Alexandra Konstantinovna Kosteniuk – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament; Final match game 2; Nalchik, September 15, 2008
French Defence C07
Notes in quotation marks by Grandmaster Pál Charles Benkő, Chess Life, January 2009. p. 45.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bc4 Qd6 7. Qe2 Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Qb4+ 10. Bd2 Qb6 11. 0-0-0 Bd7 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 Bc5 14. Kb1!?TN 0-0-0 15. Bg3 Nh5 16. Be5 f6 17. Nxc5 Qxc5 18. Bxd4 Nxd4 19. Rxd4 e5 20. Rd5 Qc7 21. g3 g5 22. Rhd1 Ng7 23. Nd2 Bc6 24. Rd3 Rxd3 25. Bxd3 f5 26. f3 Re8 27. Re1
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Bc4 Qd6 7. Qe2 Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Qb4+ 10. Bd2 Qb6 11. 0-0-0 Bd7 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bh4 Bc5 14. Kb1!?TN 0-0-0 15. Bg3 Nh5 16. Be5 f6 17. Nxc5 Qxc5 18. Bxd4 Nxd4 19. Rxd4 e5 20. Rd5 Qc7 21. g3 g5 22. Rhd1 Ng7 23. Nd2 Bc6 24. Rd3 Rxd3 25. Bxd3 f5 26. f3 Re8 27. Re1
27. ... h5? This is clearly an oversight. Correct was 27. ... Kb8! in order to answer 28. Qe3 by 28. ... f4 with approximately balanced play. 28. Qe3 g4 29. fxg4 e4 30. Be2 hxg4 31. Qxa7 b6 32. Qa3 Rd8 33. Qb4 Ne6 34. Nc4 b5 35. Ne3 Nd4 36. c4. Black is in serious trouble, being a Pawn down and hard pressed; hence she offers to exchange Queens, hoping for a little relief. 36. ... Qd6 37. Qxd6 Rxd6. “The Queens have just been exchanged and White snags a second extra Pawn — and so should win — but...”. 38. cxb5 Nxe2 (38. ... Bd7 39. Rd1+−) 39. bxc6. “Not bad but even stronger was the intermediate move 39. Nxf5!”. 39. ... Nd4 40. Rf1. 8th Women’s World Chess Champion Zsuzsa Polgár regards 40. Rd1 as a technically stronger move. 40. ... Kc7 41. Nxf5 Nxf5 42. Rxf5 Kxc6 43. Re5. “The Rook ending can be won in any of several ways but White plays inaccurately. The best here is 43. Kc1 (if 43. Kc2 Rh6 or 43. Rf4 Kd5; 43. Rg5 Rd2)”. 43. ... Rd4 44. Kc1. “The right path here was either 44. Rg5 or 44. Kc2 Kd6 45. Re8 Kd7 46. Rf8 since after 46. ... e3 47. Rf4! could have come”. 44. ... Kd6 45. Re8 Kd7 46. Rf8 Ke6
47. Rf4? This rush to the third Pawn proves dramatically wrong, as Black’s e-Pawn gets all the stage for itself, eventually allowing 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) to escape with a miracolous draw. 47. ... Ke5 48. Rxg4? “Once again it is proven true that it is not the quantity of Pawns, but their quality that is most important. After this
greedy capture, Black’s last Pawn becomes a super power. The position was still possible to improve by playing 48. Rf8 Rd6 49. Re8+ Kf5 50. Rb8 Rh6 51. Kd2 Rxh2+ 52. Ke3 Rg2 53. Rb5+ Ke6 54. Kxe4, with winning chances”. 48. ... Rd8! 49. Rg5+ (49. a4?? e3 50. Rg7 Kf6 51. Rg4 e2 52. Re4 Rd1+−+) 49. ... Kf6 50. Rc5 e3 51. Rc2 Kf5 52. a4 Ke4 53. Rc4+ (53. a5?? Kf3 52. a6 e2−+) 53. ... Kd3 54. Rc3+ Ke4. “There was nothing better left for either party than to repeat moves, holding on for a draw. Thus 54. ... Ke2?! 55. Rc7 Kf2 56. Rf7+ Ke1 57. b4 e2 58. Kc2 could have been dangerous for Black”. 55. Rc4+ Kd3 56. Rc3+ Ke4 57. Rc4+ Kd3 ½ : ½.
As she was on verge of losing her second game in a row, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) managed an incredible escape thanks to her superb endgame technique. Photo: chesspics.com. |