Chess

William Hartston
Sunday 10 August 1997 23:02 BST
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In this extraordinary game from the World Junior Girls' Championship, White seemed to be heading for a brilliant win, but Black survived and fought her way back into the game. The White initiative persisted for a very long time, but once it was gone, Black showed that she was also capable of attacking play.

Black's problems began in the opening when she let her minor pieces drift too far away from her king. After 17.Nfg5 White already had serious threats with winning combinations such as 17...f5 18.Qh5 h6 19.Qg6 already in the air. Black had no good alternative to 17...h6, but after 18.Qh5, she could not take the knight: 18...hxg5 19.Nxg5 is too powerful.

Black's 18...Nc3! was a clever reply, but I wonder how much both players had seen at this stage. When White played 19.Nh7 and 20.Nhf6+, accepting the sacrifice would be disastrous, so 21...Kh8 was the only chance, but it is here that White's calculations may have gone astray. It looks at first as though 22.Nd7 (or the flashier Nd5) wins at once because of the threat of Qxh6+, but after 22...Nxb2! 23.Nxb6 Nxd3 Black has more than enough for her queen. White therefore had to take time capturing the knight on d1. Her attack was still very powerful, but Black was able to hang on. White's pressure built up until she won the black queen with 29.Bxg6+, but Black obtained two rooks for it and 32...Rb1 came as a very nasty sting in the tail.

White: Monika Bobrowska

Black: Elina Danielian

1 d4 d5 30 Rxd8 Rxd8

2 Nf3 Nf6 31 Kf1 Rd1+

3 c4 dxc4 32 Ke2 Rb1

4 e3 e6 33 Bxe5 Nxe5

5 Bxc4 a6 34 Qd4 Bf3+

6 Qe2 b5 35 gxf3 Re1+

7 Bd3 c5 36 Kxe1 Nxf3+

8 dxc5 Bxc5 37 Ke2 Nxd4+

9 0-0 Nc6 38 exd4 Rg2

10 Rd1 Qc7 39 h3 Rg1

11 a4 b4 40 d5 Kg6

12 Nbd2 0-0 41 Nf4+ Kf6

13 b3 Nd5 42 Nd3 Rb1

14 Bb2 Be7 43 Nxb4 Rxb3

15 Rac1 Bb7 44 Nxa6 Rxh3

16 Ne4 Qb6 45 Nc5 Ke5

17 Nfg5 h6 46 Nd3+ Kd6

18 Qh5 Nc3 47 a5 Rh1

19 Nh7 Nxd1 48 Nf4 Ra1

20 Nhf6+ Bxf6 49 Kf3 Rxa5

21 Nxf6+ Kh8 50 Ke4 Ra4+

22 Rxd1 Qa5 51 Kf5 Rb4

23 Nd5 e5 52 Nh5 Kxd5

24 Qf5 g6 53 f4 Rb6

25 Qf6+ Kh7 54 Nf6+ Rxf6+

26 Nf4 Qc7 55 Kxf6 Ke4

27 Nh5 Rg8 56 Kxf7 Kf5

28 Qh4 Qd8 White resigned

29 Bxg6+ Rxg6

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