📗20...g6
The position is rather balanced. Black lacks enough space and stats passive but she has no weaknesses and once the heavy pieces are off the board draw would be a conceivale result.
21.Be4 Kb8

📗32...Q×e7
It is hard to imagine if someone can lose this position but the tragedy in this opening does not end for Hou Yifan here.
33.b3 Qe4 34.g5 Qe5 35.Qf8 Qd5

📗44...Kd8
Hou Yifan gets tired and gives away good targets to white. Now black's pawn are vulnerable.
(44...Kc8 45.Qg4+ Kb8 46.h5 g×h5 47.Q×h5 Qf5=)
45.Qg4 d5 46.a5 Qe1

📗47.h5?! Giri returns the favor.
(47.Qf3 Qe6 48.b4 ould give might some slight edge.)
47...g×h5 48.Q×h5 Qe6 48.Qh8+ Ke7

📗55...Kc6??
It is hard to understand what Hou Yifan was thinking when she played this. She occupies a key square one tempo too early!

55...Kc6?? [It is hard to understand what Hou Yifan was thinking when she played this. She occupies a key square one tempo too early!]

[55...Kd6 56.c4 (56.b5 axb5 57.Kb4 c6 58.a6 Kc7 59.Kc5 b4 60.a7 Kb7 61.Kxb4 (61.Kd6?? d4) 61...Kxa7 62.Kc5 Kb7 63.Kd6 d4 64.Ke7 c5 65.Kxf7 c4 66.Ke7 d3 67.cxd3 cxd3 68.f7 d2 69.f8Q d1Q) 56...c5 The easiest way to make a draw. Both c6 and dxc4 are good enough but this is the most straightforward one! 57.b5 (57.cxd5 Kxd5) 57...axb5 58.cxb5 Kc7 59.Kc3 Kb7 60.Kd3 Ka7 61.Ke3 Kb7 62.Kf4 c4 (62...Ka7 63.Ke5 d4 64.Kd6 c4 65.Kc7 c3 66.b6+ Ka6 67.b7 c2 is still a draw.) 63.Ke3 c3]

56.c4! d4 [56...dxc4+ 57.Kxc4 Kb7 58.b5 and the farther past pawn decides the game!]

57.Kc2 Kd6 58.Kd2 c6 [58...c5 59.bxc5+ Kxc5 60.Kd3 Kb4 61.Kxd4 Kxa5 62.c5 Kb5 63.Kd5 a5 64.c6 and white is way too many tempi up!]

59.Ke2 Kd7 60.Kd3 Kc7 61.Kxd4 Kd6 62.Kd3 Kc7 63.Ke4 Kd6 64.Kd4 [A painful loss for Hou Yifan! She needs to work on this opening's pawn endgame curse!]

🔍Annotator: [GM Elshan Moradiabadi ]

Aeroflot Open 2018 — excerpt from the results of Final Round 9

Aeroflot Open 2018 , Final Round 9

🔹 Open Aeroflot 2018 round 1-9
🔹 PGN format

Congratulations to 24-year-old Vladislav Kovalev from Belarus, who after making a draw from a position of strength is the 2018 #AeroflotOpen Champion and will play Kramnik & co. in the Dortmund..

Open Aeroflot 2018 — excerpt from final ranking after Round 9

🔸Aeroflot Open Moscow 2018
🔸Round 6
⚪️Maghsoodloo,Parham (2594)
⚫️Wen,Yang (2608)
🔸1-0

📘 11.Qe2!
A Multi-purpose move:
- Clearing the diagonal for the light-squared bishop.
- The possibility of d4 in case of ...Ba3.
- Bringing the queen to the better position.
11...a5 12.Nc3 Ba3 13.d4 B×b2 14.Q×b2 h6 15.Rfe1

🔸Aeroflot Open Moscow 2018
🔸Round 7
⚪️Tabatabaei,M.amin (2577)
⚫️Sasikiran,Krishnan (2671)
🔸1-0

📘 White is completely winning because of his more active king and less pawn islands.
46.b4!
White before transferring the king to the kingside, gains more space on the queenside.
46...Be4 47.a4 Bf3 48.Bf5 Bg2 49.f4 Bf3 50.b5 a×b5 51.a×b5 Be2 52.Be4 Bf1 53.Kc5 Ka7 54.f5 h5 55.Kd6 +-

🔸Aeroflot Open Moscow 2018
🔸Round 7
⚪️Romanov,Evgeny (2621)
⚫️Fedoseev,Vladimir3 (2724)
🔸1-0

📘 3...g5!?
A surprising novelty in the 3rd move by Fedoseev.
4.d4 Bg7 5.d5 Ne5 6.d×e6 f×e6 7.Nf3 Nf7 8.h4 g4 9.Ng5 Ne5 10.f4 Nc6 11.e3
In 2013 Romanov won the bronze medal at the European Individual Chess Championship.

🔸Aeroflot Open Moscow 2018
🔸Round 8
⚪️Gordievsky,Dmitry (2630)
⚫️Romanov,Evgeny (2621)
🔸1-0

📘 43.Nf5+!
A spectacular finish!
43...R×f5
(43...Kh7 44.Rg7+ Kh8 45.Rd7)
44.Rg6+! 1-0
(if 44...K×g6 then, 45.e×f5+ K×f5 46.c7)

⚪️#305 (Strategy-White to Move)
🔸Hebden,Mark (2549)
🔸Davies,Nigel R (2502)
🔸Gibraltar Masters Catalan Bay ENG 2004