Bric-à-brac

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
86th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; The Hague, January 23, 2024
Two Knights Defence C58

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6!? “Steinitz considered this to be an unsound sacrifical continuation”, Bobby Fischer wrote in his “My 60 Memorable Games”, Simon and Schister, New York, 1969, p. 280.
4. Ng5. “Tarrasch branded this a ‘duffer’s move’ and Panov called it ‘primitive’. But there is no other way for White to try for an advantage”. (Fischer, ibidem).
5. ... d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3?! A clumsy move, favoured by Isidor Gunsberg, which is clearly inferior to 8. Be2.
8. ... Nd5 9. h4. 9. Nxf7? Kxf7 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Qxh8 Qg5 gives Black a crushing attack. Moreover, 9. Ne4 would offer an historic reference point for questioning the soundness of 8. Bd3: 9. ... f5 10. Ng3 Nf4 11. Bf1 Bc5 12. c3 Bb6 13. d4 Ng6 14. Bd3 0-0 15. b4 Nb7 16. Bc4+ Kh8 17. d5 Nd6 18. Bb3 f4 19. Nf1 Ne4 0 : 1 Castaldi – Keres, 7th Olympiad, Stockholm 1937. What a comical conclusion! All White’s pieces came back home!
9. ... Qc7 10. b3. Praggnanandhaa is not interested in a pacific settlement of the question: 10. Nc3 h6 11. Nxd5 cxd5 12. Qh5 Bc5 13. Nxf7 0-0 14. Nxe5 Rf5 15. Qe8+ Rf8 16. Qh5 Rf5 17. Qe8+ Rf8 18. Qh5 Rf5 ½ : ½ 赵骏 (Zhào Jùn) – 卢尚磊 (Lú Shànglěi), 15th Chinese Chess League, 沈阳 (Shěnyáng) 2019.
10. ... h6 11. Ne4 f5 12. Nec3

12. ... Nf6. Very interesting is 12. ... Nf4 13. Bf1 Bb7 14. g3 c5 with comfortable equality for Black.
13. Bb2 Bd6 14. Na3 e4 15. Qe2 0-0. If, instead, 15. ... Qe7 then 16. Nc4! with advantage to White.
16. Ba6 Be6?! Easier was 16. ... Bxa6 17. Qxa6 Ng4 with plenty of play for the Pawn.
17. Nc4 Bb4 18. 0-0-0 Nb7 19. Bxb7 Qxb7 20. f3 Rae8 21. Ne5 c5?! 21. ... Nh5 might have been preferable, though after 22. Qf2 Bd6 23. f4 White still stands better.
22. Rhe1

22. ... exf3? By allowing White to open the g-file, Black digs her own grave. 22. ... Kh7! was here called for.
23. gxf3 Nh5 24. Rg1 c4 25. Nxc4 Qe7 26. a3 Bxc3 27. Bxc3 Qxh4? This allows White to pursue his Kingside assault, but otherwise Black would be left with just two Pawns less and in a completely lost position.

28. Qe5 Qe7 29. Rde1 Qd7 30. Nd6 Re7 31. Qh2 Nf6 32. Qxh6 Qxd6 33. Bxf6 1 : 0.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) was taught a bitter lesson. Photo © Jurriaan Hoefsmit.