Long before we were born

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 26, 2016
Nimzo-Indian Defence E54

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. 0-0 cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Qe2 Bxc3. Understandably enough, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) improves on 11. ... h6 as 12. d5! turned out to be very unpleasant for Black, Mamedyarov – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 6th Chess World Cup, Baku 2015, tie-break game 1. 12. bxc3 Nbd7 13. Nd2 Qc7 14. Rac1 Nd5. For 14. ... Rfe8 15. Rfe1 Rac8 16. f3 Nd5 17. Bh4 Nf4 18. Qe3 Nd5 19. Qd3 Nf4 20. Qc2 Bd5 21. Ba6 Bb7 22. Bf1 see Tomashevsky – Lenderman, 1st Qatar Masters Open, Doha 2014. 15. f3 e5!? A very unstabilizing decision, but if not now, maybe never. For 15. ... Rac8 16. Rfe1 see Sanzhaev – Fakhrutdinov, 5th Polugaevsky Memorial, Samara 2015. 16. Rfe1 Rae8 17. Bxd5. Tomashevsky, too, decides to commit himself into Caïssa’s hands. White voluntarily gives up the Bishop pair in order to establish what appears to be a firm grip on the centre. 17. ... Bxd5 18. c4 Bb7 19. d5 f5 19. Be3 Rc8 20. a4 a5. Of course Black cannot permit a4-a5. 22. Qd3 Rf6 23. Qa3 Ba6 24. Bf2 Rh6 25. h3 Rg6 26. Qe7 h5 27. h4. Tomashevsky contented himself with a slight but lasting initiative, evidently relying on his virtuoso technique. But his resilient opponent has learned a long time ago to endure. Possibly, a long time before Evgeny Yurievich was born. 27. ... Qd8 28. Qxd8+ Rxd8 29. Kh2 Kf7 30. Rc3 Re8 31. Bg3 Nc5 32. Rxe5 Rxe5 33. Bxe5 Nxa4 34. Ra3 Nc5 35. Bd4 Nd7 36. Kg1 Rh6 37. Kf2 Rh8 38. Re3? Virtually forcing Black to give up a Pawn – due to the threat of d5-d6 followed by Re3-e7+ – but losing valuable time as well. White should have probably moved his King toward the Queenside. 38. ... Rc8 39. d6 Re8 40. Rxe8 Kxe8 41. Bxg7 Kf7. Black’s passed a4-Pawn more than compensate 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) for her temporary deficit. Black stands better, even if symbolically, as she is the only one who can win the game.

42. Bb2 f4! 43. Ke2 b5! Playing to win is often the best way to play for a draw. 44. cxb5 Bxb5+ 45. Kd1 Ke6 46. Ne4 Nb6 47. Bc1 Ke5 ½ : ½.

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Tata Steel Chess.