The Fifth Season

Martha Lorena Fierro Baquero – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2009–11; 1st stage; Istanbul, March 13, 2009
French Defence C04

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Be2 f6 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. Nf1 Bd6. Not 8. ... e5? on account of 9. Ne3! e4 (9. ... exd4 10. Nxd5 Qd6 11. Bc4 also looks horrible for Black) 10. Nxd5 Qd6 11. Bc4 exf3 12. 0-0 Qg6 13. Nxc7+ Kd8 14. Ne6+ Ke8 15. Ng5 Nd8 16. Qxf3 Nb6 17. Re1+ Be7 18. Bb5+ Bd7 19. Bxd7+ Nxd7 20. d5 Rf8 21. Qe2 Qd6 22. Qh5+ g6 23. Ne4 Qb4 24. Qe2 Kf7 25. Bd2 Qb6 26. d6 Bf6 27. Nxf6 Nxf6 28. Qe7+ Kg8 29. Bh6 Qxf2+ 1 : 0 Todorović – Brkljača, Belgrade 2007. 9. Ne3 0-0 10. 0-0 Qg6 11. c4 Nf6 12. c5 Be7 13. Bb5 Bd7 14. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. Ne5 Qe8. “My gut feeling is that White should have an edge, but Black has scored quite well in practice, and maybe there just isn’t a move that keeps control. The thing is that White wants to maintain the Queenside bind but also hopes to stablise the Kingside. It would be ideal to reach an opposite Bishop position with a huge Bishop on e5, but I can’t see a way to do so”, English Grandmaster Jonathan Simon Speelman writes. 16. N3g4. “16. a4 Nd7 (16. ... a5 17. b3) 17. N3g4 h5 18. Nxd7 Bxd7 19. Ne5 Rf5! (19. ... Bf6 20. Bf4 g5) 20. Be3 Bf6 21. Nd3 Qf7 22. b4 for instance leaves Black pretty active”, Speelman says. 16. ... b6 17. cxb6 (17. Nxc6 Qxc6 18. Ne5 Qe8) 17. ... axb6 18. Nxc6 Qxc6 19. Ne5 Qe8 20. Be3 c5 21. Qb3 Rb8 22. Bf4? This idea proves to be completely wrong as White has no time to target the b8-Rook. 22. ... Ne4! 23. Nd3? Consistent and catastrophic. 23. ... c4! 24. Qd1 Rc8 25. f3 cxd3 26. fxe4 dxe4 27. Qg4 Qg6 28. Qxg6 hxg6 29. Rae1

Now 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) finished prettily with: 29. ... Rxf4! 30. Rxf4 e3! 31. Rxe3 Bg5 0 : 1.

Martha Lorena Fierro Baquero (left) vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (right). Photo: Turkish Chess Federation.

In Between Time

Ljubomir Ljubojević – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
4th NH Chess Tournament; Rising Stars vs. Experience; Amsterdam, August 28, 2009
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. Qa4 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. dxc5 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 0-0 10. Qb4 h6 11. Bh4 Re8 12. Nd4!?TN (12. e3 a5 13. Qa3 Qe7 14. Bb5 g5 15. Bg3 Nxc5 16. 0-0 Nce4 17. Qb2 Bd7 18. Bd3 Rac8 19. Qxb7 Nxg3 20. hxg3 Rxc3 21. Bb5 Bxb5 22. Qxb5 Qb4 23. a4 Rb8 24. Qe2 Qc4 25. Qd1 Qd3 26. Qe1 Rb2 27. Rd1 ½ : ½ Gelfand – Alekseev, 42nd International Chess Festival, Biel/Bienne 2009) 12. ... a5 13. Qb5 Qc7 14. Bg3 Qxc5 15. Qxc5 Nxc5 16. f3 Bd7 17. Kd2 b5 18. e3 b4 19. cxb4 axb4 20. Be2 Ra5 21. Rhb1 Rea8 22. Rb2 b3 23. Nxb3 Nxb3+ 24. Rxb3 Rxa2+ 25. Rxa2 Rxa2+ 26. Ke1 Bf5

27. Rb5. If nothing else, 27. Be5 Nd7 28. Bd4 h5 29. Rb7⩲ was — at least symbolically — a bit more promising for White compared to the text, which leads to a dead equal endgame. 27. ... Ra3 28. Kf2 Ra2 29. Kf1 Ra3 30. Bf4 Ra1+ 31. Kf2 Ra2 32. Be5 Bd3 33. Rb2 Rxb2 34. Bxb2 Bxe2 35. Kxe2 Ne8 36. Be5 f6 37. Bb8 h5 38. g4 g6 39. Kd3 Kf7 40. Kd4 Ke6 41. h3 hxg4 42. fxg4 g5 43. Kc5 Ng7 44. Kc6 Ne8 45. Bg3 Ng7 46. Bc7 Ne8 47. Bd8 Ng7 48. Bb6 Ne8 49. Bd4 Ng7 50. Bc5 Ne8 51. Bf8 Kf7 52. Bd6 Ke6 53. Bb8 Ng7 54. Bg3 Ne8 55. h4 gxh4 56. Bxh4 Ng7 57. Bg3 f5 58. g5 Nh5 59. Bc7 f4 60. exf4 d4 61. Kc5 d3 62. Ba5 Nxf4 ½ : ½.

The young Chinese prodigy defended long and well her beloved Ragozin Variation. Photo courtesy of Sina Sports.