On the Nature of Things

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Daniel Naroditsky
1st Fall Chess Classic; Saint Louis, September 11, 2017
Catalan Opening E04

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) continues her battle to find a hosting venue for the next Women’s World Chess Championship match, of no interest to Agon Limited – the commercial partner of FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) – which, instead, has already announced the venue – Berlin, Germany – for the next Candidates Tournament. The issue is long-standing and goes beyond 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s personal fate. The Women’s World Chess Championship is in fact delegimated by its alternating system (and particularly by the knockout mode), which produces unpredictable results with respect to the strength of the candidates for fame. FIDE officials say that the knockout roulette helps to draw attention (and money) to women’s chess, offering, thus, a spectacle just for the sake of sadistic pleasure in witnessing women performing publicly as gladiators at Coliseum. As a consequence, the strongest female player and four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) withdrawed from the women’s circuit in open dissent to the knockout system “for women only”, but her initial purpose to launch a political battle to conquer gender equality was soon nullified by the quickness with which her managerial team accepted the offers by Agon Limited to starr in their pay-per-view shows “for men only” – of course we cannot exclude she might have had no choice but to accept Agon’s ring buoy. Whatever it is, the issue became more and more serious, so much that still today nobody knows where and whether 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) – the new knockout Queen – will play their World Chess Championship match. However, let’s not make a drama out of it. Or maybe yes. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c6 6. Ne5 c5. 6. ... Bb4+ would have evoked pleasant memories to 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn): 7. Nc3 Nd5 8. 0-0 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Nxc4 (or 10. Ba3 Qxd4 11. Qxd4 Bxd4 12. Nxc4 Bxa1 13. Rxa1 f6 14. Nd6+ Kd7 15. Rd1 Kc7 16. Nf7 Re8 17. Bd6+ Kb6 18. Rd3 and Black was soon overrun by White’s attack, Ivanišević – G. Meier, 15th Ordix Open, Mainz 2008) 10. ... 0-0 (10. ... Bxa1 11. Ba3!) 11. Rb1 b5 12. Ne5 Qxd4? 13. Qxd4 Bxd4 14. Nxc6 Nxc6 15. Bxc6 Rb8 16. Ba3 Rd8 17. Be7 Bb7 18. Bxd8 Bxc6 19. Bc7 Rb7 20. Rbc1 Rxc7 21. Rfd1 Bf6 22. Rd6 and White wins, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Sachdev, 40th Women’s Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012. 7. Qa4+ Nbd7 8. Nxc4 Be7. For the alternative 8. ... cxd4 9. Bf4 Be7 10. Nd6+ Kf8 11. Nxc8 Rxc8 12. 0-0 e5 just take a look at Saeed Ishaq – 徐英伦 (Xú Yīnglún), 19th Open, Dubai 2017. 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Nc3 Nb6!? If 11. ... a6 then 12. Bf4 b5 13. Qa5 Ra7 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Na5 Re8 16. Nc6 Rb7 17. b4 Bf8 18. Na5 Rb6 19. a3 e5 20. Be3 Rd6 21. Rfd1 with a powerful bind, Tica – Blohberger, 13th Open, Zadar 2016. 12. Qb5 Qe7 13. Nxb6 Bxb6 14. Bf4 Bd7 15. Qd3 Rfd8? This could be the bad turning point of Naroditsky’s strategy. Black sacrifices the Exchange dreaming of a Queen + Bishop mating battery on the diagonal a8-h1, but 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) shows her good judgment in accepting the gift. 16. Bd6 Qe8 17. Bxb7 Bc6 18. Bxa8 Bxa8 19. Rad1 e5. It’s not a happy thing to do, but 19. ... Qc6 20. Qf3 Qxf3 21. exf3 Bxf3 22. Rd2 would leave Black with no compensation. 20. Qb5! Qxb5 21. Nxb5 Ne4

22. Bc5! White turns her material advantage into another: she gets rid of the Exchange and concedes to her opponent two pieces against a Rook, but wins two passed and united Pawns. 22. ... Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Nxc5 24. Nxa7! An elegant pointe. 24. ... Ne6 25. Nb5 Kf8 26. a4? I guess she advanced her wrong Pawn. 26. b4! was much better. 26. ... Ba5 27. Rd7 Bc6 28. Ra7 Bb4 29. Ra6 Bd7? Black returns the favour. Correct was 29. ... Nd8 as after 30. Rb6 Ba5 31. Rb8 Ke8 32. Nd6+ Ke7 33. Nc4 Bc7 it is unlikely White will make any progress. 30. Nc3! Now it’s again allright for 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), who, nevertheless, displays a crystal clear technique in winning the ending. 30. ... Bxc3 31. bxc3 Nc5 32. Ra8+ Ke7 33. a5 Bb5 34. e3 e4 35. Ra7+ Ke6 36. Rc7 Na6 37. Rc8 Bd3 38. g4! g5 39. Kg2 Ke7 40. Rc6 Kd7 41. Rh6 Ke7 42. Rxh7 Nc5 43. Rg7 Ne6 44. Rg8 f6 45. Rb8 Nc5 46. Rb6 Na4 47. Rb7+ Kd6 48. c4! Nc5 49. Rb6+ Kc7 50. Rxf6 Bxc4 51. Rf5 Ne6 52. Kg3 Kd6 53. h4 gxh4+ 54. Kxh4 Nc5 55. g5 1 : 0.