Beat the Clock

Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Zherebukh – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
1st Fall Chess Classic; Saint Louis, September 14, 2017
Russian Defence C42

Bravo 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), who, after her burning defeat of yesterday, has today succeded in drawing her last game against Ukrainian-American Grandmaster Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Zherebukh, and who knows, she might even been lucky enough to draw a little attention to herself as well as to her “lost cause” (the Women’s World Chess Championship match). 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5. “Played by Morphy, and a very fine move. The point is that should Black exchange Queens he will be a move behind in development and consequently will get a cramped game if White plays accurately”, writes José Raúl Capablanca in his book “Chess Fundamentals”, BoD, 2015, p. 55. Capablanca alludes to a game played by Morphy when he was 13-year-old: 7. Nc3 Be6 8. Bg5 h6? (8. ... Nbd7 9. 0-0-0 h6) 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. d4 c6 11. 0-0-0? (11. d5! cxd5 12. 0-0-0) 11. ... d5 12. Ne5 Bb4? (12. ... Nd7 13. Nxd7 Kxd7) 13. Nxd5! Bxd5 14. Ng6+ with complications favourable to White, P. C. Morphy – Löwenthal, New Orleans 1850.

7. ... Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Be7 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. 0-0. The co-winner of the 2017 Fall Chess Classic – but first prixe was won by German Grandmaster Georg Meier due to his Sonneborn-Berger score – seems to be content with a peaceful outcome. If 11. 0-0-0 there might follow 11. ... Bf5 12. Nb5 0-0-0 13. Nfd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Bd7 15. h3 Rhe8 16. Rhe1 Bf8 17. Bf3 Rxe1 18. Rxe1 Re8 19. Rxe8+ ½ : ½ Radulov – Kochyev, October Revolution 60th Anniversary Chess Tournament, Leningrad 1977. 11. ... 0-0 12. h3 Bd7 13. a3 Rfe8 14. Rfe1 Bf8 15. Bf1 a6 16. Rxe8 Rxe8 17. Re1 Rxe1 18. Bxe1 Ne5. After massive simplifications a draw is finally in sight. 19. Be2 Nxf3+ 20. Bxf3 c6 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. dxe4 f5 23. Bd2 Kf7 24. Kf1 Be7 25. Ke1 fxe4 26. Bxe4 h5 27. Bf3 g6 28. g4 hxg4 29. hxg4 d5 30. a4 Bd6 31. b3 ½ : ½.

Photo: Austin Fuller/Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

Chimeras

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 李瑞峰 (Lǐ Ruìfēng)
1st Fall Chess Classic; Saint Louis, September 13, 2017
Nimzo-Indian Defence E52

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s too schematical strategy soon ended in muddy waters and her opponent, 16-year-old Chinese American Grandmaster 李瑞峰 (Lǐ Ruìfēng), quickly seized a powerful initiative, planting a paralysing Pawn at c3 first, then at c2, and eventually putting his opponent back into a very uncomfortable position. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 Bb7 6. Bd3 0-0 7. 0-0 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 Be7 10. b3 c5 11. Bb2 Nc6 12. Ne2 Rc8 13. Rc1 g6 14. Nf4 Na5 15. Qe2 Bd6 16. Ba6 Bxa6 17. Qxa6 c4 18. bxc4 dxc4 19. Bc3 Ne4 20. Bxa5 bxa5 21. Rfd1? Stockfish makes it easy with the “non-human” 21. Rc2 c3 22. Qxa7 assessing the position as favourable to White. 21. ... c3! 22. Qb7? The situation after 22. Nc6 Qf6 23. d5 Nxf2 24. Kxf2 g5 25. Kg1 gxf4 26. e4 f3! is, in the best hypothesis, double-edged, but it was, perhaps, the best thing that could have happened to her. Otherwise, she might have considered 22. f3 (Stockfish). 22. ... c2 23. Rd3 Nc3! White might have overlooked this nuance. 24. Nc6. The c2-Pawn is taboo (24. Rxc2? Ne2+!). 24. ... Rxc6 25. Qxc6 Nxa2 26. Qxc2 Nxc1 27. Qxc1 a4. The passed a-Pawn (Pawns) keeps (keep) White firmly tied up. The position might be still defendable, but 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) is already under terrible time pressure and lacks the lucidity necessary to make up a resistance. The rest is literally a massacre: 28. g3. 28. e4 a3 29. e5 Bb4 30. Qa1 Qa5 31. Qa2 Rb8! is perhaps a little better, but always too similar to what happens in the game. 28. ... Qa5 29. Qa1? The best practical chance was 29. Qc6, aiming to remain the Exchange down (but a Pawn up) with some vague drawing possibilities.

