Xie Jun enters semifinals

By P.K. Ajith Kumar

NEW DELHI, DEC. 7. Alisa Galliamova believes she got a raw deal in last year's World title match against Xie Jun. ``I was very much against the idea of playing in the final in China,'' the Russian said yesterday. But in this championship, no player can complain that Xie Jun has been given any unfair advantage. The way she plays here, she doesn't need any of them either.

Jun entered the semifinals of the women's World chess championship, by drawing with Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine. She thus won the round 1.5-0.5. Also through to the last four is Ekaterina Kovalevskaya of Russia, after settling for a draw with Peng Zhaoqin of the Netherlands, which gave her a 1.5-0.5 victory.

Interestingly all the four games today were drawn. That means Corina Peptan of Romania and Qin Kanying of China and Almira Skripchenko-Lautier of Moldovia and Alisa Maric of Yugoslavia will have to play the tie-breakers on Friday for the two remaining berths in the semifinals.

In a game she had to win the young and ambitious Zhukova began with a queen's pawn push, to which Jun replied with her pet King's Indian Defence. It was a Samisch variation this time, and the Ukrainian did get the better of the opening. After the 15th move, she had a pair of bishops, and her pieces generally were better placed.

Jun, however, was not prepared to give her rival any room, playing cautiously and correctly. After 26 moves, it was queen, rook and knight against rook, queen and knight with equal number of pawns and the game headed towards a draw. ``I thought the game was drawn from that point, '' said Jun later, ``but she wanted to play on, and I did not mind.''

The rooks were exchanged on the 30th move. Then on the 49th move, a desperate Zhukova sacrificed her knight for two pawns, but that did not help much. After the queens were exchanged on the 59th move, she brought her king to `f3' on the next move, chasing black's `d4' pawn, and offered a draw. ``I was only happy to accept it,'' said Jun, who looked relieved that she does not have to play tomorrow, before the semifinal games begin on Saturday.

Kovalevskaya, the 11th seed, may have surprised many by reaching this far in the World championship, but she is the Russian champion and runner-up in the European championship. She adopted King's Indian Defence against Zhaoqin and got the draw required after 47 moves. The game, a rook and knight ending, was drawn by repetition of moves. Black, a pawn up, had got a better position after Zhaoqin failed to capitalise on a promising beginning. On the 18th move she could have put more pressure on the king-side by taking her bishop to `d3' instead of taking her knight to `e6'. Black played solidly and worked herself into a comfortable position.

Alisa Maric, who adopted French Defence, sacrificed her knight early in the game for two pawns but that did not prove enough. Neither could white make the best out of the material advantage and she had to draw the game by perpetual checks after 42 moves. Two moves earlier, she was forced to give the piece back.

Corina and Kanying drew a Ruy Lopez game after 62 moves.

The results (quarterfinals, game two): Natalia Zhukova (Ukr) 0.5 drew with Xie Jun (Chn) 1.5; Peng Zhoaqin (Ned) 0.5 drew with Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (Rus) 1.5; Corina Peptan (Rom) 1 drew with Qin Kanying (Chn) 1; Almira Skripchenko-Lautier (Mda) 1 drew with Alisa Maric (Yug) 1.

Xie Jun of China, who moved into the semifinals of the women's World chess championship beating Natalia Zhukova of Ukraine on Thursday.

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