Today Is Another Day

Thalia Cervantes Landeiro – 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú)
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 19, 2022
Queen’s Indian Defence E17

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. Re1 a5 8. Bg5 Ne4 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nfd2 f5. The alternative is 10. ... Nxd2 11. Bxb7 Ra7 12. Qxd2 Rxb7 13. Nc3 Qb4 14. b3 d5 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Qc2 c6 17. e4 dxe4 18. Rxe4 Qd6 19. Rae1 Nd7 20. Re7 Rbb8 21. Qf5 Nf6 22. Qe5 Rbd8 ½ : ½ Miton – Rozentalis, 12th MetLife Amplico European Rapid Championship, Warsaw 2012 (time control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move). But today 于 (Yú) cannot afford equality, as it would automatically mean renouncing the possibility, even theoretical, of winning the title.
11. Nxe4 fxe4 12. Nc3 d5 13. cxd5! Simpler and better than 13. Qb3 a4! 14. Nxa4 Qf6 15. e3 Qxf2+ 16. Kh1 dxc4?? (16. ... Nd7!⩱) 17. Qxc4 Bd5 18. Qxc7 Rf7? 19. Qd8+ Rf8 20. Qd6 Rxa4 21. Rf1 Nc6 22. Rxf2 Rxf2 23. Kg1 Rf8 24. Bxe4 Rd8 25. Qf4 Nxd4 26. exd4 Rxd4 27. Bxh7+ 1 : 0 Loiseau – R. E. Nielsen, 25th Open, Zadar 2018.
13. ... exd5 14. Qb3. Better first 14. f3 and only after 14. ... Nd7 (or 14. ... e3) then 15. Qb3⩲ with an edge for White.
14. ... Qb4! And not 14. ... Qf6? by reason of 15. Nxd5 Qxf2+ 16. Kh1 Qf7 17. Nxc7 Qxb3 18. axb3 Ra7 19. Nb5 with an overwhelming advantage for White.
15. Red1. 15. Qxb4? axb4 16. Nb5 c6 17. Nc7 (17. Nd6 Ba6∓) 17. ... Ra5 followed sooner or later by ... c6-c5 with manifest advantage to Black.
15. ... Na6. Black could play at once 15. ... Qxb3 16. axb3 Na6 analogously to the game. The difference is that now White could have avoided and perhaps should have avoided the exchange of Queens.
16. Rac1 Qxb3. But here they are, after all. The simplified position which now results is slightly in favour of Black, of course, even though still possibly drawable.
17. axb3 Rad8 18. Nb5?! The beginning of a Knight’s tour which does not seem to help the defence.
18. ... c6 19. Nc3 Nb4 20. Na4 Ba6 21. Bf1. 21. Nxb6 Bxe2 22. Rd2 Bb5 was not pleasant either.
21. ... Rb8 22. Kg2

22. ... g5! Black has considerably improved her position, greatly increasing her chances of winning the game.
23. e3 (23. f3 e3∓)
23. ... Bd3!? Maybe the only shadow in an otherwise superbly conducted endgame. The best seems to be 23. ... Bxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Rf3 similarly to the game.
24. Rd2? 24. Bxd3 was decidedly better, to which Black can reply with 24. ... exd3!⩱ (as 24. ... Nxd3 25. Rxc6 Rxf2+ 26. Kg1 b5 27. Nc3 does not seem to offer much).
24. ... Rf6 25. Kg1 Kf7 26. Bxd3 Nxd3 27. Rf1 Rf3

28. Rc2 Nb4 29. Rd2 Ke7 30. Rc1 Kd6 31. Rf1 Kc7 32. Nc3 Rbf8 33. Ne2 h5! 34. Kg2 c5! White is completely outplayed and can’t do anything but wait.
35. h4 gxh4 36. gxh4 Rg8+ 37. Ng3 Rg4 38. Rh1 Kd6 39. dxc5+ bxc5 40. Ra1 Nc6 41. Rc1

41. ... d4!? (41. ... Ne7−+)
42. exd4? 42. Rc3! was White’s best defence, with the idea of 43. ... d3? 44. Rcxd3+! saving the day. Therefore Black would have probably played 42. ... Rf8 43. Kh3 Rxg3+! 44. Kxg3 d3! 45. f4! Ne7!∓/−+ with good winning chances.
42. ... cxd4 43. Rc4 d3 44. Ra4 (44. Rxe4 Rfxg3+−+)
44. ... Ne5 45. Rxa5 Ng6 46. Ra6+ Kc7 47. Ra4 Nxh4+ 48. Kh3 Nf5 49. Rc4+ Kd6 50. Kh2 Nxg3 51. fxg3 Kd5 52. Ra4 Rgxg3 53. Ra5+ Kd4 54. Rxh5 Ke3 55. Rd1 Ke2 56. Ra1 d2 57. Rh4 e3 0 : 1.

