Tehran WWC TB02: Harika makes it; Padmini risks it all and qualifies!

[Event "FIDE WWCC 2017"]
[Site "Tehran"]
[Date "2017.02.16"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Saduakassova, Dinara"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B85"]
[WhiteElo "2539"]
[BlackElo "2428"]
[Annotator "Raahil Mullick"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 {Saduakassova goes for the
interesting Taimanov!} 5. Nc3 a6 {Both 5...Qc7 and 5...a6 are the main lines.}
6. Be2 d6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 {This move has many ideas. There is e5
or f5 and another possibility is Qe1 with the idea of going Qg3.} O-O 10. a4 (
10. Qe1 {Trying to play Qg3, is one of the main lines.}) (10. Bf3 {is also
quite good, with some ideas of e5, with a discovered attack on the black
knight on c6. The biggest problem for Black here is that, some of his pieces
haven't developed. Whereas, White has all his pieces doing something, the only
piece that is not doing much is the rook on a1.}) 10... Nxd4 $6 {I guess
Saduakassova wasn't familiar with the line.} (10... Qc7 {follows the main line
with quite a lot of theory.}) 11. Qxd4 Qc7 12. Rad1 {is also good.} (12. a5 $1
{On the other hand, was extremely accurate. It does an excellent job of
restricting the pawn to only b7, hence it turns out to be backward. 12.a5 also
creates a an outpost for the white knight on b6.} d5 {is an important move to
consider!} (12... Bd7 13. Rfd1 {is better for White mostly because of the pawn
on a5.}) {After...} 13. exd5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Qxd5 Qxc2 16. Bd3 $14 {
With all the active white pieces, Black can be under a lot of pressure here.})
12... e5 {A logical break in the centre.} 13. Qd3 exf4 $6 {Was unnecessary. It
weakens the d6 pawn for no reason.} (13... Rd8 $142 {keeping the tension was
better.}) 14. Bxf4 Rd8 15. Kh1 Be6 16. Qg3 Ne8 (16... Kh8 {Was much safer.})
17. Bd3 (17. Nd5 $5 Bxd5 18. exd5 Qxc2 {This could be a dangerous pawn to win.}
19. Bd3 Qxa4 20. Rde1 $36 {White clearly has the initiative.}) 17... Bf6 18.
Bg5 $5 {Because of the rook hanging on d8, Black has to exchange the bishops.}
Bxg5 19. Qxg5 Qc5 20. Nd5 $1 {Capturing the outpost!} h6 21. Qg3 $6 (21. Qh4 $5
Qd4 22. c3 Qe5 23. Bc4 $16 {The point is that in the game the queen was on g3
and with Qe5 you have to exchange the queens, where as here White keeps all
his attacking chances intact.}) 21... Qd4 22. c3 Qe5 23. Qxe5 dxe5 {The
position is now around even.} 24. c4 a5 $1 {Grabbing hold on the dark squares.
You see why 12.a5! was a good move! :)} 25. Kg1 Bxd5 26. cxd5 $6 $11 (26. exd5
{would have maintained an edge for White. For eg.} b6 27. Rde1 f6 28. b3 Nd6
29. Bg6 Nb7 30. Re3 Nc5 31. h4 $14 {White can slowly try to improve his
kingside position. The knight on c5 looks good, but there is no good way to
make much progress for Black.}) 26... Nd6 27. Rc1 Rac8 28. Kf2 Kf8 29. Ke3 Ke7
30. g4 Rxc1 31. Rxc1 {This is extremely equal.} Rc8 32. Rg1 {Harika maintains
the rook and hopes to swindle her opponent in time pressure. However,
objectively the position is completely fine for Black.} Nc4+ $1 33. Ke2 (33.
Bxc4 Rxc4 $17) 33... Nxb2 {Currently it looks impossible for White to win.} 34.
Rb1 Nxa4 (34... Nxd3 35. Rxb7+ Kf6 36. Kxd3 Rc1 37. Ra7 Rd1+ 38. Ke2 Rd4 39.
Rxa5 Rxe4+ 40. Kf3 Rf4+ 41. Kg3 Ke7 $11 {The game would most probably end in a
draw.}) 35. Rxb7+ Kf8 (35... Kd6 $1 36. Rxf7 Rc7 $15 {Black can never lose
this.}) 36. Ra7 Nc5 ({After...} 36... Rc5 37. d6 Ke8 38. Re7+ Kd8 (38... Kf8
39. Rb7 Ke8 40. Kd2 Nc3 41. Bc2 $16) 39. Rxf7 Rc6 40. Rxg7 Rxd6 $11) 37. Rxa5
Nb3 (37... Nxd3 38. Kxd3 {looks a little scary for Black, but it should not be
too dangerous.}) 38. Ra7 Nd4+ 39. Ke3 Rd8 40. h4 Ke8 41. Be2 Rd7 (41... Nxe2
42. Kxe2 Rb8 {was possible.}) 42. Ra6 Rb7 $2 {A clear mistake.} 43. Bd1 {
Prevents the check on b3.} Rb8 44. Ba4+ Kf8 (44... Ke7 $1 {Would be equal. The
problem was that both the players were in immense time pressure.}) 45. Ra7 Rd8
46. h5 {The knight on d4 looks good but there is no square that it can go to
without being captured.} Rb8 47. Kd3 Rc8 {Saduakassova has started to make
very bad mistakes now.} 48. Bd7 $1 {First it stops the knight from coming to
e6 after the pawn is moved to d6!} Rd8 49. Kc4 Nf3 50. Bf5 Nh4 51. Kc5 Nxf5 52.
