| Sep-11-04 |
| ForeverYoung: Very nice game by one of the top Woman grandmasters on the planet! |
 |
Sep-11-04
 |
| patzer2: Black's 19...Rfc8? was bad. Better was 19...Rfb8!=. |
|
Sep-11-04
 |
| kevin86: White has a three part plan: h7,cg7+,h8+ and mate next} black has little to do to stop it.. Here,bishops of opposite colors doom black. |
|
Sep-11-04
|
| patzer2: Stronger than 22. Qd3!? for White was the simple 22. Qxa5! with an immediate winning advantage. The interesting 22. Qd3!? worked out OK due to Black's weak 22...Bxa2?, allowing 23. Qd8+! However, after 22. Qd3!? Bh6+ 23. Kb2 Be6 Black has counterplay and chances for a draw. |
|
Sep-11-04
|
| patzer2: Kosteniuk's play after 22. Bxa2? 23. Qd8+!! is brilliant, integrating a number of tactical themes to create the final won position [e.g. 25. Bxf8 (discovered check mate threat) 26. Bd6+ (discovered check) 28. Rd6 (double attack) 30. Re1 (quiet move) 32. Rc6 (quiet move) 36. bg7+ (deflection) 37. Bh6 (clearance).] |
|
Sep-11-04
|
| patzer2: <Kevin 86> I assume you are referring to the last position (e.g. 35...h5 36. Rh7!  ).Another nice threat is 35...h5 36. Rg7+ Kf8 37. Rh7+ Kg8 38. Rcg7+ Kf8 39. Rh8+ Bg8 40. Rhxg8#. Of course Black can delay mate a bit longer (e.g. in a blitz rate time scramble) with 35...Qxc7 36. Rxc7 , which is still a clearly won game for White. |
|
| Sep-11-04 |
| Jack Rabbit: <patzer2>: Your 19 -- Rfb8 looks interesting. How might the game continue from there? Black's position already looks difficult. After 14 Qc5, Ivanchuk vs J M Hodgson, 1996 (Amsterdam, Donner Memorial) continued 14 -- Qb8 15 b3 Bf5 16 Bd3 Rc8 17 Qa5 Rc3 and White won after 18 Bxf5 Rxe3 19 Be4 Qf4 20 Bxa8. The move 14 -- Qb7 in the present game looks to be inferior to 14 -- Qb8 as played by Hodgson against Ivanchuk. Bergez' move has the Black Queen biting granite and block development of the Bishop on b7 or a6. It's easy to see why Black would be reluctnat to exchange Queens with 13 -- Qxd5 14 Rxd5 and descend into an endgame where White has an extra Pawn in the person of the passed c-Pawn. However, a Queen exchange does not an endgame make; each player still has both Rooks and both Bishops. Black will have plenty of time to do something about the c-Pawn (in this game, the c-Pawn remains at home). Perhaps the line 13 -- Qxd5 14 Rxd5 Bb7 would be better for Black? |
|
| Sep-11-04 |
| dafish298: black's ...d5 is questionable...you need to be confident enough to play through the dragon as statistics do show that ...d5 is not very promising for black. |
|
| Sep-11-04 |
| Jack Rabbit: <dafish298>: Three other moves I am able to find in MCO-14 are 9 -- Nxd4, 9 -- Bd7 and 9 -- Be6. MCO evaluates all of these as an advantage for White. |
|
| Sep-11-04 |
| alexandrovm: I so the hole thing as a great game. Nice game from a beautiful player. |
|
Sep-11-04
|
| patzer2: <Jack Rabbit> After 19...Rfb8, White has a number of equalizing continuations, including 20. c4, 20. Qa5, and 20. b3. One promising line for both sides is 19...Rfb8 20. c4 Be6 21. Kb1 e4 = Note that White should not play 20. Bd6?? Rb3!  . |
|
| Mar-18-05 |
| F47: After 13. Qxd5, Kosteniuk won a pawn. Can anybody tell me what Kosteniuk was thinking to win that pawn? |
|
| Aug-25-05 |
| Medical Director: Why is this variation called "The Dragon"? |
|
| Dec-10-07 |
| black knight c6: <Medical Director> Because black's pawn setup (after 5. ... g6) is said to resemble the outline of a dragon, and the opening is well known for the fiery games it produces. |
|
Dec-19-07
 |
| computer chess guy: I think 26. ..  h7 would be a bit better defense than the game move 26. .. g7 (but White would still be ahead). |
|
Dec-30-07
 |
| DanLanglois: I don't suppose that White is already won with 14 Qxa8, when Black has no real threats (14...Bf5 15 Qxf8+ Kxf7 16 Rd2). |
|
sac: 23.Qd8+
