Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
1st Chess Super League; Krazy Knights – Quintessential Queens; time control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; chess.com, October 11, 2021
Sicilian Defence B91
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. Nge2 Nf6. After 5. ... e6 Muzychuk could revert to a shared past (but with reverse colours): 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nf6 8. 0-0 b4 9. Na4 Bxe4 10. Bxe4 Nxe4 11. Re1 d5 12. Qh5 g6? (⌓ 12. ... Qf6 13. Be3 Qg6 should hold for Black, Sochacki – Nezar, 12th Festival International de Meurthe et Moselle, Nancy 2014) 13. Qe5 Rg8? 14. Nxe6!+− 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – M. O. Muzychuk, 4th SportAccord World Mind Games, Women’s Blitz Tournament, 北京 (Běijīng) 2014. 6. 0-0 d6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 e5. 8. ... e6 is only apparently less committal, as the game would transpose into attack games and attack motifs old and new; for instance: 9. Re1 Qc7 10. a4 bxa4 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 e5 13. Rxa4 g6 14. Bd2 Bg7 15. Ba5 Qd7 16. Rc4 0-0 17. Rc7 Qa4 18. Rxb7 Qxa5 19. Nc6 Qa2 20. Re3 a5 21. Ra3 Qc4 22. Bf1 1 : 0 Gligorić – Vranešič, Interzonal Tournament, Amsterdam 1964. 9. Nf5 b4 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 g6 12. Ne3 Nd7. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) has obviously slipped into an unfavourable Sicilian, and her last move — most likely a novelty — does not change the assessment much: White’s Queenside is under heavy pressure. If 12. ... Bg7 then 13. a3 bxa3 14. Rxa3 0-0 15. Bd2± Mokrý – Vera González-Quevedo, International Tournament, Bratislava 1983.
13. a3 a5. After 13. ... bxa3 14. Rxa3 the strategic leitmotif does not differ at all from from that mentioned in the previous note. 14. axb4 axb4 15. Bd2 Ba6. 15. ... Qb6 16. Rxa8+ Bxa8 17. Qa1 is a nightmare for Black. 16. Re1 b3. The b-Pawn can no longer be defended: 16. ... Qb6 17. Qg4 Rb8 18. Ra4 is enough not to want to know more. 17. cxb3 Be7 18. Nc4 0-0 19. Na5 Nc5 20. Nc6 Qd7 21. Bc3 Bb5 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. b4 Na4
24. Bxe5! A beautiful Bishop sacrifice, which culminates in an apotheosis of passed Pawns. 24. ... dxe5 25. Nxe7+ Qxe7 26. d6 Qd8 27. Bxa8 Qxa8 28. Rxe5 Bd7 29. Qd4
29. ... Bh3. 29. ... Nb6 is just a little trickier, hoping for 29. Qxb6?? Bh3−+ with irresistible attack — but 29. g4! would shatter all illusions. 30. Qe4 Qxe4. Black cannot avoid exchanging Queens (30. ... Qa6 31. Re8+ Kg7 32. Qe5+ Kh6 33. b5+−), and the rest is a matter of technique. 31. Rxe4 Bd7 32. f4 Kf8 33. Re7 Nb6 34. Kf2 Be6 35. Rb7 Nd7 36. b5 Ke8 37. Ra7 Nb6 38. Ra6 Nc4 39. b3 Nd2 40. Ke3 Nxb3 41. b6 Bd5 42. Ra7 Kd8 43. b7 1 : 0.
“A Knight, A Knight, My Queendom for a Knight!”. Screenshot from the live stream. |
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