Midnight Express

Shakhriyar Hamid oglu Mamedyarov – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 23, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 0-0 7. Qc2 Bd6. She often played also 7. ... dxc4 8. Bxc4 e5 as for example in the Women’s World Chess Championship match’s eight game Koneru – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), Tirana 2011. 8. h3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 e5 10. 0-0 a6 11. a3 Bd7 12. Rd1 h6 13. b4 Qe7 14. d5! Mamedyarov rightly plays for a space advantage. White usually continues 14. Bb2, e.g. 14. ... Rae8 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 exd4 17. Qxe7 Rxe7 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. Rxd4 ½ : ½ Komarov – Miladinović, 47th International Chess Tournament, Reggio Emilia 2004/2005. 14. ... Na7 15. e4 Nc8. Now 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) will suffer long from a lack of space, but somehow she’ll manage to hold together her position. 16. Be3 a5 17. b5 Re8 18. a4 Bb4 19. Bd3 Nb6 20. Nd2 Bc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5 22. Nb3 Qd6 23. Be2 Rec8 24. Rab1 Qe7 25. Qc1 Ne8 26. Qe3 Nd6 27. Rbc1 Qg5 28. Qxg5 hxg5 29. Nc5 Kf8 30. Nb1 Ke7 31. Nd2 g6 32. Rc3 Be8 33. Rb1 Rab8 34. Ndb3 c6. Finally Black breaks up the siege. It’s not so easy to say where Mamedyarov could have made better use of his space advantage. 35. bxc6 bxc6 36. dxc6 Bxc6 37. Nxa5 Nxa4? A grave slip, but evidently Miss 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) has overlooked White’s 39th move. Such a pity, because after 37. ... Be8! Black would have been able to hold her own. 38. Rxb8 Nxc3

39. Bg4! With fine tactical sense, Mamedyarov wins a neat Pawn by a shining petite combinaison. 39. ... f5 40. exf5 gxf5 41. Rxc8 Nxc8 42. Nxc6+ Kd6 43. Bxf5 Kxc6 44. Ne6 Nd6 45. Bg4 Nde4 46. f3 Ne2+ 47. Kf1 N2g3+ 48. Ke1 Nc5 49. Nxg5 Nd3+ 50. Kd2 Nf4 51. Ke3 Nh1 52. Ke4 Kd6 53. Nf7+ Ke7 54. Nxe5 Nxg2 55. Kf5 1 : 0. “Hóu Yìfán resigns vs. Mamedyarov without testing whether he could mate with Bishop + Knight”, the gurus of chess24.com tweeted. Never trust a doctor who tells you you’re dead.

Mamedyarov, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and... Judit Polgár. Photo: Myra Rooselaar.