Tough Luck

封好美 (Maggie Fēng) – 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú)
58th U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, March 25, 2019
Neo-Grünfeld Defence D79

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 d5 5. c4 c6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 0-0 8. Ne5 Nc6 9. 0-0 Bf5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Na4 Nd7 12. Bf4. An illustrious precedent is 12. b3 e5 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Bh6 Re8 15. Rc1 Rc8 16. Qd2 Qe7 17. Rfe1 Bd6 18. Qd4 Qf6 19. Qxf6 Nxf6 20. Nc5 Nd7 21. Nxd7 Bxd7 22. e4 Ba3 23. Rcd1 Bg4 ½ : ½ Botvinnik – Smyslov, Moscow 1957, World Chess Championship match game 11. 12. ... Qa5 13. b3 Rac8. 13. ... Nb6 14. Bd2 Qb5 15. Nc3 Qa6 16. Be3 Rad8 17. Qd2 c5 18. Rfd1 c4 19. b4 Qa3! marked a famous win for Hjartarson (after many moves, yet) which at the time made a certain impression, Vaganian – Hjartarson, 9th European Team Chess Championship, Debrecen 1992. 14. Rc1 Rfe8 15. Bd2 Qb5!? A novelty (instead of 15. ... Qd8 16. Bb4 e5 as played in the game Aronian – Mamedov, 9th World Team Chess Championship, Antalya 2013). 16. Bc3 e5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. h3 Rcd8 19. Bb2 h5 20. Re1 a6 21. Rc5 Qb7 22. Qa1. 22. Qc1 is also answered by 22. ... Qe7 with similar implications. 22. ... Qe7 23. Rd1 Kh7 24. e3. White stands somewhat better, and probably something like 24. Bd4 would have made it clearer. 24. ... Bh8 25. Bxe5 Bxe5 26. Qc1 Bd7. Time is already very short for them both, which may explain what will follow. 27. Nb6? A clear oversight. Simply 27. Rc2 would have maintained the balance. 27. ... Bb2! Now White has nothing better than giving up the Exchange for no compensation (28. Qxb2 Qxc5), but instead she goes for a desperate attempt to seek complications: 28. Qc2 Bf5 29. e4 dxe4?? 封 (Fēng)’s bet succeeded! With the move in the text Black throws away the win, which instead could be easily obtained by taking the Pawn with the Bishop. 30. Rxd8 Rxd8. If nothing else, 30. ... Qxd8 31. Qxb2 Qxb6 32. Qf6 can be unpleasant under time pressure.

31. Rxf5! That’s was probably not expected by 于 (Yú). 31. ... gxf5? Otherwise she would have played 31. ... Bd4! 32. Rf4 Bxb6 33. Rxe4 Qg5 with equality. 32. Qxb2 h4 33. Nc4 Rd1+ 34. Kh2 Qg5 35. Qe5! The tables are completely turned, and now White is winning. They both have about one minute left for the next four or five moves, and that’s the only thing that can save 于 (Yú). 35. ... Rd5 36. Qc7 Kg7 37. Qxc6?? What a gift! 37. gxh4 followed by Nc4-e3 was good enough for an easy win. 37. ... hxg3+ 38. fxg3 f4 39. Qc7 (39. g4 f3−+) 39. ... Qxg3+ 40. Kg1 Rd1 mate.

Nothing changed after Round Six, 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) (pictured above) being the sole leader with 5½/6, half a point ahead of Anna Vitalievna Zatonskih, and one point ahead of Tatev Abrahamyan. Photo © Justin Kellar/Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.