CEZ Prague: first game a volatile 65-move draw

The CEZ Chess Trophy 2013 pits the world's number two female player, 19-year-old Chinese GM Hou Yifan, against the best Czech GM David Navara. Hou Yifan was the Women's World Chess Champion in years 2010-2012 and is the current challenger for the title.

The four games match between Hou and Navara are taking place from Tuesday, June 11th until Friday, June 14th at the Michna Palace in Prague. The games start at 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and are played with 90 minutes for 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 second increment for each move. All games will be broadcast live and commented by GM Robert Cvek.

Josef Sedlák, ombudsman of the CEZ group, ceremonial execued the first move

The Chinese GM, who had white, bravely went for her trademark king pawn opening, prepared for a ruthless battle in the Sicilian Defence. The Scheveningen followed a 1985 World Championship game between Kasparov and Karpov in Moscow until move 17, when David Navara produced a novelty. Hou got an interesting attacking position but used up a lot of time on it, especially between the 30th and 40th move. She relinquished control and Navara was able to move into a rook ending with a slight advantage. It was not enough to produce a win and the game ended after 65 moves in a draw.

"I have to express my appreciation for the very combative game by both players,
especially black, who took great risks," said GM Vlastimil Hort (above middle)

[Event "Cez Trophy 2013"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2013.06.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Navara, David"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B84"] [WhiteElo "2595"] [BlackElo "2707"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2013.06.11"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 Qc7 9. Kh1 O-O 10. a4 Nc6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Bf3 Rb8 13. Qd2 Bd7 14. Nb3 b6 15. Bf2 Bc8 16. Bg3 Nd7 17. Rae1 Na5 $146 ({Predecessor (2):} 17... Bb7 18. e5 Rbd8 19. Qf2 Rf8 20. Be4 dxe5 21. fxe5 Nc5 22. Nxc5 bxc5 23. Bf4 {1/2-1/2 (23) Karpov,A (2720)-Kasparov,G (2700) Moscow 1985}) 18. e5 Nxb3 19. cxb3 dxe5 20. fxe5 Bb7 21. Ne4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 a5 23. Qf4 Rf8 24. Rf3 b5 25. Bh4 Nc5 26. Rg3 g6 27. Bxe7 Qxe7 28. axb5 Rxb5 29. Bc2 Rb4 30. Qh6 Rh4 31. Qd2 Qd8 32. Qc3 Na6 33. Rd3 Qb8 34. Rd6 Rc8 35. Qxa5 Kg7 36. Rb6 Qc7 37. Qxa6 Qxc2 38. Qf1 Qf5 39. Qxf5 gxf5 40. h3 Rc2 41. Rb7 Rh6 42. Rd1 Rg6 43. g4 fxg4 44. Rf1 gxh3 45. Rfxf7+ Kh6 46. Rxh7+ Kg5 47. Rxh3 Kf4 48. Rb4+ Kxe5 49. Re3+ Kd6 50. Rd3+ Ke7 51. Re4 Rxb2 52. Rde3 Rc2 53. Re2 Rc5 54. b4 Rh5+ 55. Rh2 Rhg5 56. Rhe2 Kd6 57. Rd2+ Kc6 58. Ree2 Kb5 59. Re4 e5 60. Rd5+ Kc6 61. Rc5+ Kd6 62. Rh4 Rg1+ 63. Kh2 R1g2+ 64. Kh1 Rb2 65. Ra5 Rb1+ 1/2-1/2

Tomorrow at the Michna Palace on Kampa, at 3 p.m. Michael Negele will hold a lecture on the history of blindfold chess“. The second game starts on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Chess lady Marie Konrádová is the mascot of the event

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.