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Lopota GP, Rds 6-7: Hou Yifan unstoppable
In Rounds 6 and 7 of the Women’s Grand Prix in Lopota, World Champion Hou Yifan faced the challenge of playing her two closest rivals. Would she play solidly to keep her lead? Nothing of the sort! She won both games to stretch her lead to 1.5 points, and although four rounds still remain it’s already hard to imagine another player winning the Lopota Grand Prix. We bring you analysis of two of the most interesting games.
Hou Yifan - 2648.2 and climbing on the live rating list! | photo: official website
Round 6 results
The first important step was to defeat her compatriot Ju Wenjun, in a game of striking originality. Spain’s 19-year-old European Championship runner-up David Antón Guijarro has commentated on the game for chess24:
1. e4 c5 2. ♘e2 An interesting way to avoid Ju Wenjun's usual Najdorf.
2... ♘f6 3. ♘bc3 The idea is to meet d6 with g3, delaying d4. Hou Yifan herself has already played this way before.
3... d5
3... d6 4. g3 g6 5. ♗g2 ♗g7 6. d3 ♘c6 7. h3 ♖b8 8. ♗e3 b5 9. ♕d2 0-0 10. 0-0 b4 11. ♘d1 e5 12. f4 ♘d4 13. f5 ♘h5 14. ♗f2 gxf5 15. exf5 ♘xe2+ 16. ♕xe2 ♘f6 17. g4 h6 18. ♗h4 ♗b7 19. ♘e3 d5 20. g5 hxg5 21. ♗xg5 ♖e8 22. ♘g4 ♕d6 23. ♘xf6+ ♗xf6 24. ♗h6 e4 25. ♕h5 ♗e5 26. ♖f4 ♗xf4 27. ♕g4+ ♕g6 28. fxg6 ♗xh6 29. gxf7+ ♔xf7 30. ♖f1+ ♔e7 31. ♕h4+ 1-0 Hou,Y (2602) -Gu,X ( 2369) Jiangsu Wuxi 2011
4. exd5 ♘xd5 5. g3 ♘xc3 Black has many options, and Ju Wenjun choosest the most solid.
5... e5 6. ♗g2 ♗e6 7. d3 ♘c6 8. 0-0 ♗e7 9. f4 would have been more dangerous.
7. ♗g2 ♗c6 and Black has easy equality and can even fight for an advantage.
8... ♗c6 9. ♕xd8+ ♔xd8 10. ♖g1 may seem interesting for Black, but the king is going to remain very weak on d8, and after Be3 and 0-0-0 White will keep an edge.
9. ♕e4 f5 Too optimistic. Better was
9... g6 10. ♗g2 ♗g7 11. 0-0 0-0 12. ♖d1 ♕c8 and White keeps the initiative, although Black's position is very solid.
10. ♕c4! ♘e5? A poor decision. I like Houdini's idea of exchanging queens, as the white queen on c4 is exerting great pressure on the a2-g8 diagonal.
11. ♕d5 A good move. According to Houdini the best response now would be to return with Nc6...
11... ♗c6? 12. ♕xe5 ♗xh1 13. ♗e2! Once again Hou Yifan chooses the simplest and most human move, even if it's not the best.
13. ♘b5 ♖c8 14. ♘xa7 is, theoretically, better.
13... ♕d6 An only move.
13... ♕d7 runs into 14. ♗h6‼ White could also win easily and without complicating matters with 14. f3, but this move is more elegant. 14... ♔f7 15. ♗c4+ ♔g6 16. g4 Winning.
14. ♕xd6 exd6 15. f3 The bishop has been trapped and Black needs some acrobatics to save it.
15... d5 16. ♗e3 d4 Ju Wenjun finds a way to activate and save the bishop, but in exchange for various pawns. Other options were no better.
16... f4 17. ♗xf4 0-0-0 18. ♔f1 ♗c5 19. ♘a4 and the h1-bishop falls.
17. ♗xd4 0-0-0 18. ♗xa7 ♗g2 19. ♔f2 ♗h3 White has two pawns for the exchange and the h3-bishop is still trapped. Hou Yifan accurately converts her advantage into a win.
20. ♗d3 f4 21. g4! The poor bishop...
21... g6 The only plan to save it.
22. ♘e2 h5 23. ♘xf4 hxg4 24. ♘xg6 ♖g8 25. ♘f4 ♖d6 26. ♗e3 ♗e7 27. ♗f5+ ♔d8 28. ♘xh3 gxh3 29. ♗xh3 Finally! Black has managed to exchange her bishop for a knight, but White has 4 pawns for the exchange!
