A crazy tiebreaker brought the Russian woman the World Cup. Now Goryachkina claims the crown
Dmitry Kryakvin August 22, 2023, 09:50 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
A chess player from Russia was teetering over the abyss due to health problems. But she won!
The tie-break of the decisive match for the title of winner of the women’s World Cup between one of the favorites of the tournament, the Russian Alexandra Goryachkina, and the inaugural of the tournament, the Bulgarian Nurgul Salimova, was very nervous and, according to the plot, doubled the main time of the fight: missed opportunities, unrealized moments, unpredictability until the end.
How Goryachkina escaped in regulation time:
Real validol of a Russian chess player in the World Cup final. He barely escaped defeat!
After winning in an interview, Goryachkina said that she felt bad during the final, which had an extremely negative impact on her game: Alexandra, on the contrary, usually plays very confidently, but here again and again she staggered on the abyss.
Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria) – Alexandra Goryachkina (Russia) World Cup. The end. Tie-breaker. first batch
Feast of Salimova and Goryachkina
Photo: FIDE
Black just needs to quit. Connected passers-by are coming, and it is not clear what can stop them. Goryachkina tries the last chance on her: what if the opponent is afraid of mating threats?
32…Qf4 33.Qf3
It was elementary to win 33.Nd4 Qh4 34.Nf3, but on the verge of victory, the young Bulgarian’s nerves flared, even on the video it was clear how worried she was.
33… Qh4 34.Qh3 Qc4 35.K:h2??
Taking the rook out of the fight 35.Rb1 Bc7 36.Kg1 White also achieved victory. Salimova decided it would be easier to give up the trade, but Alexandra finds a way to slow down the formidable passers.
35…Qxf1 36.Qxf5 Qc4! 37.a6 g6
Black is hooked on the last line and no longer wins 38.Qb1 Re8 39.Qa1 Kg7 40.a7 Qxb5 41.a8Q Rxa8 42.Qxa8 Qh5+ 43.Kg3 Qg5+ 44.Kf3 Qd5+ with a draw. Salimova immediately admitted a perpetual check.
38.Qd7 Qf4+ 39.Kg1 Qc1+ 40.Kh2 Qf4+ 41.Kg1 Qc1+ 42.Kh2
Draw.
In the second game, the Russian woman already got an extra pawn from the opening, but her opponent defended very tenaciously and it seemed that a new draw was inevitable.
Alexandra Goryachkina (Russia) – Nurgyul Salimova (Bulgaria) World Cup. The end. Tie-breaker. second batch
goryachkina party
Photo: FIDE
The bishop is stronger than the knight on the open board, plus Black has a strong passed pawn. If the white king advances, then the pin will rush forward, if the pawns, the king stops them with the bishop. For example, 89…Bd7 90.Kg5 d3 or 89…Be8 90.Ne4 Bb5 91.g5 (91.Kf5 d3) 91…Ke6 draw everywhere. But Salimova chose the wrong direction.
89…Be2? 90.Kf5! Bd3+
The bishop takes a long time to get back on defense and 90…d3 91.g5 Kd4 92.g6 Ke3 93.g7 doesn’t help.
91.Kf6 Bc2 92.g5 Bd3 93.g6 Rc6 94.g7 Bh7 95.Kf7 Kd5 96.f4!
Bypassing the last trap 96.g8Q Bxg8+ 97.K:g8 Ke5 98.Kf7 Kf4 99.Ke6 Ke3 with a draw – Passed pawns usually need to be advanced by a pair, which Sasha does.
96…d3 97.Ke7 Kd4 98.f5 Ke3 99.Nc4+ Kd4 100.Nb2 d2 101.f6 Kc3 102.Nd1+ Kc2 103.Nf2
103.f7 R:d1 104.g8Ф also wins, but Goryachkina is careful to the end: she gives up a knight for a pawn and promotes a new queen so as not to make extra moves. The party has already exceeded a hundred in this regard!
103…d1Q 104.N:d1 K:d1 105.f7
Black quit.
Victory! Alexandra Goryachkina is the winner of the World Cup. I would like to note that the main result of the tournament is the failure of the Chinese school, which dominates women’s chess, none of whose representatives managed to place in the top three. Yes, the Chinese have world champion Ju Wenjun and former challenger Lei Tingjie, who is eligible to play in the challenger tournament. But the rest of its representatives failed, and here China can only rely on the autumn qualifying “Greater Swiss”.
Final tie-break details:
Now that’s drama! The Russian chess player won the World Cup in a desperate situation
Alexandra, after her success at the FIDE Grand Prix and the World Cup, is emerging as the main contender for a new start at the foot of Ju Wenjun’s throne. In 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, the still young and not so experienced Goryachkina lost to the champion in a crazy fight, not realizing all the possibilities for her. Now she’s clearly ready for revenge.
