Hours of Prague

Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)

1st Prague International Chess Festival; Challengers Tournament; Prague, March 12, 2019

Catalan Opening E00

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bd6 6. Nc3 c6 7. Qc2 0-0 8. e4 dxe4. Worth of further study is 8. ... e5!? 9. dxe5 Bg4 10. Be2 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. exd6 Re8 13. 0-0 Qxd6 14. Bf4 Qf6 15. Rfe1 Nd7 16. Ng5 Bf5∞ Vidit – Praggnanandhaa, 1st Tata Steel Chess India Blitz, Kolkata 2018. 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Nd7 11. Bd3 Nf6. Black’s last two moves are only good for avoiding immediate mate, but very ineffective in all other ways. On the other hand, 11. ... g6!? 12. 0-0-0!↑ doesn’t seem too pleasant either, Erdos – Abramović, 32nd European Chess Club Cup, Novi Sad 2016. 12. Qh4. Black is doomed already! 12. ... Re8. There are at least two earlier games which tellingly show the irresistibility of White’s attack: a) 12. ... b5 13. Bg5 h5 14. c5 Bxc5 15. 0-0-0 Be7 16. g4 Bb7 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. g5 c5 19. gxf6 Bxf3 20. Rhg1 g6 21. Qg5 1 : 0 Ragger – Braun, 30th SchachBundesliga, Baden-Baden 2010; b) 12. ... Be7 13. 0-0-0 b5 14. c5 Bb7 15. g4 g6 16. Qg3 Nd5 17. g5 Qc7 18. Ne5 f6 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. h4 Kh8 21. h5 g5 22. Bxg5 Bxg5+ 23. Qxg5 Qe7 24. Qh6 1 : 0 Ponfilenok – Puraev, 24th Chigorin Memorial, Saint Petersburg 2016. 13. 0-0-0 b5 14. c5 Bxc5 15. g4 Bxd4!? A tricky “last-ditch” novelty. If 15. ... Qd5 (Sorokin – Sousa, 27th European Youth Championship BU18, Mamaia 2017) then 16. Bg5! and White’s attack continues vehemently to hit. 16. g5! Shirov brings his attack to a very brilliant conclusion. 16. ... Bxb2+ 17. Kc2 Qd5. No better is 17. ... g6 18. gxf6 Qxf6 19. Ng5 h5 20. Qe4 threatening Rh1-g1 followed by Ng5xf7. 18. gxf6 Bxf6 19. Qxh7+ Kf8 20. Bb4+ c5 21. Qh8+ Ke7 22. Qxe8+! Kxe8 23. Bxb5+ Kd8

24. Bc6! 1 : 0.

Czechoslovakia’s legendary Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort making the first move in the game between Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov and 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn). Photo: Vladimír Jagr.