Far East Story

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Ekaterina Atalik

2nd “一带一路” (“One Belt One Road”) Women’s World Chess Summit; time control: 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; 西安 (Xī’ān)/chess.com, December 4, 2020

Caro-Kann Defence B10

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 g6 4. e5 Bg7 5. d4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Nxf3 Ne7 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. c3 c5. 10. ... h5 leads by transposition to the game Nepomniachtchi – Andriasian, 4th PRO Chess League, chess.com, January 23, 2020 (time control: 15 minutes plus a 2 second increment), in which after 11. Bg5 Bh6 12. Bxh6 Rxh6 13. Qd2 Rh8 14. Qf4 Nf5 15. 0-0-0 Qe7 16. g4 Ng7 17. Ng5 a6 18. Kb1 b5 19. Rhe1 a5 20. Re3 White got an overwhelming bind.

11. h4! White is already much better out of the opening. 11. ... h6 12. a3 Qb6 13. 0-0 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nf5 15. Bc2 Qd8 16. h5 0-0 17. g4 Nh4. Of course there’s nothing good in it, but also after 17. ... Ne7 18. g5 Black would sit in a valley of tears. 18. Nxh4 Qxh4

19. Kg2! (Δ Rf1-h1) 19. ... f5. Due to Black’s broken up Kingside 19. ... gxh5 20. f3!+− would not work much better either. 20. Rh1 Qxg4+ 21. Qxg4 fxg4 22. hxg6 Rac8 23. Bd1 Rxc1. Sheer desperation! 24. Rxc1 Rf4 25. Rc8+ Nf8 26. Rh4 Rxd4 27. Bxg4 Kh8 28. Kh3 Rd3+ 29. f3 Rd1 30. Bxe6 (Δ Rh4-f4) 30. ... Rh1+ 31. Kg3 Rg1+ 32. Kf2 Rxg6 33. Bxd5 Rb6 34. b4 Kh7 35. Be4+ Kg8 36. Rf4 a5 37. Bd5+ Kh7 38. Rfxf8 Bxf8 39. Rxf8 1 : 0.

The 2nd “一带一路” (“One Belt One Road”) Women’s World Chess Summit has kicked off today in mixed reality mode, with the Chinese participants physically on the spot in 西安 (Xī’ān), 陕西省 (Shǎnxī province), China, and all others outside in their countries being brought in by the Internet. Pictured above in the group photo are (from left to right): 赵雪 (Zhào Xuě) (first), 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) (fifth), 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (eight), and 谭中怡 (Tán Zhōngyí) (tenth). Photo: 闫斌 (Yán Bīn).