American Graffiti

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Fabiano Caruana
4th GRENKE Chess Classic; Karlsruhe, April 15, 2017
Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 0-0 8. d4 Nf5 9. Nf3 d5 10. c3 Bd6 11. Nbd2 Nce7!? The alternative is 11. ... Qf6 12. Bd3 h6 13. Nf1 Be6 14. Bd2 Rae8 15. Qc2 Nfe7 16. b4 Ng6 17. Ng3 Bg4 18. Rxe8 Rxe8 19. Re1 Rf8 20. Be2 Nf4 21. Bxf4 Qxf4 22. h3 Bd7 23. Qd1 g6 24. Bd3 Re8 25. Rxe8+ Bxe8 26. Nf1 Ne7 27. Ne3 Bd7 28. g3 Qf6 29. Ng4 Bxg4 30. hxg4 Qe6 31. Nh2 Kg7 32. Nf1 Ng8 33. Qe2 Qd7 34. Bb5 Qd8 35. Kg2 Nf6 36. Ne3 a5 37. a3 Qa8 38. Bd3 axb4 39. axb4 Qa1 40. Qd2 c6 41. g5 Ng8 42. gxh6+ Nxh6 ½ : %frac12; Nijboer – G. Meier, 11th European Team Chess Championship, Rijeka 2010. 12. Qc2 c6 13. Bd3 g6 14. Nf1 f6. It doesn’t make great impression, but 14. ... Ng7, too, hasn’t brought any good luck to Black: 15. Ng3 f6 16. Bh6 Re8 17. Nh4 Bxg3 18. hxg3 Nef5 19. Qd2 g5 20. Rxe8+ Qxe8 21. Re1 Qd8 22. Nxf5 Nxf5 23. Bxf5 Bxf5 24. Qe2 Kf7 25. g4 Bd7 26. f4 Kg6 27. fxg5 fxg5 28. Qe5 Qf6 29. Qh2 Bxg4 30. Re5 Bf5 31. g4 Bxg4 32. Rxg5+ Qxg5 33. Bxg5 Kxg5 34. Qxh7 b6 35. Qb7 Rc8 36. Qxa7 b5 37. b3 Kf4 38. Kf2 Bf5 39. a4 bxa4 40. bxa4 Ke4 41. a5 Rh8 42. Qc7 Kd3 43. a6 1 : 0 Topalov – Nakamura, Champions Showdown, Saint Louis 2016. 15. h3. A Knight journey (Nf1-h2-g4) is in the air. 15. ... Rf7 16. Bd2 Bd7 17. Re2 c5? Hungarian Grandmaster Péter Lékó in his live commentary called it “a nervous move”. Black should have probably preferred the more patient 17. ... b6 as after 18. c4 (or 18. b3 c5) 18. ... dxc4 19. Bxc4 Nd5 his position, although a little cramped, still seems tenable. Now White very quickly obtains a most dominant position: 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Bf4 Rc8 20. Rae1 g5!? White succeeded in making her opponent even more nervous than he already was! 21. Ng3! Nxg3 22. Bxg3 a4 24. b4! axb3 25. axb3 Ng6 26. h4! gxh4 27. Nxh4 Nxh4 28. Bxh4 Qf8. If 28. ... Bg4 then 29. Re5! and White’s attack will soon become overwhelming. 29. Qf4 Bd6 30. Qd4 Rd8!? Caruana is very short of time and stands very badly in need of a ray of sun. With the text he goes for a tricky (indirect) defence of his d-Pawn (31. Qxd5? Bg4!). 31. Re3. But no! 31. ... Bc8 32. b4 Kg7. Here it starts a series of “red moves” (Stockfish-coloured) by Caruana, but it is not due (only) to lack of time. Black’s position is, by now, disastrous; if 32. ... Bc7 then much the same 33. Bb5! followed by the invasion on the eight rank. 33. Bb5! Bc7 34. Re8. White can win as she likes, so it’s just a matter of taste. 35. ... Qd6 35. Bg3 Qb6 36. Qd3! Bd7 37. Bxd7 Rdxd7

38. Qf5! Black’s King’s got in a mating net. The threat is Qf5-g4+. 38. ... Bxg3 39. Qg4+ Kh6 40. Qh3+ 1 : 0.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) vs. Fabiano Caruana. Photo: Georgios Souleidis/GRENKE Chess Classic.