[Event "2026 Fide Womens Chess Olympiad"] [Site "https://www.chess.com/events/"] [Date "2026.09.16"] [Round "1.23"] [White "Abrahamyan, Tatev"] [Black "De la Riva Real, Ariadna"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2347"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackElo "1792"] [BlackTeam "Andorra"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "?"] [Opening "?"] [StudyName "46th FIDE Olympiad"] [ChapterName "Abrahamyan, Tatev - De la Riva Real, Ariadna"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/ulKC991v/G4aoD8hz"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/ChessLifeOnline"] [FEN "8/4k3/3b2p1/1K1Bp2p/2p1P2P/2P3P1/5B2/1n6 b - - 0 50"] [SetUp "1"] [Orientation "white"] { Tatev's opponent has defended heroically for most of the game , but experience, patience, and a bit of luck were certainly going to be important factors at this point! The result is a very instructive endgame. In the following position, Black should have allowed a trade of c-pawns. Generally, the weaker side has better drawing chances with fewer pawns on the board. This is no exception. } 50... Na3+?? { This allows the knight to be trapped. } (50... Nxc3+! { would have allowed Black to create some kind of fortress as follows: } 51. Kxc4 Ne2 52. Bc6 Nd4! { The knight on d4 keeps Black safe, as capturing it would lead to a drawish opposite-colored bishop endgame. } 53. Bb7 (53. Bxd4 exd4 54. Kxd4 Bxg3 $10) 53... Ne6 { Now, Black can just shuffle the knight back and forth between here and d4, and I am unable to find a plan for White. }) 51. Kc6 Nb1 52. Be1! { The right way to restrict the knight! } (52. Be3? Ba3! (52... Nxc3?? 53. Bg5+ $18 { [%cal Gc6d6] }) 53. Bg5+ Ke8 54. Bf6 Nxc3 $10 { escapes with excellent chances to hold. }) 52... Na3 (52... Ba3 53. Kb5 Bd6 54. Kxc4 { [%cal Gc4b3] } 54... Na3+ 55. Kb3 Nb5 56. Bf2 $18 { may have saved the knight, but not the game, as the c-pawn is decisive. }) 53. Bd2 Bb8 54. Kb7 Bd6 55. Kc6 Bb8 56. Be3 { White took advantage of the repetition to gain some extra time. Now it's time to find a way to further infiltrate Black's territory en route to picking up some material. } 56... Nb1 57. Bxc4 (57. Bc5+ { would hold on to the c3 pawn as follows: } 57... Ke8 58. Bb4 Ba7 (58... Nd2?? { loses the bishop after } 59. Kb7 $18) 59. Bxc4 Nd2 60. Bd3 Bf2 61. c4 Nf3 62. c5 $18 { and White's c-pawn should be much faster than Black's kingside pawns even after White's g- and h-pawns drop off. }) 57... Nxc3 { Black is still in trouble, but eliminating White's passed c-pawn removes one of White's most dangerous winning plans. } 58. Bd3 (58. Bc5+ { first would have helped attempt to win Black's b8-bishop: } 58... Kd8 59. Bd3 $18 { Now that Black's knight is restricted, White can prepare either to try to trap the bishop on b8 or the knight on c3. }) 58... Ke6 59. Bd2?? { This gives away the win as it allows Black's knight to escape. } (59. Bc5! { would have led to a similar position as shown above. } 59... Na4 60. Bb4 Nb2 61. Bc2 { and Black is is zugzwang and would lose a piece. White threatens Kc6-b7, if Black's king moves. But } 61... Ba7 62. Bc5 Bb8 63. Ba3 Nc4 64. Bb3 { wins a piece, while trading bishops on c5 is a lost endgame for Black. }) 59... Nd1 60. Bc4+ Ke7?? (60... Kf6 { Black needs to be careful. The king should not be so exposed to White's bishops! } 61. Be2 Nf2 62. Kd5 Nh1! 