Scacchi in technicolor

Quando nel 1996 a Budapest si incontrarono il Presidente della FIDE Kirsan Iljumzhinov e l’ex Campione del Mondo Robert James Fischer, la conversazione si incagliò presto sull’avvenire dei Fischerandom. Il ras calmucco, per tema di resistenze ambientali, si riprometteva di introdurli sommessamente, un passo alla volta, e l’irascibile Fischer s’inalberò: “Teach people to play new chess, right away. Why do you offer them a black and white television set, when there is a set in colour?”⁽¹⁾.

Ma l’ambiente resisteva. Eccome se resisteva! Se Anatolij Karpov accolse gli scacchi di Fischer con freddezza: “Ne soffre un po’ l’armonia del gioco”, altri colleghi, come per esempio il Grande Maestro svedese Ulf Andersson, furono più categorici: “Mi rifiuto di discuterne anche solo per scherzo. È una cosa molto stupida”. S’incaricò di seppellirli, comunque, Garry Kasparov, il quale, in un’intervista al sito russo ChessPro nel 2004 sentenziò: “il 95 per cento delle 960 posizioni, in tutta sincerità, è veleno per gli occhi”.

Anche il Guru dell’analisi scacchistica Mark Dvoretskij, nel suo interessantissimo articolo “Polemic Thinking (Part Two)” rimprovera agli scacchi di Fischer di non esaudire in tutte le 960 posizioni il quintessenziale concetto di “geometria scacchistica” intrinseco alla magica posizione numero 518. Interessante l’esemplificazione:

Levon Grigori Aronian – Étienne Bacrot
Magonza, 2005
[FEN "rkrbnqbn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RKRBNQBN"]
Posizione 941

Commenta Mark Dvoretskij. 1. e4 e5 2. Cd3 Cg6?! 3. f4 Af6? (3. ... Cf6) 4. Cc5 Td8 5. Db5 Cd6 6. Cxd7+ Txd7 7. Dxd7 e il Bianco ha trasformato la sua Qualità in più in una vittoria.

Chiosa Dvoretskij: “Tutto molto curioso e divertente – ma nulla di più. Il livello di gioco qui dimostrato dai Grandi Maestri non è molto diverso – per attingere un esempio dagli scacchi tradizionali – dagli sforzi, più o meno riusciti, di sfruttare la debolezza in f7 nella posizione classica e rifilare il ‘matto del barbiere’. Naturalmente dobbiamo tener conto del fatto che a Magonza le partite si disputavano a cadenza rapida; sospetto però che anche con un controllo del tempo classico la qualità di gioco non si sarebbe granché elevata”.

Sono le stesse ragioni per cui Bobby si è inventato i suoi Fischerandom, cioè per “rinfondere spontaneità” agli scacchi (ipse dixit), come spiegò anche in un’intervista dal carcere giapponese nel 2004: “No, non gioco più a scacchi, gioco a Fischerandom. Sono un gioco molto migliore, con più sfida. Gli scacchi sono morti, esauriti. I Fischerandom sono una versione di scacchi che ho sviluppato o inventato io [...]. Sono un gran gioco, e possono diventare lo standard degli scacchi”.
Chissà...

⁽¹⁾ Svetozar Gligoric, “Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?”, B.T. Batsford Ltd, Londra, 2002, p. 71.

By the Sea

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Antoaneta Stefanova
8th Russian Women’s Team Chess Championship; Dagomys, May 9, 2007
Spanish Game C78

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Bb7 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Bd5 exd4 13. cxd4 0-0 14. Nc3 b4 15. Ne2 Rab8!?TN (15. ... Na5 16. Bxb7 Nxb7 17. Qd2 Qe6 18. Ng3 a5 19. Rfe1 d5 20. exd5 Qxd5 21. Re5 Qd7 22. Rae1 Rae8 23. Nf5 Rxe5 24. Rxe5 Nd6 25. Ne7+ Kh8 26. b3 Nc8 27. Nd5 f6 28. Nxb6 cxb6 29. Re3 Rd8 30. h3 Ne7 31. Nh4 Nf5 32. Nxf5 Qxf5 33. Rd3 Qd5 ½ : ½ Movsesian – Malaniuk, 33rd Chess Olympiad, Elista 1998) 16. Qd3 Rfe8 17. a5 Nxa5 18. Bxb7. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who was then only 13 years of age, shows an amazing tactical acuteness. If 18. Rxa5 there would have followed 18. ... c6! (18. ... Bxa5? 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 20. Qxa6+−) 19. Bxf7+ Qxf7 20. Rf5 Qe7 with a complex but balanced game. 18. ... Nxb7 19. Rxa6 Nd8

