The black king is completely naked in front of so many attacking white pieces.
White has placed all her pieces in the center, and it looks like they cannot be improved (except for the knight to e5) . How should she proceed? Kosteniuk creates an isolated pawn herself, but in return, the queen and bishop have better prospects. This pawn will annoy Black as we will see later. Here we see the tactical justification of White's idea.
20...c6 21.c5 Bc7 22.Bxg5! hxg5 23.Nxg5 Black cannot play ...Nf5 since after all trades on e8 white collects the f5-knight.
23...g6 24.Re6
Black is losing. There are several ideas to finish the game. One is to go h4 followed by h5 and the other one is to triple the heavy pieces along the e-file.
23...g6 24.Re6
Black is losing. There are several ideas to finish the game. One is to go h4 followed by h5 and the other one is to triple the heavy pieces along the e-file.
The isolated pawn becomes an asset. The bishop comes to c3 and in combination with the rook on e6, attacks the black king.