ESWARAN vs WANG – ROUND 1 US CHAMPIONSHIP - Women 2019

This game is from round 1 of the US Championship Women 2019, fully annotated. It is between Ashritha Eswaran with White against Annie Wang with Black.

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

Eswaran,Ashritha (2234) - Wang,Annie (2304)

US-ch Women 2019 Saint Louis (1.4), 20.03.2019

1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 d6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.c3 d5 [5...e6 6.d4 Be7 7.d5 exd5 8.exd5 Ne5 9.f4 Ng6 10.c4 h5 11.h3 Bf5 12.Nbc3 Qd7 1/2–1/2 (31) Ma,Q (2637)-Xu,Y (2536) Beijing 2017] 

6.exd5 B20: Sicilian: Unusual White 2nd moves 

6...Nxd5 7.d4 e6 8.0–0 White is slightly better. 

8...Be7 

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9.a4 [9.Nd2 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11.cxd4 0–0 12.Qb3 b6 1/2–1/2 (38) Kalvach,L (1815)-Aytmukhametov,B (1000) Prague 2018] 

9...0–0 10.Na3 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bf6 12.Nac2 Nce7 

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13.f4 [White should play 13.Re1² ] 

13...Qc7= 14.Qf3 Bd7 15.Kh1 g6 16.Bd2 Rac8 17.Qf2 a6 18.Ne1 [18.Kg1=] 

18...Nc6 [Better is 18...Bxd4µ 19.Qxd4 Nf5] 

19.Ndf3 Na5 20.Nd3 Nb3 21.Ra3 Nxd2 22.Nxd2 Bc6 23.Ne4 Black must now prevent c4. 

23...Bg7 24.Nec5 Nb6 25.Raa1 Rfd8 26.Rfd1 

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26...Nc4 aiming for ...Bxg2+. 

27.Ne4 b6 28.Nb4 [28.Bf3µ was worth a try.] 

28...Bb7 [28...Bxe4–+ 29.Bxe4 29...Nxb2!] 

29.Qe2 a5 30.Nd3 Bc6 31.Ndf2 

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31...Bd5 [31...Rxd1+µ 32.Nxd1 Bb7] 

32.Ng5 [32.Rab1³] 

32...Bxg2+ [32...Qc6–+ and Black stays clearly on top. 33.Bxd5 exd5] 

33.Kxg2µ Qc6+ 34.Nf3 [White should try 34.Kh3 ] 

34...Rxd1 35.Nxd1 Rd8 36.Kg1 Bf8 37.Nd4 Bc5 38.Ne3? [38.Nf2µ Bxd4 39.cxd4 Rxd4 40.Rd1 Rxd1+ 41.Qxd1] 

38...Rxd4–+ 39.cxd4 

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39...Bxd4 Double Attack 

40.Rc1 Qe4 41.Qxc4 Bxe3+ 42.Kf1 Qf3+  0–1