Thanks to her last round of mastery technique, 于 (Yú) tied for the title with eight-time U.S. Women’s Champion Irina Borisivna Krush, so as to make her audiences keep up for another day before the last word — or tiebreaker, as it is technically called — will be spoken. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Don’t worry, Edna, arbiters do not have jurisdiction over supernatural beings such as you

Photo © Phoebe Chloe Zobel (@chic_dollies)

Win-Win-Lose

于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) – Irina Borisivna Krush
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 18, 2022
King’s Indian Defence E76

The jokes of fate can be cruel. Due to a curious coincidence, 于 (Yú) has both her closest rivals, Krush and Thalia Cervantes Landeiro, to meet in the last two rounds! This means, as arbiter Chris Bird says, that “even if 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) beats Irina Krush in rd 12 [today], it still might not guarantee her the 2022 U.S. Women’s Championship as she has to play Thalia Cervantes, who is on a 4 game winning streak, in the last round!”. Whether one believes in divination or not, it’s just the case to say that Cervantes Landeiro won today as well, thus raising to 5 the number of her winning streak.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 d6 6. f4. The Four Pawns Attack, which does not sound exactly like a declaration of peace.
6. ... 0-0 7. Nf3 e6 8. dxe6!? fxe6 9. Be2. More reserved than 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. 0-0 Nd4 11. Ng5!? e5! 12. f5!? h6! 13. Nh3 gxf5 14. exf5 b5!?∞ Christiansen – Kasparov, Interzonal Tournament, Moscow 1982 — “Despite its age, this game is very important for an understanding of the line”, Grandmaster Viktor Petrovich Moskalenko writes in his book “An Attacking Repertoire for White with 1. d4: Ambitious Ideas and Powerful Weapons”, New In Chess, Alkmaar, 2019, p. 22.
9. ... Nc6 10. 0-0 b6 11. Ne1?! A novelty of doubtful value, which could be the fruit of improvisation. Theoretical subjects of study are as follows:
a) 11. Ng5 Nd4 12. Bd3 Qe7 13. Qe1 Bd7 14. Bd2 Rad8 15. Kh1 Nh5 16. Qd1 Bf6⇄ Fridman – Conquest, 4th EU Individual Open Chess Championship, Liverpool 2008;
b) 11. Kh1 Bb7 12. Be3 Qe7 13. Qd2 Rad8 14. Rae1 Kh8 15. f5 exf5 16. exf5 gxf5 17. Bg5 Qd7 18. Bd3 (Piket – Nunn, 54th Hoogovens International Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1992) 18. ... Nb4 19. Bb1 Rde8⇄ (Bologan’s analysis).
11. ... Bb7 12. Be3 Nd4 13. Bd3 Qe7 14. Nc2 Nd7 15. Rb1 Rf7 16. Qd2 Raf8 17. Rbe1 e5

18. Nd5? An error of bad judgment, dropping a Pawn for no good reason. 18. f5! was almost an imperative.
18. ... Bxd5 19. exd5 Nxc2 20. Bxc2 exf4 21. Rxf4 (21. Bxf4 Qf6∓)
21. ... Rxf4?! Black should have taken on b2 at once. The interpolation of the moves that follow only helps White to give a sense to her opening flop.
22. Bxf4 Bd4+ 23. Kh1 Qf6. If 23. ... Rxf4? then 24. g3! and Black has nothing better than 24. ... Rf7 25. Rxe7 Rxe7 with an unbalanced equilibrium.
24. g3 Ne5 25. Qe2 Bxb2

Black has won a Pawn after all, but under less favourable circumstances, as now White can claim some compensation.
26. h4! Bd4 27. Kg2 Qe7 28. Rf1 Qd7 29. Bxe5 Re8? A wrong finesse which could cost Krush the game. Simply 29. ... Bxe5 would have kept the situation under control.

30. Qf3! Bxe5 31. Ba4?? A true pseudo-deflecting hallucination, which instead costs 于 (Yú) the point. The presence of Bishops of opposite colour just suggests that 31. h5!→ would have given White a virtually irresistible attack.
31. ... Qxa4 32. Qf7+ Kh8. Is it really possible that 于 (Yú) didn’t notice that the Black Rook is still defended? Yes. Apparently. Or maybe no.
33. h5 gxh5 34. Rf5 Bd4 35. Rg5 Qc2+ 36. Kh3 Qe4 37. Rxh5 Qh1+ 38. Kg4 Qe4+ 0 : 1.

于 (Yú)’s nerves betrayed her at last. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Of course, Edna, no one knows what is in their mind but you

Artwork © Kylie Spears (@kylie_spears_)

Through the Eye of a Needle

Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova – 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú)
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 17, 2022
Russian Defence C43

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. 0-0 Bd6 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 0-0 10. Qh5 f5 11. c4 Qf6 (11. ... dxc4 12. Bxc4+ Kh8 13. Rb1 b6 14. Re1 Qf6 15. Bb2 Rae8= Kanarek – Kuzubov, 18th European Individual Chess Championship, Minsk 2017)
12. c3 dxc4 13. Bxc4+ Be6 14. Bd3 h6!? It’s curious to note that a game between computers from the early 2000s continued 14. ... Rae8 15. Bg5 Qf7 with balanced play, Shredder – Junior, Cadaqués Computer Tournament, Cadaqués 2001.
15. Re1 Rae8 16. Bd2 Re7 17. h4 Bd5 18. Be3 c6 19. c4 Be4

