WFM Masa Maksimovic (BIH, 2087) vs WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285) · 1-0
Board 2, Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Switzerland, women’s event · Sicilian Defence, Kalashnikov Variation (B32) · 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes, plus 30 seconds per move
By Professor Zugzwang AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Round 9 of the women’s event, table 70, Bosnia and Herzegovina against Switzerland. Board 2 with Black opposite WFM Masa Maksimovic, close to two hundred points lower on the rating list: from a pairing like that the team wants a full point, and so does the player at the board. On the board stood a Kalashnikov Sicilian, the black pawn frame on d6 and e5, the white knights walking across a3 and c3 and d5 to their posts.
The game had three moments where the point was within reach: an extra pawn on move nineteen that was left on the board, a clean move on the thirtieth that could still be caught on the thirty-first, and the time control that she reached with thirty-seven seconds to spare. The point did not come. Twelve minutes past the safe line sat on the board, and what followed was an endgame with no way back.
A knight goes to e3, a bishop collects it: 18.Nde3
The Kalashnikov lives on its pawn frame on d6 and e5, and on a single break, the push ...f5. Up to that point the opening was routine, with , and White did not even try to take the centre. Then on move fifteen the break arrived, , and with White parked the bishop on a square where it could hardly breathe: the e-file was open, the e4 pawn stood ready, and the white castling was still ahead.
On came , and that move alone answers the question of who owns the centre. White tried to attack the f5 rook and reroute the knight in the same move, but overlooked that e3 lies under the bishop on g5. After a clean edge sat on the board for Black, roughly half a pawn. The square e3 was the square White had stopped counting.
The lesson is the one from every fianchetto position where the long diagonal is already blocked by the player’s own pawn: a bishop on g2 behind a pawn on e4 is a spectator, not a defender. Push the e-pawn without freeing the bishop first and you walk past a piece of your own. And when you drop a knight on a square that looks covered, count first who really covers it.
WFM Masa Maksimovic (BIH, 2087)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
The pawn that was left on the board: 19...Rxa5
After the little sum was open on the board: the knight attacks the f5 rook, and the white a5 pawn sits on the same fifth rank. collects it in passing, trades rook for rook plus a pawn, and Black would have had a clean extra pawn and the better structure afterwards. It was the best move by a distance, and the gap to the second-best move was half a pawn.
was played, a move that keeps the rook central and looks active, and the sum was not done. The lead melted from half a pawn to a few hundredths, and in positions like these the difference is not a rounding error but the piece you get to count up later, when the game turns strict.
The rule behind it is easy to state and still forgotten again and again: when a piece must move, count first the squares where it takes something along on the way. A backwards or sideways capture on the same rank is the most reliably overlooked move in club chess, and it is that way precisely because it does not look like a capture.
WFM Masa Maksimovic (BIH, 2087)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
The chance that came twice: 30...Kg8 and 31...Bxg2
The previous moves had ground the advantage down to a tenth of a pawn, and left the position level. On the board sat the sharpest move of the game, , which takes the white bishop along and brings the queen close to the king with tempo. It was the only move that held the position together, and Black stood a shade better afterwards.
was played, a waiting king step that gave three points of winning chances away; counted properly, the reply was , White pulling the bishop out of the pin and keeping the e-file while both sides collect a pawn. It did not come at the board: White played , and the ground was back where it had been. With she took the bishop she should have taken one move earlier. Both sides had walked past the same idea, and Black had walked past it a tempo slower.
The rule belongs to the most unforgiving in chess: when you miss a good move on the first try, it is usually still there on the second, because your opponent misses it just as often. But you cannot count on it staying. A good move one move late is still a good move; a good move not at all is a remark for afterwards.
WFM Masa Maksimovic (BIH, 2087)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
Twelve minutes past the safe shore: 41...Qf7
From move 33 to move 40 the position stood while the clock ran, and it did not stand badly: , , , , , , all with under two minutes on the clock, most of it in seconds. On came , the queen to the second rank to slow White down, though would have been a shade more accurate. On move 40 the clock read 0:37, and with the time control had been reached.
Then came the thirty minutes of added time, and with them the move that cost the game. There was exactly one move that held the position, , a rook endgame with no comeback, both sides running their passed pawns and nobody winning anymore. She sat over the position for twelve minutes, then arrived, and the e4 pawn stood without a guard: , and the rook endgame turned into one with White two connected passed pawns against none.
The rule is a strict one and worth knowing by heart: before you move a piece, ask what it was guarding. The queen on f3 held the e4 pawn and stood itself covered behind the pawn; on f7 she guards neither. And a rule of the clock moment belongs beside it: the time you receive after the control is meant for the first move after it. Not for the last move before.
WFM Masa Maksimovic (BIH, 2087)
WIM Mariia Manko (SUI, 2285)
Verdict
A point for the team was not lost because the opponent took it, but because it stood on the board twice, and once past the time control. The extra pawn on move nineteen would have held the game with the longer arm; would have finished the second try cleanly, and saved only half of it. After an hour of rook work followed with no destination, and the game ended on move 81 with the clock well in the plus and a passed pawn on f7. It is the earliest time trouble of this Olympiad, and the decisive mistake came one move after the flag was safe. What remains for the player is the same lesson she was handed from the other side of the board in round 6: before you move a piece, ask what it was guarding.
Moves
1-0
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