In the tenth round of the Challengers’ Tournament, Salimova played with the white pieces against the main loser in the competition so far – Vaishali.
The young Indian lost four in a row before her match with Nurgyul, and naturally in Bulgaria we hoped that streak would continue. To a large extent, the expectations were justified and the victory of the Bulgarian seemed very likely.
How did the game develop?
On Nurgül’s first move 1.d4, the opponent bet on Defense Grünfeld. As early as the fifth move, Salimova demonstrated her aggressive intentions by launching a very early assault with the “h” pawn against the black rook.
This relatively new debut development did not catch Vaishali off guard and for the first 17 moves she used only a few minutes, apparently following a familiar analysis.
When the debut knowledge ended and the solo game began, the Bulgarian gradually established dominance. In the thick of the fight in a very promising midgame position on turn 21, Nurgül unexpectedly changed tactics, forcing an endgame.
A long maneuvering struggle began, in which our girl gradually outplayed her opponent. She could have won twice – on the 54th and 59th moves, but it seems that the accumulated fatigue, the must-win goal and the lack of time took their toll.
Thus, in the final part, after many vicissitudes, twists and nerves, Nurgül suffered a humiliating loss.
Tuesday was a rest day, and today in the 11th round Salimova will play with black against Humpi Koneru.
In the standings after the 10th round, the two Chinese Lei Tingjie and Tan Zhongyi lead with 6.5 points each, followed by the two Russians Goryachkina and Lakhno with 5.5 each. Salimova shares 6-7th place with Muzichuk with 4 points.
For the men, the leaders are Gukesh and Nepomniachy with 6 points each, followed by Pragnanadha, Caruana and Nakamura with 5.5 each.
Here is the party:
Salimova – Vaishali, 20th round
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.h4!? 0–0 7.h5 c5 8.hxg6 hxg6 9.Lh6 Lxh6 10.Txh6 Sxc3 11.bxc3 Kg7 12.Dd2 cxd4 13.Th4 Th8 14.Txh8 Dxh8 15.cxd4 Sd7 16.e4 Sf6 17.Df4 Ld7 18.Sg5 Rf8 19.Rb1 b6 20.f3 Qh6?! (Sh5!?) 21.Rc1 Sh7 22.Sh3?! He set more complex tasks for black 22.Rc7! Nxg5 23.Rxd7. 22…Bxh3 23.Qxh6+ Kxh6 24.gxh3 Ng5 25.Kf2 Se6 26.Ke3 Td8 27.d5 Sc5 28.Lc4 e5 29.a4 a5 30.Lb5 f5 31.Td1 Kg5 32.Lc6 Kf6 33.h4 Th8 34 .d6 f4+ 35.Kf2 Se6 36.Td5 Rc8 37.Lb5 Rc2+ 38.Kf1 Rc1+ 39.Kg2 Sd8 40.d7 Ke6 41.Td2 Ke7 42.Kh2 Rc5 (42…Tc3!?) 43.Tg2 Kf7 44.h5! White clears the way for his rook and king and gains a decisive advantage. 44…gxh5 45.Tg5 Ke7 46.Txh5 Sc6 47.Th7+ Kd8 48.Kh3 Kc7 49.Kg4 Sd8 50.Kf5 Tc3 51.Kxe5 Txf3 52.Th1 Sb7 53.Kf6 Te3 54.e5? This natural move loses the advantage. 54.Th8 was winning! Rxe4 (54…Nd8 55.e5) 55.Rc8+ Kd6 56.Rb8. 54…Sc5 55.Th7 f3 56.Te7 f2 57.Kf7 Th3 58.e6 Nb7?? Replied gross error. It led to a draw 58…Th7+ 59.Ke8 Th8+ 60.Kf7. 59.d8D+?? He finally drops the win. It took 59.Te8! Th7+ 60.Kg6 with a slight gain. 59…Kxd8 60.Td7+ and 60.Txb7 Th7+. 60…Kc8 61.Td1 Tf3+ 62.Kg6 Te3 63.Kf6 Tf3+ 64.Kg5 Te3 65.Kf6 Tf3+ 66.Ke7? White continues his momentum to fight for victory, avoiding a three-fold repetition and a draw after 66.Kg5 Te3 67.Kf6. 66…Sc5 67.Kd6? It leads to loss. After 67.Ts1! Te3 68.Kf7 the position is equal. 67…Te3! 68. Ld7+ (68. e7? Te6+ 69. Kd5 Txe7) 68. Tf7 77 6 Kb4
0-1