Wednesday, June 30, 2010

A Tunnel Too Far

李超 (Lǐ Chāo) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
1st 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament; 儋州 (Dānzhōu), June 12, 2010
Sicilian Defence B82

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. f4 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qf3 e5. Very surprisingly, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) goes down a theoretical cul-de-sac. 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. f5 Rb8 11. 0-0-0 Qa5 12. Bc4 d5 13. exd5 Ba3. 13. ... Rxb2 14. Kxb2 (14. d6! Rb4! 15. Bb3! may be even stronger) 14. ... Qa3+ 15. Kb1 Qxc3 16. Bb3 cxd5 17. Bg5 is also quite unappealing for Black, Balashov – U. Andersson, 5th International West Germany Championship, Munich 1979. 14. bxa3 Qxc3 15. Bxa7! Qb2+ 16. Kd2 cxd5. Not 16. ... Rb7 on account of 17. Rb1! trapping Her Majesty. 17. Bxb8 Qxb8 18. Bxd5. White is winning easily. 18. ... 0-0 19. Kc1 Bd7!? Here is 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s uninfluential novelty. The première went with 19. ... Ba6 20. Rhe1 Qc7 21. Bb3 h6 22. Kb2 e4 23. Qg3 Qa5 24. Rd6 Kh7 25. Qc3 Qb5 26. a4 Qb7 27. Qc6 1 : 0 Timman – Liberzon, 22nd Chess Olympiad, Haifa 1976. 20. Rhe1 Qc7 21. Bb3 e4 22. Rxe4! White gives back the Exchange for coming out with three Pawns to the good. 22. ... Nxe4 23. Qxe4 Bc6 24. Qc4 Qb6 25. g4 h6 26. Rd6 Qe3+ 27. Kb2 Bf3 28. Qd4 Qg5


29. Rg6! 1 : 0.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) has ultimately lost the battle of the sexes held at the 新天地花园酒店 (Xīntiāndì Garden Hotel) in 儋州 (Dānzhōu), China. Photo: 樊璐璐 (Fán Lùlù).