In White Ink

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Irina Borisivna Krush
1st Online Nations Cup; United States – China (25+10); chess.com, May 7, 2020
Sicilian Defence B52

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. c4. This used to be Ukrainian Grandmaster Oleg Mikhailovich Romanishin’s favourite in the 1970s and ’80s. 4. ... Bxb5. After 4. ... Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Bg7 8. Be3 Nc6 9. f3 0-0 10. 0-0 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bxb5 12. cxb5 Qa5 13. Qd3 Qb4 14. Rfd1 Rfc8 15. a3 Qb3 16. Qe2 e6 17. Rd3 White put a lot of pressure on the d-file ending up winning at move 48, 侯逸凡 (Hóu​ Yì​fán) – Ushenina, Women’s Grand Prix 2013–2014, 4st stage, Khanty-Mansiysk 2014. 5. cxb5 Nf6 6. Nc3 g6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bg7 9. 0-0 0-0 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Qe2 Rc8. 11. ... d5 was worth considering here: 12. exd5 Nb6 13. Rfd1 Nfxd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bg5 Qd7 16. a4 ½ : ½ Sjugirov – Khegay, 1st European Universities Championships, Yerevan 2015. 12. Rfd1 Re8 13. Rac1 e6!? This is a novelty and also an improvement on 13. ... Rc7?! 14. a4! Qb8 15. a5 Rec8? 16. a6! Nxe4?! (16. ... bxa6 17. Nc6 is not pleasant either) 17. Nd5+− David – Ki. Georgiev, 18th Festival “Città di Padova”, Padua 2015. 14. Nb3 Nb6 15. Na5

15. ... d5? A grave error that leads to an immediate débâcle, but Krush’s been pursuing a mirage — otherwise 15. ... Rc7 was solid enough. 16. e5 Nfd7 17. Nxb7. Black not only loses an Exchange, but her whole position falls apart as well. 17. ... Qh4 18. Nd6 Bxe5 19. g3 Qf6 20. Nxc8 Rxc8 21. f4 Bb8 22. Bxb6 Nxb6

23. Nxd5! exd5 24. Rxc8+ Nxc8 25. Qe8+ Kg7 26. Qxc8 Qb6+ 27. Kg2 Qxb5 28. Qc3+ Kg8 29. Rd2 Bd6 30. Qb3 Qa6 31. Qxd5 Be7 32. f5 Bf6 33. fxg6 hxg6 34. Rf2 Kg7 35. Qf3 Qe6 36. Qxf6+! 1 : 0. The King and Pawn ending is an easy win for White.