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The Benko gambit is rarely seen in top events; however Natalija needed a win with black. The usual pressure black has for the sacrificed pawn was tangible during the first 30 something moves, then at move 33 black got it back. Both players then decided to go for the kill with black having a slight upper hand which brought her the victory in the end. This match goes now into tie breaks. [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.27"][Round "23.2"][White "Zhao, Xue (CHN)"][Black "Pogonina, Natalija (RUS)"][Result "0-1"][ECO "A58"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. g3 O-O 8. Bg2 d6 9. Nf3 Nxa6 10. O-O Qb6 11. Re1 Nc7 12. e4 Nd7 13. a4 Ba6 14. Ra3 Rfb8 15. Qc2 Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Nd1 e6 18. Bd2 Bd4 19. Bc3 e5 {black applies continuous pressure} 20. Bh3 Ra7 21. Bg4 Rab7 22. Be2 c4 23. Bxd4 Qxd4 24. Ra2 Ne8 25. Nc3 Rb4 26. Rd1 Qb6 27. a5 Qc7 28. Rda1 Nf6 29. Na4 Nd7 30. Nb6 Rb7 31. Ra4 Rxa4 32. Qxa4 Nxb6 33. axb6 Rxb6 {material is now equal again and black has a small advantage} 34. Rc1 Qc5 35. b3 Bb5 36. Qa8+ Kg7 37. bxc4 Ba6 38. Re1 Qb4 39. Kf1 Bxc4 40. Bxc4 Qxc4+ 41. Kg2 Rb1 {both players are going for the win} 42. Qa5 Qd3 43. Kh3 Rb2 44. Qc7 Rxf2 45. Qxd6 Qc3 46. Rb1 Qc8+

Mariya had a rocky start against our fellow Canadian Yuan in round 1, while Humpy won all 3 matches so far with a 2-0 score. It is then unexpected to see Mariya surprising her opponent with a nice pseudo Queen sac and scoring the full point when black's King was left alone. [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.26"][Round "22.1"][White "Muzychuk, Mariya (UKR)"][Black "Koneru, Humpy (IND)"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C45"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. g3 d5 8. Bg2 dxe4 9. O-O O-O 10. Nd2 Bb6 11. Re1 Nxd4 12. Nxe4 Qf5 13. Bxd4 Nc6 14. Bxb6 axb6 15. f4 Be6 16. b3 h6 17. h3 Ra3 18. Qd2 Qa5 19. b4 Qa4 20. g4 Rd8 21. Qf2 Rxa2 22. Rxa2 Bxa2 23. b5 Na7 {the black pieces have deserter their King } 24. g5 hxg5 25. Nxg5 f6 {now it is too late to put up a defence} 26. Qd2 Rf8 27. Bd5+ Bxd5 28. Qxd5+ Kh8 29. Qf7

Anna Muzychuk joined her sister Mariya into round 4 after a well played game. She won an exchange at move 29 and after Lela misplaced her knight at move 33, she proceeded to punish that methodically. We can replay, enjoy and learn from that last part of the game. Lesson: "how to win a won game"! [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.24"][Round "19.3"][White "Javakhishvili, Lela (GEO)"][Black "Muzychuk, Anna (UKR)"][Result "0-1"][SetUp "1"][FEN "8/4k2N/4n3/5pp1/8/4B1P1/4rP1P/6K1 b - - 0 33"][ECO "E15"]33... f4 34. Bb6 Rb2 35. Ba5 f3 36. h3 Kf7 37. h4 g4 38. Bc3 Rb1+ 39. Kh2 Rf1 40. Nf6 Rxf2+ 41. Kg1 Rg2+ 42. Kf1 Rxg3 43. h5 Ng5 44. Nd7 Ke6 45. Nf8+ Kf5 46. Ng6 Rh3

Veteran GM Pia Cramling took the exchange offering of black and proceeded to convert the material advantage into a winning advantage. We have the final combination to enjoy, my first re-playable puzzle try here on the website. Hope you like it. [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.23"][Round "18.6"][White "Cramling, Pia (SWE)"][Black "Gunina, Valentina (RUS)"][Result "1-0"][SetUp "1"][FEN "5rk1/5p2/6p1/p1PpQ2p/3Pn1P1/3q4/1R3PK1/1R6 w - - 0 33"][ECO "D18"]33.Rb8 f6 34.Qxd5+ Kg7 35.R1b7+ Kh6 36.Rxf8 f5 37.gxf5 Ng3 38.Rh7+ Kg5 39.fxg6+

Alexandra Kosteniuk protected her 1-0 match score by playing a simple second game with white and drew it by perpetual check. She was the first one to move to the third round; congratulations Alexandra! [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.21"][Round "11.5"][White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra (RUS)"][Black "Shen, Yang (CHN)"][Result "1/2-1/2"][ECO "C84"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. Be3 Nd4 11. Bxd4 exd4 12. Nd5 c5 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Re1 Nd7 15. h3 Be6 16. Ba2 Qf6 17. a4 Rfb8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. e5 dxe5 21. Qe2 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Qf4 23. Ra7 Rd8 24. b3 h6 25. Qe1 b4 26. Qe2 Kh8 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Nxe5 Qc1+ 29. Kh2 Ra7 30. Ng6+ Kh7 31. Qxe6 Qg5 32. Nf8+ Kh8 33. Ng6+