20. Bg5 Qf7. Obviously not 20. ... hxg5?? on account of 21. hxg5 threatening both the Queen and g5-g6.
21. Qxf7+ Rexf7 22. Bxe4 hxg5 23. Bc2 Bb4 24. Re6 gxh4 25. Rb1 a5 26. d5 cxd5 27. cxd5 Rd8 28. Rd1 Bd6 29. Rb1 Kf8 30. Kf1 Bb4 31. Rd1 Rfd7 32. Bb3 Re7 33. Rg6? (⌓ 33. g3)
33. ... a4? And here better was 33. ... Rd6! forcing the exchange of Rooks in much more favourable circumstances.
34. d6 Rxd6 35. Rgxd6 Bxd6 36. Rxd6 axb3 37. axb3 Kf7 38. Rb6 g6 39. Kg1 Kg7 40. Kh2 Kh6 41. Kh3 Kh5

42. g3 hxg3 43. Kxg3?? A grave blunder which throws which throws away the game. 43. fxg3 was the move, with a draw soon.
43. ... g5 44. Rb5 f4+ 45. Kf3 Rc7 46. Rb6 (46. Kg2 Kh4! 47. Rb4 Rc3! 48. Rxb7 f3+−+)
46. ... Rc3+ 47. Kg2

47. ... Kh4! 48. Rh6+ Kg4 49. Rb6 Rc7 50. Rb4 Kh4 51. Kh2 Rd7 52. Rb6 Rd2 53. Kg2 g4! 54. Rxb7 g3 55. Rh7+ Kg5 56. Rg7+ Kf6 57. Rg8 Rxf2+ 58. Kg1 Rb2 59. b4 Rxb4 60. Kg2 Rb2+ 61. Kf3 Rf2+ 62. Kg4 g2 63. Kh3 f3 64. Rf8+ Kg7 65. Rf5. Now 于 (Yú) must only be careful to avoid the last trap: 65. ... g1=Q?? 66. Rg5+!! with a draw, as after 66. ... Qxg5 White is stalemated.
65. ... Rf1! 0 : 1.

And finally 于 (Yú), by virtue of her strength of will and purpose, was able to get a win out of a drawish Rook ending. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

It’s a fact, Edna, that for us common mortals days pass too quickly to enjoy them

Artwork © Derek Banegas (@derek_paints)

Once Upon a Birthday

From a video interview published on July 24, 2020: Alina Kirsanovna Ilyumzhinova, the daughter of 6th FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov, celebrates her 22nd birthday by initiating a fundraiser for MOVEMENT UP, a charity aimed at helping children with disabilities.

Broadcast delay

于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) – 严锐阳 (Yán Ruìyáng)
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 6, 2022
Tarrasch Defence D32

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 c5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. Be2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5

9. Bf3 Ne5 10. 0-0 0-0 11. h3 Re8. 11. ... Bb6 12. b3 Re8 is also fine for Black, Bautista Sánchez – Striković, 51st Spanish Team Chess Championship — Primera División, Sabadell 2007.
12. Nb3 Nxf3+ 13. Qxf3 Bb6 14. Rd1 Be6 15. Nd4 Rc8 16. Nde2 Ne4 17. Nf4 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Qf6 19. Bb2 Rc4. The object of Black is to sacrifice her d-Pawn for dynamic compensation.
20. Qh5 Rc5

21. Nxd5. “于 (Yú) bravely captures the extra Pawn despite landing her Knight in a pin”, Vanessa West wrote in her recap of day 2.
21. ... Bxd5 22. Rxd5 g6 23. Qd1 Rxd5 24. Qxd5 Rd8 25. Qb5 Rd2 26. Rf1 Qc6 27. Qb3

27. ... Qf6?! Obviously not 27. ... Bxe3?? because of 28. Bc1 winning at once, but stronger was 27. ... Re2! (actually threatening ... Bb6xe3) 28. c4 (28. Bc1 Qe4) 28. ... Bxe3! 29. Qc3 f6! with a perfectly playable game for Black.
28. Bc1 Rd3? Again Black should have played 28. ... Re2 29. Qc4 Rc2 30. Qc8+ Qd8 31. Qxb7 Rxa2 32. c4 when White has an extra Pawn, but a very hard technical challenge in order to make something of it.
29. Qb5 Rd8 30. c4 Rc8 31. Bb2 Qe6 32. Rc1 Rd8 33. c5. Finally White wins a second Pawn and the game.
33. ... Rd5 34. Qb4 Bc7 35. Qxb7 Qd7 36. Qa8+ Qd8 37. Qxd8+ Rxd8 38. Bd4 Rb8 39. g3 h5 40. Kg2 Rb5 41. g4 hxg4 42. hxg4 Kf8 43. Bf6 Ke8 44. c6 Rb6 45. g5 Ra6 46. Rc4 1 : 0.