20. b3 Qg6 21. Ng3 d5 22. Ne5 dxe4 23. Qb5 (23. Nxe4 Qf5=) 23. ... Qe6. “In hindsight, it’s just too easy to recommend 23. ... c6 24. Qxb4 Rxe5 25. Rxb6 (25. dxe5 is unplayable due to 25. ... Bxf2+) 25. ... Rxb6 26. Qxb6 Rd5”, International Master Ilya Beniaminovich Odesskiy wrote in his notes for the Chess Federation of Russian web site. 24. Nd7 Rb7? Tougher was 24. ... Qc6! 25. Qxc6 Nxc6 26. Nxb8 Rxb8 27. Nxe4 Nxd4 with good chances of compensation. 25. Nc5 c6

26. Qxb6 Rxb6 27. Nxe6 Rxa6 28. Nc7 Ra3 29. Nxe8 Rxb3 30. Nd6 e3 31. fxe3 Rxe3 32. Rb1 b3 33. Ngf5 Rd3 34. Ne4 Ne6 35. Ne7+ Kh7 36. Nxc6 Nxd4 37. Nxd4 Rxd4 38. Nc5 Rc4 39. Nxb3 Rc2 40. Nd4 Ra2

41. Rb7 Kg8 42. Nf3 Ra5 43. Kf2 Ra2+ 44. Kg3 Ra5 45. h4 g6 46. Rb4 Kg7 47. Kf4 Rc5 48. Ne5 Rc1 49. Rb7 Rf1+ 50. Ke4 Re1+ 51. Kd5 Rd1+ 52. Ke4 Re1+ 53. Kf4 Rf1+ 54. Nf3 Ra1 55. g4 Ra4+ 56. Kg3 Ra5 57. Nd4 Rd5 58. Nf3 Ra5 59. Rd7 Rc5 60. Nd2 Rc3+ 61. Kf4 Rh3 62. Nf3 Rh1 63. Ne5 Rf1+ 64. Ke4 Kg8 65. Kd5 Rf4

66. Kd6. The enfant terrible doesn’t bait the hook: 66. Rxf7?? Rxf7 67. Nxf7 Kxf7 68. g5 Ke7!! 69. Ke5 h5 is only a draw. 66. ... Rf6+ 67. Kc7 Rf4 68. Kd8 Kg7 69. Ke8 Kf6 70. Re7 h5 71. g5+ Kf5 72. Rxf7+. Now it’s okay. 72. ... Kxe5 73. Rxf4 Kxf4 74. Kf7 Kf5 75. Kg7 Kg4 76. Kxg6 Kxh4 77. Kf5 1 : 0.

Time and Chance

许昱华 (Xǔ Yùhuá) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2nd “火炬地产杯” (“Torch Real Estate Cup” Chinese Chess League; 北京 (Běijīng), April 4, 2006

Sicilian Defence B52

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. 0-0 Nf6 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. Rd1 e6 8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 0-0 10. c4. 10. c3 Rac8 11. Na3 b6 12. d4 cxd4 13. cxd4 d5 is fine for Black, Galego – David, Zonal Tournament, Linares 1995. 10. ... e5! 11. Nc3 Nd4 12. Qd3 Qg4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. f3 Qg6 15. Ne2 Rfe8 16. Ng3 Bf8 17. Rf1

17. ... d5! 18. Rac1. Of course, 18. cxd5? Nxd5 is very much in Black’s favour. 18. ... a6 19. Qe2 dxe4 20. fxe4 Qg4 21. Rf3 Qe6 22. Rcf1 Nd7 23. Bc1. 23. Rxf7 Nf6 forces White to give up the Exchange for an uncertain compensation. 23. ... g6. More accurate seems 23. ... f6 followed by ... g7-g6. 24. d3. White could win the Queen and a Pawn for two Rooks by 24. Rxf7, but it wouldn’t be an easy game for her anyway. 24. ... f6 25. h4 Qg4?! (25. ... h5∞) 26. h5!→ Bg7 27. Qe1 Qh4? The Queen stands badly here. 27. ... Qe6 was better and quite good.

