Women's World Championship Finals: Game 2 Also Drawn
Game 2 of the final of the 2012 Women's World Championship was a battle of opening surprises. First, here's the game score:
Stefanova, Antoaneta (2491) - Ushenina, Anna (2452) FIDE WCh Women World Cup Khanty-Mansiysk RUS (6.2), 2012.11.28
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 Bb4 5.Bd2 dxc4 6.Nf3 b5 7.a4 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 cxb5 10.Qd2 Nf6 11.Qg5 O-O 12.Qxb5 Nxe4 13.Bxc4 Qc7 14.Qb3 a4 15.Rxa4 Rxa4 16.Qxa4 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Bb7 ½-½
Black's usual response to 4.e4 against the Triangle System is to accept the Marshall Gambit: 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ and so on, with very sharp, complicated play that has been analyzed very deeply. Ushenina's 4...Bb4 is hardly unknown, but it's comparatively rare; likewise for Stefanova's 5.Bd2 - 5.e5 and 5.cxd5 are more popular. (The latter especially, at higher levels.) After 5...dxc4 Stefanova's 6.Nf3 was also a bit of a secondary choice - White has usually gambited the d-pawn instead (6.Bxc4 Qxd4).
After 6.Nf3 b5 it looked like a Noteboom but with White's pawn on e4 rather than e3. This difference is in Black's favor, at least if White plays 10.b3 as in the Noteboom. In the version with e3, play generally continues 10...Bb7 11.bxc4 b4 12.Bb2 Nf6, etc., with a battle between White's central preponderance and Black's queenside passers and hopes of a light-squared blockade. However, in the e4 version, had White chosen 10.b3 then 10...Nf6 would be an effective counter, taking advantage of the loose e-pawn.
So White chose 10.Qd2, but was already having to fight for equality. There was an email game in 2008 where Black played 13...Nd6 and then took on c4, and that looks like a natural and obvious improvement, as Black's light-squared bishop will be very strong on either of the a8-h1 and a6-f1 diagonals. Even so, 13...Qc7 wasn't bad, and White was still the only side with problems, and Black could have continued the game without any serious risk.
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