L’ospite esotico

Nell’estate del 1857 Serafino Dubois si confrontò in un match “alternato” – all’italiana e con le regole internazionali – con il conte – nonché presidente del Circolo Scacchistico di Lipsia – Conrad Woldemar von Ekstädt Vitzthum (1802-1875) e si impose nella proporzione di 4 a 1. Nel nostro libretto “Serafino Dubois il Professionista”, Messaggerie Scacchistiche, Brescia, 2000, pp. 40-45, presentammo cinque partite del match (un Gambetto di Donna, una Francese e tre Gambetti di Re). Georges Bertola ne produsse poi una sesta (un Gambetto Scozzese: cfr. Georges Bertola, “Serafino Dubois e l’arrocco all’italiana”, Torre & Cavallo Scacco!, n. 11, novembre 2004, pp. 25-28). Eccone allora anche una settima, riposta e dimenticata nelle back pages della rivista olandese Sissa, 1859, pp. 342-343:

S. Dubois – C. W. von E. Vitzthum
Roma, 1857
Francese C01

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Ad3 Ae6 5. Cf3 Ad6 6. Cc3 In un’altra partita Serafino preferì, sulla scia di Paul Morphy, 6. 0-0 h6 7. Ae3 Cf6 8. Cc3 c6 9. Ce5 (Dubois – Vitzthum, Roma, I giugno 1857); cfr. Alessandra Innocenti & Lorenzo Barsi, op. cit., pp. 41-42. 6. ... Cf6 7. 0-0 Cbd7 8. Te1 0-0 L’anonimo commentatore di Sissa (Jean Dufresne?) accenna a 8. ... h6, ma allora 9. Af5 è per il Nero una pillola amara. 9. Ag5 c6 10. Ce5 Dc7 11. Cxd7 Cxd7 12. Dh5 g6 13. Dh6 Tfe8 14. Te3 f5 Se 14. ... Af8 (Δ Af8-g7) allora 15. Dh4. La risposta del testo è più compromettente. 15. Tae1 Cf8 16. f4 a6 Prepara c6-c5. 17. h4? Dubois apre il fuoco... Quasi chiunque oggigiorno preferirebbe la più posizionale 17. Ca4. 17. ... Df7 Vale lo stesso per il Nero: perché non 17. ... Dg7!, onde neutralizzare radicalmente l’attacco avversario? 18. h5 Tac8 19. hxg6 Cxg6 20. g4! fxg4? Un esempio di collaborazionismo autolesionista. L’imperativo era 20. ... Ad7! ove se 21. Cd1 allora 21. ... Tf8 con approssimativo equilibrio. 21. f5! Axf5 22. Txe8+ Txe8 23. Tf1 Dg7? Più resiliente 23. ... Af8!, benché dopo 24. Dh2! (24. Dh5 Dc7!) 24. ... Ag7 25. Txf5 Axd4+ 26. Rg2 il Bianco serbi prospettive gratificanti. 24. Axf5 I Maestri dell’epoca disdegnavano spesso la tecnica (24. Dxg7+), anche contro la propria convenienza! 24. ... Dxd4+ 25. Rh1 Af8 26. Dh5 Dg7? Dopo la stupefacente 26. ... Te1!! 27. Txe1 Df2 il Nero arranca, ma combatte ancora. 27. Dxg4 Ae7 28. Ae6+ Rh8 29. Tf7 De5

30. Txh7+! Il sigillo romantico! 30. ... Rxh7 31. Dh5+ Rg7 32. Dh6 matto 1 : 0.

Ride the Wild Tiger

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov
6th Aeroflot Open; Moscow, February 14, 2007
Sicilian Defence B42

Comments in quotation marks by Grandmaster Jan Timman, New In Chess, 6/2011, pp. 98–99.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. 0-0 d6 8. c4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. f4 b6 11. Bd2 Bb7 12. Qf3 Qc7 13. Rae1 g6. If 13. ... 0-0 14. Qh3 g6? then 15. f5! with strong initiative for White, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Sharevich, 37th Women’s Chess Olympiad, Turin 2006.
14. Qh3 h5

“Black has just advanced his h-Pawn, a well-known strategical move in these kinds of Sicilian positions that entails a certain amount of risk: on the one hand, Black gains territory, on the other, he will have problems finding a safe spot for his King later on”.
15. Nd1! “An excellent plan. White regroups her Knight and vacates square c3 for her Queen’s Bishop”.
It must also be said that White’s was at the time a novelty, and an improvement upon 15. Qg3 h4 16. Qh3 0-0-0 17. Nd4 Kb8 18. b4 (Markzon – Kriventsov, 48th U.S. Chess Championship, Seattle 2003) to which Black’s best reply seems to be 18. ... d5!⇄ with a messy fight.
15. ... b5. “A principled advance, but right up White’s street. Better was 15. ... Nc5”.
16. Ba5! “Before putting the Bishop on c3, White forces the Black Queen to go to a worse square”.
16. ... Qb8 17. Bc3 b4 18. Bxb4 Bxe4 19. Bc3. “The Bishop returns to its post. White is exerting strong pressure on the enemy position”
19. ... Bxd3 20. Qxd3 h4

“The start of an erroneous plan. Black is going to take his Rook to h5, but this does nothing to improve the coordination in his camp. He should have castled, although his slightly weakened King position is not an attractive prospect”.
21. Nf2 Rh5 22. Nd4! “Making optimum use of the lack of coordination in the Black camp”.
22. ... Nc5 23. Qc2 Qb7

24. b4! “White is steadily gaining space”.
24. ... h3 25. Nxh3 Nce4 26. Ng5 d5 27. c5 Kf8. “His only chance of counterplay was 27. ... a5”.
28. a3 Kg8 29. Ndf3

“Decisive regrouping. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) rounded off the game excellently”.
29. ... Nxc3 30. Qxc3 Nh7 31. Nxh7 Rxh7 32. Qd4 Rh5 33. h3 Bf8 34. Qd3 Bg7 35. Nd4 Rh4 36. Kh1 Qc7 37. Qe3 Bf6 38. Nb3 Kg7 39. Qd2 Qd7 40. Nd4 Rah8 41. Nf3 R4h5 42. Ne5 Qa4 43. Rf3 Rb8 44. Ng4 Bd8 45. Qd4+ Kf8 46. Rc1 Rc8 47. Ne5 Qb5 48. c6 Rc7 49. Nd7+ Kg8 50. Qb6 d4 51. Nf6+ 1 : 0.

