半色調 (Halftone)

Tatjana Melamed – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

1st Online Chess Olympiad Top Division Pool A; Germany – China; time control: 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess.com, August 22, 2020

Sicilian Defence B22

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Be2 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Na3 a6 9. Nc4 Nbd7 10. Nfe5 cxd4 11. Bf3 Qc5 12. cxd4 Qc7 13. Bf4 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qb6 15. Nc4 Qd8 16. Qb3 Bd7 17. Bxb7 Ra7 18. Bf3 Bb5 19. Rfd1 Nd5 20. Be5 Bc6 21. Rac1 Rb7 22. Qc2 h6 23. a3 Bg5 24. Rb1 Rd7 25. h3 Ba8 26. Qa4 Bb7 27. Qa5 Qa8 28. Rd3 Bd8 29. Qd2 Bc6 30. Ne3 Bg5 31. Qe2 Bxe3 32. Bxd5 Bxf2+ 33. Qxf2 Bxd5 34. Rg3 f6 35. Bf4 Kh7 36. Re1 Qc6 37. Rc3 Qb6 38. Kh2 Kg8 39. b4 e5 40. Be3 Qd6 41. Kg1 e4 42. Rec1 g5 43. Qf5 Rg7 44. Rc8 Bb7 45. Rxf8+ Kxf8 46. d5

The big threat of skewer (Be3-c5) and the time shortage may constitute a partial explanation for Black’s following mistake, which sums up an afternoon to forget for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), although in the end, for the sake of her team, she managed to save the day anyway. 46. ... Kg8? 46. ... Qe5! was imperatively called for, with a tenable game. 47. Qxe4?! 47. Bd4! was much stronger, since both 47. ... Kf7? 48. Bxf6! and 47. ... Qxd5? 48. Rc8+! would lead to Black’s immediate surrender. 47. ... Re7 48. Qg6+ Rg7 49. Qe4 Re7 50. Qg6+ Rg7 51. Qe4 ½ : ½. Naturally, Melamed could have given her illustrious opponent a much tougher test with 51. Qe8+ Kh7 52. Qe4+ Kg8 53. Bd4, but she was apparently happy enough with a half-measure of success.

Finally, after wandering among the 64 squares for what seemed like an eternity, the Queen appeared and she looked in good mood. Screenshot from the live stream.