Time to Tell

Lisandra Teresa Ordaz Valdés – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
43rd Women’s Chess Olympiad; Batumi, September 26, 2018
Nimzo-Indian Defence E36

And finally, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) debuted on the stage of the 43rd Chess Olympiad, with all the burden of responsibility that rests on her shoulders. Will she be able to wear the crown? And will she be able to save the “face” of the family? Only time will tell. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6. Deviating from her early favourite 6. ... Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. Nf3 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Nxd2 11. Qxd2 dxc4 12. Qxa5 Nxa5 13. e3 b5 14. cxb6 axb6 15. Nd2 b5 16. a4 Nb7 17. Ra3 Rxa4 18. Rxa4 bxa4 19. Bxc4 Bd7= 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), 重庆 (Chóngqìng) 2018, Women’s World Chess Championship match game 9. 7. Nf3 dxc4. The alternative is 7. ... 0-0 9. Bg5 Ba6 10. Qa4 Qd7 11. Qc2 Qc6 12. Qxc6 Nxc6 13. Rc1 Bb7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. e3 Rac8 16. Bb5 Nb8 17. Ke2 c6 18. Bd3 a5 19. Rc3 Nd7 20. Rhc1 c5 21. Bb5 cxd4 22. Nxd4 Nc5 23. f3 a4 24. g4 Rfd8 25. Rb1 Kf8 26. b4 axb3 27. Nxb3 Nxb3 28. Rbxb3 Bd5 29. Rxc8 Rxc8 30. Rb2 Rc3 31. a4 Bc4+ ½ : ½ Ushenina – 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí), 12th “映美杯” (“Yìng Měi Cup”) Chinese Chess League, 深圳 (Shēnzhèn) 2016. 8. Qxc4 Ba6 9. Qa4+ Qd7 10. Qc2 h6 11. Bf4 0-0 12. Be5. Another example of how to proceed comes from a recent rehearsal: 12. Rd1 Rc8 13. Ne5 Qe8 14. b4 c5 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. bxc5 Qb5 17. g3 Bb7 18. f3 Qa5+ 19. Kf2 Nd5 20. Bd2 Qxa3 21. e4 Ne7 22. Rb1 Bc6 23. Be3 Qa5 24. Be2 Be8 25. Rb7 Nec6 26. Nc4 Qd8 27. Rd1 Qf6 28. f4 Qg6 29. Nd6 Rd8 30. Qc3 Bd7 31. g4 e5 32. f5 Qf6 33. Kg3 Nd4 34. Rxd4 exd4 35. Bxd4 Qe7 36. Bxg7 Nc6 37. Bf6 Qf8 38. Bc4 ½ : ½ Gustafsson – Braun, 37th SchachBundesliga, Berlin 2018. 12. ... Ng4! 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s novelty seems a bit more ambitious than 12. ... Qe7 13. Rc1 Rc8 14. e3 Bxf1 15. Kxf1 c5 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Ke2 Nd7 ½ : ½ Brown – Thavandiran, 4th UT Dallas Fall Open, Dallas 2017. 13. e3 Bxf1 14. Kxf1 Nc6 15. Bg3 Rac8 16. Qa4 Qd5 17. Rc1 Na5 18. h3 Nf6 19. b4 Nc4 20. Qb3 b5! 21. Kg1 Ne4! Black’s got somewhat the better game. 22. Kh2 f6 23. Rhe1 Rf7 24. Ng1 e5 25. Ne2 Nxg3 26. Nxg3 e4 27. Kg1 f5 28. Ne2 c6 29. Nf4 Qd6 30. Rcd1 Kh7. Who knows, perhaps 30. ... g5(!) might have been more functional to enhance Black’s subliminal initiative. 31. d5! a6 32. dxc6 Qxc6 33. Qc3 Rd7. And here 33. ... g5!? still deserved serious consideration. 34. Ne2 Rcd8 35. Rxd7 Rxd7 36. Nd4 Qd5 37. Rd1 Qe5 38. g3 Qe8 39. Kg2 Qh5 40. Rf1 Qf7 41. Rc1 Rc7 42. Nb3 Rd7 43. Nd4 Ne5 44. Qc8 Nd3

45. Rc6! With the powerful threat of Nd4-e6. 45. ... Ne1+ (45. ... f4? 46. Ne6!+−) 46. Kh2?? A step too far! Both 46. Kg1 and 46. Kf1 would have probably kept His Majesty within the bounds of survival; for instance: 46. Kf1 Nf3 47. Kg2 f4!? (47. ... Nxd4 48. exd4 Rxd4 49. Qe6 Qh5 50. g4 fxg4 51. hxg4 Qg5 52. Rxa6 e3 53. f3 h5 54. Ra8 Rd2+ 55. Kg3 h4+ 56. Kh3 Rh2+! 57. Kxh2 Qf4+ leaves Black with the choice between a draw by perpetual check and a very drawish Queen ending) 48. gxf4 Rxd4! 49. exd4 Qxf4 50. Kf1 Nxd4 51. Rc3! Qh2 52. Rg3 e3! 53. Rxg7+! Kxg7 54. Qd7+ with a draw by perpetual check. The Cuban International Master, however, was too short of time for analysing with lucidity. 46. ... Rxd4! 47. exd4 e3! 48. fxe3. Tantamount to self-mate, but indeed 48. Rc2 f4! gave no hopes at all for White. 48. ... Qa2+ 49. Kg1 Qg2 mate.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and Nana Georgievna Alexandria. Photo: batumi2018.fide.com.