Saturday, January 24, 2015

The Way Back

Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 24, 2015
Catalan Opening E06

“Radjabov seems to really enjoy positions with symmetrical structure in which he holds the tiniest of pressures. This is what happened today in his Catalan against Hóu Yìfán, but his initiative quickly dissolved into nothing in a rook endgame that was promptly drawn”, Grandmaster Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez writes.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Nc3 dxc4 7. Ne5 c5 8. dxc5 Qxd1+ 9. Nxd1 Bxc5 10. Nxc4 Rd8. For 10. ... Nc6 11. Be3 Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Nxd2 Bd7 see Kortschnoi – Petrossiàn, Castelvecchio Pascoli 1977, match game 9. 11. Be3 Bb4+ 12. Nc3 Nc6 13. Rc1 Nd5 14. Bd2 Bxc3 15. Bxc3 Nxc3 16. Rxc3 Bd7 17. f4 Kf8 18. Kf2 Ke7 19. Rhc1 f6 20. a3. “ White’s position is very pleasant, but he has yet to create a weakness in Hóu’s camp”, Dennis Monokroussos writes. 20. ... Rab8 21. Nd2 Nd4


22. Nb3 Nxb3 23. Rxb3 Rdc8 24. Rxc8 Bxc8. “White still has more space, but there isn’t enough material left for it to matter, since Black has no weaknesses. She’ll finish her development one step at a time, and the draw will be agreed”, Monokroussos writes. 25. g4 h6 26. h4 b6 27. Rc3 Kd6 28. Rd3+ Kc7 29. g5 hxg5 30. hxg5 Bb7 31. Bxb7 Rxb7 32. e4 fxg5 33. fxg5 Kc6 34. Ke3 ½ : ½.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Photo: Alina l’Ami

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