Democratic Underground - Pähtz - Cioara, Round 7

Elisabeth Pähtz
Photo: Frank Hoppe, Wikipedia

Elisabeth Pähtz (Eppingen) - Andrei-Nestor Cioara (Trier)
Bundesliga 0910, Round 7
Eppingen, 16 October 2009

Closed French Game: Nimzovich Defense (Winawer Defense)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7

If 6...Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 then:

If 8.Qb1 c4 then:

If 9.Ne2 then:

If 9...f6 10.exf6 Nxf6 then:

If 11.Ng3 Nc6 12.Be2 0-0 13.0-0 Bd7 then:

14.Qxb7 Qxc2 15.Bg5 Na5 16.Qc7 Qa4 17.Rae1 Nb3 18.Bf3 Rac8 19.Qd6 Rc6 20.Qb4 Ra6 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.Nh5 Rf7 23.Qb8+ Rf8 24.Qe5 Rf7 draw (D. King-S. Williams, GMT, Birmingham, 2000).
14.Re1 b6 15.Bg5 Rae8 16.Qd1 h6 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 18.Bg4 g6 19.Qd2 Kg7 20.h4 Qa5 21.h5 g5 is equal (P. Smirnov-Rustemov, Russian Ch, Krasnodar, 2002).

If 11.g3 Nc6 12.Bg2 0-0 13.0-0 b6 then:

14.Bf4 Bd7 15.Qb2 Rae8 16.Rae1 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nd4 Nf7 is equal (Pérez-Jacimovic, Euro Club Cup, Antalya, 2007).
14.Qb2 Bd7 15.Rae1 Rae8 16.Bg5 Ne4 17.Bf4 e5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.f3 Nf6 20.Nd4 Nf7 is equal (Luther-Jacimovic, Ol, Torino, 2006).

If 9...Nc6 then:

10.Ng3 Bd7 11.Nh5 g6 12.Nf6+ Nxf6 13.exf6 0-0-0 14.Be2 e5 gives Black the advantage in space (Nijboer-Visser, Dutch Ch, Hilversum, 2008).
10.Nf4 Bd7 11.g3 0-0-0 12.Bh3 f5 13.0-0 Nge7 14.Bg2 Rdg8 15.Qb2 Nd8 16.Rfb1 gives White the advantage in space (Feygin-Lputian, Euro Club Cup, Antalya, 2007).

If 9.Nh3 Nc6 10.Nf4 transposes into Feygin-Lputian, above.
If 9.h4 Nc6 10.h5 then:

10...Bd7 11.Nf3 h6 12.Be2 0-0-0 13.Nh4 Nge7 14.Be3 Kb8 15.f4 Nc8 16.0-0 gives White the advantage in space (Najer-Al-Modiaki, Aeroflot Op, Moscow, 2006).
10...h6 11.g3 Bd7 12.Bh3 Nge7 13.Ne2 0-0-0 14.Nf4 Kb8 15.0-0 Nc8 16.Kh2 Nb6 17.Ng2 Qa5 18.Qd1 Na4 is equal (Shabalov-Ibragimov, US Ch, Stillwater, 2007).

If 8.Qg4 then:

If 8...g6 9.Qd1 b6 then:

10.h4 h5 11.Nf3 Ba6 12.Bxa6 Qxa6 13.Bg5 Nd7 14.Qd3 Qxd3 15.cxd3 Ne7 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Bf6 gives White the advantage in space and thw initiative (Meszaros-Jacimovic, Euro Club Cup, Fügen, 2006).
10.Nf3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.h4 h5 13.0-0 0-0-0 14.Bg5 Rd7 15.Rb1 Ne7 draw (N. Kosintseva-Hoang, Euro ChW, Dresden, 2007).

8...Kf8 9.Qd1 b6 10.h4 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.h5 h6 13.Rh4 Rc8 14.Rf4 cxd4 15.cxd4 Ne7 16.Qf3 Ke8 17.c3 Rf8 18.Nh3 Nb8 19.Qg4 Rg8 20.Qf3 Rf8 21.Qg3 Rg8 22.Qf3 draw (Cheparinov-Nikolic, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee, 2005).

7.Nf3

If 7.Qg4 then:

If 7...Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 then:

If 13.Qxc3 0-0-0 14.Rb1 Nf5 15.Rg1 d4 16.Qd3 then:

If 16...Na5 then:

17.Rb4 a6 18.g4 Nh4 19.a4 f6 20.exf6 e5 21.f7 Rgf8 22.Rg3 Rxf7 23.Rh3 Bc6 is equal (Steflitsch-Poldauf, Euro ChT, Halkidiki, 2002).
17.g4 Ba4 18.c3 Bc2 19.Qxc2 d3 20.Qa2 Qc5 21.Rg2 Ne3 22.Bxe3 Qxe3 23.Rg3 d2+ 24.Kd1 Qf2 25.Kc2 d1Q+ 26.Rxd1 Rxd1 is equal (Hjartarson-Nogueiras, IT, Belfort, 1988).

