Newly anointed IM Carissa Yip annotates round four, the first decisive game of the Women's World Championship (Jan 4-26), between Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina. Update 1/11/20: Aleksandra has since evened the score- and Yip will provide annotations on that victory in a follow-up report.
[pgn] [Event "FIDE Women's World Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.01.09"] [White "Ju, Wenjun"] [Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D16"] [WhiteElo "2584"] [BlackElo "2578"] [Annotator "Yip, Carissa"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. d5 {A rarer option, but I believe White still gets a fine position.} (10. Qe2 {One of the most played moves. The game can progress:} O-O 11. Rd1 Nb4 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Ne4 Be7 15. Ne5 {With chances for both sides; White's pieces are more active and she can look towards attacking the kingside, but Black has the two bishops and potential play against the IQP. }) 10... exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 O-O 13. Be3 Bf5 14. Qb3 Nb4 15. Rfd1 (15. Bxb7 $2 Rb8) 15... Qa5 16. Ne5 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 Qa6 18. Nd7 Be6 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 { I think this is the first real inaccuracy of the game. Ju ends up exploiting the king's slightly inferior position and it never finds it way back to the safety on g8.} (19... Rxf8 {Seems more natural to me. The game can possibly continue with:} 20. Rad1 (20. Qb5 Bxd5 21. Qxd5 Rd8 22. Qe4 Bf6 {And Black has a fine position.}) 20... Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Qc6 22. Qb5 Qxb5 23. Rxb5 b6 24. Kf1 Bf6 25. Ke2 Rd8 {While White has some pressure, Black should be fine as long as a5 isn't allowed} 26. b3 Bc3) 20. Qb5 Bxd5 21. Qxd5 Rd8 22. Qe4 {Now Black's position is significantly harder to play than four moves ago. Goryachkina is forced to make concessions on the kingside; moreover, the Black queen is tied down to the pawns on the queenside while its counterpart is placed perfectly in the center} h6 23. g3 (23. Qh7 {A natural move, but after:} f6 {There are no attacking prospects since White doesn't have enough pieces. Plus, White's queen is better centralized.}) 23... b6 24. Rc1 {Rooks on open files!} f6 { Not the best, as Goryachkina just restricts her own bishop further.} (24... Bf6 $1 {Was definitely better. Black has nothing to worry about, since White's attack leads nowhere.} 25. Qh7 (25. Rc7 $4 {would lose:} Rd1+ 26. Kg2 Qf1+ 27. Kf3 Qh1+ 28. Kf4 Bg5+ 29. Ke5 f6+ 30. Kf5 g6+) 25... Qd3 {Forces a queen exchange, after which Black is fine. If White tries to continue the attack, the queen ends up trapped.} 26. Qh8+ $4 Ke7 27. Rc7+ Ke6 $19) 25. Kg2 Rc8 ( 25... Bd6 {The bishop should be activated.} 26. Rd1 Qc8 27. h4 Re8 {Was better, slowly rearranging Black's pieces to better positions.}) 26. Rxc8+ Qxc8 27. Qd5 {Black's position, while probably objectively fine, is definitely harder to play. White's pieces are almost ideally placed while Black's still quite passive.} Ke8 28. h4 $1 {Slowly improving and looking to fix Black's pawns on dark squares.