Aeroflot Bonus

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Emil Davidovich Sutovsky
6th Aeroflot Open; Moscow, February 15, 2007
Sicilian Defence B93

“China’s 12-year-old prodigy 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) beat 2600-rated grandmasters in the first two rounds. Below, Israel's No 4 Emil Sutovsky concedes the Bishop pair against the 6. f4 Najdorf and his later 25. ... Rxc3 sacrifice is overoptimistic”, Leonard Barden wrote in his The Guardian chess column of February 24, 2007.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f4 Nc6 7. Nf3 Bg4. In his book “How to Beat Bobby Fischer”, Dover Publications, New York, 1997, p. 241, Grandmaster Edmar Mednis wrote: “The questionable idea. Together with the following KB fianchetto Black hopes to exert pressure on White’s Q4 square. But the concept has no sound strategic basis nor any practical significance. White obtains the two Bishops and a freer position while Black has nothing”.
8. Be3 g6 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Bg7 11. Bc4! “Much better than the routine 11. Bd3. The Bishop not only has some realistic possibilities against Black’s KB2 but the QR will be well placed on the half-open Queen’s file”, Mednis writes (op.cit., p. 242).
11. ... 0-0 12. 0-0 Nd7. An old game by Bobby Fischer instead continued: 12. ... Qc7 13. Bb3 b5 14. g4?! b4 15. Na4 Nd7 16. Rad1 Na5 17. e5! Nxb3 18. exd6 exd6 19. cxb3 Rae8 20. Rc1 Qb8 21. Rfd1 Re6 22. Bf2 Rfe8 23. g5 h6 24. h4 R8e7?! (Mednis recommends 24. ... Re4! 25. Rc4 f5∞) 25. Qd5! Qe8 26. Rc2! Re4! 27. Qxd6 Bf8! 28. Qxa6 Qb8! 29. Qd6 Re1+! 30. Kg2 Rxd1 31. Qxd1 Qxf4 32. Qf3! hxg5 33. Qxf4 gxf4 34. Rc8 f6 35. Nb6 Kf7 36. Nd5 Re5? (correct was 36. ... Re2 37. Rc7 Ke8 38. Rc8+ with a draw by repetition) 37. Nxf4 g5? (37. ... Rf5! made it harder for White to take advantage of his extra Pawn) 38. Rc7! Ke8 39. Ng6 Re2 40. Nxf8! Nxf8 41. h5! Rxb2 42. Kg3 f5 43. Bc5 Nd7 44. h6! f4+ 45. Kh3 Rxa2 46. Bd4! g4+ 47. Kxg4 Rd2 48. Bg7 Nb6 49. Rb7 Nd5 50. Rb5 Ne7 51. Rxb4 Ng6 52. Rb6 Rg2+ 53. Kf3 Rg3+ 54. Ke4 Re3+ 55. Kd4 Kf7 56. Rf6+ Kg8 57. b4 Kh7 58. b5 Rb3 59. Kc4 Rb1 60. Rf7 Kg8 61. Rb7 Rc1+ 62. Kd3 Rf1 63. b6 f3 64. Ke3 Nh4 65. Rb8+ Kh7 66. b7 Re1+ 67. Kf2 Re2+ 68. Kg3 f2 69. Rf8 1–0 Janošević – R. J. Fischer, 1st “Solidarity” International Tournament, Skopje 1967.
13. Rad1 Na5 14. Bb3 Rc8 15. e5! Nxb3. 15. ... dxe5?? 16. Qg4 (16. ... e6 17. Bxe6!) is disastrous enough.
16. axb3 Rc6 17. exd6 exd6 18. Bd4. 18. f5! at once seems stronger.
18. ... Bxd4+ 19. Rxd4 Nf6 20. Kh1 d5! 21. Rfd1 Qe7 22. Qf2 Rfc8 23. f5 Ne4 24. Qe3

24. ... Rxc3? A velleitary Exchange sacrifice which quickly leads Black to defeat. Correct was 24. ... gxf5 in order to answer both 25. Rxd5 and 25. Nxd5 by 25. ... Qh4 with a playable game.
25. bxc3 Rxc3 26. R1d3 Rxc2 27. Rxd5 Re2. Sutovsky tries a last-ditch, desperate, hat with no rabbit. White, of course, doesn’t bite the bait:
28. Qd4 Nf6 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. fxg6 hxg6 31. Qd6 Qxd6 32. R3xd6 Ne4 33. Rb6 Ng3+ 34. Kh2 Nf1+ 35. Kh1 Ne3 36. Rxb7 g5 37. Rdd7 Nxg2 38. Rxf7+ Kg6 39. Rg7+ Kh6 40. Rge7! 1–0.

She has a big surprise for him. Photo: Mikhail Savinov.

Thunder from the Sea

Evgenija Viktorovna Ovod – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
8th Russian Women’s Team Chess Championship; Dagomys, May 7, 2007
Nimzo-Indian Defence E58

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. Bb2 Na5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Ne5 c4 13. Bc2 Ne4 14. f3 Nd6 15. h3 (15. e4 f6!) 15. ... Re8 (15. ... Bf5 16. a4 f6 17. Ng4 Rfe8 18. Ba3 Bxg4 19. hxg4 Rxe3 20. Qd2 Rae8 21. Rae1 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 g6 23. Kf2 Rxe1 24. Qxe1 Kf7 25. Qe3 Nc6 26. Qh6 Ke6 27. Qe3+ Kf7 28. Qh6 Ke6 29. f4 Qf7 30. f5+ gxf5 31. Qf4 Qc7 32. Bxf5+ Ke7 33. g5 fxg5 34. Qxg5+ Kf7 35. Qh5+ Kf6 36. Bxh7 Qf7 37. Qf3+ Kg7 38. Bxd6 Qxf3+ 39. Kxf3 Kxh7 40. Kf4 Kg6 41. g4 a6 42. g5 ½ : ½ Piket – Aleksandrov, 34th Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2000) 16. Qe1 (16. Re1 f6 17. Ng4 Bf5 ½ : ½ del Río de Angelis – Arizmendi Martínez, 49th Spanish Team Chess Championship, Sant Lluís 2005) 16. ... f6 17. Ng4 Bf5

18. Rc1? This loses a Pawn without any return. Instead 18. e4! may well illustrate the difference between two ways of giving up a Pawn, as after 18. ... dxe4 19. Qg3 White can at least claim compensation. 18. ... Bxc2 19. Rxc2 Nf5 20. Bc1 Nb3 21. Rff2 h5 22. Nh2 Nxc1 23. Qxc1 Rxe3 24. Nf1 Re7. Black has gained a Pawn and dominates the e-file.

25. g4? White could do little to prevent her opponent consolidating her advantage (by ... Ra8-e8 followed by ... h5-h4), but certainly the text just makes things even worse. 25. ... Nh4−+ 26. gxh5 Rae8 27. f4 Re1 28. Qb2 (28. Qd2 Qd7−+) 28. ... Qd7 29. Kh2 (29. Rce2 Qxh3−+)

29. ... R8e3! 30. Nxe3 Rxe3 31. Rce2 Qxh3+ 32. Kg1 Rg3+ 33. Rg2 Nf3+ 34. Kf1 Qh1+ 35. Kf2 Qxg2+ 0 : 1. Because of 36. Ke3 Ng1+ 37. Kd2 Qxe2+ 38. Kc1 Qe1+ 39. Kc2 Rg2 mate.

