The Last Queening Square

Olga Zimina – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)

King Salman World Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; ar-Riyāḍ (Riyadh), December 26, 2017

English Opening A13

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) is playing very strong chess in Saudi Arabia. Since she wears glasses, everything seems to work wonderfully well for her! 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d4 5. 0-0 c5 6. d3 Nc6 7. e3 Bd6 8. exd4 cxd4 9. Na3 0-0 10. Nc2 e5 11. b4. After 11. Rb1 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Re1 Re8 14. g4 Bg6 15. Bg5 a5 16. a3 a4 Black doesn’t seem to have any problems, Zimina – Markantonaki, 45th Greek Team Chess Championship, Achaea 2017. 11. ... Re8 12. c5 Bf8 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Nd2 Be6 16. Re1 Rad8 17. Qe2 Bd5 18. Bxd5 Rxd5 19. Rab1 Rdd8 20. Na3 b6 21. cxb6? A blatant positional error, after which White falls into a difficult and unpleasant situation. Better was 21. Nb5 Qg6 22. Ne4 f5 23. Ned6 Re6 with approximate equality. 21. ... axb6 22. b5 Bxa3 23. bxc6 Qxc6 24. Nc4 Bc5 25. Qc2 Qf6. Threatening ... e5-e4, which, however, might have been played immediately with even stronger effect. 26. Re4 Re6 27. Qe2 Rde8 28. Re1 Qf5 29. Qb2 f6 30. Qb3 Kh7 31. Qb5 Qf3! After long preparation, Black feels ready to cash in her initiative. 32. Nd2 Qh5 33. Nb3? Zimina seems oblivious to her own discomfort. Now, or never more, 33. f4 was a mandatory imperative of survival. 33. ... f5 34. R4e2 f4! Now Black wins by force. 35. Kh1

35. ... fxg3? 35. ... e4! 36. dxe4 f3 seems much stronger. 36. fxg3 e4 37. Nxd4? White’s last chance was 37. dxe4, although after 37. ... Qf3+ 38. Kg1 Re5 Black should not meet great difficulties in exploiting the too many weaknesses in White’s field. 37. ... Re5! 38. Qd7 Rd5 39. g4 Rxd7 40. gxh5 Rxd4 41. dxe4 Bb4 0 : 1.

So far, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (pictured right) conceded only four draws out of ten games, and one of them was agreed with 16th Women’s World Chess Champion 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) (pictured left), such as a wish for their upcoming Women’s World Chess Championship match. Photo: Salah Malkawi/Getty Images.