Mirrors and Windows

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Matthias Blübaum
4th GRENKE Chess Classic; Baden-Baden, April 20, 2017
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4!? It must have been a surprise to Matthias... The Queen’s immediately fortressing herself. 1. ... Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4! Matthias quite cleverly puts his opponent facing the dilemma of how to play into the mirror. 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 0-0 7. e3 h6 8. Bh4 Bf5 9. Qb3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nbd7 11. Be2 c5 12. dxc5!? 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) knows very well all secrets of the Ragozin as she herself favours it when playing Black. The text is apparently a new idea, aiming for something more than 12. 0-0 c4 13. Qb2 (after 13. Qxb7 Rb8 14. Qa6 Rb2 15. Bd1 Qb6 16. Qxb6 axb6 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Ne5 Ne4 19. Rc1 Ra8 Black wins back his Pawn with satisfactory play, Cori – Hammer, 42nd Chess Olympiad, Baku 2016) 13. ... Qb6 14. Qc1 Ne4= 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Lékó, 7th 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament “人民网 (People’s Daily Online) Cup”, 儋州 (Dānzhōu) 2016. 12. ... g5 13. Bg3 Nxc5 14. Qb5 Nfe4 15. Rc1 Qe7. White achieved almost nothing from the opening. Of course it is not a tragedy, but sometimes such an awareness may be enough to get discouraged and start playing worse. 16. Be5! After a long time thinking, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) finds the key — founded on the idea Bc5-d4 — for consolidating her own position before Matthias can get too daring. 16. ... Rac8 17. Bd4 a6 18. Qa5 Qc7 19. Qb4 Ne6 20. h4 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Bg6 22. hxg5 hxg5 23. Nf3 Qc5 24. Qxb7

24. ... Nxc3. Stockfish casts its preference for ... g5-g4-g3, which, even if not so dangerous itself, appears to be a little more audacious. 25. Qb2 Qa5 26. 0-0 Qxa2 27. Qxa2 Nxa2 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Bxa6 Rc5 30. Ra1 Nb4 31. Ra4 Nc2 32. Be2 f6 33. Nh2 Rc7 34. Bf3 Bf7 35. Ng4 Kg7 36. Ra6 d4 37. e4 d3 38. Rd6 Nb4. 38. ... Ne1 was a clearer way of achieving a draw, but, strangely, even after the text — a kind of atypical dual — Black somehow manages to save his skin. 39. Nxf6 Rc6 40. Rxc6 Nxc6 41. Ng4 Nd4 42. Ne3 Nxf3+ 43. gxf3 d2 44. Kg2 Bb3 45. Kg3 d1=Q 46. Nxd1 Bxd1 47. f4 gxf4+ 48. Kxf4 ½ : ½

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