1.e4c52.Nf3e63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nc65.Nc3Qc76.Qd3!?Nxd4This is Black's attempt to punish White for wasting a tempo with her previous move, but generally the queen is quite happy on d4 in the Taimanov.6...a67.Nxc6bxc68.Qg3This is the main idea behind White's 6. Qd3. The endgame can be annoying for Black as White has the simple idea of the kingside expansion with g3-g4-g5.Qxg39.hxg3d510.g4Nf611.g5Nxe412.Nxe4dxe413.Rh4⩲with an advantage in Tari – Drygalov, St. Petersburg, 2018.6...Nf67.Ndb5Qb88.Qg3White still goes for this queen maneuver.d69.Be3a610.Nd4Transposing to a curious Scheveningen where White's queen happens to be on g3.7.Qxd4a68.Be3b59.a4...As White is not committed to queenside castling yet, she uses the flexibility to play on the queenside.9....b410.Na2Nf6?!Black shouldn't give up this pawn.10...Rb811.Qa7!?White can continue trying to prove something on the queenside.Qxa712.Bxa7Ra813.Bd4Nf614.f3⩲Less accurate is10...a5as it leaves a big hole on b5.11.c3bxc312.Nxc3Followed by Nc3-b5.10...Qxc211.Nxb4Qc712.Nd3This is similar to the game, but White maintains the advantage and the initiative, as her queenside pawns can start moving quickly and she will get an additional tempo with Ra1-c1 in the future. The black queen doesn't have a safe home.11.Nxb4Bb712.f3...This safe move also happens to be a novelty in this already rare position.12.e5Bxb4+13.Qxb4Nd514.Qd4Qxc215.Bd3Nxe316.Qxe3Qc6and a draw was agreed in Spyropoulos – Banikas, Paleochora, 2020.12....a5Not all tempo moves are good tempos. This only helps White to bring the knight home from the awkward b4-square where it was loose.12...d5Black should just play normally. White has a lot of work
ahead to convert the pawn advantage. There is some compensation for Black on the queenside with the open files. In this variation, she gets to finish her development and quickly castle.13.e5Nd714.Nd3Be7(14...Qxc2?Grabbing the pawn is still bad:15.Rc1Qb316.Rc3Qa2Again, the queen stays out of the game.17.Be2+−)15.c3O-O13.Nd3Qxc2Understandably, Black didn't want to stay down a pawn out of the opening.14.Rc1Qb315.Rc3Bb4The only move.15...Qa216.Nc1Qa117.Bb5This looks hopeless for Black as the queen will remain out of the game.16.Nxb4Qxb417.Bb5!Qxd417...Qxb2??18.Rc8+Rxc819.Qxb2+−17...O-O18.Qxb4axb419.Rb3Winning the pawn18.Bxd4...White has a devastating advantage. She has the more active pieces, the bishop pair and a two-versus-one pawn advantage on the
queenside, which will allow her to quickly create a passed pawn that will march down the board with the assistance of the bishop pair. From here on, Alexandra played extremely accurately to convert the advantage without any issues.18....O-O19.Kd2d619...Rfc8Black can't challenge the c-file:20.Rxc8+Bxc8(20...Rxc821.Rc1White is happy to trade all the rooks, as that will mean that the a-pawn falls.Rxc122.Kxc1+−There is no way for Black to deal with Bd4-c3 or Bd4-b6.)21.Rc120.Rc7Rfb820...Rab821.Ba7+−21.Rhc1e522.Bc3h623.Ke3...Changing gears and going after the d6-pawn.23....d524.Bxe5dxe425.Bxf6gxf626.fxe4...White is now up a pawn yet the fact that Black can't move any of her pieces is her biggest problem.26....Bc827.Rf1Ba628.Rf5!...Kosteniuk shows good technique by keeping control of the position.28.Rxf6Bxb529.axb5Rxb530.Rfxf7Rxb2This still should be winning for White, but now the black pieces are active.28....Rb629.Rc6Rxc630.Bxc6Rb831.Bb5Rb632.Rc5Re633.Bc6...The bishop is headed to a better square.33....Bf134.g3Kg735.Bd5Rb636.b31-0 White wins.1-0