28. h6! Bf8 (28. ... Bxh6? 29. Nf5!+−) 29. R1f2? White misses 29. Qa5 (Δ Qa5-d5+) 29. ... b5 30. Qc7 breaking through with powerful effect. 29. ... Qg4 30. Rf1 Qe6 31. Nh1 b5 32. Qh4 Be7 33. Ng3 (33. g4) 33. ... bxc4 34. dxc4 (34. bxc4) 34. ... Bf8 35. Bd2? White ought to continue with Ng3-h1-f2-d3. Now Black easily shatters her opponent’s Queenside. 35. ... a5! 36. a4 Ra6 37. Kh2 Rb8 38. Nh1 Rab6 39. Qg3 Nc5 40. Qe1

40. ... Nxb3? (40. ... Be7!−+) 41. Bxa5? 41. Rxf6! Qxc4 42. Rxb6 Rxb6 43. Bg5! gave White enough for the Pawn. 41. ... Nxa5 42. Qxa5 Bxh6 43. Rxf6 Qxf6 44. Rxf6 Rxf6−+ 45. g3 Rb2+ 46. Kh3 Rf1 47. Qd5+ Kh8 48. Qxe5+ Bg7 49. Qe8+ Bf8 50. Qe5+ Bg7 51. Qe8+ Rf8 52. Qd7 h5 53. Qd5 Rf1 54. e5 Rbb1 55. e6 Rxh1+ 56. Kg2 Rhg1+ 57. Kh3 Rge1 58. a5 Re2 59. a6 Rbb2 60. Qh1 Ra2 61. g4 Ra3+ 62. Kh4 Bf6+ 63. g5 Be7 64. c5 Rxa6 65. c6 Bd6 66. e7 Ra8 0 : 1.

Under the Earth, Above the Sky

11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer was buried almost secretely on Monday, January 21, 2008 in the Christian cemetery of Laugardælir Church near the southern Icelandic town of Selfoss, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Reykjavík.
In accordance with Fischer’s wishes, no one else was present except Miyoko Watai and Garðar Sverrisson and his family.

Restless Journey

Just a confirmation. “The Girls’ section saw four players finishing with nine out of 13, with the Gold won by 17- year-old Chinese WGM 沈阳 (Shěn Yáng). Second place and the Silver went to Chinese wunderkind, 12(!)-year-old 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), and Salome Melia from Georgia won the Bronze medal”, FIDE Master Aviv Friedman wrote on Chess Life, January 2007, p. 35.

Tatev Abrahamyan – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
24th World Junior Chess Championship Girls U-20; Yerevan, October 16, 2006
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 0-0 10. 0-0-0 Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 b4 13. Ne2 Ne8 14. f4 a5 15. f5 a4 16. fxe6 axb3 17. exf7+ Rxf7 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Kxc2 Nb6. Also after 19. ... Rxa2 there would follow 20. Nc1 with even better effect than in the game.
20. Nc1 d5 21. exd5 Nd6 22. Kb1 Nbc4 (22. ... Rf3 23. h4 Na4 24. Qe2 Rg3? 25. Bf2 Rc3 26. Qxe5 Nxb2 27. Bd4 Bf8 28. Kxb2 Rf3 29. Bd3 Kh8 30. Qe2 Rf4 31. Qh5 Nf5 32. g6 1 : 0 Topalov – Vallejo Pons, 22nd Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares, Linares 2005)
23. Bxc4 Nxc4 24. Qe2 Nxe3 25. Qxe3 (25. g6 Nxd1 26. gxf7+ Kxf7 27. Rxd1 Bd6 28. Qe4 Kg8 29. Rf1 Qa5 30. Rf3 Rc8 31. Qf5 Qc7 32. Nb3 g6 ½ : ½ Zambrana – Vera González-Quevedo, 40th Capablanca Memorial, Havana 2005)
25. ... Bxg5 26. Qb3 Qd6

27. Rhe1? It is certainly not an improvement on 27. Nd3 e4 28. Nxb4 Rf2 29. Rdf1 Rxf1+ (29. ... e3! would give Black powerful compensation for the Pawn) 30. Rxf1 Rb8 31. a3 Bd2 32. Qc4 Bxb4 33. axb4 Qxb4 34. Qxb4 Rxb4 35. d6 Rd4 36. Rf4 g5 37. Rg4 h6 38. h4 Kg7 39. hxg5 h5 40. Rh4 Kg6 41. d7 Kxg5 42. Rxe4 Rxd7 43. Kc2 h4 44. b4 h3 45. Re1 h2 46. Rh1 Rh7 47. Kc3 Kf4 48. Kc4 Kg3 49. b5 Kg2 50. Rxh2+ Rxh2 51. Kc5 Kf3 52. b6 Ke4 53. b7 Rb2 54. Kc6 Rxb7 55. Kxb7 ½ : ½ Afshari – Ibrahimov, 2nd Iranian Team Chess Championship, Tehran 2005.
27. ... Rfa7! 28. Re4 Bxc1 29. Rxc1 (29. Kxc1 Rxa2 30. Rxb4 Qh6+ 31. Kc2 Qxh2+ 32. Rd2 Rc8+ 33. Kb1 Qxd2 34. Kxa2 Ra8+−+)
29. ... Rxa2

