[Event "Women's Candidates"] [Site "Toronto"] [Date "2024.04.14"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Vaishali, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Tan, Zhongyi"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2475"] [WhiteTeam "IND"] [BlackElo "2521"] [BlackTeam "CHN"] [Annotator "GM Eugene Perelshteyn"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B22"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Mez4h4WA/QbW1hRVm"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by GM Eugene Perelshteyn } 1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. d4 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 { This pawn structure is very common in the Exchange French. } 5... a6 6. Bd3 c4 7. Bc2 Bd6 8. O-O Ne7 9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 O-O { Black has obtained a comfortable position and just needs to finish her development to claim full equality. } 11. Ng5!? { Vaishali, sensing that she's about to lose initiative, launches a probing knight jump to induce some weaknesses around Black's king. } 11... g6 (11... Bf5 { is also fine } 12. Bxf5 Nxf5 13. Qh5 h6 { and White runs out of attacking resources. }) 12. Qf3 { Perhaps a bit too straight-forward, as this and the next move don't really create any threats against Black. } (12. Na3 { with the idea Na3-b5 is a typical plan here. }) 12... Qc7 13. h4 { White is desperately trying to create an attack, but Black is rock solid. } 13... Nbc6 14. Ba3 Kg7! { A strong reaction from Tan, as her king protects the key dark squares. } 15. Re1 h5! { Another solid move, preparing ... Bc8-g4. } 16. c4? { Now White must have miscalculated something as she gives up the d4-pawn. } (16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. Nh3! Bg4 18. Qf4! { It's time for White to circle the wagons and seek equality at this point. }) 16... f6! { A nice intermezzo! } 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. c5 Qc7 19. Nh3 Nxd4 { And just like that, White is totally lost! } 20. Qe3 Nxc2 21. Qxe7+ Rf7 { A tough loss for Vaishali but a great win for Tan, who's back in the driver's seat by claiming clear first again! } 0-1