Women’s World Championship: Ju fails to convert big advantage

Switching strategies

Ju Wenjun had switched to the Caro-Kann Defence with black and was clearly on winning after Lei Tingjie’s attacking plans on the kingside came to nothing. In fact, it was Ju who put real pressure on the opposite king with a battery of rook and queen on the second rank, while already two pawns to the good.

Out of the blue, however, Ju offered an exchange of queens: Lei accepted the offer, and in the ensuing position, the two extra black pawns were not enough to win the game. Instead of a potential 3½-3½ after the game, Lei continues to have a 1-point lead going forward!

Lei Tingjie2554

½–½

Ju Wenjun2564

WWCCM 2023 Chongqing15.07.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.Qe2 Ngf6

In this position with 64 reference games, Lei now plays an uncommon move. 12.0-0 Almost exclusively had been played 12.Bd2 intending to castle long. 12...Be7 13.Rd1 0-0 14.c4 Qa5 This is not the best choice. After 14...Qb6! 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.d5 cxd5 17.cxd5 Bc5= the weak e6-square remains protected. 15.Bf4 This is quite tame. Better was 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.d5 and after cxd5 17.cxd5 Black loses a pawn, but gets some compensation in the form of slightly better placed pieces. 15...Rad8 16.Rd3 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nh7 18.Ne4 Rxd3 19.Qxd3 Bxh4 20.Nd6

The lack compactness of the white position has resulted in the loss of a pawn, but now it is her who has the compensation in this case. 20...Qb6 21.Qe2 Rd8 22.Be3 Qc7 23.Qh5 Bg5 24.f4 g6 25.Qf3 Be7 26.c5 b6 27.b4 bxc5 28.bxc5 Rb8

All pretty much only moves. 29.g4?! This is rather optimistic. White may dominate the centre, but the b8-rook (and also the black queen) has a lot of room to manoeuvre. 29.Rc1= 29...Qa5 30.Rf1 30.f5? Ng5-+ 30...Qc3

The move g2-g4 proves to be rather useless. 31.Ne4? White continues to look for attacking chances, but they don't actually exist. The move creates new possibilities for the e7-bishop. At the same time, the white minor pieces look shaky. 31.Rf2 Rb1+ 32.Kg2 31...Qd3 32.Kg2 Rb2+ 33.Bf2 After 33.Rf2 Rxf2+ 34.Nxf2 Qa3 White's lack of coordination would lead to further material losses. 33...Qd5

Here Black was clearly winning - computers would have an easy time converting, but it's surely complicated for a human! 34.Rd1 Qxa2 Two extra pawns and two major pieces on the second rank! 35.f5 But all the same: Undaunted, Lei puts the previously conceived plan into action. exf5 36.gxf5 gxf5 Stronger was 36...Ng5! 37.Nxg5 Bxg5 with an obviously winning position. 37.Qxf5 Qe6? A weak move. After the exchange of queens, White is two pawns down, but she no longer has to worry about king security. Black also has weak pawns, and White can now attack them with her active pieces. 37...Nf8!-+ 38.Qxe6 fxe6 39.Rd7 Bh4 40.Kf1 Bxf2 41.Nxf2 a5 42.Ra7 Rb5 43.Nd3 Ng5 44.Ra6 Kf7 45.Rxc6 Rb3 46.Ke2 a4 47.Ra6 a3 48.Nf4 Rc3 49.c6 Ke7 50.Kd2 Rc4 51.Nd3 Kf7 52.Rxa3 Rxc6

White's chances of winning have evaporated. 53.Nf4 Rc4 54.Ra7+ Kf8 55.Nh5 Nf3+ 56.Ke3 Nxe5 57.Nf4 Rc6 58.Ke4 Nc4 59.Ng6+ Ke8 60.Kd4 Nb6 61.Re7+ Kd8 62.Rh7 Nd7 63.Rxh6 e5+ 64.Nxe5 Rxh6 65.Nf7+ ½–½

Lei Tingjie after escaping with a draw | Photo: Stev Bonhage

All games

Links

• FIDE website
• Lei Tingjie convincingly wins the Women’s Candidates Final
• Ju Wenjun: An insider's view of the match for the Women's World Championship 2020