On the Nature of Things

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Daniel Naroditsky
1st Fall Chess Classic; Saint Louis, September 11, 2017
Catalan Opening E04

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) continues her battle to find a hosting venue for the next Women’s World Chess Championship match, of no interest to Agon Limited – the commercial partner of FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) – which, instead, has already announced the venue – Berlin, Germany – for the next Candidates Tournament. The issue is long-standing and goes beyond 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s personal fate. The Women’s World Chess Championship is in fact delegimated by its alternating system (and particularly by the knockout mode), which produces unpredictable results with respect to the strength of the candidates for fame. FIDE officials say that the knockout roulette helps to draw attention (and money) to women’s chess, offering, thus, a spectacle just for the sake of sadistic pleasure in witnessing women performing publicly as gladiators at Coliseum. As a consequence, the strongest female player and four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) withdrawed from the women’s circuit in open dissent to the knockout system “for women only”, but her initial purpose to launch a political battle to conquer gender equality was soon nullified by the quickness with which her managerial team accepted the offers by Agon Limited to starr in their pay-per-view shows “for men only” – of course we cannot exclude she might have had no choice but to accept Agon’s ring buoy. Whatever it is, the issue became more and more serious, so much that still today nobody knows where and whether 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) and 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) – the new knockout Queen – will play their World Chess Championship match. However, let’s not make a drama out of it. Or maybe yes. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c6 6. Ne5 c5. 6. ... Bb4+ would have evoked pleasant memories to 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn): 7. Nc3 Nd5 8. 0-0 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Bxc3 10. Nxc4 (or 10. Ba3 Qxd4 11. Qxd4 Bxd4 12. Nxc4 Bxa1 13. Rxa1 f6 14. Nd6+ Kd7 15. Rd1 Kc7 16. Nf7 Re8 17. Bd6+ Kb6 18. Rd3 and Black was soon overrun by White’s attack, Ivanišević – G. Meier, 15th Ordix Open, Mainz 2008) 10. ... 0-0 (10. ... Bxa1 11. Ba3!) 11. Rb1 b5 12. Ne5 Qxd4? 13. Qxd4 Bxd4 14. Nxc6 Nxc6 15. Bxc6 Rb8 16. Ba3 Rd8 17. Be7 Bb7 18. Bxd8 Bxc6 19. Bc7 Rb7 20. Rbc1 Rxc7 21. Rfd1 Bf6 22. Rd6 and White wins, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Sachdev, 40th Women’s Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012. 7. Qa4+ Nbd7 8. Nxc4 Be7. For the alternative 8. ... cxd4 9. Bf4 Be7 10. Nd6+ Kf8 11. Nxc8 Rxc8 12. 0-0 e5 just take a look at Saeed Ishaq – 徐英伦 (Xú Yīnglún), 19th Open, Dubai 2017. 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Nc3 Nb6!? If 11. ... a6 then 12. Bf4 b5 13. Qa5 Ra7 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Na5 Re8 16. Nc6 Rb7 17. b4 Bf8 18. Na5 Rb6 19. a3 e5 20. Be3 Rd6 21. Rfd1 with a powerful bind, Tica – Blohberger, 13th Open, Zadar 2016. 12. Qb5 Qe7 13. Nxb6 Bxb6 14. Bf4 Bd7 15. Qd3 Rfd8? This could be the bad turning point of Naroditsky’s strategy. Black sacrifices the Exchange dreaming of a Queen + Bishop mating battery on the diagonal a8-h1, but 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) shows her good judgment in accepting the gift. 16. Bd6 Qe8 17. Bxb7 Bc6 18. Bxa8 Bxa8 19. Rad1 e5. It’s not a happy thing to do, but 19. ... Qc6 20. Qf3 Qxf3 21. exf3 Bxf3 22. Rd2 would leave Black with no compensation. 20. Qb5! Qxb5 21. Nxb5 Ne4

