Afternotes

Antoaneta Stefanova – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Women’s Grand Prix 2009–2011; 5h stage; Ulaanbaatar, August 11, 2010
English Opening A14

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. 0-0 0-0 6. b3 b6 7. Bb2 c5 8. e3 Bb7 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. d4 Na5 13. Nh4 (13. dxc5!⩲ A. J. Miles – Short, 85th British Chess Championship, Torquay 1998) 13. ... Qd8 14. dxc5 Bxh4 15. gxh4 Qxh4 16. Bxb7 Nxb7 17. c6 Nc5 18. Qd4 Qh6 19. Rad1 Rac8 20. b4 Na4 21. Ba1 e5 22. Qxe5 Qg6+ 23. Kh1 Qxc6+ 24. f3 f6 25. Qg3 Rf7 26. Rg1 Nc3 27. Rd2 Qc7? (27. ... Nd5 28. e4 Ne7 29. Rd6 Qc7 30. h4 Kh8)

“The Chinese super-GM who eventually won the tournament and the Grand Prix and went on to become a World Champion, was visibly nervous during the opening. She had to find a series of accurate moves over the board, spent a lot of effort and, not surprisingly, committed some serious mistakes in the middlegame, being short of time. One final blow on move 28 or 29, and Stefanova would have won the tournament”, Grandmaster Aleksander Petkov Delchev wrote in his book “The Modern Réti — An Anti-Slav Repertoire”, Sofia, Chess Stars, 2012, p. 6. 28. Qg2 (28. Qg4+−) 28. ... Nb5 29. e4 (29. Bxf6! Rxf6 30. Rc2+−) 29. ... Na3 30. Qg4 Nc4 31. Rd3 Ne5 32. Bxe5 fxe5 33. Rgd1 Rcf8 34. Rd7 Qc6 35. Rxf7 Rxf7 36. Rd8+ Rf8 37. Rxf8+ Kxf8 38. Qf5+ Qf6 39. Qc8+ Kf7 40. Kg2 Qg5+ 41. Kf1 Qh5 42. Qd7+ Kf6 43. Qd6+ Kf7 44. Qd7+ Kf6 45. Qd8+ Kf7 46. Kg2 Qg6+ 47. Kf2 Qe6 48. a3 Qe7 49. Qd5+ Qe6 50. Qa8 Qd7 51. Kg3 Qe7 52. h4 Kg6 53. Qc8 Qf6 54. Qg4+ Kf7 55. Qd7+ Kg6 56. Qg4+ Kf7 57. Kf2 Qe6 58. Qh5+ Kg8 59. Qg5 Kf7 60. Qd8 Qe7 ½ : ½.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) took first place after holding Stefanova to a draw in the final round. Photo: FIDE.