自治市 (Borough)

Fabiano Caruana – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Amsterdam, January 21, 2016
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3. Le dernier cri. 5. ... Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. 0-0-0 Qd7 10. h4 h6 11. a3

11. ... Rg8! Very sharp prophylaxis. The routine is 11. ... Bf6 12. Nd4 as for example occurred in Domínguez Pérez – 王玥 (Wáng Yuè), 4th SportAccord World Mind Games, Blitz Event, 北京 (Beijīng) 2014. 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 c5 14. Qf4 d5 15. Qg3 0-0-0 16. Be2 g5! The corollary of 11. ... Rg8. Black appears to have an excellent game. 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. Rh7 Qa4 19. Kb1 Rd7. Taking the Exchange after 19. ... Bf5 20. Bd3 would be exceedingly dangerous. 20. Bc1 Bd6 21. Qd3 Bf4 22. Be3 Bxe3 23. Qxe3 Qe4. Still, after 23. ... Bf5 24. Bd3 Black could not capture the Exchange without suffering serious damage. 24. Qxe4 dxe4 25. Kc1 Rxd1+ 26. Kxd1 Kd7 27. Kd2 Kd6. The position looks balanced. 27. Kd2 Kd6 28. Bh5 Ke7! 29. Ke3 Kf6. Since the e4-Pawn is indirectly protected (due to the Bishop’s check on f5) Black’s King hastens to the aid of her Pawn majority. 30. Be2 Kg6 31. Rh1 f5 32. g3. The position is still quite drawish, but suddenly changed its physiognomy. Now is Caruana who must fight for the draw. 32. ... Rd8 33. a4. While Black’s Kingside Pawn majority is mobile, White’s corresponding one on the other side is quite worthless because of the doubled Pawns on the c-file. Such “unbalanced drawish endings” may well turn out to be a coffee player’s nightmare! 33. ... Kf6 34. a5 Ke5! Threatening 35. ... f4+ 36. gxf4+ gxf4 mate. 35. Rh5 Rg8. Here Stockfish’s line 35. ... Bf7! 36. Rxg5 Kf6 37. Kf4 Bg6 seems much stronger, leaving White into serious trouble – at least from an “emotional” point of view 36. f4+ exf3 37. Bxf3 Rg7 38. Rh8 Re7 39. Ra8 a6. This might not be the best move, as often happens just before time control. 40. Rd8 f4+ 41. gxf4+ gxf4+ 42. Kf2. And now is Black who has to play for the draw, though even if the game is very drawish. 42. ... Rc7 43. Rb8 Bc8. Not 43. ... Bd5?? 44. Re8+ Be6 45. Bg4 Rc6 46. Kf3 and Black is in zugzwang. 44. c4 Kd6 45. c3 Ke5 46. Bd5 Kf6 47. Kf3 Kf5 48. b3 Ke5. It looks like a draw, but Caruana decides to bore 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) to death. 49. b4 cxb4 50. cxb4 Kf5 51. Ke2 Ke5 52. Kd3 Bf5+ 53. Kd2 Kd4 54. Rf8 Ke5 55. Kc3 Re7 56. Rh8 Be4 57. Rh5+ Kd6 58. Kd4 Bxd5 59. Rxd5+ Kc6 60. Rc5+ Kd6 61. Rf5 Rh7 62. Rf6+ Kc7 63. Rxf4 Rh5 64. Rf7+ Kc6 65. Rf6+ Kc7 66. Re6 Rg5 67. Re5 Rg6 68. b5 axb5 69. cxb5 Rg1. The game is drawn, but Caruana still doesn’t want to admit it. Not a gentleman. 70. Re7+ Kb8 71. b6 Rd1+ 72. Kc5 Rc1+ 73. Kd6 Rd1+ 74. Ke6 Re1+ 75. Kd7 Rxe7+ 76. Kxe7 Ka8 77. Kd7 Kb8 78. Kd8 Ka8 79. a6 Kb8 ½ : ½. A heartbreaking battle!

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Tata Steel Chess.