Not by chance Tartakower defined a chess game as “a fairy tale of 1,001 mistakes”. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

You know, Edna, their primitive superstitions can be easily overcome through the mighty power of another superstition

Artwork © 𝐄𝐥 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐝𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐏 (@elblogdeanap)

A Hard Day’s Night

于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) – Nazí Nodarovna Paikidze
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 15, 2022
English Opening A17

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qb3 c5 5. a3 Ba5 6. e4?! Strategically speaking, it is a punch in the eye that leaves a hole in the centre. Much more sensible is 6. e3 0-0 7. Be2 d5 8. 0-0 Nc6 9. Na4 Qe7 10. Qc2 Nd7 11. d4⩲ Karpov – Timman, 6th “Niemeyer” Junior International Tournament, Groningen 1968.
6. ... Nc6

7. e5? Maybe showing her hidden card, or maybe just making a virtue of necessity. Of course, on the other hand, it isn’t easy for 于 (Yú) to resign herself to an ugly move like 7. Bd3 and bring her lust for adventure down to a mere survival basis.
7. ... Ng4 8. Ne4 0-0! First spirit, then matter. If, instead, 8. ... Ngxe5? then 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Qg3! Ng6 11. Nd6+ Kf8 12. b4!↑ with the initiative to White.
9. Nxc5 Bb6 10. Nd3 d6 11. c5!? White has nothing better than returning the Pawn, for if 11. exd6? there would follow 11. ... e5! with overwhelming threats.
11. ... dxc5 12. Qc4 Nh6 13. Nf4?! 13. Nxc5 might have been a little better, but likewise after 13. ... Na5 14. Qc3 Bxc5 15. b4 Bb6 16. bxa5 Bxa5 White’s development lags behind dangerously.
13. ... Bd7 14. Bd3 Nd4! Threatening ... Bd7-b5.
15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Be4 Qg5 17. Nd3

17. ... Ng4! 18. h4 (18. 0-0? Nxh2!)
18. ... Qd8. Probably there’s nothing wrong with it, but much stronger seems 18. ... Qh5! 19. Bxb7 Rab8 20. Ba6 f6! with crushing threats.
19. f3 f5? Too hasty. Black ought first to play 19. ... Rc8! and if 20. Qa2 then 20. ... f5! 21. Bxb7 Bb5! 22. Bxc8 Bxd3 23. Qxe6+ Kh8 24. Qd7 Ne5 25. Qxd8 Rxd8 with an overwhelming dynamic preponderance.
20. Bxb7 Rb8? Her best seems to be 20. ... Qb8! 21. Bxa8 Nxe5 (but 21. ... Rc8! might be more promising) 22. Nxe5 Qxe5+ 23. Qe2 Qg3+ 24. Qf2 (24. Kf1 d3! 25. Qe1 Qc7↑) 24. ... Qe5+ with a draw by perpetual check.
21. Ba6 Nh6 22. f4? If nothing else, Black is now prevented from playing ... f5-f4, but simpler seems 22. b4 Qe8 23. Bb2± followed by the capture of the d4-Pawn.
22. ... Qe7 23. b4 Qf7? Here Black apparently misses the possibility of a brilliant Exchange sacrifice: 23. ... Rfc8! 24. Bxc8 Rxc8 25. Qa6 Ng4! followed by ... Qe7-e8 with powerful compensation.
24. Bb2 Qg6 25. 0-0! Thus White finally completes her development!

25. ... Qg3? White is suddenly faced with a deadly threat (... Nh6-g4), but at a too high price for Paikidze. Black was still in time for 25. ... Rfc8! 26. Bxc8 Rxc8 27. Qa6 Qe8! 28. a4 Ng4 29. Rfc1 Rc3! with excellent compensation.
26. Rf3 Qxh4 27. Bxd4!? 于 (Yú) is short of time as usual and cannot afford the luxury of divagating, but, indeed, 27. a4! (Δ a4-a5) could have been her best way to play for a win.
27. ... Bxd4+ 28. Qxd4 Bc6 29. Rh3 Qg4 30. Qf2 Qg6 31. Rc1 Bd5 32. Rc7 Ng4 33. Qg3 Qe8 34. Nf2 Qd8 35. Qc3 Rf7 36. Rxf7 Kxf7 37. d4? In the furious time scramble, they both play well and badly. Here 于 (Yú) probably missed her chance to consolidate her advantage with 37. Qd4± and, as almost always happens in such cases, the tables suddenly turn:
37. ... Rb6 38. Be2 Rc6 39. Qd2 Qc8 40. Bxg4 fxg4. Time control was finally reached, with Black on the attack
41. Rg3 h5 42. Nd3 Rc2 43. Qe3 Qc3

44. f5! As they say, attack is the best defence!
44. ... Qa1+ 45. Kh2 Qf1 46. fxe6+ Kg8. Threatening mate on g2.
47. Nf4 Rc1 Again menacing mate.
48. Qxc1 Qxc1 49. Nxd5 Qg5 50. e7 Kf7 51. Rc3 Qh4+ 52. Kg1 Qe1+ 53. Kh2 Qh4+ 54. Kg1 Qe1+ 55. Kh2 Qh4+ ½ : ½.

Despite her taking too big a risk in hunting for a win, 于 (Yú) eventually found the strength to save the day. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Hours of Quietude

After two and a half years, the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” is back to its roots! Classes of an hour and a half in classical chess and Fischerandom chess meet weekly every Saturday at 3.30 P.M. For further information contact the secretariat at ildeltadellaluna <at> gmail <dotcom>.

