Nearer by Far

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 温阳 (Wēn Yáng)
51st Chinese Chess Championship; 兴化 (Xīnghuà), December 24, 2020
Semi-Slav Defence D45

In round six, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) finally scored her first win, beating 温阳 (Wēn Yáng) in quite a brilliant manner. 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. 0-0 Bd6 9. Rd1 0-0 10. e4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Qxe4 Qc7 13. Bd3 g6 14. Qh4 Rfe8. Much better seems 14. ... c5, as recently played in Mamedyarov – Duda, Grand Prix 2019, 2nd stage, Riga 2019, tie-break game 1 (time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move). 15. Ng5 Nf6!? Definitely an improvement on 15. ... Nf8 16. Ne4 Be7 17. Bg5 Bxg5 (17. ... c5 18. dxc5 bxc5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Qxe7 Rxe7 21. Nxc5 Rc8 22. b4 Rxc5 23. bxc5 Nd7 24. Be2 Nxc5 25. Rab1 Ba6 26. Kf1 h5 27. Rd6 Rc7 28. Rb8+ Kg7 29. Ke1 Kf6 30. Rb4 Ke7 31. Rd2 Ne4 32. Rc2 Nc5 33. h4 Rd7 34. Rd2 Rc7 35. f3 Rc8 36. a3 f5 37. Kf2 Rc7 38. Ke3 Kf6 39. g3 Ke5 40. Rd8 Rg7 41. f4+ Kf6 42. Rf8+ Ke7 43. Rbb8 1 : 0 Myć – De Wachter, 36th World Junior Chess Championship, Żagań 1997) 18. Qxg5 Red8 19. Nf6+ Kh8 20. Be4 Nd7 21. h4 Qd6 22. c5 Qf8 23. Bf3 Nxf6 24. Qxf6+ Qg7 25. Qf4 Rd7 26. Rd2 Kg8 27. Rc1 Rc8 28. b4 b5 29. Re1 Rcd8 30. Re5 Qf8 31. h5 Qg7 32. Bd1 Bc8 33. Bc2 Rb7 34. h6 Qf8 35. Bb3 Rbd7 36. g4 Rb7 37. g5 Rbd7 38. Re4 Bb7 39. Qf6 Re8 40. Rde2 Bc8 41. a4 Bb7 42. Rf4 Rde7 43. Re5 a6 44. a5 Bc8 45. Re3 Bd7 46. Qe5 Rc8 47. Bc2 Rce8 48. Bxg6 hxg6 1 : 0 Kasparov – De Poi, 20-board simultaneous exhibition, Asiago 1991.

16. c5!? White gives up a Pawn for the initiative. 16. ... bxc5 17. dxc5 Bxc5 18. Bf4 e5 (18. ... Qb6!? 19. Bc4 Rad8) 19. Be3 Bxe3?? An incomprehensible mistake which opens the f-file for White’s Rook, thus making her attack irresistible. 19. ... Be7! 20. Bc4 Rf8 was a tougher defence, although after 21. b4!↑ White retains the upper hand. 20. fxe3+− Qb6 21. Bc4 Qxe3+ 22. Kh1 Kg7 23. Rf1 Qd4

24. Ne4! Qxe4. Likewise, if 24. ... Qxc4 then 25. Qxf6+ Kg8 (25. ... Kh6 26. Nd6+−) 26. Qh4 with overwhelming attack. 25. Qxf6+ Kh6 26. Bxf7 Rf8 27. Rae1 Qg4 28. Re3 c5 29. Rg3 Qh5 30. Kg1. Sic et simpliciter. 30. ... Bc8 31. Rff3 e4 32. Rh3 Bxh3 33. Rxh3 Qxh3 34. gxh3 Rad8 35. Qe7 Rd1+ 36. Kf2 Rfd8 37. Bc4 R8d2+ 38. Ke3 1 : 0.