Minus One

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Jan Emmanuel Garcia
7th HDBank International Open Chess Tournament; Ho Chi Minh City, March 14, 2017
Giuoco Piano C53

“The win of the wonder boy 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) in round five of HDBank Cup featured a remarkable tactical turn. In the position of the diagram White found an extraordinary idea for gaining a decisive advantage. How shall he play?”, Grandmaster Rafael Duailibe Leitão says and asks, in the introduction to the commentary on the game for his website. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. 0-0 a6 6. c3 d6 7. Nbd2 Ba7 8. Bb3 0-0 9. Re1 Be6 10. Bc2? There is obviously a reason why White now usually prefers 10. h3; for instance: 10. ... Bxb3 11. axb3 d5 12. Qe2 Qd7 13. Nf1 d4 14. b4 Rad8 15. Rd1 Ne8 16. Ng3 f6 17. Qe1 Kh8 18. c4 Bb8 19. h4 Nd6 20. h5 Rde8 21. c5 Nc8 22. Nh4 N8e7 23. Bd2 Qg4 24. Nhf5 Nxf5 25. exf5 Ne7 26. Qe4 Qxe4 27. Nxe4 c6 28. g4 Nd5 29. Kf1 h6 30. Ke2 Kg8 ½ : ½ 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Ivanchuk, 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2015. 10. ... h6? Much stronger is 10. ... Ng4! 11. Rf1 (11. d4 exd4) 11. ... Bxf2+! 12. Rxf2 Ne3 13. Qe2 Nxc2 14. Rb1 Bxa2 15. b3 Bxb1 16. Nxb1 (Nordenbæk – V. Nielsen, 10th Copenhagen Chess Challenge, Ballerup 2014) 16. ... Na1! 17. Qb2 Nxb3 18. Qxb3 b5∓ (Leitão’s analysis). 11. h3 Re8 12. Nf1 d5 13. exd5 Qxd5 14. Ng3 Bc5 15. b4 Bf8 16. a4 b5 17. Re2!? g6 18. Qe1 Nd7 19. d4! exd4 20. Be4 Qd6 21. Bxc6 Qxc6 22. Nxd4 Qd5 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Rd2 Qe5

25. Qe4!! Qg7. If 25. ... Qxe4 then 26. Nxe4 Red8 (or 26. ... Bd6 27. Nxd6 cxd6 28. Rxd6 with a more prosaic win) 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Nf6+ finis. 26. axb5 Nf6 27. Qc6 Nd5 28. Bb2 Rad8 29. bxa6 1 : 0.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: sports.sohu.com