Chess games

The 2017 Grenke Chess Classic is an eight-player round-robin tournament that was completed yesterday in Germany. The participants were Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Aronian, Yifan Hou, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Arkadij Naiditsch, Matthias Bluebaum and Georg Meier. Here are four games by Hou Yifan from the tournament.

White: Yifan Hou Black: Fabiano Caruana 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 O-O 8. d4 Nf5 9. Nf3 d5 10. c3 Bd6 11. Nbd2 Nce7 12. Qc2 c6 13. Bd3 g6 14. Nf1 f6 15. h3 Rf7 16. Bd2 Bd7 17. Re2 c5 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Bf4 Rc8 20. Rae1 g5 21. Ng3 Nxg3 22. Bxg3 a5 23. Qd2 a4 24. b4 axb3 25. axb3 Ng6 26. h4 gxh4 27. Nxh4 Nxh4 28. Bxh4 Qf8 29. Qf4 Bd6 30. Qd4 Rd8 31. Re3 Bc8 32. b4 Kg7 33. Bb5 Bc7 34. Re8 Qd6 35. Bg3 Qb6 36. Qd3 Bd7 37. Bxd7 Rdxd7 38. Qf5 Bxg3 39. Qg4+ Kh6 40. Qh3+ 1-0.

White: Georg Meier Black: Yifan Hou 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+ 5. Nd2 OO 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. b3 Nbd7 9. Bb2 Qe7 10. Ne5 Rfd8 11. Nd3 Bd6 12. e3 Rab8 13. Rc1 Ne4 14. cxd5 exd5 15. Re1 c5 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Qc2 Rbc8 18. Nf4 Nef6 19. Nc4 Bc7 20. Red1 Bxf4 21. exf4 Ba8 22. Ne3 Qe6 23. Nf5 Re8 24. h3 d4 25. Bxa8 Rxa8 26. b4 Rac8 27. Qb1 Ne4 28. g4 g6 29. Nh4 Nxf2 30. Kxf2 Qe2+ 31. Kg1 Re3 32. Qc2 Rg3+ 33. Kh1 Rxh3+ 34. Kg1 Qe3+ 0-1. White: Yifan Hou Black: Magnus Carlsen 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Nd5 Nd7 11. Bc4 Rc8 12. Qe2 Nb6 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. Bxe6 Qxe6 15. O-O O-O 16. Rfd1 Rc6 17. a5 Nd7 18. b3 Rfc8 19. Rd2 Nc5 20. Rad1 Qe7 21. Qe3 g6 22. g3 b5 23. axb6 Rxb6 24. Rd5 Rcc6 25. Nd2 Nb7 26. Nc4 Rb5 27. Qa7 Qc7 28. Rxb5 axb5 29. Nxd6 Nxd6 30. Qxc7 Rxc7 31. Rxd6 Rxc2 32. Rd5 Re2 33. Rxe5 b4 34. Rb5 Rxe4 35. Kg2 Rd4 36. Kf1 Re4 37. Kg2 Rd4 38. Kf1 1/2-1/2.

White: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Black: Yifan Hou 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.Nbd2 dxe4 7.dxe4 O-O 8.O-O a5 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Nxe5 Ba6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Nxc6 Qd6 13.Nd4 Bxd4 14.cxd4 Qxd4 15.Nb3 Qxd1 16.Rxd1 a4 17.Nc5 Nxe4 18.Nxa6 Rxa6 19.Be3 h5 20.Rac1 c6 21.Kf1 Nf6 22.Bc5 Nd5 23.Rc4 Nc7 24.a3 Rb8 25.Rd2 Nd5 26.Ke1 f6 27.Kd1 Kf7 28.Kc2 Rb5 29.Kb1 g6 30.Ka2 Ke6 31.f3 Rb8 32.Re4+ Kf7 33.Rdd4 Rba8 34.Rc4 Ra5 35.Bf2 R5a6 36.Bc5 Ra5 37.g3 R5a6 38.h4 Ra5 39.Bf2 R5a6 40.Kb1 Rb8 41.Ka2 Rba8 42.g4 hxg4 43.fxg4 Re8 44.Rxe8 Kxe8 45.h5 Kf7 46.Be1 gxh5 47.gxh5 f5 48.Bd2 Nf6 49.Rc5 Ne4 50.Rxf5+ Ke6 51.Ra5 Rxa5 52.Bxa5 Kf6 53.b3 Kg5 54.Bb4 Kxh5 55.bxa4 Nf6 56.a5 Nd5 57.a6 Nc7 58.a7 Kg6 59.Ba5 Na8 60.Kb3 Kf7 61.Kc4 Ke7 62.Kc5 Kd7 63.Bb6 Kc8 64.Kxc6 Nc7 65.Bg1 Na8 66.Bh2 Nc7 67.Kb6 Na8+ 68.Ka6 1-0.

Flashback! Krishnanand Raghunandan (right) presenting the first prize trophy to the winning chess team, Skeldon High School, at the 2015 Berbice Inter-Schools Chess Championship. Raghunandan has maintained his position as the Guyana Chess Federation’s Berbice representative for 2017, and is energetically attending to plans for organizing a Berbice Chess Association. Earlier this year, the Regional Democratic Council of Region Six approved a recommendation for chess to be a calendar event each September, beginning this year. September is also Education Month.