One by One

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
Women’s World Chess Championship match game 5; 上海 (Shànghǎi), January 11, 2020
English Opening A18

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. d3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. d4 Qa5 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. c4 Qd8 12. Qb3 Be4. After 12. ... Be6 13. Qxb7 Rc8 14. Ng5 Nxd4 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Rb1 Be7 17. Bd3 Black managed to achieve a laborious draw only after overcoming some embarrassment, Nepomniachtchi – Anand, 43rd Chess Olympiad, Batumi 2018. 13. Qxb7 Rc8 14. Bg5!? Goryachkina’s novelty is an attempt to improve on 14. Ng5 Be7 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. d5 Nxe5 17. Qb5+ Qd7 18. Rb1 Qxb5 19. Rxb5 Kd7 20. Bc3 Bf6 which shouldn’t give Black any worries, Tomashevsky – 陈琪 (Chén Qí), 15th “映美杯” (“Yìng Měi Cup”) Chinese Chess League, 沈阳 (Shěnyáng) 2019. 14. ... Be7 15. Bxe7 Nxe7 16. Qb5+ Qd7. “I don’t like this move, because it leaves White, to say the least, a safe Pawn up”, then Goryachkina said, but her opponent is deliberately aiming for a sharp, unbalanced game. 17. cxd5 Bxd5 18. Qxd7+ Kxd7 19. Bb5+ Ke6. Probably following a carefully prepared strategy, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) offers a positional Exchange sacrifice which returns plenty of compensation, though mostly centred on the powerful passed d-Pawn. 20. Ng5+ Kf5 21. h4 cxd4 22. Bd7+ Kxe5 23. Bxc8 Rxc8 24. 0-0 Kd6 25. Rfe1 Rc2 26. a3 h6 27. Ne4+ Bxe4 28. Rxe4 Nc6 29. h5 g6. Likewise 29. ... Kd5 30. Re8 (30. Rg4 d3 31. Rd1 d2 32. Kh2 Ne5 33. Rxg7 Nd3 should be enough for a draw) 30. ... Kc4 31. Rd1 Kb3 might be drawable for Black. 30. Rf4 gxh5 31. Rxf7 d3 32. Rd1 d2 33. Rf3 Ne5 34. Rf4

34. ... Nc6?? A lost tempo which immediately loses the game. On the other hand, no reasonable explanation can be given of why 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) hasn’t played 34. ... Nc4! (Δ ... Nc4-b2) 35. Kf1 Ke5 36. Rh4 Nb2 37. Rxh5+ Kd4 38. Ke2 Nxd1 39. Kxd1 Ra2 40. Rxh6 Rxa3 with a theoretical draw. 35. Kf1+− Ke5 36. Rf3 Na5 37. Ke2 Nc4 38. Rh3 Ra2 39. Rxh5+ Kd4 40. Rh4+ Kc5 41. Rh3 a5 42. f4 Kd5 43. Rf3 Ke6 44. g4 a4 45. Rh3 Kd5 46. f5 Ke5 47. Rc3 Nxa3 48. Rc5+ Kd6 49. f6 Nc2 50. Rc4 Na3 51. Rf4 Kd5 1 : 0. During the chat afterwards, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) frankly admitted that she had miscalculated badly, fatally slipping into defeat. As for her, Goryachkina declared herself satisfied with her own game. When asked whether she was surprised by Goryachkina’s opening, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) said she was not caught unprepared.

Goryachkina won today her first ever victory over 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), thus restoring the score to 2½–2½ after five games, with only one game left before moving to Russia. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.