Edge

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Anish Giri
16th Unive Chess Tournament; Hoogeveen, October 22, 2012
Sicilian Defence B93

Notes by Grandmaster Eltaj Safarli.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f4. I think that by selecting this variation, White simply wished to play without much preparation — she just wanted to create problems for Black over the board. Let’s see what happens...
6. ... e5 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. a4 Qc7. Black doesn’t allow White to develop his Bishop on c4. The main line is 8. ... Be7 9. Bc4 [or 9. Bd3 0-0 10. 0-0 exf4 (10. ... Nc5)] 9. ... 0-0 10. 0-0 exf4 11. Bxf4 Qb6+.
9. Bd3 Be7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Kh1 Nc5. 11. ... b6 This was another setup for Black which is also interesting.
12. Qe2 Bd7 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Bg5 Be6 15. Nh4 Nxd3 16. cxd3

16. ... Ne8! After this typical manoeuvre Black doesn’t have any problems.
RR 16. ... Kh8 17. Rac1 Qd8 18. Nf5 Ng8 19. Be3 Bg5 20. Nd5 Bxe3 21. Qxe3 Bxd5 22. exd5 g6 23. Qxe5+ f6 24. Qg3 Qxd5 25. Rc7 Rf7 26. Ne3 Qe6 27. Rxf7 Qxf7 28. d4 Re8 29. d5 f5 30. Nc4 Rd8 31. Ne5 Qxd5 32. Qc3 Nf6 33. Nxg6+ hxg6 34. Qxf6+ Kh7 35. h3 Rd7 36. Re1 Qd2 37. Qe6 Rc7 38. Qe5 Rc1 39. Qe7+ ½ : ½ A. Y. Sokolov – Beliavsky, Candidates Tournament, Montpellier 1985.
17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Nf3. Black is also okay after 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Rxf5 (19. exf5 Nf6) 19. ... Nc7.
18. ... f6 (18. ... Qd6!?)
19. d4 Rc8 20. Rac1. Of course 20. d5 here would be a mistake because after 20. ... Bg4 even though White has a well protected passed Pawn, Black’s position is still much better, taking into account the strong Knight on d6 and White’s weaknesses on the Queenside. 21. h3 Bxf3 22. Rxf3 Nd6⩱.
20. ... exd4 21. Nd5 Qd6 22. Rxc8 Bxc8 23. Qc4 Be6 24. Nxd4 Rf7 25. h3?! (25. Re1!?; 25. Rd1!?)
25. ... Bxd5. Anish was playing too fast. I think after 25. ... Qe5!⩱ Black would have a slightly better position without any risk.
26. exd5 Nc7 27. Nf5! Qxd5 28. Qg4 h5? Another mistake. Black should have played 28. ... Rd7! 29. Nxg7 Rxg7 30. Qc8+ Kf7 31. Qxc7+ Kg6 32. Qf4 Qe5= with equality.
29. Qxh5 Rd7 30. Re1! Kf8! (30. ... Qf7 31. Qg4)
31. Qh8+ Qg8 32. Qh4 a5 33. Qg4 (33. Re3 Qd5!; 33. b4 Qd5!)
33. ... Qf7. Now 33. ... Qd5? is wrong because of 34. Nxg7! Rxg7 35. Qc8+ Kf7 36. Qxc7+ Kg6 37. Qc2+ f5 38. b3±.

34. Nh4 34. Qf3! was also possible and probably even better. White’s attack might be strong here: 34. ... b6 35. Qa3+ Kg8 36. Qe3 Qh5 [36. ... Nd5? 37. Qg3! and White is almost winning in this spectacular line: 37. ... Qh5 38. Qb8+ Kh7 39. Re4!+− Qxf5 40. Rh4+ Kg6 41. Qe8+ Rf7 (41. ... Kg5 42. Qh5#) 42. Rg4+!+−] 37. Ne7+ Kf8 38. Nc8 (38. Qxb6? Qe8!) 38. ... b5 39. axb5 Qxb5 40. Nd6 Qb8□ 41. Qe4→.
34. ... g5?! Black did not necessarily have to weaken her Pawns on the Queenside. Better was 34. ... Qd5! and it seems after 35. Ng6+ Kf7 Black has nothing to worry about.
35. Nf5 Qd5 36. Rf1 Qd3 37. Ng3 Ne8 38. Rf3?! After 38. Kh2± Black was supposed to defend in an unpleasant position.
38. ... Qd1+ 39. Kh2

39. ... Rd3! Nice trick, after which the position gets simplified and most probably the game is going to end in a draw.
40. Qxg5 Rxf3 41. Qc5+ Qd6!? 41. ... Kg8 is possible as well: 42. gxf3 Qxf3 43. h4 Qb3=.
42. Qxd6+ Nxd6 43. gxf3 Nc4 44. Ne4 Nxb2 45. Nc5 Kf7 46. Nxb7 Nxa4 47. Nxa5 Kg6 48. Kg3 Nc3 49. Nb3 Ne2+ 50. Kg4 f5+ 51. Kh4 Kh6 52. Nd2 Nd4 53. Kg3 Kg5 54. Nf1 f4+ 55. Kg2 Kh4 56. Nd2 Nc2 57. Nc4 Ne1+ 58. Kf2 ½ : ½.

It has been a tense game in which 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) had some chance for a surprise. Photo courtesy of Chess Daily News.