Mirror Blocks

Alexander Igorevich Grischuk – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
8th Chess World Cup; match game 1; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 23, 2019
Catalan Opening E04

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. 0-0 Nc6 7. e3 Rb8 8. Nfd2 e5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. Nxc4 Be6 12. Qe2. It’s interesting to note that Grischuk played a 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s specialty with White. In two relatively recent games with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the Chinese Grandmaster actually experienced two different moods. Rapid cadence did not bring him good luck: 12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13. Nbd2 Bb4 14. b3 h5!↑ 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Mamedyarov, 2nd IMSA Élite Mind Games Rapid, 淮安 (Huái’ān) 2017. Instead, blitz time controls turned out to be far more inspiring: 12. Nbd2(!) h5 13. f3(!) Rb4 14. fxg4 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 Rxc4 17. Bd2 Rxg4 18. Ba5 Bc5 19. Kf2 Bb6 20. Bc3⩲ 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Mamedyarov, 2nd IMSA Élite Mind Games Blitz, 淮安 (Huái’ān) 2017. 12. ... h5! 13. Rd1 Qc8! 14. Qf3!? Of course Grischuk does better than 14. Nbd2(?) h4!→ which gave Black an easy and immediate attack, Vorobiov – Goudriaan, 6th Leiden Chess Tournament GpA, Leiden 2012, but it’s questionable whether 14. h3!? h4! may work better than the text.

14. ... Rb6? Here’s where 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) misses his chance with 14. ... Bd5! 15. Rxd5! cxd5 16. Qxd5 Qf5 17. f3 Qc2! 18. Qc6+ Kd8 19. Nbd2 Qd1+ 20. Nf1 Nxh2! 21. Kxh2 Rh6!!−+ (the move overlooked by Black, who probably calculated 21. ... Qxf1 22. e6! Qf2+ drawing by perpetual check). 15. Nxb6 cxb6 16. h4 Nxe5 17. Qf4 Ng6 18. Qe4 Be7 19. Nc3 Bf5 20. Qh1 Ne5 21. f3 Bc2 22. Rd2 Bg6 23. Qg2 0-0 24. Rd1 Qf5 25. Rf1 Qe6 26. Ne2 Nd3 27. Kh2 Rd8 28. e4 f5 29. exf5 Qxf5 30. Nf4 Bf7 31. Nxd3 Rxd3 32. Bf4 Bxh4 33. Rad1 Rxd1 34. Rxd1 Bf6 35. b3 g5 36. Bc7 Bd5 37. Qe2 g4 38. Qd3 Qxd3 39. Rxd3 gxf3 40. Bxb6 Be5 41. Bd4 Be4 ½ : ½. For 42. Rd1 Bxd4 43. Rxd4 f2 44. Rd1 Bd3! 45. Kg2 f1=Q+! leads to a drawn King and Pawn ending.

Grischuk’s psychological approach ended up appeasing 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s ambitions in their first quarterfinal game. Photo: Kirill Merkuryev/FIDE World Cup 2019.