Counting Sheep

Levon Grigori Aronian – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Prelims Tournament; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 10, 2024

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Position #336

1. c4 Ng6 2. f4 c5 3. e3 b6 4. b3 f6 5. Qf2 Qf7 6. g4 d5 7. cxd5 Qxd5 8. h4

8. ... 0-0!? Castling into it. To be sure, a reckless decision considering 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s state of shape.
9. h5 Nh8 10. Ne2 Nf7 11. Nhg3 Ncd6 12. Nf5 Rd7?? Oblivious to the danger, Black parries only one of the two major threats. He had, of course, to take the Knight: 12. ... Nxf5 on which White would probably have continued 13. e4 Qb7 14. gxf5 Kh8 15. 0-0-0⩲ with an edge.

13. Nxg7! Kxg7? 13. ... Ne4 14. Qg2 Kxg7 15. g5 is a little better, but not much: White’s attack hits and hurts.
14. g5 e5 15. gxf6++ Kh8 16. Qg3 Nd8 17. Bxe5. It should be noted, at least in passing, that 16. Qxg7+! at once was also possible.
17. ... Rdf7

18. Qg7+! 1 : 0. 18. ... Rxg7 19. fxg7+ Kg8 20. Bxh7+ Kf7 (or 20. ... Kxh7 21. gxf8=Q with mate in two) 21. g8=Q+! is a disaster for Black.

In the Prelims of Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, an interlocutory rapid round-robin format, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) showed himself as him who descended into the hell, thus unveiling the darkest side of his Mr. Hyde to the onlookers. Who knows, however, that when the going will get tough, the tough will get going, suddenly and mysteriously, taking his adversaries by surprise. Photo: Amruta Mokal and Sagar Shah/ChessBase India.