[Event "Women's World Team Champs"] [White "Huang, Qian"] [Black "Melekhina, Alisa"] [Site "Ningbo, China"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "08.09.2009"] [WhiteElo "2424"] [BlackElo "2220"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 f5 5.Ne2 Bg7 6.g3 d6 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Nd7 9.c4 Nf6 10.Nbc3 h5 11.h4 Ng4 12.Nf4 g5 13.hxg5 Qxg5 14.Qf3 c6 15.Rfe1 Re8 16.Rad1 h4 17.Nce2 Bf6 18.Nh3 Qg7 19.Qf4 Re6 20.Nc3 hxg3 21.fxg3 Bd7 22.Rd3 Rae8 23.Nd1 Bc8 24.Re2 c5 25.Bd5 R6e7 26.dxc5 dxc5 27.Qf3 Ne5

[Event "Philadelphia International Open"] [White "Melekhina, Alisa"] [Black "Shabalov, Alexander"] [Site "Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "24.06.2011"] [WhiteElo "2338"] [BlackElo "2586"] [SetUp "2"] 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 dxe5 12.dxe5 Qc7 13.Qe4 b6 14.Bg5 Bb7 15.Bd3 g6 16.Bf6 Rfd8 17.Qe3 Rd7 18.Rad1 Na5 19.Ng5! 19...Bxf6 (19...Rad8 20.Qh3 h5 21.Nxe6 fxe6 (21...Rxd3 22.Rxd3 Rxd3 23.Nxc7 Rxh3 24.gxh3) 22.Qxe6+ Kf8 (22...Kh7 23.Qf7+ Kh6 24.Qg7#) 23.Bg7+ Kxg7 24.Qxg6+ 24...Kf8 25.Qh6+ Kg8 (25...Kf7 26.e6+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Qf7#) 26.Bh7+ Kf7 27.Qg6+ Kf8 28.Qg8#) 20.exf6 Rad8? (20...Qxc3 21.Bxg6 Qxe3 22.fxe3 Rxd1 23.Bxh7+ Kf8 24.Rxd1) (20...Rd5) 21.Ne4!!

[Event "20th Annual North American Open"] [White "Krush, Irina"] [Black "Melekhina, Alisa"] [Site "Las Vegas, Nevada"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "28.12.2010"] [WhiteElo "2546"] [BlackElo "2350"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be3 Nfd7 8.Nd2 Bxe2 9.Nxe2 c5 10.0-0 Nc6 11.d5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 (12.Nb3 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 Qb6 14.Qc2 a6 15.Bd2 Qc7 16.Bc3 b5 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Nd2 Rae8 19.f4 e6 20.dxe6) 12...cxd4 13.Bg5 Re8 14.f4 Qb6 15.Rb1 e6 16.Kh1 exd5 17.cxd5 Nc5 18.Qf3 f6 19.Bh4 Qb4 20.Be1?! f5 21.Qh3? fxe4 22.Nxe4 Qc4! 23.Ng3 Qxa2 24.Rd1 Qxb2 25.f5 Qc2 26.Bd2 Nd3 27.Qg4 Nb2 28.Rc1? (28.Ra1 Qxd2 29.f6 Bxf6 30.Rxf6 Nc4) 28...Qxd2 29.fxg6 Nd3 30.Rc7 Qh6 31.gxh7+ Kh8 32.h3? Re1! 33.Qf5 Rxf1+ (33...Rf8 34.Qxd3 Qe3! 35.Rxe1 Qxd3) 34.Qxf1 Qg6 35.Nf5 Rf8 36.g4 Ne5 37.Qb1 Qxh7 38.Kg2 Nf7 (38...Qg8! 39.Qxb7 Rb8 40.Rxg7 Rxb7 41.Rxg8+) (38...Rf7 39.Rc8+ Bf8) 39.Qxb7 Be5 40.Qxa7 Qg6

[Event "2014 U.S. Championship"] [White "Krush, Irina"] [Black "Melekhina, Alisa"] [Site "St. Louis, Missouri"] [Result "½ - ½"] [Date "14.05.2014"] [WhiteElo "2548"] [BlackElo "2251"] {By round 6, Krush and Zatonskih were tied for the lead with 4/5. Our game came at a critical point in the tournament that could determine who would pull ahead. The pressure, coupled with a surprise in the opening, could have been one of the causes of Krush's uncharacteristic lack of confidence at the critical moments. The result was a whirlwind of a game with several exchange sacrifices, making it my most memorable game of the tournament.} 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.c4 b5 {The Blumenfeld Gambit! Undoubtedly, a big surprise. This was my first time playing the opening in a tournament game. The opening was consistent with my goals for the tournament: I wanted to play fighting chess every round, with no regrets.} 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5 d5 7.Nc3 {Masking any notion of being surprised, Krush accepted the gambit in stride and blitzed out these first few moves. Up to 7.Nc3, we were following her game against Tatev Abrahamyan from a previous US Championship.