The Infinite

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Fabiano Caruana
75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 19, 2013
Sicilian Defence B42

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Qg4 g6 8. Qe2 d6 9. Na3 Nc6 10. Be3 Rb8. Other ways are 10. ... b5 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 Nf6 13. 0-0 0-0 14. f4 Re8 15. Kh1 e5 16. Nd2 exf4 17. Bxf4 Ng4 18. Nf3 Bf6 19. Rab1 Bg7 20. b3 a5 21. h3 Nge5= (Cvetković’s analysis) and 10. ... Ne5 11. Rd1 Nf6 12. Bh6 Nfg4 13. Bf4 Nxd3+ 14. Rxd3 e5 15. Bd2 b5 16. 0-0 0-0 17. f3 Qb6+ 18. Kh1 Nf6 19. Ba5 Qc6 20. Rc3 Qe8 21. Bb4 d5= Alvir – Caruana, Österreichische SchachBundesliga 2009/2010, Ansfelden 2009. 11. 0-0 Nf6 12. Bh6 e5 13. Bg7 Rg8 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nc4 Bg5 16. Ne3 Ne7 17. a4 Bd7 18. Rfd1 Qc7 19. Nd2 Kf8 20. a5 Kg7 21. Ndc4 Bc6 22. Nb6 Rgf8 23. Ra3 Rbd8 24. c4 Bxe3 25. Qxe3 Bd7 26. Nd5 Nxd5 27. exd5 Rb8 28. Qb6 Qxb6 29. axb6 Rfe8 30. f3 f5 31. b4 e4?! “Caruana called this a ‘stupid move’ and said that after it the position became extremely unpleasant for him”, Grandmaster Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez commented. 32. fxe4 fxe4 33. Be2 h5 34. Kf2 Bg4?

35. h3? Carpe diem, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)! After 35. Bxg4 hxg4 36. c5 Black’s cause seems quite desperate. 35. ... e3+ “She messed up with [35. h3+] and after 35. ... e3+ I think it is just equal”, then Caruana said. 36. Ke1 Bxe2 37. Kxe2 Re4 38. Rxe3 Rxc4 39. Re7+ Kh6 40. Re6 Rxb4 41. Rxd6 Re8+ 42. Kd3 Ree4 43. Rf1 Rbd4+ 44. Kc3 Rc4+ 45. Kd3 Rcd4+ ½ : ½.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (left) vs. Fabiano Caruana (right). Photo: Tata Steel Chess.