Oh, no, Edna, you must not feel like you have to pick the gauntlet up every time she teases you, or anything else

Artwork © Ǝ W ꓤ Ǝ H ꓶ I ꓵ ꓨ (@begartzzz)

Rehearsal of the Rainbow’s End

Summer Rhapsody

吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá), the Goddess of Diving, is captured by photographer 三凡 (Sānfán) in a photoshoot for 《CHAMPION体育画报》 (CHAMPION Sports Illustrated) magazine, Issue 002, June 2021. As always, she needs no words to advertise her physical presence — her mystical synthesis of herself thru the lens of a camera. “If you know your heart and your self, do not depend upon what others may or may not say about you”, she says. “Believe in yourself, you won’t regret it — no matter how it turns out ”. Photos: 三凡 (Sānfán).

Fashion Speed Idol

No, Edna; there’s no double entendre

Artwork © Котомать (@berkanstel)

Just a Little Note

A bird’s eye view shows an artwork of Alan Turing installed by the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) inside “The Doughnut” building in Cheltenham, South West England, as a £50 note featuring him entered circulation on his birthday. Photo: Crown copyright/Handout via Reuters.

Yeah, Edna, they’re trying to use statistics creatively in order to push their superheroes to unthinkable heights, but, alas! for them, you, and only you can set the criterion for you yourself to be eternally worthy of worship

Artwork by asherkearney

Everlast

深圳大学 (Shēnzhèn University) Professor 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) wins the 3rd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship

郑志鹏 (Zhèng Zhìpéng), 深圳晚报 (Shēnzhèn Evening News), July 5, 2012

“It was anyone’s match up to the last. I was just lucky”, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) modestly said. Screenshot from the live stream.

On the evening of July 3, 北京时间 (Běijīng Time), the Final match of the 3rd Women’s Speed Chess Championship, jointly organised by FIDE and chess.com, took place online in order to give the world its Speed Queen. Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), full Professor at the School of Physical Education, Normal College (Faculty of Education), 深圳大学 (Shēnzhèn University), defeated Indian Grandmaster Harika 15 – 13 to crown herself Women’s Speed Champion.
The Championship brought together almost all the top female players in the world. This second edition featured a total of eight Swiss tournaments, with participants from around 100 countries. According to the regulation, the two finalists are to compete under three different different sets of time controls — rapid, blitz and bullet. The number of games is not determined, and the winner is the player with the highest cumulative score at the end of the time.
As 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) summed it up in the post-match chat, “Harika played very well, especially in the segment of 5+1. At one point I was behind 2 or 3 points. It may be that she’s been affected by her Internet connection problem. I too know something about it. It’s quite annoying, to be honest. She was really playing good and fast. It was anyone’s match up to the last. I was just lucky”.

(English translation by I, Robot)

One Time

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Alexey Vasilyevich Sarana
74th Russian Chess Championship Higher League; Cheboksary, July 5, 2021
Nimzo-Indian Defence E32

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 0-0 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Ndc5 11. 0-0 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nxd3. The alternative is 12. ... Bd7 13. Be2 Na4 14. cxd5 exd5 15. f3 (the 3rd game of the 2013 Women’s World Chess Championship match ended in a disaster for the defending Champion after 15. c4 Rc8 16. Qb3 dxc4! 17. Bxc4? Nac3∓) 15. ... Nec5 16. Rfc1 Rc8 17. Qd2 a6 18. c4 dxc4 19. Bxc4 Qe7 20. Qe3 Rfe8 21. Bg3 b5 22. Bb3 b4 23. f4 Nc3 24. f5 a5 25. Rf1 Nxb3 26. axb3 Qc5 27. Kh1 a4 28. f6 axb3 29. Qg5 g6 30. Nxb3 Qf8 31. Ra7 Be6 32. Nd4 h6 33. Qe3 b3 34. Nxe6 Rxe6 35. Rb7 Kh7 36. Rxb3 Nd5 37. Qf3 Qc5 38. h3 Qc6 39. Rd1 Nb6 40. Qxc6 Rcxc6 41. h4 h5 42. Rd8 Rc8 43. Rxc8 Nxc8 44. Rb8 Rc6 45. Bf4 Rc4 46. g3 Kg8 47. Bh6 Kh7 48. e6 Nd6 49. Bf4 Rxf4 50. gxf4 fxe6 51. Kg2 Nf7 52. Kf3 e5 53. Rf8 1 : 0 Goryachkina – Dzagnidze, FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2019–21, 2nd stage, Monte Carlo 2019. It may be useful to add that the game was annotated by Shahid Ahmed for the ChessBase website. 13. Qxd3 b6 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Rfd1 Bb7 16. f3!? Most usual is 16. c4 and if 16. ... Qd7 there may follow 17. f3 Nc5 18. Qe3 Qa4 19. Nb5 Qxc4? (⌓ 19. ... Bc6) 20. Nd6 Qa4 21. Rd4 Qd7 22. Ne4 Qe8 23. Nf6+! gxf6 24. Bh6 Kh8 25. Bg7+! 1 : 0 Abbasov – Ibrahimov, 64th Azerbaijani Chess Championship, Baku 2009. 16. ... Nc5 17. Qe3 Qc4 18. Rab1 Rad8

