Deep Thinking: Where Machine Intelligence Ends and Human Creativity Begins

David Llada (@davidllada)

The g-Pawn

诸宸 (Zhū Chén) – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn)

Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament; match game 1; Tehran, February 14, 2017

Nimzo-Indian Defence E27

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 0-0 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 Nh5

9. g4?? 9th Women’s World Chess Champion 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) makes the world aware of her adhesion to the current Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s Manifesto, and like her countrywoman, she delivers to the g-Pawn the divine message. 9. ... Qh4+ 10. Kd2 Ng3. White can resign. What follows now is to understand why you have to write the moves down on the scoresheet. 11. Qe1 Nxf1+ 12. Qxf1 f5 13. gxf5 Bxf5 14. c4 c5 15. Bb2 cxd4 16. Bxd4 Nc6 17. Ne2 dxc4 18. Qg2 Bg6 19. Rac1 b5 20. f4 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Rad8 22. Rhf1 Qf6 23. Qg1 Qa6 24. Rc3 b4 25. axb4 Qa2+ 26. Kd1 Qb1+ 0 : 1.

诸宸 (Zhū Chén) vs. 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn). Photo: David Llada (‏@davidllada).

Broadcast Wars

沈阳 (Shěn Yáng) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)
Women’s Grand Prix 2009-2011; 2nd stage; 南京 (Nánjīng), October 8, 2009
Queen’s Gambit Declined D39

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. e5 cxd4 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. 0-0-0 Bd7 10. Ne4 Be7 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Bh4 Rc8. An old trap is 12. ... Nb4? 13. Qxb4! Bxb4 14. Nxf6+ Kf8 15. Rxd4 Qa5 16. Nxd7+ Ke8 17. Nf6+ Kf8 18. Bxc4 Rc8 19. Kb1 h5 20. Rhd1 Be7 21. Nd7+ Ke8 22. Bg3 Rg8 23. h3 Rg7 24. a3 b5 25. Bb3 b4 26. axb4 Bxb4 27. Be5 Rxg2 28. Rxb4 Qxb4 29. Nf6+ Ke7 30. Rd7+ Kf8 31. Bd6+ Qxd6 32. Rxd6 Rxf2 33. Rd3 Ke7 34. Nxh5 Rf1+ 35. Bd1 Rg8 36. Nd4 e5 37. Nc6+ Ke6 38. Ka2 Rxd1 39. Rxd1 Rg5 40. Nf4+ exf4 41. Nd4+ Kf6 42. Rf1 Ra5+ 43. Kb1 Ra4 44. Nf3 Re4 45. Re1 Re6 46. Rxe6+ fxe6 47. Kc2 e5 48. Kd3 Kf5 49. Nd2 Kg5 50. Ke4 Kh4 51. Kxe5 Kxh3 52. Kxf4 1 : 0 Fine – Grünfeld, Amsterdam 1936. 13. Kb1 Na5 14. Qc2 e5 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Rxd4 Qb6 17. Rd5 Be6 18. Rh5 Bg4 19. Qa4+ Nc6 20. Rb5 Qa6 21. Qxa6 bxa6 22. Rb7 Bf5 23. f3 Bc5 24. Bxf6! 沈阳 (Shěn Yáng) is in a fighting mood. In Dreev – Gustafsson, 35th Greek Team Chess Championship, Ermioni 2006 was seen 24. Bxc4 ½ : ½. 24. ... Rf8? 9th Women’s World Chess Champion 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) will immediately regret having left her King in the centre. Black should have castled. 25. Bxc4 Na5

26. Bxa6!! A surprising and very elegant refutation. 26. ... Nxb7 27. Bb5+! Bd7 28. Nd6+! 1 : 0.

沈阳 (Shěn Yáng). Photo: sina.com.cn.

Lost and Found

According to her last 新浪微博 (Xīnlàng Wēibó) post 9th Women’s World Chess Champion 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) is about to move to 北京 (Běijīng) for a “new start”. Apparently she was involved to participate in training sessions for the Chinese players. 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) also says that her family is still in Doha, Qatar – she is married to Qatari Grandmaster Mohammed Ahmed Al-Modiahki.

