STEFANOVA vs MUZYCHUK – FIDE WOMENS WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 3

Antoaneta Stefanova

This game is from round 3 of the 2018 FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship, fully annotated. It is between Antoaneta Stefanova with White against Anna Muzychuk with Black.

This game features a Queen’s Pawn Game. To learn more about the Queen’s Pawn Game, here is the best instruction book I could find on Amazon.

Stefanova,Antoaneta (2490) - Muzychuk,Anna (2564)

FIDE WCC 2018 Khanty-Mansiysk (3.2), 10.11.2018

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nd2 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Ngf3 Bd6 7.Bg3 0–0 8.Bd3 b6 D02: 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 sidelines, including 2...Nf6 3 g3 and 2...Nf6 3 Bf4

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9.e4 [9.Qe2 Qc7 10.0–0 Bxg3 11.hxg3 e5 12.e4 exd4 13.exd5 dxc3 14.bxc3 Re8 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Qd3+ Kg8 17.dxc6 Qxc6 18.Rfe1 Bb7 19.Nc4 Rad8 20.Qc2 Re4 21.Nce5 Qe6 22.Rxe4 Bxe4 23.Qa4 Bxf3 Ljubojevic,L (2570)-Lautier,J (2630)/Monte Carlo 1997/CBM 057 ext/½–½ (55)] 

9...Be7 [9...dxe4 10.Nxe4 Be7 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.h4 g6 14.h5 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 g5 16.h6 Qc8 17.Rh5 f6 18.Qc2 f5 19.Bd3 Qe8 20.Rh1 Qf7 21.Bc4 Bf6 22.Bd6 Rfd8 23.Bxc5 g4 24.Nd2 Trmal,J (2272)-Burdik,L (2150)/Klatovy 2004/CBM 101 ext/1–0 (48)] 

10.e5N White threatens to win material: e5xf6 [10.dxc5 bxc5 11.0–0 Bb7 12.Qe2 Nh5 13.exd5 Nxg3 14.hxg3 exd5 15.Rfe1 Bf6 16.Rad1 Re8 17.Qxe8+ Qxe8 18.Rxe8+ Rxe8 19.Bb5 Rc8 20.Nb3 Ne7 21.Na5 Ba8 22.a4 g6 23.Re1 Kf8 24.Ne5 Bxe5 Sarapu,O (2350)-Rogers,I (2550)/Auckland 1992/CBM 029 ext/0–1 (47)] 

10...Nh5 

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11.a3 Covers b4 

11...a5 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.h4 Nxg3 14.fxg3 

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14...h6 Controls g5 

15.h5 Bg5 16.0–0 Qe7 

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17.Nxg5 Black king safety dropped 

17...Qxg5 18.Rf4 cxd4 19.cxd4 

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19...f5? [¹19...Qe7= would keep Black alive] 

20.exf6+- e5 21.dxe5 Qxe5 22.fxg7 Rxf4 23.gxf4 

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23...Qxg7 [23...Qxe2 24.Bxe2 Kxg7 25.Nf3+-] 

24.Qe6+ Kh8 25.Kh1 Rf8 26.Rf1 Rf6 27.Qe8+ Rf8 

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28.Qe6 Twofold repetition 

28...Ne7?? with this move Black loses his initiative [28...Rf6 29.Qe3 d4 30.Qe8+ Rf8±] 

29.Qxb6 Nf5 30.Bxf5 Rxf5 

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31.Qg6 [31.g4!? Rf6 32.Qd4± (32.Qxa5 Rd6 33.Rg1 Qe7=) ] 

31...d4± 32.Kg1 Rxh5 33.Qxg7+ Kxg7 34.b4 axb4 

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35.Rb1 White threatens to win material: Rb1xb4 

35...Ra5 Black threatens to win material: Ra5xa3 

36.Rxb4 Bc6 37.Nc4 Ra7 38.Kf2 Bd5 

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39.Nb6 White threatens to win material: Nb6xd5 

39...Bc6 40.Nc4 

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40...d3 Black advances the passed pawn [40...Bd5!?= might be a viable alternative] 

41.g3 d2 42.Ke2 Bd5 43.a4 

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43...Bxc4+ [43...Bc6!?±] 

44.Rxc4+- Rd7 45.Kd1 Rd3 46.g4 Rd5 47.Rc3 Rd4 

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48.Ra3 [48.Ra3 Rxf4 49.a5+-]  1–0