In the aftermath of her appointment as Professor at the School of Physical Education, Normal College (Faculty of Education), 深圳大学 (Shēnzhèn University), four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), in an interview to Sina Sports, shared her feelings about her new intellectual challenge, without regrets for what she is leaving behind. Her desire is to live in 深圳 (Shēnzhèn) like a “深圳人” (“Shēnzhènese”), without excluding that her 4-year term of professorship may be renewed or continued after expiry. As for chess — no matter whether on or off the board — 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), like a Sphinx, says something that anticipates the outcome of the Women’s Speed Grand Prix’s third leg: “Because of the pandemic, most competitions are now online — like the showdown which I, too, am playing. In the future, I will give absolute priority to my teaching duties: when asked, I will still represent my country, but I will no longer participate in invitation tournaments as often as before”. Screenshot from the live stream.
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侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno
1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix; third leg; match game 10; time control: 1 minute plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 12, 2020
Spanish Game C90
After a disastrous start in the games at 5+1, and another disheartening performance in the games at 3+1, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) made a formidable comeback in the games at 1+1, eventually equalising the score thanks to three wins in a row. In the tie-breaker (consisting of two bullet games), however, she threw away the last game and the match by a glaring mouse slip — thus leaving the field open to any hypothesis. 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. 0-0 0-0 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 Na5 8. Bb5 a6 9. Ba4 c5 10. Nbd2 b5 11. Bc2 Nc6 12. Nf1 Be6 13. h3 h6 14. N3h2!? White’s move is new, but probably not better than the older one: 14. Ng3 Re8 15. Bb3 Bf8 16. d4 Bxb3 17. axb3 cxd4 18. cxd4 exd4 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Qxd4 Nd7 21. Nf5 Qf6 22. Qd5 Nc5 23. b4 Na4 (23. ... Qe6 24. Qxe6 fxe6∞) 24. Rb1 Rac8 25. Be3 Qe6 26. Bd4 g6 (26. ... Qxd5 27. exd5 g6) 27. Ne3 Bg7 (27. ... Qxe4 28. Ng4 Qxd5 29. Nf6+ Kh8 30. Nxd5+ Bg7) 28. Bxg7 Kxg7? (28. ... Qxd5 29. Nxd5 Kxg7) 29. f3? (29. Qd2!) 29. ... Qe5? (29. ... Qxd5 30. Nxd5 Rc2) 30. Red1? (30. Qd2!) 30. ... Qf4? 31. Qd3 Nb6?? 32. Qd4+ Kh7 33. Qxb6 Qg3 34. Qd4 Rc6 35. Qd2 Qe5 36. Ng4 Qg7 37. Qf4 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – T. A. Kosintseva, 3rd SportAccord World Mind Games, Women’s Blitz Event, 北京 (Beijīng) 2013. 14. ... Qd7 (14. ... d5) 15. Qf3 d5 16. Ne3 dxe4 17. dxe4 Rad8 18. Nhg4 Nxg4 19. hxg4 Bg5 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21. exf5 Rfe8 22. Bxg5 hxg5 23. Be4 Nb8
24. f6!↑ Qe6 (24. ... gxf6?? 25. Qxf6 Qxg4 26. Bh7+! Kxh7 27. Qxf7+ Kh8 28. Re3+−) 25. fxg7 Kxg7 26. Qe3?! (26. Rad1±) 26. ... Qe7? (26. ... Qxg4 27. g3 Nd7=) 27. Rad1 Rh8 28. g3 Nd7 29. Kg2 Nf6?? (29. ... Nb6 30. b3±) 30. Qxg5+ Kf8 31. Rxd8+ Qxd8 32. Qxe5 Rh2+ 33. Kg1 Rh8 (33. ... Qd2 34. Rf1 Nxg4 35. Qxc5+ Kg7 36. Qf5 Qe2 37. Qf3+−) 34. g5 Qd2 35. Bc6 Rh1+ 36. Bxh1 1 : 0.
侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno
1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix; third leg; tie-break game 1 (1+1); chess.com, July 12, 2020
5r1k/p1p3p1/2n5/1p2nP2/2p1R3/2P3N1/PP6/3R2K1 w - - 3 32
Position after 31. ... N7c6
White to move. It’s not too difficult to foresee that 32. Rd5 would end in a win for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). But no! A life outside of the Internet is waiting for her. Thus, she decided to just let the mouse slip by: 32. Rd6?? cxd6 0 : 1. That’s the difference between the Master and Margarita.
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