[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.05"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Tan, Zhongyi"] [Black "Vaishali, Rameshbabu"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2521"] [BlackElo "2475"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "67"] [GameId "2043826351100878"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,67,23,26,27,9,9,27,48,32,41,40,28,8,18,6,6,-1,-1,-1,-1,-9,-2,-1,0,0,-4,-8,-6,-11,-15,-11,-2,-11,-18,-20,-2,-2,11,1,11,0,25,16,13,0,0,-15,-2,-14,1,-8,15,15,23,18,21,15,57,81,109,110,102,178,188,125,1078,1078,1078,1100]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 cxd4 5. exd4 a6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. h3 (7. Ne5 {is a much more popular way of avoiding ...Bg4. Of course, that popularity means it's likelier that Vaishali will be prepared for it.} e6 ({and} 7... Bd7 {are the main moves here.}) (7... Bf5 $2 8. g4 $1 $16)) 7... Bf5 {Of course, Black develops the bishop to an active square while she still can, before playing ...e6.} 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 e6 10. O-O Bd6 {The position is equal, and should be harmless. Black has won the opening battle, but the war goes on.} 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. Rfe1 O-O 13. a3 {Here Black's most natural plan is a sort of minority attack with ...b5 and ...a5 with her rooks on b8 and c8. Going for ...Na5-c4 is also pretty natural, and still one more idea is to play ...Nd7 to keep White's knights out e5 and c5.} Qc7 $146 14. Na2 {Looking to maneuver the knight to c5 or e5.} Rac8 {The first of many slightly strange moves. Black starts giving away tempi like Mr. Beast gives away money.} (14... b5) (14... a5) (14... Na5) (14... Rfc8) 15. c3 Ne4 (15... Na5) 16. Qe2 $1 {A nice move, clearing d3 for a knight.} Na5 ({Couldn't Black have saved 85 tempi with} 16... a5 17. Nc1 a4 {instead of the absurd ...Nc6-a5-b3-a5 we'll see in the game?}) 17. Nb4 Nb3 $6 (17... Nc4 {followed by ...a5 and ...b5 still seems fine for Black.}) 18. Rad1 a5 19. Nd3 a4 {Preventing once and for all any possibility of White's expanding on the queenside. (That she showed zero interest in playing on that flank may be irrelevant.)} 20. Nfe5 Na5 21. f3 (21. Qg4 $142 {was better, getting the queen outside the pawns before playing f3.}) 21... Nd6 22. Nf4 Nac4 23. Ned3 {Objectively, Black is still fine, but her margin for error is far smaller than it was. White is about to get things going on the kingside.} Rfe8 (23... g6 $142 $11) (23... Rce8 $142 $11) 24. Qf2 Re7 (24... g6) 25. Re2 Rce8 26. Rde1 b6 $6 {It's nice to keep the knight out of c5, but this is yet another slow move that brings Black closer to the precipice.} (26... Qd8 $142 27. g4 h6 28. h4 g6 $14) 27. g4 (27. h4 $142) 27... Nb5 $6 {Dreaming of sacs on a3 or b2 or c3. There will be knight sacs in this game, but not the ones Vaishali was dreaming of.} (27... Qd8 $1) 28. Qh4 {Threatening 29.Nxd5.} (28. h4 $16) 28... Qd6 (28... Qd8 $1 {was best, though after} 29. g5 {followed by Qg4 Black's position is getting creaky.}) 29. Nh5 (29. g5 $1 $18 {first is even stronger.}) 29... f6 $1 $16 {This is why 29.g5 was better.} 30. g5 f5 $4 {This seems to keep lines closed, but, as we'll soon see, it doesn't.} (30... fxg5 $8 {is normally the last thing you'd want to do, but it was forced.