I see no reason to wait any longer, so here are the solutions.
# 1
Korchnoi - Ye Jiangchuan, Novi Sad 1990
(1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Nb5 b6 14. b4 a6 15. Nc3 h5 16. Kh1 Nf6 17. c5 g4 18. cxd6 cxd6 19. Rc1 g3 20. Bg1 gxh2 21. Bf2 h4 22. Na4 Rb8 23. b5 axb5 24. Bxb5 Nh5 25. Kxh2 Ng3 26. Rg1 Ng6 27. Nd3 Kh7 28. Nb4 h3 29. Rxc8 Rxc8 30. gxh3 Rh8 31. Bxb6 Qe7 32. Nd3 Rb8 33. Bc6 Kg8 34. Nf2 Nh4 35. Qd3 Kf7 36. Rc1 Rxb6 37. Nxb6 Qa7 38. Qb3 Rb8 39. Rb1 Bf6 40. Qb4 Nxf3+ 41. Kg2 Nh4+ 42. Kg1 Bd8 43. Qxd6 Rxb6 44. Qe6+ Kg7 45. Rxb6 Qxb6 46. Qd7+ Kh6 47. Qe6+ Ng6 48. Kg2 Kg7 49. Qd7+ Be7 50. d6 )
It is quite clear that Black must have a mate somehow, it is only a question of finding the right checks. The continuation was
50...Nh4+ 51.Kg1 (51.Kh2 Qxf2+) Qb1+ 52.Kh2 Nf1+ and White resigned. It follows 53.Kg2 Ne3+ 54.Kh2 Nf3# I am happy to say that all the participants solved this one. Bravo!
I might come back to this great game, which is one of those I usually use when training advanced students, in a article if there is any interest for it.
# 2
Liu Wenzhe - Donner, Buenos Aires 1978.
(1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be2 Bg7 5. g4 h6 6. h3 c5 7. d5 O-O 8. h4 e6 9. g5 hxg5 10. hxg5 Ne8 11. Qd3 exd5 12. Nxd5 Nc6 13. Qg3 Be6 14. Qh4 f5 15. Qh7+ Kf7)
Black's careless play is heavily punished.
16.Qxg6+ Kxg6 17.Bh5+ Kh7 18.Bf7+ Bh6 19.g6+ Kg7 20.Bxh6+ and Black resigned. 20...Kh8. 21.Bg7+ Kxg7 22.Rh7#
# 3
Xie Jun - Larsen, Monaco 1994
(1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 d6 5.h3 Nf6 6.a4 O-O 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.Be2 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.O-O Qe7 11.Qd3 a5 12.Qc4 Re8 13.Rfd1 h6 14.Nd2 Nh7 15.Qb3 Ng5 16.Nc4 Nc5 17.Qa3 Nce6 18.Qxe7 Rxe7 19.Nb6 Rb8 20.Bg4 Re8 21.Bxg5 hxg5 22.Nb1 Bf8 23.Nd2 Bc5 24.Ndc4 Bxb6 25.Nxb6 Kf8 26.Rd2 Ke7 27.Rad1 Rf8 28.Nxc8+ Rfxc8 29.Rd7+ Kf6 30.Bxe6 fxe6 )
31.g4 and Black resigned. The monarch can't escape his royal columns and White will just go Rd3-f3 and mate. The only legal way to avoid that is giving up a rook.
This was also solved by everybody, so another bravo!
# 4
Wang Yue - Agdestein, Amsterdam 2008
(1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qb3 Qe7 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 d6 8. g3 Nbd7 9. Bg2 Ne4 10. O-O Nxc3 11. Qxc3 O-O 12. Rfe1 e5 13. e4 f4 14. c5 dxc5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Rac1 b6 17. b4 Na6 18. Nxe5 c5 19. b5 Nc7 20. a4 Be6 21. Nd3 fxg3 22. hxg3 Rad8 23. Ne5 Qf6 24. f4 Rd4 25. Ra1 a6 26. Nc6 Rxe4 27. Qxf6 Rxe1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxf6)
29.a5 Nxb5 30. axb6 Nd6 31. Rxe6 Rxe6 32. Bd5 Kf7 33. Nd8+ Ke7 34. Nxe6 c4 35. Bxc4 and Black resigned.
While it was not difficult to find the initial move, nobody pointed out White's "petite combinaison".
