Round the Moon

丁亦昕 (Dīng Yìxīn) – 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí)
6th Chinese Women’s Masters Chess Tournament; 无锡 (Wúxī), May 30, 2017
Four Knights Game C49

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. 0-0 0-0 6. d3 Bxc3 7. bxc3 d6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. h3 h6 10. Be3 Be6 11. c4 Nd7 12. Nd2 f5!? New wine in old bottle. The older try was 12. ... c5 13. f4 f5 14. Qe2 Qe7 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. Bf4 Ng6 18. Qxe7 Nxe7 ½ : ½ Sydor – Adamski, 35th Polish Chess Championship, Kraków 1978. 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. f4 exf4 15. Bxf4 Nc5 16. Qh5 Qe8 17. Qxe8 Raxe8 18. Bg3 Re2 19. Rf2? A seemingly trivial oversight which loses a (maybe not so valuable) Pawn. Stockfish’s line 19. Nb3 Ne6 (after 19. ... Rxc2 20. Nd4 Black could find difficult to get adequate compensation for the Exchange) 20. Rf2 Rxf2 21. Bxf2 c5 appears to lead to equality.

19. ... Bxd3! 20. Rxe2 Bxe2 21. Re1 Bh5 22. Nb3 Na6!? 16th Women’s World Chess Champion judges, perhaps correctly, that after 22. ... Nxb3 23. cxb3 c5 24. Re7 her chances to exploit her extra Pawn would be virtually zero, and opts for a move which, at least from a psychological viewpoint, gives her opponent more pressure. 23. Nd4? So it worked out! Best was 23. c5! dxc5 24. Nxc5 as after 24. ... Nxc5 25. Re5 White regains the piece with concrete drawing chances. 23. ... c5! Now 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) forces a very pleasant ending, which will be able to handle with confident technique. 24. Nb5 Bf7 25. Nxa7. If 25. Re7 then 25. ... Rd8! (Stockfish) 26. Nxa7 (on 26. Nxc7? Kf8 wins the Exchange) 26. ... Bxc4 with consequences not too different from those in the game. 25. ... Bxc4 26. a3 Kf7. Here ... Rf8-b8-b2 looked also very strong. 27. Re4 Bd5 28. Ra4 Bb7 29. Nb5 Ke6 30. Rg4 Rf7 31. h4 Kd7 32. h5 Bd5 33. Nc3 Be6 34. Ra4 Nb8 35. Ne2 Nc6 36. c3 Bb3 37. Ra8 Re7 38. Kf2 Ne5 39. Bxe5 Rxe5 40. Nf4 Re4 41. g3 Ra4 42. Rh8 Ke7 43. Rc8 Ra7 44. Ke3 Be6. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) shows herself to be more than a chess machine, not fearing to enter the Rook endgame a Pawn up and thus challenging Tartakower’s statement that “all Rook endgames are drawn”. 45. Nxe6 Kxe6 46. Rg8 c6 47. Kd2 Kd5. Black’s win turns out to be quite easy as, in addition to her extra Pawn, she can rely on Steinitz’s dictum, who held that His Majesty is a strong piece. 48. Kc2. 48. Kd3 c4+ 49. Kc2 c5 does not appear to change anything. 48. ... Kc4 49. Kb2 d5! 50. a4 d4 51. Rc8 Rb7+ 52. Kc2 d3+ 53. Kd2 Rb2+ 54. Ke3 Kxc3 55. Rxc6 c4 56. Rc7 Re2+ 57. Kf3 Re1 0 : 1.

丁亦昕 (Dīng Yìxīn) vs. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí)
Photo: qipai.org.cn