Plenty of Hidden Gems Played at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024

Posted bychessmusingsPosted in2024 Chess Olympiad, Daily Chess MusingsTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

With 1,884 participants(975 in Open and 909 in Women’s event) taking part 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 in Budapest, there is no shortage of quality chess games to play through. Many outstanding games could potentially go unnoticed so it is important for chess writers to share the hidden gems they find. Once such hidden gem occurred during the first round of the women’s competition.

Meruert Kamalidenova is an International Master and Woman Grandmaster from Kazakhstan. If her name seems familiar, it’s probably because she took first place at the World Youth Chess Championship in 2019. More recently she was able to win the Karaganda Akim Cup (a 10 player round-robin tournament) ahead Grandmasters despite being the lowest rated player in the field! She continued her winning ways in the first round of the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 (Women) against WFM Andreina Quevedo (Uruguay).

IM/WGM Meruert Kamalidenova

WFM Quevedo’s Philidor Defense: Lion Variation (1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7) didn’t phase Kamalidenova on the slightest and the young IM/WGM defeated Andreina in just 24 moves. That’s not to say that WFM Quevedo didn’t have opportunities. In fact, the game was decided by one missed tactical opportunity (14… Qb6) and one slow move (15…Kh7). That said, IM/WGM Meruert Kamalidenova played a masterpiece that needs to be studied and deserves to be shared. Enjoy…

14…. Rb8 made sense strategically but missed a tactical opportunity 14… Qb6!? 15. Qd2 Bxh3!
15… Kh7 was too slow. Better was 15… a6 16. a5 b5 17. axb6 Rxb6.
By Black delaying playing a6 by one move, White was able to play f4 to kick the Knight before Black got a chance to play pawn to b5 to release her Queenside pieces. White took the initiative and ran away with the victory.

[Event “45th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024 (Women)”]

[Site “Budapest HUN”]

[Date “2024.09.11”]

[EventDate “2024.09.11”]

[Round “1.11”]

[Result “1-0”]

[White “Meruert Kamalidenova”]

[Black “Andreina Quevedo”]

[ECO “C41”]

[WhiteElo “2352”]

[BlackElo “1851”]

[PlyCount “48”]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 c6 8. Re1

h6 9. h3 Re8 10. Ba2 exd4 11. Nxd4 Bf8 12. Bf4 Qc7 13. Qf3 Ne5 14. Qe2 Rb8 15.

Qd2 Kh7 16. Bh2 a6 17. f4 Ng6 18. Kh1 b5 19. e5 dxe5 20. fxe5 Nd5 21. Bxd5 cxd5

22. e6 Bd6 23. Nxd5 Qc5 24. Nb3 1-0

For such a wonderfully educational game, I recommend playing through the moves on a physical chessboard while referring to my lesson notes below.

Published by chessmusings

Chris Torres is a nationally renowned scholastic chess coach working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His classes have attracted players of strengths ranging from rank beginners to world champions. A chess professional since 1998, Chris is widely recognized as one of the main driving forces behind the explosion in popularity and sudden rise in quality of scholastic chess in California. Chris Torres served as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy from 2005-2020 and currently is recognized as a correspondence chess master with the United States Chess Federation. Since 1998 Chris Torres has taught 6 individual national champions as well as led multiple school teams to win national championship titles. In addition, Chris Torres has directed and taught at 10 different schools which have been California State Champions at chess. In 2011 and 2012, several former and current students of Chris Torres have been selected to represent the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships. Mr. Torres’ hobbies include playing classical guitar and getting his students to appear on the national top 100 chess rating lists.

One thought on “Plenty of Hidden Gems Played at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024”

  1. Pingback: Puzzle Worthy Position 49 – Daily Chess Musings

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Daily Chess Musings

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading