Splish Splash

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
5th GRENKE Chess Classic; Karlsruhe, April 2, 2018
English Opening A30

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. b3 Bg7 5. Bb2 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. d4. On another occasion, against a female opponent at a faster time control, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) continued 8. Nc3 d6 9. e3 Ne4 10. d4 Nd7 11. Qc2 f5!? 12. Rad1 Rb8 13. d5! Ndf6? 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Ne1 Nf6 17. Nd3 g5? 18. f4! g4 19. Nf2 with a crushing advantage to White, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Stefanova, 1st Silk Road Women’s International Rapid & Blitz Tournament (3+2), 韩城 (Hánchéng) 2016. 8. ... cxd4 9. Qxd4 Nc6 10. Qc3 Qc7!? Vachier-Lagrave is not enthusiastic about repeating 10. ... Rc8 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Qe1 Qb8 13. Nc3 Rfd8 14. Rac1 e6 15. Ng5 h6 16. Nge4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 where after 17. ... Ne7? (but 17. ... Ne5 was much more to the point) 18. Ba3! Nf5 19. Bxf5 gxf5 20. Be7 Re8 21. Bd6 Qa8 22. Nb5 White obtained a dream position, Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave, 2017 “Your Next Move” Grand Chess Tour Rapid, Leuven 2017. 11. Rd1 Rad8 12. Na3 a6 13. Rac1 Rfe8 14. Qe1 Qb8 15. Nc2 b5!? 16. c5!? d5!? 17. cxd6. It seems like she’s playing (a little too much) for a draw. Best appears to be 17. Ne3(!) e6 18. Qa5(!) with a definite edge for White. 17. ... Rxd6 18. Rxd6 Qxd6 19. Nfd4 Nd5 20. Ba3 Qd7 21. Nxc6 Bxc6 22. e4 Nc7 23. Nb4 Bb7 24. Rd1 Qc8 25. Qe3. 25. Rc1 seems simpler, aiming for a draw by repetition after 25. ... Qd7 26. Rd1 Qc8, as 26. Bh3! Qd6 27. Nxa6 Qxa6 28. Rxc7 Qxa3 29. Rxb7 Qxa2 (eventually followed by ... Qa2-b2) doesn’t seem to yield White more than a draw either. 25. ... a5! 26. Nd3 b4 27. Bb2 Bxb2 28. Nxb2 Nb5 29. Nc4 Nc3 30. Rd2 Rd8! The trickiest bet. Black gives up the a-Pawn in order to gain a formidable initiative. 31. Nxa5? It’s easy to say that she should have not grabbed it, but sometimes good and/or bad things happen one knows one doesn’t deserve. 31. a4! was called for, with quite a tenable game. 31. ... Rxd2 32. Qxd2 Ba6! Perhaps White had overlooked this move. Now though trouble will come her way.

33. Bf1? A tremendous mistake. White’s only move was 33. Bf3(!), after which Black would have probably played 33. ... Qc5! with the initiative. 33. ... Bxf1 34. Kxf1 Qa8 35. Nc4 Qxe4. Now Black has regained his Pawn with the most interest, and pretty soon the terrible threats of his battery of Queen and Knight will compel White to surrender her game. 36. Kg1 Ne2+ 37. Kf1 Nd4. Now a Pawn must fall. 38. f3 Qxf3+ 39. Qf2 Qh1+ 40. Qg1 Qe4 41. Qf2 f6 42. Ne3 Kf7 43. h4 Qh1+ 44. Qg1 Qxg1+ 45. Kxg1 Ne2+ 46. Kf2 Nc3 0 : 1. A second Pawn falls, and that’s enough even for a pre-holiday day.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (right) vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (left). Photo: Georgios Souleidis/GRENKE Chess Classic.