22. Bc5! White turns her material advantage into another: she gets rid of the Exchange and concedes to her opponent two pieces against a Rook, but wins two passed and united Pawns. 22. ... Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Nxc5 24. Nxa7! An elegant pointe. 24. ... Ne6 25. Nb5 Kf8 26. a4? I guess she advanced her wrong Pawn. 26. b4! was much better. 26. ... Ba5 27. Rd7 Bc6 28. Ra7 Bb4 29. Ra6 Bd7? Black returns the favour. Correct was 29. ... Nd8 as after 30. Rb6 Ba5 31. Rb8 Ke8 32. Nd6+ Ke7 33. Nc4 Bc7 it is unlikely White will make any progress. 30. Nc3! Now it’s again allright for 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), who, nevertheless, displays a crystal clear technique in winning the ending. 30. ... Bxc3 31. bxc3 Nc5 32. Ra8+ Ke7 33. a5 Bb5 34. e3 e4 35. Ra7+ Ke6 36. Rc7 Na6 37. Rc8 Bd3 38. g4! g5 39. Kg2 Ke7 40. Rc6 Kd7 41. Rh6 Ke7 42. Rxh7 Nc5 43. Rg7 Ne6 44. Rg8 f6 45. Rb8 Nc5 46. Rb6 Na4 47. Rb7+ Kd6 48. c4! Nc5 49. Rb6+ Kc7 50. Rxf6 Bxc4 51. Rf5 Ne6 52. Kg3 Kd6 53. h4 gxh4+ 54. Kxh4 Nc5 55. g5 1 : 0.

And Yet It Moves

Quite strangely, Wesley So very soon decided to agree a draw with Daniel Naroditsky, thus stretching his unbeaten streak to 67, but most likely delivering the U.S. Championship title to Varuzhan Eduardovich Akobian or Alexander Vasilyevich Onischuk – unless he really believes in the “Will to Win” of Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky. Whatever his reason, we may be sure it was a good one.

Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (@CCSCSL)

Temporary Like Achilles

Daniel Naroditsky vs. Ray Robson
Photo: Lennart Ootes

Zsuzsa Polgár (@SusanPolgar)

Pheidippides

Daniel Naroditsky – Ray Robson
59th U.S. Chess Championship, Saint Louis, April 8, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D85

“Ray Robson [...] defeated Daniel Naroditsky with Black in an 85-move marathon to reclaim a share of first. Naroditsky had been losing for a long time, but well into the second time control managed to get back into the game – only to be outplayed a game and finally lose. It has been a very hard event for Naroditsky, who is in last place with just 1½ points, but he’s young and strong and will return with a vengeance”, Dennis Monokroussos writes.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 a5 10. Ne2 Nd7. For 10. ... 0-0 11. Be3 Nd7 12. 0-0 a4 13. Bc2 Nb6 see Eljanov – Salgado López, FIDE World Blitz Championship, Dubai 2014. 11. 0-0 a4 12. Bc2 Nb6 13. Ba3 0-0 14. Nf4 Re8 15. e5 Nd5 16. Qf3 Nxf4 17. Qxf4 Be6 18. h4 f5 19. Rfe1 Bd5 20. Re3 e6 21. Rg3 Kf7 22. h5 Rg8 23. Bc5 Bf8 24. hxg6+ hxg6 25. Bxf8 Qxf8 26. Bd1 Qg7 27. Bh5 Qh7 28. Be2 Rh8 29. Rh3 Qg7 30. c4. “Naroditsky’s 30. c4 proved to be an ill-conceived Pawn sacrifice, giving Robson a strong passed Pawn and dangerous Queenside counter-play. Robson then gradually outplayed Naroditsky to reach a winning Queen-and-Bishop endgame, where he only had two worries: Perpetual check, and his dwindling time”, FIDE Master Kosta Kavutskiy writes. 30. ... bxc4 31. Rb1 Rab8 32. Rxb8 Rxb8 33. Qc1 g5 34. Rh5 g4 35. Rh6 Rb1 36. Qxb1 Qxh6 37. Qb7+ Kg6 38. Qb8 Qc1+ 39. Bf1 Kg7 40. Qd8? This is an error, but Daniel is in time trouble. 40. Qb4! gives White excellent prospects of a perpetual check. 40. ... Qa3! Not anymore. 41. Qd7+ Kf8 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. Qc7+ Qe7 44. Qa5 Qb7 45. Qc5 f4 46. Qa3 Qb6 47. Qc3 Qb1 48. Qa5 g3 49. Qc7+ Kg6 50. Qd8 gxf2+ 51. Kh2 Qf5 52. Qg8+ Kh6 53. Be2 f3? A fata morgana. 53. ... Qg6 54. Qh8+ Kg5 is an easy win.