No, Edna, there are no gods which will save them from the fate to which they are doomed

Artwork © madapult

Quietly Powerful

Ashritha Eswaran – 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú)
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 14, 2022
Caro-Kann Defence B15

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6. The Tartakower Variation, a solid but not too ambitious line which must have taken Eswaran by surprise.
6. c3 Bf5 7. Bc4 Bd6 8. Qe2+ Qe7 9. Nf3 Nd7. 9. ... Na6 10. Nh4 Bg4 11. Qxe7+ Kxe7 is morphologically similar to the game, except for the position of the Knights, Fedorchuk – Lariño Nieto, 6th Rabat Blitz Marathon, Rabat 2015 (time control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move). White has a theoretical advantage for the endgame, but in practice, it is hardly enough of an advantage to hope for a win.
10. Qxe7+ Kxe7 11. 0-0 Rhe8 12. Nh4 Be6 13. Bd3 g6 14. Re1 Kf8 15. c4 Rad8 16. Bd2 Be7 17. Ba5?! 于 (Yú)’s psychological strategy, aimed at pursuing balance as best, has apparently worked well, since her opponent felt compelled to step out her comfort zone and dare something. After 17. Bc3 f5 18. Nf3 Nc5! 19. Bxf5 Bxf5 20. dxc5 Bxc5 the two Bishops make Black’s game a little more attractive, but White should hold without difficulty.
17. ... Nb6 18. Nf3 Rd7 19. b3 Bg4

20. Bc3?! White could perhaps consider giving up the d-Pawn, since the doubled Pawns on f6 and f7 might have constituted a partial compensation for it.
20. ... Bxf3 21. gxf3 Red8

22. b4? This makes things considerably worse. On the other hand, White couldn’t feel enthusiastic about 22. Rad1 f5 23. Bf1 Bf6∓ (which yet was a better try).
22. ... Na4 23. Rxe7? After 23. Bd2 Rxd4 White has no compensation for the lost Pawn, but the idea of adding the Exchange to the losses sounds quite incomprehensible.
23. ... Rxe7 24. Be1 Rxd4 25. Bf1 Kg7. The game is over, but it still takes a good hour of technique.
26. Rb1 Nb6 27. Rc1 Nd7 28. Bc3 Rf4 29. Kg2 Ne5 30. Be2

30. ... g5 31. Bd2 Ng6 32. Be3 Rh4 33. Bf1 b6 34. Rd1 Rh6 35. Kg3 Nh4 36. Bh3 Nxf3! 37. a4 Rh4 38. c5 Ne5 39. Bd4 Re8 40. b5 cxb5 41. axb5 bxc5 42. Bxc5 Rc4 43. Be3 Rb4 44. Bf1 Rg4+ 45. Kh3 h5 46. Be2 Rh4+ 47. Kg3 Ng4 48. Bxg4 Rxg4+ 49. Kf3 Re7 50. Rd6 Re5 51. Bd4 Rf4+ 52. Kg2 Rxb5 53. Bxa7 Rg4+ 54. Kh3 Rb3+ 55. Be3 f5 56. f3 Rh4+ 0 : 1.

于 (Yú) recovered and took back the lead with four rounds to go. Photo © Bryan Adams/SAint Louis Chess Club.

At the end of the day, Edna, whether win or lose, one must feel happy to see neither winners nor losers

Courtesy of Movie World Tv

Another Day

于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) – 吴思思 (Rochelle Wú)
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 13, 2022
Slav Defence D15

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6. The Chameleon Variation, first introduced by Sultan Khan at 22nd British Chess Championship in Ramsgate 1929.
5. c5 Nbd7 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 Nhf6 8. b4 g6 9. Qc2. If 9. Qc1 then 9. ... h6 10. e3 Bg7 11. Bd3 0-0 12. 0-0 e5= Krasenkow – Movsesian, 37th Rubinstein Memorial, Polanica-Zdrój 2000.
9. ... Bg7 10. h3 0-0 11. Bf4. Probably it is not with a light heart 于 (Yú) made such a decision, but otherwise, after 11. e3 Re8 12. Be2 e5 Black obtains a very comfortable equality.
11. ... a5 12. b5

12. ... Ne4! With the strong threat of ... Nd7xc5.
13. bxc6 bxc6 14. e3

14. ... Nxc3. Very interesting is 14. ... Ndxc5! as after 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Qxc6 Black has the pleasant choice between 16. ... Bf5! with the initiative or 16. ... a4!? 17. Qxa8 Qb6 18. Rd1 Qb4+ 19. Nd2 Bg4 20. Qxf8+ Bxf8 21. hxg4 Nc3 22. Bd3 Qb2 with complex play.
15. Qxc3 f6 16. Rd1 e5 17. Bg3 e4?! 于 (Yú) said afterwards she felt relieved after the text move, suggesting instead 17. ... Qe7 when she would have probably continued with 18. Be2 followed by castling.
18. Nd2 f5 19. h4 h6 20. Be2 Rf7 21. Rb1 Nf8 22. Rb6 Ne6 23. Rxc6 (23. Bd6 Qe8 24. f4⩲)
23. ... f4 24. Rd6 Qe7

25. Bxf4 Nxf4?? A blunder, after which Black’s position disintegrates. Simply 25. ... Bxd4! would have given Black at least even chances.
26. exf4 Rxf4 27. Rxd5 Rxh4 28. Rxh4 Qxh4 29. Rd6 Kh7 (29. ... Qh1+ 30. Nf1 Qxg2 31. Bc4+ Kh7 32. Qg3+−)
30. Qg3 Qh1+ 31. Nf1 Bf5 32. Bg4 Rb8 33. Bxf5 gxf5 34. Rd7 Rg8 35. c6 Qh5 36. c7 Qe8 37. Rd8 1 : 0.

