An open-file attack

Elisaveta Bykova vs Lyudmila Rudenko

Women’s world championship · 1956 · 1-0

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0 / 85 half-moves

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A masterpiece, move by move

Bykova’s first-round win in the 1956 women’s championship tournament demonstrates how rooks can use an open central file.

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16. Rxe7

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Enter the seventh rank. The rook captures the bishop on e7. Black takes White’s knight on d2, but White recaptures with the queen and brings the other rook to e1.

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23. R1xe6

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Open the king shelter. The rear rook captures the bishop on e6. After ...fxe6, Qxe6+ opens the attack against Black’s king.

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29. Rxg7+

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A forcing clearance. White captures on g7 with check. After ...Rxg7, the queen takes the rook on a8 and the bishop subsequently captures the rook on g7.