The Portrait of a Miss

Clarice Benini did not deny herself anything in her time at “Aprile Scacchistico Milanese” in 1938. Besides participation in the 1st Italian Women’s Chess Championship as well as in the Blitz Tournament, she finally took part in the simultaneous exhibition given by Henri Grob, resulting among the seven players who managed to save their skin. Results: Grob +19 =6 (Miss Benini, Carena, Ciampoli, Castiglioni, Del Vecchio, Surace) –1 (Frezza). The source is L’Italia Scacchistica, April 1938, p. 86.

Overland Through Asia

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Juliana Sayumi Terao
39th Women’s Chess Olympiad; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 21, 2010
Sicilian Defence B43

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Qf3 d6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. 0-0 b6. Maybe 9. ... Ne5!? 10. Qg3 h5!? deserved consideration here.
10. Rae1 Bb7 11. Qg3 g6 12. f4 Bg7 13. Kh1 0-0 14. f5! e5 15. Nf3 b5 16. a3 Rfe8 17. Ng5 Nc5. 17. ... h6 18. Nxf7!? (18. fxg6 hxg5 19. gxf7+ Kxf7 20. Bxg5 Rf8 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. exd5 Kg8 23. Bf5 Nh7 24. Be7 seems also good enough) 18. ... g5 19. Nxg5! hxg5 20. Qxg5 leaves White with three Pawns for the Knight and attack.
18. fxg6 fxg6 19. Bxc5 dxc5 20. Nd5 Nxd5? Thus the only defender of the Kingside leaves the board.
20. ... Bxd5 21. exd5 c4 22. Be4! wasn’t appealing, but Black had nothing better to do.
21. exd5 Bxd5

22. Nxh7!+− Re7. If 22. ... Kxh7 then 23. Qxg6+ followed by mate.
23. Qxg6 1 : 0.

双皮奶 (Double skin milk)

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 沈阳 (Shěn Yáng)

6th “雅戈尔杯” “Youngor Cup” Chinese Chess League; 广州 (Guǎngzhōu), September 10, 2010

Spanish Game C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Ne4 6. 0-0 Be7 7. Nxd4 a6!? 8. Nxc6!? If 8. Ba4 then (by transposition) 8. ... 0-0 9. Nf5 d5 10. exd6 Bxf5 11. dxe7 Nxe7= Ljubojević – Karpov, International Tournament, Milan 1975.
8 . ... bxc6? (⌓ 8. ... dxc6!)
9. Bd3 Nc5

10. Qg4! g6?! (10. ... Kf8!? 11. Qf3 d5)
11. Bh6! d5 12. Qg3 Rb8 13. b3 Nxd3 14. cxd3 c5? (⌓ 14. ... Rb4!? 15. f4 Bf5)
15. Nc3 Bf5 16. Rac1 Qd7 17. Na4 Qb5 18. Rfd1 Be6

19. Bg7 Rg8 20. Bf6 Bf8 21. h3 g5 22. h4 g4 23. d4! c4 (23. ... cxd4 24. Rxc7+−)
24. Nc3 Qb4 25. bxc4 Qxc4

26. Bg5! Clearing the f6-square for the Knight.
26. ... Rg6 27. Ne4 Qxa2 28. h5 Rxg5 29. Nxg5 Bh6 30. Nxe6 fxe6 31. Rxc7 Qe2 32. Rf1 1 : 0.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), a star in the limelight. Photo: 樊璐璐 (Fán Lùlù).

