Then There Were Seven

Volodar Arturovich Murzin – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
8-board simultaneous exhibition; Belokurikha, July 17, 2018
Giuoco Piano C50

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Na4 a5?? With this awful move (in fact a theoretical novelty!), 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) decides to play at handicap odds, thus giving her young opponent the luxury of a strategic winning position after the very first moves. One hypothesis is that, under the rules of engagement, she had simply been instructed to test the potential of the Russian junior team, and, in such a way, the text can be regarded as a cleverly conceived mistake. Back to the book: 6. ... Bb6 7. Nxb6 axb6 8. a3 h6 9. 0-0 Bg4 10. c3 Qe7 11. h3 Bh5 12. Be3 g5 13. g4 Bg6 14. Kg2 0-0-0 15. Qe2 d5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Ne1 f5 18. f3 h5 19. Qd2 f4 20. Bf2 hxg4 21. fxg4 e4 22. Qc2 f3+ 23. Kg1 Rxh3 24. dxe4 Bxe4 25. Bd3 Qh7 26. Bd4 Rh1+ 27. Kf2 Qh4# 0 : 1 Janssens – Zukertort, Simpson’s Divan Tournament, London 1876. 7. Nxc5 dxc5

8. Bb5! Black, who will end up with tripled Pawns on the c-file, won’t be able to avoid the loss of a Pawn, either. 8. ... Qd6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. b3 Bg4 11. 0-0 0-0 12. Bb2 Nd7 13. h3 Bh5 14. g4 Bg6 15. Nd2 a4 16. f4 exf4 17. Nc4 Qe7 18. Qf3 f6 19. Qxf4 Nb6 20. Ne3 Qd6 21. h4 Qxf4 22. Rxf4 h5. A Pawn finally falls, but 22. ... h6 23. Raf1 was also hopeless. 23. gxh5 Bxh5 24. Rf5 Be8 25. Rxc5 Bd7 26. Rf1 axb3 27. axb3 Kh7 28. Kh2 Rae8 29. Kg3 Nc8 30. Ra5 Nd6 31. Ba3 Ra8 32. Bxd6 cxd6 33. Rfa1 Rxa5 34. Rxa5 Be6 35. Ra6 Rc8 36. d4 d5 37. exd5 Bxd5 38. Ra7 Be6 39. Re7 Bg8 40. Nf5 c5 41. Rxg7+ Kh8 42. Re7 c4 43. bxc4 Rxc4 44. Re2 Bf7 45. Rd2 Bg6 46. Ne3 Rc3 47. Kf4 Kg7 48. Rd1 Kf7 49. Ra1 Rc8 50. c4 Rh8 51. Ra7+ Ke6 52. d5+ Kd6 53. Ra6+ Ke7 54. Nf5+ Bxf5 55. Kxf5 Rxh4 56. Re6+ Kd7 57. c5 Rh5+ 58. Ke4 Rh4+ 59. Kd3 f5 60. c6+ Kc7 61. Re7+ Kb6 62. Rb7+ 1 : 0.

Then there were seven. Photo: belokuriha-gorod.ru.