Coccinella magnifica

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Viktorija Čmilytė
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014; Geneva, May 6, 2013
Sicilian Defence B52

Notes by Grandmaster Adrian Bohdanovych Mikhalchishin.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) lost in round three against an outsider from Mongolia, got a strong reprimend from her mother, who accompanies her to most tournaments and was ready to strike back. But she had not played too convincingly against Viktorija Čmilytė in the past — we remember fantastic win of Viktorija in a Sicilian last year in Kazan. Viktorija used the same approach as I taught my pupil Betül Yıldız in recent years: 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is fantastic, fine technical player, and the only way to play successfully against her is to challenge her from the start. It means to attack as soon as possible. But it is tremendousely difficult. You have to show her that you are not afraid of her. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6. Usually the former World Champion plays main lines, but sometimes she returnes to her junior weapon. 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. 0-0. A very modern way here is to transfer to Maroczy structure: 5. c4 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 g6 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Be3. 5. ... Nc6. The Chinese Champion had one interesting game here: 5. ... Nf6 6. e5 dxe5 7. Nxe5 Qc7 8. d4 cxd4 9. Bf4 Qd8 10. c3 d3 11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. Na3 Qc8 13. Rad1 e6 14. Rxd3 Be7 15. Bg5 Qc7 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nxc6 Qxc6 18. Qxc6+ bxc6 19. Nc4 and obtained sweet endgame in 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Fontaine, China–France Youth Match, 深圳 (Shēnzhèn) 2005. 6. Qe2 Nf6 7. Rd1 g5!? Typical modern attitude — attack on the flank in the opening. But still I would prefer more timid developing moves: 7. ... Rc8, 7. ... g6, 7. ... e5. 8. c3. There are two possible direct approaches to refute Black’s counterattack immediately: 8. e5 g4 9. Ne1 dxe5 10. c3 0-0-0 11. Na3 h5 12. d3 Nd5 13. Nc4 Bg7 14. Be3 Nf4 15. Qc2 Qd5 16. Qa4 h4 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Bxf4 f5 19. Nc2 Bxf4 20. Qxf4 Qd7 with very good position in Pridorozhni – Nevostrujev, 1st Stage Russian Cup, Tomsk 2003. Very risky seems 8. d4? g4 9. Ne5 dxe5 10. dxe5 Nd4 11. Rxd4 cxd4 12. exf6 exf6 13. Bf4 Bg7 14. Nd2 0-0 15. Qd3 Rac8 16. Nf1 Qa4 17. Rc1 Qxa2 18. Ng3 Qxb2 19. Nf5 Rc3 and the White attack is completely stopped, Yandemirov – Amonatov, Moscow Open E, Moscow 2011. 8. Nxg5? Nd4. 8. ... g4 9. Ne1. Much more dangerous for Black seems to be another retreat: 9. Nh4 Qe6 10. d3 (10. Re1 d5 11. d3 dxe4 12. dxe4 0-0-0 13. Na3 Qxe4 14. Qxe4 Nxe4 15. Bf4 Nd6 16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. Nc4 Rd7 18. Re4 h5 19. g3 e6 White has no real compensation for the Pawn, Bojković – Korbut, Zlatibor 2006) 10... 0-0-0 11. Bf4 d5 12. Nd2 Nh5 13. Bg3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 h5 15. Nb3 b6 16. d4 c4 17. Nd2 Bh6 18. Nxc4 Kb8 19. a4 dxc4 20. d5 Qc8 21. dxc6 Qxc6 22. Nf5 where the White knight is very well placed, Delchev – Morozevich, 18th European Team Chess Championship, Porto Carras 2011. 9. ... Qe6 10. d3 h5. It is possible here to launch a central counterstrike: 10. ... d5 11. Bg5 (11. Be3 d4 12. cxd4 cxd4 13. Bg5=) 11. ... 0-0-0 12. Nd2 Rg8 13. Bxf6 exf6! 14. Nc2 f5 15. Re1 [15. Qe3 dxe4 16. dxe4 f4! 17. Qe2 (17. Qxf4? Bh6) 17. ... Ne5 18. f3 h5 19. Kh1 g3 20. Nf1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Be7 22. Rd5 gxh2 23. Qd2 Qf6 with advantage, Collutiis – Vocaturo, 1st Porto Mannu Chess Open, Palau 2009] 15. ... dxe4 16. dxe4 f4 17. Rad1 Ne5 18. f3 Qxa2 19. Ra1 Qxb2 White has just some trick chances here, Fressinet – Édouard, Paris 2009. More risky is 10. ... c4 11. d4 (11. Nd2 cxd3 12. Qxd3 a6 13. Nc2 Ne5 14. Qe2 h5 15. Nd4 Qc8 16. Nf1 Bh6 17. Bxh6 Rxh6 18. Nf5 Rg6 19. Rxd6 Qc4 20. Qxc4 Nxc4 21. Rd4 the White pieces are much better placed, Sarana-Hungeling – Huppertz, FrauenBundesliga 2008/2009, Germany 2008) 11. ... d5 12. e5 Nd7 13. b3 Na5 14. Nd2 Nb6 15. Nc2 Bh6 16. bxc4 Nbxc4 17. Nxc4 Nxc4 18. Bxh6 Qxh6 19. Qxg4 the Black King will not be safe in the center, Brochet – Bernard, France 2008. 11. Bg5 Rg8 12. Bh4 Bh6. Possible was immediate 12. ... 0-0-0. 13. Nd2 0-0-0 14. Nf1 Nd5!? A risky but interesting Knight transfer. For me the logical idea was to exchange Bishops, which blocks the Black’s Pawns on the Kingside: 14. ... Bg5 15. Bxg5 Rxg5. 15. Qc2 Nf4 16. d4. Black would have had fantastic play after 16. Ne3 Ng6 17. Nf5 Nxh4 18. Nxh4 Bg5 19. Nf5 Kb8 20. Qe2 d5. 16. ... d5. Very good was 16. ... cxd4 17. cxd4 d5 18. b4 Qxe4. 17. exd5 Rxd5 18. Ne3

