Thursday, August 14, 2014

Closing credits

Anna Olehivna Muzychuk – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
41st Women’s Chess Olympiad; Tromsø, August 14, 2014
French Defence C14

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 a6 8. Qg4. As noted by Joseph Henry Blackburne, nicknamed “The Black Death”: “This has recently taken the place of the good old-fashioned move of 8. Qd2”. See Horace F. Chesire, “The Hastings Chess Tournament 1895”, Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly, London, 1896, pp. 80-81. 8. ... g6 9. Nf3 c5 10. dxc5 Nc6 11. h4. For the less enterprising 11. Bd3 Nxc5 see Matanovic – Fuderer, Zagreb 1955. 11. ... h5 12. Qg5. Maybe a novelty. The old try was 12. Qg3 Nxc5 13. 0-0-0 b5 14. Bd3 b4 15. Ne2 Bd7 16. Ned4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Rb8? (Walbrodt – Mason, Hastings 1895) and now 28. f5! seems very strong. 12. ... Nxc5 13. 0-0-0 b5 14. Bd3 b4 15. Ne2 a5 16. Ned4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Ba6 18. Kb1 Qa7. Black is playing with fire...


19. Qf6 Rg8 20. Bb5+ Bxb5 21. Nxb5 Qe7 22. Rxd5! White tries hard to win! 22. ... Qxf6. On 22. ... exd5 23. Qc6+ is catastrophic. 23. Nc7+ Kf8 24. exf6 exd5 25. Nxa8 Ne4 26. Nc7 Nxf6 27. Re1. White got the most, but it is not enough to claim any advantage. 27. ... Kg7 28. Re5 Rd8 29. Kc1 Rd7 30. Ne8+ Nxe8 31. Rxe8 Kf6 32. Re5 Re7 33. Rxd5 Re2 34. Rg5 a4 35. a3 Re1+ 36. Kd2 bxa3 37. bxa3 Rf1 38. g3 Ra1 39. Kc3 Rxa3+ 40. Kb4 Rf3 41. Kxa4 Rc3 42. Kb4 Rxc2 43. Kb3 Rf2 44. Kc3 Kg7 45. Kd3 f5 46. Ke3 Ra2 47. Kf3 Kf6 48. Ke3 Ra4 49. Kf3 Rb4 50. Kf2 Re4 51. Kf3 Re6 52. Kg2 ½ : ½. Says Refused: “The final position in Muzychuk – 侯 (Hóu) is kinda amusing. I like Muzychuk’s entombed Rook. :)”.

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