5月3日 (May 3)

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí)
Women’s World Chess Championship match game 1; 上海 (Shànghǎi), May 3, 2018
Queen’s Gambit Accepted D24

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 c5 4. d5 e6 5. Bxc4 Nf6 6. Nc3 exd5 7. exd5 a6 8. a4 Bd6 9. Nf3 0-0 10. 0-0 Bg4 11. h3. If 11. Bg5 then 11. ... Nbd7 12. Ne4 Be5 with approximate equality, Frydman – A. K. Rubinstein, 2nd Polish Chess Championship, Łódź 1927. 11. ... Bh5 12. Bg5 Re8 13. Bd3!? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) thought for an infinity of time to get here. Her last move is, at least from a formal standpoint, a novelty. However, “theory” was not too much encouraging: 13. g4 Bg6 14. Nd2 h6 15. Bh4 Bf4 ½ : ½ Bagirov – Osmanović, 19th “Bosna” International Tournament, Sarajevo 1980. 13. ... Nbd7 14. Ne4 Ne5 15. g4. White has now only about 11 minutes left on her clock. 15. ... Nxd3 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qxd3 Bg6 18. Rae1

18. ... Qe7. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) also spent much time thinking about her dilemmas. Probably she should have preferred 18. ... Rc8(!), intending both ... b7-b5 and ... c5-c4, with a comfortable equality. 19. Nfd2 (Δ f2-f4) 19. ... Bf4 20. Qf3 Qe5 21. Re2. If 21. Nxc5 then 21. ... Qxe1 22. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 23. Nf1 Be5 24. Nd7 Rc8 with a dynamic balance. 21. ... f5

22. gxf5. Under severe time pressure, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) prefers to avoid the complexities resulting from 22. Nc3(!) fxg4 23. hxg4 Qg5 24. Nde4 Qh6 although after 25. Rd1! that might have been her best course. 22. ... Qxf5 23. Rfe1 Re5 24. Nc4. White forces a zero risk slightly favourable Rook and Knight vs. Rook and Bishop endgame, but quite too drawish to seriously worry 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí). 24. ... Bh2+ 25. Kg2 Qxf3+ 26. Kxf3 Bxe4+ 27. Rxe4 Rxe4 28. Rxe4 Rd8. 28. ... b5 29. Ne3 Kf8 is the computer’s way of moving towards a likely draw. 29. Ne3. 29. Re7 b5 may well transpose into the game. 29. ... b5 30. axb5 axb5 31. Re7 Kf8 32. Ra7. 32. Rb7 Rb8 leads nowhere. 32. ... Be5 33. b3 c4 34. bxc4 bxc4 35. Ke4 Re8 36. Kf3 c3 37. Ra6 Rc8 38. Ke4 Bh2 39. Rc6 Rxc6 40. dxc6 Ke7 41. Nd5+ Kd6 42. Nxc3 Kxc6 43. Kf5 Bg1 44. Ne4 h6 45. Ke5 Kd7 46. Kf4 Bh2+ 47. Kf5 Ke7 48. Nf6 Bg1 49. f3 Kf8 50. Nh5 Bb6 51. Kg4 Ba5 52. Ng3 Kg7 53. Kf5 Bc7 54. Nh5+ Kf8 55. f4 Ba5 56. Ke5 Bc7+ 57. Ke4 Ba5 58. Ng3 Kg7 59. Kf5 Bd2 60. Ne4 Be3 61. h4 h5 62. Nd6 f6 63. Ne4 Kf7 ½ : ½.

The grand opening of the “中国移动” (“China Mobile”) Women’s World Chess Championship match in 上海 (Shànghǎi) on May 3: 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (left) vs. 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) (right). Photo: 汤彦俊 (Tāng Yànjùn).

谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) dresses in white to play Black. Photo: 汤彦俊 (Tāng Yànjùn).

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) dresses in black to play White. Photo: 汤彦俊 (Tāng Yànjùn).