Alone in a Crowd

周唯奇 (Zhōu Wéiqí) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
45th Chinese Chess Championship; 兴化 (Xīnghuà), May 26, 2010
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Qb3 c5 9. dxc5 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 0-0 11. Nd4 Be6 12. Qxb7 (12. Qa3 Rc8 13. e3 Nd7 14. c6 bxc6 15. Ba6 Rcb8 16. 0-0 Rb6 17. Be2 Qg6 18. Nxe6 Qxe6 19. Rab1 Rab8 20. Rb3 Nf6 21. Bd1 Qd7 22. Bf3 ½ : ½ Ivanchuk – Mitkov, 5th World Team Chess Championship, Yerevan 2001) 12. ... Nd7 13. c6 Rab8 14. Qxa7 (13. Qb4 Rab8 14. Qa3 Rfc8 15. e3 Qg6 leaves Black with powerful compensation: 16. f3 Nxc5 17. Kf2 Qf6 18. Rc1 Qe7 19. Kg1 Bd7 20. Re1 Rb1 21. Re2 Rcb8 22. g4 h5 23. h3 Qh4 24. Kg2 Nd3 25. Qd6 Ne1+ 26. Kg1 R8b6 27. Qe5 Rd1 28. Rhh2 Nd3 29. Qc7 Rbb1 0 : 1 Akobian – Mitkov, 17th Open, Chicago 2008) 14. ... Ra8 15. Qc7 Ne5 16. e3. Not 16. f3 on account of 16. ... Qf4! 17. Nxe6 Qe3! with irresistible attack (18. Nxf8 Nd3+ 19. Kd1 Rxa2!−+). 16. ... Rfc8

17. Qb6? This just opens the doors to Black’s breakthrough. Correct was 17. Qd6! Rxc6 18. Qb4 (18. Nxc6? Ng4!−+) 18. ... Ng4 19. Qb2 Rxc3! 20. Bb5 Rb3! 21. axb3 Qxf2+ 22. Qxf2 Rxa1+ 23. Ke2 Ra2+ with approximate equality. 17. ... Rcb8 18. Qc5 Rb2 19. f4 Rxg2 20. 0-0-0 Rgxa2 21. Be2 Nc4 22. Bxc4 dxc4 23. Rhg1 Ra1+ 24. Kd2 R8a2+ 25. Nc2 Rxd1+ 0 : 1.

Half a Day Off

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2009–11; 5th stage; Ulaanbaatar, August 7, 2010
Spanish Game C60

The gifted young 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) felt sick (probably due to food poisoning) before the eight round and played her game against 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) on the day off. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. c3 a6 5. Ba4 g6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 b5 8. Bb3 Bg7 9. a4 b4 10. 0-0 Na5 11. Bc2 d6 12. Nbd2 0-0 13. Nb3 Nec6 14. h3 Nxb3 15. Bxb3 Na5 16. Ba2 Bb7 17. Bg5 Qb8? After this, Black immediately falls into a lost land. Correct was 17. ... Qd7! 18. Re1 Rae8 with a tenable game. 18. Re1 Re8 19. Bd2 c5 20. Rc1 Qa7. Now 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) unleashes the potency of her attack: 21. dxc5 dxc5 22. Ng5 Rf8 23. Be3 Rac8

24. Bxf7+. Of course 24. Nxf7 is also winning for White. 24. ... Kh8. Not 24. ... Rxf7 25. Nxf7 Kxf7 on account of 26. Qd7+ Kg8 27. Rxc5! winning handily. 25. Rxc5 Rxc5 26. Ne6. The elegant Queen sacrifice 26. Qd4!+− seems to be an even more effective finisher. 26. ... Qb8 27. Nxf8 Qxf8 28. Bxc5 Qxc5 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Rd1 Kg7 31. Bd5 Bc8 32. Qe8 Be7 33. Qf7+ Kh6 34. Qf4+ Bg5 35. Qg3 Qc2 36. Qf3 Qc5 37. g3 Qe7 38. h4 Bf6 39. Qe3+ Kg7 40. Qb6 Qd8 41. Qxb4 Nc6 42. Qc5 Bg4 43. Rc1 Ne7 44. Qc7 Qxc7 45. Rxc7 Kf8 46. b4 Be5 47. Ra7 Bc3 48. Rxa6 Nxd5 49. exd5 Bxb4 50. Rf6+ 1 : 0.