Clustering illusion

Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Hilversum, January 17, 2018
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Bb4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4. Theoretically speaking, the text is less fashionable than 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nbd7 [if 7. ... c5 then 8. e3 c4 9. Be2 Nc6 10. 0-0 g5 11. Bg3 0-0 12. Ne5 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ne4 14. Bf3 Nxg3 15. hxg3 Bf5 16. Bg4 Be4 17. f4 Nxe5 18. dxe5 f6!? 19. Qd4 fxe5 20. fxe5 Qb6 21. Bf3 Qg6 22. Rad1 Rae8 23. Qxa7! Bxf3 24. Rxf3 Rxf3 25. gxf3 Qc2! 26. Qd4 Rxe5 27. Rd2 Qc1+ 28. Kf2 Rf5 29. g4 Rf7 30. Kg2 Qe1 31. a4 Qa1 32. Qe5 Qe1 33. Qd4 Qa1 34. Rf2 with a very slight edge for White, Lékó – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 7th 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament “人民网 (People’s Daily Online) Cup”, 儋州 (Dānzhōu) 2016] 8. e3 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Qb3 c5 11. Rc1 Qa5 12. Nd2 Nxg3 13. hxg3 cxd4 14. exd4 Nf6 15. Bd3 Be6 16. a3 Bxc3 17. Rxc3 Rc8 18. Rxc8+ Bxc8 19. Qb4 Qxb4 20. axb4 Ke7 21. Nb1 Bd7 22. Nc3 a6 23. f3 Kd6 24. Kf2 Ng8 25. Ra1 Ne7 26. Ra5 Rc8 27. g4 Rc6= 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2016. 6. ... 0-0. In Shankland – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), Hawaii Grandmaster Challenge Rapid 2015, Honolulu 2015 was seen 6. ... c5 7. g3 Ne4 8. Rc1 Qa5 9. Bg2 Nc6 10. 0-0 Bxc3 11. bxc3 c4 12. Qc2 0-0 13. Nd2 Nxd2 14. Bxd2 Re8 15. e4 with a more promising game for White. 7. Rc1 c6 8. e3 Bd6!? As a matter of fact, the game now transposes into the Exchange Variation. For 8. ... 0-0 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Be2 Be7 11. Nd2 Nbd7 12. h3 Bg6 13. 0-0 a5 take a look at Narayanan – Dubov, 15th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2017. 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. Qc2 Re8 11. Bd3 Nbd7 12. 0-0 Nf8 13. h3 g6 14. Ne5 Nh5 15. Rfe1 Re7 16. Qa4 Nd7 17. Nf3 Ndf6 18. b4 a6 19. b5 cxb5 20. Nxb5 Bd7? A staggering blind spot. Black had to play 20. ... Qd8 21. Nc3 Be6. 21. Nxd6 Bxa4

22. Rb1? Svidler, too, plays a little lazily, apparently overlooking that by 22. Nc8 (threatening both Nc8xe7+ and Nc8-b6) 22. ... Re6 23. Ng5 White would have won the Exchange crystal clearly. 22. ... b5 23. Ne5? It looks like a careless inversion of moves. 23. Rec1(!) followed by Nf3-e5 would still have been strong, as 23. ... Nd7 wouldn’t work as well as in the game (due to 24. Rc7). 23. ... Nd7! Now, finally, the worst is over. 24. Rec1 Nxe5 25. dxe5 Rxe5 26. Rc7 Rf8 27. Rc6 Ra8 28. Rc7 Rf8 29. Rc6 Ra8 30. Rbc1!? d4!? 31. g4 Nf6 32. e4!? Re6 33. f4 b4! 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s playing well although terribly short of time. 34. Rc8+ Rxc8 35. Rxc8+ Kg7 36. e5 Nd5 37. Bc4 Nxf4 38. Rc7! This speculative move, though not objectively effective in turning the status quo, subjectively has a shocking effect on an opponent panicked by lack of time. After 38. Bxe6 Nxe6 Black shouldn’t have any particular problem with her position. 38. ... d3?? And here comes the blunder. Correct was 38. ... Nxh3+ 39. Kh2 Ng5 40. Bxe6 Nxe6 (but 40. ... d3?? 41. Bxf7! would likewise be only a cruel Fata Morgana) and Black should hold quite comfortably. 39. Rxf7+ Kh6 40. Rxf4 d2 41. Rd4 1 : 0.

Finally Svidler ended up winning a game which 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) just wanted to lose. Photo © Alina l’Ami/Tata Steel Chess.