诸宸 (Zhū Chén)
Photo: eladies.sina.com.cn

在幼儿园

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Espressly annotated by Money Mouse

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诸宸 (Zhū Chén) & Yasser Seirawan – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) & Nigel D. Short
成都 (Chéngdū), July 8, 2014
Nimzo-Indian Defence E34

As observes Mark Crowther (The Week in Chess, July 9, 2014): “Nigel Short and Hóu Yìfán were favourites to win after being paired together but as Short said afterwards: ‘Basically we blew it yesterday with a collective collapse of concentration against Yasser Seirawan and Zhū Chén, turning a clearly better position into a dead lost one in the space of about two minutes (and half a dozen moves)’. They finished 3rd behind the teams of Zhū Chén/Yasser Seirawan and Xǔ Yùhua/Yú Shǎoténg both finishing on 4/5”.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. e3. If 8. a3?! then 8. ... Ba5 9. e3 0-0 10. Qb5 e5 11. Bd3 Qg4 12. 0-0 a6 13. Qb3 (Beljavskij – Short, Las Vegas 1999, match game 1) 13. ... exd4 with a slight edge for Black. 8. ... a5. For 8. ... 0-0 9. Be2 e5 (9. ... a6 10. 0-0 Bd6! is worth considering, e.g. 11. e4? Nxe4 12. Bd3 Qh5! 13. Bxe4 Nxd4-+) 10. d5 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Na5 12. Qa4 b6 13. c4 see Nakamura – Tkachiev, Santo Domingo de Guzmán 2002. 9. a3 a4 10. Qd1 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 e5 12. Be2 0-0 13. 0-0 Re8 14. Bb2. An odd way to play. 14. ... e4 15. Nh4 Qg5 16. g3 Bg4 17. c4 Na5 18. Bxg4 Qxg4 19. Qxg4 Nxg4 20. Rac1 Ra6! Such a wonderful manoeuvre! 21. Rc2 Rc6 22. Rfc1 Nb3 23. Rd1 b5. Black’s superiority is manifest. 24. c5 Rd8. With the threat of ... Rc6xc5. 25. Rf1. Of course not 25. h3? on account of 25. ... Ne5 with disruptive effects. 25. ... Re6 26. Ng2

26. ... c6? Says Marmot PFL: “26. ... g5 keeps White’s Knight out of play and Black can play ... Ng4-f6-d5 with a bad game for White. White probably has to play 27. f4 exf3 28. Rxf3 but Black should still be fine”. And right you are, Mr. Human! After 28. ... h6 Black stands better. 27. Nf4 Ree8 28. d5 cxd5. Also 28. ... Kf8 29. dxc6 Rc8 was safe. 29. c6 d4 30. c7 Rc8 31. Bxd4 Nxd4? A fatal slip. After 31. ... Re7 32. h3 Nxd4 33. exd4 Nf6 the game is even. 32. exd4 Re7? The final error. A lesser evil was 32. ... e3 33. f3 Nf6 34. Rb1 g5 35. Ng2 Re7 36. Rxb5 Rexc7 37. Rxc7 Rxc7 38. Rxg5+ Kf8 39. Rc5 with huge advantage to White. 33. Nd5+- Rd7 34. Rc5 h6 35. Rfc1 1 : 0.

老师妈妈：live analysis 在幼儿园......