} Qd7 29. Qg8+ {Obviously White doesn't want to exchange queens} Bf8 30. Qc4 h5 {While this stops h5, the pawn ends up being a weakness} 31. Kh2 $1 {Avoiding checks on the long diagonal.} Be7 32. b3 Kf8 33. Qc2 Bd6 34. Qe4 Bc5 $6 {With low time, Goryachkina errs. I think that it would be easier to defend with the bishops on the board, since the pawn on c5 becomes a weakness. Now the position becomes even trickier, since Goryachkina has a good few weaknesses (c5, h5, eventually a7) that Ju can target.} (34... Qe7 {The bishop endgame is fine for Black.} 35. Qh7 Qe6 {Black can create some complications.} 36. Qxh5 Qxb3 37. Qg4 Qd5 {Threatening the exchange of bishops, after which I would actually prefer Black in the queen endgame.}) 35. Bxc5+ bxc5 36. a5 Qe7 37. Qa8+ Kf7 38. a6 {The advance of the a-pawn was crucial, and now the winning plan is clear. White wants to gradually bring her king in, and at the right time, will exchange queens with Qb7. Black needs to play precisely to avoid the losing king and pawn endgame.} g6 39. Qd5+ Kg7 40. Qb7 Kf8 $6 { Not the right idea, conceptually. Black needs to play actively, otherwise White can just execute her plan with the winning king and pawn endgame. A possible variation was given by Dejan Bojkov:} ({"Black's only chances for survival was connected with the active play. Therefore:} 40... Kf7 $1 {should have been played. Then the plan that Ju used later in the game:} 41. Kg2 { Can be met with:} f5 $1 42. Kf3 Kf6 43. Qxe7+ (43. Kf4 Qe5+ 44. Kf3 Qe7 { only repeats moves.}) 43... Kxe7 44. Kf4 Kf6 45. f3 {For a moment it seems as Black is in zugzwang, but she has the wonderful resource:} g5+ $3 46. hxg5+ Kg6 {And it is White who has to find a draw with:} 47. g4 fxg4 48. fxg4 h4 49. Ke3 Kxg5 50. Kf3 h3 51. Kg3 h2 52. Kxh2 Kxg4 53. Kg2 Kf4 54. Kf2 Ke4 55. Ke2 Kd4 56. Kd2 {"}) 41. Kg2 Ke8 42. Qa8+ Kf7 43. Qd5+ Kg7 44. Kf3 Kf8 45. Qb7 Ke8 $4 { Losing.} (45... Qd8 {Was also possible, and the a-pawn is untouchable. Black just needs to avoid the queen trade when White's king is on f3.} 46. Qxa7 Qd5+ 47. Ke2 Qe4+ $11) (45... g5 {The main defensive idea in the position. After this, Black is completely fine.} 46. hxg5 fxg5 47. Qxe7+ (47. Kg2 Kf7 48. Qf3+ Kg6 49. Qb7 Qf7) 47... Kxe7 48. Ke3 Ke6 49. Ke4 g4 $11) 46. Qd5 $4 {Missing the win.} (46. Qxe7+ $1 {This was the right moment for the exchange.} Kxe7 47. g4 $18) 46... Kf8 47. Kf4 Qc7+ 48. Ke3 Qc8 49. Qb7 Qd8 50. Kf3 {Black is nearly in zugswang. She wants the queen to be kept on the d-file for Qd5+ if White takes on a7, but there are no good squares.} (50. Qxa7 Qd4+ 51. Kf3 Qd5+ 52. Ke2 Qe4+) 50... Qe7 $2 (50... Qd6 $2 51. Qa8+ {And Black loses the pawn with check.}) (50... Qd3+ $2 51. Kg2 {The queen can't protect the a7 pawn and there are no more checks.}) (50... g5 $2 51. hxg5 fxg5 52. Kg2 {With the double threat of Qxa7 and Qf3 followed by Qxh5.}) (50... Ke8 $1 {The only move. } 51. Qc6+ (51. Kg2 Qd7) 51... Kf7 52. Qb7+ (52. Qxc5 $2 Qd3+) 52... Kf8 { And the a-pawn is still untouchable.}) 51. Qxe7+ $1 {Ju takes her chance and now the endgame is winning.