From the Island

Alina Anatolyevna Kashlinskaya – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
18th World Youth Chess Championship Girls U-10; Kallithea, October 29, 2003
Torre Attack A46

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 c5 4. c3. No better is 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. e4 cxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qxf6 gxf6 8. c3 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. Bd3 Rc8 11. Nc4 Rg8 12. g3 Nd8 13. Ke2 h6 14. Rhe1? (14. Ne3) 14. ... Bxe4 15. Bxe4 Rxc4 16. Kd3 Rc7 17. Nd4 a6 18. f4 Bc5 19. Nc2 d5−+ Wahltuch – Capablanca, International Chess Congress, London 1922 4. ... Nc6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. e4. The strategic alternative is 6. c3 Be7 7. Bd3 d5 8. Nbd2 0-0 9. Qe2 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12. 0-0-0? (in his book of the tournament, Géza Maróczy recommended 12. Nf3 followed by 0-0) 12. ... b5!→ 13. Nf3 Qc7 14. Bxb5 Rb8 15. Bd3 Qa5 16. Bb1 Bf6 17. Rd2 Ba6 18. Qd1 Bxc3 19. Bxh7+ Kh8 20. Qc2 Rxb2 21. Rxd5 Qxa2 22. Rh5 Qa1+ 23. Qb1 Rxb1+ 0 : 1 Wahltuch – A. K. Rubinstein, International Chess Congress, London 1922. 6. ... cxd4 7. cxd4

7. ... d5! 8. exd5 (8. e5 Qd8) 8. ... exd5 9. Be2?! 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Bb5 Bd6 11. 0-0 0-0 is very comfortable for Black, but at least on the short run it saves time and material. 9. ... Bd6 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Nc3 Be6 12. a3?! a6 13. Bd3 (13. h3 g5!→) 13. ... Qh6 14. Ne2 Bg4 15. Ng3 Qf6 16. Re1 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Qxf3 18. gxf3 Nxd4. The Pawn has fallen, and Black encounters no particular difficulties in converting into a win. 19. Kg2 Ne6 20. Rad1 g6 21. h4 Rfe8 22. Bb1 h5 23. Ba2 Nf4+ 24. Kf1 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Rc8 26. Bb3 Rc5 27. Re8+ Kg7 28. Ne2 Nxe2 29. Kxe2 Rb5 30. Rd8 Rxb3 31. Rxd6 Rxb2+ 32. Ke3 Rb3+ 33. Kf4 Rxa3 34. Rxd5 b5 35. Rd6 a5 36. Ke4 Ra4+ 37. Ke3 Rxh4 38. Rd5 Rb4 39. Kd3 h4 0 : 1.

China’s rising star 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: Sina Sports.

Linosa Island

At Last

Péter Ács – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
5th György Marx Memorial; Paks, August 7, 2007
Nimzo-Indian Defence E58

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 0-0 6. Bd3 d5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. h3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 e5 12. Ba2 Bf5 13. d5 Rad8 14. c4 e4 15. Nh4 (15. Qc2 Bg6 16. Nh4 Ne5 17. Bb2 Rfe8 18. Bc3 Rd6 19. Rab1 b6 20. Rbd1 Qc8 21. Nxg6 hxg6 22. Kh2 g5 23. Qb2 Nfg4+ 24. hxg4 Rh6+ 25. Kg1 Nf3+ 26. gxf3 exf3 0 : 1 Henrichs – Prusikin, 78th German Chess Championship, Bad Königshofen 2007) 15. ... Bc8 16. Bb2 Qe7 17. f4 exf3 18. Qxf3 Ne5 19. Qg3 Rfe8 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21. Rxf5 Nfd7 22. Raf1 g6 23. e4 Qd6 24. R5f4 Re7 25. Bb3 Rf8 26. h4 f6 27. Ba1 Nb6 28. h5 Nbd7 29. Ba4 Nb6 30. hxg6 hxg6 31. Bb3 Nbd7 32. Bd1 Rg7 33. Bg4 Nxg4 34. Qxg4 Ne5 35. Qe6+ Qxe6 36. dxe6 Nc6 37. Rxf6 Re8 38. Rd1 Rge7 39. Rxg6+ Kh7

40. Rg5. Even stronger seems 40. Rg4 Rxe6 41. Rd5 Ne5 42. Rg3 with a quasi-zugzwang. 40. ... Rxe6 41. Rd3 R8e7 42. Rxc5 Rxe4 43. Bf6 R7e6 44. Rd7+ Kg6 45. Bb2 b6 46. Rcd5 Re2 47. Bc3

47. ... Rc2?? Black blunders away the game. Instead, 47. ... Ne7! would probably have saved the day. 48. Rg7+ Kh6 49. Rg3 Rc1+ 50. Kh2 1 : 0.

The sun sank at last. Photo: marxgy.ase.hu.

Draw the Line

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Mitra Hejazipour
18th World Youth Chess Championship Girls U-10; Kallithea, October 28, 2003
Spanish Game C96

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d3 Nc6 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. d4 Qc7 15. Bg5 Be7 (15. ... Nd7 16. Ne3⩲ Vujošević – Le Bellac, First Saturday IM November 1993, Budapest 1993) 16. dxc5 dxc5 17. Ne3 Be6 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Rad8 20. c4

20. ... Nd4 (20. ... bxc4 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Ba4 Re6!∞) 21. Nxd4 exd4 22. cxb5 axb5 23. Qd3 c4! 24. Qxd4 Nxd5 25. Qh4 g6 26. Be4? 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) plays with fire. She had nothing better than 26. Bxe7 Rxe7 with approximate equality. 26. ... Bxg5 27. Qxg5 Re5 28. Qh4 Rde8 29. f3 Qc5+ (29. ... Rh5 30. Qf2 Nf4−+) 30. Qf2 Qb4 31. a3 Qa5 32. Qh4 Kg7 33. Rad1 f5 34. f4

34. ... Rxe4? What may seem an innocent inversion of moves is instead cause for immediate regret, as after 34. ... Qa7+! 35. Kh2 (the crucial difference is that now the White King can’t go to f1: 35. Kf1? fxe4 36. fxe5 Rf8+−+) 35. ... Rxe4 36. Rxe4 fxe4 37. Rxd5 e3−+ White could resign. 35. Rxe4 Rxe4. Or, even better (but not enough), 35. ... fxe4 36. Rxd5 Qa7+ 37. Kf1! e3 38. Re5! Rxe5 39. fxe5 Qd7 40. Kg1! e2 41. Kf2 Qd1 42. Qe7+ drawing by perpetual check. 36. Rxd5 Qa7+ (36. ... Qe1+ 37. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 38. Kh2 Rb1 39. Rxb5 c3=) 37. Kh2 Qc7 38. Rxb5 Rxf4 39. Qg3 Qc6? (39. ... Kf7) 40. Ra5? 40. Re5! Re4 41. Rxf5 wins a valuable Pawn. 40. ... Re4? (40. ... Qe4!=) 41. Ra7+? 41. Rxf5 goes into the line mentioned in the note after 40. Ra5. 41. ... Kg8 42. Qb8+ Re8 43. Qc7 Qxc7+ 44. Rxc7 Rb8 45. Rxc4 Rxb2 46. Rc7 Ra2 47. Ra7 f4 48. Kg1 h6 49. a4 Kh8 50. a5 Kg8 51. a6 Kh8 ½ : ½.

