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.

[Event "63rd ch-RUS w 2013"] [Site "Nizhny Novgorod RUS"] [Date "2013.10.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Kashlinskaya, A."] [Black "Charochkina, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2435"] [BlackElo "2343"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Houdini"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2013.10.05"] 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. O-O 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 O-O 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 $14) 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. O-O 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... O-O 15. b4 f6 {another thematic move for Black, attacking the head of the White pawn chain.} (15... Nxb4 $2 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 $5 {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 $14 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+ 1/2-1/2