Trading Places

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–14; 6th stage; Sharjah; September 2, 2014
Catalan Opening E06

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Bd5 11. Qc2 Be4 12. Qd1 h6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nc3 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 c6 16. Qb3 Qc7 17. Rfd1 a5 18. Rac1 Bg5 19. e3 Qe7 20. Ne4. The alternative is 20. Be2 Qb4 21. Qxb4 axb4 22. Ne4 Be7 23. Ra1 Nd7 24. a5 Ra7 25. a6 bxa6 26. Rxa6 Rxa6 27. Bxa6 Rb8 28. Rc1 Rb6 29. Be2 Bf8 30. Kf1 g6 31. Ke1 Kg7 32. Kd1 Be7 33. f4 Kf8 34. Bf3 Ra6 35. Nf2 c5 36. Nd3! Ra5 (the Pawn is taboo: 34. ... cxd4 35. Rc8+ Kg7 36. Rc7 Rd6 37. e4! to be followed by e4-e5 winning material) 37. Ke2 Kg7 38. Rc2 Bf8 39. Bc6 Nb8 40. Be8 Na6 41. Ne5 cxd4 42. exd4 g5 43. Bxf7! (it may seem that Black wins two pieces for the Rook, but White has foreseen that the Knight will be boxed) 43. ... Rxe5+ 44. fxe5 Kxf7 45. Rc6 Nb8 46. Rc7+ Be7 47. b3 Na6 48. Rb7 1 : 0 Aronian – Jakovenko, 39th Chess Olympiad, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010. For if 48. ... Ke8 then 49. Ra7 Nb8 50. Ra8 finis — a pretty zugzwang! Another try is 18.h4 Bf6 19.Be2 Qb4 20.Qc2 Rd8 21.h5 Nd7 22.Ne4 Be7 23.b3 Nf6 24.Nxf6+ Bxf6 25.Qc4 Be7 26.f4 Rd7 27.Bf3 Ra6 28.Qc2 Ra8 29.Kg2 Rad8 30.Qc4 Kf8 31.Be4 Ke8 32.Kf3 Rc7 33.g4 Qb6 34.Qc2 Kd7 35.Bd3 Kc8 36.Bc4 Qb4 37.Qd2 Qb6 38.Qc2 Qb4 39.Qd2 Qb6 40.Ke4 ½ : ½ 王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Aronian, 5th Tal Memorial, Moscow 2010.
20. ... Na6 21. Nxg5. Trying to improve on 21. Nc5 ½ : ½ Ftáčnik – Azarov, 19th Czech Team Chess Championship — Extraliga, Bratislava 2010. It is also interesting 21. h4 Bf6 22. Qb6, but after 22. ... Nb4 23. Nc5 Rfb8 Black’s game doesn’t look inferior to White’s.
21. ... hxg5 22. e4 Nb4

23. d5 exd5 24. exd5 cxd5 25. Bxd5 Rac8 26. Bg2 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rd8 28. Rd1 b6 29. h3 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Qf6 31. Qd2 g6 32. b3 Kg7 33. Bb7 Qe5 34. Kg2 Qf6 35. Kg1 Qe5 36. Kg2 Qf6 37. Kg1 Qe5 ½ : ½.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) fight out a draw on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Khaleej Times.