Doctor Who

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Loek van Wely
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 24, 2016
Sicilian Defence B81

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4!? Hungarian Gulyás. Gyula Sax, Béla Perényi and, last but not least, Judit Polgár have played very often this kind of delayed Keres Attack. Maybe yesterday did Judit give 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) some good advice? 7. ... h6. For 7. ... e5 8. Nf5 h5 9. g5 Nxe4 10. Nxg7+ Bxg7 11. Nxe4 d5 see 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Negi, Saint Louis 2015, rapid match game 2. 8. Qf3 Nbd7. For 8. ... Qc7 9. h4 h5 10. g5 Ng4 see 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Ushenina, 台州 (Tāizhōu) 2013, match game 4. 9. Qg2!? An almost imperceptible midstep variation on theme. The most common continuation is 9. Qh3, e.g. 9. ... Nc5 (else 9. ... e5 10. Nf5 – very risky – 10. ... g6 11. Ng3 Nb6 12. Be2 h5 13. Qh4 Be7! with Black on top, Ermenkov – Polugaevsky, 23th Chess Olympiad, Buenos Aires 1978) 10. f3 e5 11. Nb3 Be6 12. Nxc5 dxc5 13. Qg3 Be7 14. h4 b5 (if 14. ... Qa5 then 15. Qxe5 0-0-0 16. Bc4 Bd6 17. Bxe6+ Kb8 18. Qf5 fxe6 19. Qxe6 Rhe8 20. Qf7 Nd5 21. 0-0-0 Nxe3 22. Rxd6 Rf8 23. Qxg7 Rxf3 24. Qe5 Rxd6 25. Qxd6+ Ka7 26. Qd3 Rg3 27. Ne2 Nf5 28. Nxg3 1 : 0 Sax – Tukmakov, Las Palmas 1978) 15. Rh2 Ra7 16. Rd2 Nd7 17. g5 hxg5 18. Bxg5 Rh5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Rh2 g5 21. hxg5 ½ : ½ Sax – Maksimenko, 8th Croatian Team Chess Championship, Pula 1999. 9. ... g5!? 10. 0-0-0 Ne5 11. Be2 b5 12. h4 Rg8 13. hxg5 hxg5. The position is very complicated and double-edged – it’s not just a platitude.

14. Nf3! White launches into a wild attack, which consequences must have been evaluated by 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) in an intuitive manner, considering the time she will spend on her next move. 14. a3 Bb7 doesn’t seem to worry Black so much, Novikov – Oleksienko, Rodatychi 2006. 14. ... Nexg4 15. Bd4?! After pondering for 20 minutes. The critical alternative 15. e5 Nxe3 16. fxe3 b4 17. exf6 bxc3 18. Ne5 Ra7 (otherwise there follows Be2-h5) 19. Qc6+ Bd7 is also very unclear, although it apparently appears that White’s chances may be more promising; for intance: 20. Nxd7 cxb2+ 21. Kb1 Qxd7 22. Qb6 Qc7 23. Qd4 and, in spite of the two Pawns minus, White keeps up a harassing initiative. It is, indeed, anything but forced, so further analysis is necessary. 15. ... Bb7. It’s admirable that Loek van Wely – indeed not the youngest participant – does not hesitate to play sharply and boldly against the youngsters. 16. Ne1 b4 17. Bxg4 bxc3 18. Bxc3 Rc8! Why did he not take the e4-Pawn? Maybe it’s something simple. Like “the catcher in the rye” Loek doesn’t want to waste time and goes to counterattack. 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Nd3 Qd4 21. f3 Bg7. The position still remains complex and double-edged, even though easier to play with Black, who after all is a Pawn up. 22. Kb1 Ke7 23. Qd2 Bf6 24. Rh6 Qb6 25. a3 a5 26. Qh2? With a few minutes left, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) misses 26. e5! dxe5 27. Nc5! which would ensure White at least a draw: 27. ... Qxc5 (not 27. ... Rxc5?? 28. Qd7+ Kf8 29. Rxf6 Rg7 30. Rh1 with mate in short order) 28. Qd7+ Kf8 29. Rxf6 Qe7 with unclear but balanced play. 26. ... Bg7. Of course, it is also strong 26. ... Rh8, but van Wely doesn’t intend to distract his Rook from the c-file. 27. Rh5? “Hóu Yìfán missed one more spectacular escape (27. Bxe6!!)”, Colin McGourty rightly said (if 27. ... fxe6 there follows 28. Rg6). 27. ... Ba6. The obvious threat is ... Ba6xd3. 28. Qd2. There were 40 seconds left on the clock, that’s enough time for a lot bad things to happen... 28. ... Bc3! 29. Qc1 Bd4. Threatening ... Bd4-e3. 30. Qd2 Bxd3 31. cxd3 Rc3 32. Rh2 Rxa3 33. Qc1 Rb8 34. Rc2 Rb3. Even quicker is 34. ... Qb3 soon mating. 35. Rdd2 Be3 36. Qd1 Bxd2 37. Qxd2 Qg1+ 38. Qc1. Or 38. Ka2 Ra3+! and mate next move. 38. ... Qxc1+ 39. Kxc1 R8b7 40. d4 a4 41. Bh5 R3b4 42. d5 exd5 43. exd5 Rd4 0 : 1. Maybe Judit didn’t bring much luck, but who has the courage to tell her?

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) vs. Loek van Wely
Photo: Tata Steel Chess (Facebook)