The Ethereal Realms

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Dronavalli Harika

3rd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event; Final match game 17; time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 3, 2021

Sicilian Defence B25

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bc4 b5 6. Bd5 Rb8 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8. Ne2 e6. It would have been interesting to see what 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) had in store for her opponent, had she followed 8. ... Nf6 9. Nxd4 e6 10. Bb3 Nxe4 11. Qe2 Bb7 12. d3 Bb4+ 13. Kf1 Nf6 14. Bf4 Rc8 15. Nf5 0-0 16. Bd6 exf5 17. Bxb4 Re8 18. Qd2 Nd5 19. Bd6 Qf6 20. Bf4 Qxb2 21. Rd1 a5 22. c4 Qxd2 23. Bxd2 bxc4 24. dxc4 Nb4 25. Bxb4 axb4 26. Rxd7 Ba6 27. Rd4 Re4 28. Rxe4 fxe4 29. Ke2 Bxc4+ 30. Bxc4 Rxc4 31. Rd1 f5 32. Rd7 Rc2+ 33. Ke3 Rxa2 34. Rb7 Rb2 35. h3 h5 36. Rb5 g6 37. Rb7 b3 38. h4 Kf8 39. g3 Rb1 40. Kf4 b2 41. Kg5 f4 42. Kxf4 e3 43. Kf3 exf2 44. Kxf2 Rh1 0 : 1 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Mamedov, Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup of the President of Kazakhstan, Almaty 2016. 9. Bb3 Bc5 10. d3 Ne7 11. 0-0 0-0 12. Ng3 d6 13. f4 Kh8 14. Bd2. Counting to ten and fighting hard to steady her nerves, now and on the next moves White keeps in reserve the push f4-f5, apparently not caring that Black herself will end up playing ... f7-f5. Of course, psychology is not an exact science, but the final result objectively justifies 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s “wait-and-see” attacking policy. 14. ... Bd7 15. Kh1 a5 16. a3 a4 17. Ba2 f5 18. exf5 Nxf5 19. Nxf5 Rxf5 20. Qe2 Rf6 21. f5 Rxf5 22. Rxf5 exf5 23. Re1 Qf8 24. Bg5 h6 25. Be7 Qe8 26. Qf2 Qg6 27. Bd5 Re8 28. h3 b4 29. axb4 Bxb4 30. Re2 Bc5 31. Kh2 Kh7 32. Qh4 Rb8 33. Bf3

33. ... Kh8? Black ought to prevent White’s next move by 33. ... Be8! 34. g4! Kg8∞ with an unclear, but likely balanced, game. 34. Bh5+− Qh7 35. Bd8? Quite tricky, but not tricky enough. Winning was 35. Bf7! (threatening to continue with Qh4-h5 followed by Bf7-g6 and Be7-f6) 35. ... Be8 36. Be6 with crushing threats.

35. ... g5? At such a time control it was really difficut to find 35. ... Qg8! 36. Be7 Be8! that seems to hold everything, even though by a hair’s breadth. 36. Bf6+ Kg8 37. Qe1 Rf8. Or 37. ... d5 38. Re6!+− with the overwhelming threat of Qe1-e5: and if Black takes the Rook now, there follows 39. Qxe6+ Kf8 40. Be5 Ra8 41. Qf6+ Kg8 42. Bf7+! with mate in three moves. 38. Re7 1 : 0.

In a thrilling final match watched by large audiences, four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) defeated Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika 15 – 13, thus adding to her own royal jewelry box another crown — that is, after the Earth, she also took the Internet by conquest. Screenshot from the live stream.