Underway

[Event "International Star Mixed Pair Chess Tournament"]
[Site "成都 (Chéngdū) CHN"]
[Date "2014.07.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) & Nigel D. Short"]
[Black "许昱华 (Xǔ Yùhua) & 余少腾 (Yú Shǎoténg)"]
[ECO "C10"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[PlyCount "160"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. O-O Ngf6 8. Ng3 Be7 9. b3 O-O 10. Bb2 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 c6 12. c4 Qa5 13. a3 Rfe8 14. Rfe1 Bf8 15. h4 Rad8 16. h5 Qg5 17. Rad1 Qg4 18. Qxg4 Nxg4 19. Be2 Ngf6 20. Nf1 g6 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. g3 Bg7 23. Bf3 Nb6 24. a4 Nc8 25. Ne3 Ne7 26. a5 a6 27. Re2 Rd7 28. Red2 Red8 29. Ba3 Nf5 30. Bc5 Bf8 31. Bb6 Re8 32. g4 Nd6 33. Rd3 Nc8 34. Kg2 Nxb6 35. axb6 Red8 36. Be2 Bg7 37. f4 Ne4 38. Nc2 c5 39. Bf3 f5 40. Bxe4 fxe4 41. Re3 Bxd4 42. Rxe4 Bc3 43. Rxd7 Rxd7 44. Ne3 Kf7 45. f5 gxf5 46. gxf5 exf5 47. Nxf5 Ba5 48. Ne3 Rd2+ 49. Kf3 Bxb6 50. Nd5 Bd8 51. Rf4+ Ke8 52. Ke4 Rd4+ 53. Ke5 Rxf4 54. Kxf4 Kd7 55. Ke4 Kc6 56. Kd3 Bg5 57. Nc3 b5 58. cxb5+ axb5 59. Ne4 Be7 60. Nc3 Bf6 61. Ne4 Be5 62. Nd2 Kd5 63. Nb1 Kc6 64. Nd2 Kb6 65. Ne4 Bg7 66. Ng5 Bf6 67. Ne4 Be5 68. Ng5 Ka5 69. Kc2 Kb4 70. Nf3 Bf6 71. Ne1 Ka3 72. Nd3 Bd4 73. Nc1 Be3 74. Nd3 Ka2 75. Nb2 Bg5 76. Nd3 Be3 77. Nb2 Ka3 78. Nd3 Bd4 79. Nc1 Bf6 80. Nd3 Bd4 1/2-1/2

[Event "International Star Mixed Pair Chess Tournament"]
[Site "成都 (Chéngdū) CHN"]
[Date "2014.07.08"]
[Round "4"]
[White "诸宸 (Zhū Chén) & Yasser Seirawan"]
[Black "侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) & Nigel D. Short"]
[ECO "E34"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "70"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Qf5 7. Qb3 Nc6 8. e3 a5 9. a3 a4 10. Qd1 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 e5 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Re8 14. Bb2 e4 15. Nh4 Qg5 16. g3 Bg4 17. c4 Na5 18. Bxg4 Qxg4 19. Qxg4 Nxg4 20. Rac1 Ra6 21. Rc2 Rc6 22. Rfc1 Nb3 23. Rd1 b5 24. c5 Rd8 25. Rf1 Re6 26. Ng2 c6 27. Nf4 Ree8 28. d5 cxd5 29. c6 d4 30. c7 Rc8 31. Bxd4 Nxd4 32. exd4 Re7 33. Nd5 Rd7 34. Rc5 h6 35. Rfc1 1-0

[Event "International Star Mixed Pair Chess Tournament"]
[Site "成都 (Chéngdū) CHN"]
[Date "2014.07.09"]
[Round "5"]
[White "侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) & Nigel D. Short"]
[Black "Alisa Marić & 叶江川 (Yè Jiāngchuān)"]
[ECO "C00"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "65"]

1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 c5 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 Nge7 7. d3 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. a4 a6 10. Qf2 Rb8 11. Kh1 b5 12. Nc3 b4 13. Ne2 f5 14. Rb1 h6 15. b3 Bb7 16. Bb2 Bxb2 17. Rxb2 e5 18. Rbb1 fxe4 19. dxe4 Qc7 20. Qe3 Kh7 21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Nf4 Rf6 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Nd3 Rbf8 25. Rxf6 Rxf6 26. Qxc5 Rc6 27. Qf2 Ng8 28. Nxb4 Rc3 29. Rf1 Kh8 30. Qf8 Re3 31. h4 Qc3 32. Nd3 Qxc2 33. Rf7 1-0

Yasser Seirawan & 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)

• Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Alvarez, Coincidence in Chéngdū: Part Two, Chess News, 9 luglio 2014

四川大熊貓棲息地

Nigel David Short & 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

Artur Jussupow & Majja Čiburdanidze

叶江川 (Yè Jiāngchuān) & Alisa Marić

余少腾 (Yú Shǎoténg) & 许昱华 (Xǔ Yùhua)

谢军 (Xiè Jūn) & 刘适兰 (Liú Shìlán)

Yasser Seirawan & 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)

Photos: games.sports.cn

The Dating Game

诸宸 (Zhū Chén) & 徐俊 (Xú Jùn) won the annual Mixed Doubles Chess Tournament held on May 31, 2013 in 无锡 (Wúxí), China ahead of 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) & 余少腾 (Yú Shǎoténg), 许昱华 (Xǔ Yùhuá) & 叶江川 (Yè Jiāngchuān), and 谢军 (Xiè Jūn) & 李文良 (Li Wénliáng).

