April Fools’ Day

Magnus Carlsen – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
5th GRENKE Chess Classic; Karlsruhe, April 1, 2018
Bishop’s Opening C24

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Qe2. An old move that both Judit Polgár and 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) successfully played in the past. 4. ... Be7. Here is the record for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán): 4. ... d5 5. exd5 cxd5 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. Qxe5+ Be7 8. Nf3 0-0 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. 0-0 Bd6 11. Qe2 Re8 12. Qd1 Rb8 13. b3 h6 14. Bb2 Nh5 15. Re1 Bg4 16. Nbd2 Nf4 17. Re3 Qd7 18. Qf1 f6 19. Rxe8+ Qxe8 20. h3 Bd7 21. Kh1 c5 22. Ng1 Qh5 23. Re1 a5 24. Ndf3 d4 25. Bc1 Nd5 26. a4 Nb4 27. Re2 g5 28. Nd2 Qg6 29. Nc4 Bc7 30. Ba3 Nd5 31. Bxc5 Nf4 32. Re7 Qf5 33. Bxd4 Kf8 34. Ne3 Kxe7 35. Nxf5+ Bxf5 36. Qe1+ Kf7 37. Qc3 Rc8 38. Nf3 Bd6 39. Qxa5 Be6 40. Qa7+ Kg6 41. Qa6 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Salem, 9th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2010. 5. Nf3 d6 6. c3 Nbd7 7. Bb3 0-0 8. 0-0 a5 9. d4!? And here Magnus departs from Judit’s game: 9. a4 b5 10. Bc2 Ba6 11. axb5 cxb5 12. Nbd2 Qc7 13. d4 a4 14. Bd3 Rfb8 15. Nh4 g6 16. f4 exf4 17. Ndf3 Nh5 18. Bd2 Nb6 19. g4!? fxg3 20. Ng5 Nc4 (20. ... Bxg5 seems better) 21. Nf5 (21. Rxf7!) 21. ... Bxg5 22. Bxg5 f6 23. Bh4 gxh2+ 24. Qxh2 Rf8 25. Be2 gxf5 (25. ... Nd2! might have been even better) 26. Bxh5 fxe4? [26. ... Qg7+! 27. Kh1 (27. Kf2 Qh6) 27. ... Bb7! 28. d5 Qe7 would have left Black on top] 27. Qf4 f5 28. Kh1! Kh8 29. Rg1 Rf7 30. Bxf7 Qxf7 31. Qh6! Rf8 32. Rg6! 1 : 0 J. Polgár – Gelfand, 3rd Chess World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk 2009, match game 2. 9. ... a4 10. Bc2 Re8 11. Re1 Bf8 12. Qd1 b5 13. Nbd2 Qc7 14. Nf1 g6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bd2 Bg7 17. Ng3 Nb6 18. b3 axb3 19. axb3 Rxa1 20. Qxa1 Bg4 21. Qc1 Bxf3 22. gxf3 h5 23. Bh6 (Δ 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Nf5+!) 23. ... Qe7 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Qg5 Kh7 26. f4 Nfd7 27. Qxe7 Rxe7 28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Rd1 Re8 30. dxe5 Nxe5 31. f4 Ng4 32. Rd6 Re6 33. Rd8 Kg7 34. Nf1 Rf6? Carlsen had obtained nothing special so far, but with the text Black seriously compromises her own position. 34. ... Nf6! 35. Nd2 h4 would have kept the game approximately balanced. 35. h3 Nh6 36. f5! gxf5 37. Ng3! Rg6 38. Kf2? (38. Kh2!) 38. ... fxe4? This seems the losing move, leading Black to suffer the loss of a valuable Pawn for no compensation. Black ought to have played 38. ... Rg5! 39. Bd1 (with the King on h2, White might instead play 39. h4 Rg4 40. Kh3) 39. ... fxe4 40. Nxh5+ Kh7 41. Nf6+ Kg7 42. Nxe4 Rd5 with equality. 39. Nxh5+ Kh7 40. Bxe4 f5 41. Bg2 Nf7 42. Rf8 Ne5 43. Nf4 Rd6 44. Rxf5 Nbd7 45. Ke2 Kg7 46. h4 Nf7 47. Be4 Nde5 48. Nh5+ Kh6 49. Ng3 Re6 50. Ke3 Kg7 51. Rf1 Kf8 52. Nf5 Ng4+ 53. Kf4 Nf6 54. Bf3. Only one seat is free on the f-file! But the show won’t last much longer.

54. ... Nd5+ 55. Bxd5 cxd5 56. Ra1 Kg8 57. Ra8+ Kh7 58. Ra7 Rf6 59. h5 Kg8 60. Rd7 b4 61. cxb4 1 : 0.

Magnus Carlsen (right) vs. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (left). Photo: Georgios Souleidis/GRENKE Chess Classic.