GM Hikaru Nakamura has won the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival — one of the world’s most prestigious open events — for a third straight year, but the American star’s victory last week was hardly the biggest story of the event.
The spotlight was stolen by the great Chinese women’s world champion Hou Yifan, who followed up one of the most brilliant games of the past decade with a shocking five-move loss in the final round to Indian GM Lalith Babu, a game that generated headlines around the world.
Arriving nearly a half-hour late for her game with Babu, Hou opened with the bizarre 1. g4!? d5 2. f3??, the kind of opening a rank beginner might try. There followed 2…e5 (already threatening 3…Qh4 mate) 3. d3 Qh4+ 4. Kd2 h5 5. h3 hxg4, and a shocked Babu found himself accepting the champ’s resignation.
There was a method to Hou’s misplay: As she explained to reporters later, she was upset with the Gibraltar pairings that had her playing a lopsided seven fellow women players in the first nine games against other women players. Organizers insisted there was nothing fishy in her pairings — generated by computer in this major Swiss events — but Hou said she was being deprived of the chance to play Nakamura and the tournament’s other top-rated players, adding she had made her displeasure known to organizers before staging her final-round insurrection.
Hou has been a dignified and articulate champion, with no reputation as a chess diva. Gibraltar — whose organizers tried to play down the confrontation with one of the world’s most popular and well-known players — has long been one of the best and best-run events of its kind. Here’s hoping the two sides can make peace and move on.
Hou didn’t just overshadow Nakamura — she upstaged herself. Her Round 7 win over (male) French IM Borya Ider featured an inspired positional queen sacrifice, one worthy of comparison to the masterpieces of the great Tatar master Rashid Nezhmetdinov.
In a rare King’s Indian sideline, Black takes the plunge on 14. hxg4 Nhf6 15. Ng5?! (if White suspected what was coming, he might have gone with the safer 15. g5 Nh5 16. Qe4) Nxd5!!? 16. Ne6 Nxc3! 17. Nxd8 (there’s no backing out now; e.g. 17. Qxc3 Qh4 18. Nxf7 Rxf8, and Black already has threats like 19…Rf3 20. Bxf3 Bxf3 21. Qd3 [e4 Qh3 22. Qxf3 Qxf3 and wins] Qxg4+ 22. Bg3 e4! 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. Rfc1 Qh3 with mate to come) Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Bf3! (a nice zwischenzug) 19. Qd3 Nc5 20. Qa3 Rfxd8.
The smoke has cleared and Black has only two minor pieces and a pawn for her lost lady. But White’s queen and bishop have no scope and Hou’s pieces are ready to flood the kingside. Black resists Ider’s attempts to open up the position (25…b5! keeps the queenside closed, and 29…Nf3+! preserves the powerful bishop on g4 by not taking the rook on d1), and hits on a winning plan with 31. bxc5 h5! — White has no counter to the simple advance of the passed h-pawn.
A brilliant concept deserves a brilliant denouement, and Hou delivers: 41. Rb3 Kg7 42. Rb5? (Black’s patient pressure is rewarded with a defensive lapse; Black just brushes off the “threat” to e5) h3+! 43. Kh1 Nxh2! 44. Rxe5 (Kxh2?? Bf4+ 45. Kg1 Bf3, followed by 46…h2+ and 47…h1=Q mate) Bf3+ 45. Kg1 (see diagram; White may have banked on 45…Rxe5?? 46. Qxe5+ Kh6 47. Qxh2 Bg2 48. Qxc7 Bxf1 49. Kxf1 Bf4 50. Qe7 Rc8 51. Qh4+ and wins) Nxf1!!, sacrificing a rook and allowing a discovered double-check.
But Hou has everything under control: 46. Rxe7+ Kh6 47. Qg7+ Kh5 48. Qh7+ (Qxf8 h2+ 49. Kxf1 h1=Q mate) Kg4 (the king reaches a safe harbor, and there’s no stopping the mighty h-pawn) 49. Re8 (the threat was 49…h2+ 50. Kxf1 Rb8!, with unstoppable mate on b1) Rxe8 50. Qd7+ Kh4 51. Kxf1 Rd8 52. Qh7+ Kg4 — Black’s king is back in his spider hole and there’s no defense. Ider resigned.
​Ider-Hou, Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, January 2017
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. Bf4 Bb7 4. e3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 6. Be2 d6 7. c4 Nbd7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O e6 10. Qc2 Nh5 11. Bh2 f5 12. d5 e5 13. g4 fxg4 14. hxg4 Nhf6 15. Ng5 Nxd5 16. Ne6 Nxc3 17. Nxd8 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Bf3 19. Qd3 Nc5 20. Qa3 Rfxd8 21. e4 Rf8 22. Rae1 Bh6 23. b4 Ne6 24. c5 Nd4 25. Qd3 b5 26. Bg3 Bg5 27. a4 a6 28. Qa3 Bxg4 29. Rd1 Nf3+ 30. Kg2 dxc5 31. bxc5 h5 32. Qa2+ Kh7 33. Qd5 Rae8 34. Qc6 Re7 35. Rd3 h4 36. Bh2 bxa4 37. Qxa4 Kh6 38. Qa3 Ref7 39. Qb2 Re7 40. c6 a5 41. Rb3 Kg7 42. Rb5 h3+ 43. Kh1 Nxh2 44. Rxe5 Bf3+ 45. Kg1 Nxf1 46. Rxe7+ Kh6 47. Qg7+ Kh5 48. Qh7+ Kg4 49. Re8 Rxe8 50. Qd7+ Kh4 51. Kxf1 Rd8 52. Qh7+ Kg4 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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