World Championship Women 2011

The world championship for women is played in Rivne in the Ukraine. Half way the tournament it looks like Tkachenko will lose her world title, that she gained only recently. She is still waiting for her first victory, and is already 4 points behind the leader Motrichko. The current standings are 1) Motrichko 6-10, 2/3) Nogovitsyna and Makarenkova 6-8.

12-17? Here Doumesh could have put her opponent under heavy pressure with ≡ 18-23! 43.49-43 6-11 44.43-39 11-17! 45.39-34 12-18 46.34-30 Then we have arrived in the famous position known as "De Haas - Fabre", which is very dangerous for white:

17-22 43.28x17 21x12 44.33-28 24-29 45.28-22 12-17! 46.22x11 16x7 47.38-33 29x38 48.32x43 23-29! 49.43-39 19-23 50.37-32 7-12 51.39-34 29x40 52.35x44 23-29 53.44-40 29-33 54.32-28? For many decades the value of this position was unknown, but the current state of the art computers indicate that ≡ 54.40-34! 26-31 55.27-21 31-37 56.32x41 33-38 57.36-31 38-43 58.21-16 leads to a draw. ≡ 33x31 55.36x27 18-23 56.30-24 23-28 57.40-34 12-18 58.34-29 28-32 59.27x38 26-31 60.38-32 31-36 61.32-28 36-41 62.28-22 18x27 63.24-20 14-19 64.29-23 19x28 65.20-15 13-19 66.15-10 41-47 B+

≡ 43.49-43 17-22 44.28x17 21x12 45.32-28 12-17 46.43-39 17-21 47.38-32 18-23 48.39-34 6-11 49.35-30 24x35 50.33-29 13-18 51.28-22 35-40 52.22x24 40-44 53.29x18 44-50 54.24-20 50-45 55.20x9 45x1 56.9-4 11-17 57.4-13 17-22 58.27x18 1x23 and the game ended in a draw.

With 33.33-29! 30-35 34.39-33! 35x44 35.45-40 44x35 36.27-21 16x27 37.31x22 18x27 38.29x16 25-30 39.34x25 35-40 40.43-39 40-45 41.16-11 Golubeva opted for a complicated endgame with good practical opportunities. 8-12 42.11-6 9-14 43.39-34 10-15 44.42-37 12-18 45.33-28 14-19(?) 46.28-22 45-50 47.22x31 19-24 48.31-26 18-23 49.37-31? 13-18 50.31-27 50-45(?) 51.38-32 45x29 52.6-1 29-45 53.1-6 24-29 54.6-50 45-40 55.26-21? 40-35 56.21-16 29-34 57.50-6 35-2 58.6-11 2-35 59.11-50 35-2 60.27-21 34-40 61.21-17 2-8? 62.17-11 8-12 63.11-6 12-1 64.16-11? 40-45 65.32-27 23-29 66.36-31 15-20? 67.25x14 18-22 68.50x17 45-50 In this very abstract endgame the game went back and forth between a draw and a win for white. After 69.17-22? 50x17 70.11x22 finally a more concrete endgame appeared on the board, in which Sadowska made no more mistakes and managed to secure the draw. 29-33 71.14-9 33-38 72.9-3 38-42 73.31-26 42-47 74.3-14 White is faced with the problem that after ≡ 74.27-21 47-24 75.21-16 24-19 76.22-17 19-13 77.3-14 13-2! she can't make any progress. For example 78.14-5 2-7! 79.5-46 7-2! etc. and white has no opportunity to reach the strategic square 50. ≡ 47-24! 75.14-41 24-2 76.41-36 2-16 77.26-21 1-12 78.22-17 12-1 79.36-47 16-2 80.47-36 2-16 81.17-12 1x31 82.36x27 16-2 83.27-32 2-8 84.21-16 8-13 =

Motrichko won strategically using 22-27! 42.43-38 13-18 43.48-42 9-13 44.49-43? Here white could still escape with ≡ 44.42-37 18-22 or? 45.28-23!! 19x39 46.30x8 3x12 47.38-33 27x29 48.49-43 39x48 49.35-30 48x31 50.36x7 with a draw. ≡ 18-23! 45.43-39 13-18 46.39-34 17-22! (here ≡ 18-22 47.42-37 24-29 48.33x13 22x31 49.26x37 27x38 was also winning) ≡ 47.28x17 21x12 48.32x21 16x27 49.33-29 (since ≡ 49.34-29? loses because of 23x34 50.30x39 27-32 51.38x27 14-20 52.25x23 18x47 B+) ≡ 24x33 50.38x29 15-20! 51.29-24 20x40 52.35x44 14-20 53.25x14 19x10 54.30-24 12-17 55.42-38 3-9 56.44-39 10-15 57.39-34 23-28 58.34-30 9-14 B+

