World championship women 2011

In Dneprodzerzhinsk in the Ukraine, the match for the world championship women 2011 was played between Zoja Golubeva and Darja Tkachenko.

Golubeva - Tkachenko 1-1

In the third game of the first set Tkachenko had reached a promising classical position. After 11-16 42.42-38 23-29! white must make some unpleasant choices. For example 43.43-39 29-34! 44.30-25 34x43 45.38x49 9-14! 46.35-30 (since 46.49-44? 16-21! 47.27x16 14-20 48.25x23 18x27 is losing for white) 24x35 47.33-29 16-21 (the sacrifice 14-20 48.25x23 35-40? does not work due to 49.29-24! 18x20 50.49-44 40x49 51.28-22 17x28 52.32x23 49x21 53.26x19) 48.27x16 18-22 49.29-24! 19x30 50.25x34 22x33 51.26-21! 17x26 52.16-11 12-17 53.11x22 33-39 54.34x43 35-40 with a difficult endgame for white. The alternative 43.27-21 16x27 44.32x21 3-8! also looks dangerous for white. For humans it is not at all clear that 45.43-39?! 19-23! 46.28x19 18-23 47.19x28 29-34 48.30x19 34x14 is still a draw. And also after 45.21-16 (note that 45.37-32? quickly loses after 18-22!) black has a small combination with 19-23 46.28x19 18-23 47.19x28 13-18 48.30x19 18-23 49.33x24 23x41. However, white can defend the position with 50.26-21 17x26 51.38-32! (and not 51.16-11? 12-17 52.11x22 41-47 B+) with a draw after 41-46(?) 52.19-13! 46x48 53.13x4.

But none of this happened, since Tkachenko became the victim of a trap that Golubeva had set up for her: 23-29? 42.43-39!! 29x47 43.28-22 17x28 44.32x14 9x20 45.30x6 20-25 46.39-34? Not only does this spoil the victory for white, it also gives black an easy way to make a draw. White could win using 46.27-21! 47-29 47.21-16! 29-45 48.16-11 etc. 18-23! 47.27-21 47-29! 48.21-17 29x45 49.17-12 45-50 50.35-30 25x34 51.37-32 34-40 52.6-1 3-8 53.12x3 50-28 and the players agreed to a draw.

Golubeva - Tkachenko 1-1

In the first game of the tie-break Tkachenko played very aggressively. In the position of the diagram Golubeva missed a good opportunity: 38.32-28! This brings the threat 39.28-22! into play, for example 5-10? 39.28-22 17x39 40.26x17 39-43 41.17-11 43x32 42.11-7 with good opportunities for white. But black has nothing better than this, since both 21-27? 39.42-37! 18-23 or? 40.37-31! 23x43 41.31x11 43-48 42.33-29 24x33 43.49-43 48x39 44.34x43 and 17-22? 39.28x17 21x12 40.26-21! are losing for black.

38.34-29 5-10 39.29x20 15x24 40.33-29? After this move the white perspectives for a win are gone. With the unexpected 40.33-28! 18-23 41.42-37! white could force black into a difficult endgame with 21-27 (here both 13-18? 42.28-22! 18x27 43.37-31 and 24-29? 42.38-33! 29x27 43.37-31 23x32 44.31x11 are not possible for black) 42.32x12 23x41 43.12-7 etc.

24x33 41.38x29 19-23 42.29-24 14-19 43.42-38 18-22 44.38-33 10-14 45.33-29 23x34 46.30x39 19x30 47.35x24 22-27 48.32-28 17-22 49.26x17 22x44 50.49x40 27-32 51.17-11 32-37 52.11-7 37-41 53.7-1 41-46 54.24-20 14-19 55.1-34 46-37 =

Z. Golubeva - D. Tkachenko 2-0

In the third game of the tie-break Tkachenko played too passively, which resulted in a very strong attack for Golubeva. 14-20? 41.23x14 20x9 42.28-23? A logical move. But in this special situation the exchange 42.22-18! 13x22 43.28x8 3x12 44.32-27 was already winning for white, for example 9-13 45.40-34 13-19 46.38-32 12-18 47.32-28 18-23 48.28-22 etc.

9-14 43.40-34 14-20? Here 16-21 was a better plan for black, because the logical 44.32-28? fails due to 21-27! 45.22x31 13-18 46.34-29 35-40 47.29x9 40x49 and white can just escape using 48.33-29 49x36 49.39-34 3x14 50.28-22 18x27 51.23-19 14x23 52.29x7. 44.32-28 13-19 45.23x14 20x9 46.28-23! Now the white attack is unstoppable, and Golubeva wins the game very convincingly. 12-17 47.22x11 16x7 48.38-32 3-8 49.32-27 9-14 50.27-22 24-30 51.22-17 and in this hopeless position black had to resign.

