天佑女王 (God Save the Queen)

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra
Match game 4; Punta Arenas, February 10, 2016
Caro-Kann Defence B13

Mala tempora currunt, and thus today the show is again in Punta Arenas. 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5. This apparently unpretentious variation was occasionally adopted by 11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer. 3. ... cxd5 4. c3 Qc7. In order to prevent Bc1-f4. Another continuation is 4. ... Nf6 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. Nd2 e6 9. Ngf3 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Bd6 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. 0-0 0-0 13. Rae1 a6 14. Ne5 Nd7 15. f4 b5 16. Re3 g6 as played in 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 田甜 (Tián Tián), 3rd Arrows Cup, 济南 (Jǐnán) 2005. 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Ne2 Bg4 7. Na3 a6 8. Nc2 e6 9. Qd2 Nf6 10. Ng3 Bh5 11. Nxh5 Nxh5 12. g3 Nf6 13. Qe2 Bd6 14. Bd2 h6. A superfluous move. 15. f4 Ne7 16. 0-0-0 g6 17. Rhf1 h5 18. Ne1. The Knight evidently heads for e5. 18. ... Nf5 19. Nf3 0-0-0 20. Kb1 Kb8 21. Rc1 Qb6 22. Ne5 Rhf8 23. Be1 Bc7 24. Rf3 Nd6 25. c4! The long-awaited break up of White. Cristóbal is in serious trouble. 25. ... dxc4. Not 25. ... Qxd4?? 26. Bf2 trapping and winning Black’s Queen. 26. Bxc4 Nxc4

27. Rb3. Even stronger seems 27. Rxc4 much more effectively threatening Rf3-b3 eventually followed by Ne5-c6+. 27. ... Qxb3. This is Black’s best practical chance. 28. axb3 Nxe5 29. Rxc7. White goes for complications. 29. dxe5 Nd5 30. b4 would have given her a stable advantage. 29. ... Nd5! Obviously not 29. ... Kxc7?? 30. Qxe5+ followed by Qe5xf6. 30. Rc5 Nd7. The situation became unclear. 31. Rc4 Rc8 32. Qf3 N5b6 33. Rc3 Nf6 34. Bd2 Nbd5 35. Rc4 Rfd8. The time scrabble has just begun and it will last till the very end of the game. 36. Qe2 Nd7 37. h3 b5 38. Rxc8+ Rxc8 39. Qf3 Rh8 40. Qf1 Kb7 41. Qe1 Nb8 42. Qe5 Rd8 43. f5. Trying hard to break through the balance. 43. ... exf5 44. Bg5 Nc6 45. Qg7 Rd7 46. Qh8 Nc7 47. Bf6 Nd5 48. Bg5 Kc7. Cristóbal is perhaps too ambitious to expect his opponent to slip. Safer was 48. ... Nc7 49. Bf6 Nd5 aiming for a draw by repetition. 49. Qe8 f6. Back slowly begins to lose the thread. 50. Bd2 g5 51. Qxh5 Nxd4 52. Ba5+ Kd6 53. Qe8 Nc6 54. Qf8+ Ke6 55. Bd2 Nde7 56. Bc3 Nd5 57. Qc8 Kd6 58. Qxa6 Rh7 59. Qxb5 Rxh3 60. b4! With the threat of Qb5-c5+. White has now a winning game, thanks to the powerful passed b-Pawn. 60. ... Nce7 61. Qc5+ Ke6 62. b5 Rh8 63. Bd4 f4 64. gxf4 gxf4 65. b6 Rb8 66. Qb5 f3 67. Bf2 Nc8 68. Qc6+ Nd6 69. Bc5 Rd8 70. b7 f2 71. Bxf2 Nb4 72. Qb6 Kd5 1 : 0. Winter is gone, after the ice has finally broken.

Prize awarding ceremony in the Antarctic Peninsula. From left: 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), Punta Arenas Mayor Emilio Boccazzi, and Cristóbal Henríquez Villagra. Photo: radiopolar.com.