Crushing Victory!
The Nigel Short versus Hou Yifan match is becoming something of a nightmare for the young chinese star as she goes down 3-1 in the best of 6 game match held at the Hoogeveen
Hou Yifan — Nigel Short (Rd 4)
(You can follow the analysis below by clicking on any move and a diagram will appear. RBP
[Annotator "Spraggett"]
1.e4 e6!?
{[#] Short seems to have decided that the French is the way to play against Hou Yifan, as he also tried it in the 2nd match game. Curiously, both players have extensive practice with the French on the Black side, Hou Yifan being a long time French Defence player herself}
2.d4 d5 3.e5!?
{[#] Something new from Hou Yifan! Up to now in her tournament praxis she has exclusively played the classical lines but today, perhaps because she is trailing in the match, she wanted to set up an attacking formation, and possibly get the advantage of surprise in the opening.}
c5 4.c3 Bd7 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.Nxd4
{[#] Some were surprised by this natural move, but it is not just quite popular, it is probably the best move. The kind of position that now arises was first studied by Alekhine back in the 20s and 30s. His game with Euwe, for example, at Nottingham 1936 stands out in my memory.}
Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 ( { Not unreasonable is }8...Bxc6 {though Black must be careful about how he develops his pieces } 9.a4!? Ne7 10.O-O Qc7?! 11.Re1 Bd7 12.Nd2 Nc6 13.Nf3$14 Be7 14.b4 Rc8 15.Ba3 Qd8 16.Ra2 O-O 17.Bb1 f5 18.exf6
Bxf6 19.c4 dxc4 20.b5 Ne7 21.Rd2 Nd5 22.Bxf8 Qxf8 23.Rxd5! {1-0, Rozentalis E – Perez Rodney , Montreal 23- 7-2007}
) 9.O-O Ne7
{[#]}
( { A recent game that turned out badly for Black continued }9...c5 10.c4 dxc4 11.Be4 Rd8 12.Nd2 Qa6 13.b3 Bb5 14.a4 c3 15.axb5 Qxa1 16.Bc6+ Ke7 17.Qc2 Qa5 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.Qxc3 f6 20.Bf4 Kf7 21.g3 f5 22.Ra1 Kg6 23.Nd6 Rxd6 24.Be8+ {1-0, Yu Yangyi- Zatonskih,A 24- 1-2013 11th Gibraltar Masters})
10.Qe2
{[#]}
( 10.Nd2 {might be more precise} Ng6 11.Nf3 Be7 12.Re1 c5 13.Rb1 Bb5 14.Bc2 a5 15.Ng5 Rd8 16.b3 Rd7 17.Qf3 Bd8 18.Qh3$14 { Ehlvest J – Ibragimov I , Las Vegas 2003 North American Open})
a5$5
{[#] A nice temporizing move, waiting to see how White proceeds before committing his Knight. Short’s extensive experience has played a vital role in this match.}
( 10...Ng6 {loses some control over f5 and might invite White to play a later f4-f5:} 11.Kh1 Be7 12.f4 O-O 13.Nd2 f5 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.Nf3$14 {Timman J – De Jong Mi , Amsterdam 20- 7-2004} )
11.Nd2 c5
{[#]}
( 11...Ng6!? 12.Nf3!? )
12.c4!?
{[#] I don’t like this move right now. In my opinion White should play as in the Ehlvest game mentioned above. Alekhine stressed the importance of playing with your pieces in this kind of position}
( 12.Nf3!? h6 13.Rb1 {is indicated} ) Nc6 13.f4?!
{[#] A bit harsh in my criticism, perhaps, but I think it is here that Hou Yifan’s lack of experience in these e5 lines shows. She is playing this position like a Sicilian, which it is not. Alekhine taught that you have to play with your pieces and not your pawns in positions like this}
( 13.Nf3!? d4?! (Nb4 14.Bb1!) 14.Ng5!$14 )
g6 14.Kh1 Be7 15.b3
{[#] In general, his last move is not the kind of move White wants to play, but it is difficult to see anything active. Now I think that Black’s most logical line of play is to delay castling for a move or two}
O-O!? {Short described the position that now arises as interesting and unbalanced, which it is}
( {In my opinion Black has better, and if Short were not leading the match he might have played it:}15...a4! {and if} 16.cxd5 exd5 17.f5!? Nd4 18.Qf2 Nxf5 19.g4 Nh6$15 )
16.f5!
{[#] Well played. Hou Yifan grabs her chance at counterplay, but it is only enough for maintaining equality}
exf5 ( 16...Nd4!? 17.Qf2 gxf5 18.Nf3!$13 ) 17.cxd5 Nxe5! 18.Nf3$4
{[#]This move loses. Hou Yifan insists on trying to playing for the attack. I am not sure if she lost her objectivity because she felt it was necessary to try to win because she is trailing in the match by one point, or whether Hou Yifan simply overestimated her attacking chances. In any case, againt a player of Short’s class, you can not permit yourself such liberties}
( 18.Nc4! Nxc4 19.Qxe7 Qd6 20.Qxd6 Nxd6 21.Be3 {should be enough for a draw} )
Nxd3! {ofcourse} 19.Qxe7 ( 19.Qxd3? Bb5!$19 ) Bb5! {The Knight on d3 paralyzes White} 20.Qh4 f6
{[#] Short prevents any nonsense on the Kingside before attacking the d pawn. The rest is a crush, quite easy to play for Black, and the only thing one needs point out is that Hou Yifan could have resigned mucher earlier that she did.} ( 20...Rad8!? ) 21.Bd2 Rad8 22.Bc3 Rxd5 23.Qh6 Qc7 24.a4 Ba6 25.Qe3 Qd7 26.Bxa5 Re8 27.Qg1 Re2 28.Bc3
Rd6 29.h3 Rc2 30.Ba5 Bb7 31.Qh2 f4 32.Qg1 Ne5 33.Ne1{[#]} Rxg2!? {played instantly}
( 33...Rd3! ) 34.Nxg2 Qxh3+ 35.Qh2 Bxg2+ 36.Kg1 Bxf1{[#]} 0-1
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