[Event "Womens World Championship 2011"]
[Site "Tirana, Albania"]
[Date "2011.11.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2578"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O
8. Qd2 Qe8 $5 {Humpy for a second game in a row manages to surprise the
Chinese prodigy. This strange looking move is an interesting alternative to
the more usual Nd7 and Nc6. Humpy herself had tried Nd7 previously and
suffered a defeat to Zhu Chen.} 9. O-O-O {After another eighteen minute think,
Yifan chooses what is the most logical move. She removes herself from the pin
and castles queenside, already indicating the typical kingside aggression that
characterizes this Nc3 system.} (9. Bd3 {Might be worth considering, as the
queen sortie to a4 lacks strength in this particular instance.}) 9... Qa4 10.
Kb1 (10. Qd5 {is the Let's Check suggestion, which means it is the move
recommended by the combined power of many computers, but it hardly seems like
a move any human would consider over the board.} Nd7 11. Bd3 Nf6 {and Black is
fine anyways.}) 10... Nc6 11. h4 Be6 12. b3 Qa5 13. Nd4 {It's possible that
Yifan already did not like her position. The psychological power of this
strange queen maneouvre might have gotten to her. She decides to simplify to a
position that must surely be very equal, preparing to strike another day.} (13.
h5 Bf6 {was quite unpleasant, however}) (13. Bd3 Bf6 14. Ng5 h6 (14... Qxc3 15.
Qxc3 Bxc3 16. Bxh7+ Kh8 17. Be4 $16) (14... Bxc3 $2 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Qe2 $18)
15. Ne4 {was a world of interesting. White might be forced to sacrifice on h6
to create something though, and it is unclear how good that sacrifice would be.
}) 13... Nxd4 14. cxd4 Qxd2 15. Rxd2 d5 {The symmetrical pawn structure surely
makes this position equal, but equal does not mean drawn.} 16. h5 h6 17. Bd3 a5
18. a4 Bb4 19. Rdd1 Bc3 20. Rh4 c6 21. Bc1 Bd7 22. Bb2 Bb4 23. Ka2 Rfe8 24.
Rhh1 b5 25. c3 Bf8 26. axb5 $6 {Although it's impossible to say this hands the
advantage to the opponent, it's hard to recommend such an exchange. The king
will become somewhat uncomfortable in the next few moves, Ba3 would've
retained the balance in a simpler way.} cxb5 27. Rde1 Bd6 28. Ba3 Rxe1 29. Rxe1
b4 30. Bb2 a4 31. bxa4 (31. cxb4 $2 {would already be fatal...} axb3+ 32. Kxb3
Ba4+ 33. Kc3 Rc8+ {and white must give up a lot of material.}) 31... Bxa4 32.
Kb1 {White's king is a little exposed, but with precise play White should
still be ok.} bxc3 33. Bxc3 Rb8+ 34. Ka2 Ra8 35. Kb2 Kf8 36. Ra1 Rb8+ 37. Kc1
Bf4+ 38. Bd2 Rc8+ 39. Kb2 Rb8+ 40. Kc1 Rc8+ 41. Kb2 Rb8+ 42. Kc1 Rc8+ {Black
has nothing better than to repeat moves. She could exchange bishops, the
opposite colored nature of them almost guarantees the draw. Another hard
fought game by these two players.} 1/2-1/2