A Byzantine Iliad

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Nazí Nodarovna Paikidze
18th World Youth Chess Championship Girls U-10; Kallithea, October 31, 2003
Sicilian Defence B92

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. 0-0 Be6 9. Be3 0-0 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Nbd7 12. Qd3 Nc5 13. Bxc5. Critical is 13. Qd2!? Nfe4 14. Qb4 a5 15. Qb5 Qc7 16. Rfd1 b6 17. Qc4 f5 18. Bd3 Qd8 19. Nxc5 Nxc5 20. a3 Rc8 21. Qb5 e4 22. Bf1 Bf6 23. Rab1 Be5 24. b4 axb4 25. Rxb4 Nd7 26. Rc4 Rxc4 27. Qxc4 Qe8 28. Re1 Nf6 29. h3 Nd7 30. Qc7 f4 31. Bc1? (31 Bxb6 Nxb6 32. Qxb6 e3!? 33. fxe3 f3 34. gxf3 Qg6+ 35. Bg2 Qg3 36. Kf1 Rxf3+ 37. Bxf3 Qxf3+ ends with a draw by perpetual check) 31. ... e3! 32. Bb5 (32. fxe3 f3!−+) 32. ... exf2+ 33. Kxf2 f3! 0 : 1 Svidler – J. Polgár, 10th Torneo Ciudad de Dos Hermanas, Dos Hermanas 1999. On the other hand, American Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan very rightly regards 13. Nxc5 as a strategic imperative for White. 13. ... dxc5 14. Rad1 e4 15. Qe3 Qc7 16. Nd2 Bd6 17. Nxe4 Bxh2+ 18. Kh1 Nxe4 19. Qxe4 Rfe8 20. Qf3 Be5 21. b3 Qe7 22. Bd3 Rad8 23. g3 Rd6 24. Kg2 g6 25. Rfe1 Qd7 26. Qe2 Re7 27. c4 b6 28. Qd2 Rf6 29. f4 Bd4 30. Rxe7 Qxe7 31. Re1 Qd7 32. Qe2 Kg7 33. Qe7 Qg4 34. Be2 Qf5 35. d6 Re6 36. Bd3

36. ... Rxe7. Much simpler was 36. ... Qf6! forcing a liquidation to a drawish opposite-coloured Bishops endgame. By the text move Black gives up the Exchange for uncertain returns, probably overestimating his Queen-Bishop battery. 37. dxe7 Qxd3 38. e8=Q Qc2+ 39. Qe2 Qf5 40. Qe4 Qg4. Apparently safer was 40. ... Qc8 keeping a presence on the back rank. 41. Qb7. 41. Qd5 Bf6 42. Re8 was probably White’s best, threatening to mount an attack with Qd5-d6-f8+. 41. ... h5 (Δ ... h5-h4) 42. Qe7 Bf6 43. Qe2 Qd7 44. Rd1 Qc6+ 45. Rd5 Qc8

46. Rd6. 46. f5! was White’s last serious attempt at playing for the win. 46. ... Qc7 47. Rd5 h4 48. Qe4 hxg3 49. Kxg3 Qc8 50. Rd6 Qc7 51. Rc6 Qd8 52. Qd5 Qe7 53. Rxb6 Qe1+ 54. Kg2 Qe2+ 55. Kg3 Qe1+ 56. Kg2 Qe2+ 57. Kg3 ½ : ½.

摩根勒菲 (Morgan le Fay)

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Wouter Spoelman
69th Corus Chess Tournament (C Group); Wijk aan Zee, January 26, 2007
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. 0-0 0-0 7. Bb3 a6 8. h3 h6 9. Re1 Ba7 10. Nbd2 Nh5 11. Nf1 Qf6 12. Be3 Nf4 13. d4 Ne7 14. Ng3 Neg6 15. Bc2 c6 16. Nf5 Re8 17. Nh2 h5 18. Kh1? With this sophisticated move, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) lets her advantage slip. Much stronger was 18. Nf3! c5 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. Qd6 with a definite edge for White. 18. ... d5! 19. dxe5

19. ... Qg5? But Black misses the resourceful sacrifice 19. ... Rxe5 20. Bd4 dxe4! which would give him more than enough compensation for the Exchange. 20. Ng3 h4 21. Nf3 Qh6 22. Nf5 Qg5?? Threatening mate, but... 23. Nxg5 1 : 0.

強制被動 (Zugzwang)

Gabriel Eduardi Sargissian – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
70th Corus Chess Tournament (B Group); Wijk aan Zee, January 25, 2008
Queen’s Indian Defence E15

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. e4 d5 8. cxd5 Bxf1 9. Kxf1 exd5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Nc3 Nxd2+ 12. Nxd2 Qd7 13. Kg2 Nc6 14. Qa4 0-0. 14. ... 0-0-0 seems more convincing; a game played some months later went 15. Qa6+ Kb8 16. Nb5 Qc8 17. Qxc8+ Rxc8 18. Rac1 Nd8 19. f4 c6 20. Nc3 Ne6 and Black somehow managed to consolidate, Grigoryan – Zhigalko, 48th World Junior Chess Championship, Puerto Madryn 2009. 15. Rac1 f6. This move has been rightly criticised, 15. ... Rfd8 being suggested as a better one (but after 16. Nf3 White seems to stand better anyway). 16. f4. 16. Ne2(!) Nxe5 17. Qxd7 Nxd7 18. Rxc7 should give White a clear advantage. On the other hand, Sargissian’s modus operandi is not bad either. 16. ... fxe5 17. dxe5 Bb4 18. Rhf1 Rac8 19. Ne2 Nxe5 20. Qxb4 Nd3 21. Qb3 Nxc1 22. Nxc1. White has two Knights against Rook and Pawn, and should succeed in making progress. Instead, psychologically anguished by the imperative of restraining Black’s centre Pawns, the Armenian Grandmaster will gradually lose the thread of the game. 22. ... Rce8 23. Nf3 Qf5 24. Rf2 c5 25. Qd3 Qe4 26. Rd2 d4 27. Qxe4 Rxe4 28. Nd3 Re6 29. h4 Rc8 30. a4 a6 31. Nfe5 b5 32. a5 g6 33. Rc2 c4 34. Nb4. This is already quite questionable, but probably not irreparable. 34. ... Rf8 35. b3? Bad timing. He would rather have had to play it on the previous move. 35. ... d3 36. Rd2 Rc8 37. Rd1 Rd6 38. Kf3? And this is probably the losing move. It is unlikely that after 38. bxc4 bxc4 39. Rd2 Black may make progress. Now instead Black inexorably zugzwangs her opponent. 38. ... d2 39. bxc4 bxc4 40. Nc2 c3 41. Ke2 Rd5 42. Ng4 Rxa5 43. Nge3 Rd8 44. Rb1 Ra2 45. Kd1 Rb2 46. Ra1 Rdb8 47. Rxa6 Rb1+ 48. Ke2 Rc1 49. Rc6

