The Queen of Antakya

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)

Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament; 8th finals; match game 1; Antakya, December 10, 2010

French Defence C10

Comments in quotation marks by Grandmaster Anish Giri. 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Nxf6+ Nxf6 8. Be3. 8. Bh4 c5 9. Bc4 cxd4 10. 0-0 Be7 11. Qe2 0-0 12. Rad1 Qb6 13. Nxd4 Qxb2 14. Nf5 exf5! (14. ... Bd8!?) 15. Qxe7 Be6 (15. ... g5? 16. Rd8+−) 16. Bxe6 (16. Rb1 Qe5 17. Bxe6 Qxe6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Rxb7 Rfc8 21. Rb2 Rc7= Bruzón Bautista – Nogueiras Santiago, 37th Capablanca Memorial, Havana 2002) 16. ... fxe6 17. Qxe6+ (17. Rb1 Qxa2 18. Rxb7 Nh5) 17. ... Kh8 18. Qxf5 Qxa2 19. Rd6 Ng8 20. Qe4 Qf7 (20. ... Rf7=) 21. f3 Qf4 22. Rd7 Qxe4 23. fxe4 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Re8 25. Rxb7 Rxe4 26. Bf2 Rc4 27. Rb2 a5 28. Ke2 Rg4 29. Kf3 Rc4 30. Be1 a4 31. Ke3 Rg4 32. g3 Ne7 33. Kd3 Nc6 34. Bc3 h5? (A Pawn doomed to end up on White’s menu; 34. ... Kg8 35. Rb6 Rg6 seems better) 35. Rb6 Rg6 36. Rb5 Rh6? (the defence of the Pawn is not worth such a mortification of the Rook; 36. ... Kg8 37. Rxh5 Ne7 38. Ra5 Rd6+ 39. Ke2 Rh6 40. h4 Rc6 offered probably more opportunity for resisting) 37. Rg5 Rh7 38. h4 Kg8 39. Kc4 Nd8 40. Ra5 Ne6 41. Rxa4 g5 42. Ra8+ Kf7 43. Ra7+ Kg6 44. Rxh7 Kxh7 45. Kd5 gxh4 46. gxh4 Nf4+ 47. Ke4 Ng2 48. Bf6 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén), Knockout Women’s World Chess Championship Tournament, Antakya 2010, 8th finals, tie-break game 2. 8. ... Bd6 9. Bd3 0-0 10. Qd2 Nd5 11. 0-0-0 b6 12. Kb1 Qe7 13. Rhe1 Bb7 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. dxe5 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Rfd8 17. f4 Rd7 18. Rd2 Rad8 19. Red1 Kf8 20. g3

20. ... Qc5? “A big mistake by 诸宸 (Zhū Chén). She must have missed the key idea in the Bishop ending”. Apparently 20. ... Qb4(!) seems to be okay for Black. 21. Qxc5+ bxc5 22. Kc1 Bf3 23. Be2 Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Rxd2 25. Kxd2 Bd5. “Pawn ending wasn’t an option – 25. ... Bxe2 26. Kxe2 Ke7 27. Kd3 Kd7 28. Kc4 Kc6 29. a4 Kb6 (29. ... a5 30. c3! followed by b2-b4, creating the passed a-Pawn wins) 30. a5+ Kc6 and White easily puts Black into a Zugzwang”. Yes, by 31. g4. 26. Kc3! “Suddenly Hóu is going for the Queenside Pawns with her King! Exactly the same motive as in the game Nepomniachtchi – Svidler”. 26. ... Ke7 27. Bc4 Bc6 28. Bb3 Bb5 29. Bc4 Bc6 30. Kb3! And finally, after a two-fold repetition, the King penetrates on the Queenside. 30. ... Kd7 31. Bd3! “Now King goes to either c4 or a4. Both threats are deadly”. 31. ... Bd5+ 32. Ka4 Kc6 33. c4! Bf3 34. Ka5. “Ka5-a6 is a threat and it’s over”. 34. ... Kb7 35. Kb5 g6 36. Kxc5 h5 37. Bc2 Bc6 38. b4 a6 39. a3 1 : 0.

The coronation of 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: wwcc2010.tsf.org.tr.