Afterschool Hours

Zhansaya Daniyarovna Abdumalik – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2nd Online Chess Olympiad Top Division Pool A; Kazakhstan – China; time control: 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess.com, September 9, 2021

Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Bd3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. Qe2 Qd7 (11. ... Bxd3 12. cxd3 Qd7 13. d4 d5 14. b4 Qd6 15. a4 a5 16. b5 Nd8 17. Ne5 f6 18. Nd3 Qe6 19. Nf4 Qd7 20. Bc1 Nf7 21. Ne6 Rg8 22. f4 b6 23. f5 Nd6 24. Bf4 Rc8 25. Bxd6 Qxd6 26. Kd2 Kd7 27. Rhe1 Rce8 28. Qf3 c6 29. bxc6+ Qxc6 30. Nf4 Bd6 31. Nxd5 Bf4+ 32. Kd3 Bg5 33. Rab1 Rxe1 34. Rxe1 Rc8 35. Re6 Qc4+ 36. Ke4 Rc6 37. Qd3 Qa2 38. Nxb6+ Rxb6 39. Rxb6 Qg2+ 40. Qf3 Qh2 41. Kd3 Qd2+ 42. Kc4 Qa2+ 43. Kb5 Qb3+ 44. Ka6 1 : 0 Schelfhout – van Gelder, 4th Dutch Chess Championship, The Hague 1919) 12. 0-0-0 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 h5 14. g5 0-0-0 15. Nd4 Ne5 16. Qe4 Rhe8 17. Nb3 Qc6 18. Qd4 b6 19. Kb1 f6 20. f4 Nc4 21. Bc1 d5?! (⌓ 21. ... fxg5 22. fxg5 Ne5 23. Qf2 Qf3 24. Qh2!⩲) 22. Qd3

22. ... Bf8? Now after 22. ... fxg5 23. Nd4! Qd7 24. f5! White is going to plant a Knight on e6 with obvious advantage, but it was Black’s best play, at least from a relative standpoint. 23. Rhe1 Rxe1 24. Rxe1 Qd7 25. Nd4 fxg5 26. fxg5. Black came out in pieces and Abdumalik does not need to struggle too much to get her job done.

26. ... Kb7 27. Qg6 Bd6 28. Qxh5 c5 29. Ne6 Rc8 30. g6 Be5 31. Qf5 (31. Rxe5+−) 31. ... Ka6 32. Rxe5. With 32. Nxc5+ White would have won the Queen, but she has no reason to complain of the text move either. 32. ... Nxe5 33. Qxe5 Rc6 34. Nf4 d4 35. cxd4 cxd4 36. h4 Rc5 37. Qe2+ Kb7 38. h5 Rf5 39. Qe4+ Ka6 40. a3 Rf6 41. Nd3 Re6 42. Nb4+ Ka5 43. Qf5+ b5 44. h6 gxh6 45. g7 Qe8 46. Qf8 Re1 47. Nd3 1 : 0.

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) relaxing backstage before taking her spot behind the computer at the Training Base for Chinese Chess National Team in 杭州 (Hángzhōu), China. Photo: 梁自明 (Liáng Zìmíng).