Sirin Bootsumran (THA, 1789) vs WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (SUI, 2254) · 0-1
Board 2, Switzerland vs Thailand, women’s event · Queen’s Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation (E15)
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round one, table 17, board two: Switzerland are seeded 17th, Thailand 111th, and WIM Sofiia Hryzlova has Black against an opponent rated 465 points lower. She chooses the Queen’s Indian, an opening that forces nothing and prepares everything: the bishop goes to a6, the pawn to d5, and both aim at the same point, the white pawn on c4.
On move 14 the white fianchetto bishop returns to f1 to give that pawn a third defender. Two moves later c4 belongs to Black, and it stays on the board to the end. It is the passed pawn that arrives on c2, with a second one for company. Switzerland won the match 4 to 0.
The bishop goes home: 14.Bf1
Everything in Black’s setup works towards , and it is clearly the best move; the alternatives trail by about a third of a pawn. The c4 pawn is now attacked twice, by the d5 pawn and the a6 bishop, and defended twice, by the b3 pawn and the queen on c2. The queen’s defence is the awkward one: the black rook on c8 already stands on the same file.
The right road was , and the tension dissolves into a nearly level position. That exchange only works while a white bishop stands on g2: it is the piece that can take on d5.
gives c4 a third defender and takes exactly that piece off the diagonal. After Black is about a pawn and a half better without a single capture having decided anything. Before you add a defender, ask what job the defending piece is doing right now. One defender more is worth nothing if it was the only piece that could have relieved the position.
Sirin Bootsumran (THA, 1789)
WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (SUI, 2254)
An attack that helps your opponent: 15...Bf6
At this moment the d4 pawn has no defender at all. The rook on d1 stands on the right file, but its own bishop on d2 is in the way, and nothing else covers the square. That is money in the bank: Black can leave the pawn where it is and collect it when it suits.
was the move. The d7 knight is Black’s last piece without a job, from f6 it rules d5 and e4, and above all it leaves d4 alone: , and the d4 pawn still stands there with nothing defending it, because the bishop on d2 is still in the rook’s way. Black keeps about a pawn and a half.
attacks d4 and thereby forces White to solve the problem. steps out of the way and guards the pawn itself; rook and bishop now watch d4 together, and costs a piece for a pawn. The advantage fell from about a pawn and a half to some two thirds of one. Before you attack a weakness, check whether your opponent will be defending it better afterwards than before. A weakness that gets repaired was never one.
Sirin Bootsumran (THA, 1789)
WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (SUI, 2254)
A pawn you are not allowed to take: 17...Bb7
asks the question, and the right answer was : after White is still about three quarters of a pawn down, no more than that. The game saw , and with it c4 becomes a passed pawn. No white pawn stands in front of it any more, and none can get in its way on the road to c1.
It still cannot be taken, and is the reason. On the c-file stand rook c8, pawn c4 and queen c2, one behind the other, and the pawn is the only thing in between. drives away the piece that has taken its place, and both continuations cost material: gives up the bishop for two pawns, gives up the queen for a rook.
The extra pawn was permanent from here. White played and , and c4 was never touched again. The rule behind it saves a great deal of material in club chess: before you capture an undefended pawn, read the file behind it to the end. A pawn standing in front of your own queen is rarely a gift.
Sirin Bootsumran (THA, 1789)
WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (SUI, 2254)
The second pawn: 24...Qxb5
put a pawn on a square only pieces could hold, and Black traded off exactly those pieces. took the light-squared bishops off the board. attached itself to the knight on c3, which the queen alone defended, and followed.
is good and not the best: hits the bishop on e3 first and brings the queen to the same square afterwards, which would have been worth about half a pawn. No drama. After the second pawn fell, and from there the game was an exercise in counting.
This phase follows one of the oldest rules, and it is broken daily anyway: when you are ahead in material, trade pieces, not pawns. Every exchange removes a blockader, and a passed pawn nobody can stand in front of wins the game by itself.
Sirin Bootsumran (THA, 1789)
WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (SUI, 2254)
Two pawns on the second rank: 33...b2
and put the pawns side by side, asked the question. Correct was : one pair of pawns fewer and an active rook. let the pawn past, and after Black had two connected passed pawns.
, and the two white rooks cannot do both jobs at once. The rook on c1 may not leave the queening square, the rook on a1 is attacked. costs the rook just as the game continuation does.
attacked the queen and White resigned: a rook and a pawn down, with the c2 pawn one square from promotion. Two connected passed pawns on the second rank are worth more than their sum, because one defender cannot guard both queening squares at the same time. In an endgame, count not the pawns but the squares your opponent would have to control simultaneously.
Sirin Bootsumran (THA, 1789)
WIM Sofiia Hryzlova (SUI, 2254)
Verdict
There is not one spectacular move in this game, and that is exactly why it teaches. The advantage was born when a bishop went home to defend a pawn, half of it was handed back with , and it came back when White let the c4 pawn run with instead of capturing it. After that one job remained: trade, keep the passed pawn, give it a partner. Sofiia Hryzlova did it cleanly, four Swiss players won four boards, and 4 to 0 against Thailand is the start to an Olympiad anyone would want.
Moves
0-1
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