[Event "WCh Women 2025"] [Site "Shanghai Chongqing CHN"] [Date "2025.04.16"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Ju, Wenjun"] [Black "Tan, Zhongyi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2561"] [BlackElo "2555"] [PlyCount "76"] [GameId "2167391809414331"] [EventDate "2025.04.03"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,76,17,22,14,31,21,17,22,27,27,28,37,-12,41,32,42,29,34,0,31,53,31,11,-6,8,8,26,37,26,22,27,33,36,69,60,313,67,47,31,7,7,19,19,6,153,6,13,2,0,48,12,23,6,1,121,1,4,16,0,0,-2,-1,4,1,15,8,5,-15,1,8,-125,1,-1,-46,0,1,-1,-1]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 (5. d4 {was Ju's choice in her previous white game. She won, but got nothing from the opening.}) 5... Nd4 (5... a6) ({and} 5... Ng6 {are important alternatives.}) 6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. c3 a6 8. Bf1 {The bishop retreats this way (rather than to a4 as in the Ruy) is so that ...b5 will leave Black's queenside pawns vulnerable after a2-a4.} Nc6 9. Na3 (9. b4 {is the main move (and probably best), followed by Na3 and/or Bb2.}) 9... Be7 (9... Bxa3 $6 10. bxa3 $14 {is a bad deal for Black, as White's dark-squared bishop has especially good prospects given all the dark-squared gaps in Black pawn structure.}) (9... Bc5 {, on the other hand, is (by far) the main line.}) 10. Nc2 d5 11. Nxd4 $146 ({The only GM vs. GM predecessor went like this:} 11. exd5 Qxd5 12. g3 O-O 13. Bg2 Qd7 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Nxd4 c5 16. Nf3 Bb7 17. d4 cxd4 18. Nxd4 Rfd8 19. Qe2 Bc5 20. Be3 e5 21. Nf3 Bd6 22. Nd2 f5 23. f3 h6 24. Rad1 Qf7 25. Nc4 Bc7 26. b3 f4 27. gxf4 Qh5 28. Rxd8+ Rxd8 29. Nxe5 Bxe5 30. fxe5 Bxf3 31. Qf2 Rf8 32. Qg3 Bd5 33. Rf1 Rxf1+ 34. Kxf1 Qd1+ 35. Kf2 Qc2+ 36. Ke1 Qxc3+ 37. Bd2 Qa1+ 38. Ke2 Qxa2 39. b4 Qc4+ 40. Kf2 Qd4+ 41. Qe3 Qh4+ 42. Qg3 Qe4 43. Qf4 Qd3 44. Qe3 Qc2 45. Qc3 Qf5+ 46. Ke1 Qe4+ 47. Qe3 Qh1+ 48. Ke2 Qxh2+ 49. Kd3 Qh5 50. Kd4 Qg6 51. Kxd5 Qe8 52. e6 Qb5+ 53. Kd6 Qb8+ 54. Kc6 Qc8+ 55. Kb6 Qd8+ 56. Kxa6 Qd6+ 57. Kb5 Qd5+ 58. Ka4 Qa2+ 59. Kb5 Qd5+ 60. Kb6 Qd6+ 61. Kb7 Qd5+ 62. Kc7 Qc4+ 63. Kd6 Qa6+ 64. Kc5 Qa7+ 65. Kc4 Qa2+ 66. Kd3 Qd5+ 67. Ke2 Qg2+ 68. Ke1 Qh1+ 69. Kf2 Qh2+ 70. Kf3 Qh3+ 71. Ke4 Qxe6+ 72. Kd4 Qb6+ 73. Kc3 Qc6+ 74. Kb2 h5 75. Qd4 Qg2 76. Kb3 Qg4 77. Qxg4 hxg4 78. b5 {1-0 Klimkowski,J (2520)-Ibarra Jerez,J (2567) Titled Tuesday intern op 07th Nov Early Chess.com INT blitz 2023 (6)}) 11... Nxd4 12. cxd4 dxe4 13. d3 exd3 14. Bxd3 $11 {White has a lead in development and more mobility, while Black can dream of collecting the d-pawn someday. The chances are level.} O-O (14... Bd7 $1 $11) 15. Be4 Bf6 16. Be3 g6 17. Qb3 {Not best if White is trying to win, but Ju is happy to allow her opponent to equalize - provided it's a dull equality.} (17. Rc1 $142 $14) 17... Bxd4 18. Rad1 e5 19. Bxd4 exd4 20. Qb4 a5 21. Qxd4 Qxd4 22. Rxd4 {The game and match are essentially over at this point. The position is simple and simplified, the structure is highly symmetrical, and whatever minimal edge exists is had by White. Maybe Magnus Carlsen could somehow defeat Ju from this position, but Tan - who is of course an excellent player in her own right - won't.} Be6 23. Bd5 Rfd8 24. Red1 Rac8 25. Kf1 {Avoiding back rank mating worries.} Rd6 26. Bxe6 Rxe6 27. Rd8+ Rxd8 28. Rxd8+ Kg7 29. Rd7 {I don't know if there are rules prohibiting draw offers in this match, or if Tan didn't want to make such an offer because it would mean giving up the match. Whatever the case, Black plays on until the game ends in a repetition.} b6 30. g4 Kf6 31. Rb7 h5 32. gxh5 gxh5 33. Kg2 Kg6 34. Kg3 f6 35. h4 Kf5 36. Rh7 Kg6 37. Rb7 Kf5 38. Rh7 Kg6 {White will play 39.Rb7, bringing about a position that has already appeared on the board for a third time. The game and match are now over and Ju Wenjun has retained her title.} 1/2-1/2