27. d6 Nf3+ 28. Bxf3 Qxf3 29. Re3 Qg4 30. dxc7 Rac8 31. Rae1 Re7 32. Qd5 Rcxc7 33. Rxe4 Rxe4 34. Rxe4 Qc8 35. Qb5 Kh7 36. Re8 Qg4 37. c5 Qd1+ 38. Kh2 Qc2 39. Re2 Rxc5 40. Rxc2 Rxb5 41. b3 Kg6 42. Kg2 Re5 43. Rc7 b6 44. Rc6+ Re6 45. Rc4 f6 {In rook endings with an extra pawn and pawns on both flanks, the side with extra material is often winning. Here, White should still save the game.} 46. a4 $2 (46. b4 {should hold. White will either swap off all the queenside pawns, when the resulting R+3 vs. R+2 ending is an easy draw, or at least one swap off one pair of queenside pawns and tie Black down to the other one in such a way that she will be unable to make progress.} Re5 47. a4 h5 48. Kf3 Kf5 49. bxa5 bxa5 50. Rc7 g5 51. Ra7 {is an example. If the Black king tries to waddle to the queenside, White will speedily turn her attention to Black's kingside pawns:} Rd5 52. Ra6 g4+ 53. Ke3 Ke5 54. Rb6 f5 55. f4+ gxf3 56. Kxf3 Rd4 57. Rb5+ Rd5 58. Rb6 Kd4 59. Kf4 Kc3 60. Rb5 Rd4+ 61. Kxf5 Rxa4 62. Kg5 $11) 46... Kf5 $17 47. b4 $2 Re4 $19 {This should be "gg", but White fights on, and is - or could have been - rewarded for her efforts.} 48. Rc7 Rxb4 49. Rxg7 Rxa4 50. Kh3 h5 51. Rh7 Kg6 52. Rh8 b5 ({I would prefer} 52... Rb4 {followed by ...a4, ...b5, ...Rb3 etc., inchworming down the board. (Assuming White tries to slow the pawns down. If not, then ...a4, ...a3, ...a2, ...a1Q.)}) 53. Rg8+ Kf7 54. Rb8 Rb4 {Correctly going into inchworm mode.} (54... b4 $6 {is also possible, but makes the rook a spectator whenever it's on the same rank as the b-pawn. That's not a problem when it's the a-pawn that's on the opposite file from the rook.}) 55. f4 a4 56. Ra8 Kg6 57. Ra5 Rb3 58. Kh4 a3 59. g4 hxg4 60. Kxg4 f5+ $6 {Still winning, but unnecessary and oblivious to the danger.} (60... b4) 61. Kh4 b4 $4 {Even FMs know not to do this!} (61... Kf6 $19) 62. Ra6+ $4 {IMs and GMs, apparently, haven't received the sort of deep education that FMs have.} (62. Rxa3 $1 {draws, whether Black takes (producing an immediate stalemate) or not.} Rc3 (62... Rb1 63. Rb3 $1 $11 {repeats the joke, getting the second of Black's extra pawns or inviting another stalemate.} (63. Ra6+ {, as in the game, also draws.})) 63. Ra6+ Kf7 64. Rb6 b3 65. Kg5 $11) 62... Kf7 63. Kg5 Rb2 64. Kxf5 a2 65. Ra7+ Ke8 66. Ke6 Re2+ {This puts an end to White's counterplay. There will be no more mate threats, and so the queenside pawns decide.} 67. Kd5 b3 68. Kc4 Re1 (68... b2 {also wins.}) (68... Re1 69. Kxb3 a1=Q 70. Rxa1 Rxa1 $19) 0-1