19. h4! Rd7! 20. h5 h6 21. Rb4. Of course there is nothing wrong with 21. Bxh6! immediately, but after 21. ... gxh6 White should play 22. Rb4 anyway (else 22. Qxh6? f5!) 22. ... Qxa2 23. Qxh6 a5! 24. Rxb6 f6!∞ with a complex but roughly balanced position. 21. ... Qxa2 22. Rd2 Qa3

23. Bxh6! Audentes fortuna iuvat. 23. ... gxh6 24. Qxh6 Qc1+? This turns out to be the losing move. It was necessary to play 24. ... Qxc3 at once, for after 25. Nc6 f5 White appears to have nothing better than a draw by perpetual check. 25. Kh2 f5. Now it’s too late for 25. ... Qxc3 on account of 26. Nc6! f5 27. Rxd7 Nxd7 28. Qxe6+ Kh8 29. Qh6+ Kg8 30. Rc4!! Qxc4 31. Ne7+ Kf7 32. Nxf5+− winning in all variations. 26. Nxe6 Nxe6 27. Qxe6+ Rdf7 28. Rd7 Qg5 29. Rxb7 Qxh5+ 30. Kg1 Kg7 31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. Rxf7 Qxf7 33. Qd6 Re8 34. Rd4 f4. No better is 34. ... Qe6 35. f4 Qxd6 36. Rxd6 with an easily won ending for White. 35. Qh6 Rxe5 (35. ... Rf8 36. Rd6+−) 36. Rxf4 Re1+ 37. Kf2 1 : 0.

Goryachkina made history in Chuvashia: not only she broke through the 2600 barrier in the Elo ratings, but she also tied for second place in the Higher League, thus qualifying for the absolute (all-gender) Russian Chess Championship Superfinal! Photo: Anastasia Domchenkova/Russian Chess Federation.

King Kong

The 3rd stage of the 6th Grand Chess Tour (GCT) is set to kick off in Zagreb, Croatia on July 7, 2021. 10+1 élite Grandmasters will compete in the Rapid & Blitz combined. Wildcards include two legendary World Chess Champions, Garry Kimovich Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand (pictured above, on top of the World Trade Center at New York in 1995), who will meet again each other at a board in the blitz tournament. Photo: Owen Williams, The Kasparov Agency.

Well, Edna, now you know what Alda meant by saying “It’s not the mad but the sane who do harm”

Artwork © Jose-Ramiro

☄

The above announcement from Kaspersky Lab implies that their fresh brand ambassador, namely four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), speaks and writes both English and Mandarin. Hence her own disquisition on the connection between business and chess, first appeared in English in Kaspersky’s Secure Futures magazine of April 28, 2021 (freely readable here), is now available in Chinese as well at Kaspersky’s 微博 (Wēibó).

