Lumpia

Wesley So – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
8th Grand Slam Masters Final; Bilbao, October 26, 2015
King’s Indian Defence E99

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 e5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. Rc1. Wesley improves on 13. Nd3 Ng6 14. c5 Nf6 15. Rc1 Rf7 16. Kh1 h5 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. Nb5 a6! as occurred in the game So – Nakamura, 3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis 2015. 13. ... Ng6 14. c5!? A very interesting Pawn positional sacrifice just to break through on the Queenside. 14. ... Nxc5 15. b4 Na6 16. Nd3 h5 17. Nb5 b6. For 17. ... Bd7 18. a4 Bh6 see Piket – Kasparov, 14th Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez Ciudad de Linares, Linares 1997. 18. Be1 Rf7 19. Bd2 Bf6 20. Nf2 Qe8 21. Qa4 Bd8 22. Qa3 g4 23. fxg4 hxg4 24. Nc3! Nxb4!? A speculative Knight sacrifice and probably Black’s best chance. After 24. ... Nb8 25. Nxg4 Rg7 26. Nd1 White would inexorably tighten his stranglehold on the Queenside. 25. Qxb4 f3 26. Bb5 Qe7 27. g3 Rh7 28. Qc4 Rh8. Well, Black’s goal is to checkmate Wesley! 29. Qc6! Qh7 30. h3 Rb8 31. Ncd1! a6

32. Qe8+ Kg7 33. Qxd8!! A deeply meditated Queen sacrifice through which Wesley completely neutralizes all Black’s threats. 33. ... Rxd8 34. Rxc7+ Bd7 35. Rxd7+ Rxd7 36. Bxd7 gxh3 37. Kh2 Rb7 38. Be6. Her Majesty is overwhelmed by the three White minor pieces. 38. ... Nf8 39. Bf5 Qh5 40. Ng4 Nd7 41. Bh6+ Kh8 42. Nde3 Rc7 43. Bxd7! Rxd7 44. Rxf3 Rf7 45. Rf5! Rxf5 46. exf5 Qf7 47. Bg5 b5 48. Nh6 Qf8 49. f6 Kh7 50. Nef5 Kg6 51. Bh4 e4 52. f7 e3 53. Be7 e2. 53. ... Qxf7 54. Nxf7 e2 55. Ne5+! dxe5 56. Bb4 doesn’t work anyway. 54. Nh4+ Kh7 55. Bxf8 e1=Q 56. Bxd6 Qf2+ 57. Kxh3 Qf1+ 58. Kg4 Qc4+ 59. Bf4 Qe2+ 60. Nf3 1 : 0. An impressive game by Wesley So, who finally seems to have recovered his old shape.

Wesley So vs. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
Photo: David Llada (‏@lladini)