Humpy draws first game against Yifan Hou in World C'ship

Playing white, Humpy tried very hard but Yifan was quite up to the task in fighting the right defense and the hard fought game was eventually drawn after 80 moves.

With nine games still to come in the 10-game match, Humpy will now play black in the second game ahead of the first rest in the 200000 Euros championship.

Catalan opening was the preferred choice of Humpy in the first game but Yifan showcased her deep preparation too. The middle game was complicated and when Humpy decided to liquidate the position she retained a small but lasting advantage.

Yifan had to go through a long grind but in the end she managed to steer the game to a quiet rook and pawns endgame with a pawn less. The Chinese had no difficulty in demonstrating the right technique to hold the game together even though she suffered a long time.

"It was very interesting in the middle game. The position was not clear, there were some possibilities of the endgames where White could have an edge, but the way Black handled the position, I did not get much of an advantage," Humpy said after the game.

Asked whether she thought it was advantageous to play white in the first game of a match, Humpy replied candidly: "Anyway, we will play the equal amount of games with both colors, so it doesn't matter that much."

The players are playing the match in a translucent glass chamber and it is the first time that both Humpy and Yifan are playing under such conditions.

"Usually at the tournaments the players can see the spectators, but here it was completely blank and seemed to me like there are only two of us in the playing hall, although there were people watching our game on the other side of the glass," Humpy noted.

Opening her first card vis-a-vis preparation for the match, Humpy revealed that she is here with Grand Master Sandipan Chanda as her second.

"Apart from him there are other players from abroad to help me, but right now I don't want to reveal it," she said.

The moves Game 1:

K Humpy v/s Yifan Hou 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 Bb7 12. a4 b4 13. Bf4 Nd5 14. Bg5 Nd7 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 a5 18. Nd2 Ba6 19. Nc4 Qc5 20. Ne3 Qe7 21.
Rd1 Rad8 22. Nxd5 exd5 23. Qc6 Bxe2 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Qxd5 c5 26. Re1 Bg4 27. Rc1 Rc8 28. Qc4 h5 29. Bd5 Qd7 30. Re1 Rd8 31. e6 fxe6 32. Bxe6+ Bxe6 33. Rxe6 Qf7 34. h4 Rf8 35. Qe2 Qf3 36. Qxf3 Rxf3 37. Re5 c4 38. Rxa5 Rb3 39. Rc5 Rxb2 40. Rxc4 Kf7 41. Kg2 b3 42. Rb4 g6 43. Kf3 Ra2 44. Rxb3 Rxa4 45. Re3 Kf6 46. Re4 Ra3+ 47. Kf4 Ra2 48. f3 Ra5 49. Rc4 Rf5+ 50. Ke3 Re5+ 51. Re4 Ra5 52. Rf4+ Kg7 53. Rc4 Ra6 54. Rc5 Kf6 55. Rd5 Ra3+ 56. Ke4 Ra6 57. Rd4 Re6+ 58. Kf4 Ra6 59. Rb4 Rc6 60. g4 hxg4 61. Kxg4 Rc5 62. Rb6+ Kg7 63. Re6 Kf7 64. Re4 Ra5 65. f4 Ra1 66. Re3 Kf6 67. Rb3 Rg1+ 68. Rg3 Ra1 69. Rg2 Rb1 70. Rh2 Rg1+ 71. Kf3 Kf5 72. h5 gxh5 73. Rxh5+ Kf6 74. Ra5 Rf1+ 75. Ke3 Re1+ 76. Kf2 Rb1 77. Kg3 Rg1+ 78. Kf3 Rf1+ 79. Kg4 Rg1+ 80. Kf3 game drawn.