An Elusive Presence

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 陈一宁 (Chén Yīníng)

17th Chinese Chess League Division A Regular-Standard “武陵山大裂谷杯” (“Wǔlíng Mountain Great Rift Valley Cup”); time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; 重庆 (Chóngqìng), September 10, 2022

Vienna Game C25

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3. First love never dies.
2. ... Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 Nge7 7. Nf3 h6 8. 0-0 Be6. Or, by transposition, 8. ... 0-0 9. Be3 Nd4 10. Qd2 Kh7 11. Rae1 Be6 12. Nh4 exf4 13. gxf4 Nec6 14. Nf3 Nxf3+ 15. Rxf3 f5 16. Kh1 Qf6 17. Nd5 Qf7 18. c4 Rae8 19. Qf2 a6 20. b3 Nb8 21. Bc1 c6 22. Ne3 Nd7 23. exf5 Bxf5 24. Nxf5 gxf5 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. Bh3! Nc5 27. b4 Ne6 28. Be3 Bc3 29. Rg3!? Qf6 (29. ... Bxb4 30. Qb2 Ba5!) 30. a3 Re7 31. Rg1 Ng7 32. Bb6 Qe6 (32. ... Ne6) 33. Qc2 Bf6 34. Qg2 Qf7 35. a4! Re8? (35. ... Bc3!) 36. Qf3 Bd8 37. Bf2 Nh5? (37. ... Bf6 38. b5) 38. Bd4 Rg8 39. Rb1 Bh4 40. b5 axb5 41. axb5 c5 42. Bc3 Re8 43. Rg1 Rg8 44. Bxf5+! 1 : 0 B. Larsen – Panno, 5th International Tournament, Palma de Mallorca 1969.
9. Be3. If 9. Ne2 them 9. ... Qd7 with an approximate balance of forces and dynamics, Masternak – Kjartansson, 19th European Team Chess Championship, Warsaw 2013.

9. ... d5?! Maybe not so bad, but 9. ... exf4 10. gxf4 Qd7 11. d4 d5 seems to be preferable.
10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. c4 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Qxd3. If not for the fame of her adversary, Black sees no reason why she should not take the Pawn, and who knows, maybe she is not all wrong.

14. Rad1 e4? But this turns out to be a bad judgment, since the ensuing ending is completely hopeless for Black. After the critical move 14. ... Qxc4 15. f5! e4! 16. Qg4 h5 17. Qxe4+ Qxe4 18. Bxe4 gxf5 19. Rxf5 White’s two Bishops and her dominant Rooks more than compensate for the Pawn, but a win still must be gained.
15. Rxd3 exf3 16. Bxf3 Rd8 17. Rfd1 Rxd3 18. Rxd3 Nd8 19. Bxa7 Bxb2 20. a4 c6 21. g4

21. ... f5? This hastens the end, but, after all, other moves couldn’t change the result either.
22. gxf5 gxf5 23. Bh5+ Ke7 24. Bc5+ Kf6 25. Rd7 Bc3 26. Bb6 1 : 0.

Now maybe the gap is too big. Photo: Chinese Chess Association.