上海粗炒 (Shànghǎi fried noodles)

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Alireza Firouzja
86th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 18, 2024
French Defence C01

1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) disguises herself as the most humble of opponents, aiming at avoiding any opening surprises.
3. ... exd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. c4 Nf6 6. c5!? Be7 7. Bd3 0-0. An important reference is 8. ... b6 8. cxb6 axb6 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Nc3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Ne5 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 c6 15. Bg5 Nxg4 with a complex struggle, Tartakower – Botvinnik, 1st Staunton Memorial Tournament, Groningen 1946.
8. 0-0 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Be3 Nc6 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Bb5 Ne4 13. Qa4 Nxd2 14. Nxd2 Bg5 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rae1 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 Rxe3 18. fxe3 Qe8 19. Re1 f5 20. Qa6 f4 21. Qf1 fxe3 22. Qd3

22. ... e2? Firouzya falls victim of his own optimism and ends up trapped in a positional nightmare. After 22. ... Qb8! 23. Rxe3 Qxb2 play would be fairly balanced.
23. Nf3!? 23. g4 Bg6 24. Qxe2 is the basic continuation given by the engines, with an assessment of “±” (at least).
23. ... Qf7? Firouzya’s reiterated apathy will soon have unpleasant consequences. Black should prefer, as suggested afterwards by (居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), 23. ... Bxf3 with chances to hold.

24. Ng5! 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) then called this her turning point, as Black will have to exchange Queens being left with a very bad Pawn position.
24. ... Qg6. An eloquent fact is that it took more than 20 minutes for Firouzja to respond.
25. Qxg6 Bxg6 26. Rxe2 h6 27. Nf3! Heading for e5. White enjoys a manifest advantage as her mighty Knight is much superior to Black’s Bishop.
27. ... Be4. The c6-Pawn is doomed anyway, so Firouzja gives it up right away, searching for coordination opportunities.
28. Ne5 a5 29. Nxc6 a4 30. Re3 Ra6 31. Nb4 Rg6 32. g3 h5 33. Ra3 Kf8 34. Kf2 Rf6+ 35. Ke2 Rg6 36. h4 Ke8 37. Re3 Kd7 38. a3 Re6 39. Kd2 Kf6 40. Ke2 Rf8

Time control is reached. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) has clear ideas on how to proceed; she simply starts out with creating a distant passed a-Pawn.
41. b3! axb3 42. Rxb3 Bg2 43. Re3 Be4 44. Na2 Rb8 45. Nc3 Rb2+ 46. Ke1 Rb3 47. Kf2 Bh1. Of course, Black cannot play 47. ... Rxa3 because of 48. Nxe4 winning easily.
48. Nd1 Rb8 49. Re5 g6 50. Re1 Be4 51. Nc3 Rf8+ 52. Kg1 Rf3? The transition to a Rook ending makes White’s victory only more certain. Instead, after 52. ... Kc6 it’s not clear how White should continue (the point is that 53. Nxe4? is answered by 53. ... Re8 followed by ... d5xe4).
53. Nxe4 dxe4 54. Kg2 Rxa3 55. Rxe4 Rd3 56. Kf2! c6 57. Kg2! Rd1 58. Kf3 Rf1+ 59. Ke3 Rf7 60. Rf4 Rg7 61. Kd3 Ke6 62. Rf8 Ra7 63. Ke4 Ra1 64. Rd8 1 : 0.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) declared this the greatest win of her career so far. Photo © Jurriaan Hoefsmit.