Britain gets a princess, but chess has a new queen

Britain, as you may have heard, has a new princess. But chess has a new queen.

In a title bout featuring two Chinese grandmasters, Ju Wenjun last week dethroned reigning women’s world champion Tan Zhongyi in a hard-fought 10-game match by a score of 5½-4½.

The match marks the latest chapter in a remarkable dynasty. Ju becomes the sixth Chinese woman to hold the world crown since GM Xie Jun first claimed the title in 1991. That list includes GM Hou Yifan, currently the world’s highest-rated woman, who now competes solely in open competitions against the best male players.

Ju won the match with a flurry of three wins in four games starting in Game 2, forcing Tan to play catch-up for the rest of the match. We pick up the action from Game 5 from the diagrammed position, where Ju as Black is about to launch the attack that would give her a 2-point lead. In a Bishop’s Opening, Black is already a pawn to the good and her nimble knights now run circles around White’s bishop pair.

Play continued: 28…Nh4! 29. Qd3 (to stop the threatened 29…Nf3+) Ng6! 30. Be3 Qh5 31. c4? (White has no time for this, but the defense would also have been tough on 31. Qd4 Nh4 32. Bf4 Qg4 33. Bxe4 dxe4 34. Bg3 [Rxe4?? Qxg2 mate] Nf5) Ne5 32. Qd4 Rg6, and all of Black’s pieces are in position for the final assault.

The finale: 33. Bxe4 (Rf2 Nf3+ 34. Rxf3 Qxf3) dxe4 34. Kf1 (Kh1 Nf3! 35. gxf3 Qxf3+ 36. Rg2 Qxg2 mate) Nf3! (anyway!) 35. Qd7 (gxf3 Qh3+ 36. Kf2 Qxf3 mate) Nxh2+, and White resigned facing 36. Kg1 (Kf2 Qh4+ 37. Kg1 Nf3+ 38. Kf1 Qh1+ 39. Bg1 Qxg1 mate) Nf3+ 37. Kf2 Qh4+ 38. g3 Qxg3+ 39. Kf1 Qh4 and wins.

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If GM Sam Shankland is buying a lottery ticket, offer to go halvsies.

The U.S. “Big Three” — GMs Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So — may have to make room for a fourth. Following up on his stunning upset win in the U.S. national championship tournament last month (ahead of Caruana, Nakamura and So), Shankland has just scored another big win, becoming the first American player to capture the prestigious Capablanca Memorial tournament, which has been held in Cuba since the 1960s.

The 26-year-old Californian won going away in the all-GM field, finishing undefeated at 7½-2½, 1½ points ahead of veteran Russian GM Alexey Dreev. He modestly described the Havana event as his “second completely ridiculous result in a row,” but Shankland’s rating is expected to surge above 2700 and put him in the FIDE world top 30.

As in his U.S. title-winning drive, Shankland played strong, sensible chess in Cuba, never getting into real trouble and efficiently beating the lower half of the crosstable. Against Russian GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov, Shankland steadily increases his positional advantage in this English Opening, and after 14. bxc4 Qc8?! (an unnecessarily clunky idea; safer was 17…Bb7 15. Nb5 a6 16. Nc3 Nf5) 15. Nb5 Na5 (Bxb5 16. cxb5 Na5 17. Ne5 is good for White) 16. Nd2! (staying away from 16. Nxa7?! Qb8 17. Nb5 c6 18. Bxe7 Rxe7 19. Na3 Red7, and Black has good central pressure for the lost pawn) Qd7 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. axb3, White has stitched his pawn structure back together with a clear positional edge.

White’s play is a textbook illustration, a la Nimzovich, of the passed pawn’s “lust to expand:” 27. d6 bxc5 28. bxc5 cxd6 29. Rxd6 Qc7 30. Rxd8 Qxd8 31. Qa4!, hitting the pawn on a6 and the vulnerable e8-square. With Black’s forces consumed with containing the passed White c-pawn, Shankland pounces with 37. Rd8+ Kh7 38. Rxc8 gxf4 39. Qd7! (suddenly Black’s f-pawn and Black’s king find themselves under fire) fxe3 40. Rb8 (safely getting to time control, but 40. Rh8+! Bxh8 41. Qxf7+ Bg7 42. c8=Q is decisive) exf2+ 41. Kg2 Qe3 42. Qxf7!, covering the f3-square and forcing resignation as the pawn will queen after 42…Qf3+ 43. Qxf3 exf3+ 44. Kxf3.

Shankland-Rakhmanov, 53rd Capablanca Memorial, Havana, May 2018

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. d4 Nc6 6. O-O Nge7 7. e3 O-O 8. Nc3 b6 9. Qe2 Ba6 10. b3 dxc4 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Rac1 Qd7 13. Rfd1 Rad8 14. bxc4 Qc8 15. Nb5 Na5 16. Nd2 Qd7 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. axb3 Nc8 19. d5 e5 20. Nc3 Nd6 21. Qa2 Bc8 22. b4 a6 23. c5 Nb5 24. Nxb5 Qxb5 25. Qc2 e4 26. Bf1 Qd7 27. d6 bxc5 28. bxc5 cxd6 29. Rxd6 Qc7 30. Rxd8 Qxd8 31. Qa4 h5 32. Rd1 Qe7 33. c6 Qc7 34. Bd6 Qb6 35. c7 Re6 36. Bf4 g5 37. Rd8+ Kh7 38. Rxc8 gxf4 39. Qd7 fxe3 40. Rb8 exf2+ 41. Kg2 Qe3 42. Qxf7 Black resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.