Bittersweet Blues

Dronavalli Harika – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
3rd Isle of Man International Chess Tournament; Douglas, October 7, 2016
English Opening A10

Notes by Sagar Shah, ChessBase.com, October 8, 2016.

Harika and 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) have played 22 times against each other in the last 10 years. The Chinesee Grandmaster has won five times and rest 17 games have ended in draws. This was the first time that Harika managed to outwit the reigning World Champion.
1. c4 b6!? 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) tries to mix it up out of the opening.
2. Nc3 Bb7 3. e4 c5 4. Nge2 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. g3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. 0-0. The Botvinnik setup chosen by Harika is one of the easiest way for White to play. It can be used against many openings and hence a knowledge of it can be highly useful. Whatever Black does, White’s setup remains the same. The pawns are on c4-d3-e4 and g3, the Knights stand on c3 and e2 and the Bishop goes to g2. After this the plans vary. Sometimes White can go for Bc1-e3-Qd1-d2 and Be3-h6. Sometimes Ra1-b1 followed by Queenside expansion with a2-a3-b2-b4, and as Harika played in the game — f2-f4-g3-g4 with a Kingside attack. The system is highly flexible and quite easy to understand.
8. ... Nc6 9. h3. Stopping ... Nf6-g4 and getting ready to play Bc1-e3.
9. ... 0-0 10. Be3 Rc8 11. Qd2. 11. d4 is not yet possible because the c4 Pawn would be hanging.
11. ... Re8 12. b3 Nd7 13. Rac1. 13. d4 This was definitely possible. 13. ... cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4 16. Qxd4 Qc7 17. Rac1⩲ According to me White has the slightly preferable position thanks to her space advantage, but the position is simplified and hence easier for Black to play. It is interesting to note that Harika didn’t go for this. Maybe she wanted to keep the position more complicated and fight for the full point.
13. ... a6

14. f4!? And there we go! White starts the Kingside offensive.
14. ... Nd4 15. g4 e6 16. Ng3 Rc7 17. g5 b5. Overall Black’s position looks very cohesive. White cannot easily play f4-f5 as then the Knight on d7 is waiting to jump into e5. Meanwhile it is not so clear What Harika must do.
18. Rce1 b4 19. Nce2 Nxe2+ 20. Rxe2 Nb8 21. d4 cxd4 22. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 23. Qxd4 e5. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) gets the e5 square for her Knight with this move, but in return the f-file is opened up for the White pieces and the d6 Pawn is weakened. The position should be round about equal.
24. Qd2 exf4 25. Qxf4 Nc6 26. Rd2 Ne5 27. Rfd1. Both sides have their own trumps, but it seems that the Knight on e5 is not as dangerous as it looks and the d6 Pawn weakness definitely counts for something more.
27. ... Rd7 28. h4. Bg2-h3 is a big threat now.
28. ... Qe7

29. Nh1!? A Nimzowitschian idea! The Knight will go from f2-d3 in order to evict the one on e5. 29. Bh3 Rdd8 30. Kg2! Threatening c4-c5 which is not so easy to meet. (30. c5 d5 31. exd5 Qxc5+∓).
29. ... Kg7 30. Rf1 Red8 31. Qf6+!? Qxf6 32. gxf6+ Kf8. The Pawn on f6 is a thorn in Black’s position and Harika quite correctly realized that when she went for the Queen exchange.
33. Rfd1 Rc7 34. Nf2 Ke8 35. Kh2 Rc6 36. Kg3 Kd7

37. Nd3! Ke6? (37. ... Nxd3 38. Rxd3 Re8 39. e5!+−)
38. Nxe5 Kxe5 39. Rd5+ Kxf6 40. e5+ Ke6 41. c5. 41. R5d2 Rb6 42. c5+− was the fastest way to win.
41. ... f5 42. exd6. Out of nowhere Harika has two amazingly strong passers and they are on dark squares which means that the Bishop can remove the blockaders!
42. ... Rd7 43. Re1+ Kf6 44. Rde5 Rc8 45. Re6+ 1 : 0. 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) rightly resigned as Re6-e7 comes next and Harika would win an entire piece and her two strong Pawns would still remain. A very interesting battle and great fighting chess showcased by the Indian.

Today 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) suffered an unexpected setback. Photo: Harry Gielen.