Eye liner

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 27, 2018
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. 0-0-0. In round one, with colours reversed, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) experienced an unlucky start against Anish Giri: 8. Bd3 Be6 9. Qe2 Bf6 10. 0-0-0 Qe7 11. Kb1 a6 12. Rhe1 0-0-0 13. h3 Rhe8 14. g4 h6 15. Nd2 Bg5 16. f4 Bh4 17. Bf2 Bxf2 18. Qxf2 Qf8 19. f5 Bd7 20. f6 g6 21. Be4 Kb8 22. Nc4 Re6 23. Bxc6 Rxe1 24. Rxe1 Bxc6 25. Na5 Re8 26. Nxc6+ bxc6 27. Qg3 Qh8 28. Re7 Rxe7 29. fxe7 Qe8 30. Qe3 Kc8 31. h4 Kd7 32. Qxh6 Qxe7 33. b3 Qe4 34. g5 Qe5 35. Qf8 Qd5 36. Kb2 c5 37. Qg8 Qf3 38. Qf8 Qd5 39. Qg7 Qf5 40. Qg8 Qf3 41. a4 Qf1 42. Qf8 Qf5 43. Qa8 Qf1 44. Qe4 with a very slight initiative for White, Giri – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2018. 9. ... Bf6. After 9. ... Bxa2 10. b3 a5 11. Kb2 a4 12. Kxa2 axb3++ 13. Kxb3 Ra5 14. Kb2 it’s hard for Black to compensate for the Bishop, Bok – Burnier, 45th Internationales Schachfestival, Biel/Bienne 2012. If, instead, 9. ... Qd7 then 10. h4 [or 10. b3 Bf6 11. h3 0-0-0 12. g4 h6 13. Bg2 Kb8 14. Rhe1 Rhe8 15. Kb2 a6 16. Re2 Qe7 17. Rde1 Qf8 18. Nd4 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Bd7 22. f4 Rxe2 22. Rxe2 Re8 23. Rxe8+ Bxe8= Carlsen – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2016] 10. ... h6 11. c4 0-0 12. Bd3 f5 13. Nd4 Ne5 14. b3 Bf6 15. Nxe6 Qxe6 16. Be2 Ng4 17. Bxg4 fxg4 18. Qd5 Qxd5 19. Rxd5 Rae8 20. Kd2 b6 21. g3 Be5 22. Re1 a5 23. a4 Rf3 24. Re2 Kf7 25. Rd3 Re6 26. c3 Bf6 27. Kc2 Re4 28. Kd2 Re6 29. Kc2 Re4 30. Kd2 Re6 ½ : ½ Lékó – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 50th Internationales Schachfestival, Biel/Bienne 2017. 10. Kb1 Qd7 11. Bg5 Bxg5 12. Nxg5 0-0-0 13. Nxe6 Qxe6 14. Bb5 Qf5!? A variation in theme that doesn’t evade the drawish nature of the line. The book’s end was so far 14. ... Rde8 15. Rhe1 Qf5 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Re3 Rxe3 18. Qxe3 Kd7 19. Re1 Qe6 20. Qc1 Qg4 21. Qe3 Qe6 22. Qc1 Qg4 23. Qe3 ½ : ½ 余泱漪 (Yú Yāngyī) – 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì), 5th 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Grandmaster Chess Tournament, 儋州 (Dānzhōu) 2014. 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rhe1 Rhe8 17. f3 c5 18. b3 Kb7 19. Re2 Re6 20. Rxe6 fxe6 21. Re1 e5 22. Qd5+ c6 23. Qd2 Kc7 24. Re4 Qd7 25. f4 exf4 26. Qe2 Qf5

27. Ra4 Kb8 28. Qa6 Qd7 29. Rxf4 Re8 30. Kb2 h6 31. Qd3 Kb7 32. h4 Re6 33. Rf8 Re7 34. g4 d5 35. g5. If 35. Qg3 then 35. ... Qc7 with equality. 35. ... hxg5 36. hxg5 Rf7 37. Rg8 Re7 38. Rf8 Rf7 39. Rh8 Qd6 40. Qh3 d4 41. Re8 Rf2 42. Qd3 Rg2 43. cxd4 Qxd4+ 44. Qxd4 cxd4 45. Re7+ ½ : ½. Both 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) have serious reasons – hopefully as good as possible – to be disappointed about their relative performance in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.

Artwork © Willum Morsch

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo © 2018 Rainer Ise.