Black and White Budget

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
Women’s World Chess Championship match game 11; Vladivostok, January 22, 2020
Spanish Game C67

Both 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and Goryachkina apparently preferred to postpone to tomorrow the “High Noon” that had been set up for today. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4. Instead of 5. Re1, as in the 6th game. 5. ... Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 8. Nxd4 d5 9. exd6 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd6 11. Qe3+. Or, in short, 11. Qe4+ Qe6 12. Qd4 Qd6 13. Qe4+ Qe6 14. Qd4 ½ : ½ Vallejo Pons – Nakamura, 8th World Rapid Chess Championship, Moscow 2019. 11. ... Be6 12. Nc3 a6 13. Rd1 Qc6 14. Rd3 Bc5 15. Qg3!?TN f6 16. Bf4

16. ... 0-0!? Goryachkina offers a Pawn sacrifice which gives her dynamic equality thanks to the Bishop pair and a volatile initiative. 17. Bxc7 Bf5 18. Rd2 (18. Rd5 Bxc2 19. Bd6 Rfd8 20. Rxc5 Qxd6=) 18. ... Rf7 19. Bf4 Bb4 20. Rad1 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Qxc3 22. bxc3. White’s extra Pawn is obviously meaningless, and a draw might well be agreed here, if were not for the rules of FIDE. 22. ... Rc8 23. Rd8+ Rxd8 24. Rxd8+ Rf8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. a5 Kf7 27. Kf1 Bxc2 28. Ke2 Ke6 29. Be3 Kd5 30. Bb6 Kc4 31. Kd2 Be4 32. g3 Bc6 33. f4 h5 34. h4 Kd5 35. Ke3 Ke6 36. Bc7 Kf5 37. Bb6 Bd7 38. Bc7 Ba4 39. Bb6 Kg4 40. Kf2 Bc6 ½ : ½. “Tomorrow, it will be my last chance”, Goryachkina eventually said. “It’s unpredictable, so I will simply sit and do my best”.

After today’s draw, tomorrow’s game will inevitably be a must-win game for Goryachkina and a must-not-lose game for 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn). Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.