WGM Ghazal Hakimifard (SUI, 2243) vs WIM Robin Duson (NED, 2173) · 1-0
Board 4, Switzerland vs Netherlands, women’s event · Ruy Lopez, Closed, Delayed Exchange Variation (C85)
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round 5 of the women’s event, Switzerland against the Netherlands, both teams arriving on seven match points: on board four WGM Ghazal Hakimifard had White against WIM Robin Duson, rated seventy points lower. It became a Ruy Lopez, and on move six White gave up the bishop for the knight on c6, the exchange variation one move late.
Thirty moves later the black king stood on a8, the white queen on a4, and Black resigned. In between lie a king march that began on move 18 and never reached safety, a pawn offered on move 21 and collected again on move 25, and a single king move on move 24 that more than doubled the deficit.
A bishop for a structure: 6.Bxc6
is a decision, not an embarrassment. Four out of five players at this level choose here and keep the small pull White has in the Ruy Lopez; after the position is level. What White buys instead is the black pawn structure: four queenside pawns, two of them on the c-file and therefore unable to produce a passer on their own, while White has four against three on the kingside. Black gets the bishop pair and the open d-file.
After the exchange the pawn on e5 looks free, and almost everyone takes it. collects nothing: after Black has the pawn back and the position is level. Hakimifard played , propped up the e4 pawn and left the question open.
The lesson is older than the variation: in an exchange line you buy a structure, not an advantage, and the structure is worth exactly as much as the plan behind it. Here the plan is called f4, and it arrived on move 14.
WIM Robin Duson (NED, 2173)
WGM Ghazal Hakimifard (SUI, 2243)
The bishop first, then the pawn: 15.Nxd6+
asks the e5 pawn the question, and after three recaptures are available. Four out of five take at once with the knight, and then the game is level: removes both dark-squared bishops and both knights involved and leaves a position with nothing left in it.
reverses the order. The knight takes the bishop first, the one black piece that could defend the dark squares, and only on the next move does the pawn get collected with . The difference is about a third of a pawn, which is little, and it still shapes the rest of the game. After move 17 Black had exactly one minor piece left, the light-squared bishop, and therefore nothing at all for the dark squares; thirteen moves later the white bishop on e3 was aiming at b6 with nothing in its way.
Black recaptured with and was rid of the doubled pawns. The pawn that appeared on d6 in the process became the target of the rook on d1 ten moves later. So in a sequence of captures do not only count the material, count the order: ask which enemy piece would hurt you most on move 30, and trade that one while you still have the choice.
WIM Robin Duson (NED, 2173)
WGM Ghazal Hakimifard (SUI, 2243)
The king that never castled: 18.Qh5+ and 21.d5
allowed , the strongest move in the position. The right answer was , the king reaches safety and White has nothing concrete. The game saw , which on its own costs about three quarters of a pawn and costs castling for good. With the king walked on to the queenside, behind his own pawns on a5 and b6, and there he stayed until the end.
White built up the centre meanwhile, and , and on move 21 chose the advance almost nobody chooses: two thirds of the players at this level play here, keep everything closed and let almost the whole advantage evaporate on the way. offers the pawn instead. Stay calm with and the material is level with a pleasant white position.
The game went , which left White a pawn down with the d-file open and a king in front of her that had no cover at all. Against a king who has missed castling you pay material for lines, not the other way round. In positions like this one, look first at the advance your opponent has to capture, and only then at the quiet move.
WIM Robin Duson (NED, 2173)
WGM Ghazal Hakimifard (SUI, 2243)
A king with two jobs: 24...Kb7
After White lined the rooks up: on the file with the d6 pawn, and on the file with the bishop on c6 and the king on c7. Both black weaknesses had the same defender, because the king on c7 covered c6 and d6 at the same time.
stepped out of the c-file, kept the bishop defended and gave up the d6 pawn. took it, and no black piece could disturb the rook: neither the bishop on c6 nor the queen on e8 sees d6. White was level on material again with a rook on the sixth rank. The gap between and the second-best move was two whole pawns, and a good pawn and a half of advantage became three and a half.
Before you move a piece, list what it is currently defending. With the king that is the easiest thing to miss, because in a middlegame he is usually the one being protected and rarely the one protecting. Here he was doing both, and he could only keep one of them.
WIM Robin Duson (NED, 2173)
WGM Ghazal Hakimifard (SUI, 2243)
The a-file decides: 30.Qa4
and put the queen on the diagonal the bishop on e3 was already using. Both of them aimed at b6, where the pawn was defended by the king alone. dodged that and created the next weakness: attacks the bishop on c6 and clears the a-file, where only the black pawn on a5 is left.
Best was , a piece down but still a game. The move played was , and after it the game is over: leaves the king exactly two squares, a8 and a7, and he is mated on both.
After came , and Black resigned. The a5 pawn is the only obstacle between queen and king, nothing defends it, and one sample line shows the rest: mate. Once you have driven a king into the corner, do not look for the piece that stands nearest to him. Look for the line he stands on, and for the one pawn on it that can fall with check.
WIM Robin Duson (NED, 2173)
WGM Ghazal Hakimifard (SUI, 2243)
Verdict
Four games, four wins: Hakimifard has won every game she has played in Samarkand so far, and this is the most straightforward of them. It starts with an exchange on move six that gains nothing on paper and ends thirty moves later with a king on a8. There is not a single combination in between, only a series of decisions all pointing the same way: the structure first, then the order of the captures, then the line to the king. Anyone who wants to know how a game is won without a sacrifice can copy this one.
Moves
1-0
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