In crastinum differo res severas

Polina Sergeevna Shuvalova – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
70th Russian Women’s Chess Championship Superfinal; Moscow, December 15, 2020
Spanish Game C67

The long-awaited showdown between the two Tsarinas of the 70th Russian Women’s Championship Superfinal ended badly for the gambling industry, as they agreed a “Grandmaster draw” after only 15 moves, in fact postponing everything till tomorrow, when, in the eleventh and last round, Shuvalova will play Black against last year’s Russian Women’s Champion Olga Alexandrovna Girya, and Goryachkina will play White against Tatyana Anatolyevna Getman. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 8. Nxd4 d5 9. exd6 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd6

11. Qe4+. Or 11. Qe3+ Be6 12. Nc3 a6 13. Rd1 Qc6 14. Rd3 Bc5 15. Qg3 f6 16. Bf4 0-0 17. Bxc7 Bf5 18. Rd2 Rf7 19. Bf4 Bb4 20. Rad1 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Qxc3 22. bxc3 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 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Goryachkina, Vladivostok 2020, Women’s World Chess Championship match game 11. By a curious coincidence, even then, in the penultimate game of their Women’s World Championship match, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and Goryachkina delayed all decisions until the day after. 11. ... Qe6 12. Qd4 Qd6 13. Qe4+ Qe6 14. Qd4 Qd6 15. Qe4+ ½ : ½.

That’s a pas de deux that only two contemporary dancers would have dared perform today. Photo: Vladimir Leonidovich Barsky/Russian Chess Federation.