} 7...Bb7 (7...d4 8.Na4 Ne4 9.e3 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 dxe3 12.fxe3 Nd7 13.Qf3 Rb8 14.Nc3 Be7 15.Qh3 Nf6 16.Bc4 Qb6 17.0-0 0-0 18.Nf3 Kh8 19.Ne5 Kg8 20.Nc6) 8.e4 {is called for to complete White's developments. In exchange, Black gets complete control over the dangerous a8-h2 diagonal.} 8...d4 9.e5 Nfd7 {At this point, it seemed that Krush was in unfamiliar territory and began lapsing into deep thinks. Losing time off of the clock in the opening would eventually come to haunt her later in the game.} 10.Na4 {Although Na4 worked out against Abrahamyan because Krush was later able to recover the c3 square by diverting the d4 pawn with e3, here that is no longer possible because she has committed her pawn to e5. The knight is terribly misplaced on a4. If she tries to redirect back into the game via b2, c3 will become a new weakness.} 10...a6 {Prying open the a-file, rendering the a4 Knight even more vulnerable.} 11.bxa6 Nxa6 12.Bc4 Nc7 13.b3 Be7 14.Bf4 0-0 15.Bg3 Rf5 {All of the commentators were rooting for 15...Rxf3!? 16.gxf3 Usually exchange sacrifices are executed in exchange for a minor piece and pawn. Here I'm already a pawn down. However, black's position is dominating. After 16...h5 17.h4 it is awkward for White to ever castle. The a4 knight is far away from all of the action. In the meantime, black piles up on the f3 pawn and prepares Bc6 followed by Nd5. A sample line could continue: 17...Qf8 18.Be2 Qf7 19.Rc1 Bc6 20.0-0 Nd5 Black is not immediately winning here. However, he has more than full compensation for the exchange and pawn, which says something about the level of black's piece activity.} 16.Be2 Nd5 17.Rc1 {A strategic move that forestalls any tricks with Rxa4 and Nc3. It also ties my pieces down to protecting c5.} 17...Nf4 18.Bxf4 Rxf4 19.0-0 {White has finally castled, avoiding most of the landmines in the position. I sensed that my initiative was fizzling out.} 19...g5 {an aggressive push that was more about scare tactics than actual tactics.} 20.Ne1 {Calm reaction that highlights the over-optimism of black's previous move. Unfortunately, the e5 pawn is indirectly defended because c5 would be hanging.} 20...Qf8 21.Nd3 Rh4 {The rook looks awkward, but I knew that it would never get trapped.} 22.Bg4 {Krush thought that she had turned the tables, but in post-mortem admitted she had missed} 22...Bd5 {Understandably, the d5 square had been off limits for most of the game for various reasons. Black is back in control. White felt pressure to "do something," leading to} 23.f4 {which backfires on White after} 23...Qh6 24.h3 gxf4 {I have finally evened the pawn count, and what a pawn to win back!} 25.Qe2 Bg5 {Latching on again to the idea of keeping my pawn, as well as the allure of mating nets, I decided to protect f4 once and for all.} {After the subtle 25...Kh8 Black is suddenly winning. The threat of Rg8 and capturing on g4 is too strong. White's only defense is to offer the exchange with Rxf4, which black doesn't even have to take immediately because the threat of Be3+ is stronger.; 25...Rxa4!? would have led to a better version of what happened in the game 26.bxa4 c4 27.Nxf4 Bc5 saving several tempi on swinging my bishop around} 26.Bf3 {This solid defensive move blocked my chances for a breakthrough with f3. Suddenly, my pieces are all crowded awkwardly on the king-side. I again sensed that it was time to mix up the position. We both had less than ten minutes left on the clock. It was now or never for} 26...Rxa4 {I went for the sacrifice mainly on the intuition that I needed my two central pawns to have any winning chances and with the goal of complicating the position while she was in time trouble. I calculated a few dangerous lines and didn't see any ways for white to immediately convert. I knew that it was concretely unsound, but I'm still proud that I had the guts to play this in such an important game.