Thursday, February 21, 2008

East Asian Monsoon

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 王瑜 (Wáng Yú)
Women’s Zonal 3.3 Tournament; 北京 (Běijīng), October 23, 2005
Spanish Game C88

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 b4 9. a5 0-0 10. d3 Be6 11. Nbd2 Qc8 12. Bc4 h6 13. Nf1 Re8 14. Ne3 Bf8 15. b3 Nd8!?TN (15. ... g6 16. Bb2 Bg7 17. Qd2 Rb8 18. h3 Nd8= Hráček – Bacrot, 23rd German Schach Bundesliga, Bremen 2003) 16. Bd2 Rb8 17. Nh4 c6 18. Bxe6 Qxe6 19. Nc4 Nd7 20. Qf3 g6 21. Qg3 Bg7


22. f4! White claims the initiative with a bold break on f4 which also implies the sacrifice of the Exchange. 22. ... exf4 23. Bxf4 Ne5. After 23. ... Bxa1 24. Rxa1 White’s domination of the dark squares more than compensates for the Exchange. 24. Nxe5. Also very tempting was 24. Nf5! with great play for White. 24. ... dxe5 25. Be3 Rb5 26. Nf3 c5 27. Qf2 Qe7 28. Nd2 Nc6 29. Nc4 Kh7 30. Rf1 Rf8 31. Qd2 h5 32. Rf3 Kg8 33. Nb6. Alea iacta est! 33. ... Rxa5? Too greedy. Best was 33. ... Nd4! 34. Bxd4 cxd4 with the intention of sacrificing the Exchange soon as the White Knight jumps to d5. 34. Rxa5 Nxa5 35. Nd5 Qd6 36. Qf2 Nb7 37. Nf6+ Kh8


38. g4! The coup de grâce. 38. ... Ra8 39. gxh5 Qe6 40. Qh4 g5 41. Qxg5 a5 42. Kh1 Ra6 43. Ng4 Kh7 44. Rg3 a4 45. h6 1 : 0.