54. g4! A fantastic and most unexpected resource! 54. ... Qf4+ 55. Kh3 f1=Q+ 56. Bxf1 Qe4 57. Qh8+? A careless move. After 57. Qf8+ Kg8 58. Qg8+ Kh6 White gives perpetual check as Black’s Queen cannot interpose. 57. ... Qh7 58. Qf6+ Qg6 59. Qh8+ Kg5 60. Kg3 Qf7 61. Qh4+ Kg6 62. Qh5+ Kg7 63. Qg5+ Kh7 64. Qh4+ Kg8 65. Qg5+. Both players are in time trouble and so “Always give check – it might be mate”. Better was 65. a3! Qg7 with unclear consequences. 65. ... Qg7 66. Qd8+? 66. Qh5 would possibly have allowed a more stubborn resistance. 66. ... Qf8 67. Qg5+ Kf7. Now there is no perpetual check and Black is winning again! 68. Qd2 Qh8 69. Bh3 Qh7 70. Qb2 Qd3 71. Kh4 Qh7+ 72. Kg3 Qd3 73. Kh4 c5 74. Qb8. On 74. dxc5 c3 wins. 74. ... Qh7+ 75. Kg3 f2 76. Bf1 Qh1 77. Qd8 Qf3+ 78. Kh4 cxd4 79. Kh5 Qf4 80. Qd7+ Kg8 81. Qe8+ Kg7 82. Qg6+ Kf8 83. Qb1 Qxe5+ 84. Kh4 Kg7 85. g5 0 : 1. White resigned, without waiting for 85. ... Qf4+ 86. Kh3 Bf3.

Lennart Ootes (@LennartOotes)

Under the Volcano

Daniel Naroditsky – Hikaru Nakamura
59th U.S. Chess Championship, Saint Louis, April 5, 2015
Sicilian Defence B79

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Bc4 0-0 9. Bb3 Bd7 10. h4 h5 11. Qd2 Qa5. Many theoreticians of our generation would have criticized this move and said that Nakamura ought to have played 11. ... Rc8 12. 0-0-0 Ne5 immediately. 12. 0-0-0 Rfc8 13. Kb1 Ne5 14. Bg5

14. ... Rxc3!? A thematic Exchange sac! “I decided to just be practical and sacrifice the Exchange”, Nakamura said. “I think objectively it’s probably losing but over the board it’s difficult to find the right plans”. 15. Qxc3 Qxc3 16. bxc3 a5 17. a3 Rc8 18. Kb2 Kf8 19. Ne2? “This allows Black to regroup his forces. 19. Rhe1 looks normal, making Black think about f3-f4 ideas”, Grandmaster Josh Friedel said. 19. ... Bb5 20. Nd4. White practically admits his own error, but the light-squared Bishop gets a fantastic square now. 20. ... Ba6. Intending ... Nf6-d7-c5. 21. Rhe1. 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. a4 might be sounder (Friedel’s analysis). 21. ... Nfd7 22. f4 Nc4+ 23. Bxc4 Bxc4 24. f5. “Daniel lost the thread with 19. Ne2 and 20. Nd4... and once he played 24. f5, all hell broke loose – but the complications favored me”, Nakamura said. 24. ... Nc5 25. Re3 Ke8 26. Bf4. “In a difficult (though not necessarily worse) position, Danya starts to go astray. 26. Kc1 I’d probably walk out of ... Nc5-a4+”, Friedel said. 26. ... Na4+ 27. Kc1 Ba6 28. e5? “Danya’s instincts were correct, but the execution was inaccurate. 28. Rde1 Nxc3 29. e5 is a better move order, and after 29. ... Nd5 30. exd6! Nxe3 31. Rxe3 gives nice counterplay, with the idea that if 31. ... Bxd4? 32. Rxe7+ Kd8 33. Rxf7 and Black’s King is the one in trouble”, Friedel said. 28. ... dxe5 29. Rxe5 Bxe5 30. Bxe5 Nxc3. Despite the Bishops of opposite colour, White has a lost game. 31. Re1 gxf5 32. Bf6. This is very prettily refuted by Black. In any case, after 32. Nxf5 Ne2+ 33. Kd2 Rc5 Black must win. 32. ... Ne4 33. Nxf5 Bd3 34. c3 Rc5! Oops! The threat of ... Rc5-b5-b1 mate is unstoppable. 35. Nxe7 Rb5 0 : 1.

Hikaru Nakamura
Photo: Kevin Duggin