WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2242) vs WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285) · 1-0
Board 2, Switzerland vs Estonia, women’s event · Zukertort Opening, Reversed Grünfeld (A08)
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round three, table 16, board two: Switzerland meet Estonia, and WIM Mariia Manko has Black against an opponent rated 43 points lower. After eight moves the queens are gone, after twenty-two the rooks are gone too, and what remains is the kind of endgame nobody can shorten: two bishops against bishop and knight, six pawns against six.
On move 26 the white pawn on f4 and the black pawn on e5 come face to face, and that tension stands until the final move of the game. Between moves 34 and 40, was Black’s best move five separate times, and on move 36 it would have held on to an advantage of roughly two pawns. It was never played. Switzerland split the match 2 to 2.
Queens off on move eight
takes the queens off the board and the castling rights away from the black king. Neither is a problem here: the king is safe on d8, and c4 is an extra pawn for the moment. White collects it with , and from there the game is about squares rather than material.
is the decision that shapes the rest of the game. Black gives up the light-squared bishop for the knight and hands White the bishop pair, in an open position with pawns on both wings. The difference to the alternative is a couple of tenths of a pawn; the difference in character is bigger. From here the black knight has to earn every square the two bishops leave it.
was almost a full pawn more accurate than , and White gave most of that back on the next move: would have kept the pressure, while after the position was close to level again. Before you part with the bishop pair, know which square your knight is going to spend the next twenty moves on.
WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2242)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
A pawn for a pawn: 31...Nc6 32.Bxg7 Nxb4
After not a rook is left. White walks the king to f3 via f1 and e2, Black takes hers to the queenside, and builds the tension that stays on the board to the end. Two bishops against bishop and knight with material level: White can ask questions at her leisure, and Black has to answer them cleanly.
attacks g7, and lets the pawn go. After each side has collected a wing pawn. was the quieter road and kept the position roughly balanced; the difference is a good three quarters of a pawn, no catastrophe, but the game afterwards is a different one. White has three pawns against two on the kingside, Black two against one on the queenside, and both majorities want to produce a passed pawn.
would have kept White just under a pawn in front. chases the knight instead, and puts it back on its best square, after which Black is the one standing better. In a race between two pawn majorities every tempo counts twice: the move you spend on your opponent’s piece is the move your own majority does not get.
WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2242)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
Two pawns ahead, and one move gives it back: 36...b4
The light-squared bishop sets off after f7 with , , . Three moves for one pawn is too expensive while your own majority stands still: after Black is about two pawns better, and would have halved the damage.
That advantage is held with . At the end of that sequence Black has four pawns against one, the bishop has collected the last kingside pawn, and on the queenside two black pawns stand against one. Positions like that get won.
looks faster. The catch: captures and creates a white passed pawn on b4 in the same move. The a3 pawn needs the knight and the bishop as escorts, and those are precisely the pieces that come off the board for it later. After an advantage of some two pawns has turned into a small deficit, and was still the better move. Before you start a pawn race, check whether your opponent answers your first move with a capture that hands her a passed pawn of her own.
WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2242)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
The king walks the wrong way: 38...Kb5 and 40...Ka4
picks up the pawn the bishop has been chasing for three moves, and White now has three pawns against one on the kingside. is meant to support the passed pawn on a3 and costs about a pawn and a half in value; would have limited White to roughly a pawn.
handed nearly all of that back, because was the stronger move. And once more was available: three white pawns against bishop and pawn, a position in which Black fights for the draw.
puts the king on the edge of the board. clears both white bishops away, and with them the black knight and the passed pawn on a3. The black king is left on a3, from where it reaches neither the b5 pawn nor the kingside. The order of operations is the lesson: resolve the tension in the centre first, then send the king to the front.
WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2242)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
Two passed pawns, one bishop
White has given up both bishops to take the knight and the passed pawn off the board, and stands with five pawns against bishop and two pawns. The bishop only copes with those pawns if it can hold both wings at once, and that it cannot do.
, and Black resigned. The bishop on c7 guards b8; it reaches f8 only by leaving b8, and after the other pawn goes through. The king on b5 arrives in time for neither square.
A bishop guards a diagonal, not two wings. When you defend against several passed pawns with a single piece, check first whether all the queening squares lie on one diagonal. If they do not, the endgame is decided long before the first pawn actually runs.
WIM Margareth Olde (EST, 2242)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
Verdict
No single blunder decided this game. A move that was available for a long time and never came did. Between moves 34 and 40, was Black’s best move five separate times, and on move 36 it would have held an advantage of roughly two pawns. Instead the a4 pawn ran, and two moves later the advantage was gone. Mariia Manko handled the endgame cleanly for a long stretch and answered the wrong question at the decisive moment: not how to get there faster, but what clarifies the position. Switzerland split the match with Estonia 2 to 2, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk drew on board one and WGM Ghazal Hakimifard won on board three; after three rounds the team stood on 5 match points and 10 board points.
Moves
1-0
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