30. Rc6 Ra1+ 31. Kc2 Qf8 32. d6+ Kh8 33. Qd3 Qf2+ 34. Re2 (34. Qe2 Qg1−+)

34. ... b3+! 35. Kxb3 Rb8+ 36. Kc3 Rc1+ 37. Rc2 (37. Kd2 Qf4+−+)
37. ... Rxc2+ 38. Qxc2 Qd4# 0 : 1.

The Tea Road

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Batkhuyagiin Möngöntuul
14th Russian Women’s Team Chess Championship; Sochi, May 6, 2007
Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. h3 Ne7 11. Rd1 Ke8. This is quite natural. A recent game went instead 11. ... Ng6 12. Bg5+ Be7 13. Rd2 Ke8 14. Rad1 Be6 15. Bxe7 Kxe7 16. Kh2 h5 17. Ne4 Bd5 18. Neg5 Rad8 19. Rd4 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 Rxd4 21. Rxd4 Re8 22. Re4 Kf8 23. Re3 Rd8 24. g4 hxg4 25. hxg4 Ke7 26. Re1 Rd5 27. Kg3 c5 28. a4 b6 29. Re3 Rd1 30. c4 Nf8 31. a5 Rc1 32. axb6 cxb6 33. Nh4 g6 34. f4 Rxc4 35. f5 Rc2 36. e6 Rxb2 37. g5 Nxe6 38. fxe6 c4 39. exf7+ Kxf7 40. Rf3+ Ke8 41. Nxg6 Rb3 42. Ne5 b5 43. g6 Rxf3+ 44. Kxf3 Kf8 45. Ke4 Kg7 46. Kd5 a5 47. Nxc4 ½ : ½ Karjakin – 章钟 (Zhāng Zhōng), 3rd Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2004 12. Bf4 h6 13. Rd2 Ng6 14. e6 Bxe6 15. Bxc7 Rc8 16. Bg3 Bb4 17. a3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Rd8 19. Re2 Kd7 20. Nd4 Rhe8 21. Rd1 Ke7? His Majesty takes the wrong path; correct was 21. ... Kc8 and if 22. Rde1 then again 22. ... Kd7 offering to repeat moves. 22. Rd3 c5? One mistake after another. After 22. ... Kf8 23. Rxe6! fxe6 24. Nxe6+ Rxe6 25. Rxd8+ Ke7 26. Rc8± White comes out a healthy Pawn up, but the game goes on.

23. Bd6+! A pretty pseudo-sacrifice which wins two Pawns and the game. 23. ... Kd7. Neither 23. ... Kxd6 24. Nxe6+ nor 24. ... Rxd6 25. Nf5+ are feasible. 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Bxc5+ Kc6 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Bxa7 e5 28. Re4 h5 29. Rc4+ Kb5 30. Rb4+ Ka6 31. Bc5 1 : 0.

Addio Bobby Fischer

Robert James Fischer, in arte Bobby, nato a Chicago il 9 marzo 1943, Campione del Mondo di scacchi dal 1972 al 1975, è morto a Reykjavik giovedì 17 gennaio 2008.

Kaleidoscope Chess

David Navara – Nigel David Short
3rd Čez Chess Trophy; match game 10; Prague, 2007
brkbnrnq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRKBNRNQ w FBfb - 0 1

Position #849

1. b3 f5 2. e3 Ngf6 3. f4 e6 4. Bf3 Be7 5. Bb2 b6 6. Bxa8 Rxa8 7. g4! Threatening Qh1xa8#. 7. ... c6 8. g5. White has a space advantage and the initiative as well. 8. ... Nd5 9. c4 Ndc7 10. Ngf3 Qg8 11. Ne5 Nd6 12. N1f3 Rd8 13. 0-0-0 Qe8 14. Qg2 a5 15. Qh3 Qg8 16. d3 g6 17. Kb1 Nb7 18. a3 Nc5 19. Ka2 Kb7 20. Qg2. The e5-Knight is immovable: 20. ... d6? 21. Nxc6! Kxc6?? 22. Ne5#. 20. ... N7a6 21. h4 Qe8 22. Nd4 Rdc8 23. h5 d6. Black finally kicks the Knight off, but the weakness on c6 persists... 24. Nef3 Bf8. After 24. ... gxh5 25. Rh1 Black Black’s situation is critical, but the text delivers the h-line porge on a silver tray. 25. Rh1 Rc7 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Rh8 Qf7 28. Rdh1. Or 28. Nxc6! Rxc6 (28. ... Kxc6 29. Ne5#) 29. Rdh1 winning. 29. ... Tac8 (29. ... Qe8 30. Nb5!!+−) 29. Nxc6! Kxc6 (29. ... Rxc6 30. R1h7+−) 30. Ne5# 1 : 0.

