[Event "FIDE Women's World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2023.08.21"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Salimova, Nurgyul"] [Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2403"] [BlackElo "2557"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D02"] [Opening "Queen's Pawn Game: London System"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/QLPThvQV/dkJT0ore"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 Bf5 7. Bb5 e6 8. Ne5 Qb6 9. c4 dxc4 10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Ndxc4 Qb5 12. a4 Qb7 13. O-O Nd5 14. Bd2 Be7 15. b3 Rc8 16. Rc1 c5?! (16... O-O 17. Na5 Qa6 18. Rxc6 Rxc6 19. Naxc6 Bd6 20. b4 { does not look like Black has much compensation for the pawn. } 20... Bxe5 21. Nxe5 Qb7 22. b5 a6 { But, okay, it is just an isolated pawn now, and the d-pawn is also vulnerable, and there are opposite colored bishops. This is one of those "hindsight helps" positions. There is not sufficient compensation. But it's better than the alternative! }) 17. Na5 (17. dxc5 { first was more accurate: } 17... Bxc5 18. b4 Be7 19. b5 { with the rooks on, keeping Black cramped. }) 17... Qa6 (17... Qa8! 18. dxc5 Rxc5 19. Rxc5 Bxc5 20. b4 Bb6 21. b5 { does not come with tempo now, which is the difference between Black's unpleasant position here and almost-losing position in the game. }) 18. dxc5 Rxc5 19. Rxc5 Bxc5 20. b4 Bb6 21. b5 Qc8 22. Nac6 O-O 23. Qf3 f6 24. Nc4 Bc5? (24... Qd7 { was passive, but more accurate. The queen is misplaced on c8. }) 25. Be3!! { This move, to me, is nothing short of stunning. Strategically, we never want to enter two-bishops versus two-knights, especially with a wide open center. But, on deeper analysis, all of the tactics favor the knights. Salimova saw this very quickly. } 25... Nxe3 (25... Bxe3 26. Nxe3! Qd7 27. Nxd5 exd5 28. Qxf5! Qxf5 29. Ne7+ { was the point. }) 26. Nxe3! { The point. White threatens Rf1-c1 with Nc6-e7+ as a follow-up. } 26... Kh8 (26... Bxe3 { is off limits: } 27. Ne7+) (26... Bg6 27. Rc1 $18) 27. Nxf5 exf5 28. Qd5 { Played quickly and confidently, Black's position is in shambles and, once the a-pawn falls, this should be a straightforward win. } 28... Bb6 29. a5 Bc7 30. Nxa7 Qb8 (30... Bxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Qc7+ 32. Kg1 Qxa7 33. b6 { is even cleaner for White. }) 31. Nc6 Bxh2+ 32. Kh1 Qf4 { Black's last chance is to go for complications along the h-file. } 33. Qf3 { Imprecise, but intuitive. } (33. Nd4! { is the computer's suggestion. Black's queen doesn't have any good squares on the h-file, as h4 gets hit with tempo by Nd4-f3, h6 gets hit by Nd4xf5, and if the queen ever lands on h5, White has Qd5-f3! } 33... Qh6 (33... Qh4 34. Nf3 $18) 34. Nxf5 Qh5 35. Qf3 $18) 33... Qh4 34. Qh3 Qc4 35. Kxh2? { Unnecessary! It's hard to push pawns with only a knight backing them up. Additionally, the king is about to enter enemy airspace. } (35. Rb1! { At first, I thought that White made the mistake of beginning to calculate Kh1xh2 first before asking whether it was necessary, and missed this 'simple' solution. } 35... Bc7 { But now it's apparent that Black has some tricks. For instance: } 36. a6? (36. Kg1 { is the only way to avoid these complications. } 36... Re8 37. Qxf5) 36... Re8 37. a7?? (37. Qxf5 Qh4+ 38. Qh3 (38. Kg1?? Qh2+ 39. Kf1 Qh1#) 38... Qxf2 { Black threatens mate, and only } 39. Ne7! h6 40. a7! Qxa7 41. Qd7 Rd8 42. Ng6+ Kh7 43. Qf5 { keeps White fighting for a draw. }) 37... Qxb5! { In hindsight, maybe Rf1-b1 was not so simple. }) 35... Qxf1 36. Qxf5 Qc4 37. a6 g6 38. Qd7? { Any chances of winning are gone, as Black now has a perpetual. } 38... Qf4+ 39. Kg1 Qc1+ 40. Kh2 Qf4+ 41. Kg1 Qc1+ 42. Kh2 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2