Through the Eye of the Needle

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Magnus Carlsen
5th Grand Chess Tour; 2nd stage; Zagreb, July 4, 2019
Catalan Opening E05

Magnus Carlsen also crushed 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) — actually the world No. 3 — with stunning power, and for the first time in classical time control. That means that the search for the next challenger will likely become a still more exclusive affair among very few rich people. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 8. a4 b4 9. Nfd2 Nd5 10. Nxc4 c5 11. dxc5 Ba6!? This new move by Carlsen upset 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) enough to make him think long and hard. 12. Ne3 Nd7 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. c6 Rc8 15. Bf4 Nc5 16. c7 Qd7 17. Nd2 g5. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has now to defend his precarious “drawing zone” being a hour behind his opponent, which is going to be a “mission impossible” against the Carlsen of today.

18. Be5 f6 19. Bd4 Rxc7 20. Qd1 Ne6 21. Nb3 Bc4 22. Na5 Nxd4 23. Qxd4 Kg7 24. Rfc1 Bxe2 25. Rxc7 Qxc7 26. Re1 Bc5 27. Qxd5 Re8 28. Qb7. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) enters an endgame which he feels to be drawable, but that instead will end with the triumph of Black’s Bishop pair. All things considered, then, 28. Qc6 Qxc6 29. Nxc6 Bh5 was worth considering as possibly giving better drawing prospects. 28. ... Qxb7 29. Nxb7 Bf8 30. Bc6 Re7 31. f3 Bc4 32. Rxe7+ Bxe7 33. Kf2 f5 34. Ke3 Bg8 35. Kd3 g4 36. Na5 Bc5 37. Nc4 Bg1 38. Ne3 Be6 39. fxg4 fxg4 40. Ke2 h5 41. Bd5 Bd7 42. Bb3 Bxh2 43. Kf2 h4 44. gxh4 Be5 45. Nc4 g3+ 46. Kg1 Bf4 47. Bd1 Bc6 48. b3 Kh6 49. a5 Be4 50. Kf1 Kg7 51. Kg1 Kf6 52. Kf1 Ke6 53. h5 Kd5 54. a6 Kd4 55. Bg4 Kc3 56. Be6 Bc2 57. Na5 Bc7 58. Nb7 Bd3+ 59. Kg1 Bxa6 0 : 1. “Win is a win, but this one is special”, Carlsen finally said.

Thanks to his win against 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), Carlsen remains in the lead with ½ point ahead of Wesley So. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.