Into the Woods

Olga Alexandrovna Girya – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
Women’s Grand Prix; 4th stage; 成都 (Chéngdū), July 13, 2016
Nimzo-Indian Defence E39

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 0-0 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. e4 Bb7 9. b4 Be7 10. e5 Ne8 11. Bd3. For 11. Ne4 d6 12. Bb2 dxe5 13. Rd1 Qc8 14. Nxe5 see V. Popov – Riazantsev, 42th Meisterturnier MTO, Biel/Bienne 2009. 11. ... f5 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Nc6 16. 0-0 Qc7 17. Rd1 Rac8 18. Be3 Bf6 19. Bf4 e5 20. Be3 Ne7 21. Rac1 d6 22. Qg4 Rcd8 23. Qe6+ Rf7

24. Rd3. Maybe Stockfish’s recommendation 24. c5!? bxc5 25. bxc5 d5 26. Ng5 Bxg5 27. Bxg5 could have offered White something more. 24. ... Qd7 25. Qxd7 Rxd7 26. Nd2 d5 27. Ne4 d4 28. Bd2 Nc8 29. c5 bxc5 30. Rxc5. This pushes the game towards a draw, but also 30. bxc5 Ne7 soonly followed by ... Ne7-c6 doesn’t seem to promise very much. 30. ... Nd6 31. Nxd6 Rxd6 32. f3 Rdd7 33. Rc8+ Rf8 34. Rc6 Re7 35. b5 e4 36. fxe4 Rxe4 37. Bb4 Be7 38. h3 Bxb4 39. axb4 Rb8 40. Rc7 Rxb5 41. Rxa7 Rf4 42. Rb3 h6 43. Ra5 Rb7 44. Rd5 Kf7 45. b5 Ke6 46. Rd8 Rf5 47. Rxd4 Rfxb5 48. Rxb5 ½ : ½.

Olga Alexandrovna Girya (R.) vs. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (L.)
Photo: 樊璐璐 (Fán Lùlù)/sports.sina.com.cn