Armageddon’s Arrow

Irina Borisivna Krush – 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú)

61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Armageddon game; time control: 5 minutes for White, 4 minutes for Black, with a 2 second increment after the 60th move; Saint Louis, October 20, 2022

King’s Indian Attack A07

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. 0-0 e5 5. d3 Ne7 6. Nbd2 0-0 7. e4 d4 8. Ne1 Nbc6 9. f4

9. ... Bg4?? A dramatic lapsus manus by 于 (Yú), by which a clear piece is lost! Now it should be only a matter of a few minutes for Krush, but, as Emanuel Lasker used to say, “The hardest game to win is a won game”.
10. Qxg4 f5 11. Qe2 Qd7 12. Nef3 Rae8 13. fxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. exf5 Nxf5 16. Ne4 b6 17. Bd2 c5 18. Rf2 Re7 19. Raf1 Rfe8 20. Bh3 Rf7

21. g4 Nd6 22. Nxd6 Bxh2+ 23. Kxh2?? White complicated things quite a bit, but after 23. Rxh2 Rxe2 24. Nxf7 she would still be winning. The move in the text gives Black unexpected chances.
23. ... Qxd6+ 24. Kh1 Rxe2 25. Rxe2 Qd5+? (⌓ 25. ... Qg3!)
26. Kg1 Rxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Qf3 28. g5! Qg4+ 29. Rg2 Qd1 30. Bf4 Qf3 31. Rf2 Qg4+ 32. Bg2 Qd1+ 33. Kh2 Qe1 34. Bd5+ Kg7 35. Bg3 Qe8 36. Kg2 h5 37. Rf7+ Kh8 38. Kf1 Qe3 39. Rf8+ Kg7 40. Rf7+ Kh8

41. Bf2?? 41. Bf4 Qe8 42. Rxa7 would have won easily for White, but alas for Krush, time is tyrant!
41. ... Qc1+ 42. Be1 Qxg5 43. Be4 Qg4 44. Bf2 Qd1+ 45. Kg2 Qg4+ 46. Kh2. At first Krush made an illegal move, as it left her King in check. Then the inflexible referee made her move her King and gave her a symbolic time penalty — as she had only a few seconds anyway — which consisted in 于 (Yú) getting two minutes added to her clock.
46. ... Kg8 47. Rf3 h4 0 : 1. White overstepped the time limit.

于 (Yú) played Krush four times in the 61st U.S. Women’s Championship to set the record of blundering a Bishop in two of their games: “Turns out I really dislike light squared Bishops”, she finally joked. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.