The European Women's Individual Championship started on Tuesday, with a few surprises in the first round, including the top seed ( Anna Muzychuk ) being held to a draw despite a 350 ELO difference ( 2594 vs 2241 ).
Number two seed ( Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia ) topped that by losing to Mihaela Sandu with White ! Most of the other higher-rated games ran to form.
The new Dutch Women's Champion, Lisa Schut, won, as expected, in a fairly straightforward manner, playing White in a French Defence ( Rubenstein ) against a much-lower opponent.
In this French Defence game, I liked the Queenside castling idea, which combined with Bg5/h4/f4/g4 kingside assault, backed up by the Rook threatening down the h-file, and the light-squared bishop hitting h7, allowed White to finish off the game in style ! Not exactly a Greek gift sacrifice, but all the elements present and correct.
Here were are with the assault building up, pawns advancing, bishops and rook threatening... Black is a pawn up, but White has a fine advantage.
Now just at the finish, White has an over-powering attack and there is nothing that can be done.
Play continued 26..Rg8 27. Rg7+ Rxg7 28. fxg7. Here Kxg7 would be an immediate loss, but Kg8 is almost as bad !
Round 2 wasn't such an easy ride for her when facing WGM Irina Bulmaga in a Sicilian.
An incorrect decision when faced with a blunt f6 pawn advance, put her on the defensive for the rest of the game, which she eventually lost.
Black captured with the g-pawn, instead of retreating the Bishop, and couldn't get back on track after that. So despite a spirited defence, the initiative was converted to a significant material advantage which proved decisive for White
Results and standings can be found here, and pgn for round 1 downloads here.
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| 16. g4 |
Now just at the finish, White has an over-powering attack and there is nothing that can be done.
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| 26. Rg3 |
Round 2 wasn't such an easy ride for her when facing WGM Irina Bulmaga in a Sicilian.
An incorrect decision when faced with a blunt f6 pawn advance, put her on the defensive for the rest of the game, which she eventually lost.
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| 25. f6 |
Black captured with the g-pawn, instead of retreating the Bishop, and couldn't get back on track after that. So despite a spirited defence, the initiative was converted to a significant material advantage which proved decisive for White
Results and standings can be found here, and pgn for round 1 downloads here.
2 comments:
I like to watch such events, these players have invested much time into chess and unlike the games of Super GMs it's easier to understand the ideas.
Congrats to a fantastic TeamLeague season and good luck in the finals!
Absolutely right about the clarity in some of these games.
When I looked through the game I gave, the plan chosen ( kingside attack ) and its execution are clear to understand, just like the examples we are advised to look at from the 'old masters'. I hope to follow this tournament quite closely.
Yes, this season has been very productive for me. A lot is due to dropping down a board, I believe.
I haven't published the games yet, but will try to do so after the final. Its also been useful to adopt a new repertoire, with openings I have never played before, not even in blitz. Speaking of which, I don't think I have played a blitz game in over a month...very refreshing
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