Saturday, July 9, 2016

水车 (Water wheel)

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì)
7th 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament “人民网 (People’s Daily Online) Cup”; 儋州 (Dānzhōu), July 9, 2016
Spanish Game C92

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 exd4 12. cxd4 Nd7. This lesser known line used to be Grandmaster Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler’s favourite. 13. Nf1 Na5 14. Bc2 Bf6 15. Rb1 c5. After 15. ... g6 16. b3! Black would not be happy with his badly-placed Knight on a5. 16. d5 Nc4 17. b3 Nce5. Deserving consideration is 17. ... Ncb6!? (Svidler). 18. N3h2 Ng6 19. Ng3. Another try is 19. Ng4 Bc3 20. Bd2 Bxd2 21. Qxd2 Nf6 22. Nxf6+ Qxf6 23. b4 with a slight edge for White (Svidler’s analysis). 19. ... Bc3. For 19. ... Bc8 20. Rf1 (for 20. Ng4 Bc3 21. Rf1 Nf6 22. Ne2 Bxg4 23. hxg4 Nxg4 24. f3 see Karjakin – 章钟 (Zhāng Zhōng), 2nd Qatar Masters Open, Doha 2015) 20. ... Nb6 21. Ng4 Bxg4 22. hxg4 h6 23. Nf5 Ne7 24. Ne3 b4 25. g3 a5 see Giri – Svidler, 6th Chess World Cup, Baku 2015, match game 1. 20. Bd2 Bxd2 21. Qxd2 a5 22. Ng4 Nf6 23. f4 Bc8 24. Nxf6+ Qxf6 25. Rf1 b4 26. Rbe1 Qh4 27. Kh2 Bd7 28. Bd1! Qf6 29. Rf3. Strangely enough, White is not eager (neither now nor on the next move) to push the e-Pawn from e4 to e5 (18. e5), that would have irresistibly attracted a coffee house player such as me. 29. ... Bb5 30. Qf2 Rac8 31. Nh5 Qd4


32. Qg3. As a corollary of her attacking wish, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) will end up gaining a Knight for three Pawns — but that’s not enough to win. 32. ... Rxe4 33. Rxe4 Qxe4 34. f5 Qxd5 35. Bc2 Qe5 36. fxg6 hxg6 37. Nf4 g5. After the change of Queens the balance point will soon become evident. 38. Nd3 Qxg3+ 39. Kxg3 f6 40. Kf2 Kf7 41. Re3 d5 42. Nc1 Rd8 43. Re1 g6 44. Rd1 f5 45. Nd3 Re8 46. Re1 Rd8 47. Rd1 Re8 48. Re1 Rd8 49. Rd1 ½ : ½.

Portrait of a Queen. Photos: 李昕 (Lǐ Xīn).

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