If 16...f6 17.g4 Nh4 18.exf6 e5 19.f7 Rxg4 20.Rxg4 Bxg4 21.Bh3 Qd7 22.Bxg4 Qxg4 23.Qg3 Qh5 24.Rb3 e4 then:

25.Qg7 d3 26.cxd3 Nf3+ 27.Kf2 Qxh2+ 28.Qg2 Qxg2+ 29.Kxg2 exd3 draw (Barnsley-Sinka, Cyberspace, 2001).
25.Qg8 Qh8 26.Qxh8 Rxh8 27.Rh3 Nf3+ 28.Kf2 Rxh3 29.f8Q+ Kc7 30.Ng1 Rxh2+ 31.Kg3 Rxc2 32.Qf7+ Black resigns as she must lose more material (Yu Ting-Gong Qianyun, Chinese ChTW, Suzhou, 2001).

If 13.Nxc3 a6 14.Rb1 Na5 15.h4 Nf5 16.Rh3 0-0-0 17.h5 Nc4 then:

18.h6 Rg6 19.h7 Rh8 20.Ne2 Qc5 21.Bd2 Rg7 22.Bb4 Qb5 23.Rb3 gives White an extra pawn (Domínguez García-Muñoz Moreno, Op, Malaga, 2001).
18.Rb4 Bc6 19.Ne2 Bb5 20.a4 Qc5 21.Qc3 d4 22.Qb3 Na5 23.Rxb5 Nxb3 24.Rxc5+ Nxc5 25.Ng1 Rg3 is favorable to Black (Cheparinov-Grischuk, Grand Prix, Baku, 2008).

13...0-0-0 14.Rb1 Na5 15.g3 Kb8 16.Nb5 Bxb5 17.Rxb5 Rc8 18.Be3 b6 19.Bc5 Nf5 20.Bh3 Nb7 21.Bf2 Qxc2 22.Qxc2 Rxc2 23.0-0 Nh4 24.Rb3 Na5 is equal (Domínguez-Shulman, Amer Cont Ch, Buenos Aires, 2005).

If 7...0-0 8.Bd3 then:

If 8...f5 9.exf6 Rxf6 10.Bg5 Rf7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qd1 then:

If 12...Qa5 13.Bd2 Nbc6 14.Nf3 Qc7 then:

15.dxc5 e5 16.Ng5 Rf8 17.c4 e4 18.cxd5 exd3 19.d6 Qd7 20.dxe7 Qxe7+ 21.Be3 Rf5 22.Nf3 Be6 23.Qxd3 Bd5 24.0-0-0 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Rxf3 gives White an extra pawn (Kasimdzhanov-Berg, Keres Mem Rpd, Tallinn, 2006).
15.0-0 e5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Qxe5 18.c4 d4 19.f4 Qc7 20.Qf3 Bf5 21.Rae1 Raf8 22.g4 Bxd3 23.cxd3 Qc6 is equal (Zhukova-Hryhorenko, Euro Club Cup W, Kusadasi, 2006).

12...Nbc6 13.Nf3 Qf8 14.0-0 c4 15.Be2 h6 16.Bc1 Qg7 17.a4 Bd7 18.Ba3 g5 19.Bd6 Nf5 20.Be5 Qf8 21.h3 Qe7 22.Bh2 Nd6 23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.Bxe5 gives White the advantage in space (P. Smirnov-Halkias, Euro Ch, Istanbul, 2003).

If 8...Nbc6 9.Qh5 Ng6 10.Nf3 Qc7 11.Be3 c4 12.Bxg6 fxg6 13.Qg4 then:

If 13...Qf7 14.Ng5 Qe8 15.h4 h6 16.Nh3 then:

16...b5 17.h5 gxh5 18.Qe2 Bd7 19.Nf4 Rxf4 20.Bxf4 Qf7 21.Be3 Be8 22.g4 hxg4 23.Qxg4 Qg6 24.Qe2 Ne7 25.Kd2 Qf5 26.Rag1 gives White a material advantage (Ruan Lufei-Mrktchian, FIDE Knock Out W, Ekaterinberg, 2006).
16...Ne7 17.Qe2 b5 18.g4 a5 19.h5 g5 20.f4 gxf4 21.Bxf4 Bd7 22.Kd2 Kh7 23.Rag1 b4 24.g5 bxc3+ 25.Kxc3 gives White the advantage in space (Airapetian-Abrahamyan, US ChW, Tulsa, 2008).

