Summer Thoughts for Winter Days

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
4th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 13, 2016
Grünfeld Defence D79

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 0-0 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. 0-0. Of course, if 12. Qxc6 then 12. ... Qa5 and Black has obvious compensation for the Pawn, Nakhbayeva – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié), 11th Women’s Moscow Open, Moscow 2015. 12. ... Qb6 13. Ba3

13. ... Qa6! Black easily equalizes in this line which used to be Grandmaster Sergio Mariotti’s favourite back in the seventies. 14. Qxa6 Bxa6 15. Rfb1 Bxe2 16. Bxe7 Rfb8 17. Bd6 Rd8. Or 17. ... Rxb1+ 18. Rxb1 Bb5 19. f4 a6 20. Bf3 Rd8 21. Bb4 Re8 22. Kf2 Bd3 23. Re1 Rb8 24. a3 Bf8 25. g4 Bc4 26. Kg3 Kg7 27. g5 Rb5 28. Re8 Bxb4 29. axb4 a5 30. bxa5 Rxa5 31. h4 h6 32. Re3 Ra3 33. Kf2 Ra2+ 34. Kg3 ½ : ½ Smejkal – Mariotti, Grandmaster Chess Tournament, Milan 1975. 18. Bc5 Bf8 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20. Rb2!? 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) adds just a nuance to 20. Rb7 Ba6 21. Rc7 Rdc8 22. Rd7 Rd8 23. Rc7 Rdc8 24. Rd7 Rd8 25. Rc7 Rdc8 ½ : ½ Abasov – Safarli, 71st Azerbaijani Chess Championship, Baku 2016. 20. ... Bd3 21. Rd1 Bf5 22. Rb7 Rdb8 23. Rc7 Rc8 24. Rb7 Rcb8 25. Rc7 Rc8 26. Rb7 ½ : ½. So when you are in peace, what’s better than watching the Olympics?

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) watching the Olympics. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.