WIM Camille De Seroux (SUI, 2152) vs IM Rose Atwell (USA, 2342) · ½-½
Board 4, Switzerland vs United States, women’s event · French Defence, Classical Variation, Shirov-Anand Variation (C11)
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round 7 of the women’s event, table 8, Switzerland against the United States: on board four WIM Camille De Seroux had White against IM Rose Atwell, rated a hundred and ninety points higher. Atwell met with the French, and De Seroux chose the line Shirov and Anand made famous in the nineties, : the knight clears the c3 square for the pawn that will prop up d4 and takes the better route to f4 itself.
On move ten she gave away two pawns and got a half-open file, a diagonal and a centre against which the c5 lever was already spent. By move twenty-six that had grown into a nearly winning position. Move twenty-seven took a free pawn and handed the win back.
Two pawns for a file: 10.b4
The quiet moves keep the balance here. and finish the development and leave the position exactly level. gives away a fraction of a pawn of that and puts a decision in front of the opponent: the b4 pawn is attacked by the c5 pawn and by the queen on a5, and either capture opens lines that White occupies and Black does not.
Atwell took: . White is two pawns down and owns the half-open b-file pointing at b7, the bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal, and a centre of d4 and e5 against which Black has already given up the c5 lever. The c3 pawn is not a loss but a pledge: it sits in the way and has to be guarded.
A gambit against a stronger opponent is not an act of despair, it is a bet on the kind of position you want. Take two pawns and you have to defend two pawns, and that costs exactly the moves you need for development. Before any pawn sacrifice, count not only what you hand over but also which files and diagonals open in exchange.
IM Rose Atwell (USA, 2342)
WIM Camille De Seroux (SUI, 2152)
The guard walks away: 13...Qd8
While the queen stood on a5 the c3 pawn was untouchable. Nothing recaptures on c3, and the only try costs material: wins the queen back and leaves White a piece and a pawn down. That is the whole reason the two extra pawns were worth anything.
was also the move that keeps the position in balance: . The pawn runs on, the bishop joins the game through a6, and the extra material stays a factor. puts the queen on a solid square and leaves the c3 pawn behind with no guard.
De Seroux took one more move over it: first, a move later. Both orders are worth the same, the difference is a matter of taste. The useful question is the one failed to ask: before you retreat a piece, check what it is doing where it stands. A queen guarding a pawn from a distance looks idle and is not.
IM Rose Atwell (USA, 2342)
WIM Camille De Seroux (SUI, 2152)
Do not take, leave it standing: 18.Rb1
set course for f6 and g7, and Black answered with . The e5 pawn took in passing: . That was clearly the best road, with the next-best move almost half a pawn behind. Both sides lose a pawn in the exchange, so White is still one down, but the e5 square is open now and the knight on h5 eyes the bishop on f6.
is the obvious move, and nearly one player in two at this level plays it. It throws away almost a whole pawn of the advantage, because the knight on h5 is a better piece than the bishop it would capture. De Seroux played , and the rook pointed at the real target: , and the two pawns from move ten are back. That was clearly the best move too, a good third of a pawn ahead of the alternative.
After that the advantage grew by itself. took the long diagonal towards g7, brought the last piece into play, and by move twenty-six the queen stood on e5 in the middle of the board while the black knight on f8 did nothing but watch. The lesson reaches well beyond this game: a trade that removes your best piece stays a bad trade even when it comes with check.
IM Rose Atwell (USA, 2342)
WIM Camille De Seroux (SUI, 2152)
One pawn too many: 27.Rxa7
Material is level here, five pawns each, and White is still close to winning. The rook on b7 attacks the bishop on d7, the queen on e5 owns the centre, the knight on h5 aims at g7 and the bishop on d3 at h7. Facing all that is a knight on f8 that has done nothing but watch since move fifteen.
The move was . It looks like nothing and it is everything: the king gets the h2 square, and only then may the rook on e1 leave the back rank. Without that air the attack falls apart, because trades both rooks, and half a pawn is all that is left of the whole lead. After everything is in order and White is close to five pawns ahead. Three players in a hundred at this level find that move.
The game went , and the pawn was not worth it. asks the rook the question, and every answer is a concession: goes back, and trades off White’s best piece and lets the black rook into the position. A lead of almost five pawns became less than one. Before any capture, ask what the capturing piece is doing, and whether it will still be doing it afterwards.
IM Rose Atwell (USA, 2342)
WIM Camille De Seroux (SUI, 2152)
An extra pawn that is not one
The rest is liquidation. collected the d5 pawn, collected it straight back, instead of gave away another half pawn, and landed the game in a rook ending. After White had rook and two pawns against rook and one.
An extra pawn is the most frequently squandered advantage in rook endings, and this one was never an advantage at all. All three pawns sit on the same wing, freezes the black pawn on g5, and the white f-pawn on its own makes no passed pawn: ends in rook and one pawn against rook, and Black holds that.
De Seroux tried anyway, for twenty-four moves: the rook went to b6, to e6 and to d5, the king walked all the way to c4, and none of it changed the assessment. On move seventy-seven the same position appeared for the third time and the point was split. In a rook ending, count the wings rather than the pawns: an extra pawn only wins once it can become a passed pawn.
IM Rose Atwell (USA, 2342)
WIM Camille De Seroux (SUI, 2152)
Verdict
Half a point with White on board four against an IM rated a hundred and ninety points higher is a good result for the team, and for Camille De Seroux it is more than that: a gambit she earned back cleanly, a trade she was right to decline, and twenty-six moves in which the lower-rated player was the stronger one at the board. That only half of it survived came down to a single move that took a free pawn, and that is the kind of mistake worth remembering, because it looks so obvious: four players in ten would have played as well. Seeing instead means giving up the hunt for material and starting to put your own house in order.
Moves
½-½
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