29. ... Rb8! 30. e4 a3 31. e5? a2! The gravestone. 32. Rd1 Bb4 33. Ne2 Bd2 34. Kg2 Qd5+ 35. f3 Ba5 36. Rc1 Qb3 37. Kf2 Bd2 38. Rd1 Qe3+ 0 : 1. A brilliant game by 李瑞峰 (Lǐ Ruìfēng).

Waiting for Autumn

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Shimanov – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
1st Fall Chess Classic; Saint Louis, September 12, 2017
English Opening A18

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5. For 6. ... Nc6 7. Be2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. d4 Bf5 10. Be3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qd7 12. Nd2 f6 see Zhukova – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), Women’s Grand Prix 2015-2016, fifth stage, Khanty-Mansiysk 2016. 7. Be2 d4!? 8. Nxe4 Bxe4 9. Bc4!? Or 9. d3 Bd5 10. 0-0 Nc6 11. a3 a5 12. Bf4 a4 13. Nd2 Be7 14. Bg3 0-0 15. Rc1 with a slight plus, Topalov – Nakamura, Grand Chess Tour Blitz Paris 2017, Paris 2017. 9. ... Be7 10. 0-0 Nc6 11. Re1 Bd5 12. Qb3 Bxc4 13. Qxc4 Qd7 14. d3 Qe6 15. Qb5. This move and the next one seem uninspired. I guess Black wished to castle Queenside anyway, so it was not the case that Shimanov called for it. 15. ... 0-0-0 16. Bg5 a6 17. Qc4 Qxc4 18. dxc4 Rhe8. Black’s got an edge. 19. Bd2 h6 20. Re4 f5 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Rae1 Rxe4 23. Rxe4 b5 24. b3 bxc4 25. bxc4 Kb7 26. Kf1 Kb6 27. Ke2 Kc5 28. Kd3 Rb8. With an energetic play 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) succeeded in achieving at least one goal: the Rook penetrates along the b-file targeting the a-Pawn. 29. Rf4 Rb2 30. Rf5+ Kb6 31. a4 Ra2 32. c5+ Kb7 33. g4. Stockfish’s 33. Bxh6 Ne7 34. Bxg7! Nxf5 35. Bxf6 Rxf2 36. Ke4 d3 37. g4 could actually be the most resistant line. 33. ... Ra3+ 34. Ke4 Rxa4 35. Bxh6

35. ... d3+. Stockfish prefers 36. ... Ne7, which forces the gain of the Exchange, as after 37. Rf4 Kc6 Black would win immediately. However, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s choice is humanely very understandable, playing safely for the win on the verge of the time control. 36. Kxd3 Rxg4 37. Bd2 Nb4+ 38. Ke2 a5 39. c6+ Ka6 40. Rc5. With a few seconds on the clock, Shimanov might not have put up the maximum resistance. However, if 40. Bf4 then 40. ... a4 41. h3 a3 (on 41. ... Rg2? 42. Bxc7 Nxc6 43. Rf4 should draw) 42. hxg4 a2 43. Bxc7 Nxc6 and Black should win anyway, even if (perhaps) more laboriously. 40. ... a4. Now it’s over, even though White tries everything before surrendering. 41. Bc1 Re4+ 42. Kd1 Kb6 43. Rf5 Nxc6 44. Be3+ Kb7 45. Rb5+ Ka6 46. Rc5 Re6 47. Rc4 Kb5 48. Rc5+ Kb4 49. Nd2 a3 50. Rc4+ Kb5 51. Rc5+ Ka6 52. Rc4 Be7 53. Rg4 Kb5 54. Nb1 Bb4 55. Nxa3+ Bxa3 56. Rxg7 Re7 57. Rg5+ Kc4 58. h4 Nd4 59. Rg4 c5 60. Ke1 Kd5 61. Kf1 Nf5 62. Rg5 Ke6 63. Bf4 c4 64. Rg6+ Kd5 65. Ra6 Bc5 66. h5 c3 67. h6 c2 68. Bc1 Kc4 69. Ra4+ Kb3 70. Rf4 Nd4! 71. Rh4 Nf3 72. Rh5 Re1+ 73. Kg2 Rxc1 74. Rxc5 Ng5! 75. f4. Or 75. Rxg5 Rg1+! and wins. 75. ... Nh7 76. Rb5+ Kc4 0 : 1.