The end result aside, it was not such an easy win after all. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Of course, Edna, one can always console one’s self with the relative truth that, after all, losing is not the end of the world

Artwork © 아로비 • aro.B (@_aro.b_)

When Time Stopped

Megan Lee – 于润荷 (Jennifer Yú)
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 12, 2022
Scotch Game C45

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nge7 7. Bg5 f6 8. Bf4 0-0 9. a4 a5!? Another line of play, probably more flexible, is 9. ... a6 on which there can follow, by transposition: 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Qe7+ 12. Be2 Ne5 13. a5 Ba7 14. d6 Qxd6 15. Qxd6 cxd6 16. 0-0-0 Bxf2 17. Rhf1 Bh4? (17. ... Ba7 18. Nd4 gives White good compensation for his temporary material deficit) 18. g3 Bg5 19. Rxd6 g6 20. h4 Bxf4+ 21. gxf4 Nc6 22. Bc4+ Kg7 23. h5 f5 24. Rg1 Ne7 25. Nc5 Rb8 26. Nd3 Ng8 27. hxg6 h6 28. Bxg8 Kxg8 29. Re1 b6 30. Re7 bxa5 31. Ne5 1 : 0 Ansell – L. E. Webb, 12th Four Nations Chess League — Division 1, Nottingham 2005.
10. Qd2 d6 11. 0-0-0 Ne5 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 f5 14. f4 Ng4 15. Qd2 fxe4 16. Nxe4 Bf5 17. Nc3 Nf6 18. Re1 Bg6 19. Rg1 Bf7

20. g3. Why not 21. g4? In any case, even by adopting a more sober strategy, Lee is going to get where she wants to go, not without the help of 于 (Yú) herself, who generously indulges in erratic moves until she falls fatally short of time.
20. ... Ned5 21. Nb5 c6 22. N5d4 Nb6 23. Ne6 Bxe6 24. Rxe6 d5 25. Qd4

25. ... Nfd7? This loses a crucial tempo. Black ought to hurry to 25. ... Re8! 26. Bh3 Rxe6 27. Bxe6+ Kh8 28. Re1 Nc4 with a tolerable game.
26. Bh3 Rf6? 27. Re2! The White Rooks now dominate the e-file.
27. ... Qc7 28. Re7 Qd6 29. Rge1 c5 30. Qf2 d4 31. Qf3 c4 32. Qxb7! Rb8 33. Qa7 cxb3 34. Bxd7 Kh8

Now 35. R1e6! is telling enough, but Lee is in the mood to make European audiences stay up late:
35. Qxb8+! Sic et simpliciter. The rest is, as they say, a matter if technique.
35. ... Qxb8 36. Re8+ Rf8 37. Rxb8 Rxb8 38. Re8+ Rxe8 39. Bxe8 Kg8 40. cxb3 Kf8 41. Bc6 Ke7 42. b4! axb4 43. a5 Nc8 44. Bb7 Na7 45. Kd2 Kd6 46. Kd3 Kc5 47. g4 Nb5 48. f5 h6 49. h4 b3 50. a6 Kb6 51. g5 hxg5 52. hxg5 Nd6 53. f6 g6 54. Kxd4 Nf7 55. Bd5 Nxg5 56. f7 Nh7 57. Be4 Kxa6 58. Bxg6 Nf8 59. Bf5 Kb6 60. Ke5 Kc7 61. Kf6 Kd6 62. Kg7 Ke7 63. Kg8 1 : 0.

It was an evening of glory for Megan Lee, who describes herself in her own words, “A designer who spends her free time sketching out comic ideas and playing chess”. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.

化妝舞會 (A Masked Ball)

Attendants wait for visitors to an exhibition titled “Forging Ahead in the New Era”, staged at 北京展览馆 (Běijīng Exhibition Centre) in 北京 (Běijīng), China, showing the country’s achievements ahead of the 20th Communist Party Congress meeting. Photo: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images.

