The Chinese chess championship in Xinghua, China, showcased moments of brilliance.
WOULD you give an arm and a leg to even play half as well as the winner of this game? I would. From the Chinese chess championship in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, China, earlier this month comes this fantastic game.
Xiu Deshun is not to be scoffed at. Although he is still without any international chess title, not even that of an international master, Xiu’s rating of 2508 points ranks him in China’s current list of top 20 players. Besides, he had won the Thailand open chess championship two years ago.
However, Xiu came undone while playing against Zhao Jun who is one of China’s chess grandmasters. This game is the stuff which gets shown again and again anywhere in the world as an example of brilliance. Just bring out your chess set and enjoy it.
Zhao Jun (rated 2580) – Xiu Deshun (rated 2508), Chinese chess championship, Xinghua, China, 2011
Diagram One1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Ne2 Ba6 9.e4 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 d6 13.f4 Na5 14.fxg5 hxg5 15.0-0 Nh5 (From this point onwards, the game gets interesting. But first, before we continue with the game, it is to be noted that two of Black’s minor pieces are basically out of play on the queenside and his kingside pawns have been irreversibly weakened.)
16.Bxd6!! (See Diagram One. This piece sacrifice comes right out of the blue. It works not because of White’s bravado but because of great inspiration. His instinct tells him to go completely for broke in this game.)
16…Qxd6 17.e5 Qe7 18.Ng3 (This move would be a bit more difficult to see. Usually, a player would be quite loathe to exchange off pieces during an attack. Piece exchanges can only help the defender. And yet, here is White offering to swap knights.)
18…Nxg3 19.Rf6!! (See Diagram Two. This position deserves a diagram. Now we know why White was willing to exchange the knights: he wanted to remove Black’s last defending piece, especially its defence of the f6 square. Once the knight was gone, this rook move drives a wedge into Black’s position. The black king is stranded. Since it’s almost impossible to find safety, there is no escape route.)
19…Kg7 (Black tries to create a flight square for the king after he moves away the rook from the f8 square. However, as the game shows, this plan doesn’t work. Another alternative for Black is to exchange off more pieces and hope to relieve the pressure with 19…Bxc4 20.hxg3 Bxd3 21.Qxd3 but unfortunately, it doesn’t work, too.)
20.Qg4 (The rest of the game basically plays by itself. Again, do note that Black’s bishop and knight on the queenside are still offside and incapable of doing anything much. Black’s priority is to protect his king but his rook is a poor defender. White simply needs to throw all his remaining big pieces – the queen and the other rook – into the attack.)
20…Rg8 21.hxg3 Nb7 (Black’s next few moves see him trying to defend the f7 pawn and simultaneously open an escape route for the king to the queenside. However, White ignores everything that Black does and continues with his game plan to build up the pressure. Double the rooks on the f-file, totally seize the d3-h7 diagonal. White doesn’t even need to capture the g5 pawn yet.)
22.Raf1 Nd8 23.Qe4 Qb7 24.d5 (Great move, in my opinion.) 24…Rh8 25.Qg6+! fxg6 (25…Kf8 26.dxe6 and 27.Rxf7+ follows next. No escape for Black.) 26.Rxg6+ Kh7 27.Rxg5+ Kh6 28.Rg6+ Kh7 (28…Kh5 29.g4+ Kh4 30.Rf3 and it’s checkmate next.) 29.Rg4+ Kh6 30.Rf6+ Kh5 31.Rh4+ 1-0 (The net is complete: 31…Kg5 32.Rg6 mate.)