Upma

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Harika Dronavalli
Women’s Grand Prix; 4th stage; 成都 (Chéngdū), July 4, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D45

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 a6 6. c5! Nbd7 7. b4 Qe7!? ’Tis a strange way. Deserving consideration was, with the same idea, 7. ... g6 8. Bb2 Bg7 9. Be2 0-0 10. 0-0 Qe7 11. Na4 Ne4 12. Bd3 f5 13. Ne5 with an edge for White. 8. Bb2 g6!? 8. ... e5 can transpose into Clarice Benini’s story: 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qxe5 11. Na4 Qe6 12. Nb6± Benini – Rubtsova, 8th Women's World Chess Championship Tournament, Moscow, January 13, 1950. 9. Bd3 Bg7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Na4 Rb8 12. Qd2 Ne8

13. e4. It seems that White may capitalize her positional edge into something more tangible, but Harika, however being a bit confined, will manage to hold off all intruders. Maybe the text advance should have been prepared by first deploying the Rooks. 13. ... dxe4 14. Bxe4 Nef6 15. Bd3 Nd5 16. a3 Qd8 17. Rfe1 Qc7 18. g3 Ra8 19. Rac1 Rd8 20. Re2 Ra7 21. h4 a5 22. b5 cxb5 23. Bxb5 Nb8 24. Nc3 Nxc3 25. Qxc3 Bd7 26. a4 Nc6 27. Qc4 Raa8 28. Rd1 Ne7 29. Bc1 Bc6 30. Bf4 Qd7 31. Ne5 Qd5 32. Qxd5 Rxd5 33. Bc4 Rdd8 34. Bg5 Bxe5 35. Rxe5 Rd7 36. Bxe7 Rxe7 37. Bb5 Rd7. The tables are turned and Black is about to win a Pawn. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), however, doesn’t lose her head and forces the transition into a drawn Rook endgame. 38. Re3 Rad8 39. Bxc6 bxc6 40. Rb3 Rxd4 41. Rxd4 Rxd4 42. Rb6 Rxa4 43. Rxc6 Rc4 44. Rc8+ Kg7 45. c6 Kf6 46. Ra8 Rxc6 47. Rxa5. Black’s extra Pawn – on the same side as all the other Pawns – is meaningless. 47. ... Rc4 48. Kg2 h5 49. Ra7 Rc8 50. Rb7 Re8 51. Ra7 Re7 52. Ra6 Rb7 53. Rc6 Kf5 54. Rc5+ e5 55. Ra5 f6 56. Rc5 Rd7 57. Ra5 Rd2 58. Rb5 Ke6 59. Rb6+ Rd6 60. Rb4 Ra6 61. Rc4 Kd5 62. Rb4 e4 63. Rb8 Rc6 64. Rg8 f5 65. Ra8 Rd6 66. Ra4 Ke5 67. Kf1 Rc6 68. Kg2 Rd6 69. Kf1 Rf6 70. Ra5+ Kd4 71. Ra4+ Kd3 72. Ra3+ Kd2 73. Ra2+ Kc3 74. Ke2 Rd6 75. Ke3 Rd3+ 76. Ke2 Rd6 77. Ke3 Rd3+ 78. Ke2 Rd6 ½ : ½.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) vs. Harika Dronavalli
Photo: qipai.org.cn