} Kxe7 52. g4 $1 Kd6 (52... hxg4+ {Doesn't save Black since White can create a passed h pawn.} 53. Kxg4 Kd6 (53... Ke6 54. f4 f5+ 55. Kg5 Kf7 56. h5 gxh5 57. Kxh5 $18) 54. f4 Ke6 55. f5+ gxf5+ 56. Kf4) 53. gxh5 gxh5 54. Ke4 Kc6 (54... Ke6 55. Kf4) 55. f4 Kb5 56. Kd5 $1 {Avoiding Black's last trick.} (56. Kf5 {Too slow.} Kb4 57. Kxf6 Kxb3 58. Kg6 c4 59. f5 c3 60. f6 c2 61. f7 c1=Q 62. f8=Q) 56... f5 (56... Kxa6 57. Kxc5 $18) 57. Kd6 Kb6 58. Kd7 $1 Ka5 59. Kc7 Kxa6 60. Kc6 Ka5 61. Kxc5 Ka6 62. b4 Kb7 63. Kd5 { A great game by Ju, who displayed impressive technique and now takes the lead with this win. Excited to see what the rest of the match holds!} 1-0 [/pgn]
Categories
Archives
- November 2024 (1)
- October 2024 (35)
- September 2024 (23)
- August 2024 (27)
- July 2024 (44)
- June 2024 (27)
- May 2024 (32)
- April 2024 (51)
- March 2024 (34)
- February 2024 (25)
- January 2024 (26)
- December 2023 (29)
- November 2023 (26)
- October 2023 (37)
- September 2023 (27)
- August 2023 (37)
- July 2023 (47)
- June 2023 (33)
- May 2023 (37)
- April 2023 (45)
- March 2023 (37)
- February 2023 (28)
- January 2023 (31)
- December 2022 (23)
- November 2022 (32)
- October 2022 (31)
- September 2022 (19)
- August 2022 (39)
- July 2022 (32)
- June 2022 (35)
- May 2022 (21)
- April 2022 (31)
- March 2022 (33)
- February 2022 (21)
- January 2022 (27)
- December 2021 (36)
- November 2021 (34)
- October 2021 (25)
- September 2021 (25)
- August 2021 (41)
- July 2021 (36)
- June 2021 (29)
- May 2021 (29)
- April 2021 (31)
- March 2021 (33)
- February 2021 (28)
- January 2021 (29)
- December 2020 (38)
- November 2020 (40)
- October 2020 (41)
- September 2020 (35)
- August 2020 (38)
- July 2020 (36)
- June 2020 (46)
- May 2020 (42)
- April 2020 (37)
- March 2020 (60)
- February 2020 (38)
- January 2020 (45)
- December 2019 (35)
- November 2019 (35)
- October 2019 (42)
- September 2019 (45)
- August 2019 (56)
- July 2019 (44)
- June 2019 (35)
- May 2019 (40)
- April 2019 (48)
- March 2019 (61)
- February 2019 (39)
- January 2019 (30)
- December 2018 (29)
- November 2018 (51)
- October 2018 (45)
- September 2018 (29)
- August 2018 (49)
- July 2018 (35)
- June 2018 (31)
- May 2018 (39)
- April 2018 (31)
- March 2018 (26)
- February 2018 (33)
- January 2018 (30)
- December 2017 (26)
- November 2017 (24)
- October 2017 (30)
- September 2017 (30)
- August 2017 (31)
- July 2017 (28)
- June 2017 (32)
- May 2017 (26)
- April 2017 (37)
- March 2017 (28)
- February 2017 (30)
- January 2017 (27)
- December 2016 (29)
- November 2016 (24)
- October 2016 (32)
- September 2016 (31)
- August 2016 (27)
- July 2016 (24)
- June 2016 (26)
- May 2016 (19)
- April 2016 (30)
- March 2016 (36)
- February 2016 (28)
- January 2016 (32)
- December 2015 (26)
- November 2015 (23)
- October 2015 (16)
- September 2015 (28)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (6)
- June 2015 (1)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (1)
- February 2015 (3)
- January 2015 (1)
- December 2014 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- October 1991 (1)
- August 1989 (1)
- January 1988 (1)
- December 1983 (1)