[Event "Cairns Cup"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "2023.06.05"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Mammadzada, Gunay"] [Black "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2456"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackElo "2523"] [BlackTeam "Switzerland"] [Annotator "WGM Tatev Abrahamyan"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C89"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack, Modern Variation"] [StudyName "2023 Cairns Cup"] [ChapterName "Mammadzada, Gunay - Kosteniuk, Alexandra"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/sLZyX0Nq/MC6pKSAW"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,130,9,20,14,8,13,15,11,-8,-11,-16,-6,-44,-22,6,21,-48,-14,14,15,21,17, 33,39,-28,17,8,6,-89,-40,-3,-3,-13,24,2,40,-26,75,-10,186,22,1,1,15,1,206,-24, -23,-23,-5,26,33,22,43,-12,6,5,0,0,1,-8,-1,-34,0,0,0,0,-10,0,-6,-35,0,-31,-15, -55,-42,-56,-43,-34,-43,-43,-43,-43,-43,-21,0,-29,-51,-23,21,-4,16,19,16,16,70, 70,68,57,50,-14,-8,-8,0,0,13,4,14,0,0,0,0,0,0,-3,-9,-6,0,0,0,0,5,5,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0] } { Annotations by WGM Tatev Abrahamyan } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 { The Marshall Attack! We saw Nepomniachtchi come up with some creative ways to avoid playing into line during the recent World Championship match. } 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d3 { There are numerous games between Nakamura and Carlsen in this line from recent months. } 12... Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Re8 (14... Qh4 15. g3 Qh3 16. Nd2 { has been tested against Carlsen by Nakamura in three games, all of which ended in a draw. The general consensus is that this line is perfectly fine for Black. }) 15. Rxe8+ Qxe8 16. Nd2 Qe1+ 17. Nf1 Bg6 18. g3 b4 { Clearly, Kosteniuk came to the game well-prepared, blitzing out all of these moves. All of this has been played before over 40 times. } 19. Ba4 $146 { This move looks extremely natural to me, as White tries to solve her problems. White is up a pawn but has issues with her tied-down pieces on the first rank. If she manages to trade queens or chase away Black's queen from her first rank, she can enjoy being up a healthy pawn. } (19. c4 { is the most popular move here. } 19... Nf6 20. Qxc6 Rd8 21. Qb6 Rd7 22. Bc2 Ng4 { leads to a dynamic position where Black is down two pawns but has a lot of counterplay against White's king and her awkwardly placed pieces. } 23. Rb1 Qe2 24. Bd2 Ne5 25. Qe3 Qh5 26. Bd1 Qf5 27. Be2 f6 28. b3 Bc5 29. Qf4 Qxf4 30. Bxf4 Nxd3 31. Bxd3 Rxd3 32. Re1 Bd4 33. Kg2 Kf7 34. Re2 Rd1 35. Rd2 Rxd2 36. Nxd2 Bc3 37. Kf3 Bxd2 38. Bxd2 Bb1 39. Bxb4 Bxa2 { 1/2-1/2 (39) Perez Ponsa, F (2589)-Matlakov,M (2691) Chess. com INT 2016 }) (19. h4 h5 20. c4 Nf6 21. Bd1 Re8 22. Bd2 Qe5 23. Rc1 Bc5 24. a3 a5 25. axb4 axb4 26. Rc2 Ng4 27. Ne3 Qd6 28. Nxg4 hxg4 29. Qxg4 Bh5 30. Qxh5 Qxg3+ 31. Kh1 Qxf2 { 0-1 (31) Ivanchuk,V (2720) -Svidler,P (2745) Reykjavik 2015 }) 19... bxc3 { After taking her first think of the game (20 minutes), Kosteniuk goes for complications. The engine hates this move, but it requires very precise calculation to punish it. } (19... Rc8 20. cxb4 (20. Bxc6 Nf6 { this is a funny sequence but now that the bishop on c6 hangs, ... Rc8xc6 followed by ... Bg6-d3 or even ... Bg6-h5 immediately become huge threats. }) 20... Nxb4 21. Qd1 Qxd1 22. Bxd1 Nxd3 $15) 20. Bxc6 Nb4 21. Bxa8 Bxd3 22. Qg2 { The most natural move in the position. } (22. h4 { is the engine's preferred move. } 22... Qxf1+ 23. Kh2 Nc2 { I think this is what White was afraid of. The rook hangs and the knight is threatening to go both to d4 and e1 with huge attack. However, White has a brilliant counterattack. } 24. Bd5 Bg6 25. Bf4!! Qxa1 26. Bxd6 { with the threat of Bd5xf7 and checkmate! } 26... Qe1 (26... cxb2?? 27. Bxf7+ Bxf7 28. Qa8+ Be8 29. Qxe8#) 27. bxc3 $16 { White remains up a pawn and with the bishop pair. }) 22... c2! { What a great move! White cannot move but unfortunately for Black, she has enough resources to survive. } 23. a3 Na2! { An aesthetically pleasing move. } 24. Rxa2 Qxc1 25. b4 { The only way for White to survive; she has to give up the rook for the pawn. } (25. Bd5 { Any other move, such as this one, loses on the spot. } 25... Bxf1 26. Qxf1 Qxf1+ 27. Kxf1 c1=Q+) 25... Qb1 26. Rxc2 Qxc2 27. Qc6 Qb1 28. Qe8+ Bf8 29. Bg2 Bb5 { White found a way to free her queen, but her pieces are tied down. If Black manages to win the a3-pawn, the b4-pawn will fall as a result. However, Black can only capture on a3 with the queen, which means the queen will have to move from the first rank. This will give White the chance to play Bg2-d5 and attack f7. } 30. Qd8 Qa1 31. Qc7 g6 32. h3 Qd1 33. Qc3 h5 34. Qf3 Qa1 35. g4 h4 { The game went on for a long time, but I don't think Black ever had any realistic chances. } 36. Qe3 Bg7 37. Qf4 Be5 38. Qg5 Bf6 39. Qf4 Be5 40. Qg5 Bc3 41. Qh6 Bf6 42. Qf4 Kg7 43. g5 Be5 44. Qxh4 Qxa3 45. Bd5 Qd3 46. Ne3 Bd6 47. Kg2 Kg8 48. Qg4 Qc3 49. Qe4 Kf8 50. Nc2 Qd3 51. Qxd3 Bxd3 52. Bb3 Bxc2 53. Bxc2 Bxb4 54. f4 Bd2 55. Kf3 Kg7 56. Kg4 f6 57. gxf6+ Kxf6 58. h4 Bc1 59. f5 gxf5+ 60. Bxf5 Bd2 61. Bd7 a5 62. Ba4 Bc1 63. Bd7 Bd2 64. Ba4 Bc1 65. Bd7 Bd2 { A tremendous effort by Kosteniuk. } 1/2-1/2