13...Bd7 14.h4 Rf5 15.h5 gxh5 16.Rxh5 Raf8 17.Rh3 Be8 18.Ng5 Qa5 19.Kd2 Rxg5 20.Qxg5 Bg6 21.Rhh1 Qa4 22.Ra2 b5 23.Rha1 Bf5 24.g4 Be4 25.f4 gives White the advantage in space (T. Ernst-Rylander, Swedish Ch, Umea, 2003).

7...b6

If 7...Bd7 8.a4 Qa5 9.Bd2 Nbc6 10.Be2 c4 11.0-0 f6 then:

12.exf6 12...gxf6 13.Nh4 0-0-0 14.Bh5 Rhg8 15.g3 Ng6 16.Ng2 Nce7 17.Re1 Nf5 18.Bg4 Rde8 19.Bxf5 exf5 20.Rxe8+ Rxe8 21.Qh5 gives White the initiative (Bannik-Ivkov, TMatch, Rijeka, 1963).
12.Re1 fxe5 13.dxe5 0-0 14.Bf1 Ng6 15.g3 h6 16.h4 Rf7 17.h5 Raf8 18.Bg2 Nge7 19.Rf1 Kh8 20.Qe2 Qc7 21.Bc1 gives Black the advantage in space.

7...Qc7 8.a4 b6 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bd3 Nbc6 11.0-0 h6 12.Re1 0-0 13.Ba3 Na5 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Nd2 Bxa4 16.Qg4 Bd7 17.Nf3 Rab8 18.Bc1 Kh8 19.Qh4 Ng8 gives Black an extra pawn while White has enough space and activity to compensate (Chandler-Hertneck, Bundesliga 9394, Germany, 1994).

8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bd3 Ba4

9...c4 then:

If 10.Be2 Ba4 11.h4 h6 12.h5 then:

If 12...Kd7 then:

13.0-0 Qg8 14.Nh2 Qh7 15.Ra2 Na6 16.Bg4 Nc7 is equal (Pähtz-Matveeva, Euro Club Cup W, Kallithea, 2008).
13.Bf4 Qg8 14.Nd2 Qh7 15.Ra2 Na6 16.Nf1 Nc7 17.Qd2 Nc6 18.Ne3 b5 19.0-0 a5 20.Bg3 Rhb8 21.Rfa1 Ne7 draw (Pähtz-Lahno, ITW, Biek, 2004).

12...Nd7 13.g3 Qc7 14.Bf4 0-0-0 15.Kf1 Kb7 16.Kg2 is equal (Shirov-Nikolic, Amber Rapid, Monte Carlo, 1996).

10.Bf1 Ba4 11.g3 h6 12.Bg2 Kd7 13.Nd2 Na6 14.Nf1 Nf5 15.h4 Rc8 16.h5 gives White the advantage in space (Firman-Kruppa, Ukrainian ChT, Alushta, 2004).

10.h4 h6 11.h5 Nd7!?

11...Qc7 12.0-0 Nd7 13.Re1 a6 14.Rb1 Qc6 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.c4 Nb6 17.cxd5 Nbxd5 18.Bd2 gives White the advantage in space (Sadvakasov-Shulman, Op, Philadelphia, 2007).

12.Rh4!?

White elects to keep her King in the center and attck on the kingside.
12.0-0 0-0 13.Re1 c4 14.Bf1 Nc6 15.Qe2 Qc7 16.Rb1 is somewhere between equal or favorable to Black.

12...a6!?

The game is equal.
12...c4 13.Be2 0-0 14.g4 f6 15.exf6 Nxf6 16.g5 may be slightly favorable to Black.

13.Rg4!?

White attacks the g-pawn, but her Rook is in a precarious position.
If 13.c4 then after 13...dxc4 14.Bxc4 Qc7 15.Bd3 cxd4 16.Rxd4 Bc6 Black wins the pawn at e5.

13...c4 14.Bf1 Nf5 15.g3 Qe7!?

Black misses the oppotunity to take a queenside initiative resulting in a fine game.
15...0-0 16.Rf4 b5 17.Bg2 Qa5 18.Bb2 Ne7 19.Qe2 Rab8 20.0-0-0 Qb6 gives Black a queenside initiative.
18.Ra2 f6 19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Qe2 Re8 21.g4 Nd6 gives Black leverage in the center.

16.Rf4!

Black Knight cannot move forward and, with the Queen at e7, doesn't have a retreat square. Harrassing the horse is the best way to take back the initiative.

16...0-0-0?