# 5
Nikolic - Ye Jiangchuan, Thessaloniki 1988
(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 c5 11.Rb1 Ne8 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 b6 14.Rb3 f5 15.Ra3 Rxa3 16.Bxa3 Nf6 17.Bd3 Bh6 18.Qe2 Nh5 19.g3 f4 20.Qd1 Qd7 21.Re1 fxg3 22.fxg3)
This proved to be the real braintwister, which didn't surprise me. I chose it partly so that the strong players here should have the opportunity to display their mental faculties, and partly because it is a favourite of mine.
Anyway, the continuation was
22...Nxg3 23.hxg3 Qh3 24.Nf1 Rxf1+ 25.Bxf1 Qxg3+ 26.Bg2 Bg4 27.Re2 Qxc3 and White resigned.
It is good practice to try to find other defenses for White, so I am not going to show any more variations.
# 6
Kasimdzhanov - Ye Jiangchuan, Bled 2002
(1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 Ne5 10. Nb3 b5 11. Kb1 Be7 12. Qf2 d6 13. g4 Nfd7 14. Rg1 Bb7 15. g5 Rc8 16. a3 Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Nd4 Rb8 19. h4 d5 20. exd5 Bxd5 21. Nxd5 exd5 22. Rge1 O-O 23. Bf4 )
23...Rxb2+ 24. Kxb2 Bxa3+ 25. Kxa3 Qa5+ 26. Kb2 c3+ 27. Kb1 Qb6+ 28. Nb3 Qxf2 with a decisive advantage for Black, who won in 52 moves.
A typical complicated Sicilian, where Black's counter-attack was quicker. The point is not to engage in any wild-goose chase against White's king - just grab the dame. That is usually a good thing, chess or else.
# 7
Xie Jun - Short, Jinan 2002
(1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Ngf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 cxd4 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nb3 Nge7 9. Nbxd4 O-O 10. Bg5 Qb6 11. c3 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Re1 Ng6 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. b3 Rfe8 16. Rxe8+ Rxe8 17. Re1 Rxe1+ 18. Nxe1 c5 19. Ndf3 h6 20. Be3 Qc7 21. Qd2 Ne7 22. h3 Bf5 23. Nd3 Be4 24. Nfe1 g5 25. b4 cxb4 26. cxb4 Qc4 27. Bc5 Bxc5 28. Nxc5 Nc6 29. Nxe4 dxe4 30. a3 Nd4 31. h4 f6 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Qe3 Kf7 34. Kh2 Ne6 35. Qa7+ Kg6 36. Qe7 Ng7 37. f3 exf3 38. Nxf3 Qf4+ 39. Kg1 Qc1+ 40. Kh2 Qxa3 41. Qe4+ Kh6 42. Qd4 Nh5 43. Qd8 Qb3 44. Qh8+ Kg6 45. Qe8+ Qf7 46. Qc6 Qe7 47. Qxa6 Qxb4 48. Qd3+ Kh6 49. Qd8 Qf4+ 50. Kg1 Ng7 51. Nd4 g4)
52.Qh8+ Kg6 53.Qxg7+ and Black resigned because of 53...Kxg7 54. Ne6+
No comments are really necessary, this is not a difficult combination.
# 8
Speelman - Liu Wenzhe, Beijing 1981
(1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g3 Bg4 7.f3 Bd7 8.Be3 g6 9.Qd2 Bg7 10.O-O-O O-O 11.h4 Rc8 12.g4 h5 13.Be2 Ne5 14.gxh5 Nxh5 15.Rdg1 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Rxc4 17.Rg5 Rc5 18.Nd5 e6 19.Rxh5 exd5 20.Rxd5 Rxd5 21.exd5 Re8 22.h5 Qb6 23.c3 Qa5 24.hxg6 Qxa2 25.gxf7 Kxf7 26.Nc2 Bf5 27.Bh6 Bf6 28.Bg5 )
28...Re2 and White resigned. 29.Qxe2 Bxg5+ 30.Ne3 Qb1+ is trivial.
A simple, but nice deflection.
So for the bonus question. What all the games had in common was that they were won by Chinese chessplayers. China is coming also on the 64 squares, and if I am to predict the future I think it will be the dominating country in some 20-30 years.
The official winner is thereby the jovial compatriot of Paul Keres, Yeekim, who scored a very decent 10 p. Well done, sir!
Narz had a nominally higher score, 13, but his flag had already fallen, so his official score remains 7. Tomoyo also did well with 6.
Any criticism, questions or other comments are most welcome!
