Women's World Ch: Lagno takes the lead

by André Schulz
11/20/2018 – Kateryna Lagno took the lead over World Champion Ju Wenjun in the Women's World Championship final with a win in the second match game today. The score stands at 1½:½ in favour of the Russian, with two games to play. Before Tuesday, Ju had won all five of her matches without losing a single game. | Photos: Official site
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Two games remain

The Women's World Championship 2018 will probably be the last time the title is decided in the form of a knockout tournament. After FIDE spent several years alternating between KO and match play, the new FIDE leadership now wants to adjust the format to be more in line with the absolute World Championship and, to that end, FIDE recently published new rules for a Candidates Tournament to be held in 2019 (PDF).

Of the 64 women who travelled to Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, to fight for the title of Women's World Champion, there are now just two remaining — Kateryna Lagno and defending champion Ju Wenjun. Ju won the title in May 2018 after winning a match over her compatriot Tan Zhongyi. If she loses the ongoing final, she would earn the dubious distinction of being the world champion with the shortest tenure in the history of the title.

The difference in Elo rating between the two players is small, so it is hard to call Ju (2570) a favourite against Lagno (2564) — especially now that Lagno has the lead in their short four-game match. 

Ju Wenjun has a tough task ahead

Monday's opening game of the match ended with a draw. But already Lagno missed a golden opportunity in the middlegame:

 
Ju vs Lagno, Game 1
Position after 23.Kg2

Lagno played 23...Qd5 inviting a queen exchange into an equal endgame. But Black could go on the attack with 23...Rg8+ 24.Kh3 Qc2! when White is one misstep away from serious trouble.

Later the advantage shifted in Ju's direction, in the rooks and minor pieces ending but not enough to garner her serious winning chances.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 c6 5.e4 d5 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.e5 Ne4 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.Bg2 Bg4 10.f3 Nxc3 11.Nxc3 A novelty in a rare line. 11.bxc3 weakens the white pawn position, but supports the white centre. After this exchange we arrive at an interesting position with mutual chances. Be6 12.f4 Qb6 13.Bxd5 Rd8 14.Bxe6 fxe6 An unusual position: the black bishop is almost locked out of the game, but White's king is exposed and d4 is weak. 15.Be3 Qxb2 16.Ne2 Bh6 With the threat of 17...Nxe5. 17.Bf2 g5 Black wants to free the bishop, but now her king is also exposed. 18.Rb1 Qa3 Black probably didn't want to get involved with 18...Qxa2 19.Nc3 Qc4 20.Qh5+ Kd7 but after 21.Ne2 gxf4 22.Qxh6 f3 the position looks balanced. 19.Qb3 Qa5+ 20.Kf1 gxf4 21.gxf4 Rf8 22.Qf3?! This position is fantastically complicated and White opts for the "safe" way, covering the f4 pawn. More energetic was 22.Qxe6 Bxf4 23.Rxb7 but the white king does not look to happy after Qa4 Even so, White keeps a small edge, according to engines, with 24.Kg2 22...Qxa2 23.Kg2 Qd5?! Now Black falls back on safety and swaps queens. More aggressive and better was 23...Rg8+ E.g. 24.Kh3 Qc2 25.Qh5+ Rg6 26.Rhg1 Qd3+ 27.Kh4 Kd7 28.Rxb7+ Kc8 29.Rb2 In this unusual position, engines give Black only a small advantage, but the exposed white king and Black's passed a-pawn are very concrete trumps. 24.Qxd5 Rxd5 25.Rxb7 Bxf4 26.Rc7 Nd8 27.Rxa7 Rd7 28.Ra8 Rb7 29.Rha1 Bh6 30.R1a2 Kf7 31.Rc2 Kg6 32.Ra3 Kg7 33.Rg3+ Kf7 34.Rf3+ Ke8 35.Rh3 And again White plays it safe. After 35.Rxf8+ Kxf8 36.Ng3 Rb3 37.Ne4 Ke8 38.Rc8 Ju had one final chance, e.g. Kd7 39.Ra8 Rb5 40.Nc5+ Kc7 41.Ra7+ Kc6 42.Kf3 and White is nearly winning 35...Rg8+ 36.Rg3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ju,W2568Lagno,K2556½–½2018WCh Women 20186.1

The start of Game 2

On Tuesday, Lagno managed to squeeze an advantage out of an endgame with rook and opposite-coloured bishops, and as the players approached move 40, Ju began to drift into trouble. Soon, Lagno seized upon the right idea to press her edge:

 
Lagno vs Ju, Game 2
Position after 45...Rd7

46.a6! fixing the a7-weakness and creating an anchor on b7 for White's rook. The a-pawn will soon drop off after which Black is lost.

Ju Wenjun has two more games to try to strike back.

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Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson
Johannes Fischer contributed reporting

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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