Game of Thrones

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Richárd Rapport
13th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 29, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D07

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6. The Chigorin Defence. 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Bf4 Bxf3 5. gxf3 e6 6. e3 Nge7 7. Nc3 a6 8. Qb3. For 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bg3 Be7 see Denoth – Fioramonti, Zürich 1987. 8. ... Ra7. A weird-looking move. 8. ... dxc4 9. Bxc4 Na5 looks much sounder. 9. Rc1 g6 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bg3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bd6. “Richárd Rapport has gone almost a dozen moves without pushing his h-Pawn up the board. Is he feeling unwell?”, Grandmaster Nigel David Short joked. 13. c4 Qg5 14. Bg2 Qa5+. Alas, no good is 14. ... Nxd4? because of 15. Qc3. 15. Ke2 h5 16. f4 0-0 17. Bh4. Here also 17. c5 Be7 18. f5 was worth considering. 17. ... Qf5 18. h3 Be7 19. Bg3 h4 20. Bh2 Qa5 21. Rhd1 Bd6 22. d5. Breaking up the centre by energetic means. 22. ... exd5 23. cxd5 Nb8 24. e4 Re8. A pointless move, but also after 24. ... Qb5+ 25. Qxb5 axb5 26. e5 Rxa2+ 27. Kf1 Bb4 28. Rxc7 b6 29. d6 Bc5 30. Bg1 Na6 31. Bb7 Black is busted. 25. e5 b6 26. Kf1 Bc5 27. Kg1 Qb5 28. Qc2 Nd7 29. Re1 Bb4 30. Re3 Bc5 31. Re4 Bf8 32. Rc4 Nc5 33. f5. The End.

33. ... Bg7 34. fxg6 c6 35. dxc6 Bxe5 36. gxf7+ Rxf7 37. Bd5 Bxh2+ 38. Kxh2 Ne6 39. Qg6+ Kf8 40. Qh6+ 1 : 0. “I love iconoclasts like Richárd Rapport. Let’s hope he doesn’t share the recent fate of his fellow kindred spirit Baadur Jobava”, Short tweeted.

From the left: 郭琦 (Guō Qí), 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: John Saunders