Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Yesterday Today

No doubt last night turned out to be quite a “hard day’s night” for 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) against Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich (who clearly won the match). Gallantry, however, calls for a happier ending, and so here are the only two exceptions to the overnight rule:

Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Fiona’s Fight Night #4; match game 7; time control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; lichess.org, September 8, 2020
R7/1r4p1/8/p1p2k2/P7/1n6/5K2/3B4 w - - 0 50

Position after 49. ... Nd4xb3

After repeatedly missing the win, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) made a virtue of necessity by gaining a meaningless Pawn. Her faith worked:
50. Ke3?? 50. Bxb3 Rxb3 51. Rxa5 was a book draw.
50. ... c4−+ 0 : 1.

Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
Fiona’s Fight Night #4; match game 5; time control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; lichess.org, September 8, 2020
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Re1 Bf5 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 0-0 12. Bf4 Bf6 13. h4 h6 14. Re3 Qd7 15. Rae1 a6 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Ne7 18. e6 fxe6 19. Rxe6 Nf5 20. g3 c6 21. c4 Nxh4


Thus, after all, the game was still close enough to a draw, had Morozevich contented himself with 22. cxd5 — but instead, something went wrong:
22. Re7?? Qg4−+ 23. R1e3. No better is 23. Kf1 Rae8!−+ Δ 24. Rxe8 Qh3+! liquidating to a won King and Pawn ending.
23. ... Rxf4 24. Kf1 Rxf2+! 25. Kxf2 Rf8+ 26. Kg1 Nf3+ 27. Kg2 Nh4+ 28. Kg1 Nf5 29. cxd5 Nxe7 30. Rxe7 Rf3 31. Re8+ Kf7 0 : 1.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and Morozevich guest stars at Fiona’s Fight Night #4. Screenshot from the live stream.

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