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) & 余少腾 (Yú Shǎoténg). Photo: sport.cn.

The Queen of Antakya

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)

Women’s World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament; 8th finals; match game 1; Antakya, December 10, 2010

French Defence C10

Comments in quotation marks by Grandmaster Anish Giri. 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nbd7 6. Nf3 h6 7. Nxf6+ Nxf6 8. Be3. 8. Bh4 c5 9. Bc4 cxd4 10. 0-0 Be7 11. Qe2 0-0 12. Rad1 Qb6 13. Nxd4 Qxb2 14. Nf5 exf5! (14. ... Bd8!?) 15. Qxe7 Be6 (15. ... g5? 16. Rd8+−) 16. Bxe6 (16. Rb1 Qe5 17. Bxe6 Qxe6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Rxb7 Rfc8 21. Rb2 Rc7= Bruzón Bautista – Nogueiras Santiago, 37th Capablanca Memorial, Havana 2002) 16. ... fxe6 17. Qxe6+ (17. Rb1 Qxa2 18. Rxb7 Nh5) 17. ... Kh8 18. Qxf5 Qxa2 19. Rd6 Ng8 20. Qe4 Qf7 (20. ... Rf7=) 21. f3 Qf4 22. Rd7 Qxe4 23. fxe4 Rxf1+ 24. Kxf1 Re8 25. Rxb7 Rxe4 26. Bf2 Rc4 27. Rb2 a5 28. Ke2 Rg4 29. Kf3 Rc4 30. Be1 a4 31. Ke3 Rg4 32. g3 Ne7 33. Kd3 Nc6 34. Bc3 h5? (A Pawn doomed to end up on White’s menu; 34. ... Kg8 35. Rb6 Rg6 seems better) 35. Rb6 Rg6 36. Rb5 Rh6? (the defence of the Pawn is not worth such a mortification of the Rook; 36. ... Kg8 37. Rxh5 Ne7 38. Ra5 Rd6+ 39. Ke2 Rh6 40. h4 Rc6 offered probably more opportunity for resisting) 37. Rg5 Rh7 38. h4 Kg8 39. Kc4 Nd8 40. Ra5 Ne6 41. Rxa4 g5 42. Ra8+ Kf7 43. Ra7+ Kg6 44. Rxh7 Kxh7 45. Kd5 gxh4 46. gxh4 Nf4+ 47. Ke4 Ng2 48. Bf6 1 : 0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén), Knockout Women’s World Chess Championship Tournament, Antakya 2010, 8th finals, tie-break game 2. 8. ... Bd6 9. Bd3 0-0 10. Qd2 Nd5 11. 0-0-0 b6 12. Kb1 Qe7 13. Rhe1 Bb7 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15. dxe5 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Rfd8 17. f4 Rd7 18. Rd2 Rad8 19. Red1 Kf8 20. g3

20. ... Qc5? “A big mistake by 诸宸 (Zhū Chén). She must have missed the key idea in the Bishop ending”. Apparently 20. ... Qb4(!) seems to be okay for Black. 21. Qxc5+ bxc5 22. Kc1 Bf3 23. Be2 Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Rxd2 25. Kxd2 Bd5. “Pawn ending wasn’t an option – 25. ... Bxe2 26. Kxe2 Ke7 27. Kd3 Kd7 28. Kc4 Kc6 29. a4 Kb6 (29. ... a5 30. c3! followed by b2-b4, creating the passed a-Pawn wins) 30. a5+ Kc6 and White easily puts Black into a Zugzwang”. Yes, by 31. g4. 26. Kc3! “Suddenly Hóu is going for the Queenside Pawns with her King! Exactly the same motive as in the game Nepomniachtchi – Svidler”. 26. ... Ke7 27. Bc4 Bc6 28. Bb3 Bb5 29. Bc4 Bc6 30. Kb3! And finally, after a two-fold repetition, the King penetrates on the Queenside. 30. ... Kd7 31. Bd3! “Now King goes to either c4 or a4. Both threats are deadly”. 31. ... Bd5+ 32. Ka4 Kc6 33. c4! Bf3 34. Ka5. “Ka5-a6 is a threat and it’s over”. 34. ... Kb7 35. Kb5 g6 36. Kxc5 h5 37. Bc2 Bc6 38. b4 a6 39. a3 1 : 0.

