Sunday Observance

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Marie Rachel Sebag

7th Karpov Trophy; time control: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Cap d’Agde, October 27, 2019

Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Be2 Ngf6 7. 0-0 e6. Just like a hedgehog hiding in the wood. The alternative 7. ... e5 might evoke evoke happy memories for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán): 8. Qe3 d5?! 9. exd5 Bc5? 10. Qd2! 0-0 11. c4 e4 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. b4! Ba7 14. Nc3 Bg4 15. c5! a5 16. a3 Nxd5 17. Nxe4 Bb8 18. f3 Nf4 19. Nd6! Bxd6 20. cxd6 Nxe2+ 21. Qxe2 Qxd6 22. Nb5 Qf6 23. fxg4 Nf3+ 24. Qxf3 Qxa1 25. Be3 Qf6 26. Qxf6 gxf6 27. Nc7 Rac8 28. Nd5 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Giri, 47th International Chess Festival “In Memoriam Hans Suri”, Biel/Bienne 2014. 8. c4 Be7 9. Nc3 0-0 10. b3. No one can invent something like a “serial theory”: 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. b3 Rd8 12. Ba3 Nc5 13. e5 dxe5 14. Qxe5 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Qxe5 16. Nxe5 Kf8 17. Bf3 Rb8 18. Bxc5 Bxc5 19. Na4 Ba7 20. c5 Ke7 21. Nc4 Bd7 22. Nab6 Bxb6 23. Nxb6 Bc6 24. Bxc6 bxc6 25. f3 Nd5 26. Na4 Nb4 27. Nc3 Nd5 ½ : ½ 宋宇新 (Sòng Yǔxīn) – Shpanko, 17th World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad, Konya 2018. 10. ... Qc7 11. Ba3 b6 12. Rfd1 Nc5 13. e5 Ne8. Maybe sounder is 13. ... dxe5 14. Qxe5 Qa7 with an approximately balanced game. 14. exd6 Bxd6 15. Bb2 e5? Too enterprising. 15. ... Bb7 16. Qh4 Nf6= was the right way to play. 16. Qd2! e4 17. Nd5! Qb8 18. Nd4 Bxh2+ 19. Kh1 Bd6 20. b4 Na4

21. Ba3? 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) misses the tactical solution 21. Nc6! Qb7 22. Nf6+! with White coming out of the complications with a large advantage. 21. ... a5? But Sebag immediately returns the courtesy. 21. ... Bb7! would put everything in order again. 22. c5! bxc5. If 22. ... axb4 then 23. Nc6 Qb7 24. cxd6! bxa3 25. Nce7+ Kh8 26. Qf4! (Δ Ne7-g6+) with a devastating attack. 23. bxc5 Bxc5 24. Rab1? A really improper digression. 24. Bxc5 Nxc5 25. Rac1 is a crude win, for if 25. ... Nd3!? then simply 26. Bxd3!+− (but not 26. Rxc8?? because of 26. ... Nxf2+ 27. Kg1 Nh3+! with a miracle escape). 24. ... Qd6! 25. Nb5 Qd8 26. Bxc5 Nxc5 27. Qe3 Nd3 28. Bxd3 exd3 29. Ne7+ Kh8 30. Rxd3 Bd7 31. Qe5? White should probably be content with 31. Rbd1 Nf6 32. Nf5 Qb8! 33. Rxd7! Nxd7 34. Qg5 Rg8 35. Nfd6! Rf8 (35. ... Qf8? 36. Qd5!+−) 36. Nf5 Rg8 drawing by repetition. 31. ... Nf6 32. Nc7? And now the lesser evil was 32. Nf5 Qe8 33. Qxe8 Raxe8 leaving Black a clear Pawn up. 32. ... Ng4 33. Qd6 Nxf2+ 34. Kg1 Nxd3 35. Nxa8 Be6 36. Qxd8 Rxd8 37. Nc7 Bxa2. Not surprisingly, three Pawns ahead are enough to win. 38. Rd1 Rd7 39. Nc6 Rxc7. Simpler and better was 39. ... Bb3 followed by the advance of the a-Pawn. 40. Rxd3 g6 41. Nxa5 Kg7 42. Rd6 Ra7 43. Nc6 Ra6 44. Kf2? White finally ends her suffering by badly losing a piece. 44. ... Bb3 45. Rd3 Bc4 46. Rd6 Bb5 0 : 1.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) pushed very hard for a win but ended up losing her way. Screen capture from CAPNEWS #3 (Dimanche 27 Octobre 2019)/CAPÉCHECS YouTube Channel.