In the spotlight, women chess stars put on a show at Cairns

The ladies have the spotlight all to themselves this week as women’s world champ GM Ju Wenjun of China and nine of the planet’s most accomplished female players are battling it out at the second annual Cairns Cup tournament at the St. Louis Chess Club.

With a bit of a lull in the international tournament circuit and the top male players gearing up for next month’s FIDE Candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, Russia, it’s a welcome chance to focus on the skills and fighting spirit of Ju and her sisters. And with just four rounds in the books through Monday’s play, we already have a couple of fine games to showcase, one an attacking gem and one a positional brilliancy.

Ukrainian GM Mariya Muzychuk, one of two former women’s world titleholders in the field, demonstrated the power of the rook lift in her Round 2 game against Indian star GM Humpy Koneru. The bishops of opposite colors actually help White’s attack, as Black can’t cover a slew of dark squares on the kingside.

On the White side of this Petroff, after 11. Rb1 Nxd3 12. cxd3 b6, Muzychuk alertly redeploys her rooks to the kingside before Black can activate her own major pieces: 13. Rb4! Bf5 14. Qf3 c5 15. Rf4 Bg6 16. h4 h5 17. g4!, and already things are getting uncomfortable for Koneru’s king.

When Black misses the best defense — 18…Qg5!, and Koneru can hold it together in tricky lines such as 19. Rxf7 Qxg4 20. Rxf8+ Rxf8 21. Qxg4 hxg4 22. e6 Rf3!, when Black can even claim an edge after 23. e7?! Rxd3 24. e8=Q+ Bxe8 25. Rxe8+ Kf7 26. Re1 Rxc2 — White finds a powerful put-away volley: 23. Rf4 Bh5 (see diagram; like the Black queen’s rook, the White bishop is still on its home square, but it is contributing far more to the party) 24. e6! fxe6 (f5 25. Rg3 Bg4 26. Rgxg4 fxg4 27. Rf7 is painful) 25. Rg3 Kh7 26. Rh4 Qf7 27. Rg5 Rg8 28. Kf1!, a nice Karpovian touch, avoiding 28. Rhxh5+?? gxh5, with a pin on the White rook, while demonstrating Black’s helplessness.

It ends on 28…Qf3 29. Rhxh5+ (a simple but satisfying combinational cap to White’s fine play) gxh5 30. Qc7+ Kh8 (Kh6 31. Rg7+ Qf4 32. Bxf4 mate) 31. Qe5+ Kh7 32. Rxh5+ Kg6 33. Qg5+ Kf7 34. Rh7+, and Black resigns just ahead of 34…Rg7 35. Qxg7+ Ke8 36. Qe7 mate.

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A round later, Indian GM Harika Dronavalli demonstrated some nice situational awareness in her positional win over Russian former women’s world champ Alexandra Kosteniuk from the Black side of a Ruy Lopez.

The game may well have been “decided” after 24. Rab1 bxc4 25. dxc4?! (Rxc4 Nd6 26. Rcc1 Rfc8 is no picnic, but at least Black is denied an immediate protected passed pawn) Nf6 26. Qf3 Re8, as Dronavalli’s monster passer on d4 colors the play for the rest of the game.

White must devote more and more resources to controlling what Aron Nimzovich famously called the passed pawn’s “lust to expand,” but the blockading effort just leaves her vulnerable elsewhere on the board.

After 32. Qxd2 Rde6 33. Qa5 Qc6 34. f3, Black breaks it open with the perfectly timed 34…f5 35. e5 Rxe5 36. Rxe5 Rxe5 37. Rb3 Kh7! — Black has won a pawn, snuffed out her opponent’s counterplay and dominates the all-important e-file.

White’s desperate attempts at a diversion only leave her king fatally vulnerable: 38. Qd8 (Qb6 Qe8! 39. Qxa6 Re1+ 40. Kg2 Qe2+ 41. Kh3 Qf1+ 42. Kh4 g5+ 43. Kh5 Qh3 mate) Qe6 39. Ke2 Re2+ 40. Kh3 f4+ 41. g4 Re3! — with her king sheltered from checks, Black has no fear of the dreaded queen-and-pawn ending.

After 43. Rxe3 fxe3 44. Kg3 d3 45. Qd8 d2 46. h4 Qg6, Kosteniuk resigned; 47…Qc2 is next up and the heroic d-pawn will reach the promised land.

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It’s just a minor footnote in a scary global crisis, but the chess world is not proving immune to the fallout from the coronavirus epidemic that originated in China and has spread to countries around the world. Chinese GM Wei Yi was forced to pull out of this week’s Prague Masters tournament in the Czech capital because the cancellation of international flights prevented his travel.

A bigger problem may be looming: Chinese GMs Ding Liren and Wang Hao are slated to participate in next month’s FIDE candidates tournament in Yekaterinburg, with Ding one of the favorites to emerge as the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen. ChessBase.com reported that FIDE officials are already scrambling to make sure the Chinese stars have the visas and travel connections in time for the tournament’s March 15 opening.

Muzychuk-Koneru, 2nd Cairns Cup, St. Louis, February 2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Bxe5 10. dxe5 Nc5 11. Rb1 Nxd3 12. cxd3 b6 13. Rb4 Bf5 14. Qf3 c5 15. Rf4 Bg6 16. h4 h5 17. g4 Qxh4 18. Qg2 Qe7 19. gxh5 Bxh5 20. Re3 Rfe8 21. Qh2 g6 22. Rf5 Bg4 23. Rf4 Bh5 24. e6 fxe6 25. Rg3 Kh7 26. Rh4 Qf7 27. Rg5 Rg8 28. Kf1 Qf3 29. Rhxh5+ gxh5 30. Qc7+ Kh8 31. Qe5+ Kh7 32. Rxh5+ Kg6 33. Qg5+ Kf7 34. Rh7+ Black resigns.

Kosteniuk-Harika, 2nd Cairns Cup, St. Louis, February 2020

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3 d6 9. a3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. b4 Bxa2 12. Nxa2 Nc6 13. Re1 Qd7 14. c4 Rab8 15. Nc3 Nd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Ne2 c5 18. bxc5 dxc5 19. Nf4 Ne8 20. Bd2 Bg5 21. Qh5 h6 22. Rec1 Rc8 23. g3 Rc6 24. Rab1 bxc4 25. dxc4 Nf6 26. Qf3 Re8 27. Re1 Ng4 28. Rb3 Ne5 29. Qe2 Rd6 30. Nd3 Nxd3 31. Rxd3 Bxd2 32. Qxd2 Rde6 33. Qa5 Qc6 34. f3 f5 35. e5 Rxe5 36. Rxe5 Rxe5 37. Rb3 Kh7 38. Qd8 Qe6 39. Kg2 Re2+ 40. Kh3 f4+ 41. g4 Re3 42. Qb8 Qc6 43. Rxe3 fxe3 44. Kg3 d3 45. Qd8 d2 46. h4 Qg6 White resigns.

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