Commentary - 2013 Russian Championship (Women's Final Round)

The final round of the 2013 Russian championship featured another Caro-Kann Advance similar to the round 4 game between Kosintseva and Kosteniuk previously analyzed.  White (Alina Kashlinskaya) plays a less challenging variation and Black (Daria Charochkina) eventually decides to liven up the game by creating a pawn structure imbalance on move 20, which features a passed c-pawn.  Black's 22nd move allows White to grab the initiative and make threats on the kingside, which eventually nets White a pawn.  Black from that point defends well, however, and shows how to use an active rook in the endgame, enabling her to hold the draw.

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Move	N	Result	Elo	Players

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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 taking the pawn is the most challenging line, although if White is unfamiliar with the opening, the text move may be safer. Nc6 5.Be2 cxd4 Black eliminates the possibility of a delayed capture on c5. 6.cxd4 Qb6 6...Bf5 is the other alternative, where Black chooses to delay developing the queen. For example 7.Nf3 e6 8.0-0 Nge7 9.Qa4 Qd7 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Be3 Nf5 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Ncxd4 14.Bd1 Nc6 15.Bf4 Bc5 16.Rc1 Bb6 17.Qa3 Nfe7 18.Ba4 0-0 19.Rfd1 Ng6 20.Bh2 Qd8 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Ne4 Qh4 23.Nc5 0-1 (23) Walter Travella,G (2055)-Illescas Cordoba,M (2640) Barcelona 1996 7.Nf3 7.Nc3 is normally played here, the idea being to force Black to close the diagonal for the light-square bishop. e6 7...Qxd4 8.Nxd5 Qxd1+ 9.Bxd1 Rb8 10.Nf3 8.Nf3 Nge7 and this now looks like a standard French defense, with a positional plus for White. 7...Bg4 Black does not waste the opportunity to get the bishop out. 8.0-0 e6 9.Nbd2 Nh6 the knight is going to f5, so this is a typical idea in this type of position. 10.h3 Bxf3 normally Black exchanges off the bishop in this situation. Time would be lost with a bishop retreat and it is "bad" in any case because of the pawn structure. 11.Nxf3 Nf5 12.Be3 Nxe3 13.fxe3 this is not in fact a bad structure for White, who now has a half-open f-file and full protection for the d4 pawn. Be7 14.Rb1 White signals a plan involving queenside pawn expansion. 14.Qd2 seems more flexible. 14...0-0 15.b4 f6 another thematic move for Black, attacking the head of the White pawn chain. 15...Nxb4? 16.a3 16.b5 Na5 16...Nxe5 is an interesting tactical alternative. 17.dxe5 Qxe3+ 18.Kh1 fxe5 and Houdini evalutes the position as equal, although obviously a lot of play can be had with the piece versus 3 pawns situation. 17.Qd2 Rfc8 18.exf6 White chooses to conduct the exchange of the e-pawn on her terms. Otherwise, the Nf3 is essentially bound to protect e5, since a pawn exchange initiated by Black would then create two weak e-pawns. Bxf6 19.Nh2 Nc4 20.Bxc4 dxc4 the riskier choice, although Houdini evaluates it the same as ...Rxc4. With the new pawn imbalance, Black hopes to use the passed c-pawn to her advantage while containing White's central pawns. 21.Ng4 Bg5 22.Qc3 although the queen is not normally an ideal blockading piece, here it remains well-placed, protecting e3 and occupying the long diagonal, which potentially could be useful after a d5 push. a6 this seems unnecessary at this point, as White was not going to make any more progress with the b-pawn. 22...Qd6 23.Ne5 Rc7 24.a4 Qd5 is one possible alternative approach that does not allow White nearly as much latitude as in the game. 23.d5 h5 entering a long tactical sequence. 24.bxa6 Qxa6 25.Qe5 hxg4 26.Qxg5 c3 27.Qe7 c2 28.Rbc1 exd5 28...Qb6!? and if 29.Qxe6+ then Qxe6 30.dxe6 Rxa2 31.e7 Re8 is fine for Black. 29.Qf7+ Kh7 29...Kh8 gives Black an extra defensive resource in the form of the g-pawn. 30.Rf5 g6 30.Rf5 the threat is mate on h5. Rc6 31.Rxc2 Rh6 32.Rg5 Qf6 33.Qxf6 Rxf6 34.Rxg4 the dust has settled and Black is disadvantaged in the rook endgame, but not fatally so. Ra3 35.Rg3 Rc6 36.Rb2 Rg6 37.Rxg6 Kxg6 38.Kf2 Kf5 39.Rxb7 Rxa2+ 40.Kf3 Kf6 41.Rd7 Rd2 42.h4 Rd1 43.g4 Rf1+ 44.Ke2 Rh1 45.h5 Rh2+ 46.Kf3 Rd2 47.Rd6+ Kf7 48.Kf4 Rf2+ 49.Kg5 Rf3 50.Rd7+ Kf8 51.h6 gxh6+ 52.Kxh6 Rh3+ 53.Kg6 Rxe3 54.g5 now the draw seems assured. Rd3 55.Rf7+ Kg8 56.Ra7 Kf8 57.Ra8+ Ke7 58.Kg7 Rg3 59.g6 d4 60.Ra1 d3 61.Re1+ ½–½

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White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res	ECO	Rnd

Kashlinskaya,A

2435

Charochkina,D

2343

½–½

B12

9

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