It’s not given to everyone to make a throne out of a chair

郭琦 (Guō Qí) – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)

Mixed Team Rapid & Blitz Tournament “深新 (Shēnxīn) Media Cup”; 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), June 4, 2017

English Opening A21

1. d4 d6 2. c4 e5 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 f5 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. g3 0-0 8. Bg2 c6 9. 0-0 d5!? As usual 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) plays the opening very keenly. 10. Qb3. For 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bg5 Nc6 12. Nf4 Ne8 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Qb3 Nf6 15. f3 g5 16. Nh3 h6 see Damljanović – Nikčević, 51st Yugoslav Team Chess Championship, Vrnjačka Banja 1999. 10. ... dxc4 11. Qxc4+ Kh8 12. Rd1 Nbd7 13. f3!? It looks decidedly better than 13. Nf4 Nb6 with very pleasant play for Black, Koelmans – Dek, 13rd Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament, Vlissingen 2009. 13. ... Nb6 14. Qb3 exf3 15. Bxf3 a5 16. a4 Bb4 17. Na2 Bd6 18. Nc3 Bb4 19. Na2 Be7 20. Nc3 Ra6. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) is not willing to repeat moves. 21. Bf4 Nbd5 22. Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Bxd5 Rb6 24. Qa2 Qxd5 25. Bc7 Rb3 26. Nf4 Qf7 27. Bxa5. 郭琦 (Guō Qí), after long defending her slightly uncomfortable position, even dares to win a Pawn – even though if temporarily. 27. ... g5 28. Rd3. White has to give back her Pawn to prevent more serious dangers, and indeed the ensuing ending seems quite tenable. 28. ... Rxd3 29. Qxf7 Rxg3+ 30. hxg3 Rxf7 31. Nd3 Bd6 32. Ne5 Rf8 33. Bc3?! I don’t like this move which, if not properly followed, could transform the Bishop into a Pawn. 33. Bd2 appears to be much more to the point. 33. ... Kg8 34. e3 Be6 35. a5 Ra8 36. Kf2 Bd5 37. Nd7 Kf7 38. Nb6 Ra6 39. b4 Be4

40. Rc1? White should have resuscitated her Bishop by 40. d5! and if 40. ... h5 (after 40. ... cxd5 41. b5 Black has to give up the Exchange for no win) there might follow 41. dxc6 Bxc6 42. Nc4 Bc7 43. Be5! with almost certain drawing chances. 40. ... h5! 41. Nc4 Bc7 42. Bb2? Another absurd Bishop move which loses a vital tempo. The immediate 42. Ne5+ (followed by Ne5-f3) was most imperatively called for. 42. ... Ra8! 43. Ne5+ Ke6 44. Nf3 Rg8! 45. b5? 郭琦 (Guō Qí) must have been very, very short of time as the text makes the win very easy for her opponent. However, even 45. Ne5 f4! should give Black excellent winning chances. 45. ... h4! 46. gxh4 gxh4 47. a6. Desperation, but 47. Nxh4 Bg3+ is out of question. 47. ... bxa6 48. bxa6 h3 0 : 1.

Seated, from left: 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), 郭琦 (Guō Qí), 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), and 韦奕 (Wéi Yì). Photo: sohu.com.

Dragon Tiger Gate

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)

Mixed Team Rapid & Blitz Tournament “深新 (Shēnxīn) Media Cup”; 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), June 4, 2017

English Opening A20

1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6. A kind of reversed Alapin. 3. Nf3 e4 4. Nd4 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nc2. The alternative is 6. Nb3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Qh5 8. h3! Qg6 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Qc2 e3! 11. Qxg6 exf2+ 12. Kxf2 hxg6 13. d4 Nb6 14. e4 Be6 15. Bf4 Bb4 (B. Larsen – Kortschnoi, Interzonal Tournament, Leningrad 1971), when “Kortschnoi suggests the simple 16. Rad1! as an improvement. White can meet 16. ... Nc4 with 17. Bc1 0-0-0 18. g4, when Black doesn’t have much to do and must be on a constant look-out for d4-d5 and e4-e5 ideas”, Cyrus Lakdawala writes in his “Kor[ts]chnoi: Move by Move”, London, Everyman Chess, 2014, pp. 156-157. 6. ... Nf6 7. Nc3 Qe5 8. Bg2 Na6!? A novelty. For 8. ... Be7 9. Ne3 Na6 10. Qc2 Nb4 11. Qb1 Be6 12. b3 Nbd5 see Hammer – Navara, Nový Bor 2016, match game 4. 9. Rb1 Nb4 10. Ne3 Bc5 11. b3. 11. a3 would seem more to the point. 11. ... Bxe3! 12. fxe3 Bg4! 13. 0-0 0-0-0 14. Bb2 Qh5 15. Qe1 Bh3

