日正当中 (High Noon)

Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
43rd Women’s Chess Olympiad; Batumi, October 5, 2018
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Nbd2 Nd6. Déjà vu: 8. ... Nxd2 9. Qxd2 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 0-0 11. Re1 c6 12. Re2 Nd7 13. Bf4 Nf6 14. Rae1 Ne4 15. Ne5 f6 16. Nc4 Rf7 17. f3 dxc4 18. Qxe4 Bf8 19. c3 g6 20. b3 cxb3 21. axb3 Kg7 22. Qd3 Qd7 23. Re6 Re7 24. Rxe7+ Bxe7 25. Qe2 Kf7 26. h4 Re8 27. Qa2 a6 28. Re4 f5 29. b4+ Qd5 30. c4 Qd7 31. c5+ Kg7 32. Be5+ Bf6 33. Bxf6+ Kxf6 34. Rxe8 Qxe8 35. Qd2 Qd7 36. Kf2 Ke6 37. Qe3+ Kf7 38. Qe5 Qd8 39. g3 a5 40. bxa5 Qxa5 41. g4 fxg4 42. fxg4 Qd2+ 43. Kf3 Qd3+ 44. Kf4 Qd2+ 45. Kf3 Qd3+ 46. Kf4 Qd2+ 47. Kf3 Qd1+ 48. Kf4 Qd2+ 49. Kf3 Qd1+ ½ : ½ Kosteniuk – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), 6th Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship, ar-Riyāḍ (Riyadh) 2017. 9. Nb3!? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s mentor was the last (Chinese) man on earth to explore this stream: 9. Bxf5 Nxf5 10. Re1 0-0 11. Nf1 c6 12. Qd3 g6 13. Ng3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Nd7 15. Bf4 Re8 16. Re3 Bf6 17. Rae1 Rxe3 18. Rxe3 Nf8 19. Be5 Be7 20. Qe2 Ne6 21. Nh2 h5 22. g4 h4 23. f4 f6 24. Bc7 Nxd4 25. Qd3 Qxc7 26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Qh6+ Ke8 28. Qxf6 Nxc2 29. Qg6+ Kd7 30. Qe6+ Kd8 31. Qg8+ Kd7 32. Qe6+ Kd8 33. Qg8+ Kd7 ½ : ½ Dervishi – 倪华 (Ní Huá), 6th World Rapid Chess Championship, ar-Riyāḍ (Riyadh) 2017. 9. ... 0-0 10. Bf4 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 Nd7 12. Rfe1 Ne4 13. c4 Bd6 14. Be5 dxc4 15. Qxe4 cxb3 16. Qxb7 bxa2 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. Rxa2 a5 19. h3 h6 20. Re3 Nf6 21. Rea3 Re8 22. Qb5 Qc7 23. Rc3 Qb8 24. Rb3 Qc8 25. Rc3 Qe6 26. Rxa5 Rxa5 27. Qxa5 Qe2 28. Qa4 Qxb2 29. Qc2 Qa1+ 30. Qc1 Qa8 31. Rc6 Ne4 32. Qc2 Qb7 33. Rc7 Qd5 34. Rc8 Rxc8 35. Qxc8+ Kh7 36. Qc2 g6 37. Nd2 Ng5 38. Qc4 Qf5 39. Qe2 Kg7 40. Qe3 Qd5 41. h4 Ne6 42. Nf3 g5 43. hxg5 hxg5 44. Kh2 Kg6 45. Qd3+ Qf5 46. Qc3 Qe4 47. Qc8 Kf6 48. Qh8+ Ke7 49. Qh5 Qf5 50. Kg1 Qb1+ 51. Kh2 Qe4 52. Kg1 f6 53. Qh8 g4 54. Nh2 f5 55. Qh7+ Kd8 56. Nf1 Nxd4 57. Ne3 Kc8 58. Qg8+ Kd7 59. Qf7+ Qe7 60. Qd5 Qe5 61. Qb7+ Ke6 62. Qc8+ Kf7 63. Qc4+ Ne6 64. g3 Kg6 65. Qc8 Nd4 66. Qg8+ Qg7 67. Qe8+ Qf7 68. Qc8 Nf3+ 69. Kg2 Ng5 70. Kf1 Qe6 71. Qd8 Nf3

So far, amid ups and downs, the game had maintained itself on quite balanced terms, but Kosteniuk’s next move is a very serious error, probably due to her time shortage. 72. Qb8? This puts Black’s passed d-Pawn in motion, much increasing her chances. 72. Qa8 was probably the correct way to do what White intended to do. 72. ... d5 73. Kg2 d4 74. Nc2 d3 75. Ne3 d2 76. Qd8 Kf7 77. Qc7+ Kf6 78. Qd8+ Kf7 79. Qc7+ Ke8 80. Qb8+ Kd7 81. Qb7+ Kd6 82. Qb6+ Ke7. Now Kosteniuk claimed a draw by threefold repetition, which very soon turned into a chaos of arbiters checking moves. In the end, Kosteniuk’s claim turned out to be ungrounded and, as a penalty, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) was given two extra minutes on her clock. 83. Qc7+ Kf6 84. Qd8+ Kg6 85. Nd5? Kosteniuk quickly falls apart. After 85. Kf1 Qa6+ 86. Kg2 Qf6∓ Black would have remained a Pawn ahead with unlikely probability of converting it into a win, which might have meant gold for Ukraine. 85. ... Qf7? Drama permeates the last chapter of the saga. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) misses 85. ... Ne1+! 86. Kh2 (both 86. Kf1 Qa6+ and 86. Kg1 Nd3! lead to catastrophe) 86. ... Kg7! leaving White without a future. 86. Qd6+ Kg7 87. Nf4? And Kosteniuk is the one who makes the last mistake, in fact taking the gold off Ukrainian’s necks. 87. Ne3 would have prevented Black from making any further progress. 87. ... Kh7! 88. Ne6 d1=Q 89. Nf8+!? Kg8. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) escapes Kosteniuk’s last perfidious trick: 89. ... Qxf8?? 90. Qg6+!! Kh8 91. Qg7+!! with stalemate to follow. 90. Qxd1 Kxf8 91. Qa1 Kg8 92. Qa8+ Kh7 93. Qa5 Ng5 94. Qb5 Kg6 95. Qc6+ Qe6 0 : 1.

High Noon in Batumi: Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk (left) vs. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (right). Photo: batumi2018.fide.com.