Greek gift sacrifice

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 章晓雯 (Zhāng Xiǎowén)

2nd “火炬地产杯” (“Torch Real Estate Cup” Chinese Chess League; 石家庄 (Shíjiāzhuāng), April 25, 2006

French Defence C11

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. Qf2 Qa5 11. Rb1!?TN (11. Ra2 Qb6 12. Ne2 b4 13. Nd2 a5 14. Nb3 c4 15. Nd2 Ba6 16. c3 bxa3 17. bxa3 Bxa3⩱ Hodgson – Chandler, Watson Farley Williams Tournament, London 1990) 11. ... b4 12. axb4 Qxb4 13. Bd3 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. 0-0 0-0 18. Ne2 a5 19. Nd4 Ba6? A catastrophic mistake. 19. ... Nxd3 20. cxd3 Ba6 was correct and good enough to hold balance.

20. Bxh7+! “Elementary, my dear Watson”. 20. ... Kxh7 21. Nc6. 21. Qh4+ Kg8 22. Nc6 transposes into the game. 21. ... Qb7 22. Qh4+ Kg8. (22. ... Kg6? 23. g4! Rh8 24. f5+ exf5 25. gxf5 mate) 23. Ne7+ Qxe7 24. Qxe7 Bxf1 25. Qxc5 Rfc8 26. Qf2 Bc4 27. b3 Bb5 28. f5 exf5 29. Qxf5 Rc6

30. c4! Bxc4 (30. ... dxc4 31. e6!+−) 31. bxc4 dxc4 32. Qd7 Re6 33. Rf1 Rxe5 34. Rxf7 Rg5 35. h4 Rg6 36. Qd5 Raa6 37. Rf6+ Kh7 38. Qh5+ 1 : 0.

Far and Near

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi
11th Asian Women’s Chess Championship; Beirut, December 2004
Spanish Game C96

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. c3 0-0 10. h3 Na5. If 10. ... Nd7 then 11. d4 Bf6 12. d5 Ne7 13. Na3!⩲ Karpov – Arbakov, Vladimir 1966. 11. Bc2 c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. Nbd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nc6 15. axb5. A pseudo-novelty. After 15. Nb3 Bf6 16. axb5 axb5 17. d5 Nb4 18. Bb1 Nc5 19. Na5 Bd7 20. Qd2 Nba6 21. b4 Na4 22. Bd3 Ra8 23. Ba3 Qb6 24. Rec1 Rfc8 Black managed somehow to hold his own until the very end, Pioch – Manasterski, 30th Polish Chess Championship, Gdynia 1973. 15. ... axb5 16. d5 Nb4 17. Bb1 Nc5 18. Nb3 Nba6 19. Be3 Qc7 20. Nxc5 dxc5 21. Bd3 Nb4 22. Bf1 Bd7 23. Qd2 Bd6 24. Rec1 Ra8 25. Kh1 Rxa1. 25. ... Na2 followed by ... c5-c4 also seems good for Black. 26. Rxa1 f6 27. Qc3 Rc8 28. Nd2 Qb7? (28. ... f5! 29. f3 c4=) 29. Nb3 Qc7 30. Ra5 f5? (30. ... c4 31. Ra7 Qd8 32. Na5±) 31. Bxb5 c4 32. Bxd7 (32. Ra7+−) 32. ... Qxd7 33. Nc5 Bxc5 34. Rxc5 Rxc5 35. Bxc5 Nd3 36. Qxc4 Nxb2 37. Qb3 Na4 38. Qb8+ Kf7 39. Qf8+ Kg6 40. exf5+ Kh5 (40. ... Qxf5 41. Qe8++−)

41. Be7. White goes for mate! 41. ... Qc7 (41. ... Kh6 42. f6+−) 42. Qf7+ Kh6 43. Bg5+ 1 : 0.