PAEHTZ vs MAMEDJAROVA – EUROPEAN CLUB CUP 2018 ROUND 5

This game is from round 5 of the 2018 European Club Cup. It is between Elisabeth Paehtz with White against Zeinab Mamedjarova with Black.

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

Paehtz,Elisabeth (2513) - Mamedjarova,Zeinab (2358)

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

1.c4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 0–0 8.h3 a6 9.Nf3 b5 10.Rc1 Bb7 11.0–0 Nc6 12.Ne5 Rc8 13.Qe2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 D13: Slav Defence: Exchange variation without ...Bf5 

14...Nd7 15.Bg3 [Of course not 15.Qh5 g6µ] 

15...Nb6 16.Nb1 The position is equal. 

16...Qd7 17.Nd2 Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Rc7 is the strong threat. 

18...Rc8 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+k+(
7+l+qvlpzpp'
6psn-+p+-+&
5+p+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+LzP-vLP#
2PzP-sNQzPP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

19.Nb3N [19.Rf1 Nc4 20.Nf3 Nd6 21.Bxd6 Bxd6 1–0 (61) Ristovic,N (2294)-Stanford,M (2254) Richmond 2002] 

19...Rxc1+ 20.Nxc1 Qc8 21.Qc2 Qxc2 22.Bxc2 h6 23.Nd3 Nc4 24.Bc7 Kf8 25.b3 Bd6 26.bxc4 Bxc7² Endgame KBB-KBN 

27.Nc5 Bc8 28.cxd5 exd5 29.Bb3 Be6 30.Nxa6 Bd6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6N+-vll+-zp&
5+p+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+L+-zP-+P#
2P+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

31.Kf1! Ke7 32.Ke2 h5 33.Kd3 g5 34.Kc3 Bh2 35.Nb4 Kd6 36.Bd1 Bg1 37.Nd3 h4 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-+-mkl+-+&
5+p+p+-zp-%
4-+-zP-+-zp$
3+-mKNzP-+P#
2P+-+-zPP+"
1+-+L+-vl-!
xabcdefghy

38.Bg4 [38.Bh5±] 

38...f5 [38...Bxg4!= keeps the balance. 39.hxg4 Kc7] 

39.Be2 g4 [Black should try 39...f4 ] 

40.Kd2± 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-mkl+-+&
5+p+p+p+-%
4-+-zP-+pzp$
3+-+NzP-+P#
2P+-mKLzPP+"
1+-+-+-vl-!
xabcdefghy

40...b4? [40...gxh3± was worth a try. 41.gxh3 f4] 

41.f4+- gxf3 42.gxf3 [Not 42.Bxf3 Bf7±] 

42...f4 43.Nxf4 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-mkl+-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-zp-zP-sN-zp$
3+-+-zPP+P#
2P+-mKL+-+"
1+-+-+-vl-!
xabcdefghy

43...Bd7 If only Black now had time for ...Bh2.... 

44.Bf1 Bh2 [44...Ba4 might work better. 45.Nd3 Bb5] 

45.Nd3 Bb5 46.Bg2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-mk-+-+&
5+l+p+-+-%
4-zp-zP-+-zp$
3+-+NzPP+P#
2P+-mK-+Lvl"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

46...Bxd3 [¹46...b3 47.axb3 Bd7] 

47.Kxd3 KB-KB 

47...Bg3 48.Bf1 Ke6 49.Be2 Kd6 50.Bd1 Bh2 51.Bb3 Bg3 52.e4 dxe4+ 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+-mk-+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-zp-zPp+-zp$
3+L+K+PvlP#
2P+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

53.fxe4 White mates. 

53...Kc6 54.e5 Kb5 55.Ke4 Kc6 56.d5+ Kd7 57.d6 Kc6 58.Ba4+ Kb6 59.Kd5 1–0