MUZYCHUK vs DZAGNIDZE – EUROPEAN CLUB CUP 2018 ROUND 7

Anna Muzychuk

This game is from round 7 of the 2018 European Club Cup. It is between Anna Muzychuk with White against Nana Dzagnidze with Black.

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

Muzychuk,Anna (2555) - Dzagnidze,Nana (2509)

23rd European Women Club Cup 2018 Halkidiki (7), 18.10.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Qd3 B41: Sicilian: Kan Variation: 5 c4 

7...0–0 [7...Qc7 8.Nc2 Bc5 9.Be2 0–0 10.0–0 Nc6 11.Kh1 d6 12.f4 Bd7 13.a3 Rad8 14.b4 Ba7 1/2–1/2 (115) Karjakin,S (2782)-Caruana,F (2816) Paris 2018] 

8.e5 Ne8! 9.Be2 White is slightly better. 

9...Qc7 

XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+ntrk+(
7+pwqp+pzpp'
6p+-+p+-+&
5+-+-zP-+-%
4-vlPsN-+-+$
3+-sNQ+-+-#
2PzP-+LzPPzP"
1tR-vL-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy

10.Nf3N [10.Nc2 Nc6 11.Nxb4 Nxb4 12.Qd2 Qxe5 13.b3 d5 14.0–0 dxc4 15.bxc4 1/2–1/2 (61) Bellahcene,B (2488)-Oratovsky,M (2456) Brest 2018] 

10...Nc6 11.Ng5 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+ntrk+(
7+pwqp+pzpp'
6p+n+p+-+&
5+-+-zP-sN-%
4-vlP+-+-+$
3+-sNQ+-+-#
2PzP-+LzPPzP"
1tR-vL-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy

11...f5 [11...g6=] 

12.exf6!² [Much worse is 12.Qh3 h6µ] 

12...Nxf6 13.0–0! d6 14.a3 [14.Nce4²] 

14...Bxc3= 15.Qxc3 e5 16.Be3ƒ White fights for an advantage. 

16...h6 17.Nf3 Be6 18.Rac1 Ng4 19.Bd2 d5 20.cxd5 e4 [20...Bxd5² 21.Nh4 Nf6] 

21.Ne5!± 

XABCDEFGHY
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7+pwq-+-zp-'
6p+n+l+-zp&
5+-+PsN-+-%
4-+-+p+n+$
3zP-wQ-+-+-#
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1+-tR-+RmK-!
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21...Ngxe5 [21...Qxe5± was worth a try. 22.Qxe5 Ngxe5 23.dxe6 Rae8] 

22.dxe6+- Qd6 23.Qe3 Rae8 24.Rfd1 [24.Rcd1+-] 

24...Qd4? [24...Nd3±] 

25.Qg3 Qxb2 26.Rb1 [Weaker is 26.Bxh6 Nd3±] 

26...Qa2 27.Rxb7 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rtrk+(
7+R+-+-zp-'
6p+n+P+-zp&
5+-+-sn-+-%
4-+-+p+-+$
3zP-+-+-wQ-#
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1+-+R+-mK-!
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27...g6 28.Qc3 Qxe6 29.Bxh6 Rf7 30.Rxf7 Kxf7 31.Bxa6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+-+(
7+-+-+k+-'
6L+n+q+pvL&
5+-+-sn-+-%
4-+-+p+-+$
3zP-wQ-+-+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

31...g5 [31...Rd8 was necessary. 32.Rxd8 Nxd8] 

32.Bxg5 Qg4 33.Qb3+ Kg7 34.Be3 Rb8 35.Qc2 Nf3+ 36.Kh1 Rh8 37.gxf3 Qxf3+ 38.Kg1 Qg4+ 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tr(
7+-+-+-mk-'
6L+n+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+p+q+$
3zP-+-vL-+-#
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39.Kf1 Qb2+ would kill now. 

39...Rxh2 40.Ke1 [¹40.Qb2+ Kf8 41.Qf6+ Kg8 42.Bc4+ Kh7 43.Qf7+ Qg7 44.Qf5+ Kh8 45.Qc8+ Kh7 46.Rd7] 

40...Rh1+ 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-mk-'
6L+n+-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+p+q+$
3zP-+-vL-+-#
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1+-+RmK-+r!
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41.Kd2 Threatening mate with Qc3+. 

41...Qd7+ 42.Kc1 1–0