Through the Sunshine

孙方卉 (Sūn Fānghuì) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

19th Chinese Chess League Division A Regular; Match 重庆九龙坡队 (Chóngqìng Jiǔlóngpō Team)–深圳鹏城队 (Shēnzhèn Péngchéng Team); time control: 90 minutes per 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus 30 seconds per move starting on move 1; 南京 (Nánjīng), August 29, 2025

Sicilian Defence B81

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. g4 e5 7. Nf5 g6 8. Ne3 Nc6 9. g5. 9. h3!? Be6 10. Ned5 Bg7 11. Be3 0-0 12. Qd2 Rc8 13. 0-0-0 led to interesting play in R. J. Fischer – Lister, 50-board simultaneous exhibition, Toronto 1964.
9. ... Nh5 10. Ned5 Bg7 11. Be3 0-0 12. Be2?! A preferable approach is 12. Qd2 f5 13. gxf6 Nxf6 14. 0-0-0 as recently seen in Zuferi – Möller, 34th German Blitz Championship, Munich 2025 (time control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move).

12. ... Nf4! 13. Nxf4 exf4 14. Bxf4 Re8 15. Qd2 Bxc3! 16. Qxc3? A ruinous mistake. Necessary was 16. bxc3 Rxe4 17. f3 reserving, in extreme cases, the square at f2 for the King.
16. ... Rxe4 17. Qd2. If 17. Be3 then 17. ... d5 with an overwhelming initiative.
17. ... Nd4 18. Be3 Nxe2 19. Qxe2 Bg4 20. Qb5. Or 20. f3 Qa5+ 21. Kf2 Rae8 winning easily.
20. ... Rc8 21. c3 Rc5 22. Qd3 Qe7 23. Kd2

23. ... Bf5! 24. Bxc5 dxc5 25. Rag1 Re6 26. Qf3 Qd7+ 27. Kc1 Qa4 0–1.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is showing herself in splendid form. Photo: 新华社 (Xīnhuá News Agency).