BRUNELLO vs MAMMADOVA – EUROPEAN CLUB CUP 2018 ROUND 5

This game is from round 5 of the 2018 European Club Cup. It is between Marina Brunello with White against Gulnar Mammadova with Black.

This game features a French Defence. To learn more about the French Defence, here is the best instruction book I could find on Amazon.

Brunello,Marina (2294) - Mammadova,Gulnar (2355)

23rd European Women Club Cup 2018 Halkidiki (5), 16.10.2018

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Ne7 5.Nf3 Nec6 6.Bd3 b6 7.Qe2 C02: French: Advance Variation [7.0–0 Be7 8.Re1 cxd4 9.cxd4 Ba6 10.Bc2 Nb4 11.Ba4+ Nd7 12.Nc3 Rc8 13.Re3 Nc6 14.Ne1 b5 15.Nxb5 1–0 (37) Shirov,A (2712)-Braeuer, F (2413) Germany 2016] 

7...a5 8.0–0 [8.a4 looks sharper. 8...Ba6 9.Bb5 Be7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Na3] 

8...Ba6 9.Bxa6 The position is equal. 

9...Nxa6 10.Rd1 Be7 11.c4 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqk+-tr(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6nzpn+p+-+&
5zp-zppzP-+-%
4-+PzP-+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2PzP-+QzPPzP"
1tRNvLR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

11...Nxd4N [11...Nc7 12.Nc3 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Rxd4 1–0 (28) Le Dortz,A (1930)-Sauvetre,A (2085) Noisy le Grand 2003] 

12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.Qg4 g6 14.Bh6 Qc7 [14...Nb4=] 

15.cxd5² Qxe5 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+-+-vlp+p'
6nzp-+p+pvL&
5zp-+Pwq-+-%
4-+-zp-+Q+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tRN+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

16.dxe6 And now Qf3 would win. 

16...fxe6 17.Nd2 Rd8 18.Nc4 White has strong compensation. 

18...Qf6 19.Re1 [19.Nxb6± Nc5 20.Rac1] 

19...Nc5= 20.Ne5 [20.Re5=] 

20...Rd5!µ 21.f4 [¹21.Qg3] 

21...Qh4! 22.Qxh4 Bxh4 23.g3 Bf6 24.Rad1 Ke7 25.h4 Rc8 26.Bg5 Nd7 27.Nf3 d3 28.Rd2 Rc2 29.Kf2 Rxd2+ 30.Nxd2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+nmk-+p'
6-zp-+pvlp+&
5zp-+r+-vL-%
4-+-+-zP-zP$
3+-+p+-zP-#
2PzP-sN-mK-+"
1+-+-tR-+-!
xabcdefghy

30...h6! 31.Bxf6+ [31.Bxh6 Bxb2] 

31...Kxf6 Endgame KRN-KRN 

32.Rd1 e5 33.Ne4+ [33.Ke3µ was worth a try.] 

33...Kf5!–+ 34.Ke3 exf4+ 35.gxf4 Nc5 36.Nc3 [36.Nd2µ] 

36...Rd6 37.Nb5 Re6+ 38.Kf3 Kf6! 39.Nd4 Re7 40.Nc6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-tr-+-'
6-zpN+-mkpzp&
5zp-sn-+-+-%
4-+-+-zP-zP$
3+-+p+K+-#
2PzP-+-+-+"
1+-+R+-+-!
xabcdefghy

40...Re4! ...Kf5 is the strong threat. 

41.Ne5 Kf5 42.Nxd3 Nxd3 43.Rxd3 Threatens to win with Rd5+. 

43...Rxf4+ KR-KR 44.Kg3 Rg4+ 45.Kh3 Rb4 46.b3 Re4 47.Rd6 [47.Rf3+µ Rf4 48.Rd3] 

47...Re3+ 48.Kg2 Re6 49.Rd5+ 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zp-+r+pzp&
5zp-+R+k+-%
4-+-+-+-zP$
3+P+-+-+-#
2P+-+-+K+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

49...Ke4 [Better is 49...Kg4!–+ 50.Rd4+ Kh5] 

50.Rb5? [50.Rd7µ] 

50...Kf4 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zp-+r+pzp&
5zpR+-+-+-%
4-+-+-mk-zP$
3+P+-+-+-#
2P+-+-+K+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

51.Kh3? [51.Rd5 Re2+ 52.Kf1 Rxa2 53.Rd6] 

51...g5 Hoping for ...Re2. 

52.hxg5 hxg5 ( -> ...Re2) 

53.Kg2 Re2+ 54.Kf1 Rxa2 55.Rxb6 g4 56.Rc6 Kg3 57.Rc3+ Kh2 58.Rc8 Ra1+ 59.Kf2 g3+ 60.Kf3 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+R+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+P+-+Kzp-#
2-+-+-+-mk"
1tr-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

60...Rf1+ Black mates. 

61.Ke2 Rf5 62.Rh8+ Kg1 63.Rg8 g2 64.Rg7 Rf2+ 65.Ke1 Rf3 66.Rg5 Kh2 0–1