Don’t worry, Edna, even if the world ends today, I won’t forget to wish you happy birthday next year

Artwork © bujinkomix

Begin Again

于润荷 (Jennifer Yú) – Alice Teresa Lee
61st U.S. Women’s Chess Championship; Saint Louis, October 11, 2022
Slav Defence D12

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Be4 7. f3 Bg6 8. Qb3 Qc7 9. Bd2 Be7 10. g3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 a6 12. a4 Nbd7 13. a5. 13. e4 0-0 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15. e5 Nd5 16. a5 b5 seems fine for Black, Tratar – V. Georgiev, 19th Croatian Team Chess Championship, Šibenik 2010.
13. ... Nh5 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15. Ne4 0-0-0 16. 0-0-0 Nhf6 17. Ng5 Rdf8

18. Bxe6!? Here is an intuitive sacrifice in the style of Tal, with which, perhaps, 于 (Yú) hoped to impress or intimidate her young adversary. But no, the prodigious Lee showed remarkable coolness and self-control, and in the end 于 (Yú) must have counted herself very lucky to have got a draw.
18. ... fxe6 19. Nxe6 Qd6 20. Nxf8 Rxf8 21. Rhf1 Qd5 22. Qc2 Bd8 23. Qxg6 Bxa5 24. Kb1 Bxd2 25. Rxd2 Qa5 26. Qd3 Nd5 27. e4 Nb4 28. Qa3 Qb5 29. Rc1 a5 30. Qc3 Qh5 31. f4 Re8

32. d5 Qg6 33. dxc6 Qxe4+ 34. Ka1 bxc6 35. Rd4 Qe6 36. Qa3 Kb7 37. Qxa5 Nd3 38. f5 Qf7 39. Rxd3 Ra8 40. Qxa8+ Kxa8 41. Rxc6 Qxf5 42. Rb3 Nc5 43. Rc3 Qf1+ 44. Ka2 Qf7+ 45. Ka3 Ne4

46. Rc1. 46. Rc8+ Kb7 47. R8c7+ Qxc7 48. Rxc7+ Kxc7 is a theoretical draw; for example: 49. Kb4 Kd6 50. Kc4 Nd2+ 51. Kd4 Nf1 52. Ke4 Nxh2 53. Kf5 Ke7 54. Kg6 Kf8 55. b4 Nf3 56. b5 Ne5+ 57. Kh7 Nd7 58. Kh8 Kf7 59. Kh7 g6 60. Kh8 Kf6 61. Kg8 g5 62. Kh7 g4 63. Kh6 Kf5 64. Kh5 and peace can be finally agreed.
46. ... Nd2 47. Kb4 Kb7 48. R6c3. Again, White misses, whether intentionally or negligently, 48. Rc7+ Qxc7 49. Rxc7+ Kxc7 with a tablebase draw. What follows is a few minutes of pure thrill:
48. ... Qe7+ 49. Ka4 Qd7+ 50. Ka3? (50. Kb4 Qd6+ 51. Ka5)
50. ... Qd6+ 51. b4 (51. Ka4 Kb6)
51. ... Ne4? (51. ... Qa6+! 52. Kb2 Qf6)
52. Rc4? History should not repeat itself so often, but yet 52. Rc7+! Kb6 53. R1c6+ Qxc6 54. Rxc6+ Kxc6 ends in a book draw.
52. ... Nf2 (52. ... Qa6+! 53. Kb2 Nd6)
53. Kb3 Ng4 54. Ne5 Kb6 55. Ra1? Once again 55. Rc6+ Qxc6 56. Rxc6+ Kxc6 would have led to a draw.
55. ... Nxh2? (55. ... Qd3+!)
56. Raa5 Qd1+ 57. Ka3 Qe2 58. Re5 Qc4 59. Rec5 Qe4 60. Rab5+ Ka6 61. Ra5+ Kb6 62. Rab5+ Ka6 63. Ra5+ Kb6 ½ : ½.

Maybe not today, but one day maybe 于 (Yú) will be proud of herself for saving a draw against Lee. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

