WWCC R03: Hou Yifan draws first blood

by ChessBase
11/18/2011 – Playing with the white pieces, the challenger Koneru Humpy of India got a good position from the opening, but she was not, in her own words, making good moves. The reigning world champion Hou Yifan from China, took heart (and a pawn on a2) and overran her opponent with a precision that belies her age. Hou now leads 2-1 in this ten-game match. Game three commentary by GM Alejandro Ramirez.
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The FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship Match between the current World Champion Hou Yifan of China and her challenger, Koneru Humpy of India, is being staged in the Triana International Hotel from November 14 to 30. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The winner of the ten-game match is the first player to reach 5.5 points or more. The prize fund is 200,000 Euro, with 60% going to the winner. The games start at 15:00h local time, which is also Central European Time = 17:00 Moscow, 19:30 New Delhi, 22:00h Beijing and 09:00 New York. You can find the starting time for other locations here.

Game three – Hou Yifan takes the lead

In the third game of the match for the World Championship the rested participants entered into an intense and sharp struggle. Humpy Koneru, who had the white pieces, came out of the opening with the slight advantage. Chinese GM Hou Yifan, though, was precise in her queenside and center activity, which opened a path for a win for her. “I took time to think about taking the pawn on a2,” said Yifan after the game, “My king could get in trouble, but I decided to go for this principal continuation.”

“I had a good position, but I wasn't making good moves,” commented Humpy on her handling of the middlegame. The World champion did not let her opponent off the hook, and her only mistake was on move 25, when she could have finish it off quickly with the tricky move 25...Rd8! After the game Hou Yifan confessed that she had missed this move. We bring you analysis by GM Alejandro Ramirez.

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1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 c5 7...g5 is the more popular move. 8.e3 c4 I have seen this setup before, but I'm not a huge fan. It may be that the World Women's Champion has some new ideas in this variation, trying to make it viable. To the line's credit, Morozevich used it once to beat Eljanov. To its discredit, it was a blitz game, and well, it was Morozevich... what can't he win with? 9.Be2 9.Nd2 is the more principled move, and in my opinion the one that really puts this setup to question. It scores quite well. 9...g5 10.Bg3 Ne4 11.Rc1 Qa5 12.Ne5 Bxc3+ 12...Nc6 was the blindfold game Topalov-Aronian, which the second player won. 13.bxc3 Nc6 14.0-0 0-0 14...Nxc3 would have transposed to Topalov-Aronian, but after 15.Rxc3 Qxc3 16.Bh5 0-0 17.Qf3 Nd8 18.Qf6 Qc2+- and by some miracle Aronian not only survived this massive intiative but won the game. Maybe because his opponent was blindfolded. Not something a sane person should be willing to repeat. 15.Bf3 Nxg3 16.fxg3 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Be6 After a bunch of trades occur, both sides have shattered pawn structures. Black's is less shattered, but ironically more vulnerable. White should have a slight edge. 18.Bh5?! A principeld move, but the more calm Rf2 would've maintained all the pawns alive. Qxa2 You can't blame Hou Yifan for cowardice. She calmy takes this pawn and hopes (or calculates twenty move ahead) thta her kingside will not collapse. 19.Rf6 Qb2! An important axiom: when faced with the initative, use the pieces you already have out to hamper it! 19...Kg7? 20.Qf3 followed by Rf1 is too much pressure. 20.Rxh6 Bf5! More precise play. Look how much trouble this two pieces are giving White. Nothing more than a B and a Q, but it's preventing White from reaching a coordination that would crush the unbelievably vulnerable kingside. 21.Rf6 Be4! 22.Bf3?! 22.Rf2 Qb6 23.Qd4! It was time to start thinking about equality, I tihnk this would've sufficed since white can generate enough pressure against f7 and the a-pawn to stop the queenside from simply rolling. 22...Bd3! I love this two-stepping bishop. The white bishop has been pulled from h5, thus there is no pressure on f7, while the queen can no longer go to g4, and the white rook cannot come back to play. Suddenly, Black is better! 23.Qe1 23.Bxd5 Rad8 24.Rf2 24.Rd6 Rxd6 25.exd6 Rd8 and Black calmly collects d6, with a nice advantage. 24...Qa3 25.Bf3 Rfe8 And the only thing that White can ask herself is "what happened to my kingside attack"? 23...Rae8 24.Bxd5 Rxe5 25.e4 Kg7 25...Rd8! and now if 26.Bxf7+ 26.Rf2 Qb6 27.Qd2 Bxe4 26...Kg7 Black is winning. 26.Rf2 Qb6 Black is solid. She did a brilliant job in restricting White, and now enjoys every single advantage the position offers. Better pieces, better pawn structure, more space, a passed a-pawn. White isn't dead yet, mainly thanks to the powerful d5 bishop, but it is not a pretty sight. 27.Qd2 Rd8! Yes! Wonderful precision by the Chinese talent. The f7 pawn, which has been a target for white the entire game, is left without defenders, and is completely untouchable. 28.Qb2 28.Bxf7? Bxe4 29.Qa2 Bd3-+ with the deadly Re2 threat. 28...f5 29.Qxb6 axb6 30.Bxb7 fxe4 31.Rb2?! 31.Ra2 Re7 32.Bc6 Rd6 33.Ba8 still allowed the B to remain in the a8-h1 diagonal, allowing her to create some problems for Yifan, as the advance of the e-pawn doesn't win right away. Black's advantage is beyond doubt though. 31...Re7 32.Bc6 Rd6! The b6 pawn is taboo, and Ba8 loses the bishop to Ra7. Thus it must abandon the diagonal. 33.Ba4 e3 34.Re1 e2 35.Bc2 Rf7 36.Bxd3 cxd3 37.Rd2 And Humpy resigned without waiting for Rdf6. A flawless, wonderful game by Hou Yifan. The precision exhibited by this 17-year old is astounding. Humpy committed a few innacuracies, but no big mistakes, and suddenly she found herself in a very uncomfortable situation. Yifan made sure she never had an opportunity to ocme back into the game. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Koneru,H2600Hou,Y25780–12011D38Women's World Championship 20113


The 17-year-old Chinese Women's World Champion drew first blood


Humpy: “I had a good position, but I wasn't making good moves.”

Score

Players
Rating
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Tot.
Perf
+/–
Hou Yifan
2578
½
½
1
2
2720
+6
Koneru Humpy  
2600
½
½
0
1
2458
–6

Remaining schedule

Friday 18 November 2011 Game four
Saturday 19 November 2011 Rest day
Sunday 20 November 2011 Game five
Monday 21 November 2011 Game six
Tuesday 22 November 2011 Rest day
Wednesday 23 November 2011 Game seven
Thursday 24 November 2011 Game eight
Friday 25 November 2011 Rest day
Saturday 26 November 2011 Game nine
Sunday 27 November 2011 Rest day
Monday 28 November 2011 Game ten
Tuesday 29 November 2011 Rest day
Wednesday 30 November 2011 Tie-break, closing   

Photos and news from Tirana by WGMs Anastasiya Karlovich
and Anna Burtasova, with kind permission of FIDE

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