49. ... Re8 0 : 1. For if 50. Kd3 then 50. ... Rxc2! and finis.

Scacchi in technicolor

When FIDE President Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov and former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer met at Budapest in 1996, the conversation quickly got stuck on the future of Fischerandom chess. The Kalmyk billionaire, for fear of resistance from the notoriously conservative chess community, intended to introduce it gradually, a little at a time, but the impatient Fischer blurted out: “Teach people to play new chess, right away. Why do you offer them a black and white television set, when there is a set in colour?”(*).
But the community preferred the comfort zone of the black-and-white TV set. Of course, inevitably. If Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov gave Fischer’s chess a cold welcome: “The harmony of the game suffers a little”, other colleagues of his, such as Swedish Grandmaster Ulf Andersson, were much less diplomatic: “I refuse to discuss it even if only as a joke. It’s a very stupid thing”. Garry Kimovich Kasparov was no less categorical; in a 2004 interview to the Russian website ChessPro argued: “In truth, 95% of the 960 starting lineups are poison to the eyes”.
Even the guru of chess analysis, Mark Izrailevich Dvoretsky, in his very interesting article “Polemic Thinking (Part Two)” reproaches Fischer’s chess for not fulfilling in all 960 starting positions the quintessential concept of “chess geometry” intrinsic to the magical position number 518. The example he gives is not banal:

Levon Grigori Aronian – Étienne Bacrot
Mainz, 2005
rkrbnqbn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RKRBNQBN w CAca - 0 1
Posizione #941

Notes by Dvoretsky. 1. e4 e5 2. Nd3 Ng6?! 3. f4 Bf6? (3. ... Nf6) 4. Nc5 Rd8 5. Qb5 Nd6 6. Nxd7+ Rxd7 7. Qxd7 and White parlayed his Exchange plus into a win.

Dvoretsky concludes: “This is all very curious and funny — but that’s all. The level of play demonstrated here by grandmasters isn’t much different from (to take an example from traditional chess) the efforts, successful or unsuccessful, to exploit the weakness at f7 from the starting position, and deliver the ‘scholar’s mate’. Of course we need to take into account the fact that in Mainz, the games were played in rapid chess; however, I suspect that, even under a classical time-control, the quality of play would not have risen very much”.
Exactly for the same reasons, Fischer invented his Fischerandom, just “to put the spontaneity back” (ipse dixit). Like Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham, Fischer never looks back: imperfection is a new take on old science.

(*) Svetozar Gligoric, Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?, B.T. Batsford Ltd, Londra, 2002, p. 71.

By the Sea

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Antoaneta Stefanova
8th Russian Women’s Team Chess Championship; Dagomys, May 9, 2007
Spanish Game C78

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Bb7 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Bd5 exd4 13. cxd4 0-0 14. Nc3 b4 15. Ne2 Rab8!?TN (15. ... Na5 16. Bxb7 Nxb7 17. Qd2 Qe6 18. Ng3 a5 19. Rfe1 d5 20. exd5 Qxd5 21. Re5 Qd7 22. Rae1 Rae8 23. Nf5 Rxe5 24. Rxe5 Nd6 25. Ne7+ Kh8 26. b3 Nc8 27. Nd5 f6 28. Nxb6 cxb6 29. Re3 Rd8 30. h3 Ne7 31. Nh4 Nf5 32. Nxf5 Qxf5 33. Rd3 Qd5 ½ : ½ Movsesian – Malaniuk, 33rd Chess Olympiad, Elista 1998) 16. Qd3 Rfe8 17. a5 Nxa5 18. Bxb7. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), who was then only 13 years of age, shows an amazing tactical acuteness. If 18. Rxa5 there would have followed 18. ... c6! (18. ... Bxa5? 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 20. Qxa6+−) 19. Bxf7+ Qxf7 20. Rf5 Qe7 with a complex but balanced game. 18. ... Nxb7 19. Rxa6 Nd8

20. b3 Qg6 21. Ng3 d5 22. Ne5 dxe4 23. Qb5 (23. Nxe4 Qf5=) 23. ... Qe6. “In hindsight, it’s just too easy to recommend 23. ... c6 24. Qxb4 Rxe5 25. Rxb6 (25. dxe5 is unplayable due to 25. ... Bxf2+) 25. ... Rxb6 26. Qxb6 Rd5”, International Master Ilya Beniaminovich Odesskiy wrote in his notes for the Chess Federation of Russian website. 24. Nd7 Rb7? Tougher was 24. ... Qc6! 25. Qxc6 Nxc6 26. Nxb8 Rxb8 27. Nxe4 Nxd4 with good chances of compensation. 25. Nc5 c6

26. Qxb6 Rxb6 27. Nxe6 Rxa6 28. Nc7 Ra3 29. Nxe8 Rxb3 30. Nd6 e3 31. fxe3 Rxe3 32. Rb1 b3 33. Ngf5 Rd3 34. Ne4 Ne6 35. Ne7+ Kh7 36. Nxc6 Nxd4 37. Nxd4 Rxd4 38. Nc5 Rc4 39. Nxb3 Rc2 40. Nd4 Ra2

41. Rb7 Kg8 42. Nf3 Ra5 43. Kf2 Ra2+ 44. Kg3 Ra5 45. h4 g6 46. Rb4 Kg7 47. Kf4 Rc5 48. Ne5 Rc1 49. Rb7 Rf1+ 50. Ke4 Re1+ 51. Kd5 Rd1+ 52. Ke4 Re1+ 53. Kf4 Rf1+ 54. Nf3 Ra1 55. g4 Ra4+ 56. Kg3 Ra5 57. Nd4 Rd5 58. Nf3 Ra5 59. Rd7 Rc5 60. Nd2 Rc3+ 61. Kf4 Rh3 62. Nf3 Rh1 63. Ne5 Rf1+ 64. Ke4 Kg8 65. Kd5 Rf4

66. Kd6. The enfant terrible doesn’t bait the hook: 66. Rxf7?? Rxf7 67. Nxf7 Kxf7 68. g5 Ke7!! 69. Ke5 h5 is only a draw. 66. ... Rf6+ 67. Kc7 Rf4 68. Kd8 Kg7 69. Ke8 Kf6 70. Re7 h5 71. g5+ Kf5 72. Rxf7+. Now it’s okay. 72. ... Kxe5 73. Rxf4 Kxf4 74. Kf7 Kf5 75. Kg7 Kg4 76. Kxg6 Kxh4 77. Kf5 1 : 0.