The coronation of 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: wwcc2010.tsf.org.tr.

Half a Day Off

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 诸宸 (Zhū Chén)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2009–11; 5th stage; Ulaanbaatar, August 7, 2010
Spanish Game C60

The gifted young 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) felt sick (probably due to food poisoning) before the eight round and played her game against 诸宸 (Zhū Chén) on the day off. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. c3 a6 5. Ba4 g6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 b5 8. Bb3 Bg7 9. a4 b4 10. 0-0 Na5 11. Bc2 d6 12. Nbd2 0-0 13. Nb3 Nec6 14. h3 Nxb3 15. Bxb3 Na5 16. Ba2 Bb7 17. Bg5 Qb8? After this, Black immediately falls into a lost land. Correct was 17. ... Qd7! 18. Re1 Rae8 with a tenable game. 18. Re1 Re8 19. Bd2 c5 20. Rc1 Qa7. Now 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) unleashes the potency of her attack: 21. dxc5 dxc5 22. Ng5 Rf8 23. Be3 Rac8

24. Bxf7+. Of course 24. Nxf7 is also winning for White. 24. ... Kh8. Not 24. ... Rxf7 25. Nxf7 Kxf7 on account of 26. Qd7+ Kg8 27. Rxc5! winning handily. 25. Rxc5 Rxc5 26. Ne6. The elegant Queen sacrifice 26. Qd4!+− seems to be an even more effective finisher. 26. ... Qb8 27. Nxf8 Qxf8 28. Bxc5 Qxc5 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Rd1 Kg7 31. Bd5 Bc8 32. Qe8 Be7 33. Qf7+ Kh6 34. Qf4+ Bg5 35. Qg3 Qc2 36. Qf3 Qc5 37. g3 Qe7 38. h4 Bf6 39. Qe3+ Kg7 40. Qb6 Qd8 41. Qxb4 Nc6 42. Qc5 Bg4 43. Rc1 Ne7 44. Qc7 Qxc7 45. Rxc7 Kf8 46. b4 Be5 47. Ra7 Bc3 48. Rxa6 Nxd5 49. exd5 Bxb4 50. Rf6+ 1 : 0.

诙谐曲 (Scherzo)

诸宸 (Zhū Chén) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2009–2011; 3rd stage; Nalchik, April 29, 2010
Nimzo-Indian Defence E32

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 0-0 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Qe8!? An invention by Grandmaster Raymond Keene. 7. b4 d6 8. Bb2 b6. 8. ... Nbd7 9. e3 a5 10. Bd3 Nb6 11. Qc2 Qa4 also gave Black a very comfortable equality in Arlandi – Tatai, 49th Italian Chess Championship, Chianciano Terme 1989. 9. Qf3 d5 10. Rc1 c6 11. e3 a5 12. bxa5 bxa5 13. Qd1 Ba6 14. Nf3 Nbd7 15. Bd3 Nb6 16. Nd2 Rb8 17. Bc3 Qe7 18. Ra1 Nxc4 19. Nxc4 dxc4 20. Be2 Nd5 21. Bxa5 Rb3 22. 0-0 Rxa3 23. Qc2 Ra8

24. e4?? A dramatic blunder that loses at once. 24. Qb2 was called for with a view to regaining the Pawn. 24. ... Nf4 25. Bf3 Rxf3! The Rook is obviously taboo because of ... Qe7-g5+ followed by mate. 26. Bd2 0 : 1.

A symbolic handover: from Qatar to China. Photo: Ilya Akhobekov, Eldar Mukhametov.