The Gift of the Danaides

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 姜天瑜 (Jiāng Tiānyú)

15th National Games | Chess Finals; Round-Robin Women; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; 深圳 (Shēnzhèn), September 25, 2025

Richter–Veresov Attack D01

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 cxd4 5. exd4 a6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Ne5 Bd7 8. g3 e6 9. Bg2 Qb6

10. 0-0 Qxb2? Nothing new under the sun, yet it can hardly be denied that the b2-Pawn is all too often laced with deadly poison. This case makes no exception.
11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Nxd7 Nxd7

13. Re1+!? Check and chock. Nevertheless, 13. c4 Qxd4 14. Re1+ Kd8 15. Qh5 was also very strong, Malassagne – Ganguly, 44th French Team Chess Championship, Chartres 2024.
13. ... Be7 14. c4 Qxd4? The Black Queen takes just another bite from the poisonous basket. Critical was 14. ... dxc4 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Bd6 0-0 17. Rxe7 with White soon regaining her Pawn and securing a manifest superiority of position.
15. cxd5!+− Qxd1 16. Raxd1 Nce5 17. Bxe5 Nxe5 18. Rxe5 Kd8 19. d6 Bf6 20. Re2 Re8 (20. ... Rb8 21. Bh3 Re8 22. Rc2+−)
21. Rc2 Re5 (21. ... Rb8 22. d7 Re7 23. Bh3+−)
22. d7 Be7 (22. ... Rb8 23. Bxb7!+−)
23. Bxb7 1–0.