Anna Zatonskih already won her game. Tatev Abrahamyan lost. Irina is trying to hang on for a draw to get a share of first place.
IM Krush (2515) – WGM Rohonyan (2318) [A58]
21.05.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.g3 d6 8.Bg2 Bg7 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Rb1 0–0 11.0–0 Qa5 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Qc2 Qa6 14.e4 Ng4 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bc1 Qa5 17.Rd1 Ba6 18.Bd2 Nge5 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Be1 Rfb8 21.b3 Qa3 22.h3 c4 23.Ne2 cxb3 24.axb3 Bxe2 25.Qxe2 Rxb3 26.f4 Rxb1 27.Rxb1 Nd3 28.Bd2 Bd4+ 29.Kh2 Nc5 30.e5 Qa2 31.Re1 Qc2 32.Be3 Qc3 33.Bxd4 Qxd4 34.Qe3 Qxe3 35.Rxe3 Kf8 36.g4 Ra4 37.Kg3 g5 38.fxg5 hxg5 39.h4 gxh4+ 40.Kxh4 Nd7 41.exd6 exd6 42.Re4 Ra2 43.Kg3 Ne5 44.Rb4 Ke7 45.g5 Rd2 46.Rb7+ Kd8 47.Rb4 Kc7 48.Be4 Rd1 49.Bg2 Rg1 50.Kh2 Ra1 51.Kg3 Ra8 52.Be4 Rh8 53.Rb2 Rh5 54.Kf4 Rh4+ 55.Kf5 Ng6 56.Rf2 Ne7+ 57.Kf6 Rxe4 58.Kxf7 Nxd5 59.g6 Kd7 60.g7 Ne7 61.Kf8 Ra4 62.Kf7 Rg4 63.Kf8 Kd8 64.Kf7 Kd7 65.Kf8 Ra4 66.Kf7 d5 67.Rf1 Ra3 68.Rf4 Ra2 69.Rf1 Ra3 70.Rf4 Rg3 71.Rf1 Rg2 72.Rf4 Rg5 73.Kf6 Rg1 74.Kf7 Ra1 75.Rf2 Ra8 76.Rf4 Rd8 77.Rf2 Rc8 -/+ 78.Rf4 Rc5 79.Kf6 Rc4 80.Rf1 Ke8?? (80..Re4 wins. Now 81.Ke6 draws) 81.Ke5?? (Now 81…Rg4 wins) Re4 82.Rf8+ Kd7 83.g8Q (83…Re4+ wins) 83…Nxg8??? Now this is an easy draw.
This was an incredible spectacle enjoyed by me while washing the dishes to let off nervous energy. Kudos to Monroi (and DGT I presume) for delivering the whole scramble to my home Macintosh without missing a beat!
Congrats to the joint champions Irina and Anna—since they drew their head-to-head matchup, any tiebreaks are harder to interpret.
To clarify some things about the analysis, Susan’s “-/+” to 77…Rc8 is not the same as “-+” which would mean a decisive advantage. It means only a definite advantage. In fact my HIARCS 11.2 with 3-4-5-piece EGTBs, which I was also running after Irina lost her Bishop (which was subtly inevitable after 53.Rb2?), says that White can force a draw after 78.Re2, apparently reaching King+Pawn vs. King+Rook when Black can’t stop the Pawn. White had earlier forced draws such as 77.Ra4/b4. But in a scramble, when you have a “balance” such as from Move 61 onward (when I believe White is holding), it is psychologically hard to play a move that alters it.
At Move 81, correct was 81.Ke6!, the difference being that after 81…Rc6+ 82.Ke5 Rg6 83.Rf8+ Kd7 84.g8=Q, Black does not have the Zwischenzug …Re4+! as in the game. To fix a typo in Susan’s score, 81…Rg4 was actually played. After 83…Re4+! 84.Kf6 Nxg8+ 85.Rxg8, Black still would have had to avoid the trap of the hasty 85…d4?, when 86.Kf5 draws for White (86…Re1 87.Rg4). Irina played the K+R+N vs. K+R well and was never even on the edge of trouble. Last, Black had 73…Rh5!, which will get the d-pawn to d4, but as of now I’m still not certain this is enough to win. The “balance” after 60.g7 Ne7 makes a very interesting endgame position indeed!
I think Irina’s troubles in this game were caused by those fugly Euro-style glasses.
I was rooting for both her and Anna, so I’ll be satisfied with a tie. 🙂
The endgame was very easy to win, but Rohonyan showed us she wasn’t capable of winning simple endgames.
It’s an unfortunate fact of human nature and the Net that people make comments like #3, even when they’re completely contradicted by a comment just above. And it’s always wrong to reply—even this reply is wrong.
i’ve noticed that in a lot of her pictures taken on chess tournaments she is wearing the same black leather jacket.Is that her trademark, or something?
Those glasses give me morning wood.
Irina likes leather. She’s a dominatrix!
“Anonymous said…
Irina likes leather. She’s a dominatrix!”
Silly Rabbit, ‘trix are for kids and dirty old men like slam scone.