Pogonina Leads FIDE Women’s Grand-Prix

   [Event "Tehran WGP 2016"]  [Site "Tehran IRI"]  [Date "2016.02.14"]  [Round "4"]  [White "Batsiashvili,N"]  [Black "Pogonina,N"]  [Result "0-1"]  [BlackElo "2454"]  [ECO "D35"]  [EventDate "2016.02.10"]  [WhiteElo "2485"]   { Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3  d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 c6 7.Qc2 Be7 8.h3 Nf8 9.e3 Ng6 10.Bd3  { A rarity, Bh2 is by far the ove of choice, here. Infact, according to my database, this move has only been seen once before, in Reshevsky-Bisguier, 1963. In light of what happens in this game, it might not be seen for a good while again. }  10...Nxf4  { Pogonina goes her own way, and why not? It makes sense to get rid of this bishop, especially in return for one of her 'not ideally' placed knights. Just incase you are interested, Bisguier had chosen 10...0-0. }  11.exf4  { The balancing side to the exhange on e4, the e-file has been opened and White has just as much stake to it as Black. }  11...O-O 12.g4 Ne4  { Black continues to come forward and free her position. Here she offers her opponent the chance to pick up a pawn, which White accepts. }  13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Bxe4  { The fact that White grabs a pawn, here, is niether here nor there actually, infact Black is on the cusp of turning the position in her favour. She has steadily freed her position while white has not actually done anything, other than put her own structure under pressure, and with her King as yet remaining in the centre. Not only this, but Black has obtained the bishop pair, which is a plus point with the open nature of the position. }  14...f5  { It's a good move this, very much to the point, being that White's Kingside pawns are extremely dodgy and that her bishop is not exactly sitting great either. }  15.Bd3  { Taking on f5 was of course a ridiculous possibility, but here, White could have thrown in Qb3+ before retreating her Bishop. It would have been a little less passive, and would also have stopped Black's next. }  15...Bb4+  { "An uncastaled King is a vulnerable thing" someone once told me. Here, White's has loitered for too long. }  16.Kf1  { The King ducks into cover, but he is not very safe here. It will take some time in order to create the monarch some security, and White just does not have it to spare. }  16...Kh8  { Prudently covering any Qb3 tricks. It is also a very useful waiting move to see exactly what continuation White will choose. }  17.Rg1 $2  { Not a good move, this, White is obviously very concerned about her predicament on the Kingside. However, this move does little to help her situation. The rook was better on h1, actually, maintaining the tension, and if Black should consider capturing on g4, then hxg4 would give White powerful possibilities along the h-file. One has to take in to account the nuances of the position, here, and one such nuance is the e-file, as yet unclaimed. For this reason, Qe2 would have been a little more to the point. Any ...Re8 or ...Bd6 from Black could be well met by Ne5 from White, ...Qd6 could be opposed by Qe5. }  ( 17.Qe2 Qd6 18.a3 Ba5 19.Qe5 $10 ) 17...Bd6  { ...Qd6 was another way to go, and would have likely have picked up a pawn, either on d4 or f4. However, Pogonina had other ideas for her Queen. }  18.Ne5 Qh4 $1  { The ideal illustration of White's Kingside errors, here. Batsiashvili is way past the point of concern, here, her position is teetering on the verge of collapse. }  19.gxf5  { Not the way to defend, really, this is helping Black's cause, but White obviously wants to try to simplify. Re1 was slightly more active, however. }  19...Bxe5 20.dxe5 Qxh3+ 21.Ke2 Bxf5  { With an obvious initiative to Black, but White is by no means done yet. }  22.Rg3 Qh5+ 23.Ke3  { The White King is unable to go to the back rank due to the vulnerability of the a1-rook to skewers from the Black Queen. And so, he must head further up the board in order to flee. }  23...Rad8 { Bringing more forces in to the attack. } 24.Bxf5 { Liquidating. }  24...Rxf5 25.Qe4  { This move looks the way to go --putting heat on f5, covering f4, supporting the h1-square in preparation on Rh1-- but in hindsight, Rag1 was probably the way to go. }  ( 25.Rag1 Rf7 26.Rg5 Qh3+ 27.f3  { and White seems to me to be holding just fine, here. } ) 25...Qf7  { This move seems to be the trump for Black, and piles the pressure on to White again. After 25.Rag1 it would actually have lost to Rxg7. }  26.Rag1 g6  { Black mutes White's possibilities along the g-file, and with this White's shoulders will have no doubt sagged a bit, as Black now has all the threats. }  27.b3 c5 { Subtle, yet effective, ...Rd4 is the threat. } 28.Qc4 Qe7  { Pogonina, as the attacker, is obviously not interested in exchanging off her pieces. }  29.Rc1  { Noble defence, Batsiashvili is not going to give up her point without a fight. She makes her opponent play the winning moves. }  29...b6  { With this move, all bases are covered for Black and White is toast -- and decides to get mated. }  30.Qa6 Qd7 31.Rc4 Qd3# 0-1