Fischerlander

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Fabiano Caruana

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge Prelims Tournament; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 9, 2024

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Position #33

1. d4 f5 2. c4 b6 3. b4 e6. Caruana must have been tempted by 3. ... Bxg2! 4. Kxg2 Qg6+ 5. Kf3 Qg4+ 6. Ke3 Qe4+ 7. Kd2 Qxb1, but after 8. Bc3 Nd6 9. Bc2 (trapping the Black Queen) 9. ... Nxc4+ the most he could obtain was a draw by perpetual check, which apparently is not his preferred outcome.
4. f3 Nd6 5. Nd2 f4! 6. Bc2 Nf5 7. Bxf5 exf5

8. Nd3! Feeling a little insecure at the thought of stagnating in a tenable but uncomfortable situation (for example: 8. Qf2 Bf6 9. Nd3 Qe3! 10. Rd1 Re8 11. b5 0-0-0!), 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) does not hesitate to sacrifice the Exchange in order to turn his haesitatio into actio.
8. ... Qe3+ 9. Rf2 Bh4 10. Nf1 Bxf2+ 11. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 12. Kxf2 d5 13. Nd2. 13. Nxf4 dxc4 15. d5 b5 is also quite complex, even though, of course, a little better for Black, who will probably castle on the a-side.
13. ... dxc4 14. Nxc4

14. ... g5!? Perhaps a little too conservatively, Caruana decides to return the Exchange in order to secure a small material advantage (a Pawn) which seems to be hardly convertible into a win.
15. d5 Bxd5 16. Bxh8 Bxc4 17. Bb2 Bxd3 18. exd3 Rd8. 18. ... 0-0-0!? is a pseudo-dual, and it might also be better than Black’s single Rook move. Whatever the case, Caruana preferred to keep his King on the h-side.
19. Ke2 Na6 20. Rc1 c5 21. bxc5 Nxc5 22. Bf6 Rxd3 23. Bxg5 Ra3 24. Rc2 Ne6 25. Bf6 Kf7

26. Be5?? An awful blunder, losing the Bishop. Yet, the idea to swing over the Bishop to the a1-h8 diagonal was basically right, leaving Black the task of demonstrating the value of his extra Pawn.
26. ... Re3+ 0 : 1.

No doubt 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has still not recovered from his obscure illness properly yet. Photo: Amruta Mokal/ChessBase India.