Win-Win-Lose

于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) – Irina Borisivna Krush
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 18, 2022
King’s Indian Defence E76

The jokes of fate can be cruel. Due to a curious coincidence, 于 (Yú) has both her closest rivals, Krush and Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, to meet in the last two rounds! This means, as arbiter Chris Bird says, that “even if 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) beats Irina Krush in rd 12 [today], it still might not guarantee her the 2022 U.S. Women’s Championship as she has to play Thalia Cervantes, who is on a 4 game winning streak, in the last round!”. Whether one believes in divination or not, it’s just the case to say that Cervantes Landeiro won today as well, thus raising to 5 the number of her winning streak.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 d6 6. f4. The Four Pawns Attack, which does not sound exactly like a declaration of peace.
6. ... 0-0 7. Nf3 e6 8. dxe6!? fxe6 9. Be2. More reserved than 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. 0-0 Nd4 11. Ng5!? e5! 12. f5!? h6! 13. Nh3 gxf5 14. exf5 b5!?∞ Christiansen – Kasparov, Interzonal Tournament, Moscow 1982 — “Despite its age, this game is very important for an understanding of the line”, Grandmaster Viktor Petrovich Moskalenko writes in his book “An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1. d4: Ambitious Ideas and Powerful Weapons”, New In Chess, Alkmaar, 2019, p. 22.
9. ... Nc6 10. 0-0 b6 11. Ne1?! A novelty of doubtful value, which could be the fruit of improvisation. Theoretical subjects of study are as follows:
a) 11. Ng5 Nd4 12. Bd3 Qe7 13. Qe1 Bd7 14. Bd2 Rad8 15. Kh1 Nh5 16. Qd1 Bf6⇄ Fridman – Conquest, 4th EU Individual Open Chess Championship, Liverpool 2008;
b) 11. Kh1 Bb7 12. Be3 Qe7 13. Qd2 Rad8 14. Rae1 Kh8 15. f5 exf5 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Bg5 Qd7 18. Bd3 (Piket – Nunn, 54th Hoogovens International Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1992) 18. ... Nb4 19. Bb1 Rde8⇄ (Bologan’s analysis).
11. ... Bb7 12. Be3 Nd4 13. Bd3 Qe7 14. Nc2 Nd7 15. Rb1 Rf7 16. Qd2 Raf8 17. Rbe1 e5

18. Nd5? An error of bad judgment, dropping a Pawn for no good reason. 18. f5! was almost an imperative.
18. ... Bxd5 19. exd5 Nxc2 20. Bxc2 exf4 21. Rxf4 (21. Bxf4 Qf6∓)
21. ... Rxf4?! Black should have taken on b2 at once. The interpolation of the moves that follow only helps White to give a sense to her opening flop.
22. Bxf4 Bd4+ 23. Kh1 Qf6. If 23. ... Rxf4? then 24. g3! and Black has nothing better than 24. ... Rf7 25. Rxe7 Rxe7 with an unbalanced equilibrium.
24. g3 Ne5 25. Qe2 Bxb2

Black has won a Pawn after all, but under less favourable circumstances, as now White can claim some compensation.
26. h4! Bd4 27. Kg2 Qe7 28. Rf1 Qd7 29. Bxe5 Re8? A wrong finesse which could cost Krush the game. Simply 29. ... Bxe5 would have kept the situation under control.

30. Qf3! Bxe5 31. Ba4?? A true pseudo-deflecting hallucination, which instead costs 于 (Yú) the point. The presence of Bishops of opposite colour just suggests that 31. h5!→ would have given White a virtually irresistible attack.
31. ... Qxa4 32. Qf7+ Kh8. Is it really possible that 于 (Yú) didn’t notice that the Black Rook is still defended? Yes. Apparently. Or maybe no.
33. h5 gxh5 34. Rf5 Bd4 35. Rg5 Qc2+ 36. Kh3 Qe4 37. Rxh5 Qh1+ 38. Kg4 Qe4+ 0 : 1.

于 (Yú)’s nerves betrayed her at last. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.