Without much interest the West the match for the Women's World Chess Championship took place in the first half of April in Shanghai and Chongqing. Well, no wonder. It was a contest between Chinese female players; after all, about the same attentively the Chinese public followed the almost endless tournament in the game called freestyle, which was hosted in Paris at the same time. The match was supposed to consist of 12 games, but this time the world champion Ju Wenjun set such a pace that it ended after just the 9th game. I certainly would not have paid so much attention to the match for the women's chess crown if it were not for the high technique in the endgames that Ju Wenjun demonstrated (with only one exception). The world champion, who has reigned since 2018, is slowly becoming the Magnus of the women's game. By coincidence, the two most beautiful examples concerned the topic analysed on our pages: the fight between Bishop and Knight.
Let’s get acquainted – a brief walk through the world champion’s career
November 2018 – a new world champion took the throne! Who will be the next challenger?
The battle begins. How did it end?
As we can see, the world champion faltered already in the second game. That game also became not only the best performance of the challenger Tan Zhongyi but also an excellent teaching material to supplement knowledge of rook endgames.
After the second game, I really thought the match could be balanced!
Are you familiar with technical rook endgames?
Below I will dare to present to you, dear readers, two similar rook endgame positions and pose two fundamental questions!
One of the positions actually occurred in the second game of the match. However, I will not yet reveal the names of the opponents who reached the position in the added diagram.
In both cases, it is Black to move, and I will therefore pose the following questions:
- Which of the two positions is more favourable for the defending side?
- How do you think the encounter would have ended if all four players from the diagram positions had played completely accurately? That is, made objectively strongest moves?
You can watch the first four games of the match in the analysis by Sergej Makarychev.
Engines like Artificial Intelligence?
We can cut bread with a knife, but just as easily kill someone. Well, it’s similar with everything in our life. I remember a famous episode with my favourite action hero Steven Seagal (Glimmer Man, 1996) 🙂
„A "useful" credit card can also…
A few weeks ago I came across information, or rather a statistical fact: Over the last 5 years the average IQ of youth and children in the collective West has dropped by more than 10 points! Don't believe it? For example: remember which year of primary school you learnt the times tables?!... Now to the context. In the crucial 5th game of the match, with the score at 2-2, the challenger decided to use a less common line in the Paulsen variation of the Sicilian. That is, to surprise her opponent with a minority approach.
Now to the context. In the crucial 5th game of the match, with the score 2-2, the challenger decided to use a less common approach in the Paulsen Variation of the Sicilian. That is, to surprise the opponent with a minority approach According to the live broadcast and timing, it seems highly likely that the novelty.
According to the live broadcast and the timing, it seems highly probable that the novelty was invented by the world champion behind the board. Certainly it is not an illogical move, but above all it seems to have decided not only the result of this game, but quite possibly the further clear course of the second half of the match!
was invented by the world champion behind the board. Surely it is not an illogical approach, but mainly it seems that it decided not only the result of this game but very likely the further clear course of the second half of the match!
How would you recommend Black to continue?. How would you recommend Black to continue?
For stronger players, this extensive game certainly deserves a more detailed analysis! Below, I therefore offer Makarychev's analysis, and in the viewer (with download option) also my own analysis.
In fact, it is only in the detailed analysis below that readers will find a clear answer as to why I considered it necessary to address the harmful influences of engines and AI in the near future. Specifically, this concerns the verbal commentary on White's 10th move!
Bishop or Knight?
The most beautiful 8th game of the match with a study-like ending has just begun. Tan Zhongyi chose the Vienna Game. A truly rare guest in matches for the chess crown!
It is no coincidence that many people – even those who were almost lifelong staunch atheists – gradually become wiser and begin to notice phenomena and connections that previously completely escaped them. I have a closer connection to the branch of mathematics called stochastics (probability theory and mathematical statistics), and I have not forgotten everything from school. So I notice what seem to me to be only apparently random phenomena.
Let us return, however, to the short match for the chess crown: the endgames of the seventh and eighth games seem to want to fit additionally into my works, which I published on the relationship between Bishop and Knight on the chess school website in two parts in February and May 2024.
Finally, the performance of the world champion in both endgames not only became the driving force behind this contribution, but also prompted me to take a closer look at Ju Wenjun's play. In the examples, which ended with the Bishop vs. Knight score at 1-1 🙂, we can once again verify the validity of the rule formulated in my works. 3xBest. I remind you that this serves us to better assess positions in which these two different pieces encounter each other!
The position on the left diagram, which arose in the 7th game, leaves no doubt about the total superiority of the Knight over the unfortunate Bishop. I remind you that this situation is called dominance! To achieve such a state of total Knight superiority, we always need the help of another piece that can challenge the long-range Bishop. perfectly lull to sleep! When I saw this position, I of course remembered Aron Nimzowitsch, but above all I recall how long (and in vain) I once searched for a suitable position of Knight dominance from a practical game while creating my training materials. Back then it all ended with me simply having to resort to a diagram. Practical examples just would not satisfy me.
The position of the second diagram appeared in the 8th game, which also became the highlight of the entire match! According to the rule 3xBest the Bishop is the stronger piece here, dominating the short-legged Knight. The rule states such situations favourable to the bishop:
- an open character of the position;
- imbalance on the wings, i.e. the assumption of a simultaneous clash on multiple fronts, and finally again –
- a position of Bishop dominance over the Knight!
Test task: How would you continue with Black in the position of the right diagram?
Before we take a closer look at both nice games, I allowed myself to present readers with two tasks. An easier and a harder one. So let’s get to it!
The challenger has just played 35...Bb7.
How would you respond with White and how would you then evaluate your prospects?
Let’s go to the finale!
Let’s move on to the harder test! White after 45.Nd4 covered the pawn on f3 and the king is already greedily eyeing the pawn on c2.
It is certain that White did what they could to save the game. On the 4th and indeed also the 5th rank they built a protective barrier and it might seem to some that they created a fortress! How would you continue with Black and which variations would you possibly rely on?
Short several-minute analyses of the 7th and 8th games can be viewed on my favourite Ukrainian-Russian channel of Alexey Pugachev:
However, for readers who want to delve deeper into the topic, I recommend studying a more detailed analysis with the option to download it to your device. Here you can of course also find answers to the questions posed above.
Coronation of the long-standing world champion
Ju Wenjun loves Fischer (favourite book)...
The likeable 34-year-old five-time world champion took home a very respectable prize from the half-million euro prize fund - €300,000.
All examples are again available in the CB viewer:
