Sunday, September 16, 2012

A Fork in the Trail

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Almira Fyodorovna Skripchenko
40th Women’s Chess Olympiad; Istanbul, September 6, 2012
Sicilian Defence B30

Comments in quotation marks by International Master Yochanan Afek, “Экстремальная шахматная тактика” (“Extreme Chess Tactics”), Chess Federation of Russia, Moscow, 2022, p. 11 and p. 15.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Nc3 Nge7 5. 0-0 a6 6. Bxc6 Nxc6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qc7 9. Re1 d6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Qg4 h5 12. Qe2 h4!? Probably sounder is 12. ... Be7 13. b3 e5 14. Na4 Bg4 15. f3 Be6 16. c4 0-0 17. Be3 f5 18. exf5 Rxf5 19. Rad1 Raf8⇄ Cherniaev – Pridorozhni, 55th Russian Chess Championship, Krasnodar 2002
13. h3 e5 14. f4 exf4 15. Bxf4 Be7 16. Kh1 0-0 17. Rad1 a5?! (17. ... Be6 18. Nd5! cxd5 19. exd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 Rfe8 21. b3⩲)
18. b3 Be6 19. Nd5! Bxd5 20. exd5 Rfe8 21. dxc6 Qxc6 22. Qd3 a4


23. Re4. It is just the case to note that 23. b4! seems much stronger, as after 23. ... Bf6 24. b5 White’s passed Pawn would nail down Black’s weaknesses.
23. ... axb3 24. axb3 Bf6 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Bxd6 Re4 27. Bc5! Be5 28. Bf2 Bc7 29. c4 Qe6 30. Qd5 Qg6 31. Qd7 Bg3 32. Qd2 Qe6 33. Bg1 Re2 34. Qd3 Rb2? 34. ... f5! 35. b4 Qe4! 36. Qxe4 fxe4 37. b5 Rb2 would have given Black very strong drawing chances.
35. Qf3 Bc7 36. Ra1 Qe5 37. Ra8+ Kh7


38. Qd3+? (38. Rf8!+−)
38. ... f5 39. Qf3 g6 40. Qd3 Kh6 41. Rc8. White’s advantage has now vanished, and the most she can hope for is a draw after 41. ... Ra2! (Δ ... Ra2-a1) 42. Rxc7! (sooner or later forced) 42. ... Qxc7 43. Qd4 Qe7 44. c5. But, luckily for her, Black has other ideas:
41. ... Kh5?
“Black’s pieces appear to be reliably protecting each other. Is that so?”.


“White may refute such an assumption with...”.
42. Rxc7! “Deflecting the Queen and leaving the Rook unprotected”.
42. ... Qxc7 43. Qd1+ 1 : 0. “For there follows 43. ... Kh6 44. Qc1+ with a fork”.

1 comment:

Another Side Of The Moon said...

Notes by GM Sergei Yuryevich Shipov for the daily bulletin (http://istanbul2012.tsf.org.tr/en/reviews/261-day-9-the-fall-of-the-giants.html):

The whole game Elmira was fighting as a lioness that protects her baby-lions. But the power left her after the time control.
41...Kh5?
Horrible blunder. Accurate move 41...Ra2! kept a big intrigue. Yifan would have to work a lot to win. In the analyses I did not at all find a way to win for White. Perhaps, because there is not. Black threatens the rook escapade to a1, and the exchange sac on c7 is far not that perspective as it may seem.
42.Rxc7! Qxc7 43.Qd1+! and on 43...Kh6 follows 44.Qc1+ winning the rook...nothing to do but resign.