} 31. Qxg5 Rf7 $8 32. f4 Qf8 33. Rxe6 Rxe6 34. Rxe6 Rf5 $8 35. Qh4 Nbd6 $1 36. Ng3 Rf6 37. Re2 $16) 31. Rg2 $1 {Threatening 32.Nf6+.} Kh8 32. Ndf4 {Threatening 33.Ng6+.} e5 33. Nf6 $1 gxf6 (33... h6 34. Ng6#) (33... exf4 34. Qxh7#) 34. Ng6+ (34. Ng6+ Kg8 35. Nxe7+ Kf7 (35... Rxe7 36. gxf6+ $18) 36. Qxh7+ Ke6 37. gxf6 $18) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.05"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"] [Black "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2553"] [BlackElo "2520"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [GameId "2043827673991409"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. e3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bf5 7. Nf3 e6 {The Exchange Variation against the Slav may not be exciting, but that doesn't mean that Black can just do anything against it.} 8. Ne5 (8. Bb5) (8. Qb3) 8... Nxe5 9. dxe5 {The first step of a mini-plan that ends on move 14.} (9. Bxe5 {is usual.}) 9... Nd7 10. e4 dxe4 11. Bb5 {Aimed at making it hard for Black to finish developing her pieces. But what about just kicking the bishop? Glad you asked.} a6 12. Bxd7+ Qxd7 13. Qxd7+ Kxd7 14. Na4 {Despite Black's surface advantages, it's not so easy for her to bring her remaining pieces safely into play.} Rb8 $6 (14... Ke8 $1) 15. Rd1+ (15. Nb6+ $142 Kc7 16. Be3 Bb4+ 17. Ke2 Rbd8 $8 18. Rhc1+ Kb8 19. a3 Be7 20. h3 $1 {forces Black to play very precisely to hold the balance, while White looks to penetrate with a rook on c7.}) 15... Ke8 $8 16. Be3 $1 {Rerouting the bishop to an active diagonal while preventing any ...e3 ideas to let the f5-bishop back into the game.} Bg4 17. Rc1 Bb4+ (17... f5 $5 $11) 18. Bd2 Be7 (18... Bxd2+ 19. Kxd2 f5 $1 20. exf6 gxf6 21. Ke3 $44) 19. h3 Bh5 20. O-O $6 {A strange move, allowing the h5-bishop to return from its exile.} (20. Nb6) (20. Ba5) (20. g4 Bg6 21. Ke2) 20... Be2 21. Rfe1 Bd3 $6 (21... Bb5 $142 22. Rxe4 Bc6 23. Rd4 f6 {and with the board opening for Muzychuk's bishops, she's even a little better.}) 22. Be3 $6 (22. Ba5 $142) 22... b5 (22... Bb5 $142 {was again better, looking to park the bishop on c6 where it neutralizes both the c- and the d-files.}) 23. Nb6 f5 24. Rc6 Kf7 25. Rec1 Rb7 $2 (25... Bd8 $1 {was better, keeping White's rook out of c7.}) 26. Nc8 (26. Rc7 $142 $1 Rxc7 27. Rxc7 Re8 28. Nc8 $18 {wins, the point being that the only obvious way to stop the threatened 29.Nd6+ without giving away the bishop is} Kf8 $4 {, but that only makes things worse after} 29. Nxe7 Rxe7 30. Bc5 $18) 26... Rd7 $2 (26... Bf8 {is horrible, reburying the h8-rook (to remind you, this is the key concept of the 9.dxe5, 10.e4, 11.Bb5 line), but White has no direct win after} 27. h4 Be2 28. Rxa6 h6 $16 {/+-}) 27. Rc7 $18 Rhd8 (27... Rxc7 28. Rxc7 Rxc8 29. Rxc8 a5 30. Rc7 Ke8 31. b3 b4 32. Bc5 $18 {is also hopeless, just in a more slow-motion way.}) 28. Nxe7 $1 Bc4 (28... Rxe7 29. Rxe7+ Kxe7 30. Bg5+ Kd7 31. Bxd8 Kxd8 32. Rc6 $18) 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30. Nc8 Bxa2 31. Nd6+ Kg6 32. Ra1 1-0 [Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.06"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Vaishali, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Salimova, Nurgyul"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2475"] [BlackElo "2432"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [GameId "2043828826266368"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 (9... c6) (9... Re8) 10. Bd4 {Almost a novelty.} (10. Bd3 {is the usual and arguably best move.}) 10... Bd7 $146 (10... Be6 {was played in an earlier game, as well as one played one week after the main game.}) 11. h4 {The attack is coming: Ng5, Bd3, and if Black isn't ready by then she'll get crushed. This is a common approach in the 5.Nc3 Petroff. That said, two alternatives may have been better.} (11. Bd3 $142 c5 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. h4) (11. Rg1 $142 $5 {is a different way of setting up the attack.}) 11... Re8 $6 (11... Ng4 $1 12. Nh2 c5 $1 13. Nxg4 Bxg4 14. f3 Be6 15. Be3 Bxa2 $1 {with the better half of equality.}) 12. Ng5 h6 13. Bd3 (13. Bc4 $1 d5 $8 (13... hxg5 $2 14. hxg5 $18) 14. Bxf6 $1 dxc4 $8 (14... Bxf6 $2 15. Qxd5 Be6 16. Nxe6 Qxd5 17. Bxd5 fxe6 18. Bxb7 Rad8 19. Rd3 $18) 15. Qd5 $1 hxg5 16. hxg5 $1 Bxf6 17. gxf6 Qxf6 18. Qh5 $1 Qf4+ 19. Kb1 Qh6 20. Qxh6 gxh6 21. Rxd7 $14) 13... Ng4 $1 {A good move, but it invites the following sound, strong, and scary sacrifice.} 14. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 15. Bc4+ Kf8 16. Qd3 {A key moment. What should Black do?} Bg5+ $2 (16... Bf6 $1 17. Qh7 $1 Be6 18. Bxe6 Rxe6 19. Qf5 Nxf2 $1 20. Qxf2 (20. Qxe6 Nxh1 21. Rxh1 Qe7 $8 $11) 20... Kg8 21. Qf5 Qe7 22. Bxf6 Qxf6 23. Qb5 b6 $11) 17. Kb1 $2 {A mistake, but only if Black plays the move she rejected on the previous turn.} (17. hxg5 $1 Qxg5+ 18. Kb1 Nf6 (18... Qf5 19. Qg3 $1 Nf6 20. Bd3 Qg5 21. Qxg5 hxg5 22. Bg6 Re7 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Rh8+ $18) (18... Bf5 19. Qf3 c6 20. Bd3 g6 21. Bxf5 gxf5 22. c4 $18) 19. g4 $3 $18 {Taking control over the f5 square, which Black can only regain by taking the pawn and giving White the open g-file. If Black doesn't take it, then White will build.}) 17... Ne5 $2 (17... Bf6 $1 18. Qh7 Be6 19. Bxe6 Rxe6 20. Qf5 Nxf2 21. Bxf2 $14) 18. Bxe5 $18 Bf6 19. Bxd6+ $1 cxd6 20. Qxd6+ Qe7 21. Qxd7 Qxd7 22. Rxd7 {Opposite-colored bishops won't save Black - White's three extra pawns are at least one and probably two too many.} Re4 23. Bd5 Re2 24. Rf7+ Ke8 25. Rxb7 {Four pawns.} Rd8 (25... Rxf2 26. Re1+ Kd8 27. Bc6 Be5 28. a4 $18) 26. Bc4 Red2 27. Re1+ Kf8 28. Kc1 R2d7 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30. g3 Be7 31. h5 Bc5 32. Re5 Bb6 (32... Bxf2 33. Rf5+) 33. a4 1-0 [Event "FIDE Women's Candidates"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.10"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Tan, Zhongyi"] [Black "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D05"] [WhiteElo "2521"] [BlackElo "2520"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [GameId "2043829996813079"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,73,25,26,13,14,15,19,22,23,20,-13,-10,-4,24,-8,3,7,-5,-2,10,-24,-8,-20,0,-1,12,-2,-1,0,10,6,26,18,13,20,14,-29,7,-25,-13,-230,-20,-25,-11,-17,-48,-29,0,-89,-41,-17,38,-79,-28,-2,-16,178,181,137,150,180,180,256,260,0,42,34,34,34,315,346,352,352,1491,1491]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 {The Zukertort System - and don't call it the Zukertort Colle! Zukertort played decades before Colle, and this was his invention.} (5. c3 {is the Colle, a very different kettle of fish. It's far less dangerous than the Zukertort System, though at Tata Steel this year Wei Yi showed that it's not completely without bite.