16. Rxf6!? This Exchange sacrifice seems practically forced for not falling down. 16. ... gxf6 17. Bxe4? Stockfish gives the pyrotechnic 17. Bxh3 Qxh3 18. Nxe4 Qf5 19. d3 Nxd3! 20. exd3 Rxd3 21. Nxf6 Rxe3! when Black can force (at least) a draw as much as she likes. 17. ... Rhe8 18. Rc1. White is still dreaming about giving mate, but, given the seriousness of his own situation, he should have probably played 18. a3 followed by Be4-f3. 18. ... Kb8 19. Bh1. It wasn’t too late to play 19. a3 followed by Be4-f3. 19. ... Qg6 20. e4? A grave error which fatally compromises White’s position. It was 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)’s last chance to play 20. a3 followed as soon as possible by Nc3-d1-f2. 20. ... Qg5 21. Ba3 a5 22. Nb1. Played with heavy hand (I guess), but if 22. d3 there would follow 22. ... Rxd3! 23. exd3 Nxd3 with total destruction. 22. ... Nxa2 23. Rc5 Re5! 24. Rc2 Nb4 25. Rc3 Rc5! 26. Qc1. 26. Bb2 Na2 is worse enough not to appeal 韦奕 (Wéi Yì). 26. ... Rxc3 27. Qxc3 Qe5. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) plays safely and mercilessly. 28. Qc1. White quite gallantly chooses to submit to the limelight. On the other hand, after 28. Bb2 Qxc3 29. Bxc3 Be6 30. Bxf6 Re8 (followed by ... Be6xb3) the endgame would be literally unsustainable. 28. ... Qd4+ 29. e3 Qd3 30. Bf3 f5 31. e5. After 31. exf5 Bxf5 32. Nc3 Qxd2 Black wins all the same, even if more prosaically. 31. ... f4 32. gxf4 Qg6+ 33. Kh1 Rg8! 0 : 1. Mate follows in a few moves.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)
Photo: sports.sina.com.cn

And Short the Season

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 郭琦 (Guō Qí)

Mixed Team Rapid & Blitz Tournament “深新 (Shēnxīn) Media Cup”; 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), June 2, 2017

Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. 0-0 Bg6 7. Nbd2 Nd7 8. Nb3 Nf5 9. a4 a6 10. a5 Be7 11. g4 Nh6!? An odd looking novelty, which is probably not so bad, but that will be badly followed. Whatever it is, theory gives 11. ... Nh4, e.g. 12. Nxh4 Bxh4 13. f4 f5 14. Bd3 0-0 ½ : ½ A. Ivanov – Erenburg, 42nd Eastern Open, Bethesda 2015. 12. Ne1 c5 13. c3 c4 14. Nd2 Ng8? But this seems to me a very bad plan, which unveils the “improvisation” of 郭琦 (Guō Qí)’s 11th move. Black aims to open the h-file by ... h7-h5 and... White could not ask for anything better! 15. f4 f5 16. Ng2! h5 17. gxf5 Bxf5 18. Ne3 g6? Another bad move, but 18. ... Nh6 19. Nxf5 Nxf5 20. Bxh5+ Kf8 21. Kh1! was hardly better. 19. Nxf5 gxf5 20. Bxh5+ Kf8 21. Rf2 Nb8. 郭琦 (Guō Qí) succeeded in getting both her Knights back home! 22. b3! cxb3 23. Nxb3 Nh6. Now 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) closes matters with his usual energy: 24. Rg2 Nd7 25. Rg6 Rg8

26. Ra2! Rxg6+ 27. Bxg6 Kg7 28. Rg2 Kh8 29. Bf7! 1 : 0.

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) vs. 郭琦 (Guō Qí)
Photo: sznews.com

Half-Built House

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)

Mixed Team Rapid & Blitz Tournament “深新 (Shēnxīn) Media Cup”; 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), June 2, 2017

Catalan Opening E01

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d5 6. Bg2 e5 7. Nf3 d4 8. 0-0 Nc6 9. e3 Be7 10. exd4 exd4 11. Bf4 0-0 12. Ne5 Qb6 13. Qb3 Na5 14. Qxb6 axb6 15. Nd2 Nh5 16. Rfe1 Nxf4 17. gxf4 Bb4 18. Rad1 Be6 19. a3 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Rfd8 21. Bf1!? What a strange Bishop move! It doesn’t really defend the c4-Pawn and abandons definitively the diagonal h1-a8, and yet, it could be better than the pseudo-tricky 21. f5 Bxf5 22. Bd5 Nb3 23. Rdd1 Bc2 24. Bxb7 Bxd1 25. Bxa8 Bc2 which gave Black a wonderful game (even though White eventually won!), Ivanchuk – Naiditsch, 14th Ordix Open, Mainz 2007. 21. b4 Nxc4 22. Nxc4 Bxc4 23. Bxb7 Rab8 24. Re4 g6 25. Rexd4 Rxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxb7 27. Rxc4 Ra7 28. Rc3 Kg7 and, in spite of being a Pawn down, Black drew the Rook endgame without too much difficulty, Neverov – Berelowitsch, Minsk 1997. 21. ... Rac8 22. b4 Nxc4 23. Bxc4 Bxc4 24. Nxc4 Rxc4 25. Re7 h5 26. Rxb7 Rd6 27. Rd3 Rg6+ 28. Kf1 Rf6 29. Rf3? What a clumsy place to end its own days melancholically! 29. Kg2 was apparently sufficient to save White’s cause as after 29. ... Rxf4 30. Rxb6 Rc2 31. Rf3 Rg4+ 32. Rg3 Black doesn’t appear to have anything better than repeating moves (by 32. ... Rf4). 29. ... g5! 30. f5? Another serious error, but not yet the last. After 30. h3! g4 31. hxg4 hxg4 32. Rd3 Rxf4 Black’s extra Pawn would have been very likely uninfluent. 30. ... g4! 31. Rf4 Rd6. Threatening 32. ... d3 33. Rxc4 d2.

32. Ke1? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)’s last mistake. White ought to play 32. Re7 in order to parry 32. ... d3? 33. Rxc4 d2 by 34. Re1! which would have drawn immediately. Obviously, 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) wouldn’t have made things so easy for his opponent. 32. ... Rc2 33. Kd1 d3 34. Re4 d2 0 : 1.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) vs. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: sznews.com