Running Up That Hill

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Sébastien Mazé
15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, February 1, 2017
King’s Indian Defence E68

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0-0 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. 0-0 e5 8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. f3 a5 11. b3 Bd7. I just don’t like this way of playing the King’s Indian. 12. Be3 Re8 13. Qd2 h5 14. Rad1 Qc8 15. Ndb5 Bc6 16. Rfe1 b6. Mazé’s nouvelle vague, which, however, does not improve anything on 16. ... Nfd7 17. Bd4 h4 18. f4 hxg3 19. hxg3 Nf6 20. e5 Nh5 21. Bxc5 dxc5 22. Qf2 g5 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. cxd5 Ra6 25. d6 cxd6 26. Nxd6 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 gxf4 28. gxf4 Qf5 29. Re4 Bf8 30. Rd3 Re6 31. Rh3 Rg6 32. Qf3 Rg4 33. e6 fxe6 34. Re5 Qb1+ 35. Kh2 Nf6 36. Rxe6 Rg6 37. Rg3 Kf7 38. Rxg6 Qxg6 39. f5 Qh6+ 40. Kg1 Qc1+ 41. Bf1 Bg7 42. Qxb7+ Kg8 43. Qb8+ Kh7 44. Qg3 Qa1 45. Rd6 1 : 0 Dzagnidze – Harika, Women’s Grand Prix Series 2015-2016, second stage, Tehran 2016. 17. Qc2 Bd7 18. a3 Na6 19. Bd4 Nb8

Black is completely crushed and White can afford to finish with simple and direct moves: 20. e5 dxe5 21. Bxe5 Nc6. This leads to a picturesque catastrophe, but also after 21. ... Na6 22. Qb2! Black will be soon overwhelmed. 22. f4 Bf5 23. Qb2. Now Black is compelled to give up two Exchanges just to survive a few moves yet. 23. ... Nxe5 24. fxe5 Ng4 25. Bxa8 Qxa8 26. Nxc7 Qc6 27. Nxe8 Qc6+ 30. Rd5 1 : 0.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) vs. Sébastien Mazé
Photo: Sophie Triay