Fast and Slow

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Alexandr Alexandrovich Predke
74th Russian Chess Championship Higher League; Cheboksary, July 4, 2021
Modern Defence A40

1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. c4 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be2 exd5 7. exd5 Ne7 8. Nf3 0-0 9. 0-0 h6 10. Bd2. In fact, theoretically speaking, Goryachkina aims at improving White’s strategy effectiveness, at least in terms of results, if not necessarily in terms of planning: 10. h3 g5 11. Re1 Nd7 12. Ne4 Nf6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Bd3 Kg7 15. Qc2 b5 16. cxb5 Nxd5 17. Bd2 Rb8 18. Rad1 a6 19. a4 axb5 20. axb5 Be6 21. Bc4 Re8 22. Bxg5 hxg5 23. Bxd5 Rxb5 24. b3 Bxd5 25. Rxe8 Bxb3 26. Qe4 d5 27. Qe2 Qd7 28. Re1 Bc4 29. Qe3 d4 30. Qc1 Bd3 31. Qa3 Bh7 32. Ra8 d3 33. Qc1 Qd5 34. Rae8 c4 35. Qa3 d2 36. Rd1 c3 37. Qf8+ Kg6 38. Rc8 Qb3 39. Rc6 Qxd1+ 40. Kh2 Qxf3 41. gxf3 d1=Q 0 : 1 Gelfand – Ponomariov, 3rd Chess World Cup, Khanty-Mansyisk 2009, Final match tie-break game 4 (time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move). 10. ... g5 11. h4 g4 12. Ne1 f5 13. Nd3 Nd7 14. Nf4 Ne5 15. h5 Kh7 16. Bd3 Ng8 17. Nce2

17. ... b5?! Black deliberately sets himself to transform his not-too-good Benonitype position into a kind of decidedly bad Benkö Counter-Gambit, leaving Goryachkina with a decisive strategic advantage. Probably best was 17. ... Nxd3 18. Nxd3 Nf6 19. Ndf4 Ne4 20. Qc2⩲ with an edge for White. 18. cxb5 Nf6 19. Bc3 Ne4 20. Bxe4 fxe4 21. Bxe5 Bxe5 22. Ng6 Rf5 23. Nxe5 Rxe5 24. Ng3 Bb7. Insufficient, but if 24. ... Qe7 then White plays 25. b4! opening up new fronts. 25. Qxg4 Qe8 26. Rad1 Bxd5 27. Nf5 Qg8. No better is 27. ... Qf7 28. Nxd6 Qxh5 29. Qxh5 Rxh5 30. Rfe1 a6 (30. ... Re5? 31. f4!+−) 31. b6 Rb8 32. Nxe4 Bxe4 33. Rxe4 Rxb6 34. b3+− with the same ending as in the game.

What now follows is an impressive display of technique by Goryachkina: 28. Qg6+! Qxg6 29. hxg6+ Kxg6 30. Rxd5! Rxf5 (30. ... Kxf5 31. Rxd6+−) 31. Rxd6+ Kg5 32. Rfd1 Re8 33. R1d5 c4 34. Rxf5+ Kxf5 35. Rd7 Re5 36. a4 e3 37. Kf1! Kg6 38. Rxa7 Rf5 39. f3 Rd5 40. Ke2 Rd2+ 41. Kxe3 Rxg2 42. Rc7 1 : 0.

With a little help from her friends, Goryachkina has finally succeeded in joining the élite group of women who broke through the 2600 barrier in the Elo ratings, she being the sixth woman in history to do so — after (in alphabetical order) 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), Humpy Koneru, Anna Olehivna Muzychuk and Judit Polgár. Photo: Anastasia Domchenkova/Russian Chess Federation.

Hey, Edna, there are infinite planets, galaxies and humanlike life forms in the universe to be conquered by your mercy and grace

Artwork © Котомать (@berkanstel)

Back in Time

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Dronavalli Harika

3rd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event; Final match game 7; time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 3, 2021

Two Knights Defence C55

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. 0-0 d6 6. Re1. At this point, according to the correspondent from chess.com, Harika got “disconnected” to reappear after what seemed like hours (even though it was only minutes). In any case, when she finally reconnected, she was down to a minute and 21 seconds for the rest of the game.

6. ... g5! 7. c3 Bg7 8. d4. In the ninth game, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) continued 8. Nbd2 g4 9. Nh4 Nxe4 10. dxe4 [10. Nxe4 Qxh4 11. f4?? gxf3 12. Qxf3?? Qxe1+ 0 : 1 Praggnanandhaa – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), 1st Junior Speed Chess Championship, chess.com, May 31, 2019, match game 12 (time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move)] 10. ... Qxh4 11. Nf1 Qf6 12. Ne3 h5 13. b4 (⌓ 13. Nd5) 13. ... Be6 14. Bd5 a6 15. Qa4 Bd7 16. Qd1 Qg6 17. Bb3 h4 18. Nd5 Rc8 19. Be3 Ne7 20. Nxe7 Kxe7 21. c4 Bf6 22. c5 only to get overwhelmed by Black’s attack after 22. ... g3! 23. fxg3 hxg3 24. h3 Bxh3! 25. gxh3 Rxh3 26. cxd6+ cxd6 27. Rc1 Qh7 (27. ... g2!−+) 28. Qg4 Rh1+ 29. Kg2 Rxc1 30. Rxc1 Qh2+ 31. Kf3 Rxc1 32. Qxg3 (32. Bxc1 Qf2#) 32. ... Rf1+ 33. Kg4 Qh7 (33. ... Qe2+ 34. Kh3 Rh1+−+) 34. Bf2 Qxe4+ 0 : 1 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Harika, 3rd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event, chess.com, July 3, 2021, Final match game 9 (time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move). 8. ... Qe7 9. Nbd2 Bg4 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. a4 a6 12. Bd3 g4 13. Nh4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 Qxh4 15. Ng3 Qe7 16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. Bxf5 h5 18. d5 Nd8 19. Qd3. White has more space and an easier game. Here 19. f4 might also have been considered. 19. ... Bh6 20. Bxh6 Rxh6 21. c4 b6 22. a5 Rb8 23. axb6 Rxb6 24. Qc3 Kf8 25. c5. 25. b4 Qg5 26. c5 might be a better move order, since 26. ... Rb5 27. Bd3 transposes to the game. 25. ... Rb5 26. b4

26. ... Qg5? Owing to her initial disconnection from the server (with loss of time), Harika can’t calculate the consequences of 26. ... dxc5! 27. Rxe5 cxb4! 28. Qe3 Qf6 which were perfectly good for her, forcing White to play carefully to save the day: 29. h4! Rxd5 30. Rxd5 Qxa1+ 31. Kh2 Rd6 32. Re5! Qa4+ (32. ... Ne6 33. Qh6+ with perpetual) 33. Qg5 securing a draw by perpetual check. 27. Bd3 Rb8 28. Rxa6 Rf6 29. cxd6 cxd6 30. Ra2 Kg7? In such a situation, Black would have desperately needed the lost time back. Now better is 30. ... Rf4 (in order to reply to 31. Qc7 with 31. ... Rfxb4) 31. Rb2 with a manifest advantage to White. 31. Qc7 Rxb4 32. Qxd8 h4 33. Ra8 1 : 0.

Speaking afterwards with Jennifer Shahade and Keti Tsatsalashvili, the newly Women’s Speed Chess Champion admitted that her opponent’s Internet outage was a kind of turning point, not only in a technical way, but most of all in a psychological sense. Screenshot from the live stream.

The Ethereal Realms

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Dronavalli Harika

3rd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event; Final match game 17; time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 3, 2021

