Tomorrow Never Knows

Levon Grigori Aronian – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
7th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 27, 2019
Two Knights Defence C58

Thanks to today’s draw, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) enters the final round of the 7th Sinquefield Cup ahead by half point over Anand, Carlsen (who finally scored his first win), Karjakin, and Nepomniachtchi (who melodramatically threw away a draw), not to mention that Caruana, Mamedyarov, and Vachier-Lagrave follow one point behind. In short, it’s not all yet, but it’s enough to guess that everything can still change. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3!? Nd5 9. Nf3. Seven-time Italian Chess Champion Vincenzo Castaldi got literally zugzwanged by Paul Petrovich Keres after 9. Ne4 f5 10. Ng3 Nf4 11. Bf1 Bc5 12. c3 Bb6 13. d4 Ng6 14. Bd3 0-0 15. b4 Nb7 16. Bc4+ Kh8 17. d5 (“after this the storm breaks unexpectedly”, Julius du Mont and Savielly Tartakower wrote in their book “500 Master Games of Chess”, New York, Dover Publications, 1975, p. 48) 17. ... Nd6 18. Bb3 f4 19. Nf1 Ne4 0 : 1 Castaldi – Keres, 7th Chess Olympiad, Stockholm 1937. 9. ... Bd6 10. 0-0 Nf4 11. Nc3. Though only five-minute chess, the following game is worth a close look: 11. Re1 Nxd3 12. cxd3 0-0 13. Nc3 Re8 14. h3 c5 15. b3 Ba6 16. Ba3 Bxd3 17. Ne4 Bxe4 18. Rxe4 f5 19. Ra4 e4 20. Nh2 Nc6 21. Rc1 Ne5 22. d4 Nd3 23. dxc5 Bf4 24. Rc2 e3 25. f3 Bg3 26. Nf1 Bf2+ 27. Kh1 Nf4 28. Qxd8 Raxd8 29. Rxf4 Rd1 30. Re2 Bg3 31. Kg1 Bxf4 32. g4 Red8 33. Bb4 R8d4 34. Ba5 Rd5 35. Bb4 a5 36. Bxa5 Rxc5 37. Bb6 Rcc1 38. Bxe3 Rxf1+ 39. Kg2 Bxe3 40. Rxe3 Rfe1 41. Rd3 f4 0 : 1 Short – Kasparov, “Your Next Move” Blitz Chess Match, Leuven 2011, match game 8. 11. ... Nxd3 12. cxd3 0-0 13. b3 c5 14. Ba3 Nc6 15. Ne4 Nb4 16. Bxb4 cxb4 17. Re1 Bb8!? A novelty in place of 17. ... Bb7 18. Nxd6 Qxd6 19. Nxe5 Rfe8 20. Nc4 Qxd3 (after 20. ... Qg6?! 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Qf1± Black does not have enough compensation for the two Pawns, Zhigalko – Inarkiev, 4th World Rapid Chess Championship, Berlin 2015) 21. Re3 Qg6 22. f3⩲ with White heading for an endgame a Pawn up, Zhigalko – Ragger, 41st Chess Olympiad, Tromsø 2014. 18. Ng3 Qxd3 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Be6 21. Re3 Qd4 22. Ne2 Qd6 23. d4 a5 24. h4 Rfd8 25. Qd2 a4 26. Rd1 axb3 27. axb3 Ra5. Unlike the aforementioned games (by Zhigalko), here 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) succeeded in bargaining for enough counterplay to get his minus Pawn sufficiently compensated, so the game drifts towards an inevitable draw.

28. Rg3 Rf5 29. Ra1 Bd5 30. Qe3 h6 31. Rg4 Rf6 32. Ng3 Qe6 33. Qxe6 Bxe6 34. Re4 Bxb3 35. d5 Rb6 36. Rb1 Bxd5 37. Rexb4 Rxb4 38. Rxb4 Be6 39. f3 Ra8 40. Kh1 Rd8 41. Kg1 Ra8 42. Kh1 Rd8 43. Kg1 ½ : ½.

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) showed himself ready even to take on Aronian’s “Romantic” challenge. Photo © Crystal Fuller/Grand Chess Tour.