Time and Chance

许昱华 (Xǔ Yùhuá) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

2nd “火炬地产杯” (“Torch Real Estate Cup” Chinese Chess League; 北京 (Běijīng), April 4, 2006

Sicilian Defence B52

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. 0-0 Nf6 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. Rd1 e6 8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 0-0 10. c4. 10. c3 Rac8 11. Na3 b6 12. d4 cxd4 13. cxd4 d5 is fine for Black, Galego – David, Zonal Tournament, Linares 1995. 10. ... e5! 11. Nc3 Nd4 12. Qd3 Qg4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. f3 Qg6 15. Ne2 Rfe8 16. Ng3 Bf8 17. Rf1

17. ... d5! 18. Rac1. Of course, 18. cxd5? Nxd5 is very much in Black’s favour. 18. ... a6 19. Qe2 dxe4 20. fxe4 Qg4 21. Rf3 Qe6 22. Rcf1 Nd7 23. Bc1. 23. Rxf7 Nf6 forces White to give up the Exchange for an uncertain compensation. 23. ... g6. More accurate seems 23. ... f6 followed by ... g7-g6. 24. d3. White could win the Queen and a Pawn for two Rooks by 24. Rxf7, but it wouldn’t be an easy game for her anyway. 24. ... f6 25. h4 Qg4?! (25. ... h5∞) 26. h5!→ Bg7 27. Qe1 Qh4? The Queen stands badly here. 27. ... Qe6 was better and quite good.

28. h6! Bf8 (28. ... Bxh6? 29. Nf5!+−) 29. R1f2? White misses 29. Qa5 (Δ Qa5-d5+) 29. ... b5 30. Qc7 breaking through with powerful effect. 29. ... Qg4 30. Rf1 Qe6 31. Nh1 b5 32. Qh4 Be7 33. Ng3 (33. g4) 33. ... bxc4 34. dxc4 (34. bxc4) 34. ... Bf8 35. Bd2? White ought to continue with Ng3-h1-f2-d3. Now Black easily shatters her opponent’s Queenside. 35. ... a5! 36. a4 Ra6 37. Kh2 Rb8 38. Nh1 Rab6 39. Qg3 Nc5 40. Qe1

40. ... Nxb3? (40. ... Be7!−+) 41. Bxa5? 41. Rxf6! Qxc4 42. Rxb6 Rxb6 43. Bg5! gave White enough for the Pawn. 41. ... Nxa5 42. Qxa5 Bxh6 43. Rxf6 Qxf6 44. Rxf6 Rxf6−+ 45. g3 Rb2+ 46. Kh3 Rf1 47. Qd5+ Kh8 48. Qxe5+ Bg7 49. Qe8+ Bf8 50. Qe5+ Bg7 51. Qe8+ Rf8 52. Qd7 h5 53. Qd5 Rf1 54. e5 Rbb1 55. e6 Rxh1+ 56. Kg2 Rhg1+ 57. Kh3 Rge1 58. a5 Re2 59. a6 Rbb2 60. Qh1 Ra2 61. g4 Ra3+ 62. Kh4 Bf6+ 63. g5 Be7 64. c5 Rxa6 65. c6 Bd6 66. e7 Ra8 0 : 1.

Under the Earth, Above the Sky

11th World Chess Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer was buried almost secretely on Monday, January 21, 2008 in the Christian cemetery of Laugardælir Church near the southern Icelandic town of Selfoss, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Reykjavík.
In accordance with Fischer’s wishes, no one else was present except Miyoko Watai and Garðar Sverrisson and his family.

Restless Journey

Just a confirmation. “The Girls’ section saw four players finishing with nine out of 13, with the Gold won by 17- year-old Chinese WGM 沈阳 (Shěn Yáng). Second place and the Silver went to Chinese wunderkind, 12(!)-year-old 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), and Salome Melia from Georgia won the Bronze medal”, FIDE Master Aviv Friedman wrote on Chess Life, January 2007, p. 35.

Tatev Abrahamyan – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
24th World Junior Chess Championship Girls U-20; Yerevan, October 16, 2006
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 0-0 10. 0-0-0 Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 b4 13. Ne2 Ne8 14. f4 a5 15. f5 a4 16. fxe6 axb3 17. exf7+ Rxf7 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Kxc2 Nb6. Also after 19. ... Rxa2 there would follow 20. Nc1 with even better effect than in the game.
20. Nc1 d5 21. exd5 Nd6 22. Kb1 Nbc4 (22. ... Rf3 23. h4 Na4 24. Qe2 Rg3? 25. Bf2 Rc3 26. Qxe5 Nxb2 27. Bd4 Bf8 28. Kxb2 Rf3 29. Bd3 Kh8 30. Qe2 Rf4 31. Qh5 Nf5 32. g6 1 : 0 Topalov – Vallejo Pons, 22nd Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares, Linares 2005)
23. Bxc4 Nxc4 24. Qe2 Nxe3 25. Qxe3 (25. g6 Nxd1 26. gxf7+ Kxf7 27. Rxd1 Bd6 28. Qe4 Kg8 29. Rf1 Qa5 30. Rf3 Rc8 31. Qf5 Qc7 32. Nb3 g6 ½ : ½ Zambrana – Vera González-Quevedo, 40th Capablanca Memorial, Havana 2005)
25. ... Bxg5 26. Qb3 Qd6

