Hou Yifan wins Corsican Circuit

[Event "Corsican Circuit 2014 - Final"] [Site "Ajaccio"] [Date "2014.10.22"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Fedorchuk, Sergey A"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B72"] [WhiteElo "2673"] [BlackElo "2673"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 $5 {Hou Yifan is well versed in her Sicilians, but it is not so common for her to start the game like this.} 3. Nc3 {An anti-Sveshnikov move, but I doubt the World Champion was planning to play that with the Black pieces.} g6 {The accelerated Dragon becomes more feasible for top-GMs to play once the Maroczy has been avoided.} 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Be2 { An old but relatively quiet line, Black is not supposed to have too many problems in this variation.} (7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 {is still the most theoretically challenging line. Black has a few options at her disposal.}) 7... O-O 8. f4 (8. O-O d5 {is already known to be equal.}) 8... d6 9. Nb3 {This line has fallen out of popularity for a long time now. Black has more than one continuation that promises good play.} a6 (9... Be6 10. g4 d5 11. f5 Bc8 12. exd5 Nb4 13. Bf3 {is a famous and old game between Fischer-Reshevsky, 1961.}) ( 9... a5 $1 {is more assertive.}) (9... e5 $5) 10. g4 {White's attack on the kingside in these kinds of situations is usually somewhat slow. It is more visually impactful than dangerous.} b5 11. g5 Nd7 12. Qd2 Nb6 {Black quickly transfers the knight to the queenside, hoping to put pressure there quickly.} 13. O-O-O Na4 $1 {This is the point. Now c3 is under attack and Black already has concrete threats.} 14. Nd4 Bb7 $6 (14... Nxc3 $1 15. Qxc3 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 e5 $1 $17 {would have been a perfect way to continue the game. White's structure is falling apart.}) 15. Nd5 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 e5 17. fxe5 Bxd5 $1 {An important strategical decision. White's knight on d5 is far more useful for White than the bishop as Black is embarking on a dark-square attack.} 18. exd5 dxe5 19. Be3 Qd6 $6 {Letting Fedorchuk slightly off the hook.} (19... e4 $1 20. Bd4 (20. c3 b4 {is not a position that White can survive.}) 20... Qxd5 $17 {is a clean pawn.}) 20. Kb1 Rac8 {Black still keeps some initiative. Notice that White has not had time to develop anything on the other flank.} 21. h4 $2 e4 $6 {Missing a brilliant finish.} (21... Rc3 $3 {This unusual move wins on the spot. The point is that b4 is now clear for the queen, making the attack on the queenside far more dangerous. The rook is clearly taboo.} 22. Ka1 (22. bxc3 Qa3 {with unstoppable mate following up.}) 22... e4 23. Rb1 Ra3 $1) 22. Bd4 Qxd5 23. Qe3 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 Qc5 25. c3 Rfd8 26. Rhd1 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Re8 {At the end of the day White has survived the attack. He is down a pawn but can regain it in the next move; though he would still be a little worse.} 28. h5 $2 (28. Bf3 $1 Qf5 29. Bxe4 Qf1+ 30. Qc1 Qf2 $15) 28... Qe5 29. h6 Nc5 $2 {Already with both players in time pressure both players miss an important resource here.} 30. Bg4 $2 (30. c4 $1 {White has the strong threat of Rd5, and its surprisingly difficult to stop!}) 30... Kf8 31. a3 Ne6 32. Bxe6 Qxe6 33. a4 Qf5 {Black is now up a pawn. It is difficult to convert, but it helps when all you need is a draw.} 34. a5 Qf3 $1 35. Qxf3 exf3 36. Rf4 Re1+ 37. Kc2 Re2+ 38. Kb3 f2 39. Ka3 (39. Rf6 $8 $11) 39... f5 $1 {A nice move! This clears the path for Black's king as the pawn cannot be taken.} 40. b3 (40. gxf6 g5 $19) 40... Ke7 41. Rf3 Ke6 42. Kb4 Kd5 43. Rf4 Re4+ (43... Re4+ 44. c4+ bxc4 45. Rxf2 cxb3+ 46. Kxb3 f4 {is very hopeless.}) 0-1