Between Certainty and Uncertainty

雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) – Boris Abramovich Gelfand
16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 27, 2018
Semi-Slav Defence D45

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 0-0 8. Be2 b6 9. 0-0 Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. Rad1 Rad8. The historic reference is 11. ... Rac8 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Rfd8 15. Bd3 Nf8 16. Rfe1 Qf6 17. Qg4 c5 18. Be4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Qg6 20. Qxg6 Nxg6 21. d5 exd5 22. Rxd5 Bc7 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. g3 f6 ½ : ½ Capablanca – Flohr, 3rd International Tournament, Moscow 1936. 12. Rfe1 Rfe8 13. Bf1 e5 14. dxe5. Both 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) and Gelfand were lucky enough to play with Black when two different opponents dared to hazard 14. cxd5? after which it followed 14. ... e4! 15. Nh4? [15. dxc6? exf3! 16. cxb7 Bxh2+! 17. Kxh2 Qd6+! 18. Kh3 Re5! 0 : 1 Estremera Paños – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), 23rd Abu Dhabi Interanational Chess Festival Masters Tournament, Abu Dhabi 2016] 15. ... Bxh2+! 16. Kxh2 Ng4+! 17. Kh3 Ndf6! with an overwhelming attack for Black, Pelletier – Gelfand, 6th Kortschnoi Zürich Chess Challenge, Zürich 2017. 14. ... Nxe5 15. Nxe5. If 15. Nd4 then 15. ... dxc4 16. Nf5 Qe6 17. Nxd6 Rxd6 18. Rxd6 Qxd6 19. Rd1 cxb3 20. axb3 Qb8 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Qxe4 f6 23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Bc4+ Kh8 25. Qd4 Re7 26. Qd8+ Re8 27. Qd7 Qc8 28. Qf7 Rf8 29. Qe7 Re8 30. Qf7 ½ : ½ Svidler – Gelfand, Grand Prix 2017, second stage, Moscow 2017 15. ... Bxe5 16. cxd5 Qc5!? Gelfand tries for something more than 16. ... cxd5 17. Nb5 Rc8 18. Qb1 d4 19. h3 Ng4 20. hxg4 Qh4 21. f4 dxe3 22. Rxe3 Bxf4 23. Rh3 Qxh3 24. gxh3 Be3+ 25. Kh2 Bf4+ 26. Kg1 ½ : ½ 王皓 (Wáng Hào) – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), 8th 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament, 儋州 (Dānzhōu) 2017. 17. Qd2 h6 18. Rc1 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Qxd5 20. Qxd5 Rxd5 21. Bxe5 Rexe5 22. Red1 Kf8 23. g3 c5 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Bg2 Rd7 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. Kf1. 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), who’s playing in Gibraltar for higher stakes, managed to exchange virtually everything, with the certainty that the ensuing Rook ending will be drawable quite easily. 27. ... Ke7 28. Ke2 Kd6 29. a4 Kc6 30. Kd3 Rd7+ 31. Kc3 g5 32. f4 gxf4 33. exf4 Re7 34. Kd3 f5

35. h3 h5 36. g4 hxg4 37. hxg4 fxg4 38. Rg1 Rd7+ 39. Ke4 Rd4+ 40. Ke5 Rd3 41. f5 Re3+. After 41. ... g3 42. Ke6 Rxb3 43. f6 White likewise draws. 42. Kf6 Rxb3 43. Kg7 Rf3 44. f6 c4 45. f7 Kd5 46. Rg3 Rf4 47. f8=Q Rxf8 48. Kxf8 a6 49. Rxg4 c3 50. Ke7 b5 51. axb5 axb5 52. Rg5+ Kc4 53. Kd6 b4 54. Rg4+ Kb5 55. Rg5+ Ka4 56. Rc5 Kb3 57. Kd5 Kb2. If 57. ... c2 then 58. Rc4 with a draw. 58. Kc4 c2 59. Kxb4 c1=Q 60. Rxc1 Kxc1 ½ : ½.

雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié). Photo © Sophie Triay.