KHOTENASHVILI vs SEMENOVA – EUROPEAN CLUB CUP 2018 ROUND 6

Elena Semenova

This game is from round 6 of the 2018 European Club Cup. It is between Bela Khotenashvili with White against Elena Semenova with Black.

This game features an Open Catalan. To learn more about the Open Catalan, here is the best instruction book I could find on Amazon.

Khotenashvili,Bela (2469) - Semenova,Elena (2263)

23rd European Women Club Cup 2018 Halkidiki (6), 17.10.2018

1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qa4 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Be3 [11.e3 Rb8 12.Rd1 Nb4 13.Bxb4 Bxb4 14.a3 Be7 15.Nbd2 Rc8 16.Nb3 Be4 17.Qc1 Bd5 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.Qxc5 Ne4 20.Qc2 c5 21.dxc5 Nxc5 22.Rac1 Na4 23.Qb1 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Qa8 25.Ng5 g6 Miroshnichenko,E (2615)-Korobov,A (2565)/Kharkov 2004/CBM 103/½–½ (78); 11.Rd1 Rc8 12.Be1 Nb4 13.Bxb4 Bxb4 14.a3 Ba5 15.b4 Bb6 16.Nc3 Qe7 17.e3 h6 18.Rab1 Rfd8 19.Ne5 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Qd6 21.Kg1 c5 22.bxc5 Bxc5 23.Nxf7 Kxf7 24.dxc5 Qxc5 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 Rayner,F (2205)-Gonzalez Menendez,I (2390)/San Sebastian 2006/CBM 111 ext/0–1 (40)] 

11...Nb4 12.Qc1 E05: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3 Be7

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12...Nbd5N [12...Qb8 13.Nbd2 Rc8 14.Nb3 Bd5 15.Qd1 a5 16.a3 a4 17.Nc5 Na6 18.Ne5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Nxc5 20.dxc5 Rd8 21.Qc2 c6 22.Nd3 Nd5 23.Bd2 f5 24.Rae1 Nf6 25.f3 Ra7 26.Bf4 Qc8 27.Be5 Ramon,V (2260)-Leyva,H (2275)/Matanzas 1992/TD/0–1 (62)] 

13.Nbd2 Nxe3 

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14.fxe3 Black has the pair of bishops 
14...Ne4 The knight likes it on e4 
15.Nb3 Bd5 16.Ne5 Bd6 17.Nd3 h5 18.Nf4 h4 19.Nd2 Nxd2 20.Qxd2 hxg3 21.hxg3 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 e5 23.Nh3 Qe7 24.d5 e4 25.Qd4 Qe5 26.Qxe5 Bxe5 27.Rac1 

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27...Rfd8 Black threatens to win material: Rd8xd5 
28.Rc5 Bxb2 29.Rxc7 Rxd5 30.Rfxf7 Rf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 

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32.Nf4 White threatens to win material: Nf4xd5 
32...Rd6 33.Ra7 Bc1 Black threatens to win material: Bc1xe3 
34.Kf2 Rf6 35.Rc7 Bd2 

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36.Rd7 White threatens to win material: Rd7xd2 
36...Bc1 37.Rc7 Twofold repetition 
37...Bb2 38.Kg2 a5 39.Ra7 a4 Black gets more space 
40.Rb7 Rf5 41.g4 Rf6 42.Rxb5 a3 43.Rb8+ Kf7 44.Rb7+ Kf8 

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45.g5 White threatens to win material: g5xf6 
45...Rd6 46.Rb4 Rd2 47.Rxe4 Ba1 48.g6 Rxa2 49.Nd5 Rxe2+ 50.Kf3 Rc2 51.Ra4 

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51...Rc8?? leads to further unpleasantness [¹51...Ke8 52.Rxa3 Rc1±] 
52.Rh4+- Ke8 53.Rh8+ Kd7 54.Nb6+ Kc7 55.Rxc8+ [55.Nxc8?! a2 56.Nd6 Bb2=] 
55...Kxb6 56.Ra8 Bb2 

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57.Ke4 [57.e4 keeps an even firmer grip 57...Kb7 58.Ra4 Kb6+-] 
57...Kc5 [57...Bc1+-] 
58.Kf5 Kb4 59.e4 

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59...Kb3 [59...Bd4 a fruitless try to alter the course of the game 60.e5 Be3 61.Ke4+-] 
60.e5 a2 [60...Ba1 cannot undo what has already been done 61.Ke6 Bc3 62.Ra7+-] 
61.Rxa2 Kxa2 62.Ke6 Kb3 63.Kd6 Ba3+ 64.Kd7 Kc4 65.e6 

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65...Kd5 [65...Kd3+- is still a small chance] 
66.e7 [66.e7 Bb2 67.e8Q+-]  1–0