Analysis
The game in detail
WGM Shahenda Wafa (EGY, 2112) vs GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2495) · 0-1
Board 1, Switzerland vs Egypt, women’s event · Sicilian Defence, Richter-Rauzer Attack, Modern Variation (B61)
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round two, table 17, Switzerland against Egypt: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk entered the tournament on board one with Black, facing WGM Shahenda Wafa. It became a Richter-Rauzer with White castled long, and as early as move 12 White offered the queen trade with . Accepting was not a matter of taste: after the game is level, while or leave Black almost two pawns worse.
What follows is a game about one rook. With and Black built it a road, on move 20 it walked in, and on move 22 White put her own rook behind her own pawns. At the end a passed pawn on a2 pinned a white rook to a1, and White resigned on move 42.
The rook’s road: 13...h5, 18...h4, 20...Rh5
With the queens gone, the reason to hide the king went with them. puts it where an endgame needs it, and the rooks get the back rank to themselves. The two rook-pawn moves around it, and , attack nobody. They park the h4 pawn next to g2 and h2 and clear h5, h6 and h7 for the rook on h8.
is the move all of that was for; was about as good, the difference is a quarter of a pawn. On g5 the rook hits the g2 pawn, and g2 has no defender: the king sits on b1 and the h1 rook covers h2. So White needs g3, and for g3 she needs the bishop on f2, where it attacks the h4 pawn and supports the push. was the move; cost about half a pawn.
The rule behind it is unspectacular and pays off in every tournament: an advanced rook pawn is rarely an attack, usually it is road building. Before you play h4 or a4, ask not whom the pawn threatens but which squares it clears for your own heavy pieces.
WGM Shahenda Wafa (EGY, 2112)
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2495)
The rook behind its own pawns: 22.Rdg1
Two roads lead out of the threat against g2, and only one of them holds the position together. gives up the pawn and buys the seventh rank; Black stays about a pawn better, which against an opponent of this strength is an ordinary game of chess.
White played . The g2 pawn is defended, and the position is lost. There followed , and without a single pawn having fallen Black is about three pawns better. The rook on e5 attacks e4 and d5 at the same time, no white pawn can ever cover either of them, and the white rooks stand on g1 and h1 tied to their own pawns on g2 and h2. The d5 pawn fell on move 28, and the rest was technique.
Which is why every attacked pawn deserves the same order of questions: first whether it can run, only then who is going to guard it. A pawn that advances gets exchanged and hands the piece behind it its freedom back. A piece that guards keeps guarding until the game is over.
WGM Shahenda Wafa (EGY, 2112)
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2495)
Rook first, pawn second: 39...Ra5
The conversion into a winning rook ending ran through a pin. deliberately put the rook in front of the b3 pawn, and after that pawn was not allowed to capture: it stood between the rook on b5 and its own king. For four moves the rook on c4 was untouchable, until White traded on the d-file; left Black a pawn up with the outside a6 pawn, and off it went.
holds the back rank and with it the queening square. The natural move now is , and it nearly throws the win away: collects the passed pawn, and three pawns of advantage shrink to one. does it the other way round. The rook covers the a2 pawn from behind and takes the a-file away, and White may not capture: after the game is over on the spot. So , and only then .
From here the rook on a1 has no legal move it can afford, and that is what wins the game: Black plays with king and rook against a king. , the king is on its way to b3, and White resigned. For your own games: the rook belongs behind the passed pawn, not beside it, and the capture on the other wing will still be there in a move.
WGM Shahenda Wafa (EGY, 2112)
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI, 2495)
Verdict
Switzerland won 4 to 0 against Egypt, with wins by Sofiia Hryzlova, Ghazal Hakimifard and Camille De Seroux on boards two to four, and stood at 8 out of 8 board points after two rounds. Alexandra Kosteniuk’s entry into the tournament was not magic, it was bookkeeping: trade queens when the trade is the best move, build the rook a road, collect the opponent’s decisive error without hurrying, and guard the passed pawn from behind. If you take one sentence from this game, take the one from move 22: a piece that does nothing but guard a pawn has nothing else to do for the rest of the game.
Moves
0-1
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