} 27.bxa4 c4 28.Nb4 d3 29.Qb2 Be7 {reinforcing that it was better play Rxa4 before wasting a tempo on 25...Bg5.} 30.Nxd5 Bc5+ 31.Kh2 exd5 32.Bxd5+ Kf8 33.Rxc4 Qg5 34.Rf3 {White is still winning of course, but this moves gives Black some time to reshuffle his pieces. The f3 Rook turned into a curse that plagued all of White's subsequent winning lines.} 34...Nxe5 35.Qb8+ Ke7 {The Black king is walking on shells. Amazingly, he is sidestepping any immediate mates.} 36.Qc7+ Kf6 37.Qd8+ {allowing me to bring my Bishop back to safety and cover the King.} {Winning was 37.Qxc5 Nxf3+ 38.Kh1! is the key. White gives back a rook for a fatal mating attack. Try seeing Kh1 with less than a minute left on the clock! (The natural 38.Bxf3 Qg3+ 39.Kh1 Rxh3+ 40.gxh3 Qxf3+ leads to a perp) 38...Ne5 39.Qd6+ Kg7 40.Rc7+ Kh8 41.Qf8+ Qg8 42.Qxg8#; Notably, the Kh1 swindle doesn't work if 37.Rxc5 because 37...Nxf3+ 38.Kh1 Rxh3+ 39.gxh3 Qg1#} 37...Be7 38.Qb6+ {I was bracing myself for 38.Qh8+ Kg6 still no mate. White has to find the daring 39.Rxd3 Nxc4 (39...Nxd3? 40.Qg8+ Kh6 41.Rc6+ with a mate in 10 10) 40.Bxc4 Kh6 White can now enjoy her uncontested two-pawn advantage.} 38...Kg7 {I can breathe a sigh of relief because I have escaped from checks.} 39.Rc1 {As typically happens when a player is in time trouble and cannot find a concrete continuation, she makes a defensive retreat that gives away the entire advantage. Before completing Rc1, Krush's time went down to a mere second. Keep in mind we were playing with 30-second increment. I had around 2 minutes. I was holding my breath, wondering if it were possible for her to flag. Alas, she completed her move. But I was not unhappy with the outcome. Rc1 throws the ball back into Black's court.} 39...Nxf3+ 40.Bxf3 {Now it was my turn to find the accurate continuation before time control. I had slightly more time -- 2.5 minutes -- to do so. My gut reaction was to play what I had been calculating for the last 5 moves: Qg3+. It's instinctive to go for the check and then take the extra 30 minutes gained at time control to calculate anew. Fortunately, the same wave of inspiration that consumed me into playing 26...Rxa4 guided me to playing the only saving move that even gave me winning chances.} 40...Rxh3+! {The second exchange sacrifice of the game. I thought that gxh3 was the obvious response. After reaching time control, Krush spent an additional 15 minutes before moving to confirm that the line didn't lead to a forced loss.} {40...Qg3+ was actually a poisoned check leading to my demise. 41.Kg1 (41.Kh1 Rxh3+ transposing to the game) 41...Rxh3 (41...Rh6 42.Qd4+ Rf6 is the correct defense, but now White is completely in the clear. If I had checked on g3, I would have certainly followed up with Rxh3.) 42.Qd4+ White is back in the game. Her Bishop and Rook reach my King first.