}) 5... Nc6 {The most common, but it's also possible to put the knight on d7 so it won't interfere with the fianchettoed bishop on b7.} 6. O-O b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. Nbd2 Rc8 {There's nothing wrong with developing the f8-bishop and castling, but this hints at ideas like 9...cxd4 10.exd4 Nb4, so Black's not really wasting a tempo that should be spent on kingside development.} (8... Bd6) (8... Be7) 9. a3 Be7 (9... cxd4 {is more usual, and after the universally played} 10. exd4 {Black has three options for the f8-bishop: d6, e7, and the most popular choice in recent years, g7.} g6 11. Qe2 Bg7 12. Ne5 O-O 13. Rac1 Ne7 14. a4 Nf5 15. c3 Re8 16. Ba3 Qc7 17. Rc2 Ne4 18. Bb2 f6 19. Nef3 e5 20. dxe5 Nxd2 21. Qxd2 fxe5 22. Bxf5 gxf5 23. Nh4 f4 24. Nf5 Bf6 25. c4 d4 26. Nh6+ Kh8 27. f3 Rcd8 28. Rcc1 Bc8 29. h3 Qg7 30. Ng4 Bh4 31. Rcd1 h5 32. Nxe5 Rxe5 33. Bxd4 Rxd4 34. Qxd4 Bxh3 35. Rd2 Kh7 36. Rfd1 Bf5 37. b4 Be7 38. Qb2 Re3 39. Qxg7+ Kxg7 40. c5 bxc5 41. bxc5 Bxc5 42. Rd5 Rc3+ 43. Kh2 Kf6 44. a5 Bf2 45. Kh1 Ra3 46. Rd6+ Be6 47. Ra6 Ke5 48. Rc1 h4 49. Rb1 Bc4 50. Rh6 Bg3 51. Rd1 Bd3 52. a6 Bf5 53. Rc1 Kd4 54. Rf6 Bd3 55. Re6 Bxa6 56. Rd6+ Ke3 57. Re6+ Kd2 {0-1 Bluebaum,M (2670)-Carlsen,M (2862) Opera Euro Rapid Prelim chess24.com INT 2021 (3)}) 10. Ne5 (10. dxc5 bxc5 $146 (10... Bxc5 $143 {isn't so appealing for Black, having lost a tempo with the preliminary 9...Be7.} 11. b4 Be7 12. Qe2 $14) 11. c4 {is a decent alternative.}) 10... cxd4 (10... O-O {was better, transposing to a common position - especially if White continues with} 11. f4 {, when there are 201 games in the database.}) 11. exd4 Nxe5 $6 12. dxe5 Nd7 $2 (12... Ne4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bb5+ Bc6 15. Bxc6+ Rxc6 16. Qg4 O-O 17. Qxe4 $14 {White's bishop isn't very good, but a pawn is a pawn.}) 13. Qg4 $16 {/+- Muzychuk's last three moves haven't been very good, and now White has a ready-made kingside attack. White's queen is great, and the e5-pawn keeps Black's defenders off the critical f6 square.} g6 $146 14. b4 $1 {A nice move, preventing Black from playing ...Nc5 or otherwise using the c5 square.} (14. Nf3 $143 Nc5) 14... a5 15. Nf3 O-O 16. Rae1 $6 (16. Rab1 $1 {was apparently better, allowing the rook to take over guard duty from the queen, if necessary, for the b-pawn.}) 16... axb4 17. axb4 Ra8 $2 {This long-winded way of pursuing the b-pawn is a luxury Muzychuk's kingside cannot afford.} (17... d4 $1 {highlights the value of 16.Rab1. In that case White could play 18.Bxd4, no problem. Here it drops b4.}) 18. h4 $1 $18 Ra4 19. h5 $1 ({Muzychuk may have been counting on} 19. c3 $2 {, but then Black has good chances to survive after} Ba6 $1 ({or} 19... Nc5 $5 20. Bb5 $1 {(Otherwise, Black equalizes.)} h5 21. Qf4 Ra2 22. Bc1 Ne4 23. Bd3 $14) 20. Bxa6 h5 $1 21. Qg3 Rxa6 $14) 19... Rxb4 20. Nd4 $1 {Perhaps another surprise, though by this point Black was surely aware of what was happening to her.} g5 (20... Rxb2 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Bxg6 Bh4 {The best try, not that it's adequate.} (22... fxg6 $2 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 24. Qh6+ Kg8 25. Nxe6 $18) 23. Nf3 $1 Bf6 $1 24. exf6 Nxf6 25. Bxf7+ Kxf7 26. Ng5+ Kg8 27. Qxe6+ Kg7 28. Qe5 $1 $18 {A double attack of sorts: White threatens both 29.Qxb2 and 29.Ne6+.}) 21. Bc3 $1 Ra4 22. f4 $1 {Tan's play has been very energetic. With the exception of Black's rook on a4, the rest of her position seems to be stuck in the opening. White, meanwhile, is already building up for the kill.