Black Out

Levon Grigori Aronian – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 20, 2013
English Opening A18

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 (6. fxg7 cxd2+ 7. Bxd2 Bxg7 8. Qc2 Nc6! 9. Nf3 Qe7= Vaitonis – Monticelli, 5th Chess Olympiad, Folkestone 1933) 6. ... Qxf6 7. Nf3 e5 8. Bd3!? Another continuation is 8. d4 exd4 9. Bg5 (9. cxd4 Bb4+=) 9. ... Qe6+ 10. Be2 Be7! 11. cxd4 (11. Bxe7 d3!? 12. 0-0! Qe7 13. Bxd3 0-0 14. Qc2 h6!? 15. Rae1 Qf6 16. Ne5 Na6!∞ Adorjan – Speelman, Banja Luka 1983) 11. ... Bxg5 12. Nxg5 Qe7 13. Qd2⩲ Karpov – Jussupow, Linares 1991. 8. ... Bg4!? More usual is 8. ... Na6 9. 0-0 Bd6. 9. Be4 Nd7! 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) gives up the Pawn! Bad is 9. ... Nc6 10. 0-0 0-0-0?? 11. Qa4 Bd7 12. Rb1 Bf5? 13. Bxf5+ Qxf5 14. Qb5+− Bb4 15. Rxb4 Nxb4 16. cxb4 f6 17. d4 a6 18. Qa5 Qc2 19. Qc5 e4 20. Bf4 Rd7 21. Qa7 Re7 22. Ne1 1 : 0 Nakamura – Zarnicki, Minneapolis 2005. 10. Bxb7 Rb8 11. Bd5 c6 12. Be4 Nc5 13. Qe2 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Qxf3 16. gxf3 Bd6. Black’s compensation looks quite obvious. Something had already happened eight days earlier: 16. ... Kd7 17. Ke2 Bd6 18. Rd1 Rhe8 19. d3 f5 20. h3 f4 21. Kf1 g5 22. d4 exd4 23. cxd4 Rb4 24. c5 Bf8 25. Ba3 Ra4 26. Rd3 Bg7 27. Rb1 Ke6 28. Rb7 Rxd4 29. Rdb3 Rd1+ 30. Ke2 Red8 31. Bb4 R8d7 32. Bc3 Bf8 33. R7b4 Bxc5 34. Rc4 R1d5 35. Rb8 Kf5 36. Re8 Bd4 37. Rf8+ Ke5 38. Re8+ Kf5 39. Rf8+ Ke5 40. Rxc6 Bxc3 41. Re8+ Kf5 42. Rf8+ Ke5 43. Re8+ Kf5 44. Rf8+ Ke5 ½ : ½ Movsesian – Naiditsch, 75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament Group B, Wijk aan Zee, January 12, 2013. 17. Kd1! Kd7 18. Kc2 f5 19. d3 Rhf8 20. Rg1 g6 21. Bh6 Rf7 22. Rad1! A mysterious Rook move which prevents ... e5-e4 (22. ... e4?? 23. dxe4 fxe4 24. c5+−). 22. ... Ke6 23. Bc1 Rb6 24. f4 Ra6? A mirage. 24. ... exf4 25. d4 c5 seems to be tenable. 25. fxe5 Rxa2+?? The end. After 25. ... Kxe5 26. c5! Bc7 27. a3 White’s ending is not yet won, despite the extra Pawn. 26. Kb1+− (26. Kb3? Ra5 27. exd6?? Rb7+−+) 26. ... Rxf2 27. exd6 Rb7+ 28. Ka1 Kxd6 29. Rd2 Rf3 30. Re1 Rd7 31. Kb1 g5 32. Kc2 f4 33. Ba3+ Kc7 34. d4 g4 35. d5 cxd5 36. cxd5 h5 37. Be7 g3 38. Re5 Re3 39. d6+ Kc6 40. Rxh5 1 : 0.

 

 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán): The Woman in Red
Foto: Tata Steel Chess Facebook