} 41.gxh3 Qg3+ 42.Kh1 Qxf3+ 43.Kg1 Qg3+ {43...Qe3+ Back when I played 40... Rxh3+ and while she was thinking about the recapture, I saw that Qe3+ would force a queen exchange and far-advanced passers. I initially thought this was winning for me. Even days after the game, I fielded questions about whether this line was winning and why I went for the perpetual check. In fact, White can hold a draw. 44.Qxe3 fxe3 Krush saw 45.Kg2 The King is simply too close. White approaches the pawns. (In my calculations after Kg1, I noticed 45.Kf1 Bh4 looks strong, but (45...Kf6! Apparently still wins, taking the patient route. 46.a5 Ke5 47.a6 e2+) 46.Re1 saves the day. If I take the rook, I actually lose because my king can't catch the a-pawn. Removing the h-pawn, as happened in the game, doesn't help because the a-pawn still Queens first. 46...e2+ (46...Bxe1 47.Kxe1 Kf6 48.a5) 47.Rxe2 dxe2+ 48.Kxe2=) 45...e2 46.Kf2 Bh4+ 47.Ke3} 44.Kf1 Qxh3+ {Can't hurt to win the h-pawn.} 45.Kg1 {Qe3+ is not enough to win for the same reasons as before.} {45.Ke1 White has to accept the possibility of a perpetual and avoid recklessly running away from the checks. 45...Qf3 46.Qb2+ Bf6 47.Rc7+ Kg6 48.Qh2 Bh4+ 49.Kd2 Qe3+ 50.Kc3 Be1+ 51.Kc4 Qc1+ 52.Kxd3 Qxc7} 45...Qg4+ 46.Kh1 {46.Kh2 Qe2+ One last trick if White tries to beckon a draw with Qe3+ by retreating to g1. Now I can promote my pawn. However, looks like I had exhausted my quota of tricks earlier in the game. White simply keeps to h1 and g1, never allowing me the chance to check on e2. 47.Kg1 (47.Kh1 returns to the status quo) 47...d2 48.Qd4+ Bf6 49.Qd7+ Kg6 50.Rb1 Qe1+} 46...Qf3+ 47.Kg1 Qg4+ 48.Kh1 Qh5+ 49.Kg1 Qg4+ {A peaceful ending to a rollercoaster of a game. Coming into the US Women's Championships days after completing my final law school exams and launching a start-up, I had different goals than most of the players. My aim was to play fighting chess each round and keep the top players on their toes. I couldn't have asked for a better way to leave my mark on the tournament.}

[Event "2014 U.S. Championship"] [White "Melekhina, Alisa"] [Black "Zenyuk, Iryna"] [Site "St. Louis, Missouri"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "19.05.2014"] [WhiteElo "2251"] [BlackElo "2352"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.d4 {mixing things up in the usually tame Rossolimo} 6...cxd4 7.cxd4 Nxe4 {rejecting the gambit would lead to a massive pawn center for White 7...0-0 8.e5} 8.d5 Na5 9.Qe2 Nd6 10.Bd3 0-0 11.Bf4 {White's plan is to play against the minor pieces awkwardly grouped on the Queenside. Confining the bishop to c8 would be ideal.} 11...b6 12.Be5 {inducing a key tempo before capturing the knight} 12...f6 13.Bxd6 exd6 14.Nc3 Nb7 15.b4 a5 16.a3 f5 17.Rac1 Qf6 18.Na4 {The extra d6 pawn is a curse rather than a blessing. Black's pieces are in a bind.} 18...Bh6 19.Nxb6! {The temporary exchange sacrifice is executed for positional rather than attacking compensation. Black's pieces were already constricted; this opens up additional files to take full advantage of the geometry of the position.} 19...Bxc1 20.Rxc1 {20.Nxa8 Bxa3 21.Nb6 Bxb4 and black escapes} 20...Rb8 21.Ba6 axb4 22.axb4 Nd8 {releasing the tension in the (admittedly disheartening position too quickly) After coming away with two pieces for the rook, White's optimal piece coordination dimnishes any chances by Black.} 23.Nxc8 Rxb4 24.Bb5 Re4 25.Qd2 Nb7 26.Nb6 Nc5 27.Nxd7 Nxd7 28.Bxd7 Kh8 29.Qh6 Re7 30.Be6 f4 31.h4 Qg7 32.Qg5 Ra7 33.h5 gxh5 34.Qxh5 h6 35.Nh4 Rfa8 36.Nf5 Qg5 37.Qxg5 hxg5 38.Nxd6 Kg7 39.Ne4 Kg6 40.d6 Rh7 41.f3 Rah8 42.Kf2 Rh1 43.Rxh1 Rxh1 44.d7 Rd1 45.Nc5 Kf6 46.Bg4 Ke7 47.Nb7