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The
Women's World Chess Championship was played in the Russian city
of Ekaterinburg from March 10 27. Yuhua Xu from China has become
the11th champion at the tender age of twenty.
China is already considered a superpower in women's chess, especially
in team competitions, as the Chinese women's national team has won
the world championship and the Olympic Games several times.
In contrast, the Asian giant had only one woman as world champion
in Zhu Chen before Xu. Now the Chinese have another name to record
for posterity, and it looks that it shall not be the last one. The
new generation of Chinese female players is making an impact through
their numerous victories on the international circuit.
Today we present the last game of the championship. Xu's rival was
the Russian Alisa Galliamova, who had several chances to win the
game in the early stages. But the balance of power swung on the
39th move after a chain of weak moves by the Russian positioned
Xu for victory.
Xu's happiness must be double, because we recently learned that
the new world champion is pregnant. Although we don't want to place
any undue pressure on the unborn, perhaps her child to come will
also take the world stage as a chess player. Naturally, we will
have to wait. If it does, we will certainly be delighted to inform
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Galliamova,
A (ELO: 2467) Xu, Yuhua (2502) [E13 Queen Indian defense]
FIDE WCh Women, Ekaterinburg (Russia), March 25, 2006
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4
c5 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Ne4? This move gave white
a certain advantage during the opening. Better would have
been [10...a6 11.e3 d6] 11.Bxd8 Nxc3 12.Bc7 Na6 13.Bf4 Ne4
14.Nb5 g5 15.Be3 Ke7 16.Rd1 d5 17.f3 Nf6 18.Bd4 Rhd8 19.e3
Rd7 20.h4 Nc7 21.hxg5 hxg5 22.c5 a6 23.Nxc7 Rxc7 24.cxb6 Here
we have the result of the mistake: a free and extra pawn in
the 6th row. 24...Rc6 25.a4 Nd7 26.a5 Nc5 27.Bc3 Na4 28.Bb4+
Kf6 29.b3 Nc5 30.Rb1 Nd7 31.Be2 Rc2 32.Rh6+ Kg7 33.Rh5 Kf6
34.g3 Rac8 35.f4 gxf4 36.gxf4 Ra2 37.Rd1 Nc5 38.Bc3+ Ke7 39.f5?
Here is when the problems for white began. She could have
kept a big advantage by playing this variation [39.Rh7 Rg8
40.Bb4 Rg1+ 41.Bf1 Rc2] 39...Ne4 40.Bb4+ Kf6 41.Bd3 Rg8 42.Rh6+
Ke5 43.Rh1? Galliamova could only dream of a draw from this
position, and that is exactly what she would have gotten if
she had played this [43.fxe6 Rg1+ 44.Bf1 Rf2 45.Bc3+ Kd6 46.Bb4+
Ke5 (46...Kc6? 47.Rc1+ Nc5 48.Rxc5+) 47.Bc3+ Kd6 48.Bb4+ Ke5
½½ ½½] 43...Rg3 44.Bxe4 Rxe3+
45.Kf1 dxe4 46.fxe6 Kxe6 47.Rh6+ Kf5 48.Rd7 Rf3+ 49.Ke1 Rxb3
50.Bd2? In the diagram. Black already stood in prime position
to triumph, but this mistake sealed Galliamova's fate definitively.
The best variation was [50.Rxf7+ Kg5 51.Rd6] 50...e3 51.Bc1
Rb1 52.Rc7 Bf3 53.Rhc6 Bxc6 54.Rxc6 Raa1 55.Ke2 Rxa5 56.Bxe3
Rb2+ 57.Kf3 Rb3 58.Rc7 Re5 0-1 |
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