Steel and Blood

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
6th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 3 (Blitz 10+10); Baku, September 22, 2015
Bishop’s Opening C24

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 dxe4 8. Nxe5 0-0 9. dxe4 Qe7 10. Qf4 Nh5 11. Bxf7+ Kh8

12. Qg3! Rxf7. Her Majesty is taboo: 12. ... Nxg3?? 13. Ng6+! hxg6 14. hxg3+ and mate in two moves. 13. Nxf7+ Qxf7 14. Qd6 Be6 15. Nc3. More to the point than 15. Nd2 (obstructing the d-file) 15. ... Nd7 16. 0-0-0 Re8 and Black stands well, Hendriks – Kerigan, 17th Unive Open, Hoogeveen 2013. “I think Yì Wéi should have exchanged Queens earlier – surely the ending was much better for White”, Grandmaster Daniel W. Gormally asserted. What was he thinking? Maybe 15. Qd8+ Qg8 16. Qxg8+ Kxg8 17. Nc3 with a very slight plus for White. 15. ... Nd7 16. 0-0-0 Re8 17. Rhf1 Bc4 18. Rfe1 Ne5 19. b3 Ba6 20. Kb1 h6 21. f3 Nf4 22. Rd2 Kh7 23. Red1 Re6 24. Qb8 Qf6 25. Na4 Be2 26. Rc1 b6 27. Nc3 Ba6 28. Rcd1 Nc4 29. bxc4 Qxc3 30. Qxf4 Qb4+ 31. Ka1 Qc3+ ½ : ½.

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
6th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 4 (Blitz 10+10); Baku, September 22, 2015
6k1/3b1p2/p2P1q1p/1pQ5/1P2B2P/5P2/5K2/8 w - - 3 49

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) obtained a very good game out of the opening, but he was not able to capitalize on it. It’s not so important that the position is roughly balanced now, as both players hit time trouble. 49. h5?! Qf4 50. Qd4 Qh2+ 51. Ke1 Qxh5 52. Qf6? Qg5 53. Qe7?? The 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) disaster: he unreasonably liquidates into a completely lost ending. 53. ... Qxe7 54. dxe7 Kg7 55. Bf5 Bc6 56. Be4 Be8 57. Bb7 Kf6 58. Bxa6 Kxe7 59. Bb7 Kd6 60. Kf2 Bc6 61. Bc8 Kd5 62. f4 Kc4 63. f5 Kxb4 64. f6 Bd5 0 : 1.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì). Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.