} Qc8 23. Bb2 Nc5 {At last!} 24. f5 $2 {White loses much of her advantage with this move, though she's still just about winning.} (24. fxg5 $1 {may be banal, but it's the best move.} Nxd3 25. cxd3 Qc2 $1 26. Ra1 $1 Bc8 27. Qf4 $1 Qxb2 28. Rxa4 Bd7 29. Ra7 Bc5 30. Kh1 Qxd4 (30... Bxd4 31. Ra8 $1 {ends the game, as Black lacks an adequate defense to the threatened 32.Qxf7+.} f5 {won't help, e.g.} 32. gxf6 Rxa8 33. Qg5+ Kf8 34. Qg7+ Ke8 35. Qe7#) 31. Rxd7 Qxf4 32. Rxf4 Be3 33. Rg4 Rb8 34. g6 $18) (24. Bxh7+ $1 {is good, too.} Kxh7 25. fxg5 Qe8 26. Rf6 $1 Bxf6 27. exf6 $1 {Black is up a rook for a pawn and not facing any immediate threats, and yet she is powerless against the coming g6+ (probably prefaced by Re3).} Bc8 28. Re3 e5 29. g6+ fxg6 (29... Kh6 30. Bc1 $3 Ra1 (30... Bxg4 {allows White to execute either of two unusual mating patterns.} 31. Rh3# (31. Rxe5#)) 31. Qd1 $1 Rxc1 32. Qxc1 Kxh5 33. g7 Rg8 34. Nf3 $18 {Mate or catastrophic material losses will befall Black in the very near future.}) 30. hxg6+ Kg8 31. f7+ Rxf7 32. gxf7+ Kxf7 33. Qh5+ Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7 35. Qxe5+ Be6 36. Nxe6 $18) 24... exf5 25. Bxf5 Qd8 $2 (25... Qe8 $142 {is better for reasons that will soon become clear. Even so, it shouldn't suffice to save the game against best play from White.}) 26. h6 $2 (26. e6 $1 f6 27. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 28. Qf5+ Kh8 29. Qg6 {This would be useless (or worse) with Black's queen on e8. In this situation, it wins. The threat is Nf5.} Rxd4 30. Bxd4 Ne4 31. Rf5 $1 {Threatening Rxe4.} Bc5 32. Rxe4 $1 dxe4 33. Qh6+ Kg8 34. Rxg5+ $1 fxg5 35. Qg7#) 26... Bc8 {Giving White a second chance.} (26... Ne4 $1 27. Be6 $3 {Best, but, to be fair, not White's only winning move.} Ba6 $1 28. Nc6 Qc7 29. Bd7 $1 Bc5+ 30. Kh2 $8 f6 $1 31. Rxe4 $1 Rxe4 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Rxf6 Rg8 34. Qxd5 $18 {Black isn't surviving this. It was her best try though, as several of White's moves, starting with 27.Be6, aren't easy to find.}) 27. e6 $1 f6 28. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 29. Qf5+ Kh8 {Here 30.Qg6 isn't effective, with the pawn on h6, but White has an alternative way to make progress.} 30. Nc6 $1 Qe8 31. Qxg5 Rg8 32. Rxf6 $2 {Natural and aesthetically pleasing, but a big mistake that throws away the win.} (32. Bxf6+ {is boring, but sometimes the boring move is right.} Bxf6 (32... Kh7 33. Qf5+ Qg6 34. Qxg6+ Rxg6 35. Nxe7 $18) 33. Qxf6+ Kh7 34. Qf7+ Qxf7 35. exf7 Rf8 36. Re8 Nd7 37. Ne5 $18 {is finito.}) 32... Bxf6 33. Qxf6+ Kh7 34. Ne7 Re4 $2 (34... Bxe6 $1 {had to be played.} 35. Rxe6 (35. Nxg8 Qxg8 36. Qe7+ Qf7 $1 (36... Bf7 $2 37. Rf1 $1 $18) 37. Rxe6 Qxe7 38. Rxe7+ Kxh6 $11) 35... Nxe6 36. Qf5+ (36. Qxe6 $2 Rg5 $18) 36... Rg6 $8 37. Nxd5 $1 Qf8 38. Nf6+ Qxf6 $8 39. Bxf6 Rf4 $8 40. Qxe6 Rfxf6 $11) 35. Rxe4 (35. Qf5+ $18 {also does the trick.}) 35... Nxe4 36. Nxg8 $5 {Cute.} (36. Qf5+ Kxh6 37. Qf4+ Kh5 38. Bc1 $18) 36... Qxg8 (36... Nxf6 37. Nxf6+ Kxh6 38. Nxe8 Bxe6 39. Bd4 $18 {is an easy win for White, as Black has no genuine hope of swapping off White's remaining pawns while keeping her bishop.}) 37. Qf7+ $1 {The only winning move.} (37. Qf7+ $1 Qxf7 38. exf7 {Black's pieces are just a step too slow to cope with White's f-pawn.}) 1-0