[Event "FIDE Women's Candidates Chess Tournament"] [Site "Toronto"] [Date "2024.04.09"] [Round "5"] [White "Vaishali, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Muzychuk, Anna"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2475"] [BlackElo "2520"] [Annotator "IM Robert Shlyakhtenko"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C50"] [Opening "Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Normal"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Mez4h4WA/G5p9PdcW"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by IM Robert Shlyakhtenko } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Bg5 d6 6. c3 h6 7. Bh4 a5 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. a4 Qe7 10. O-O g5 11. Bg3 O-O (11... Bd7!? { , intending queenside castling, is more ambitious. }) 12. Re1 Bg4 (12... g4? { fails to the standard idea } 13. Bh4! gxf3 14. Qxf3 Kg7 15. Nf1 $16) 13. Nf1 Bh5 14. Ne3 Bxe3 15. Rxe3 Kg7 16. Qb3 Nd8 17. h3 (17. d4?! Bxf3!) (17. Nd2! { Speed is of the essence, since if Black has time to reorganize her pieces, there will be nothing fundamentally wrong with her position. With this move White aims for d3-d4 without wasting time on h2-h3. } 17... Nd7 18. d4 f6 19. f3 Nb6 20. Bd3 Ne6 21. Ree1! exd4 22. cxd4 Nxd4 23. Qc3 Ne6 24. Nf1 { with a strong initiative. }) 17... Nd7 18. d4 f6 19. Nd2 Nb6 20. Ree1 Bf7 { Trading off White's bishop pair. Black no longer has any serious problems. } 21. Bxf7 Qxf7 22. Qxf7+ Rxf7 23. f3 (23. d5!? { was worth considering, playing against the knight on d8. }) 23... Ne6 24. Nb3?! (24. Bf2! { was better, not allowing the invasion of the knight on c4. }) 24... Nc4 25. Re2 Ra6! { Most likely underestimated by Vaishali. White must defend carefully now. } 26. d5 Nf4 27. Bxf4 gxf4 28. Nc1 Kf8 29. Nd3 Rg7 30. b3 Nb6 (30... Ne3!? 31. g4 c6 { was possibly stronger. }) 31. c4 Nd7 32. Rc1?! (32. Rc2! b6 33. b4! { creates just enough counterplay. } 33... axb4 34. Nxb4 Ra8 35. Rca2) 32... b6 33. Kf1 Ke7 34. g4! { Exploiting the closed nature of the position. White gives up a pawn, but is able to create a fortress. } 34... fxg3 35. f4! h5 36. f5 h4 37. Kg2 Rg8 38. Rc3 Raa8 39. Ne1 Nc5 40. Nd3 Rac8 41. Nxc5? { However, this move, played after only two minutes of thought, is a shocker. Why create an additional open file for Black's pieces? } (41. Ne1 c6 42. dxc6 Rxc6 43. Nc2! { was the correct defense. Black's only winning try is to advance ... d6-d5 at the right moment, so White needs to remaneuver her knight to prevent this. Of the currently available squares, b5 is the best. Black can continue to prepare ... d6-d5, but a draw is the most probable result. }) 41... dxc5 (41... bxc5 { also wins. A sample line is } 42. Ree3 Rb8 43. Rf3 Kf7 44. Rfe3 Kg7 45. Rf3 Kh6 46. Rfe3 Rb4 47. Rf3 Rgb8 48. Rfe3 Kg5 49. Rf3 R8b6 50. Rfe3 c6 51. dxc6 Rxc6 52. Rf3 Rcb6 53. Rce3 Rb8 54. Rc3 d5! { and Black breaks through. }) 42. Rd3 Rcd8 43. Red2 Rd6 44. Rd1 Rgd8 45. Kf3 c6 46. R1d2 cxd5? { Black makes the last mistake in this endgame. Instead of releasing the tension, Muzychuk could have played } (46... b5! 47. cxb5 cxb5 48. Rc2 Rc8 49. Rdc3 bxa4 50. bxa4 Rb6 51. Rxc5 Rxc5 52. Rxc5 Rb2! { and White cannot prevent ... Rb2-f2+ followed by ... Rf2-f1-h1. }) 47. exd5 Rg8 48. Rg2 Rg5 { after the forced 49. Ke4 Black has no winning tries left. } 1/2-1/2