gxf5 $18 {This endgame is winning because the active white rook, active king
and the protected passer.} Ke8 53. d6 Rb8 54. Kc6 Rc8+ 55. Rc7 Ra8 56. Re7+ Kf8
57. Rxe5 {A game that was decided due to time pressure.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE WWCC 2017"]
[Site "Tehran"]
[Date "2017.02.16"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Zhao, Xue"]
[Black "Padmini, Rout"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2505"]
[BlackElo "2387"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2003.06.08"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 {Padmini goes for the Open Catalan.} 5.
Bg2 Bd7 $5 {This is an interesting line to put the bishop on c6 and negate the
catalan bishop.} 6. Nbd2 (6. Ne5 {looks the most logical.} Bc6 7. Nxc6 Nxc6 8.
e3 {was played by Topalov against Deac Bogdan Daniel.} (8. Qa4 {looks pretty
interesting as well.}) (8. O-O {is another option.})) 6... Bc6 7. Nxc4 Bb4+ 8.
Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 O-O 10. O-O {Overall White's position looks preferable
because he has an additional central pawn and the knight is ready to jump to
e5. Also there is a half open c-file. Black on the other hand lacks
counterplay and has quite some issues with completing her development.} Bd5 11.
Rac1 Nc6 12. Rfd1 {White makes the best moves and places the pieces on their
most natural squares.} a5 13. a3 a4 14. Qf4 (14. Nfe5 {looks the most logical.}
Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Qxd2 17. Rxd2 Nd5 18. e4 $16) 14... Nh5 (14... Bxc4
15. Rxc4 Na5 16. Rxa4 Qe8 $1 {The rook is very nicely trapped.} 17. b3 Nd5 18.
Qd2 Nxb3 19. Rxa8 Nxd2 20. Rxe8 Nxf3+ 21. Bxf3 Rxe8 $11) 15. Qe3 f5 $6 {
Highly overambitious play by Padmini Rout. This move weakens the e5 square and
White is solid enough to not feel the heat of the attack.} 16. Nfe5 {aiming
for Nxc6.} f4 17. Qd3 Na5 (17... fxg3 18. hxg3 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 $14)
18. Nxa5 $16 Rxa5 19. Bf3 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 $1 {White keeps control.} ({Worse is}
20. Qxf3 fxg3 21. Qxh5 gxf2+ 22. Kf1 Qd5 $17) 20... c6 21. Rc4 Qd6 22. Kg2 Nf6
23. Qc2 Rfa8 $6 (23... Rb5) 24. Rc5 h6 25. Re5 Nd5 $6 (25... Nd7 $1 $14 {
keeps White's advantage to a minimum.}) 26. Qe4 (26. Qg6 $1 $16 {would have
given White a clear advantage.}) 26... fxg3 (26... Rb5 $14) 27. hxg3 (27. Rxe6
$2 Nf4+ $19) 27... Nf6 28. Qc2 Nd7 29. Re3 (29. Rxa5 Rxa5 30. Ne5 Nxe5 31. dxe5
Qxe5 32. Rd8+ Kf7 33. Rd7+ Kg8 34. Rxb7 $16 {gives White excellent winning
chances.}) 29... Qd5 30. Rh1 Qf5 31. Qc4 Rd5 32. Rh4 Qg6 (32... Rb5 $14) 33.
Qb4 Rb5 34. Qd6 Nf8 35. Ne5 Qe8 36. Nc4 $2 {The critical mistake of the game.
The queen is surprisingly trapped on d6.} (36. Rf3 Ng6 37. Nxg6 Qxg6 38. Re3
$14) (36. Rf4 $14) 36... Rd8 $1 $19 37. Qc7 (37. Qf4 Ng6 $19) 37... Rd7 $1 38.
Nd6 $2 (38. Qf4 Ng6 39. Qg4 Nxh4+ 40. gxh4 $17 {is surely better for Black,
but the game is not over.}) 38... Qe7 $1 39. Qxd7 Qxd7 40. Nxb5 cxb5 {After
all of the skirmishes, Black has emerged with an extra piece. The rest is just
matter of technique for Padmini.} 41. Rhe4 Qd5 42. Kg1 Qa2 43. d5 Qxd5 44. Rb4
Nd7 45. Rd3 Qc6 46. Rc3 Qd5 47. Rd3 Qc6 48. Rc3 Qb6 49. Rc8+ Kh7 50. Rf4 Nf6
51. e3 e5 52. Rb4 Nd5 53. Rh4 Qe6 54. Rb8 Qc6 55. Rd8 Nf6 56. Rb4 e4 57. Kg2
Qc5 58. Rbd4 Qh5 59. Rd1 Ng4 60. Rh1 Qf5 61. Rd2 Qf3+ 62. Kg1 Ne5 63. Rd5 Nd3
64. Rh2 Qd1+ 65. Kg2 Ne1+ {Quite a depressing result for Zhao Xue who kept
complete control on the position and was better for most part of the game.
However, when it came to time pressure, Padmini held her nerves better and was
able to nicely trap her opponent!} 0-1