Friday, May 8, 2020

The Belt Road and Beyond

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
1st Online Nations Cup; Russia – China; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds; chess.com, May 8, 2020
French Defence C15

Although already qualified for Sunday’s final, China showed no complacency towards Russia, which badly needed a victory, if only by virtue of its star 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who taught Goryachkina a hard lesson.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qd3!? The poetic licence of a “rule-breaking” Queen.
4. ... dxe4 5. Qxe4 Nf6 6. Qh4 (6. Qd3?! c5 7. dxc5 0-0⩱)
6. ... c5 7. dxc5 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qc7. If 8. ... Qa5 then 9. Qb4 Qc7 10. Nf3 0-0 11. Bf4 Qd8 12. Rd1! Nd5 13. Qa3 Bd7 14. Bd6 Re8 15. c4 Ne7 16. Bxb8! Rxb8 17. Ne5 Qc7 18. Nxd7 Rbd8 19. Qxa7 Rxd7 20. Rxd7 Qxd7 21. Be2 Nc6 22. Qa3 e5 23. 0-0 e4 24. Rd1 Qe7 25. Qe3 Qe5 26. c3 Ra8 27. Rd5 Qe6 28. Qd2 h6 29. h3 Qf6 30. Rd7 Rd8 31. Rxd8+ Nxd8 32. Bg4 Nc6 33. Bc8 Na5 34. Qd4 Qg5 35. Qxe4 g6 36. Qd4 h5 37. Bxb7! Nxb7 38. c6 Qe7 39. cxb7 Qxb7 40. a4 Qb1+ 41. Kh2 Qb8+ 42. g3 Qc7 43. h4 Qc6 44. a5 Qa4 45. Qd5 Qc2 46. Kg2 Qa2 47. Qa8+ Kg7 48. a6 Qxc4 49. Qb7 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Dzagnidze, FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2015–16, 1st stage, Monte Carlo 2015.
9. Be3. A model game continued: 9. Ba3 Nc6 10. Bb5 Qa5 11. Qb4 Qc7 12. Ne2 Bd7 13. Qh4 Qa5 14. Qa4 0-0-0 15. Qxa5 Nxa5 16. Bd3 e5 17. Bb4 Nc6 18. Bc4 Bf5 19. Bxf7 Bxc2 20. Bb3 Bd3 21. Rd1 a5 22. Ba3 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rhf8 24. f3 Nf6 25. Rd1 e4 26. Nf4 Rfe8 27. Kf2 e3+ 28. Kg3 Bf5 29. h4 Rxd1 30. Rxd1 Ne5 31. Ba4 Rd8 32. Rxd8+ Kxd8 33. Bb5 1 : 0 E. Torre – Ostos, 28th Chess Olympiad, Thessaloniki 1988.
9. ... Nbd7 10. Nf3 Nxc5 11. Qg3 Qxg3 12. hxg3 b6 13. a4 0-0 14. a5 Bb7 15. Ne5 Be4 16. Nd3 Nd5 17. Bxc5 bxc5 18. c4 Nb4? A mistake which results in the loss of a Pawn without any compensation — and thereby a won endgame for White. Correct was 18. ... Ne7 19. Kd2⩲ with only a slight edge for White.
19. Nxb4 cxb4


20. Bd3! Bg6. Not 20. ... Bxg2?? on account of 21. Rh2+− winning the Bishop due to the double threat of Bd3xh7+ and Rh2xg2.
21. Ke2 Rfc8 22. Rhb1 f5. The b-Pawn falls (22. ... Rab8 23. Ra4), and with it the game.
23. Rxb4 e5 24. Ke3 Rc5. Not much better is 24. ... a6 because of 25. Rb6!+− with overwhelming effect.


25. a6! Rd8 (25. ... e4 26. Be2 Bf7 27. Rab1+−)
26. Rb5 f4+ 27. gxf4 exf4+ 28. Kxf4 Rc6 29. Ke3 Bf7 30. Rb7! Bxc4 31. Rxa7 Bxd3 32. cxd3 Rc3 33. Rb7 Rcxd3+ 34. Ke2 Rd2+ 35. Ke1 Rc2 36. a7 Re8+ 37. Kf1 1 : 0.

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