It’s Not Luck

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
4th GRENKE Chess Classic; Baden-Baden, April 19, 2017
Spanish Game C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d5 6. Nbd2 dxe4 7. dxe4 0-0 8. 0-0. Just another move order with respect to 8. Qe2 a5 9. 0-0 Qe7 10. Nh4 Bg4 11. Ndf3 Nh5 12. Qc4 Na7 13. Bg5 Qd6 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15. exf5 h6 16. Rad1 Qb6 17. Rd5 c6 18. Qxc5 Qxb5 19. Qxf8+ Rxf8 20. Rxb5 cxb5 21. Be3 Nc6 22. Rd1 Nf6 23. h3 Rc8 24. g4 Kf8 25. Bc5+ Kg8 26. Be3 Kf8 27. Kf1 Ke8 28. Ke2 Rc7 29. Bc5 Ne4 30. Rd5 Nf6 31. Rd1 Ne4 32. Rd5 Nf6 ½ : ½ Vachier-Lagrave – Giri, Grand Prix 2014-2015, 2nd stage, Tashkent 2014. 8. ... a5 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Nxe5. Quite interestingly, the same position can be reached through another order of moves: 1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. c3 e5 6. Be2 a5 7. 0-0 dxe4 8. dxe4 Bc5 9. Bb5 0-0 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nxe5 (C00). 10. ... Ba6. An older try is 11. ... Re8 12. Ndc4 Ba6 13. Qf3 Bxc4 14. Nxc4 Rxe4 15. b3 Qd5 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Nxe3 Qe6 18. Nf5 Re8 19. h3 c5 20. Ng3 Re5 21. c4 Ne4 22. Nxe4 Rxe4 23. Qc3 a4 24. Qa5 axb3 25. axb3 Qe5 26. Rad1 Re2 27. Rd5 Qb2 28. Rxc5 Qxb3 29. Rxc7 Qd3 30. Qd5 Qxd5 31. cxd5 Rd2 32. Rd7 g6 33. g4 Re5 ½ : ½ Maki – Santa, 32nd Chess Olympiad, Yerevan 1996. 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nxc6 Qd6 (12. ... Bxf2+? 13. Kxf2 Qd6 14. Nd4! Qxh2 15. Rh1! Ng4+ 16. Qxg4 Qxh1 17. Nf5 g6 18. Ng3+−) 13. Nd4 Bxd4 14. cxd4 Qxd4 15. Nb3 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 a4 (16. ... Nxe4 17. Nxa5 Be2 18. Re1±) 17. Nc5 Nxe4 18. Nxa6 (18. Nxa4? Bb5 19. Nc3 Nxc3 20. bxc3 Ba4 21. Rf1 Bb5=) 18. ... Rxa6 19. Be3 h5 20. Rac1 c6 21. Kf1 Nf6 22. Bc5 Nd5 23. Rc4 Nc7 24. a3 Rb8 25. Rd2 Nd5 26. Ke1 f6 27. Kd1 Kf7 28. Kc2 Rb5 29. Kb1 g6 30. Ka2 Ke6 31. f3 Rb8 32. Re4+ Kf7 33. Rdd4 Rba8 34. Rc4 Ra5 35. Bf2 R5a6 36. Bc5 Ra5 37. g3. 37. g4!? looks a little more promising. 37. ... R5a6 38. h4 Ra5 39. Bf2 R5a6 40. Kb1 Rb8 41. Ka2 (41. Rxa4?? Nc3+−+) 41. ... Rba8 42. g4 hxg4 43. fxg4 Re8 44. Rxe8 Kxe8 45. h5 Kf7 46. Be1 gxh5 47. gxh5 f5 48. Bd2 Nf6 49. Rc5 (49. Rf4! Ke6 50. h6 Ra8 51. Rh4±)

49. ... Ne4? So far, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) had succeeded in trimming down Vachier-Lagrave’s almost imperceptible positional initiative, but with her last move she allows White to exchange Rooks, entering an endgame Bishop vs. Knight a Pawn up — one can imagine nothing worse. 49. ... Nd5! would have set, if nothing else, a much tougher defence (50. Kb1±). 50. Rxf5+ Ke6 51. Ra5! Rxa5 52. Bxa5 Kf6 53. b3? Perhaps even Vachier-Lagrave begins to feel tired and misses 53. Bd8+! Kg7 54. Be7!! which would have cut Black’s Knight off from the Queenside: 54. ... Kh6 (54. ... Kf7 55. h6!+−) 55. b3! axb3+ 56. Kxb3 Kxh5 57. a4 and finis. 53. ... Kg5? Black, however, apparently more worried by the h-Pawn than by her lonely Knight, returns the courtesy losing a crucial tempo. It would seem that after 53. ... Nc5! there does not exist any win for White: 54. bxa4 (54. b4 Ne6=) 54. ... Kg5 with a draw. 54. Bb4! That’s that: now the Bishop dominates the Knight, so that the advance of the a-Pawn will produce quite an easy book win for White. 54. ... Kxh5 (54. ... c5 55. bxa4! cxb4 56. axb4+−) 55. bxa4 Nf6 56. a5 Nd5 57. a6 Nc7 58. a7 Kg6 59. Ba5 Na8 60. Kb3 Kf7 61. Kc4 Ke7 62. Kc5 Kd7 63. Bb6 Kc8 64. Kxc6 Nc7 65. Bg1 Na8 66. Bh2 Nc7 67. Kb6 Na8+ 68. Ka6 1 : 0.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Georgios Souleidis/GRENKE Chess Classic.