月食 (Lunar eclipse)

Loek van Wely – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; The Hague, January 21, 2015
Sicilian Defence B31

1. e4. “Loek told me he wanted to catch the 1st bus home. I told him to play 1. e4 but I didn’t expect him to take me seriously!”, Magnus Carlsen said. 1. ... c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. 0-0 Bg7 6. Re1 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 8. c4 Nc7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Qxd4 0-0 11. Qh4 f6 12. Nc3 Ne6 13. Ne4 fxe5 14. Nfg5 Nxg5 15. Bxg5 Qb6

16. c5! Sharp play on the part of White. For 16. Rad1 Qxb2 17. Rd2 (17. c5 transposes to the game, while if 17. g3 then 17. ... d5!?) 17. ... Qb6 18. c5 Qa5 19. f3 d5 20. cxd6 exd6 21. Rxd6 Bf5 22. Red1 Rab8 23. Be7 Bxe4 24. Bxf8 Bd5 25. Be7 Qxa2 26. Re1 Qd2 27. Rd7 Rb2 28. Qg3 Bh6 29. Rd8+ Kf7 30. Ba3 Rc2 31. Rd7+ Kg8 32. Rd8+ Kf7 33. Rd7+ Kg8 34. Kh1 Bf4 35. Rb1 Rc1+ 36. Rxc1 Bxg3 37. Rb1 e4 38. fxe4 Qd3 39. Rd8+ Kg7 40. Rb7+ Kh6 41. Bf8+ Kg5 42. hxg3 Qxe4 43. Rb2 Qe5 44. Rdb8 Qxg3 45. R8b4 a5 46. Rb7 a4 47. Be7+ Kh5 48. Bc5 h6 49. Rf2 Qc3 50. Bb4 Qe3 51. Kg1 a3 52. Re7 Qd4 53. Bxa3 Qa1+ 54. Kh2 Qxa3 55. Re5+ g5 56. Ref5 Qe3 57. Rf6 Qe5+ 58. Kg1 c5 59. R6f5 Qd4 60. Kh2 c4 61. g3 Qe4 0 : 1 Naiditsch – Sutovsky, 30th European Club Cup, Bilbao 2014. 16. ... Qxb2 17. Rad1 d5?! Black gives back one of her two extra Pawns in the vain hope to slow down the opponent’s initiative. Grandmaster Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez suggests 17. ... Qxa2 18. Bxe7 (18. g3!?) 18. ... Rf4 19. Qg3 a5!? with a double-edged position in which “Black could even consider sacrificing the Exchange on e4”. 18. cxd6 exd6 19. Rxd6. As a matter of fact the Black King’s position remains precarious. 19. ... Bf5 20. Nf6+ Bxf6 21. Bxf6 (21. Qc4+ Rf7 22. Rxf6 Rf8 23. Bh6) 21. ... Rab8?? A careless blunder, which is punished dramatically. The last hope of saving the game lay in 21. ... Qxa2 22. h3 a5, as pointed out by Ramírez Álvarez. 22. Qc4+. Sic et simpliciter. 22. ... Rf7 23. Red1! Black is doomed. 23. ... Qb1!? Sheer desperation, but also after 23. ... Rf8 24. Rd8 les jeux sont faits. 24. h3! Mercilessly. 1 : 0. “When you are Black, you normally should be worried about your King”, then Loek van Wely said.

Traveling by bus from Wijk aan Zee to The Hague. Photo: Evgeny Anatolyevich Surov.

Loek van Wely vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Alina l’Ami.