Half-Built House

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)

Mixed Team Rapid & Blitz Tournament “深新 (Shēnxīn) Media Cup”; 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), June 2, 2017

Catalan Opening E01

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d5 6. Bg2 e5 7. Nf3 d4 8. 0-0 Nc6 9. e3 Be7 10. exd4 exd4 11. Bf4 0-0 12. Ne5 Qb6 13. Qb3 Na5 14. Qxb6 axb6 15. Nd2 Nh5 16. Rfe1 Nxf4 17. gxf4 Bb4 18. Rad1 Be6 19. a3 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Rfd8 21. Bf1!? What a strange Bishop move! It doesn’t really defend the c4-Pawn and abandons definitively the diagonal h1-a8, and yet, it could be better than the pseudo-tricky 21. f5 Bxf5 22. Bd5 Nb3 23. Rdd1 Bc2 24. Bxb7 Bxd1 25. Bxa8 Bc2 which gave Black a wonderful game (even though White eventually won!), Ivanchuk – Naiditsch, 14th Ordix Open, Mainz 2007. 21. b4 Nxc4 22. Nxc4 Bxc4 23. Bxb7 Rab8 24. Re4 g6 25. Rexd4 Rxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxb7 27. Rxc4 Ra7 28. Rc3 Kg7 and, in spite of being a Pawn down, Black drew the Rook endgame without too much difficulty, Neverov – Berelowitsch, Minsk 1997. 21. ... Rac8 22. b4 Nxc4 23. Bxc4 Bxc4 24. Nxc4 Rxc4 25. Re7 h5 26. Rxb7 Rd6 27. Rd3 Rg6+ 28. Kf1 Rf6 29. Rf3? What a clumsy place to end its own days melancholically! 29. Kg2 was apparently sufficient to save White’s cause as after 29. ... Rxf4 30. Rxb6 Rc2 31. Rf3 Rg4+ 32. Rg3 Black doesn’t appear to have anything better than repeating moves (by 32. ... Rf4). 29. ... g5! 30. f5? Another serious error, but not yet the last. After 30. h3! g4 31. hxg4 hxg4 32. Rd3 Rxf4 Black’s extra Pawn would have been very likely uninfluent. 30. ... g4! 31. Rf4 Rd6. Threatening 32. ... d3 33. Rxc4 d2.

32. Ke1? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s last mistake. White ought to play 32. Re7 in order to parry 32. ... d3? 33. Rxc4 d2 by 34. Re1! which would have drawn immediately. Obviously, 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) wouldn’t have made things so easy for his opponent. 32. ... Rc2 33. Kd1 d3 34. Re4 d2 0 : 1.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) vs. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: sznews.com