ABDUMALIK vs MUZYCHUK – FIDE WOMENS WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 QUARTER FINAL

Mariya Muzychuk

This game is from the Quarter Final of the 2018 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship, fully annotated. It is between Zhansaya Abdumalik with White against Mariya Muzychuk with Black.

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

Abdumalik,Zhansaya (2473) - Muzychuk,Mariya (2545)

FIDE WCC 2018 Khanty-Mansiysk (4.2), 13.11.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0–0 Bb4 [7...Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bc5 9.Qd3 a6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 d6 12.Rad1 Bd7 13.a3 Rc8 14.Kh1 g5 15.Bg3 e5 16.f4 exf4 17.Bxf4 gxf4 18.Rxf4 Nh7 19.Nd5 Qd8 20.b4 Ba7 21.e5 Be6 22.exd6 Geller,E (2600)-Vasiukov,E (2560)/Riga 1975/MCD/1–0 (45)] 

8.Ndb5 B47: Sicilian: Taimanov: 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 f4, 6 g3 and 6 Be2

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8...Qb8 Black's piece can't move: c8 

9.Be3N [9.a3 Bc5 (9...Be7 10.Bg5 0–0 11.Kh1 a6 12.Nd4 d6 13.f4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 e5 15.Qd2 exf4 16.Qxf4 Be6 17.Qg3 Kh8 18.Qh4 Qc7 19.Bd3 Ng8 20.e5 h6 21.Qe4 g6 22.Bf6+ Bxf6 23.exf6 Qd7 24.Qd4 Bjelicic,J (2101)-Greb,N (1947)/Sibenik 2007/CBM 120 ext/0–1; 9...Ba5 10.Nd6+ Ke7 11.Bf4 Bc7 12.Ncb5 e5 13.Nxc7 Qxc7 14.Nb5 Qb8 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bxf6+ gxf6 17.Bc4 d6 18.Qh5 Be6 19.Bxe6 Kxe6 20.Rad1 Rd8 21.Qf5+ Ke7 22.Nc3 Qc8 23.Nd5+ Kf8 24.Qxf6 Trujillo Delgado,D (2184)-Marrero Falcon,H (1920)/Las Palmas 2005/CBM 109 ext/1–0) 10.b4 Be7 11.Nd4 0–0 12.Bb2 d6 13.f4 Rd8 14.Bf3 Qc7 15.Kh1 a6 16.Rc1 Ne5 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.Qe2 b5 20.Nd1 a5 21.Qxb5 Ba6 22.Bxe5 Qc8 23.Qb6 Bxf1 Pahud,C (2103)-Velcheva,M (2302)/Biel 2000/CBM 077 ext/0–1; 9.f4 a6 10.e5 axb5 11.exf6 gxf6 12.Be3 f5 13.Nxb5 b6 14.a3 Be7 15.c4 0–0 16.Bd3 Kh8 17.Qh5 Bb7 18.Bxb6 Rg8 19.Rf2 Qf8 20.Rd1 Bc5 21.Bxc5 Qxc5 22.b4 Nxb4 23.Bf1 Nc2 Doggers,P (2161)-Velcheva,M (2273)/Wijk aan Zee 2001/CBM 080 ext/0–1 (33)] 

9...a6 Black threatens to win material: a6xb5 

10.a3 

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White threatens to win material: a3xb4 

10...Be7 [Not 10...axb5 11.axb4 Rxa1 12.Qxa1±] 

11.Nd4 0–0 12.f4 d6 13.Kh1 Bd7 14.Bf3 Rc8 15.Qe1 

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15...b5 Black has a cramped position 

16.Qg3 b4 17.axb4 Qxb4 18.e5 White wins space 

18...Nxd4 

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19.Bxd4 [Less advisable is 19.exf6 Nf5 20.Qe1 Bxf6 21.Bxa8 Rxa8³] 

19...Qxd4 

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20.exf6 White has a mate threat 

20...Bxf6 21.Bxa8 Rxa8 

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22.Qd3 Exerts pressure on the isolated pawn [22.f5!? Be5 23.Qf3²] 

22...Qxd3= 23.cxd3 d5 24.Ra3 g6 25.Rb3 a5 26.Ra1 Kg7 27.Kg1 

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27...a4 Black threatens to win material: a4xb3 

28.Rb7 White threatens to win material: Rb7xd7 

28...Bc6 Black threatens to win material: Bc6xb7 

29.Rc7 White threatens to win material: Rc7xc6 

29...Be8 30.Kf1 h5 31.Ra2 Bd8 32.Rb7 Bc6 

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33.Rb4 Increasing the pressure on the isolated pawn on a4 

33...Ra6 

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34.Ke2 [34.g3!?= should be considered] 

34...Be7³ Black threatens to win material: Be7xb4 

35.Rd4 Bc5 36.Rdxa4 Bxa4 37.Nxa4 Bd4 38.b4 Ra8 39.Ra3 h4 40.Kf3 f5 41.g4 Kf6 

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42.Ra2 [¹42.g5+!? Ke7 43.Kg2µ] 

42...Rb8–+ 43.g5+ Ke7 44.Nb2 Rxb4 45.Nd1 Bb6 46.Rc2 Kd7 

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47.Nc3? [¹47.Nf2–+] 

47...Rd4 48.Rd2 Ba5 49.Ne2 

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49...Rxf4+! Double attack: g5/f4 

50.Kxf4 [50.Nxf4 Bxd2 Zwischenzug; 50.Kxf4 Bxd2+ Double attack(50...Bxd2+ Zwischenzug) ] 

50...Bxd2+ 51.Ke5 Ke7 52.Nf4 [52.Ng1 what else? 52...Bxg5 53.Ne2–+] 

52...Bxf4+ 53.Kxf4 Kd6 54.d4 [54.Kf3–+ is the last straw] 

54...e5+! Decoy: e5 

55.dxe5+ Ke6 56.Kf3 Kxe5 57.Kg2 Kf4 58.Kh3 Kxg5 [58...Kxg5 59.Kg2 Kf4–+]  0–1