29... ♗h4+ 30. ♔e2 ♗f6 31. c3 ♖h8 32. ♗f4 ♖b6 33. ♖d1+ ♔e7 34. ♖d7+ ♔e8 35. ♗g4 ♖xb2+ 36. ♔d3 After this forced sequence Ju Wenjun has recovered a pawn, but there are still too many pawns for the exchange. Hou Yifan wins with great technique.
36... ♖g8 37. ♖c7 ♖h8 38. a4 ♖b6 39. ♗d7+ ♔d8 40. ♗b5 ♖h3 41. ♖d7+ ♔c8 42. ♔e4 ♖h4 43. ♖f7 ♔d8 44. ♔f5 ♗e7 45. ♗e5 ♖h5+ 46. ♔e4 ♖g6 47. f4 Black is already lost as the f-pawn advances very fast.
47... ♖xh2 48. f5 ♖e2+ 49. ♗xe2 This last oversight just accelerated the process. A magnificent game by "HouYi".
1-0
Ju Wenjun had no answer to Hou Yifan’s originality | photo: Alina l'Ami, official website
We’d also like to highlight Anna Muzychuk’s instructive win with Black against Bela Khotenashvili... Everything was decided on move 13.
1. d4 ♘f6 2. c4 e6 3. ♘c3 ♗b4 Muzychuk usually varies her response to d4 widely, from the Slav to the Leningrad, but the Nimzo-Indian is also commonly seen in her repertoire, with good results.
4. e3 0-0 5. ♗d3 c5 6. ♘f3 d5 7. 0-0 dxc4 8. ♗xc4 ♘bd7 A fashionable line, and one mainly fashionable due to grandmaster - and great theoretician - Peter Leko!
9. a3 ♗xc3 10. bxc3 b6 11. a4 ♗b7 12. ♗b2 ♕c7 Both players have developed their pieces harmoniously and it seems as though there's no danger - but that's not the case! It's clear that cxd4, hitting the c4-bishop, is a threat. That's a problem that can be solved - but how?
13. ♗a2? Bela only takes care of the main threat and overlooks the dangers of the black bishop and queen combining against her king.
13. ♘d2 would defend the bishop and keep control of g4, when White is still fine.
13... ♘g4! And there's no good way of parrying the threats against the white king! The main one is of course Bxf3 and mate on h2.
14. ♖e1 Avoiding the mate, but losing the h2-pawn.
14. g3 would stifle the threats on the dark squares but fatally weaken the light squares. 14... ♕c6 As so often... a fianchetto position without a bishop is weak.
14... ♗xf3 15. ♕xf3 ♕xh2+ 16. ♔f1 ♘df6 17. ♔e2
17. ♕h3 , trying to get an ending a pawn down but with the bishop pair, might have been interesting, with more drawing chances.
17... ♕c7 18. ♖ac1 ♖fe8 19. e4 ♕c6 Bela has lost her way and now a second pawn. Her attempt to look for an attack makes sense in itself, but it's desperation.
20. ♗b1 ♕xa4 21. ♕d3 ♖ad8 22. ♗c2 ♕c6 23. f4 e5 24. d5 c4 25. dxc6 cxd3+ 26. ♗xd3 exf4 After the simplification it's all now just a question of technique.
27. c4 ♖c8 28. ♔f3 ♖e5 29. ♔xf4 g5+ 30. ♔g3 ♖xc6 31. ♗e2 ♖xe4 32. ♗f3 ♖xe1 33. ♖xe1 ♖xc4 34. ♖e7 h5 35. ♖xa7 ♘e4+ 36. ♗xe4 ♖xe4 37. ♗c1 f6 38. ♔f3 ♖e1 39. ♗d2 ♘e5+ 40. ♔f2 ♘d3+ 41. ♔g3 ♖e2 42. ♗c3 ♖e3+ 43. ♔h2 ♘e5 44. ♖c7 ♖d3 45. ♔g1 ♖d5 46. ♖b7 ♘d7
0-1
Anna Muzychuk has the reputation of being one of the boldest players on the women’s circuit and she’s demonstrating why in Lopota - attacking her opponent's king wherever possible! | photo: Alina l'Ami, official website
Round 7 results
In
the following round Hou Yifan won a long ending against Nana Dzagnidze to increase
her lead from half a point to a point and a half, while she of course no longer has to play her closest rivals.
Standings after Round 7
The Lopota Grand Prix looks close to decided and Hou Yifan is continuing her rise – once again it’s hard not to wonder – is Judit Polgar’s no. 1 spot among women in danger?
See also:
- Official website
- Round 5: A bad day not to castle
- Rounds 3 & 4: Hou Yifan continues to shine
- Round 2: Flying start for Hou Yifan
- Round 1: Top women meet in Georgia
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