27. Rhe1? It is certainly not an improvement on 27. Nd3 e4 28. Nxb4 Rf2 29. Rdf1 Rxf1+ (29. ... e3! would give Black powerful compensation for the Pawn) 30. Rxf1 Rb8 31. a3 Bd2 32. Qc4 Bxb4 33. axb4 Qxb4 34. Qxb4 Rxb4 35. d6 Rd4 36. Rf4 g5 37. Rg4 h6 38. h4 Kg7 39. hxg5 h5 40. Rh4 Kg6 41. d7 Kxg5 42. Rxe4 Rxd7 43. Kc2 h4 44. b4 h3 45. Re1 h2 46. Rh1 Rh7 47. Kc3 Kf4 48. Kc4 Kg3 49. b5 Kg2 50. Rxh2+ Rxh2 51. Kc5 Kf3 52. b6 Ke4 53. b7 Rb2 54. Kc6 Rxb7 55. Kxb7 ½ : ½ Afshari – Ibrahimov, 2nd Iranian Team Chess Championship, Tehran 2005.
27. ... Rfa7! 28. Re4 Bxc1 29. Rxc1 (29. Kxc1 Rxa2 30. Rxb4 Qh6+ 31. Kc2 Qxh2+ 32. Rd2 Rc8+ 33. Kb1 Qxd2 34. Kxa2 Ra8+−+)
29. ... Rxa2

30. Rc6 Ra1+ 31. Kc2 Qf8 32. d6+ Kh8 33. Qd3 Qf2+ 34. Re2 (34. Qe2 Qg1−+)

34. ... b3+! 35. Kxb3 Rb8+ 36. Kc3 Rc1+ 37. Rc2 (37. Kd2 Qf4+−+)
37. ... Rxc2+ 38. Qxc2 Qd4# 0 : 1.

The Tea Road

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Batkhuyagiin Möngöntuul
14th Russian Women’s Team Chess Championship; Sochi, May 6, 2007
Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. h3 Ne7 11. Rd1 Ke8. This is quite natural. A recent game went instead 11. ... Ng6 12. Bg5+ Be7 13. Rd2 Ke8 14. Rad1 Be6 15. Bxe7 Kxe7 16. Kh2 h5 17. Ne4 Bd5 18. Neg5 Rad8 19. Rd4 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 Rxd4 21. Rxd4 Re8 22. Re4 Kf8 23. Re3 Rd8 24. g4 hxg4 25. hxg4 Ke7 26. Re1 Rd5 27. Kg3 c5 28. a4 b6 29. Re3 Rd1 30. c4 Nf8 31. a5 Rc1 32. axb6 cxb6 33. Nh4 g6 34. f4 Rxc4 35. f5 Rc2 36. e6 Rxb2 37. g5 Nxe6 38. fxe6 c4 39. exf7+ Kxf7 40. Rf3+ Ke8 41. Nxg6 Rb3 42. Ne5 b5 43. g6 Rxf3+ 44. Kxf3 Kf8 45. Ke4 Kg7 46. Kd5 a5 47. Nxc4 ½ : ½ Karjakin – 章钟 (Zhāng Zhōng), 3rd Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2004 12. Bf4 h6 13. Rd2 Ng6 14. e6 Bxe6 15. Bxc7 Rc8 16. Bg3 Bb4 17. a3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Rd8 19. Re2 Kd7 20. Nd4 Rhe8 21. Rd1 Ke7? His Majesty takes the wrong path; correct was 21. ... Kc8 and if 22. Rde1 then again 22. ... Kd7 offering to repeat moves. 22. Rd3 c5? One mistake after another. After 22. ... Kf8 23. Rxe6! fxe6 24. Nxe6+ Rxe6 25. Rxd8+ Ke7 26. Rc8± White comes out a healthy Pawn up, but the game goes on.

23. Bd6+! A pretty pseudo-sacrifice which wins two Pawns and the game. 23. ... Kd7. Neither 23. ... Kxd6 24. Nxe6+ nor 24. ... Rxd6 25. Nf5+ are feasible. 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Bxc5+ Kc6 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Bxa7 e5 28. Re4 h5 29. Rc4+ Kb5 30. Rb4+ Ka6 31. Bc5 1 : 0.

Addio Bobby Fischer

Robert James Fischer, in arte Bobby, nato a Chicago il 9 marzo 1943, Campione del Mondo di scacchi dal 1972 al 1975, è morto a Reykjavik giovedì 17 gennaio 2008.

Kaleidoscope Chess

David Navara – Nigel David Short
3rd Čez Chess Trophy; match game 10; Prague, 2007
brkbnrnq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRKBNRNQ w FBfb - 0 1

Position #849

1. b3 f5 2. e3 Ngf6 3. f4 e6 4. Bf3 Be7 5. Bb2 b6 6. Bxa8 Rxa8 7. g4! Threatening Qh1xa8#. 7. ... c6 8. g5. White has a space advantage and the initiative as well. 8. ... Nd5 9. c4 Ndc7 10. Ngf3 Qg8 11. Ne5 Nd6 12. N1f3 Rd8 13. 0-0-0 Qe8 14. Qg2 a5 15. Qh3 Qg8 16. d3 g6 17. Kb1 Nb7 18. a3 Nc5 19. Ka2 Kb7 20. Qg2. The e5-Knight is immovable: 20. ... d6? 21. Nxc6! Kxc6?? 22. Ne5#. 20. ... N7a6 21. h4 Qe8 22. Nd4 Rdc8 23. h5 d6. Black finally kicks the Knight off, but the weakness on c6 persists... 24. Nef3 Bf8. After 24. ... gxh5 25. Rh1 Black Black’s situation is critical, but the text delivers the h-line porge on a silver tray. 25. Rh1 Rc7 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Rh8 Qf7 28. Rdh1. Or 28. Nxc6! Rxc6 (28. ... Kxc6 29. Ne5#) 29. Rdh1 winning. 29. ... Tac8 (29. ... Qe8 30. Nb5!!+−) 29. Nxc6! Kxc6 (29. ... Rxc6 30. R1h7+−) 30. Ne5# 1 : 0.

Greek gift sacrifice

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 章晓雯 (Zhāng Xiǎowén)

2nd “火炬地产杯” (“Torch Real Estate Cup” Chinese Chess League; 石家庄 (Shíjiāzhuāng), April 25, 2006

French Defence C11

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. Qf2 Qa5 11. Rb1!?TN (11. Ra2 Qb6 12. Ne2 b4 13. Nd2 a5 14. Nb3 c4 15. Nd2 Ba6 16. c3 bxa3 17. bxa3 Bxa3⩱ Hodgson – Chandler, Watson Farley Williams Tournament, London 1990) 11. ... b4 12. axb4 Qxb4 13. Bd3 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. 0-0 0-0 18. Ne2 a5 19. Nd4 Ba6? A catastrophic mistake. 19. ... Nxd3 20. cxd3 Ba6 was correct and good enough to hold balance.

20. Bxh7+! “Elementary, my dear Watson”. 20. ... Kxh7 21. Nc6. 21. Qh4+ Kg8 22. Nc6 transposes into the game. 21. ... Qb7 22. Qh4+ Kg8. (22. ... Kg6? 23. g4! Rh8 24. f5+ exf5 25. gxf5 mate) 23. Ne7+ Qxe7 24. Qxe7 Bxf1 25. Qxc5 Rfc8 26. Qf2 Bc4 27. b3 Bb5 28. f5 exf5 29. Qxf5 Rc6

30. c4! Bxc4 (30. ... dxc4 31. e6!+−) 31. bxc4 dxc4 32. Qd7 Re6 33. Rf1 Rxe5 34. Rxf7 Rg5 35. h4 Rg6 36. Qd5 Raa6 37. Rf6+ Kh7 38. Qh5+ 1 : 0.

