One Another

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) must have taken into account that her chess prowess might fade when she turned more and more to diplomacy and academics, and yet today she may have felt sorry for being knocked off by her frenemy Humpy Koneru in their semifinal match of the 1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix’s fourth leg. Or maybe not. In any event, that means that while Sunday Koneru and Alexandra Kostantinovna Kosteniuk play for 1st place, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh will play for 3rd. Screenshot from the live stream.

Humpy Koneru – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

1st Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix; fourth leg; match game 2; time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 17, 2020

Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4. Nothing strange is going on here, for in their Women’s World Chess Championship match at Tirana in 2011, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) played the Ragozin Variation three times — in the 2nd, 6th and 8th games — winning two and drawing one. 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. e3 0-0 9. Be2 Bd7 10. Qb3. The alternative is 10. Qc2 dxc4 11. 0-0 Bd6 12. Bxc4 e5 13. Nd5 Qd8 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Rad1 c6 17. Nf4 Qc7 18. Ng6 Rfe8 19. Nxe5 Rxe5 20. Rd4 c5 21. Rd2 Bc6 22. Rfd1 b5 23. Bd5 Rxd5 24. Rxd5 Bxd5 25. Rxd5 Rd8 26. e4 Rxd5 27. exd5 Qe5 28. Qd2 Kf8 29. d6 Ke8 30. d7+ Kd8 31. Qa5+ Kxd7 32. Qxb5+ Kc7 33. Qa5+ Kb7 34. Qb5+ Kc7 35. Qa5+ Kb7 36. Qb5+ Kc7 ½ : ½ Harika – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 18th European Women’s Chess Club Cup, Rhodes 2013. 10. ... a5!? A familiar position for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who now introduces a contingent novelty in the hope to catch Koneru by surprise. Ten years earlier, she followed the “book” and continued: 10. ... dxc4 11. Qxc4 Bd6 12. 0-0 e5 13. d5 Na5 14. Qd3 Qe7 15. e4 a6 16. Rac1 b5 with a reasonable game for Black, which was then compromised by her subsequent play: 17. a3 f5 18. Nd2 f4 19. b4 Nb7 20. Rc2 Rf6 21. Rfc1 g5 22. h3 Qf7 23. Bg4 Bxg4 24. hxg4 h5 25. Qh3 Rh6 26. gxh5 Rxh5 27. Qg4 Kg7 28. Nf3 Kg6 29. g3 Rd8 30. Ne2 Rdh8 31. Rc6 Kf6 32. Qf5+ Kg7 33. Qxf7+ Kxf7 34. Rxc7+ Bxc7 35. Rxc7+ Ke8 36. Rxb7 Rh1+ 37. Kg2 g4 38. gxf4 gxf3+ 39. Kxf3 R8h2 40. fxe5 Rf1 41. Ke3 Rfxf2 42. Nd4 Rf1 43. Nf5 Re1+ 44. Kd4 Kd8 45. e6 1 : 0 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu​ Yì​fán), 41st Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化 (Xīnghuà) 2010. 11. 0-0 a4 12. Qc2 dxc4 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. a3 Bd6 15. Bxc4 Na5 16. Nfd2. 16. Ba2 b5 17. Rad1(!) probably offered better prospects for an edge. 16. ... Nxc4 17. Nxc4 Bc6 18. Ncd2 f5 19. Nxd6 cxd6 20. Qd3 Qg5 21. f3 f4. So candidly, and so trickily...

22. e4?? In her run against time, Koneru dramatically overlooks Black’s threat. Simply 22. Rfe1 holds everything. 22. ... Bb5−+ 23. Qc3 Bxf1 24. Rxf1 Qb5 25. Rc1 Rac8 26. Qxc8 Rxc8 27. Rxc8+ Kh7 28. Nc4 d5 29. exd5 exd5 30. Nd6 Qd7 0 : 1.