Round 5.2 decisive
moments
Here are a couple of decisive moments from the second
games of round 5.
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Alexei
Shirov vs. Evgeny Bareev 5.2
25.Qf3!? A very Shirovian move - the
attack is worth more to him than material
- this protects f4 making the threat of Nd7
even stronger. It also clears the g-line for
all sorts nasty operations. 25.Nd7 was certainly
also strong. 25...Bf6?! 25...Be7 26.Nxd5
Bxd5 27.Qxd5 Qxf4+ 28.Kb1 with threats of
forks on d7 and g6 was also grim for black.
25...Rc8 is the most stubborn defence perhaps,
though 26.Rg6 is very scary - even 26...Qh4
27.Rd6!? deserves attention, invading while
threatening Ng6 - it also secures the knight
on b4. 26.Nd7 Rbd8 27.Nxf8+ Rxf8 28.Nxd5
Kh8 29.Qa3! Another advantage of Shirov's
ambitious 25th move. 1-0 Black has
no compensation for his material losses.
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Alisa
Maric vs. Qin Kanying 5.2
White's queenside attack has claimed two pawns
and black has not yet managed to create counterplay
against white's king. A comeback win beckons
to Maric ... 35.R1b6 ... offers a glimmer
of hope to the wily and resourceful Qin. 35.Ne4
was more methodical, guarding the king and
hitting c5. 35...e4! 36.Nxe4 Qe5 37.gxf4?
Presumably a very costly time trouble error.
Dropping back with 37.Rb1 looks sufficient
to win. 37...Qa1+ 38.Kf2 38.Rb1?? Qxb1+!
may be what white missed in time trouble.
38...Nd1+ 39.Kg3 Ne3 and white cannot
profitably avoid the repetition, though she
eventually braved an ending with not really
enough pawns for a rook, which was finally
drawn. A sad near miss for Maric. |
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