Far and Near

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi
11th Asian Women’s Chess Championship; Beirut, December 2004
Spanish Game C96

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. c3 0-0 10. h3 Na5. If 10. ... Nd7 then 11. d4 Bf6 12. d5 Ne7 13. Na3!⩲ Karpov – Arbakov, Vladimir 1966. 11. Bc2 c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. Nbd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nc6 15. axb5. A pseudo-novelty. After 15. Nb3 Bf6 16. axb5 axb5 17. d5 Nb4 18. Bb1 Nc5 19. Na5 Bd7 20. Qd2 Nba6 21. b4 Na4 22. Bd3 Ra8 23. Ba3 Qb6 24. Rec1 Rfc8 Black managed somehow to hold his own until the very end, Pioch – Manasterski, 30th Polish Chess Championship, Gdynia 1973. 15. ... axb5 16. d5 Nb4 17. Bb1 Nc5 18. Nb3 Nba6 19. Be3 Qc7 20. Nxc5 dxc5 21. Bd3 Nb4 22. Bf1 Bd7 23. Qd2 Bd6 24. Rec1 Ra8 25. Kh1 Rxa1. 25. ... Na2 followed by ... c5-c4 also seems good for Black. 26. Rxa1 f6 27. Qc3 Rc8 28. Nd2 Qb7? (28. ... f5! 29. f3 c4=) 29. Nb3 Qc7 30. Ra5 f5? (30. ... c4 31. Ra7 Qd8 32. Na5±) 31. Bxb5 c4 32. Bxd7 (32. Ra7+−) 32. ... Qxd7 33. Nc5 Bxc5 34. Rxc5 Rxc5 35. Bxc5 Nd3 36. Qxc4 Nxb2 37. Qb3 Na4 38. Qb8+ Kf7 39. Qf8+ Kg6 40. exf5+ Kh5 (40. ... Qxf5 41. Qe8++−)

41. Be7. White goes for mate! 41. ... Qc7 (41. ... Kh6 42. f6+−) 42. Qf7+ Kh6 43. Bg5+ 1 : 0.

Youth on the Move

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Tania Sachdev
24th World Junior Chess Championship Girls U-20; Yerevan, October 14, 2006
Sicilian Defence B43

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. 0-0 Qc7 7. Nc3 b5 8. Re1 d6 9. a4 b4 10. Na2 e5 11. Nf3!? The theory continuation was 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 Nc6 13. Bg5 with a safe edge for White, Bezgodov – Ozolin, Izhevsk 2005.
11. ... Nc6 12. Bg5 Be6!? Rather than continuing with 12. ... Be7, Sachdev goes for a risky strategy.
13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. c3 bxc3 15. Nxc3 Bh6 16. a5 Qb7 17. Nh4. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice a Pawn for taking control of the board, being confident that the presence of opposite-coloured Bishops will favour her initiative.
17. ... Qxb2 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Ne7 20. Qh5 Qd2 21. Qf3 Bg5 22. Nf5 Nxf5 23. Bxf5 Ke7 24. Rec1 Ra7. The rest of the game must have been played with an eye stuck on the clock.
25. h4!? Bxh4 26. Rc2 Qb4 27. Qe3 Rb7 28. Rac1? This very natural move could actually dissipate White’s advantage. Best seems 28. g3 Bg5 (28. ... Rg8 29. Bc8 doesn’t look any better) 29. f4 Bh6 30. Rh2 winning material (due to the double threat of Rh2xh6 and Ra1-b1).

28. ... Qxa5! Perhaps 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) had envisioned something like 28. ... Bg5 29. Rc7+ Kf8 30. Rc8+ Kg7 31. Rxh8 Bxe3?? (but 31. ... Kxh8 32. Qh3 Qh4 holds everything together) 32. Rxh7+ Kf8 33. fxe3 with irresistible attack.
29. f4 Rg8!? There’s nothing wrong with it, but 29. ... Qb6!= might have been simpler.
30. Qh3 Bg3 31. Qxh7. With the threat of Bf5-e6.
31. ... Qb6+? This proves to be a fatal loss of time! Correct was 31. ... Rf8! defending everything: 32. fxe5 Bxe5 33. Be6!? Qb6+ 34. Kh1 f5! (threatening ... Rf8-h8) 35. Rc8 Qb2 36. R1c7+ Rxc7 37. Rxc7+ Ke8 38. Rc8+ with perpetual check.
32. Kh1 Qd8. Now it’s too late for 32. ... Rf8 because of 33. Rc6 Qd8 34. fxe5 Rh8 (or 34. ... fxe5 35. Rc8+−) 35. exd6+ Bxd6 36. Re1+ Be5 37. Rxe5+ fxe5 38. Re6+ Kd7 39. Rh6+ winning decisive material.
33. Rc8 1–0.

我要高飛 (Fame)

John van der Wiel – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
69th Corus Chess Tournament (C Group); Wijk aan Zee, January 15, 2007
Sicilian Defence B96

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. f5 Nc6 10. fxe6 fxe6 11. Be2 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Qf7!?TN 13. Na4 Bd7 14. Nb6 Rd8 15. 0-0 Be7 16. Nxd7 Rxd7 17. Qc4 Rg8 18. Rf4 Rg5 19. Bg4 Re5 20. Qc8+ Bd8 21. Raf1 Rc7 22. Qb8 Kd7 23. c4 Be7 24. Kh1 Qe8 25. Qa7 Qc8 26. Be2 b5 27. Qd4 bxc4 28. Rh4 f5. After putting up a tight defence almost in Steinitz’s style, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is now ready to settle down. Apparently puzzled by Black’s stunning defence, however, van der Wiel melts himself into a mirage:

29. exf5?? White had to be content with 29. Rd1 Rxe4 30. Rxe4 fxe4 31. Qxe4 Qb7 with a dynamic balance.
29. ... Rxe2 30. f6 Qg8! 31. Rg4 Bxf6! The second zwischenzug puts the final nail in White’s coffin and well illustrates the remarkable tactical sensibility of the 12 year old 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán).
32. Qf4 Qd8! 33. Qf3 Re5 34. Rf4 Be7 35. Rf7 Rcc5 36. Qb7+ Qc7 37. Qa8 Rf5! 0–1.

Cover Story

Chess prodigy 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) takes on the 国际象棋杂志（2007年夏） | Chess Magazine Summer 2007 issue.

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