Trust in a Complex World

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi
5th Grand Chess Tour; 2nd stage; Zagreb, July 1, 2019
English Opening A20

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. 0-0 Be7 7. d4 e4 8. Ne5 f5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Qc2 Nb4 11. Qa4 Bd7 12. a3 Nd5 13. Nc3 Bd6!? A novelty by Nepomniachtchi instead of 13. ... 0-0 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. Qb3 c6 16. Bf4 Qb6 with approximate equality, Thiede – Langrock, 2nd International Chess Tournament Cala d’Or, Santanyí 2004. But probably 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) would have put Black to the test with 14. Qc4! (instead of 14. Nxd5) which wins a Pawn, apparently with no obvious drawback. 14. f3! exf3 15. Bxf3 Nb6. In many variations, Black ends up dropping a Pawn, and compensation would be uncertain and difficult to demonstrate. By his move Nepomniachtchi holds tight to his c-Pawn, even though at the cost of keeping the King in the centre (or is he thinking about Queenside castling?). Whatever it is, he’s relying upon his h-Pawn to “steal the initiative”. 16. Qb3 Qf6 17. Be3

17. ... Qg6? This seems to lose precious time. Had he played 17. ... h5! at once, then 18. Bf2 h4! gave Black better chances to “make the basket” (19. gxh4 Rxh4!↑). 18. Bf2 h5. Now, it’s late. 19. e4! h4!? Good or bad — this is, by now, what Black can do, for if 19. ... 0-0-0 then 20. e5 followed by d4-d5 with crushing effect. 20. exf5 Qxf5 21. Rae1+ Kd8 22. Ne4 Qg6 23. Nxd6 cxd6 24. d5 c5 25. a4! The threat of a4-a5 is troublesome enough to make Black’s reply quite foreseeable: 25. ... Bxa4. If instead 25. ... Nxa4 then 26. Re6!! with devastating effect. 26. Qa3! Re8. Black must prevent Re1-e6. 27. b4! 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) methodically tightens the noose, and Black’s end comes rapidly: 27. ... Rc8 28. bxc5 Rxe1 29. Rxe1 hxg3 30. hxg3 dxc5 31. Kg2 Qc2 32. Qe3 Rc7 33. Qe6 Rd7 34. d6 Kc8 35. Rh1 1 : 0.

Nepomniachtchi (right) stretches out his hand to 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) as he resigns the game. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.