Flip-flop

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Boris Abramovich Gelfand
16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, January 30, 2018
Nimzo-Indian Defence E21

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 0-0 5. Bg5 c5 6. e3 cxd4 7. exd4 h6 8. Bh4 d5 9. Rc1 Be7. The historic alternative is 9. ... dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nc6 11. 0-0 Be7 12. Re1 b6 13. a3 Bb7 14. Bg3 Rc8 15. Ba2 Bd6 16. d5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Bxg3 18. hxg3 exd5 19. Bxd5 Qf6 with a perfectly playable game, that then Black blundered in a most dramatic way: 20. Qa4 Rfd8 21. Rcd1 Rd7 22. Qg4 Rcd8?? 23. Qxd7! Rxd7 24. Re8+ Kh7 25. Be4+ 1 : 0 Kasparov – Karpov, Moscow 1985, World Chess Championship match game 11. 10. c5 b6 11. b4 a5 12. Na4. If Black’s refutation will prove to be correct – as it seems – it’s likely that at this point White has to play 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. b5. 12. ... axb4 13. Nxb6 Ra3!! A powerful novelty, which promises much more than 13. ... Rxa2 14. Qb3 Ra7 15. Qxb4 Nbd7 16. Nxd7 Bxd7 17. Bd3 Ra4 18. Qd2 Ne4 with comfortable equality, Wojtaszek – 王玥 (Wáng Yuè), 45th Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund 2017. 14. Bxf6. White’s situation seem quite unpleasant even after other moves. 14. ... Bxf6 15. Qd2? This loses brilliantly, but White didn’t have an easy time, anyway. If 15. Bb5 (or elsewhere along the f1-a6 diagonal) then 15. ... Ba6! and Black stands much better.

18. ... Rxf3! Black’s Exchange sacrifice, promptly followed by the fall of the d4-Pawn, is simply devastating. 16. gxf3 Nc6! 17. Bb5? Making things even easier, but by now nothing could stop the unavoidable. Gelfand concludes his attack in grand style: 17. ... Nxd4 18. Qxb4 Nxf3+ 19. Kd1 e5 20. Be2 Nd4 21. c6 Bg5 22. Rc3 Qf6 23. Nd7 Bxd7 24. cxd7 Qxf2 25. Re1 Rd8 26. Rc8 Qf5 27. Qb7 Kh7 28. Rf1 Qe4 29. Qb2 Rxd7 30. Rc3 Nxe2 0 : 1.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) vs. Boris Abramovich Gelfand. Photo © John Saunders.