Neither quiet nor storm

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Wesley So
4th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 6, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D51

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Be7 7. e3 0-0 8. Be2 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. 0-0 cxd4 11. Nxd4. In the last century no one would ever have played this. For 11. exd4 Nb6 12. Bb3 Bd7 13. Qd3 Nbd5 14. Ne5 Bc6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Bc2 Re8 17. Rad1 Kf8 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Ba4 Rb8 20. Qf3 Qb6 see Novikov – Tal, 17th USSR Team Chess Championship, Volgograd 1985. 11. ... Nb6 12. Bb3 Nbd5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Bg3 Bf6 15. Rc1. After about 25 minutes of thinking. White obtained a lasting dynamical edge by minimal means, while Black has still to solve the eternal problem of developing his Queen’s Bishop. 15. ... Nb6. Wesley, too, took a very long time (over half an hour) for deciding to pretend to do nothing at all. Perhaps he was fearing to be challenged to a duel. 16. Qe2. After another very long thought, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) decides to avoid any flashy commitments contenting himself with a modest but definite advantage. It’s a strange game! 16. ... Bd7 17. Nb5

15. ... a6? In his shoes I’d have immediately played 17. ... Bxb5 18. Qxb5 Rc8 finally solving the problem of the Queen’s Bishop. But Wesley prefers to expose himself to the mood of his rival – and sure he is right! 18. Nd6 Bc6 19. Nxb7? 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has a very gallant blind spot which dissipates any advantage. It was consistent and natural 19. Rfd1 Qe7 20. e4 Nc8 21. e5 with a clear egde to White. 19. ... Bxb7 20. Bc7 Qe7 21. Bxb6 Bxg2! That’s the reason why. 22. Kxg2 Qb7+ 23. Qf3 Qxb6 24. Rc6 Qb7 25. Rc2 Qxf3+ 26. Kxf3 Rfc8 27. Rfc1 Rxc2 28. Rxc2 Rb8 29. Rc6 a5 30. Rc5 Ra8 31. Rb5 Ra7 32. Bc2 Kf8 33. a4 Ke7 34. b4 Bc3 35. bxa5 Rxa5 ½ : ½.

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
Photo: Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour)