As a small celebration of International Women's Day, here are three miniatures from Canada's three most successful women chess players: Nava Starr, Yuanling Yuan, and Qiyu Zhou.
photo: Nava Starr, Qiyu Zhou, Alexandra Botez, and Yuanling Yuan at the 2014 Tromso Olympiad.
Three miniatures. To select game, click the arrow button next to the player's name.
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[Event "Canadian Open"]
[Site "Winnipeg"]
[Date "1994.07.14"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Starr (Shterenberg), Nava"]
[Black "Profit, Brian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2223"]
[BlackElo "2178"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "1994.07.09"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 e6 2. b3 {The Reti Gambit is Nava's main line against the French. White
is prepared to give up the e-pawn with the hope of castling long and attacking
Black's kingside.} d5 3. Bb2 dxe4 {Accepting the gambit. Black can decline
with...} (3... Nf6 4. e5 Ng8 $5 {was seen in Repkova,E (2374)-Krnan,T (2411)
Banska Stiavnica, 2013 (see Chess Canada, Nov.2013), and Hamilton - Oussedik,
Fredricton 2013 (see Chess Canada Feb. 2014).}) 4. Nc3 Nf6 (4... f5 5. f3 $13 {
White has some comp, but possibly only in that most players would find Black's
setup unnatural -- only something a mother could love?-- and so harder to play.
}) 5. Qe2 Be7 (5... Bb4 6. O-O-O Bxc3 $5 $13) (5... a5 $5 6. a3 Nbd7 7. Nxe4
Be7 $11 {Pridorozhni,A (2516)-Shimanov,A (2655) St Petersburg, 2013.}) (5... b6
$6 6. Nxe4 Be7 7. O-O-O (7. Qf3 $5) 7... Bb7 8. Nxf6+ Bxf6 9. d4 O-O $15 {
and Black had a slight lead in development and easier play against the
opponent's K in Starr,N-Upper,J Harbourfront Chess Fest, 2014.}) 6. Nxe4 (6.
O-O-O O-O 7. g4 Nc6 $1 {or 7...a5!? are what John Watson recommends in the
4th edtion of Play the French, and both seem good for Black.}) 6... O-O 7. Nf3
Bd7 $6 $146 (7... Nc6 8. O-O-O a5 {"Black's chances don't appear worse in the
coming opposite wings attacks." - Lakdawala, First Steps: The French (Everyman,
2016).}) (7... b6 8. O-O-O (8. Nxf6+ Bxf6 9. Qe4 Bxb2 10. Rb1 Qd5) 8... a5 (
8... Nd5) 9. a4 Ba6 10. Nxf6+ Bxf6 11. Qe4 Nd7 (11... Bxf1 $1 $11 {hoping for}
12. Qxa8 $4 Bxg2 13. Rhg1 Bxb2+ 14. Kxb2 Qf6+ $19) 12. d4 Bxf1 13. Rhxf1 b5 $1
14. axb5 a4 $1 15. Rd3 axb3 16. Rxb3 Nb6 {Black has good play here; Starr,N
(2145)-Makhlouf,Y (1874) Tromsoe Ol, 2014.}) 8. O-O-O Nxe4 9. Qxe4 Bc6 10. Qg4
Bf6 11. d4 Nd7 12. Bd3 a5 ({Black's queenside minors are actually clogging his
position, but making the freeing exchange ....Bxf3 (as in the Fort Knox
variation) leaves Black with no active play.} 12... Bxf3 13. Qxf3 c6 14. h4 $5)
13. h4 a4 $2 (13... Bxf3 $142 $14 {and White is a bit better on either
recapture.}) (13... h6 $5 {Prevents an immediate disaster, but may just give
White another target in a position where White already has several decent
options; e.g.} 14. Qf4 $5 {planning g4-g5.} ({or} 14. Rh3) ({or even} 14. Ng5
$5)) 14. Bxh7+ $1 $18 {In the French, this sac usually works when White has a
pawn on e5, which prevents ...Nf6 defending h7; but here Black's Bf6 blocks
that square.} Kxh7 15. Qh5+ {Only move.} (15. Ng5+ $2 Kh6 {Only move.} $11) 15... Kg8 16. Ng5 {Only move.}
Re8 (16... Bxg5+ 17. hxg5 f6 18. g6 {is another classic finish for this sac.})
17. Qh7+ ({or} 17. Qxf7+ {unnecessarily winning an extra pawn first.}) 17...
Kf8 18. Ba3+ {And b2-b3 pays off!} 1-0
[Event "Scarborough CC Falling Leaves"]
[Site "Toronto CAN"]
[Date "2009.12.10"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Moffat, Andrei"]
[Black "Yuan, Yuanling"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E70"]
[WhiteElo "2234"]
[BlackElo "2304"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2009.11.05"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. Ng3 {The Hungarian
Variation. White's Ng3 looks a bid silly facing the g6-pawn, but the rest of
White's pieces have good squares, and the Ng3 can support h4-h5, or discourage
...f5.} e5 7. d5 a5 8. Be2 Na6 9. h4 Nc5 {More common are ...h5 and ...c6,
though since both sides now have a very limited range of reasonable plans
there are a lot of transpositions.} (9... c6 $5 10. h5 cxd5 11. cxd5 Nc5 12.
Be3 {actually scores pretty well for Black.}) ({as does} 9... h5 10. Bg5 Qe8
11. Qd2 {0-1 (51) Carlsen,M (2881)-Radjabov,T (2713) Shamkir, 2014.}) 10. h5
Bd7 11. Be3 c6 12. a4 $146 Qb6 13. Ra3 $5 {Looks like White is hoping to get
his second R to the h-file without having to castle. White often plays Rb1 in
this line, defending b2 and possibly setting up a3 and b4, but with the a-pawn
already on a4, White queenside expansion is a non-starter.} cxd5 (13... Qxb2 $4
{is no way to treat a lady:} 14. Bxc5 dxc5 15. Rb3 $19 {and it's goodnight
Queen.}) 14. cxd5 Rac8 {This makes ...Qxb2 more of a threat since attempting
to trap the Q leaves Black with equal material but excellent control of the
dark squares:} (14... Qb4 $5 {attacking e4 and a4.}) 15. Qd2 Ng4 $5 {A tricky
judgement call: will Black need the Nf6 to defend the kingside, or should she
trade it to speed up a possible ...f5?} 16. Bxg4 Bxg4 {What should White play?}
17. Bh6 $4 {You should notice that Black is threatening ....Qxb2, followed by
the N fork.} (17. Nb5 Bd7 (17... f5 $5) 18. Bh6 f5 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. hxg6 f4 {Only move.}
21. Rxh7+ Kxg6 {with a very unbalanced position.}) (17. f3 Bd7 {again
threatening ...Qxb2.}) 17... Bxh6 $1 {This would be suicidal, but Black's
counterattack is faster.} 18. Qxh6 {If it was his turn, then White would win
with hxg6; but here it's ladies first.} Nd3+ {Only move.} $19 (18... Qxb2 $2 {is the
obvious move, forking the R and N, and it must have been what Andrei saw and
expected. It looks great, but it lets White get a huge initiative:} 19. O-O {Only move.}
Qxa3 20. Nf5 {Only move.} Bxf5 {Only move.} (20... gxf5 $4 21. Qg5+ Kh8 22. h6 {and mate.}) 21.
exf5 $40 {White has a tremendous attack, certainly worth the Ra3; for example:}
f6 (21... Qxc3 $2 {lets White show his main threat:} 22. f6 Ne6 23. dxe6 {
and mate on g7.}) (21... Nd7 {guarding f6} 22. Ne4 {Only move.} $18 f6 23. hxg6 hxg6 24.
fxg6 {Only move.} $18 {and Black has to give up R and N to avoid mate.}) (21... Rc7 22.
f6 Ne6 23. dxe6 fxe6 24. Nb5 $16) 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 {White has a
draw at any time, but can play for more with} 24. g3 {to bring the R to the
h-file,} Qb4 $1 (24... Rc7 $2 25. Nb5 $18) 25. Kg2 Qh4 {Only move.} {gives just some
idea of the fun.}) 19. Kd2 {Only move.} (19. Kf1 $4 Qxf2#) 19... Nxf2 (19... Qxb2+ 20.
Kxd3 Qxa3 $19) 20. Nb5 Nxh1 (20... Nxh1 21. Nf5 {is too slow now, failing to
either a Black counterattack:} Qf2+ ({or failing to simple defence.} 21... Bxf5
22. exf5 Qc5 $5 23. f6 Qc1+ $19) 22. Kd3 Qe2#) 0-1
[Event "Eastern Ontario Open"]
[Site "Ottawa CAN"]
[Date "2014.06.20"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Black "Dumont, Felix"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B66"]
[WhiteElo "2263"]
[BlackElo "2184"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2014.06.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2014.06"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2014.06.15"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 {The
Richter-Rauzer Attack, White's most direct and aggressive response to the
Classical Sicilian.} e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Nxc6 $1 bxc6 {Diagram [#]} 10.
Bh4 (10. Bf4 $1 d5 11. Qe3 {aiming to dominate the dark squares. This line has
given Black a lot of headaches.} Bb4 ({Black doesn't have time to eliminate
the DSB because after} 11... Nh5 $2 12. exd5 $1 Nxf4 13. dxe6 Qc7 14. exf7+ {
White has a gigantic attack.}) 12. Be2 {Preventing ...Nh5.} O-O 13. e5 Nh7 14.
h4 Qa5 15. Rh3 Bc5 (15... Bxc3 16. Qxc3 Qxa2 $2 17. Rg3 $18) 16. Qd2 (16. Qg3
$1) 16... Ra7 $13 {½-½ (72) So,W (2773)-Kosteniuk,A (2553) Chess Supersite
blitz (Internet), 2016.}) 10... Qb6 $146 11. Na4 Qb7 $6 {Too optimistic;} (
11... Qc7 $1 {keeps an eye on the dark squares.}) 12. e5 $1 {Diagram [#]} g5 ({
Obviously not} 12... dxe5 $4 13. Qd8#) (12... Ne4 $142 13. Qe3 d5 {Only move.} (13... Qb4
$2 14. Rd4 $18) 14. f3 Ng5 15. Bf2 $1 {White has good control over the
queenside dark-squares, and Black's N is a long way from useful.} (15. Bxg5 $2
hxg5 16. Qxg5 c5 {with the Bs and queenside play for the pawn.})) 13. exd6 (13.
Nc5 $142 $1 {and Black's dark-squares will give him nightmares:} Qb6 14. Bg3
dxc5 (14... Nd5 15. Ne4 $18) 15. exf6 $18 {Black's position is shattered and
it hasn't cost White even one pawn.}) 13... Rb8 $2 {One bad move and he's lost.
} (13... gxh4 $142 {Only move.} 14. Qc3 {Only move.} (14. Nc5 $4 Qa7 15. Qc3 Rg8 $19) 14... Bg7 15.
Nc5 $1 (15. d7+ Bxd7 16. Nc5 Qc7 17. Nxd7 Nh5 18. Qf3 $36 Qf4+ 19. Qxf4 Nxf4
20. Nc5 $14) 15... Qa7 16. d7+ {Only move.} Ke7 $1 (16... Bxd7 $2 17. Nxd7 Ke7 18. Ne5
$18) 17. Qa3 $3 {with many threats.} (17. dxc8=N+ Rhxc8 {Black's position is
ugly, but has some trick potential.})) 14. Bg3 Ne4 (14... Nd7 $142 15. h4 $16)
15. Qd4 Nxg3 16. hxg3 $1 (16. Qxh8 {also works, but the game move leaves
Black's counterplay stillborn.}) 16... Rg8 17. Nc5 {Diagram [#]Critical
Position What happens on ...Bg7?} Bg7 18. Nxb7 $1 {18.d7+ transposes.} Bxd4 19.
d7+ $1 Ke7 (19... Bxd7 20. Nd6+ Ke7 21. Rxd4 $18 {White's up a piece.}) 20.
dxc8=N+ $1 {White will end up a piece ahead.} 1-0
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