63. Be1 { The knight seems trapped, but there is a way out after } 63... Ba7 $10 { and Black should be able to bring the knight back into play and hold. }) 61. Bb4+! { White is back on the way to keep Black's knight restricted. } 61... Kd8 62. Bd6 Ne3 63. Bf7?? { The problem with this decision is that White will now have only a light-squared bishop and the h-pawn promotes on a dark square, giving Black extra drawing resources involving sacrificing the knight! } (63. Bxb8 { may have helped White win in an easier fashion, but I understand wanting to keep the light-squared bishop for an easy attack against Black's backwards g6-pawn. } 63... Nxc4 64. Kd5 { The nice thing for White is that once the e-pawn is captured, White's king will be able to infiltrate on f6 and win the g- and h-pawns without giving up any of their own, as the dark-squared bishop will cover the g3-pawn! }) 63... Bxd6 { These next moves are natural for both sides, trading off as many pawns as possible. } 64. Kxd6 Nf1 65. Bxg6 Nxg3 66. Kxe5 Ke7 { The king on e7 is perfectly placed on a square that White cannot ever control. As long as Black manages to give up the knight for the e-pawn, the king should be able to make it to h8 and hold the draw! } 67. Kf4 Ne2+ (67... Nxe4! { Black's choice in the game can still hold, but this is a very simple trick: } 68. Bxe4 Kf7 69. Kg5 Kg7 $10 { Black's king reaches the corner and, with it, a theoretical draw! }) 68. Kf3 Nd4+ 69. Ke3 Ne6 70. Bxh5 { Now that Black lost the h-pawn, things are a bit more difficult. But Black's drawing mechanism should be the same: sacrifice the knight for the e-pawn and race to h8 with the king. } 70... Kf6 71. Bg4 Nd8 72. Kd4 Nf7 73. Kd5 Nh6?? { The mistake that loses the game! } (73... Ne5 { By keeping the king on f6, Black's knight could keep finding its way back to the safely guarded e5-square. For instance: } 74. Bf5 Nf3 75. h5 Kg5 76. Bg6 Kf6 $10) 74. e5+?? { White gives up the chance to win one more time! } (74. Be6! { restricts the knight to win the game as follows: } 74... Ke7 75. Ke5 Kf8 76. Kf6 { Now White's king makes its way to win the knight or, at least, trade it off without losing the e-pawn. Just kidding! There is one more attempt to save the game with a neat stalemate trick: } 76... Nf7 { but after } 77. Bb3 { the two extra pawns are enough to win. } (77. Bxf7?? $10)) 74... Ke7?? { Black misses the chance to draw with } (74... Kg6! 75. Bd1 (75. h5+ Kg5 76. e6 Nxg4 $10 { followed by Nf6 }) (75. e6 Nxg4 $10) 75... Kg7 { It is not easy, but with only moves, Black should still be able to hold: } 76. e6 Kf6 77. Kd6 Nf7+! 78. Kd7 Ne5+ 79. Kd6 Nf7+ $10) 75. Be6 Ke8 76. Kd6 Kd8 77. h5 Ke8 78. Bd7+ Kf8 79. Bb5?? (79. Be6! { was the only way to win. } 79... Ke8 { White needs to maneuver with the king in order to put Black in zugzwang. } 80. Kc6 Ke7 81. Kd5 Kd8 82. Ke4 Ke7 83. Bc4 Ng4 84. Kf4 Nxe5 85. Kxe5 Kf8 86. Kf6! $18 { This is one of those important domination positions where White has been able to restrict Black's king from making it in front of the pawn and is now winning! }) 79... Nf5+?? (79... Nf7+! { Black misses the chance to win the e-pawn and draw once again! } 80. Ke6 Nxe5 81. Kxe5 Kg7 $10) 80. Kd5 (80. Kd7! Nd4 81. h6 Nxb5 82. e6 { and Black cannot stop both the e and h-pawns. }) 80... Ke7 81. Bd3 Nh6 82. Bg6?? (82. Kd4 { White has to get back to the previous position to win. }) 82... Ng8?? (82... Ng4! 83. e6 Ne3+ 84. Ke5 Nc4+ 85. Kf5 Nd6+ $10 { and White cannot avoid the perpetual checks if she wants to keep the e-pawn. }) 83. Ke4! { From here on it is all over. It was certainly an endgame with mistakes on both sides, but, at the end of the day, this result delivered the first of two 4–0 victories for the women's team! } 83... Nh6 84. Kf4 Ng8 85. Kg5 Ke6 86. Bh7 Ne7 87. h6 Kf7 88. Be4 Kg8 89. Kf6 Nc8 90. Bb7 Nb6 91. e6 Nc4 92. e7 Nd6 93. Bd5+ Kh7 94. Ke6 Ne8 95. Bc6 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0