Wednesday 15 December 2010

What opening are you playing?

I once read a story from an Olympiad years ago, concerning a game between two women players on the lower boards. White started off by playing an opening that was familiar to her, but after 5 or 6 moves she decided something wasn't right. While her pieces seemed to be on the right squares, her opponents did not. So leaning across the board she said "Excuse me, I'm playing the Giuoco Piano, what opening are you playing?"
Now I'm not sure how true this story is, but I was reminded of it when I saw the following game from the current Womens World Championship. Against the Sicilian Defence Kovanova decides that the Giuoco Piano is a perfectly fine choice, and crushes her opponent in 25 moves.

Kovanova,B (2380) - Pogonina,N (2472) [B50]
WCh Women Antakya TUR (1.2), 05.12.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Qe2 e6 6.c3 Be7 7.Bb3 0-0 8.d4 Qc7 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.e5 Nd7 11.Bf4 Rd8 12.Nbd2 Nf8 13.Rad1 b6 14.Bg3 Bb7 15.Ne4 Rxd1 16.Rxd1 Rd8 17.Nf6+ Kh8 18.Ng5 Rxd1+ 19.Qxd1 Nd8 20.Qh5 gxf6 21.exf6 Qc6 (D)
22.Bd5 Qe8 23.Qh6 Bxf6 24.Qxf6+ Kg8 25.Be5 1-0

1 comment:

TrueFiendish said...

move 22 was a real corker!