Black castles to the wrong side. On the kingside, the pawns in front of the castled king are well defended. White would stand better, but it would be a lot harder to convert the advantage to a win.
16...0-0 17.g4 Nh4 18.Nxh4 Qxh4 then:

If 19.g5 Qxg5 20.Rg4 Bxc2 21.Qe2 Bd3 22.Qd1 then:

22...Qf5 23.Bxd3 Qxd3 24.Qxd3 cxd3 25.Bxh6 gives White an extra pawn.
22...Bc2 23.Qe2 Bd3 draws.

19.Qd2 f6 20.exf6 Rxf6 21.Qe2 Raf8 gives Black a strong kingside initiative.

BLACK: Andrei-Nestor Cioara
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WHITE: Elisabeth Pähtz
Position after 16...0-0-0

17.g4!

Black is forced to exchange the Knight, which is fine and dandy with White, especially since she wins a pawn in the process.

17...Nh4 18.Nxh4 Qxh4 19.Rxf7

White has an extra pawn.

19...Rdf8

Being a pawn down, Black should avoid the exchange of Rooks.
Nevertheless, the more "correct" 19...Rhg8 20.Be3 g6 21.hxg6 Rxg6 22.Be2 doesn't really do much for Black's position.

20.Rxf8+ Rxf8 21.Be3 Qh1 22.Kd2

White's position is so harmonious that Black cannot gain any advantage by tossing his Queen into the back rank. The White King just escapes to the other wing.

22...Qe4 23.Be2 Nb8 24.Rc1

BLACK: Andrei-Nestor Cioara
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WHITE: Elisabeth Pähtz
Position after 24.Ra1c1

24...Nc6

If 24...b5 25.Rb1 Kd7 26.Kc1 then:

If 26...Nc6 27.Kb2 b4 28.cxb4 c3+ 29.Kxc3 then:

29...Bb5 30.Bd3 Bxd3 31.Qxd3 Qxg4 32.Qxa6 leaves White up by three pawns.
29...Ra8 30.Bd3 Qg2 31.Qh1 Qxh1 32.Rxh1 leaves White three pawns to the good.

26...Ke8 27.Rb2 Nc6 28.Qg1 Rf7 29.Kb1 Ne7 30.f3 gives Black the choice of retreating his Queen to h7, where she will be out of the maelstrom for a while, or sacrificing the exchange for that would be worth.

25.f3 Qh7 26.Qh1 Kc7

If 26...Re8 then after 27.f4 b5 28.f5 Ne7 29.Qh3 exf5 30.gxf5 White breaks through with cvonnected passers.

27.f4

White's objective is to break through with her pawns on the kingside.

27...Ne7 28.Qh4

Also playable is 28.Qh3 Kd7 29.Qf3 Ke8 30.Bd1 b5 31.Rb1.

28...Kd7 29.Qh3 Kc7

If 29...Ke8 then after 30.g5 hxg5 31.fxg5 Nf5 32.Rb1 b5 33.g6 White threatens to break through on the kingside.

30.Qf3 Kb8 31.Bf2 Nc6

If 31...g5 then after 32.hxg6 Qxg6 33.Bh4 Nc8 34.Kd1 Qh7 35.f5 White will break through.

32.Bh4 Kb7 33.Bf1

33.f5 exf5 34.gxf5 Qxf5 35.Qxf5 Rxf5 36.Re1 gives White a passed pawn.

33...Na5

This allows White's long awaited pawn break, but Black could not have waited much longer in any case.
If 33...g5 then after 34.hxg6 Qxg6 35.Bh3 Qh7 36.f5 the White pawns break through.

BLACK: Andrei-Nestor Cioara
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WHITE: Elisabeth Pähtz
Position after 33...Nc6a5

34.f5!

White breaks through.

34...exf5 35.Qxd5+ Bc6 36.Qd6 Qg8

The only argument for Black to take the g-pawn is that a dying man can eat any thing.
36...fxg4 37.Qe7+ Ka8 38.Qxf8+ Ka7 39.e6 wins for White.

37.e6

Also good is 37.Qe7+ Kb8 38.gxf5 Rxf5 39.Rb1.

37...Be4 38.Qd7+ Ka8 39.e7 Re8 40.gxf5 Qf7

40...Rb8 41.Rb1 Qe8 42.Qxe8 Rxe8 43.Rxb6 leaves White three pawns to the good.

41.Qd8+

Also good is 41.Rb1 b5 42.Re1 Bb7 43.a4 Bc6 44.Qd8+.

41...Kb7 42.Rb1 b5 43.Re1 Bc6 44.Bg3

Black could resign here.

44...Qxf5 45.Qc7+ Ka8 46.Qxa5 1-0

Black will not get the piece back.
Il signore Cioara resigns.

Reply #7: Pähtz - Cioara, Round 7 [View All]