Wild Cats of the World

Viswanathan Anand – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
29th Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez “Ciudad de León”; match game 1; León, June 12, 2016
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. 0-0 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 h6 8. Re1 0-0 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. Nf1 Ba7 11. Ng3. For 11. Be3 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. Ng3 d5 see Kramnik – Svidler, 23rd Russian Team Chess Championship, Sochi 2016. 11. ... Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. b4 d5 14. Qc2 b5 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. Rxe3 d4 17. Ree1 dxc3 18. Qxc3 Qf8 19. axb5 axb5 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Nf5 Qf8 22. Rb1 g6 23. Ne3 Qd6 24. Nc2 Qd8 25. h3 Kh7 26. Na3. Anand maneuvered with his usual skill, finally putting his young opponent in a dilemma. 26. ... Nd4? 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) wants to save everything, but he should have done better to leave the Pawn to its fate and play 26. ... Nh5 27. Nxb5 Nf4 eventually followed by ... h6-h5 and ... g6-g5-g4. 27. Nxd4 exd4 28. Qc5 c6 29. Nc2 Rd6 30. Ra1 Nh5 31. Ra7 Kg8

32. Ra8? Anand comes up with a brilliant suggestion, but he should have contented himself with 32. e5 Rd7 33. Rxd7 Qxd7 34. Nxd4 securing a decisive advantage. 32. ... Qxa8 33. Qxd6 Qa2 34. Nxd4 Qb1+ 35. Kh2 Qxd3 36. f3 Qd2 37. Nxb5 Qg5? 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) misses 37. ... Qf2! 38. Qxc6 (or 38. Nd4 g5! 39. Qxh6 Qg3+ and Black gives perpetual check) 38. ... Qg3+ 39. Kg1 Qe1+ forcing perpetual check. 38. Na7 Nf4 39. Qd2 Kh7. Black’s last (best) chance was to give up the Pawn by 39. ... c5 40. bxc5 h5 with maybe some problematic chances for salvation. 40. Nxc6 Qf6 41. e5 Qf5. Or 41. ... Qxc6 42. Qxf4 Kg7 43. Qd4 winning easily. 42. b5 Ne6 43. b6 Nc5 44. Qb4 Nb7 45. Qe4 Qe6 46. f4 Nc5 47. Nd8 Qxb6 48. Qd5 Ne6 49. Nxe6 fxe6 50. Qd7+ 1 : 0.

Viswanathan Anand vs. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: EFE

Iron Mountain Baby

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
28th Torneo Magistral “Ciudad de León”; match game 3; León, June 14, 2015
Sicilian Defence B35

“It was the third game where Wéi Yì struck first, with very powerful play. It wasn’t easy to point out where Black went wrong. The young Chinese won an Exchange, and allowed no counterplay”, Peter Doggers wrote.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 Qa5 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Nb3 Qc7 10. f4 d6 11. Be2 Bd7 12. Qe1!? For 12.Bf3 Rfe8 13.g4 h6 14.Qe2 Na5 see Zakharov – Osnos, 31st USSR Chess Championship, Leningrad 1963. Apparently sharper is 12. g4!?, but 12. ... h6! 13. Rf2 Nh7 leads to nothing special for White, Hort – Minaya Molano, 16th Chess Olympiad, Tel Aviv 1964. 12. ... a6 13. Rd1 b5 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. exd5 Nd8. 15. ... Na7 16. c3 does not make much difference: White stands a little better. 16. Nd4 e5 17. fxe5 dxe5

18. d6! Qc8. Clearly not 18. ... Qxd6?? because of 19. Nf5 Qc7 20. Nxg7 Kxg7 21. Qh4 with an overwhelming attack. 19. Nb3 Ne6? Comparatively better is 19. ... f5, although after 20. c4! White keeps the upper hand. 20. Bf3 Rb8. If 20. ... Bc6 there follows 21. d7! Qc7 22. Bxc6 Qxc6 23. Qf2 with a clear edge for White. 21. Ba7 Rb7 22. Qf2. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), in his usual boa constrictor style, tightens the grip before to cash in. 22. ... f5 23. Bd5 Kh8 24. Na5. Now Black is forced to give up the Exchange and enter an endgame which is hopelessly lost. 24. ... Rxa7 25. Qxa7 Qc5+ 26. Qxc5 Nxc5 27. b4 Na4 28. Bc6. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) finishes the game with superlative technique. 28. ... Rf7 29. Bxd7 Rxd7 30. Nb3 Bf8 31. Nc5 Rxd6 32. Rxd6 Bxd6 33. Nxa4 bxa4 34. a3 e4 35. Rd1 Be5 36. c4 Kg7 37. b5 axb5 38. cxb5 Kf6 39. b6 Ke7 40. b7 Bc7 41. Rb1 1 : 0.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: Torneo Magistral “Ciudad de León”

Wonderwall

David Antón Guijarro – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
28th Torneo Magistral “Ciudad de León”; match game 1; León, June 13, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D85

“Aclimitarse a las condiciones y al ritmo de un torneo no es nada fácil. Aú más si delante tuyo tienes a uno de los jugadores promesa más importantes del mundo. Así le sucedió a David Antón, quien pese a mostrar un buen juego, sufrió la derrota ante Wéi Yì, quien supo aprovechar a la perfección las pequeñas imperfecciones de su rival”, David Kaufmann wrote.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 Nb6 6. e3 Bg7 7. f4 0-0 8. Nf3 Be6 9. Ne4. For 9. Rc1 N8d7 10. Ne4 a5 11. a3 Nf6 12. Nc5 Bd5 13. Bd3 Nbd7 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. Ne5 Qd6 16. 0-0 see Moiseenko – Khusnutdinov, 41st Chess Olympiad, Tromsø 2014. 9. ... Nc4 10. Qc2 Nxd2 11. Nfxd2 Nd7 12. Ng5 c5 13. dxc5. Possibly better was 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. dxc5 Rc8 15. Bc4 Rxc5 16. Bxe6+ Kh8 and Black’s temporary lead in development may compensate for the Pawn. 13. ... Bd5 14. e4 Bc6 15. Bc4 Qa5 16. Rc1 e6 17. 0-0. Not 17. Bxe6? fxe6 18. Nxe6 on account of 18. ... Rae8! 19. Nxg7 Rxe4+ 20. Kd1 Qxa2 21. b3 (else 21. Nxe4?? Ba4 and Black skewers the King and Queen) 21. ... Qxc2+ 22. Rxc2 Re7 with an overwhelming advantage to Black. 17. ... Qxc5+ 18. Kh1 Qe7 19. Ngf3 Rac8 20. Qb1 Qb4. Black stands much better. If now 21. Rc2 then 21. ... Bxe4 cashing in. 21. Bb3 Nc5 22. Rc4 Qb6 23. Rcc1 Rfd8 24. f5 exf5 25. exf5 Bxf3 26. Nxf3 Nxb3 27. axb3 Qxb3 28. fxg6 hxg6 29. Rxc8 Rxc8 30. Ng5 Qxb2 31. Qe1 Bf6 32. Ne4 Be7 33. h3 Qe5 34. Qb1 Rc4 35. Nd2 Rc7 36. Qa2 Bd6 37. Nf3 Qe3 38. Nd2 Bf4 39. Rd1 Qe2 0 : 1.

David Antón Guijarro vs. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: Torneo Magistral “Ciudad de León” (Facebook)