Salt City

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – David Navara

2017 “恒大杯” (“Héngdà Cup”) Chess Grandmaster Summit Match; match game 3; 盐城 (Yánchéng), January 2, 2018

Queen’s Gambit Accepted D27

Chinese star 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) is playing a four-game match against Czech No. 1 David Navara in 盐城 (Yánchéng), 江苏省 (Jiāngsū province), China from December 31, 2017 to January 3, 2018. After losing the first game and drawing the second, the Chinese Grandmaster eventually won the third. 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. 0-0 a6 7. Nc3 b5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. dxc5 Nc6 10. Qc2. 10. Nd2!? Bxc5 11. Nde4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Be7 23. b3 Nb4 is a little more pleasant for Black, Karjakin – Carlsen, New York 2016, World Chess Championship match game 7. If, instead, 10. a3 there might follow 10. ... Bxc5 11. b4 Bd6 12. Bb2 0-0 13. Rc1 Rc8 with equality, Colle – Tartakower, Paris 1925. 10. ... Nb4 11. Qb3 Bxc5 12. Rd1 Qb8!? Probably an improvement on 12. ... Qe7 that after 13. a4(!) gave White the initiative, Wojtaszek – Ponomariov, 61st Spanish Team Chess Championship (División de Honor), Linares 2017. 13. a4 bxa4 14. Qxa4+ Bc6 15. Qa5 Be7 16. Ra3 Nc2? This proves to be Navara’s decisive mistake. Black should have played 16. ... 0-0(!) 17. Rb3 Ra7(!) eventually followed by ... Ra7-b7, holding everything together.

17. Ne5! A powerful refutation. White will win two pieces for a Rook remaining with a decisive advantage, also due to the indefensibility of the a6-Pawn. 17. ... Bb4 18. Rb3 0-0 19. Nxc6 Bxa5 20. Rxb8 Raxb8 21. Nxa5 Nb4 22. f3 Rfd8 23. e4 Rxd1+ 24. Nxd1 Nd7 25. Be3 Ne5 26. Bf4 f6 27. Ne3 Rc8 28. Bxe5 fxe5 29. Nec4 Rc5 30. Nb7 Rc8 31. Nba5 Rc5 32. Kf2 Nc2 33. Bd3 Nb4 34. Ke3 g5 35. Kd2 Kg7 36. Bb1 Kf6 37. Kc3 Rb5 38. Na3 Rb8 39. g4 h6 40. b3 Nc6 41. Nxc6 Rc8 42. Nc4 Rxc6 43. b4 Rc8 44. Bd3 h5 45. gxh5 Rh8 46. Ne3 1 : 0.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) (L.) vs. David Navara (R.)
Photo: qipai.org.cn