The Shark and the Flying Fish

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
3rd Gashimov Memorial; Shamkir, May 29, 2016
Sicilian Defence B91

“From the pure chess point of view this was the best game of the round”, Grandmaster Alexey Sergeevich Dreev said in his live commentary. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. g3 e5 7. Nde2 Be7 8. Bg2 Nbd7 9. a4 b6 10. h3 0-0 11. 0-0 Bb7 12. g4 b5 13. Ng3. The alternative 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Bxa8 15. b4 d5! is unclearly balanced, or to say, with Dreev, “Black is certainly not worse”. 13. ... b4 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. exd5 Rc8!? 15. ... a5 16. Be3 Bg5 seems fine for Black, Honfi – Zuckerman, 1st International Chess Tournament, Bari 1970. And maybe it’s worth remembering that Bobby Fischer regarded Bernard Zuckerman as a brilliant theoretician! 16. a5! Rc5 17. Nf5 Re8 18. Nxe7+ Rxe7 19. Bg5 f6 20. Bd2 Rb5 21. Re1 Qc8

22. c3! A very powerful Pawn sacrifice — that was indeed far from obvious — which gives White a clear initiative. 22. ... bxc3 23. bxc3! “Some players might have taken with the Bishop (‘no way am I returning the Pawn’), but 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) correctly recaptured with her Pawn and the game ended up drawn after further eventful episodes”, Dreev said. 23. ... Bxd5 24. Bxd5+ Rxd5 25. Qb3 Qc6 26. Be3 Nc5 27. Bxc5 dxc5 28. Qc4 Kf8 29. Qe4 g6 30. Rad1 Rd6 31. Rxd6 Qxd6 32. Rb1 Kg7 33. Rb6 Qd2 34. Rb7 Qd6 35. Rxe7+ Qxe7 36. Qc6 Qa7 37. Qb6 Qa8 38. Qxc5 Qb7 39. c4 Qd7 40. Kg2 Qb7+ 41. Kg1 Qd7 42. Kh2 Qb7 43. Qd6 Qf3 44. Qd7+ Kf8 45. Kg1 Qxh3 46. c5 f5 47. Qd6+ Kf7 48. Qd5+ Kf6 49. c6 Qxg4+ 50. Kf1 Qh3+ 51. Ke2 Qc3 52. Qd8+ Ke6 53. c7 Qc2+ 54. Kf1 Qc4+ 55. Kg2 Qg4+ 56. Kf1 ½ : ½. “Shahriyar Mamedyarov is a wonderful player. Today my main goal was not to lose the game, and I succeeded in it! So I avoided risky moves. I got a slight edge in the Queen endgame, but my opponent managed to draw through very accurate play. I am glad of agreeing to make peace with such a protagonist of the chess world”, then 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) said.

The shark and the flying fish. Photos: gashimovchess.com.