[Event "WCh Women 2025"] [Site "Shanghai Chongqing CHN"] [Date "2025.04.03"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Ju, Wenjun"] [Black "Tan, Zhongyi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2561"] [BlackElo "2555"] [PlyCount "77"] [GameId "2162583463752286"] [EventDate "2025.04.03"] {[%evp 0,77,11,25,-9,18,33,29,15,15,14,10,12,9,17,6,26,31,18,22,2,-37,7,37,31,19,32,23,27,-61,21,18,13,37,12,12,27,9,-43,0,1,4,4,4,21,22,-39,0,4,-160,-8,0,-62,0,-4,-10,-76,-8,-6,-7,-8,-4,-10,-13,-12,-9,-1,-2,-1,0,0,-1,-2,-1,0,0,33,-1,29,-1]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 (5. Nc3 {is usual, but the text has become a popular alternative.}) 5... Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bf4 (7. O-O d5 8. Nd2 {(or 7.Nd2 and then 8.0-0) is more common.}) 7... d5 8. Nd2 g6 (8... Be7 9. O-O O-O {and now most players have gone for 10.e5, but with Carlsen and Ding having opted for} 10. c4 {I'd pay some attention to it as well if I were Black in this line. This is a standard idea that can also be seen in the Kan Sicilian and the 3...c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 line of the Tarrasch French.}) 9. Bg5 {Only played once before.} (9. c3 {has been usual in this still uncommon variation.}) 9... h6 $146 ({The immediate} 9... Be7 {allows} 10. Bh6 {, which is exactly what happened in the one earlier game. That said, it's not clear that this is such a big deal, and the engine thinks Black is completely equal and then some after} e5 11. h3 Bf8 12. Bxf8 Kxf8 13. O-O Kg7 $11 {/?, so while Tan's move isn't bad it may be a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.} 14. Re1 Re8 15. c4 Rb8 16. cxd5 cxd5 17. exd5 Qxd5 18. Nc4 Ba6 19. b3 Rbd8 20. Bf1 Qd4 21. Qc2 Nd5 22. Rad1 Qc5 23. Qb2 f6 24. Rc1 Qf8 25. Red1 Bc8 26. Na5 a6 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Rxd5 e4 29. Qd4 Rc1 30. Nc4 Re7 31. Rd6 Rf7 32. Qd2 Ra1 33. Rxa6 Qc5 34. Rd6 Qa7 35. a4 Qb7 36. Qb2 Re1 37. a5 Qb4 38. Qd2 Rxf1+ 39. Kxf1 Qxb3 40. Ne3 Qb1+ 41. Qe1 Qa2 42. Kg1 Ra7 43. Qc3 {1-0 Heimann,M (2467)-Zeltsan,J (2417) Washington op 11th Rockville 2024 (8)}) 10. Bh4 Be7 11. O-O a5 {A typical move in such structures. Black will put a heavy piece on the b-file at some point, and if b3 Black can play ...a4. It also makes ...Ba6 possible, aiming to swap his bad-ish bishop.} 12. Qe2 {Developing and preventing ...Ba6.} O-O 13. Rad1 Nd7 {Looking to get rid of both White bishops: the dark-squared bishop immediately and the light-squared bishop via ...Nc5 or ...Ne5.} 14. Bxe7 (14. Bg3 Nc5) 14... Qxe7 15. c4 {We've seen this idea already. White will saddle Black with an(other) isolated pawn somewhere or other (Black will be stuck with an isolated pawn, but can choose whether it'll be on d5 or c6) and hope to make the rest of the game about Black's weaknesses.} ({It's possible that} 15. Nf3) ({and} 15. c3 {offer better prospects for an edge.}) 15... Ne5 16. exd5 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 cxd5 18. Qe3 (18. cxd5 {is neither winning nor losing material.} Ba6 19. Nc4 exd5 20. Qxd5 Rfd8 21. Qc6 (21. Qe5 $4 Qxe5 22. Nxe5 Bxf1 $19) 21... Rdc8 22. Qd6 Qxd6 23. Nxd6 Rc2 24. Rfe1 Rxb2 $11) 18... Qg5 19. Qxg5 hxg5 20. cxd5 exd5 21. Rfe1 {After this move, Black has no problems whatsoever.} (21. Nf3 {may not give White the advantage, but it gives her the chance to fight for one.}) ({Likewise,} 21. Nb3 {gives White the chance to fight for a plus. It's "equal", but Black has do all the work to prove it. The d5-pawn is weak, Black's bishop is lacking opportunities, White's knight can be a great blockader on d4, etc. Additionally, some endings are clearly better and even potentially winning because of the possibility of creating an outside passed pawn.}) 21... Rb8 $1 22. b3 (22. Nb3 a4) (22. Rb1 $4 Bf5) 22... g4 $1 {White's knight can't get to d4 - at least not in any timely and direct manner. Meanwhile, Black will execute her mini-minority attack with ...a4, liquidate the queenside, and coast to a draw when the only remaining pawns are on the kingside.} 23. Nf1 a4 $1 {A good (if standard) temporary pawn sacrifice.} 24. bxa4 Rb4 25. a5 Ra4 26. Rxd5 Be6 27. Rc5 Rxa2 28. Ne3 Ra8 {The rest is unnecessary, except to appease the arbiter if there's a ban on one player offering the other a draw.} 29. Nd5 R8xa5 30. Rxa5 Rxa5 31. Nf4 Bf5 32. h3 gxh3 33. Nxh3 Bxh3 34. gxh3 Kg7 35. Kg2 Rg5+ 36. Kf3 Rf5+ 37. Kg2 Rg5+ 38. Kf3 Rf5+ 39. Kg2 {Repeating moves is the standard way of getting around the ban (if there is one in this case) against offering a draw. A good, solid start to the match for both players.} 1/2-1/2