In case you weren't aware, the top Canadian woman, WIM Yuanling Yuan, recently participated in the Women's World Championship in Sochi, Russia. While she unfortunately lost her first round of the 64-player knockout tournament to IM Mariya Muzychuk (in the rapid tiebreaks), she managed to win her first game despite an almost 300-point rating disadvantage. It wasn't a great game, but Yuanling showed tenacity and made good on the opportunity for the win when it presented itself just before both players reached the time control.
[Event "WWCC2015"]
[Site "Sochi"]
[Date "2015.03.17"]
[Round "1.8"]
[White "Yuan, Yuanling (CAN)"]
[Black "Muzychuk, Mariya (UKR)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EloWhite "2257"]
[EloBlack "2526"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 (5... gxf6 $5 {leads
to a more imbalanced game. Play might continue} 6. c3 Bf5 7. Nf3 e6 {when
White should probably play g3 and enjoy a structurally-sound position}) 6. Nf3
Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Be4 {with the idea to put the Queen on
d3 and extricate herself from the pin. I'm not totally convinced by the idea,
however. I don't think that White can really hope for more than equality here.}
Na6 11. c3 Nc7 12. Qd3 Bg6 {I'm quite fond of Black's position to be honest.
She is very solid and White has no real opening advantage to speak of} 13. Bxg6
hxg6 $11 {Black's pawns look a bit funny, but they're actually doing a very
good job of protecting her King!} 14. c4 $146 ({The one game I found from this
position ended in a quick draw} 14. Re1 Re8 15. Bd2 Qd7 16. Rxe8+ Rxe8 17. Re1
Rxe1+ 18. Nxe1 g5 19. Qe2 Qe6 20. Qxe6 Nxe6 21. Nd3 {1/2-1/2 (21) Stoica,
V-Reicher,E Bucharest 1971}) 14... Qd7 15. Be3 g5 $1 16. Nd2 g4 17. hxg4 Qxg4
18. Ne4 Be7 19. Ng3 g6 20. Qe4 Qd7 (20... Qxe4 21. Nxe4 Rad8 {and, although
even, it is probably easier to play Black here}) 21. Rad1 Kg7 22. d5 cxd5 23.
cxd5 Nb5 $6 {Maybe Black's first minor mistake of the entire game} 24. Qf3 (24.
d6 $1 Nxd6 $8 (24... Bxd6 25. a4 $18 {since, if the Knight moves, White can
play Bc5 winning a piece}) 25. Qf4 $14 {This sacrifice looks very strong -
objectively and practically. White takes full advantage of her half open
d-file and lines to Black's King. There are too many lines to consider them
all, but I'll give a sample of Black's best replies.} Rh8 26. Rfe1 {
threatening Bc5} Rac8 27. Bxa7 {White has regained her pawn and clearly holds
the initiative as well as the better pawn structure}) 24... Rh8 25. Ne4 $2 {
Hard to understand the logic on this one. The idea was likely to support d6,
but ...f5 rebutts the idea} (25. d6 $5 Nxd6 26. Rfe1 $44) 25... f5 26. Ng3 (26.
Nc3 Bf6 27. Nxb5 Qxb5 $15) 26... Rh4 27. Bf4 (27. d6) 27... Rah8 (27... Bf6 $17
{was perhaps more accurate, but it's hard to resist doubling rooks on the
h-file!}) 28. Rfe1 Bd6 29. Bg5 Rg4 30. Bc1 Qc7 (30... f6 $1 {Prophylaxis! with
the deadly idea of putting the g-rook back on h4} 31. b3 Nd4 32. Rxd4 (32. Qd3
Bc5 $17) 32... Rxd4 33. Bb2 Rf4) 31. Rd3 Rgh4 32. Bg5 Rg4 $2 {I suspect that
time trouble was becoming a factor. It's very possible that Mariya was hoping
to repeat moves one time (Bishop back to c1 and Rook to h4) to gain a few
seconds on the clock} (32... R4h7 $19 {White can't deal with the threats} 33.
Red1 Bxg3 34. fxg3 Nd6 $1 {...Rh1+ followed by something like ...Qc2+ will be
decisive. (Note that White can't prevent ...Rh1 by playing Bh4 due to ...g5)})
33. Bd2 $2 (33. Nxf5+ $1 gxf5 34. Qxf5 $16 Rxg5 35. Qxg5+ Kf8 {and the tide
has turned!} 36. Rh3) 33... Qd8 34. b3 Qh4 35. a4 Nc7 $2 (35... Bc5 $1 36. axb5
Rxg3 $1) 36. Bc3+ f6 37. Kf1 Rf4 38. Qd1 Bc5 39. Rf3 Qg4 $4 (39... Rd8 $17) 40.
d6 Rxf3 41. Re7+ $1 {The move that Black must have missed!} Kf8 42. gxf3 Qh3+
43. Ke2 Qg2 44. Be1 Ne8 45. Qd5 Nxd6 46. Qe6 {mate is inevitable. Although I'm
sure Yuanling would have liked to have won the game without relying on her
opponent's blunder, it is still a great accomplishment to beat a player of
Mariya's calibre.} 1-0
