A Dance with Dragons

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 黄仁杰 (Huáng Rénjié)
51st Chinese Chess Championship; 兴化 (Xīnghuà), December 28, 2020
Sicilian Defence B31

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. 0-0 Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 0-0 7. d4 d5 8. e5 Ne4 9. Be3!? Qb6 (9. ... cxd4 10. cxd4 f6 11. h3!) 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qc1 c4. The alternative is 11. ... Rb8 12. b3 Qa5 13. dxc5 Rxb3 14. axb3 Qxa1 15. b4 Qa4 16. Nd4 Bxe5 17. f3 Nf6 18. Qa3 Qxa3 19. Nxa3 with compensation for the Pawn, Caruana – Dubov, 82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2020. 12. Nbd2 Nxd2 13. Nxd2 Bf5 14. b3 Qa6!? A novelty in place of 14. ... Bd3 15. Qa3 Rfe8 16. Qa4 (is there anything better?) 16. ... Qb5 with near equality, Alekseev – Vokhidov, 1st Mukhtar Ismagambetov Memorial, chess.com, June 26, 2020 (time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move). 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 fxe5 (16. ... g5!? 17. Bg3 Bd3 18. Nf3⩲) 17. Bxe5 Bh6 18. bxc4 dxc4 19. f4 c5

20. Nf3. Of course 20. dxc5 at once is also good: 20. ... Qc6 21. Nf3 Qxc5+ 22. Nd4 with a dominating position. 20. ... Rad8? This, however, seems tantamount to breakdown. Black has nothing better than 20. ... cxd4, though after 21. Nxd4 followed by Qc1-e3 White stands much better. 21. dxc5 Qc6 22. Qe3 Rd3 23. Qf2 Be4 (23. ... Bg4 24. Nd4 Qxc5 25. Qh4+−) 24. Nd4 Qd5 25. Qe2 Bf5

26. c6 Bc8 27. Qf2 Rxc3 28. Nf5 Rxf5 29. Bxc3 Rxf4. Not good, but the endgame arising from 29. ... Bxf4 30. Qd4 Qxd4+ 31. Bxd4 offers no hope either. 30. Qe2 Rf5 (30. ... Qxc6 31. Qe5+−) 31. Rad1 Qxc6 32. Qxe7 Bb7 33. Rd8+ Rf8 (33. ... Bf8 34. Qg7#) 34. Rxf8+ Bxf8 35. Qe2 Bc8 36. Qe5 Qc5+ 37. Kf1 Qxe5 38. Rxe5 Bf5 39. Ra5 Bd6 40. g3 Kf8 41. Rxa7 h5 42. a4 Ke8 43. a5 Be4 44. a6 Kd8 45. Rg7 Kc8 46. a7 Bc5 47. Rg8+ 1 : 0.

No doubt 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) took the challenge to try it. Photo: Chinese Chess Association.