TAI

Nuclear warfare and the end of mankind

Giorgio Agamben, Quodlibet, October 4, 2022

In 1958, Karl Jaspers publishes a book under the title The Atom Bomb and the Future of Man in which he intends to radically question — as the subtitle reads — The political consciousness in our time. The atomic bomb — he begins in the introduction — has produced an absolutely new situation in the history of humanity, placing it in front to the inescapable alternative: “either all mankind will physically perish or there will be a change in the moral-political condition of man”. If in the past, as happened in the early Christian communities, men made up “unreal representations” of an end of the world, today, for the first time in its history, humanity has the “real possibility” of annihilating itself and any life on earth. This possibility, though mankind does not seem to fully realise it, can only mark a new beginning for political awareness and imply “a turning point in the whole of human history”.
Almost seventy years later, the “real possibility” of a self-destruction of humanity, that appeared to shake the conscience of the philosopher and involve his readers immediately (the book was widely discussed) seems to have become an obvious fact, which newspapers and politicians evoke every day as an absolutely normal eventuality. By dint of talking about emergency — in which, as we know, the exception becomes the rule — the event that Jaspers regarded as unprecedented presents itself as an altogether banal occurrence about which the experts must evaluate the opportunity and imminence. Since the bomb has ceased to be a decisive “possibility” for the history of humanity and instead concerns us closely as a “casualty” among others that define a war situation, it will be good then tp reconsider the question from the beginning, which perhaps was not appreciated in its most proper terms.
Thirteen years later, in an essay significantly titled The Apocalypse Is Disappointing, Maurice Blanchot got back to wondering about the problem of the end of humanity. And he did so by subjecting Jaspers’s theses to a discreet bur effective criticism. If the theme of the book was the need for a sea change, it is surprising that “in regard to Jaspers, in the very book that should be the consciousness, the summing up of the change and its commentary, nothing has changed — neither in the language, nor in the thinking, nor in the political formulations that are maintained and even drawn more tightly around the biases of a lifetime, some of them very noble, others very narrow-minded... Why does a question so serious — since it holds the future of humanity in its sway — a question such that to answer it would suppose a radically new thinking, why does it not renew the language that conveys it, and why does it only give rise to remarks that are either biased and, in any case, partial when they are of a political order, or moving and urgent when they are of a spiritual order, but identical to those that we have heard in vain for two thousand years?”. The objection is certainly relevant, because not only does Jaspers’s book present itself as an extensive academic monograph aimed at examining the problem in all its aspects, but what the author intends to oppose to the destruction is the cliché of “an universal peace without atomic bombs, with a new life economically founded on nuclear energy”. No less peculiar is that the atomic bomb is equated, as an equally deadly danger, to the totalitarian domination of Bolshevism, with which it is impossible to come to terms.
The fact is, Blanchot seems to suggest, that such an apocalyptic perspective is necessarily disappointing, because it presents as a power in the hands of humanity something that, in truth, is not such. It is, in fact, “a power that is not in our power, that only points to a possibility without mastery, a probability — which is, let us say, probable-improbable — that would be our power, a power in us and power over us, only if we dominated it with certainty. But for the moment we are just as incapable of mastering it as we are of wanting it, and for an obvious reason: we are not in control of ourselves because this humanity, capable of being totally destroyed, does not yet exist as a whole”. On the one hand a power that cannot be, and on the other an existence — a human community — “that can be wiped out but not affirmed, or that could be affirmed, in some sense, only after its disappearance and by the void, impossible to grasp, of this disappearance; consequently something that cannot even be destroyed, because it does not exist” (p. 124).
If, as it seems undeniable, the destruction of humanity is not a possibility that humanity consciously disposes of, but it remains entrusted to the contingency of mainly random decisions and evaluations by this or that head of state, Jaspers’s argumentation is then destroyed from the foundations, because men who do not actually have the ability to destroy themselves cannot even become aware of this possibility to transform their consciousness morally and politically. Jaspers appears here to be repeating the same mistake that Husserl made when, at a 1935 conference on “Philosophy and the Crisis of European Man”, although identifying the cause of the crisis in the “deviations of rationalism”, has nevertheless entrusted to an undefined European “reason” the task of guiding humanity through its infinite progress towards maturity. The alternative here already clearly formulated between “the ruin of a Europe alienated from its rational sense of life” and a “rebirth of Europe” by virtue of “a heroism of reason”, betrays the unconfessable awareness that where there is a need for a “heroism” there is no longer any place for that “rational sense of life” (by which European humanity should distinguish itself “from the wild Papuan”, at least as far as he differs from a beast).
What a right-thinking reason does not have the courage to accept is that the end of European humanity or of humanity itself, delivered to anodyne and vain aspirations, which leave intact the principle that is responsible for it, ends up overturning, as Blanchot guessed, in “a simple fact about which there is nothing to say, except that it is insignificance itself — something that deserves neither exaltation nor despair nor even attention”. No historical event — neither atomic war (or, for Husserl, the First World War), nor the extermination of the Jews nor certainly the pandemic — can be hypostatized in an epochal event, if one does not want it to become an incomprehensible and vacuous idolum historiae, which one can no longer think or face.
Therefore, Jaspers’s argumentation must be dropped without any hesitation, as it pays for the inability of Western reason to think about the problem of an end that it itself produced, but which is in no way capable of mastering. Faced with the reality of its own end, it tries to gain time, transforming this reality into a possibility which refers to a future realisation, to an atomic war that reason can still avert. It would have been perhaps more coherent to suppose that a humanity that produced the bomb is already spiritually dead and that we must begin to think of the awareness of reality and not of the possibility of this death. If thought cannot reasonably pose the problem of the end of the world it is because thought is always situated in the end, it is in every instant an experience of reality and not of the possibility of the end. The war we fear is ever ongoing and never over, just as the bomb once thrown in Hiroshima and Nagasaki never stopped being thrown. Only starting from this awareness, the end of humanity, the atomic war, the climatic catastrophes cease to be ghosts that terrify and paralyse a reason incapace of dealing with them and appear instead for what they are: political phenomena already always current in their contingency and in their absurdity, that just for this reason we no longer have to fear as fatalities without alternatives, but which we can face from time to time according to the concrete instances in which they arise and the forces we have at our disposal to counter them or escape them. This is what we have learned in the past two years and, in the face of the powerfuls who are increasingly unable to govern the emergency that they themselves have produced, we intend to treasure it.

(English translation by I, Robot)

Salvador Dalí, Leda Atomica, 1949. Courtesy of WikiArt.

No, Edna, any appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, money doesn’t grow on trees

Artwork © OooOOOoOo

Not-Yet-Fallen Leaves

To paraphrase Ungaretti, “Here like bikes / on autumn trees”.

Naturally, Edna, like Lennon says, “there’s no problems, only solutions”

Credit: Disney Sorcerer’s Arena