Sicilian Defence B25

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bc4 b5 6. Bd5 Rb8 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8. Ne2 e6. It would have been interesting to see what 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) had in store for her opponent, had she followed 8. ... Nf6 9. Nxd4 e6 10. Bb3 Nxe4 11. Qe2 Bb7 12. d3 Bb4+ 13. Kf1 Nf6 14. Bf4 Rc8 15. Nf5 0-0 16. Bd6 exf5 17. Bxb4 Re8 18. Qd2 Nd5 19. Bd6 Qf6 20. Bf4 Qxb2 21. Rd1 a5 22. c4 Qxd2 23. Bxd2 bxc4 24. dxc4 Nb4 25. Bxb4 axb4 26. Rxd7 Ba6 27. Rd4 Re4 28. Rxe4 fxe4 29. Ke2 Bxc4+ 30. Bxc4 Rxc4 31. Rd1 f5 32. Rd7 Rc2+ 33. Ke3 Rxa2 34. Rb7 Rb2 35. h3 h5 36. Rb5 g6 37. Rb7 b3 38. h4 Kf8 39. g3 Rb1 40. Kf4 b2 41. Kg5 f4 42. Kxf4 e3 43. Kf3 exf2 44. Kxf2 Rh1 0 : 1 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Mamedov, Eurasian Blitz Chess Cup of the President of Kazakhstan, Almaty 2016. 9. Bb3 Bc5 10. d3 Ne7 11. 0-0 0-0 12. Ng3 d6 13. f4 Kh8 14. Bd2. Counting to ten and fighting hard to steady her nerves, now and on the next moves White keeps in reserve the push f4-f5, apparently not caring that Black herself will end up playing ... f7-f5. Of course, psychology is not an exact science, but the final result objectively justifies 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s “wait-and-see” attacking policy. 14. ... Bd7 15. Kh1 a5 16. a3 a4 17. Ba2 f5 18. exf5 Nxf5 19. Nxf5 Rxf5 20. Qe2 Rf6 21. f5 Rxf5 22. Rxf5 exf5 23. Re1 Qf8 24. Bg5 h6 25. Be7 Qe8 26. Qf2 Qg6 27. Bd5 Re8 28. h3 b4 29. axb4 Bxb4 30. Re2 Bc5 31. Kh2 Kh7 32. Qh4 Rb8 33. Bf3

33. ... Kh8? Black ought to prevent White’s next move by 33. ... Be8! 34. g4! Kg8∞ with an unclear, but likely balanced, game. 34. Bh5+− Qh7 35. Bd8? Quite tricky, but not tricky enough. Winning was 35. Bf7! (threatening to continue with Qh4-h5 followed by Bf7-g6 and Be7-f6) 35. ... Be8 36. Be6 with crushing threats.

35. ... g5? At such a time control it was really difficut to find 35. ... Qg8! 36. Be7 Be8! that seems to hold everything, even though by a hair’s breadth. 36. Bf6+ Kg8 37. Qe1 Rf8. Or 37. ... d5 38. Re6!+− with the overwhelming threat of Qe1-e5: and if Black takes the Rook now, there follows 39. Qxe6+ Kf8 40. Be5 Ra8 41. Qf6+ Kg8 42. Bf7+! with mate in three moves. 38. Re7 1 : 0.

In a thrilling final match watched by large audiences, four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) defeated Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika 15 – 13, thus adding to her own royal jewelry box another crown — that is, after the Earth, she also took the Internet by conquest. Screenshot from the live stream.

Of course, Edna, however it ends, it won’t end here

Artwork © yacermino

And Summer Came on Saturday

Today is the day when the 3rd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event ends with the showdown between the two contestants — namely, four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) and Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika. Both of them have their fans who will cheer them no matter what, so “all’s well that ends well”. The Grand Final is tentatively scheduled to take place online at chess.com on Saturday, July 3, at 4.00 A.M. PT/13.00 CEST. For further details, click here.

Enjoy Teaching

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié)

2nd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event; Semifinal match game 1; time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, July 2, 2021

Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6. It’s not exaggerated to say that one of the decisive factors of the final result of the match was the difference of understanding of the Berlin endgame.
4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5. If nothing else, 10. ... h6 brought Black better luck in the third game, though only after a long struggle: 11. Rd1 Be6 12. g4 Ne7 13. Nd4 Bd7 14. Bf4!? h5 15. f3 hxg4 16. hxg4 Nd5 17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. e6 fxe6 19. Bxc7 Rc8 20. Be5 Kf7 21. Kg2 Be7 22. Re1 Bf6 23. c3 Rh7 24. Bf4 Rch8 25. Re3 Bxd4 26. cxd4 Rc8 27. Re2 Bb5 28. Rd2 a5 29. a4 Bd7 30. Re2 Rc4 31. b3 Rxd4 32. Bc7 Rd3 33. Rb1 d4 34. Bxa5 Bc6 35. Rf2 Rh4 36. Kg3 g5 37. Bd2 Kg6 38. Re1 Kf6 39. b4 Rh8 40. b5 Bd5 41. a5 Rc8 42. Rh1 Rc2 43. Bxg5+ Kxg5 44. Rh5+ Kg6 45. Rxc2 Rxf3+ 46. Kh4 Rf1 47. Rxd5 exd5 48. Ra2 d3 49. a6 bxa6 50. bxa6 d2 51. Rxd2 Rh1+ 52. Kg3 Ra1 53. Rxd5 Rxa6 54. Kh4 Rb6 55. Rg5+ Kh6 56. Rh5+ Kg6 57. Rc5 Ra6 ½–½ 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), 2nd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event, chess.com, July 2, 2021, Semifinal match game 3 (time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move).
11. Rd1 Bb4. The theoretical alternative of 11. ... Be7 did not help Black too much either: 12. Ne2 Nh4 13. Nxh4 Bxh4 14. Be3 Be7 15. Rd2 g5!? 16. Rad1 g4 17. hxg4 hxg4 and now:
a) 18. Nd4 a6 19. e6 fxe6 20. Bf4 Bd6 21. Nb3 Be7 22. Bxc7 Rh5 23. c4 b5 24. Na5 bxc4 25. Nxc4 Ra7 26. Rd8+ Bxd8 27. Rxd8+ Ke7 28. Rxc8 Rb7 29. Bb6 Kf6 30. Rf8+ Kg7 31. Rf4 Rg5 32. Bd4+ Kg8 33. Bf6 Rf5 34. Rxg4+ Kf7 35. Bc3 1–0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), 2nd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event, chess.com, July 2, 2021, Semifinal match game 5 (time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move);
b) 18. Bf4 Be6 19. Nd4 Bd5 20. b3 Bb4 21. Re2 Rd8 22. Nf5 b5 23. c4 bxc4 24. bxc4 Bxc4 25. Rxd8+ Kxd8 26. Re4 Bd3 27. Rd4+ Kc8 28. Rxd3 c5 29. Ne3 1–0 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), 2nd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event, chess.com, July 2, 2021, Semifinal match game 7 (time control: 5 minutes plus 1 second per move).
12. Ne2 Be6 13. Nf4! A pretty innovation, by far more natural than 13. Bg5 Bd5 14. Nfd4 Nxd4 15. Rxd4 Bc5 16. Rd2 Bb4 17. Rd4 Bc5 18. Rd2 Bb4 19. c3 Be7 20. Bxe7 Kxe7 21. Nf4 Be4 22. f3 Bf5 23. g4 hxg4 24. hxg4 g5 25. Nh5 Bg6 26. Ng3 Rh3 27. Kg2 Rah8 28. Nf1 Ke6 29. Rad1 Rh1 30. Kf2 Bc2 31. Re1 c5 32. c4 Ba4 33. f4? (⌓ 33. b3) 33. ... gxf4 34. Re4 f3! 35. Rf4 Bc6 36. Rf6+ Ke7 37. Rd3 R8h4 38. Rf4 Ke6 39. Re3 Rh6 40. g5 Rg6 41. Rf6+ Ke7 42. e6 Rxf6 43. gxf6+ Kxf6 44. e7 Rh8 45. Ng3 b6 46. b3 a5 47. a4 Kg6 48. Re5 Re8 49. Nh5 Bd7 50. Kxf3 Be6?? (50. ... f6 51. Nf4+ Kf7 52. Re2 Rxe7−+) 51. Kf4 1–0 Chirila – Kritz, 11th Final Four of College Chess, Washington, D.C. 2011.
13. ... Be7 (13. ... Bc8 14. Bd2 Be7 15. e6)
14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. g3 a5 16. a4 b6 17. Kg2 Rd8 18. Bf4 Rd5 19. c4 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 c5 21. g4 hxg4 22. hxg4 Nh4+ 23. Nxh4 Rxh4 24. f3 Rh8 25. b3 g6 26. Kf2 Rh3 27. Kg2 Rh8 28. Rh1 Rxh1 29. Kxh1 Kf7 30. Kg2 Bd8 31. Be3

