Heartbeats

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Pavel Eljanov
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Utrecht, January 27, 2016
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3. Miss 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s opening repertoire doesn’t yet include everlasting classics like the Evans Gambit, but who knows, someday maybe it will all come true. 4. ... Nf6 5. d3 0-0 6. 0-0 d6 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Bb3 Be6 9. Bc2 h6 10. h3 Re8 11. Re1 d5 12. exd5 Bxd5 13. b4 Ba7 14. a4 b5 15. Bb2!? A new try. On the other hand, after 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. dxe4 Bc4 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Rxe3 Qxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Rad8 the game seems quite even, Nevednichy – Melkumyan, Grand Europe Open, Albena 2013. 15. ... Qb8 16. Nf1 Qb6. Eljanov’s Queen manoeuvre (... Qd8-b8-b6) is as original as well-founded. 17. Ne3 Rad8. The decision to give up the Bishop pair is all but obvious. If 17. ... Be6 then 18. Qe2 with a slight plus. 18. a5 Qb7 19. Nxd5 Nxd5 20. Nh4 Re6!

21. d4. White opens up the game in order to exploit the power of her two Bishops. It looks quite logical. 21. ... Rf6. If 21. ... exd4 there might follow 22. Qd3 Nf6 23. Rxe6 fxe6 24. Bb3 and White exerts some pressure. 22. Qh5? A bit too adventurous. 22. ... Qc8! Not 22. ... exd4? 23. Qxd5! with amazing fireworks. 23. Be4 Nf4! 24. Qf3 Ng6 25. Qg3. Not 25. Nf5 exd4 26. Nxh6+? Kf8 and White gets into much more serious trouble. 25. ... Nxh4 26. Qxh4 exd4 27. Bf3 d3. Both players were in serious time trouble, so let’s forget the perfect schachpartie. 28. Rad1 Qf5 29. c4. Good news: White’s dark-squared Bishop finally enters the game! 29. ... g5 30. Qe4 Bd4 31. Bxd4 Nxd4 32. Rxd3! A timely Exchange sacrifice which should be sufficient to survive. 32. ... Ne2+ 33. Rxe2 Rxd3 34. Qe8+?? Miss 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) commits a very unlucky mistake, with almost no time left on clock. The exchange of Queens followed by c4xb5 would have given her excellent drawing chances (as after 35. ... Rxb5 36. Re8+ Kg7 37. Be2 White regains her material loss). 34. ... Kg7 35. Be4 Rd1+ 36. Kh2 Qf4+ 37. g3 Qd6 38. cxb5 Rd2 39. Bg2 Rxf2 40. Rxf2 Rxf2 41. Qe3 Rf6. Pavel’s first move after the time control and certainly not a bad one. In spite of her heroic efforts to resist, White will soon have to give up the game. 42. bxa6 Qxa6 43. Qc5 Qd6 44. Qc3 Kg8 45. b5 Rf2 46. Qe1 Ra2 47. a6 Qd5 48. Qf1 Qd4 49. Qg1 Qxg1+ 50. Kxg1 Kf8 51. Bd5 Ra3 52. Kf2 Ke7 53. g4 f6 54. Ke2 Kd6 55. Be4 Kc5 56. Bd3 Kd4 57. Bf5 Rxh3 58. Bd7 Ra3 59. Bc6 Kc5 60. Bd7 Kb6 61. Kf2 c5 62. bxc6 Rxa6 63. Kf3 Ra4 64. Ke3 Kc7 65. Kf3 Kd6 66. Ke3 Ra5 67. Ke4 Re5+ 68. Kf3 Re7 0 : 1.. As they say, after all tomorrow is another day, and, who knows, maybe there will be a happy day after tomorrow.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) vs. Pavel Eljanov
Photo: Tata Steel Chess (Facebook)