[Event "Women's Candidates"] [Site "Toronto"] [Date "2024.04.15"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"] [Black "Lei, Tingjie"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2553"] [WhiteTeam "FID"] [BlackElo "2550"] [BlackTeam "CHN"] [Annotator "GM Eugene Perelshteyn"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A50"] [Opening "Slav Indian"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Mez4h4WA/IGMIV0PG"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by GM Eugene Perelshteyn } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Bb5 e6 8. Nf3 Nd7! { A good defensive setup from Lei as White wanted to play Nf3-e5. } 9. O-O Rc8 10. Ne5?! { This plays right into Black's plan. } (10. Qb3 { maintains some pressure, but the position is about even. }) 10... Ndxe5 11. Bxe5 a6! { Forcing White to give up her bishop pair. } 12. Bxc6+ Rxc6 13. Rc1 f6 14. Bg3 Be7 15. Na4 Rxc1 16. Qxc1 Kf7 17. Qc3 h5 18. h3 h4 19. Bh2 Qd7 { Lei should be happy here. She has the bishop pair and a nice pawn structure. Goryachkina decides to sacrifice a pawn for initiative. } 20. Nb6! Qb5 21. Qc7! Qxb2 22. Bd6 Re8 { White has enough compensation to maintain equality but not more. } 23. Rc1? { A logical move, but a blunder. } (23. a4 a5 24. Bc5 { keeps the balance. }) 23... Kg6! 24. Bxe7 Rxe7 { Now the rook on c1 hangs and White can't take on e7. } 25. Qc5 (25. Qxe7 Qxc1+ 26. Kh2 Qc2 $19) 25... Kh6 26. a4? { This is a serious strategic mistake as Black is able to fix the pawn on a light square. } (26. a3 { gives White good chances to hold. }) 26... a5! { Fixing the pawn on a4. } 27. Nc8 Rd7 28. Qc3 Qb4 29. Qc5 Kh7 30. Qa7 Qd2 31. Qc5 Bd3? { Black forces the trade of rooks with this move, but she loses a big chuck of her advantage. } (31... Qb4 $17) (31... Qb2 $17) 32. Nb6 Rd6 33. Qxd6 Qxc1+ 34. Kh2 Bf5 35. Nd7 { The perfect example of how queen-and-knight can outplay queen-and-bishop. White starts to have annoying threats against Black's king. } 35... Qc2 36. Nf8+ Kh6 37. f3? (37. Nxe6! Qxf2 38. Qxd5) 37... Qf2 38. Qf4+ g5! 39. Qc7 Qg3+ { Black enters the winning bishop-versus-knight endgame. } 40. Qxg3 hxg3+ 41. Kxg3 e5 42. e4 dxe4 43. fxe4 Bc8 { This is making her job much more difficult now. } (43... Bxe4! 44. dxe5 f5! { should be easily winning as the e-pawn can be stopped with ... Be4-c6. }) 44. d5 Kg7 45. Ne6+ Kf7 46. Kf2 b6 47. g3 Bd7 48. h4 gxh4 49. gxh4 Bxa4 50. h5 Bb5 51. Ke3 a4 52. h6 Kg6 53. Kd2 Kxh6 54. d6 Kh5 55. Nf8 Kg5 56. d7 Bxd7 57. Nxd7 a3 58. Kc2 b5 59. Kb3 b4 { A fascinating endgame. The engine is screaming that it's a draw with almost any move, but good luck figuring this out OTB with the clock ticking. } 60. Ka2 f5 61. Nxe5? { The losing move! } (61. exf5 Kxf5 62. Nc5 e4 63. Na6! { is one possible way to make a draw, but good luck figuring this out OTB. } 63... e3 64. Nxb4 e2 65. Nc2) 61... Kf4 62. Nd3+ Kxe4 63. Nxb4 f4 { And it turns out that the knight can't stop the f-pawn. } 64. Na6 f3 65. Nc5+ Ke3 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1