Set 2

Tkachenko - Golubeva 2-0

In the first game of the second set Golubeva made a terrible mistake with 13-18? 43.27-21 26x17 44.28-22 17x37 45.38-32 37x28 46.33x4 23-28 47.4-15 W+ This mistake cost her the second set.

Golubeva - Tkachenko 1-1

In the fourth game Golubeva had a small advantage due to the misplaced black piece on 15. Here Tkachenko played the very risky move 14-20?! 44.25x14 9x20 45.30-25! 4-9 46.25x14 9x20 47.35-30 16-21 48.47-41 21-26! Now the position looks quite dangerous for black. However, after 49.41-36 3-8 50.34-29 she can make a double sacrifice to force a break through with 26-31 51.37x26 27-32 52.26-21 22-27 53.21-16 32-37 54.43-38 27-31 55.36x27 37-41, which is enough for a draw. 49.43-38 3-8 50.34-29 8-12 51.29-23 27-31 52.41-36 31x42 53.38x47 12-17 54.33-29 17-21 55.47-42 21-27 56.42-38 26-31 57.30-24 20-25 58.24-19 25-30 59.19-13 30-35 60.13-9 31-37 61.9-4 27-31 62.36x18 35-40 63.23-19 37-41 64.18-13 40-45 65.13-8 41-47 66.38-33 45-50 67.8-2 50x5 68.4-13

Set 3

Golubeva - Tkachenko 0-2

The third game of the last set was the most spectacular. 24.38-32 10-14! The logical move 18-23? was prevented due to 25.33-29 23x25 26.27-22 17x28 27.32x5 W+. The main advantage of the 24th black move is that 25.30-25 19-23! followed by 14-19 25x14 9x20 gives her an ideal development of the left wing. 25.42-38 20-25 26.44-39 25x34 27.39x30 18-23 White is under pressure now, due to the misplaced pieces on 37 and especially on 46. 28.33-28 3-8 29.30-25 11-16 30.37-31!? A very unconventional move. One can imagine that Golubeva did not want her opponent to take control of the white left wing with 43-39 17-21 26x17 12x21, since that would leave her with an inactive piece on 46 for the rest of the game. But perhaps the exchange 47-41! 36x47 37-31 47x22 27x20 would have been more realistic in this situation. 23-29! 31.46-41 29-34 32.41-37 17-21 33.26x17 12x21 34.31-26 7-12 35.26x17 12x21 White has managed to develop the piece on 46, but now she is troubled by the strong black piece on 34. 36.37-31 21-26 37.38-33 26x37 38.32x41 9-13 39.43-39 34x43 40.49x38 13-18 41.28-22 8-12! 42.22x13 19x8

Golubeva - Tkachenko 2-0

Tkachenko still has a significant advantage due to the strong piece on 24, that gives her complete control over the right side of the board. To illustrate how dangerous this position is for white, consider for example 43.41-37 14-19 and now 1) 44.37-31? 12-17! 45.31-26 19-23 46.38-32 8-12 47.33-28 23-29 48.27-22 29-34 49.22x11 16x7 B+ or 2) 44.37-32? 12-17! 45.32-28 8-12 46.27-22 19-23 47.28x30 17x39 B+ or 3) 44.38-32? 19-23! 45.27-22 8-13 46.47-42 4-9 47.42-38 9-14 48.33-28 23-29 49.32-27 13-19 50.38-32 29-34 B+ However, with 4) 44.33-28! 12-17 45.27-22 white can make a draw. 43.27-22!? Golubeva chooses an active, but also dangerous plan. 14-19 44.38-32 8-13 45.32-28? After this mistake Tkachenko forces a win. With 45.33-28! a draw was still possible, for example 13-18 46.22x13 19x8 47.32-27 12-17 48.41-37 17-21 49.37-32 8-12 50.28-23 12-17 51.32-28 21x32 52.28x37 17-22 53.47-42! 16-21 54.42-38 21-27 55.38-33 etc. 16-21! 46.41-37 ( 46.22-17? 21-27 47.17x8 13x2 is immediately lost) 21-27! 47.22x31 36x27 48.47-41 12-17 49.41-36 27-32 50.37-31 32x23 51.31-27 13-18 52.36-31 4-9 53.31-26 9-14 and Golubeva resigned. In the last game of the set Tkachenko had no problems to defend her lead, and so she won the third set and the match.