Iron and Silk

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Marsel Efroimski
17th European Women’s Chess Club Cup; Eilat, October 16, 2012
Caro-Kann Defence B19

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. 0-0-0 Be7 13. Kb1 0-0 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Nf6 16. Qe2 Qd5 17. Be3. The alternative is 17. Ne5 Qe4 18. Qxe4 Nxe4 19. Be3 Rfd8 20. g4 c5 21. f3 cxd4 22. Bxd4 Bc5 23. Bxc5 Nxc5 24. c3 f6 (Grandmaster Rustem Hazitovich Dautov recommends 24. ... Kf8! in order to reply 25. Kc2 with 25. ... Ke7 26. b4 Nd7= or 25. b4 with 25. ... Na4 26. Kc2 b5 27. Kb3 Nb6=) 25. Ng6!? e5 26. Kc2 Kf7 27. Nh4 Ne6 28. Rh2 (Dautov suggests 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Rd1 Rxd1 30. Kxd1 with a very slight edge for White) 28. ... Rxd1 29. Kxd1 Rc8 30. Rd2 Rc7 31. Nf5⩲ b6 32. Ke2 Kf8 33. Ke3 Kf7 34. Rd6 Nc5 35. Rd2 Ne6 36. c4 Nc5 37. b3 Nb7 38. Ke4 Ke6 39. Rd5 Nc5+ 40. Ke3 Nb7 41. Kd2 Kf7 42. Kc3 g6 43. hxg6+ Kxg6 44. Ng3 Rf7 45. b4 Kg5 46. Rd3 Kf4 47. Nh5+ Kg5 48. Rd5 Kh4 49. c5 bxc5 50. bxc5 f5 51. Rxe5 fxg4 52. fxg4 Kxg4 53. Kd4 Nd8 54. Kd5 Rd7+ 55. Kc4 Rf7 56. Kd5 Rd7+ 57. Kc4 ½ : ½ 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 周唯奇 (Zhōu Wéiqí), 40th Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化 (Xīnghuà) 2009. 17. ... a5. It was worth considering 17. ... Rfd8 Δ 18. Rhg1 Ng4= (Dautov’s analysis). 18. Ne5 a4 19. f3 Qa5 20. c4 Qa6? This is really too slow. Grandmaster Zenón Franco Ocampos suggests 20. ... a3 21. b3 Rad8 (idem to say 21. ... Rfd8) eventually followed by ... Nf6-d7. 21. g4 a3. If 21. ... Nd5 then 22. Bd2 with clear advantage to White. 22. b3 b5. After 22. ... Nh7 23. g5!? (23. f4) 23. ... Nxg5 24. Rhg1 Bf6 25. Qg2! White’s attack is easy and powerful. 23. g5! hxg5 24. Qc2! bxc4 25. h6! cxb3 26. axb3 g6

27. Nxg6!+− Bb4 28. h7+! Kg7. If 28. ... Nxh7 then 29. Ne7+ Kg7 30. Qxh7+ Kf6 31. Bxg5+! Kxg5 32. Qh6 mate. 29. Nxf8 a2+ 30. Ka1 Rxf8 31. Bxg5 Nd5. Black is doomed: 31. ... Qa5 (Δ ... Bb4-c3+) 32. Bxf6+ Kxf6 33. Rh6+ Kg7 (33. ... Ke7 34. Rc1+−) 34. h8=Q+! Rxh8 35. Qg2+ and finis. 32. Bh6+! Kh8 33. Rdg1 1 : 0.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (left) vs. Marsel Efroimski (right). Photo © Anastasia Karlovich