No Entry No Exit

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Wesley So
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 17, 2016
Spanish Game C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) apparently wants to avoid the Berlin Wall endgame – at least for today. 4. ... Bc5 5. c3 0-0 6. 0-0 d6 7. h3 Ne7 8. Re1 a6 9. Ba4 Ba7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Bc2 Re8 12. Nbd2 c5. For 12. ... b5 13. Nf1 Bb7 14. Ng3 d5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Qxd8 Raxd8 19. Bf4 h6 20. h4 take a look at Gashimov – Grischuk, 8th World Team Chess Championship, 宁波 (Níngbō) 2011. 13. d5 b5 14. b3 Bd7 15. Nf1 Qc7 16. Ne3 Bb6 17. a4 Nf4 18. Nh2 c4 19. bxc4 Ba5 20. Bd2 bxc4 21. Nhg4 Nxg4 22. hxg4 Rab8 23. Ra3 Qc5 24. Ra2 Rb7 25. g3 Nd3 26. Rf1 Reb8 27. Qe2 Rb2. So infiltrates with his Rooks and then he will also sacrifice a Pawn, but without appreciable result. It does happen very often when you play against the Ruy Lopez as Black. 28. Rxb2 Nxb2 29. Rb1 Bc7 30. Ra1 g6 31. Kg2 Bd8 32. Bc1 Qc8 33. Ra2 Nd3 34. Ba3 Bb6 35. Nxc4 Ne1+ 36. Qxe1 Qxc4 37. Rb2 Qc7 38. Bd1 Rc8 39. Qe2 a5 40. Qa6 Rb8. Time control is reached and White is a Pawn ahead, but it’s very, very hard to exploit it. 41. Qd3 f6 42. Qc2 Ba7 43. Rxb8+ Qxb8 44. Qb3 Qc7 45. Be2 g5 46. Kf1 Kf7 47. f3 Ke7 48. Bd3

48. ... Qb6. This will directly lead to a draw as White’s extra Pawn looks like an insignificant plus. Of course, also the chess engines’ “dual” 48. ... Bxa4 49. Qxa4 Qb6 is good enough to draw. 49. Qxb6 Bxb6 50. Bb5 Bc8 51. Ke2 Bc5 52. Bc1 Kd8 53. Bd2 Kc7 54. Be1 ½ : ½.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo © Koen Suyk/ANP.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) vs. Wesley So. Photo: Tata Steel Chess (Facebook).