Xie Jun cruises ahead

By P. K. Ajith Kumar

NEW DELHI, DEC. 12. Giving a little room to Xie Jun in her present form is like giving Sourav Ganguly an inch outside the off stump on a flat wicket. She will smash you, forcing you to run for cover. She did that on Tuesday in the first game of the final in the women's World chess championship at Hyatt Regency against compatriot Qin Kanying.

The defending champion, with white pieces, thus went up 1-0 with three more classical games and the tie-breakers, if necessary - to be played in the final. But the way she has dominated this event, who knows, she might not even need all those games to defend her crown.

But, to be fair to Kanying, she herself has done wonderfully to clinch a place in the final, ahead of many much more fancied players. A comeback from her cannot be easily dismissed, but it should begin on Wednesday, when she will have the white pieces. Today, though, was not just her day.

It was Ruy Lopez Open variation, and, interestingly, the game went along the same line as Jun's 1996 World title match against Zsuzsa Polgar till the 16th move. That game, in which also Jun was white, was drawn.

Jun had exchanged the queens on the 14th move. On the 16th move, Black brought her rook to `d5, intending to take the `e5 pawn.

Jun deviated from her 1996 game by pushing her `c3 pawn forward, threatening the rook. It was a good move. That forced Kanying to take that pawn with her `b pawn. Then, on the 18th move, Black erred by bringing her dark squared bishop to `c5, and traded with its opposite number on the 19th move. Her idea seemed to create doubled pawns in the centre for White, to balance her own similar weakness on the queen-side. She should have rather captured the `e5 pawn.

It was going to be an uphill task from Black thereafter. White's knight was advancing menacingly, and she forced a rook exchange on the 23rd move.

Kanying was now totally on the defence, had too many weak pawns and had little counter play. She gave one of the doubled pawns on `c' on the 25th move, but that hardly helped.

On the 29th move, Jun gave her rook temporarily, only to get it back with a knight check, forking the already dead rook on `h8'. So Black king had to go all the way back to kill that knight, while Jun brought her own king towards the centre and advanced her pawns.

By the 38th move, she had her king on `c5,' and it was now zugzwang for Black. She finally gave up in that hopeless situation on the 41st move.

``I was expecting a stiffer fight towards the end from Qin,'' said Jun later. ``But it definitely was not easy, and she was well prepared as her present trainer used to be my second earlier.''

lThe result (final, game one): Xie Jun (Chn 2568) bt Qin Kanying (Chn 2501).

Kanying Qin of China (left) jots down a move against Xie Jun of China on the first day of the women's World championship in New Delhi on Tuesday.

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