A Play

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Women’s World Chess Championship match game 4; 上海 (Shànghǎi), January 9, 2020
Slav Defence D16

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. 0-0 Be7 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 0-0 13. Be3 Bf5. Here 13. ... Bf6 is worth considering, as after 14. Qb3 Qe7 15. Rad1 Be6 16. Bxe6 Qxe6 17. Qxb7 Rfb8 Black wins back the Pawn with even chances, Kantor – Topalov, 15th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2017. 14. Qb3 Nb4 15. Rfd1 Qa5 16. Ne5 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 Qa6 18. Nd7 Be6 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 20. Qb5 Bxd5 21. Qxd5 Rd8 22. Qe4 h6 23. g3 b6 24. Rc1 f6 25. Kg2 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Qxc8 27. Qd5 Ke8 28. h4 Qd7 29. Qg8+ Bf8 30. Qc4 h5 31. Kh2 Be7 32. b3 Kf8 33. Qc2 Bd6 34. Qe4 Bc5. Goryachkina opts for a drawish but tricky Queen ending, at the cost, however, of weakening her Pawns on the Queenside, and probably underestimating the effect on her nerves of White’s subliminal but enduring bind. 35. Bxc5+ bxc5 36. a5! Qe7 37. Qa8+ Kf7 38. a6 g6 39. Qd5+ Kg7 40. Qb7 Kf8 41. Kg2 Ke8 42. Qa8+ Kf7 43. Qd5+ Kg7 44. Kf3 Kf8?? Goryachkina’s drama begins. 44. ... g5! should hold. 45. Qb7?? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) could have paid dearly for overlooking that the intermediate check 45. Qa8+! Kf7 46. Qb7! would decisively force the Queen exchange: 46. ... g5 (what else?) 47. g4! hxg4+ 48. Kxg4 gxh4 49. Kxh4 Ke6 50. Qxe7+ Kxe7 51. Kg4 Ke6 52. f4! winning as in the game. 45. ... Ke8?? (45. ... g5!) 46. Qd5? Much simpler is 46. Qxe7+ Kxe7 47. g4!+− with a forced-won Pawn endgame. 46. ... Kf8 47. Kf4? 47. Qa8+! Kf7 48. Qb7!+− transposes into the variation above after 44. .. Kf8. 47. ... Qc7+ 48. Ke3. Why not on e4? 48. ... Qc8 49. Qb7 Qd8 50. Kf3 Qe7?? Goryachkina’s back again to the abyss. 50. ... Ke8! would have, very probably, saved the day for Black. 51. Qxe7+. Goryachkina is not given another chance! 51. ... Kxe7

52. g4!+− Kd6 53. gxh5 gxh5 54. Ke4 Kc6. Or 54. ... Ke6 55. Kf4 Kf5 56. Kf5 Kd4 57. Ke6! f5 58. Kd6!+− and finis. 55. f4! Kb5 56. Kd5! f5 57. Kd6 Kb6 (57. ... Kxa6 58. Kc6! Ka5 59. Kxc5 a6 60. b4+ Ka4 61. Kc4 Ka3 62. b5 axb5+ 63. Kxb5 Kb3 64. Kc5+−) 58. Kd7 Ka5 59. Kc7 Kxa6 60. Kc6 Ka5 61. Kxc5 Ka6 62. b4 Kb7 63. Kd5 1 : 0.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) scored today her first win against Goryachkina, thus leading the match by one point after four games. Photo: International Mind Sports Association.