31. ... g5! 32. f4 gxf4? This should be the losing move (even if it really isn’t!). After the correct 32. ... Kg6! 33. fxg5 Be7! White has no way to make progress, provided Black does not make the mistake of taking on g5.
33. Bxf4 Kg6 34. Kf3? White’s King goes on the wrong side: correct is 34. Kh3! intending Bf4-g3-h4.
34. ... Bh4? (⌓ 34. ... Be7! Δ ... Be7-f8-g7)
35. Kg2? White was still in time to get back to her ideal position with 35. Bg3! followed by Kf3-g2-h3 and Bg3-h4.
35. ... Be7? (⌓ 35. ... Be1! Δ ... Be1-c3)
36. Kh3? Once again White mixes up her moves. The right order was 36. Bg3! intending Kg2-h3 followed by Bg3-h4: if 36. ... Bg5 there would follow 37. Kh3 Bd2 38. Bh4 Bc3 39. Kf6 similarly to the game.
36. ... Bd8? (⌓ 36. ... Bf8! Δ ... Bf8-g7)

37. Bg3! Finally, at destination.
37. ... Bg5 38. Bh4 Bf4 39. Bf6 Kf7 40. Kg2 Kg6 41. Kf3 Bg5. The only move to prevent Bf6-d8 (as 41. ... Bh2 is of no use on account of 42. Ke4 followed by Bf6-d8), but unfortunately for Black exchanging into a lost Pawn ending:
42. Bxg5 Kxg5 43. Kg3 Kg6 44. Kh4 Kh6 45. g5+ Kg6 46. Kg4 c6 47. Kh4 Kf5 48. Kh5 Kxe5 49. g6 Kd4 50. g7 1–0.

Despite any appearance to the contrary, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s two-point win in her semifinal match with 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) was not an easy run through to tomorrow’s final against Dronavalli Harika. Screenshot from the live stream.

Call for Interest

Call for Interest: New Operational Headquarters

Owing to the COVID-19 crisis, a new operational headquarters is needed by the Associazione Culturale “Il Delta della Luna” in order to accomodate its ballet/dance classes as well as its chess/chess960 meetings. We would also welcome another side of town than the one where we’d been standing for over twenty years, as by now the Q2/Campo di Marte is monopolised by lobbies of interest groups which, through institutionalised policies of unfair competition, carry out a “social mission” that has nothing to do with our history.
People and companies, both public and private, who which wish to submit a proposal in response to this call for interest should do so in writing not later than July 31, 2021, via our official e-mail account: ildeltadellaluna@gmail.com.

Arrivals and Departures

A woman hugs with her friend before departing to United Kingdom at the 香港國際機場 (Hong Kong International Airport) in 香港 (Hong Kong), China. Photo: Tyrone Siu/Reuters.

Yeah, Edna, they didn’t yet realise that you win even when you lose

Artwork © Silvi Gero (@theartofsilvi)

The Key of Knowledge

So it will happen on Friday: four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) will make her way home after enjoying her three-day gold holiday in the “Celebrity Island” for the past week. Specifically, she will take on her fellow countrywoman 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) in the semifinal match of the 2nd Online Women’s Speed Chess Championship Main Event to be held online at chess.com on Friday, July 2, 2021 at 4.30 A.M. PT/13.30 CEST. No doubt it will be an interesting confrontation — to say the least — as in the yet underway Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is the coach of 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié). Then the question arises: will the student be able to surpass the master? Everything is possible, of course. In an interview with Keti Tsatsalashvili, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) said she was greatly pleased with her own rentrée — but only to a certain extent, since the chess stage isn’t on the top list of her priorities today: “To be honest I was busy with my job in the university and also some other projects going on. I am not particularly training myself and not playing too often”. As for chess itself, her most recent performance in the Goldmoney Asian Rapid gave conflicting indications of her current form. In spite of her great talent, creativity and imagination, she often felt insecure, losing valuable points for mistakes that she would not have been likely to make in her prime. But on the other hand, as she once said, “For me, chess is mostly a passion. It’s never a career for me. I love chess; I like to try and explore new stuff, and the deeper you go, you realize there’s more things you don’t know”. For further details, click here.

Once Upon a Time

Elderly women attend a dance class, reopened for the first time since the pandemic, in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images.

Well, Edna, considering that Mars has a surface area of about 144.8 million km² the possibility of a two-probe crash is really remote

Artwork © Joshua (@eljoshito)