The Gift of Nothing

Anish Giri – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 13, 2018
Russian Defence C42

Like two years ago, against Magnus Carlsen — always in Wijk aan Zee — 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) turns her Russian Defence – the same variation as well – into a very drawish Queen ending, and then into a totally drawn King-and-Pawn endgame. And then what? Well, in both cases she committs an almost inexplicable blunder, thus gifting a precious half-point to her opponents. We cannot but think of such occurrences as coincidences, which, however, may make come to mind the 8th match game between Morphy and Löwenthal, when Morphy, an insuperable endgame player, magically wanted to turn a drawn King-and-Pawn endgame into an instructive win for his opponent. So, since history always repeats itself, but never in the same way, one might conclude that this time 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) won’t gift Magnus anything. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Bd3. The alternative is 8. Qd2 Be6 9. 0-0-0 Qd7 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 with dead equality, 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. 8. ... 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 Kd8 45. Qg4 d5 46. a5 Qe1 47. h5 gxh5 48. Qxh5 Qe6 49. Qh8+ Ke7 50. b4 cxb4 51. cxb4 Kd7 52. Qd4 Kc8 53. Qf6 Qxf6+ 54. gxf6 Kd7 55. Kb3

55. ... Kc6?? Correct was 55. ... Kd6! 56. b5 axb5 57. Kb4 c6 (57. ... Kc6?? 58. c3!+−) 58. a6 Kc7 59. Kc5 b4! 60. Kxb4 Kb6 61. a7 Kxa7 62. Kc5 Kb7 63. Kd6 d4 64. Ke7 c5 65. Kxf7 c4 66. Ke6 d3 67. cxd3 cxd3 68. f7 d2 69. f8=Q d1=Q with a draw. 56. c4. 56. Ka4 Kb7 (56. ... d4 57. b5+ axb5+ 58. Kb4+−) 57. b5+− was also winning. 56. ... d4 (56. ... dxc4+ 57. Kxc4 Kb7 58. Kc5 Kb8 59. b5+−) 57. Kc2 Kd6 58. Kd2 (58. b5?? c5! 59. b6 Kc6 gives only a draw) 58. ... c6 59. Ke2. Black is in zugzwang. 59. ... Kd7 (59. ... Ke6 60. b5+−) 60. Kd3 Kc7 61. Kxd4 Kd6 62. Kd3 Kc7 63. Ke4 Kd6 1 : 0. For after 64. Kf5 Kd7 65. Kg5 Ke6 66. b5 it’s all over.

Anish Giri vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: ANP/NOS.