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So Magnus Carlsen was kicked off the King Salman World Rapid Chess Championship’s podium by Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand – on the other hand, acting as a “sandwich man” for FIDE’s macabre remake of the 1936 Olympiad could not bring good luck to anyone not even him. The other half of sky, instead, was filled by the star of 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), who, after an oblivion of months, has come back in the limelight as a worthy challenger – she is the No. 3 best female player in the world – of 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí). But, indeed, there is nothing sure as to the date of the wedding and the location. I’d rather feel that FIDE, after sacrificing two Queens – namely, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and Anna Muzychuk, who are, respectively, the No. 1 and No. 2 best players in the world – won’t resist the temptation to sacrifice the third Queen, too, so as to compose the podium of (their) World Witch-hunt Championship.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Nana Dzagnidze

King Salman World Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; ar-Riyāḍ (Riyadh), December 28, 2017

Catalan Opening E04

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bd6 6. Bg2 0-0 7. 0-0 dxc4 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. Qxc4 e5 10. d5 Ne7 11. Nc3 h6 12. Rfd1 a6 13. a4. 13. e4 b5 14. Qe2 b4 15. Na4 Bd7 16. b3 Bb5 17. Qe1 Bxa4?! (17. ... a5 seems to offer better chances to equalise) 18. bxa4 a5 19. a3! may also give White an edge, 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) – Dauletova, 14th Asian Continental Women’s Championship, al-’Ayn (Al Ain) 2015. The text, however, constitutes the most critical line. 13. ... c6 14. dxc6 Nxc6 15. Be3. The alternative was 15. Qh4 Bf5 16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. Qxh6 Qe7? (Vaganian – Zvjaginsev, 3rd Karpov Tournament, Poikovsky 2002)) and now 18. Nh4! Bh7 (or 18. ... Bc2 19. e4!) 19. Bh3! would have been terribly strong. It’s quite clear, however, that Black could have done better. 15. ... Be6 16. Qh4 Bb3 17. Rd2 Qe7 18. g4!? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) now takes another path from 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Qxh6 Ne8? 20. Nh4 Be6? (Krylov – R. Bagirov, Victory Day Chess Tournament, Moscow 2008) and now 21. Ne4! would have put Black on the cross. Even in this case, however, Black could have substantially improved his play. 18. ... e4? Dzagnidze doesn’t guess her lucky number. Probably she should have gone for 18. ... Nh7!? 19. g5! f5!? 20. gxh6 e4(!) with very unclear play.

19. g5! exf3 20. gxf6 Qxf6 21. Qxf6 gxf6 22. Rxd6 fxg2 23. Bxh6 Rfe8 24. Rxf6. White is to have two Pawns more – too much for Dzagnidze to bear. The rest is quite easy. 24. ... Rad8 25. Kxg2 Rd4 26. h3 Kh7 27. Be3 Rh4 28. Rf4 Rh5 29. Kh2 Be6 30. h4 Ne5 31. Ne4 Rh6 32. Rg1 Rg8 33. Ng5+ Rxg5 34. Rxg5 Ng6 35. Rd4 Nxh4 36. Rg7+ 1 : 0.

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (pictured left) vs. Nana Dzagnidze (pictured right). Photo: Salah Malkawi/Getty Images.

The Last Queening Square

Olga Zimina – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)

King Salman World Women’s Rapid Chess Championship; ar-Riyāḍ (Riyadh), December 26, 2017

English Opening A13

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) is playing very strong chess in Saudi Arabia. Since she wears glasses, everything seems to work wonderfully well for her! 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d4 5. 0-0 c5 6. d3 Nc6 7. e3 Bd6 8. exd4 cxd4 9. Na3 0-0 10. Nc2 e5 11. b4. After 11. Rb1 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Re1 Re8 14. g4 Bg6 15. Bg5 a5 16. a3 a4 Black doesn’t seem to have any problems, Zimina – Markantonaki, 45th Greek Team Chess Championship, Achaea 2017. 11. ... Re8 12. c5 Bf8 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Nd2 Be6 16. Re1 Rad8 17. Qe2 Bd5 18. Bxd5 Rxd5 19. Rab1 Rdd8 20. Na3 b6 21. cxb6? A blatant positional error, after which White falls into a difficult and unpleasant situation. Better was 21. Nb5 Qg6 22. Ne4 f5 23. Ned6 Re6 with approximate equality. 21. ... axb6 22. b5 Bxa3 23. bxc6 Qxc6 24. Nc4 Bc5 25. Qc2 Qf6. Threatening ... e5-e4, which, however, might have been played immediately with even stronger effect. 26. Re4 Re6 27. Qe2 Rde8 28. Re1 Qf5 29. Qb2 f6 30. Qb3 Kh7 31. Qb5 Qf3! After long preparation, Black feels ready to cash in her initiative. 32. Nd2 Qh5 33. Nb3? Zimina seems oblivious to her own discomfort. Now, or never more, 33. f4 was a mandatory imperative of survival. 33. ... f5 34. R4e2 f4! Now Black wins by force. 35. Kh1

35. ... fxg3? 35. ... e4! 36. dxe4 f3 seems much stronger. 36. fxg3 e4 37. Nxd4? White’s last chance was 37. dxe4, although after 37. ... Qf3+ 38. Kg1 Re5 Black should not meet great difficulties in exploiting the too many weaknesses in White’s field. 37. ... Re5! 38. Qd7 Rd5 39. g4 Rxd7 40. gxh5 Rxd4 41. dxe4 Bb4 0 : 1.

So far, 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) (pictured right) conceded only four draws out of ten games, and one of them was agreed with 16th Women’s World Chess Champion 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) (pictured left), such as a wish for their upcoming Women’s World Chess Championship match. Photo: Salah Malkawi/Getty Images.