Pride for Prejudice

Shakhriyar Hamid oglu Mamedyarov – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
Candidates Tournament; Berlin, March 24, 2018
3r2k1/5pp1/1qb1pn1p/ppN5/3PP3/1B2QP1P/P4KP1/2R5 w - a6 0 28

Position after 27. ... a7-a5

And finally, the day came when 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) succeeded in winning his first game! In the position of the diagram it is White who is to move. Mamedyarov doesn’t feel like venturing into unclear waters with 28. Nxe6!? fxe6 29. Bxe6+ Kf8 30. d5 Qxe3+ 31. Kxe3 followed by the Rook’s penetration to c5 or c7, which yet seemed to offer a good compensation – even though probably no more than it. The text also expresses aggressive intentions, but makes it difficult to follow a coherent thread. 28. g4 a4 29. Bc2 Nd7 30. Bd3? And here is probably where White passes his point of no-return. 30. Nd3 Ba8 seemed still quite tenable. 30. ... Nxc5 31. Rxc5 b4 32. Bc4 Bd7 33. g5!? So desperately bad, but I doubt he might have done anything better. 33. ... hxg5 34. Qxg5 Be8! 34. ... b3 25. axb3 a3 seemed quite appealing now, but that becomes much stronger after White’s next move. 35. Qe7!? When nothing matters anymore, it’s time to believe that everything can still happen! 35. ... b3! 36. axb3 a3 37. b4 Ra8 38. d5 a2 39. dxe6!? Who knows, maybe check, maybe mate. 39. ... a1=Q. But, of course, a King with two Queens on his side cannot lose. 40. exf7+ Bxf7 41. Bxf7+ Kh7 42. Qh4+ Qh6 43. Rh5 Qa7+ 0 : 1.