[Event "FIDE Women's World Chess Championship"] [Site "Shanghai, China"] [Date "2023.07.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Lei, Tingjie"] [Black "Ju, Wenjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2554"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackElo "2564"] [BlackTeam "China"] [Annotator "WGM Tatev Abrahamyan"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C67"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Rio Gambit Accepted"] [StudyName "2023 Women's World Championship"] [ChapterName "Lei, Tingjie - Ju, Wenjun (Tatev)"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/DIriaEIZ/F86zHHK1"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 { While Lei Tingjie plays both 1. e4 and 1. d4, she had consistently chosen to start with 1. d4 throughout the entire Candidates cycle. } 1... e5 { Ju Wenjun is also a Sicilian player, but most likely wanted to be solid in the first game of the match. If Lei sticks to 1. e4, it will be interesting to see whether Ju sticks to 1. ... e5. } 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 { Ju has been quite consistent in her choice of the Berlin Defense in her most recent games. } 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 { White avoids the Berlin endgame. } (5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 { The famous Berlin Endgame which we see quite often in top events. }) 5... Nd6 { Surprisingly, Lei has only one game in the database in this line. She played 6. a4 against her countrywoman Tan Zhongyi in 2019, and the game eventually ended in a draw (on move 109!). } 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 { So far, the players are following standard theory for this line. } 11. Nc3!? { This enterprising pawn sacrifice has been tried by Caruana, once by Vachier-Lagrave and, recently, twice by Jorden Van Foreest. } 11... Rxe1 { Ju took her first think of the game, and after five minutes, decided to grab the pawn. } 12. Qxe1 Bxd4 13. Bd3 { The idea behind this pawn sacrifice is to make development difficult for Black and pose some practical issues to solve. In order for Black to finish her queenside development, she either has to move the knight and the d pawn or try to fianchetto the bishop. Both of those moves run into trouble, which means that Black has to secure the kingside first. } (13. Bf4 { was MVL's choice as well as Caruana's. Now, Lei follows "JVF." }) 13... Bxc3 { After another six-minute think, Ju decides to give up the bishop pair in order to finish her development. } (13... Ne8?? { will run into } 14. Qe4 $18 { winning. }) (13... b6 14. Nb5! { is a nice idea. White is removing the defender, as the d6-knight is covering the e4-square. } 14... Nxb5 15. Qe4 Bf6 16. Qxa8 $18) 14. Qxc3 Ne8 15. b3 d5 { A novelty. Based on the time management of the players, it is safe to assume that Ju was not familiar with this line and had to find her moves over the board, while Lei was blitzing out her preparation. } (15... d6 { has been tried once. The Black king found himself under attack there, but is no better off here. } 16. Bb2 Be6 17. Qb4 Bd5 18. Qf4 Nf6 19. Re1 Be6 20. Re3 Kf8 21. c4 Nh5 22. Qf3 Nf6 23. Qxb7 Ng4 24. Rg3 Rb8 25. Qe4 Qg5 26. Qxh7 Ke7 27. Qxg7 Qd2 28. Rf3 Qe1+ 29. Bf1 Nxh2 30. Kxh2 Qxf1 31. c5 Qd1 32. c6 { was JVF's victory in Van Foreest – Firouzja, Zagreb, 2022. }) 16. Bf4 Be6 17. Re1 Qd7 18. a4 Nd6 19. Re3 { White takes her first think in the game, spending over 10 minutes on this move. The challenger has put all her pieces on their optimal squares and is now looking to cause some problems for Black on the kingside. } 19... Ne4 { After a long 20-minute think, Ju Wenjun tries to clarify the matters with this committal move. } (19... Nf5 { I am not sure how Lei would have reacted to this logical move. Perhaps she would have repeated with } 20. Re1 (20. Rh3!? { is on par with what White has been doing so far. Now both 21. Qc7 and 21. g4 are threats. }) (20. Bxf5 Bxf5 21. Qe1 Be6) 20... Nd6 { then chosen another move, such as } 21. h4 { with lingering pressure. }) 20. Qxc7 Qxc7 21. Bxc7 Nc5 { Black would be happy to trade the knight for the d3-bishop and enter an opposite-colored bishop endgame. } 22. Bf1 { Naturally, White wants to hang on to the bishop pair. } 22... Rc8 23. Be5 Nd7 24. Bd3 Nc5 (24... Nxe5 25. Rxe5 g6 26. f4 { Although the engine evaluates this position as equal, practically speaking this is an unpleasant endgame for Black due to the isolated pawn and the worse minor piece. White will eventually get the king to d4 and will try to create more weaknesses with the f4-f5 pawn push. }) 25. Be2 Nd7 26. Bc3 { White naturally avoids a repetition as the bishop pair