蛋黃醬 (Mayonnaise)

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Nigel David Short
Match game 4; Hoogeveen, October 20, 2016
French Defence C02

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Bd7 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. Nxd4!? 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) casts a spell... 7. ... Nc6 8. Nxc6. 8. Nf3?! is quite nonsensical: 9. ... f6 9. Bf4? (⌓ 9. exf6) 9. ... Qxb2 10. 0-0 Qxa1 11. Qc2 Rc8 12. Bxh7 Nge7 13. exf6 gxf6 14. Bd6 f5 15. Bxe7 Bxe7 16. Bg6+ Kf8 17. Qd2 Bf6 18. Ng5 Ne7 19. Nh7+ Rxh7 20. Bxh7 Bxc3 21. Nxc3 Qxc3 22. Qf4 Qg7 23. Qh4 Rc4 24. Qh3 Qg5 0 : 1 van den Bosch – Donner, 21st Dutch Chess Championship, Amsterdam 1954. 8. ... bxc6 9. 0-0 Ne7 10. Qe2 a5!? Probably a novelty instead of 10. ... Ng6 11. Kh1 Be7 12. f4 0-0 13. Nd2 f5 14. exf6 Rxf6 15. Nf3⩲ Bd6 (15. ... Nxf4? 16. Bxf4 Rxf4 17. Ne5!+−) 16. Be3 c5 17. g3 Qb7? (⌓ 17. ... a5) 18. b4 cxb4 19. Bd4 e5 20. fxe5 Re8 21. Ng5 Nxe5 22. Rxf6 gxf6 23. Qh5 Bc6 24. Nxh7 Nxd3 25. Qg6+ Qg7 26. Nxf6+ 1 : 0 Timman – de Jong, 1st ACT Open, Amsterdam 2004. 11. Nd2 c5 12. c4 Nc6 13. f4 g6 14. Kh1 Be7 15. b3 0-0. “The position is interesting and unbalanced”, Short said afterwards.

16. f5! exf5 17. cxd5 Nxe5!

18. Nf3?? But after this terrible blunder, White’s position literally disintegrates. Best was 18. Nc4! Nxc4 19. Qxe7 Qd6 20. Qxd6 Nxd6 21. Be3 (21. Bf4 Ne4=) 21. ... Rfe8! 22. Bxc5 Re5 23. Rad1 Rxd5 24. Bxf5 Rxc5 25. Bxd7 Ne4 with approximate equality. “Perhaps this isn’t even bad for me”, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) then said. 18. ... Nxd3 19. Qxe7 (19. Qxd3 Bb5−+) 19. ... Bb5 20. Qh4 f6 21. Bd2 Rad8 22. Bc3 Rxd5 23. Qh6 Qc7 24. a4 Ba6 25. Qe3 Qd7 26. Bxa5 Re8 27. Qg1 Re2 28. Bc3 Rd6 29. h3 Rc2 30. Ba5 Bb7 31. Qh2 f4 32. Qg1 Ne5 33. Ne1

33. ... Rxg2! Very nice move, but Black had plenty of choice! 33. ... f3! and 33. ... Rd3! are nevertheless devastating. 34. Nxg2 Qxh3+ 35. Qh2 Bxg2+ 36. Kg1 Bxf1 0 : 1.

If nothing else, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) distinguished herself for her fair play: “He played very well”, she said. Photo: Lennart Ootes.