[Event "Cairns Cup"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.06.11"] [Round "8"] [White "Dronavalli, Harika"] [Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2510"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackElo "2510"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [Annotator "WGM Begim Tokhirjonova"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E04"] [Opening "Catalan Opening: Open Defense"] [StudyName "2023 Cairns Cup"] [ChapterName "Dronavalli, Harika - Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/sLZyX0Nq/Ah07OjzT"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,125,19,31,14,-14,-11,0,0,-24,-13,-13,5,-5,40,13,62,-57,35,-24,95,32, 47,31,31,31,53,42,31,-1,-3,-8,2,6,35,4,6,-3,-4,-1,-4,0,-3,-15,-18,-61,-66,-54, -43,-102,-90,-87,-82,-93,-128,-124,-129,-111,-123,-121,-125,-116,-133,-196, -153,-209,-126,-138,-105,-79,-90,-90,-90,-110,-128,-107,-113,-121,-145,-145, -46,-74,-59,-71,-71,-70,-95,-88,-79,-79,-47,-52,-52,-52,-52,-52,-36,-37,-38, -66,-57,-66,0,-48,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] } { Annotations by WGM Begim Tokhirjonova } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c6 6. a4 b5?! { A weird move, but played by some strong grandmasters. The main line goes } (6... Bb4+ 7. Bd2 a5) 7. Ne5 Nd5 8. Nc3?! { Instead of 8. ... Bb4, Black has an interesting option and an excellent chance to take over the game. Can you guess? } (8. O-O! Bb7 9. axb5 cxb5 10. b3 cxb3 11. Qxb3 Nc6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. e4 $16 { was simply good for White. }) 8... Bb4 (8... f6! 9. Nf3 b4 10. Nb1 (10. Ne4 a5 11. O-O Nd7 $17) 10... a5 11. e4 Nb6 $13) 9. O-O O-O 10. axb5 Bxc3 { The second crucial moment. What would you play here? } 11. e4 { Harika chose to play 11. e4 which led to an equal postion. } (11. bxc3 { would be the right move. } 11... Nxc3 12. Qc2 Nxb5 13. e3 { Black has a lousy pawn structure, and the pieces are also poorly placed. }) 11... Bb4 12. exd5 cxd5 13. Nxc4 Bd7 14. Qa4 a5 15. Bf4 Ra7 16. Ne5 Qe8 17. Nxd7 Nxd7 18. Qc2 Rb7 19. Rfc1 Rxb5 20. Bf1 Rb7 21. Qc6 Qa8 22. Ba6 Rb6 23. Qxa8 Rxa8 24. Bc8 Nf6 25. Rc2 h6 26. f3 Bd6 27. Be5 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Nh7 29. Bd7 Nf8 30. Ba4 g5 31. f4 Ng6 32. Rf2 Rc8 33. Bc2 Rxb2 34. Bxg6 Rxf2 35. Kxf2 fxg6 36. Rxa5 gxf4 37. gxf4 g5 38. Ra6 Kf7 39. f5 Re8 40. Ke3 exf5 41. Kd4 Re6 42. Ra7+ Re7 43. Ra6 Kg7 44. Kxd5 f4 45. Ke4 Rf7 46. Kf3 Re7 47. Ke4 Rb7 48. h4 Rf7 49. hxg5 hxg5 50. Kf3 Kf8 51. Kg4 Ke7 52. Kxg5 f3 53. Ra1 Ke6 54. Kg4 Kxe5 55. Kg3 Ke4 56. Kf2 Kf4 57. Ra4+ Kg5 58. Rb4 Rf4 59. Rb8 Rf5 60. Rb4 Rf4 61. Rb8 Rf5 62. Rb4 Rf4 63. Rb8 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2