will give her fighting chances in the endgame. } 26... a6 (26... d4 { getting rid of the weak pawn is worth the consideration: } 27. Bxd4 Rxc2 28. h4 (28. Bxa7 { A strong engine finds a brilliant idea here for Black: } 28... Rc1+ 29. Bf1 b6! { trapping the bishop! White's pieces are completely paralyzed } 30. f4 Kf8 { with the threat of ... Rc1-c7! } (30... Rc7 { the immediate attempt to get the bishop runs into } 31. f5! Bxf5 32. Re8+ Nf8 33. Bxb6 $18 { winning. }) 31. a5 { White already has to look for ways to liberate the trapped piece. } 31... bxa5 32. Kf2 Nf6 { Ju would have been quite happy with this outcome as the trade of the a- and b- pawns is coming. }) 28... b6 { when this looks like a solid set up for Black, as the knight will head to the d5-square. } 29. b4 Nf6 30. a5 Nd5 31. axb6 axb6 32. Ra3 f6 { The b-pawns will likely be traded off soon, and the shrinking board will help Black's chances. }) 27. h4 Nf8 (27... d4 { is still possible. Now, } 28. Bxd4 Rxc2 29. a5 { and, compared to the previous position where Black's pawn structure featured pawns on a7 and b6, now White has a grip on the pawn structure on the queenside. If White manages to trade rooks, Black's queenside might just fall. Black has to tread carefully here. For example: } 29... Rc1+ 30. Kh2 Rb1 31. Bf3 Rxb3 32. Rxb3 Bxb3 33. Bxb7 Bc4 34. Kg3 $16 { Now the advantage of the bishop pair becomes clear as the dark-squared bishop dominates the knight and slows down Black's king-march to the queenside by attacking the g7-pawn. }) 28. g4 f5? { This is an understandable decision by Black, who is looking for some activity and doesn't want to get steamrolled by White's pawns on the kingside. } 29. gxf5? { White misses a huge opportunity! } (29. Bb4! { Taking advantage of the fact that the bishop on e6 is now loose. As an added bonus, White's own bishop is now on a more secure square. It turns out that the threat of Bb4xf8 is extremely difficult to deal with: } 29... Kf7 (29... f4 { is a critical move that needs to be calculated accurately. } 30. Re5 Kf7 { is dangerous, as it is played with the threat of ... Nf8-d7, trapping the rook. } 31. Bxf8! Rxf8 32. g5 { Black is really tied down here as she doesn't have a way of getting the king to d6. Her most natural moves fail tactically, which means that she has no choice but to suffer here. It is already difficult to suggest good moves. } 32... Rd8 (32... Rc8?? 33. Rxe6 Kxe6 34. Bg4+ $18) (32... Ke7?? 33. Bg4 $18) 33. a5 { White is not in a hurry and can fix the pawn structure on the queenside. } 33... Rd6 { Black can try waiting. } 34. Kg2 { The most natural moves for White lead to picking up one of Black's pawns: } 34... Rd8 35. Kf3 $18 { and White is much better. }) 30. gxf5 Bxf5 31. Re7+ Kf6 32. c4! { This is more accurate than immediately grabbing the pawn as it stops the black rook from entering on the second rank. } (32. Rxb7 Rxc2 33. Bxa6 $16 { White has good chances here too, but the passed d-pawn is quite advanced and White's king is not safe. }) 32... dxc4 (32... d4 33. Rxb7 Re8 34. Bf3 $18 { is winning by denying the rook any entry squares on the e-file. }) 33. Bxc4 $16 { The bishop pair and the active rook give White a huge advantage. White will soon win a pawn on the queenside. }) 29... Bxf5 30. Bf3 Be4 { Black is counting on tactics to make this work as she is saddling herself with a very weak e-pawn. } 31. Bxe4 dxe4 32. Bb4 Re8 (32... Rxc2 { This is a difficult decision for Black to make. } 33. Rxe4 Rc8 { This is forced, as there is no other way to save the knight from the ... Rc8-e8 threat. } 34. h5 { Again, even though the engine evaluates this position as equal, practically it is difficult to enter a passive endgame. }) 33. Bxf8 { Lei decides to look for chances in the rook endgame. } (33. f3 { White can win a pawn by force here with } 33... Ng6 34. Be1 Ne5 35. fxe4 Rc8 36. c4 Rd8 { , but Black maintains a strong blockade with the knight and should be able to hold this endgame. }) 33... Kxf8 34. Kf1 Kf7 35. Ke2 Kf6 36. Rg3 (36. Rc3 { was interesting, with the idea of placing the king on e3. } 36... Re7 37. Rc5 Ke6 38. Ke3 Rf7 { Now that White's king is the piece that wants to capture on e4, the black rook attacks the pawn that the king is defending. } 39. Rc4 Rf3+ 40. Ke2 Ke5 41. Rc7 b5! { Black has a way to hold the draw here } 42. axb5 axb5 43. Rxg7 Rc3 44. Kd2 Rf3) 36... b5 37. axb5 axb5 38. Rg5 Rc8 39. Kd2 Rd8+ 40. Ke3 Rc8 41. Rxb5 Rxc2 42. b4 { After the simplifications, Black now makes a draw without any trouble. } 42... Rc3+ 43. Kxe4 Rc4+ 44. Kf3 Rxh4 45. Rb6+ Kg5 46. Rb7 g6 47. b5 Rb4 48. Rxh7 Rxb5 49. Kg3 Rb3+ 50. f3 Kf6 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2