Frenemies

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 22, 2016
Grünfeld Defence D85

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Qb3 Nb6 6. d4 Bg7 7. Bf4 Be6 8. Qa3 0-0. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) apparently fears a repeat of the very sharp Pawn sacrifice 8. ... c5 9. e4 (for 9. Qxc5 Nc6 10. e4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. Bb5+ Kf8 see Vázquez Igarza – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), 13th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay 2015) 9. ... cxd4 10. Nb5 0-0 11. Nc7 Nc6 12. Nxa8 Qxa8 13. Rc1 f5 14. e5 Nd5 such as occurred in the game Navara – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), 77th Tata Steel Challengers Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2015. 9. e3 N8d7 10. Rd1 c6 11. Ne4!? It came as a surprise to 韦奕 (Wéi Yì). For 12. Ng5 Bd5 13. e4 e5 see Eljanov – Svidler, 3td Aerosvit Chess Tournament, Foros 2008. 11. ... Bd5. After thinking for more than 45 minutes, apparently trapped by his Hamletic doubts. 12. Bd3 f5

13. Nc5. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) boldly speculates on her opponent’s time trouble and does not hesitate to sacrifice a Pawn, manifestly playing to win. If 13. Ned2 Black could have replied with 13. ... e5, while if 13. Nc3 then 13. ... Bxf3 14. gxf3 e5, in both cases with good prospects of equalizing. 13. ... Nxc5 14. Qxc5 Bxa2. After another long reflection, Black decides to grab the a2-Pawn after all. 15. h4 Bb3 16. Ra1 Nd5 17. Be5 a5 18. h5 Nb4 19. Bb1 Bd5 20. Bxg7. Also 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Ng5 was worth considering. 20. ... Kxg7 21. Ne5 Qd6. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) defends well, but he is in terrible time trouble with three and a half minutes left. 22. Qc3 Be4 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. Rh4 Nd5 25. Qd2 Qb4 26. Qxb4 axb4 27. Rxa8 Rxa8 28. hxg6 hxg6 29. Rxe4 Nf6 30. Rh4 Ra1+ 31. Ke2 Rc1 32. Kd2 Rg1 33. g3 g5 34. Rh2 c5!? “I’d play more or less anything other than Wéi Yì’s 34. ... c5”, Grandmaster Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler said. 35. Nf3 Ra1 36. dxc5 Ne4+ 37. Kc2 Ra5. A desperate intuition! 37. ... Nxc5 38. Nxg5 b6 looks more tenable, but... will it be true tomorrow too? 38. Nd4 Nxc5 39. g4 Ne4 40. Nf5+ Kf6. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) finally made his 40th move (probably not best), with just 34 seconds left. Now his situation seems very difficult. 41. f3 Nc5 42. Rh6+ Ke5 43. Nxe7 Ra1 44. Ng6+ Kd5 45. Rh5 b3+! White has only one weakness: the b2-Pawn. And quite incredibly 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) will manage to exploit it! 46. Kc3 Kc6! The pointe of 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)’s clever defence! 47. Rxg5. A very natural move, though perhaps not as strong as 47. Ne5+ Kb5 48. Nd3 Nxd3 49. Kxd3 Kb4 50. Rh2! which seems to offer White greater winning chances. 47. ... Kb5. In spite of her three united passed Pawns, White has not yet won the war. 48. Rxc5+! Trying desperately to win, for after 48. Nf4 Rc1+ 49. Kd4 Rd1+! 50. Ke5 Rd2 the position was all but clear. 48. ... Kxc5 49. Ne5 Rc1+ 50. Kxb3 Kd5 51. Nd3 Rf1 52. Nb4+ Ke5 53. f4+ Ke4 54. Nc2 Rg1 55. g5 Kd3 56. Nd4 Kxe3 57. Ne6 Ke4 58. Kc4 Rg2 59. b4 Kf5 60. Kd5. No better is 60. Nd8 Kxf4 61. Nxb7 Rxg5 reaching a theoretical draw. 60. ... Rd2+ 61. Nd4+ Kxf4 62. Kc4 Rg2 63. Ne6+ Ke5 64. Nc5 Rxg5 65. Nxb7 Rg4+ 66. Kb3 Rxb4+ ½ : ½. A draw to death for pure prestige.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) vs. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: Alina l’Ami