18. ... Nh3+!! Completely logical was the simple retreat 18. ... Rdd8 19. dxc5 Ng6, but Čmilytė saw some fantastic attacking possibility. 19. gxh3 gxh3+ 20. Kf1 (20. Kh1 Bxe3 21. fxe3 Qg4−+) 20. ... Bxe3 21. fxe3

21. ... Qg4? Black would keep very strong attack after the correct 21. ... Qxe3 22. Bf2 Qf4 23. Qh7 Rg6 24. Rd3 Rf5 25. Rf3 Qxh2 26. Rxf5 Qh1+ 27. Ke2 Qe4+. Another way to attack was not so convincing, but still playable: 21. ... Rf5+ 22. Ke2 Rg1 23. d5 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 Qxd5 25. Qd3 Qe6. 22. e4! The only way to refute the opponent’s attack. 22. ... Qf4+. Black could still create a lot of problems after 22. ... Rd6! 23. e5 Nxe5 24. dxe5 Qg1+ 25. Ke2 Qxh2+ 26. Kf3 Qxe5 27. Qe4 h2. 23. Bf2 Rdg5? Here better was 23. ... Rd6. 24. Qd3! f5. After 24. ... Qxh2 a very strong answer was 25. Nf3. 25. Qxh3 cxd4. 25. ... Rg1+ 26. Ke2 Qxe4+ 27. Qe3 R1g4 28. Qxe4+ Rxe4 29. Kf1 promised nothing. 26. cxd4 Rg1+ 27. Ke2 Qxe4+ 28. Qe3 Qg4+ 29. Nf3 Rg2 30. Rg1! After this exchange it becomes clear that Black’s attack is in the past. 30. ... f4 31. Qe4 Qh3 32. Rxg2 Rxg2 33. d5 Nb8 34. Rc1+ Kd8 35. Qe5 1 : 0.

As they say, “A good player is always lucky”. Photo: Anastasiya Valeryevna Karlovich.