Echo of Another Time

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2nd Chess Festival Eighth Centenary 2019 of Salamanca University; time control: 40 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Salamanca, November 30, 2019

Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. 0-0-0 Qd7 10. Kb1. If 10. h3 then 10. ... h6 11. b3 Bf6 12. g4 0-0-0 13. Bg2 Kb8 14. Rhe1 Rhe8 15. Kb2 a6 16. Re2 Qe7 17. Rde1 Qf8 18. Nd4 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Bd7 21. f4 Rxe2 22. Rxe2 Re8 23. Rxe8+ Bxe8= Carlsen – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2016. Likewise after 10. h4 Black has no difficulty in equalising: 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. 10. ... Bf6 11. Bg5 Bxg5 12. Nxg5 0-0-0 13. Nxe6 Qxe6 14. Bb5 Qd7!? A novelty — instead of 14. ... Qf5 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rhe1 Rhe8 17. f3 c5 18. b3 Kb7 19. Re2 Re6 20. Rxe6 fxe6 21. Re1 e5 22. Qd5+ c6 23. Qd2 Kc7 24. Re4 Qd7 25. f4 exf4 26. Qe2 Qf5 27. Ra4 Kb8 28. Qa6 Qd7 29. Rxf4 Re8 30. Kb2 h6 31. Qd3 Kb7 32. h4 Re6 33. Rf8 Re7 34. g4 d5 35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 Rf7 37. Rg8 Re7 38. Rf8 Rf7 39. Rh8 Qd6 40. Qh3 d4 41. Re8 Rf2 42. Qd3 Rg2 43. cxd4 Qxd4+ 44. Qxd4 cxd4 45. Re7+ ½–½ 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), 80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2018. 15. Rhe1 Rde8 16. f4 Rxe1 17. Rxe1 Re8 18. a3 a6 19. Bc4 Rxe1+ 20. Qxe1 d5 21. Bd3 h6 22. Qg3 f6 23. h4 Kb8 24. h5 Qe7 25. Qg4 Qe1+ 26. Ka2 Qe7 27. Qf5 Qd6 28. g3 Nd8 29. c4 dxc4 30. Bxc4 Nc6 31. c3 Ka7 32. Qg4 Qe7 33. Bd5 Qc5 34. Be6 Qe7 35. b4 Qd6 (35. ... Nd8 36. Bb3 a5=) 36. Qe2

36. ... a5 37. Kb3 axb4 38. Qe3+ Kb8 0–1. Recording of moves stopped here, still in quite a balanced position, as after 39. axb4 Qd1+ 40. Kc4 Qxh5 41. Bd5! Black’s extra Pawn seems quite meaningless. Topalov must have lost the thread somewhere in the hereinafter, maybe due to time constraints. Who knows, perhaps the final scene shows the Black Queen shining in the sunshine, while Black’s g-Pawn runs faster than White’s b-Pawn!

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) scored a prestigious victory against Topalov in the last round of 2nd Chess Festival Eighth Centenary 2019 of Salamanca University, eventually placing fourth in the final ranking. Photo: Ajedrez Salamanca via Flickr.