Higher Thoughts

The newly appointed University Professor 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) did not give any chance to her opponent Sarasadat Khademalsharieh — by winning 8–2 — in the semifinal of the 1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix’s third leg to enter the final, where next Sunday she will face Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Lagno of Russia. Screenshot from the live stream.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Sarasadat Khademalsharieh

1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix; third leg; match game 3; time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 10, 2020

Spanish Game C70

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 g6 5. c3 Bg7 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 b5 8. d5. It is supposed to be the dernier cri. 8. ... Na5. 8. ... bxa4 didn’t bring Khademalsharieh better luck in their first game at 5+1: 9. dxc6 Ne7 10. Qxa4 Nxc6 11. 0-0 0-0 12. Nc3 Rb8 13. Bg5 f6 14. Bf4 Ne5 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16. Be3 d6? (after 16. ... Rxb2 17. Qc4+ Kh8 18. Rad1 White has good compensation for the Pawn, which would be less than what she will get now) 17. Qc4+ Kh8 18. b4 Bd7 19. Rac1 Qc8 20. Rfd1 Be6 21. Nd5 Rf7 22. a3 Rb5 23. Qc6 Bxd5 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Qxd5 Qf8 26. Rc6 Re7 27. Rxa6 Re8 28. Rc6 Bh6 29. Bxh6 Qxh6 30. Rxc7 Qf4 31. Qf7 Qxf7 32. Rxf7 Ra8 33. Rf3 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Khademalsharieh, 1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix, third leg, chess.com, July 10, 2020, match game 1 (5+1). 9. Bc2 d6 10. 0-0 Ne7 11. Bd2 Bxb2 12. Bxa5 Bxa1 13. Nc3 Bb2 (13. ... Bxc3?? 14. Bxc3 0-0 15. Bf6+−) 14. Qd2. Here there is a theoretically significant alternative: 14. e5 0-0 15. Ne4 Bb7 16. Bb3 Bxe5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. Bc3 Nf5? (18. ... f6 19. d6+ Kh8 20. dxe7 Qxe7∞) 19. Bxe5 f6 20. Bxc7! Qc8 21. Qa1! Kg7 22. Rc1! Qe8 23. Nxf6 Rxf6 24. Be5! 1 : 0 Navara – Salgado López, 38th German Schach Bundesliga, Berlin 2019. 14. ... 0-0 15. Rb1 Ba3 16. Ne2!? Not surprisingly, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) has her say about this sharp opening variation. A recent game continued: 16. Qh6 f6 17. Ne2 Rf7 18. Ned4 Qf8 19. Qh4 Bc5 20. Ne6 Bxe6 21. dxe6 Rg7 22. Bc3 g5 23. Qg4 Rd8 24. h4 d5 25. hxg5 d4 26. Bd2 fxg5 27. Ne5 d3 28. Bb3 Qxf2+ 29. Kh1 Qxd2 30. Nf7 Rg6 0 : 1 Savanović – Basso, 26th Venetian Autumn, Venice 2019. 16. ... Bc5 17. Bc3 f6 18. Qh6 (Δ Nf3-g5) 18. ... Rf7 19. Qh4 Qf8 20. Ned4 Bd7? (20. ... g5!)

21. Ne6! Qc8? 21. ... Bxe6 22. dxe6 Rg7 23. Bxf6 g5 24. Bxg5 Ng6 25. Qg3 Kh8 26. h4 gave White plenty of compensation, but that was the lesser evil at this point, since after the text White’s attack becomes irresistible. 22. Nxc5 dxc5 23. Bxf6 Qf8 24. Bb2! (24. Ng5!+−) 24. ... Rxf3. Desperation, but otherwise the White Knight would join the Bishop pair in the assault against Black’s King. 25. gxf3 Re8 26. f4 Nc8 27. f5 Qe7 28. f6 Qf7 29. Rd1 Nb6 30. Qf4 c6 31. dxc6 Bxc6 32. Qd6 Qe6

33. Qxe6+? Under time pressure, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) misses an easy win with 33. Qc7! threatening everything. 33. ... Rxe6 34. f3? (34. e5! Kf7 35. f4+−) 34. ... Kf7 35. Kf2? 35. e5! still gave White a chance for an advantage. 35. ... Nc4 36. Ba1 Ne5? But, as they say, what goes around comes around, and now it is Black who misses her chance, namely 36. ... Rd6! holding everything together. 37. Bxe5 Rxe5 38. f4 Rh5. Thus the Rook inevitably ends up cut off from the flow. 39. Kg3 c4 40. h4 Be8 41. e5 h6 42. Be4 g5 43. hxg5 hxg5 44. f5 Rh4 45. Bd5+ Kf8 46. e6 Bh5 47. e7+ 1 : 0.