The Women's World Championship goes down to the final game after Ju Wenjun couldn't quite find a knockout punch!
https://bit.ly/2wJaugV
https://bit.ly/2wJaugV
Samuel Shankland (4.5) takes a sole lead in the Capablanca Memorial after the 6th round leaving Dreev half a point behind.
https://bit.ly/2rLxh60
https://bit.ly/2rLxh60
28... Na3?
David Anton has missed an opportunity to obtain an advantage:
28... Qe7! with the idea of ...R×d4!
A) 29. Re1 29... Rxd4! 30. exd4 Nc3 -+
B) 29. Bf1 Rxe3! 30. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 31. Qf2 Qc3 32.Qe1 Qxc5+ 33. Kh1 Qc2 -+
C) 29. e4 Nc3 30. Bxc3 Qxc5+ 31. Qf2 Qxc3 -/+
29. Bc3 Rb7 30. e4
David Anton has missed an opportunity to obtain an advantage:
28... Qe7! with the idea of ...R×d4!
A) 29. Re1 29... Rxd4! 30. exd4 Nc3 -+
B) 29. Bf1 Rxe3! 30. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 31. Qf2 Qc3 32.Qe1 Qxc5+ 33. Kh1 Qc2 -+
C) 29. e4 Nc3 30. Bxc3 Qxc5+ 31. Qf2 Qxc3 -/+
29. Bc3 Rb7 30. e4
30...Qe7?
A miscalculation. Black should have continued with the logical move 30...Nb5.
31.Ba6! Nb5
A) 31...Rc7 32.Rac1! —->Ba5 +/-
B) 31...Q×c5+ 32.Bd4 +-
32.Be1 Rd7 33.Bc8 Q×c5+ 34.Qf2 Q×f2+ 35.K×f2 +-
A miscalculation. Black should have continued with the logical move 30...Nb5.
31.Ba6! Nb5
A) 31...Rc7 32.Rac1! —->Ba5 +/-
B) 31...Q×c5+ 32.Bd4 +-
32.Be1 Rd7 33.Bc8 Q×c5+ 34.Qf2 Q×f2+ 35.K×f2 +-
8.h4!?
Anton's interesting novelty in the Symmetrical English opening.
The idea behind the move is to discourage Black from playing g6 and Bg7.
8...a6 9.Be2 e5 10.Qb3 b5 11.Qd5 f6 12.a4 b4 13.Bb2
Anton's interesting novelty in the Symmetrical English opening.
The idea behind the move is to discourage Black from playing g6 and Bg7.
8...a6 9.Be2 e5 10.Qb3 b5 11.Qd5 f6 12.a4 b4 13.Bb2
13...Qc8!
Shankland shows his strong positional sense. He has prepared to cover the important a2-g8 diagonal.
14.Bc4 Nd8! 15.Qd3 Be6
Shankland shows his strong positional sense. He has prepared to cover the important a2-g8 diagonal.
14.Bc4 Nd8! 15.Qd3 Be6
Despite its solid look, the position has a subtle element of tactic grounded in positional evaluation. After the strong 22.Rd6! , a series of forced exchanges ensues which lead to a double pawn for black on the e-file. The final straw comes as white grabs the pawn on a7 leaving black with a problem of farther passed pawn on the a-file. furthermore, the knight on h5 and the bishop on g7 are passive and black's pawn structure is permanently damaged. All these give white decisive advantage in the endgame, which Salov gradually converted into a full point.
22...Rxd6 (This is forced due to 22...Nf8 23.Ng5! and all of Rxd8, Qxf7, Nxf7, and Bd7 are threatened. White wins.)
23.cxd6 Qxd6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 (If 24...fxe6, then 25.Bxa7)
25.Qxe6 fxe6 26.Bxa7+-.
22...Rxd6 (This is forced due to 22...Nf8 23.Ng5! and all of Rxd8, Qxf7, Nxf7, and Bd7 are threatened. White wins.)
23.cxd6 Qxd6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6 (If 24...fxe6, then 25.Bxa7)
25.Qxe6 fxe6 26.Bxa7+-.
This position comes under the 90% rule. Remember that the move you want to play for positional reasons normally has a 90% chance of working tactically. Of course, that does not count for sacrifices and other brutal approaches as often as it does in quiet positions, but it is still worth investigating if the move you want to play for positional reasons works tactically. Here it does. White is all set up for b2-b4-b5 but cannot protect his c-pawn with moves other than b2-b3. So it is now or never, as this will not change.
12.b4! Bxc4 A very risky decision. It is not difficult to understand what Black was thinking: if White is allowed to execute his plan at least I should bag a pawn. Instead 12...Ne4 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Nxe6 Qxe6 15.Qc2 Rfe8 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rfd1 leads to a comfortable advantage for White.
13.b5! cxb5 14.Ndxb5 Rd8 15.Ba3.
12.b4! Bxc4 A very risky decision. It is not difficult to understand what Black was thinking: if White is allowed to execute his plan at least I should bag a pawn. Instead 12...Ne4 13.Nxe4 fxe4 14.Nxe6 Qxe6 15.Qc2 Rfe8 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rfd1 leads to a comfortable advantage for White.
13.b5! cxb5 14.Ndxb5 Rd8 15.Ba3.