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Anatoly Karpov vs Yifan Hou
"Yifan Houdini" (game of the day Mar-19-2020)
Hou - Karpov Match (2018) (rapid), Harbin CHN, rd 3, Feb-05
English Opening: English Defense. General (A10)  ·  0-1

8
7
6
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3
2
a
1
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d
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h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
0-1

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Feb-06-18  Ulhumbrus: 5...Qe7!! discourages 6 e4 by attacking indirectly the e pawn on the e file.

When Karpov conceded the bishop pair by 11 Bxf6 gxf6 12 Qa4 he may have not expected Hifan You to respond by 12...Kd8!! placing her king on the closed d file.

This suggests that Hifan You was in inspired form in this game.

Feb-07-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Richard Taylor: She played well. In fact she played like the young Karpov! An unusual opening idea but moving the K around is something I have seen in some of Karpov's games. It is o.k.in a closed game. Yifan Hou paid attention to defence and then gained the advantage. Possibly 41...Be1+ was a surprise and seemed to give and edge to Black...
Feb-08-18  jith1207: Tremendous! Yifan pulled a Houdini act with her King!
Feb-08-18  jith1207: Hifan You :-) Talking to your fan?
Feb-16-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jarman: In a winning position, Karpov lost the thread (and the game) with 40. Ke1. According to Stockfish he should have played 40.Kg2 Bxg3 41.Nxg3 Qh4 42.Qf2 Rb8 43.Kh2 Ke8 44.Ra2 Rxb3 45.Nxf5 Qxf2+ 46.Rxf2 Rg6 47.Ra2 Kd8 48.Bg2 Rc3 49.Ra8+ Kc7 50.Ra7+ Kd8 51.Bxe4 Rxc4 52.Bd3 Rb4 53.Ne7 Rb2+ 54.Kh3 Rg1 55.Nf5 Rg6 56.Rxf7 c4 57.Bxc4 +2.14 (26 ply)
Mar-19-20  goodevans: Even if Karpov isn't what he used to be, <40.Ke1> is a pretty bad mistake for any GM to make. I'm normally hesitant to use the term <blunder> but I'd say it was apposite here.


click for larger view

White has a big material plus and black has only one real threat, viz. 40...Bxg3 41.Nxg3 Qh4 attacking both B and N. Obviously 40.Ke1 just gives away a piece, so how far along the Stockfish line given by <Jarman> do you have to go to see that the alternative 40.Kg2 is an effective counter?

I would argue that you only have to go as far as three moves: <40.Kg2 Bxg3 41.Nxg3 Qh4 42.Qf2>, job done.

White's next move in the Stockfish line, 43.Kh2, is a clever counter to 42...Rb8 (42...Rb8 43.Kh2 Rxb3? 44.Ra8+ Ke7 45.Nxf5+) but you don't have to see that tactic since the more prosaic 43.Ra3 is also good enough to maintain white's advantage.

Maybe he was in time trouble but even then you'd expect him to be able to calculate a line three moves deep.

Mar-19-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: I had an opening deja vu here...

Karpov vs Miles, 1978

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