After a normal Catalan opening, black chose an aggressive approach on the King side. White took advantage and finished the game with a nice combination beginning with 28. Nxg6! ... [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.20"][Round "10.6"][White "Gunina, Valentina (RUS)"][Black "Girya, Olga (RUS)"][Result "1-0"][ECO "E06"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Rc8 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. Nb3 c5 14. dxc5 Be4 15. Qc3 Bd5 16. Rac1 Bxb3 17. Qxb3 Bxc5 18. e3 Qb6 19. Rc2 Rc7 20. Ne5 Rfc8 21. Rd1 g6 22. Rcd2 Be7 23. g4 Rc5 24. Nd3 Rg5 25. h3 h5 26. gxh5 Rxh5 27. Nf4 Rhc5 28. Nxg6 fxg6 29. Rd6 Bxd6 30. Qxe6+ Kh7 31. Rxd6 Rc1+ 32. Kh2 Qc7 33. Qxf6 Rc2 34. Qxg6+ Kh8 35. Qh5+ Kg8 36. Bd5+ Kg7 37. Qh6#

Mariya Muzychuk (UKR) stroke back in the second game, dismantling Yuan's Dutch defence quite fast. We have a 1-1 tie match [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.18"][Round "2.8"][White "Muzychuk, Mariya (UKR)"][Black "Yuan, Yuanling (CAN)"][Result "1-0"][ECO "A85"][PlyCount "43"][EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. h4 Bg7 5. h5 Nxh5 6. e4 fxe4 7. Rxh5 gxh5 8. Qxh5+ Kf8 9. Bh6 e6 10. Nxe4 Qe7 11. Bxg7+ Kxg7 12. O-O-O d6 13. Rd3 Rf8 14. Ng5 Kh8 15. Rh3 Rf5 16. N1f3 Nd7 17. g4 Nf6 18. Qg6 Rxg5 19. Qxg5 Qg7 20. Bd3 Bd7 21. Qxg7+ Kxg7 22. g5

Our fellow Canadian Yuan Yuanling scored the surprise win of the round against Maryia Muzychuk (UKR) [Event "WWCC2015"][Site "Sochi"][Date "2015.03.17"][Round "1.8"][White "Yuan, Yuanling (CAN)"][Black "Muzychuk, Mariya (UKR)"][Result "1-0"][ECO "B15"][PlyCount "91"][EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Be4 Na6 11. c3 Nc7 12. Qd3 Bg6 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. c4 Qd7 15. Be3 g5 16. Nd2 g4 17. hxg4 Qxg4 18. Ne4 Be7 19. Ng3 g6 20. Qe4 Qd7 21. Rad1 Kg7 22. d5 cxd5 23. cxd5 Nb5 24. Qf3 Rh8 25. Ne4 f5 26. Ng3 Rh4 27. Bf4 Rah8 28. Rfe1 Bd6 29. Bg5 Rg4 30. Bc1 Qc7 31. Rd3 Rgh4 32. Bg5 Rg4 33. Bd2 Qd8 34. b3 Qh4 35. a4 Nc7 36. Bc3+ f6 37. Kf1 Rf4 38. Qd1 Bc5 39. Rf3 Qg4 40. d6 Rxf3 41. Re7+ Kf8 42. gxf3 Qh3+ 43. Ke2 Qg2 44. Be1 Ne8 45. Qd5 Nxd6 46. Qe6

White as a 2500+ player made short change of the Sicilian setup his 2380 opponent tried [Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"][Site "Reykjavik ISL"][Date "2015.03.16"][Round "8.19"][White "Grover, Sahaj"][Black "Hauge, Lars Oskar"][Result "1-0"][ECO "B71"][WhiteElo "2519"][BlackElo "2380"][PlyCount "45"][EventDate "2015.03.10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. f4 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. Bd3 Qb6 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Rb1 e5 11. Be3 Nd4 12. Qd2 Re8 13. O-O Ng4 14. Nd5 Qd8 15. f5 gxf5 16. Bxd4 fxe4 17. Bxe4 exd4 18. Ng5 Be6 19. Qf4 Be5 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Nxf7+ Bxf7 22. Qxg4 Bxd5 23. Qh5

GM Artur Jussupow strikes with a vengeance in just 26 moves [Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"][Site "Reykjavik ISL"][Date "2015.03.16"][Round "8.13"][White "Jussupow, Artur"][Black "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"][Result "1-0"][ECO "A46"][WhiteElo "2573"][BlackElo "2443"][PlyCount "49"][EventDate "2015.03.10"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 c5 4. e3 Qb6 5. Nbd2 Qxb2 6. Rb1 Qc3 7. Bd3 cxd4 8. O-O dxe3 9. Nc4 d5 10. Rb3 exf2+ 11. Kh1 Qxb3 12. cxb3 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Be7 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Qd6 Nc6 16. Rxf2 Be7 17. Qc7 Bd8 18. Qf4 O-O 19. Rd2 a6 20. h4 h6 21. Qe4 Bc7 22. g4 Kh8 23. g5 h5 24. g6 f6 25. Qe2