The King’s Dragon

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)

2022 “Welcome to the Asian Games” Chess Grandmaster Showdown; match game 6; 杭州 (Hángzhōu), April 10, 2022

Catalan Opening E06

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Rd1. Varying from 11. Nc3 h6 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. a5 Bd6 14. Rfe1 Bd5 15. Qa4 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 c6 17. Nd1 e5 18. dxe5 Bxe5 19. Qb3 Qc7 20. Ne3 Rad8 21. Red1 Bd4 22. Nc4 Bc5 23. Kg2 Rfe8 24. e3 g6 25. h4 h5 26. Rac1 Qe7 27. Rc3 Rxd1 28. Qxd1 Rd8 29. Rd3 Rxd3 30. Qxd3 Ne8 ½ : ½ 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), ibidem, match game 4. 11. ... a5 12. Nbd2 h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Rac1. Very interesting is 14. Qd3 Bb4 15. e4 Qe7 16. Ne5 Bd7 17. Ndc4 Rfd8 18. Qe3 Be8 19. h4 Nd7 20. Nxd7 Bxd7 21. e5 Rab8 22. Be4 Be8 23. Qf3 f5 24. exf6 Qxf6 25. Qe3 Bg6 26. Rd3 Bf5 27. Rc1 c6 28. Rc2 Rd7 29. Ne5 Rd6 30. Nc4 Rd7 31. Ne5 Rd6 32. Kg2 Rbd8 33. f3 Bxe4 34. fxe4 Qxe5?! (a speculative hazard) 35. dxe5 Rxd3 36. Qa7! with an unbalanced endgame in which White should be better, Caruana – Shankland, 65th U.S. Chess Championship, Saint Louis 2021. 14. ... Qe8!? This is probably new, but nothing new with regard to the assessment of the line. Likewise 14. ... Bb4 15. Ne5 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 c6 17. Qd3 Qe7 18. Ndc4 Rad8 19. Qf3 Nd5 20. Nd3 Nf6 21. e3 Rfe8 22. h4⩲ is a tad better for White, Cheparinov – Sarin, 1st Trophée CapÉchecs Online, europe-echecs.com, October 25, 2020, Semifinal match game 1 (time control: 10 minutes plus 3 seconds per move). 15. b3 Rc8 16. Ne5 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 c5 18. Ndf3 Bd6 19. h4 cxd4 20. Qxd4 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Qb8 22. Rc4 Rd8

23. e4! 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) himself then called this “the turning point” — not the best move in an absolute sense, but a most powerful one psychologically. 23. ... Ne8? This loses time and position. Better is 23. ... Bb4! 24. Qb6 Rc8 with good chances for equality. 24. h5 Nf6 25. Qb6 Nxh5 26. Qxa5 Nf6

27. Nxf7! Kxf7 28. e5 Nd5 29. exd6 Qxd6 30. Qe1 Kg8 31. Qe4 Re8 32. b4 Nb6 33. Rd4 Nd5 34. Ne5 Rf8 35. a5

35. ... Rf5? (⌓ 35. ... Nc3 36. Qe3 Nd5 37. Qe2±) 36. Nd3 Qe7 37. Nc5 Kf7 38. Rd2 b6

39. Nd3? 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) indulges in an uncommonly (for him) hesitant fuzzy solution — and which could cost him the win. Best was 39. Rxd5! Rxd5 40. axb6 with a won ending. 39. ... Qb7? But 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) immediately returns the favour. 39. ... bxa5 40. bxa5 Qd6! would have offered some resistance. 40. Re2 Rf6 41. axb6 Qa8 1 : 0.

“In today’s game, the turning point was the Pawn advance e2-e4”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) said afterwards. “韦奕 (Wéi Yì) did not duly appreciate it — for if he had handled it properly, he would have achieved something near equality. Objectively, it wasn’t the strongest move, but nevertheless it put 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) under psychological pressure, which caused him to go wrong later”. Photo: sohu.com.