Round 2

After 34.42-38(?) 24-29! 35.33x24 19x30 36.28x19 13x24 Tkachenko made a mistake with 37.32-28?, presumably because she discovered here that black has a combination after ≡ 37.38-33 35-40! 38.34-29 8-12 39.29x20 25x14 40.45x25 14-20 41.25x14 3-9 42.14x3 12-17 43.3x21 16x49. But although white is still far away from making a king, white can make a draw in this endgame. ≡ 18-22? Here black could win using ≡ 35-40! 38.36-31 40x29 39.28-23 29-34 40.23x12 8x17 41.31-27 3-9 etc. ≡ 38.28x17 35-40 39.36-31 40x29 40.31-27 30-35 end the game ended in a draw.

Round 3

Sadowska thought she could simplify the position with 23-28?, but it turned out that Olga Fedorovich had looked a little deeper than her opponent: 28.32x14 16-21 29.27x16 13-19 30.14x23 18x49 31.31-27 49x21 32.16x27 11-16 It looks like black will gain a piece back with 3-8 followed by 17-21 26x17 12x32 but white disturbed that plan with ≡ 33.35-30! which brings the exchange 27-22 17x28 30-24 20x29 34x32 into play. And so black stayed a piece behind after ≡ 20-24 34.30x19 3-8 35.48-42 and lost the game.

Round 4

In this position white has a few weaknesses. On the right wing she lacks formations, and her center is vulnerable due to the absence of pieces on 43, 48 and 49. Former world champion Tansykkuzhina took advantage of this after 27.31-27? (here ≡ 27.47-42 was safer) ≡ 12-18! 28.39-33 21-26 29.33x24 14-20 30.25x14 9x29 31.30-25 (after ≡ 31.47-42? white quickly goes bankrupt due to 11-17! 32.30-25 17-21! 33.28-22 19-24 34.44-39 or? 24-30 35.35x33 23-28 36.32x12 21x34 37.40x29 8x39 B+) ≡ 8-12! (brings the threat 19-24 28x17 11x33 into play) ≡ 32.47-42? Only with the unexpected move ≡ 32.36-31! white could still defend her position. ≡ 3-8! and Turiy decided to sacrifice a piece with 33.25-20 15x24 34.44-39, but that did not help to avoid the defeat.

Round 5

White has a huge advantage, but to win this type of position one has to play very precisely. 52.39-34 Here ≡ 52.39-33! was the most convincing continuation, since both 13-18? 53.33-28! 9-13 (or ≡ 27-32? 54.24-20 15x22 55.37x8 18x29 56.8-3 W+) ≡ 54.43-38 and ≡ 12-17? 53.43-39! 17-22 54.39-34 are hopeless for black. ≡ 13-18 53.43-38 18-22 54.34-30? This gives black an easy way to make a draw. The correct plan was ≡ 54.38-33! 12-17 55.24-19 9-14 56.19x10 15x4 57.23-19 W+. ≡ 25x34 55.29x40 9-13 56.38-33 15-20 (since directly ≡ 13-18? loses due to 57.33-28 18x20 58.28x8 W+) ≡ 57.24x15 13-18 58.33-28 22x33 59.23-19 33-38 60.19-14 38-43 61.14-9 12-17 62.9-3 43-49 63.3x32 49x16 64.15-10 18-22 =

Round 6

The Dutch youngster Karlijn Overes has positively surprised in this tournament so far. After the black mistake 13-18? she decided the game with a small combination: 22.24-20! 15x24 23.34-30 25x45 24.44-40 45x34 25.39x10 4x15 26.26-21 17x26 27.28x17 11x22 28.33-28 22x33 29.31x4 12-17 30.38x29 7-11 W+

Makarenkova has gained a winning tempo advantage. But instead of attacking immediately she wasted valuable time with the slow move 8-13? That was just enough for Sadowska to organize her defense with 51.40-34! After ≡ 22-28! the black attack would have been decisive. For example 51.40-34 24-29! 52.43-39 29x40 53.35x44 23-29! 54.44-40 25-30! 55.38-33 (and not ≡ 55.40-35? due to 28-32 56.35x33 32x34 B+) ≡ 29x38 56.40-35 28-32! 57.35x24 32-37! 58.24-19 37-41 59.19-14 41-46 B+. ≡ 24-29 52.43-39 29x40 53.35x44 13-19 54.38-33 19-24 55.48-42 25-30 56.42-37! 23-29 57.33-28 22x33 58.39x28 30-34 59.28-22 29-33 60.22-18 34-39 61.44-40 39-43 62.18-13 43-49 63.13-9 49x35 64.9-4 33-39 65.4-36 39-44 66.26-21 16x27 67.36x50 =

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