死亡之舞 (Danse Macabre)

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Krishnan Sasikiran
71st Corus Chess Tournament (B Group); Wijk aan Zee, January 18, 2009
Caro-Kann Defence B17

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 8. Qe2 h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Qc7 11. 0-0 b6 12. Qg4 Kf8 13. b3 Bb7 14. Bb2 Nf6 15. Qh4 Nd5 16. Ne5 g5 17. Qg4 Nf4 18. Rfe1 Rg8 19. Qf3 Rd8 20. Be4?! A novelty of dubious value instead of 20. Rad1 c5 21. Be4 Bxe5 22. dxe5 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Bxe4 24. Qxe4 Ke7 25. h4 Rd8 26. Re1 Ng6 27. hxg5 h5 28. g3 Qd7 29. Bc1 Kf8 30. Be3 Kg7 31. Kg2 Qd5 32. Qxd5 Rxd5 33. f4 Ne7 34. Kf3 Kg6 35. Bf2 ½ : ½ Anand – Wojtaszek, 33rd German Schach Bundesliga, Baden-Baden 2007. 20. ... f5! 21. Bxc6 Bxe5? Strong and consistent was 21. ... Bxc6! 22. Nxc6 g4 23. Qc3 Rc8 with a quasi-winning game. 22. Bxb7 g4?? (22. ... Bxd4!⩱) 23. Qc6 Qxc6 24. Bxc6 Bxd4?! After 24. ... Bf6 25. c3 White has the Bishop pair and an extra Pawn — not a good deal for Black, but the text move is a much worse one. 25. Rad1 Ne2+ 26. Rxe2 Bxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Rxd1 28. Rxe6 Rd2+ 29. Re2 Rxe2+ 30. Kxe2+− Ke7 31. c4 Kd6 32. Bd5 Re8+ 33. Kf2 f4 34. Bg7 h5 35. Bf7 Rd8 36. Bxh5 Ke7 37. Bc3 Rg8 38. h3 gxh3 39. gxh3 Rg3 40. Bb4+ Kf6 41. Bg4 Ke5 42. Bc8 a5 43. Ba3 a4 44. Bb2+ Ke4 45. Bb7+ Kd3 46. Be5 axb3 47. axb3 Rxh3 48. Bxf4 Kd4 49. Bf3 Kc3 50. Bd5 Kd4

51. Bg3? This was maybe 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s only slip in an otherwise well played ending. 51. b4 Rb3 (51. ... b5 52. Be6!+−) 52. Bd6 should win for White. 51. ... b5!= 52. Kf3 bxc4 53. bxc4

53. ... Kc5? All’s well that ends well. 53. ... Kd3, 53. ... Rh5, 53. ... Rh7 or 53. ... Rh8 are tablebases draws. 54. Kf4+− Kb4 55. Be1+ Kc5 56. Bf2+ Kb4 57. Ke5 Rh5+ 58. Kd4 Ka5 59. Kc5 Rh6 60. Bg3 Ka6 61. Bd6 Rh8 62. Kc6 Rh7 63. c5 Ka7 64. Be6 Rg7 65. Bd7 Rg6 66. Kc7 Rh6 67. Kd8 Ka6 68. c6 1 : 0.

Done Gone Wrong

Andrei Aleksandrovich Volokitin – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
71st Corus Chess Tournament (B Group); Wijk aan Zee, January 22, 2009
French Defence C18

1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 Bd7 12. Qd3 dxc3 13. Nxc3 a6 14. Ne2 Nf5 15. h3 0-0-0 16. g4 Nh4 17. Bb2 Kb8 18. Nd4 Rc8 19. Rh2 Qa5+ 20. Kf2 Qa4 21. Ke3 Ne7 (21. ... Nf5+! 22. Nxf5 exf5 23. g5 d4+! 24. Bxd4 f6!∞) 22. Qd2 Nc6 23. Nxc6+ Rxc6 24. Qb4 Rxc2 25. Qxa4 Bxa4 26. Rxc2 Bxc2 27. Rc1 Be4 28. Kf2. White has returned the extra Pawn to claim an overwhelming advantage in position. 28. ... Ng6 29. Kg3 Ne7 30. a4 d4 31. Kf2 Rd8 32. Rd1 d3 33. Ba3 Nd5 34. Bd6+ Ka8 35. Bxd3 Bxd3 36. Rxd3 Rc8 37. f5 b5 38. axb5 axb5

39. Rxd5! exd5 40. e6 fxe6 41. f6 Rc2+ 42. Ke3 Rc3+ 43. Kf4 Rc2 44. Ke3 Rc3+ 45. Kd4 Rf3 46. g5 Kb7 47. Be5 b4 48. g6 b3 49. g7 1 : 0.