Monday, December 9, 2024

Kiss of the Black Widow

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Dommaraju Gukesh
World Chess Championship 2024; match game 12; Sentosa, December 9, 2024
English Opening A13

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 d4 5. 0-0 Nc6 6. e3 Be7 7. d3 dxe3 8. Bxe3 e5 9. Nc3 0-0 10. Re1 h6 11. a3 a5 12. h3 Be6 13. Kh2 Rb8. “13. ... Rb8 came as a surprise for me”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) said in the post-game press conference. “I was expecting 13. ... Qd7 I am going to play 14. Qb3 Rad8 if he can put his Queen on c8, I think his position is very solid. Maybe I can take here 15. Qxb7 Rb8 16. Qa6 Rxb2 my calculation stops here. I don’t know if White is better or not”.
14. Qc2 Re8. “Here is another critical moment”, said 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén). “Maybe he can play 14. ... Nd4 15. Bxd4 exd4 to change the structure. I have maybe 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Rxe4 c5 maybe slightly easier to play for White... Maybe I should play 14. Nb5 already to stop ... Nc6-d4”.
15. Nb5 Bf5 16. Rad1 Nd7? Apparently Gukesh feels so much heavy responsibility after yesterday’s victory, actually too much for him. Better was 16. ... Bf8! 17. Qc3 Qc8 18. Nd2⩲ leaving White with only a slight edge.


17. Qd2! (Δ d3-d4)
17. ... Bg6?! This doesn’t solve Black’s problems, but if 17. ... Nc5 18. d4 Nd3 then 19. d5 Nxe1 20. Qxe1 Nd4 21. Nfxd4 exd4 22. Nxd4 Bg6 23. Qxa5 with two Pawns and a strong bind for the Exchange.
18. d4! e4. More or less forced because 18. ... exd4? 19. Bf4 would be disastrous for Black.
19. Ng1 Nb6 20. Qc3 Bf6. A little better may be 20. ... f5, after which White could continue, similarly to the game, with 21. f3 Bf6 22. fxe4 fxe4 23. Qc2 followed by Ng1-e2.
21. Qc2 a4 22. Ne2 Bg5? The “less worst” was perhaps 22. ... Na5, but then 23. c5 Nbc4 24. Nf4 Bf5 25. Bf1 would win at least a Pawn for White.


23. Nf4 Bxf4 24. Bxf4 Rc8 25. Qc3. Game over.
25. ... Nb8 26. d5! White’s advantage is so great that he can afford to snub 26. Na7 with the clear gain of an Exchange.
26. ... Qd7 27. d6 c5 28. Nc7 Rf8 29. Bxe4 Nc6 30. Bg2 Rcd8 31. Nd5 Nxd5 32. cxd5 Nb8 33. Qxc5 Rc8 34. Qd4 Na6 35. Re7 Qb5 36. d7 Rc4


37. Qe3. 37. Qxc4! Qxc4 38. Re8 was a most striking finish, but 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s solution isn’t bad either.
37. ... Rc2 38. Bd6 f6 39. Rxg7+! 1–0.

“It might be the best game I have played in recent times”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) finally said. Photo: Eng Chin An.

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