Thursday, October 22, 2009

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.