23.1.16

Chinese Perfection-Part 2

After Hou Yifan's inspired win Wijk an Zee witnessed another Chinese precision in round five. Thanks to this win, Ding Liren moved to a shared first place:
A game that I liked (ChessBase 13)

[Event "Tata Steel Chess - Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.01.21"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2766"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:55:52"]
[BlackClock "0:42:34"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 {Diagram [#] Karjakin repertoire is a solid
Nimtzo-Queen's Indian openings.} 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 c6 8.
e4 d5 9. Bd3 ({Grischuk's fabulous idea to sacrifice four pawns in a flash:} 9.
exd5 exd5 10. Bg2 dxc4 11. O-O cxb3 12. Re1 bxa2 13. Ne5 Bb7 14. d5 cxd5 {
did not find followers yet, Grischuk,A (2771)-Fedoseev,V (2659) Baku 2015})
9... dxe4 10. Nxe4 Bb7 11. Qe2 Nbd7 {Black is very solid and intends to swap
off a pair of knights on e4, free his position a bit and prepare c6-c5 for
ultimate leveling of the chances.} 12. O-O-O $146 {[%csl Yc1,Ye8][%cal Gg3g4,
Gh3h4] Diagram [#] But Ding ruins Black's plan for a slow, sleepy game.} ({
Normal play will be} 12. Nxf6+ Nxf6 13. O-O c5 {when Topalov found a way to
complicate matters with} 14. d5 exd5 15. Rfe1 dxc4 16. Bxc4 O-O 17. Rad1 Qd7
18. Ng5 {for the pawn White has plenty of play, Topalov,V (2767)-Leko,P (2737)
Beijing 2013}) 12... Nxe4 13. Bxe4 Nf6 14. Bc2 a5 {The king on the queenside
requires actions.} 15. Rhe1 b5 {[%csl Yc1] Diagram [#] Karjakin tries to
create counter play before castling.} ({There was nothing wrong with} 15... O-O)
16. c5 {The only move. It gives a lot of squares to the black pieces (d5 and
c3 in particular) but at the same time provides stability on the flank. Bad was
} (16. cxb5 a4 $1 {when Black opens too many files against the white king.})
16... b4 17. g4 Ba6 ({White is not even sacrificing the pawn after} 17... Nxg4
18. Rg1) 18. Qe5 O-O ({White is not forced to trade queens after} 18... Qd5 $6
19. Qf4) 19. g5 Nh5 $1 {Diagram [#] Karjakin correctly sacifices a pawn.
White's attack is too strong after} (19... Nd5 20. Qe4 {To force a weakening
move.} g6 21. h4 Bb5 22. h5 {Followed by a timely capture on g6 and doubling
of the heavy piecs along the "h" file and mate. Say} Nc3 23. Bxc3 bxc3 24. hxg6
hxg6 25. Qh4 {[%csl Yg8][%cal Rh1h8] Diagram [#] and it is over.}) 20. Qe4 g6
21. Qxc6 Ra7 22. Be4 {Prepares the d4-d5 advance. From a hinsight better was
the immediate} (22. Qb6 Qxb6 ({White was probably worried about his queen
safety in after} 22... Qa8 $5) 23. cxb6 Rb7 24. Be3 {White's advantage is
clear, for example} Rxb6 (24... Bd8 25. Be4 Rxb6 26. d5 exd5 27. Bxd5 Rb8 28.
Ne5 {[%csl Gd5,Yd8,Ge3,Ge5,Yf8,Yh5] Diagram [#] with huge difference in the
activity of the pieces.}) 25. d5 Rd6 26. Bc5) ({If Ding starts to retreat
Black will get what he wants-} 22. Qe4 Bb7 23. c6 Ba8) 22... Bb7 23. Qb6 $1 {
The only move. Queens should leave the board as if} (23. Qb5 Bxe4 24. Rxe4 a4
$1 {Black will get strong attack along the "a" and "b" files.}) 23... Qxb6 24.
cxb6 Bxe4 25. Rxe4 (25. bxa7 $2 Bxf3) 25... Rb7 26. Be3 Rc8+ $2 {[%cal Gf8f2,
Yc8c1] Diagram [#] It is tempting to put the rook on the open file with a
tempo but this might be the losing mistake! It did great where it was as
proven by the line} (26... Bd8 27. d5 exd5 28. Rxd5 Bxb6 29. Bxb6 Rxb6 30. Rxa5
f6 {[%csl Rf2,Rf3] Diagram [#] and the rook is ready for the harvest on the
"f" file. In this line the most probably outcome would be a draw.}) 27. Kb1
Rxb6 28. d5 $1 Rd6 29. Rd2 Kf8 30. dxe6 Rxe6 31. Rxe6 fxe6 {The result of the
forced play is a cheerless endgame for Karjakin. The main problem is not the
isolated e6 pawn, but the pair of black queenside pawns which are blocked on
the color of their own bishop.} 32. Rc2 $1 {[%csl Ya5,Yb4][%cal Gb1c2,Gc2d3,
Gd3c4,Gc4b5,Gb5a5] Diagram [#] Excellent technique by Ding. The rook is ready
for the decisive penetration.} Rd8 ({Or} 32... Rxc2 33. Kxc2 {followed by a
triumphal king march all the way to b5.}) 33. Nd4 Ng7 (33... Kf7 {would lose
faster to} 34. Rc7) 34. Nc6 Rd1+ 35. Rc1 {Once more White speculates with the
threat of a rook swap to win the decisive tempo.} Rd5 36. Nxe7 $1 {[%csl Ya5,
Yb4,Ge3,Yg7] Diagram [#] Such moves are harder to make than it seems. The
knight was clearly superior to the bishop but the latter was Black's best
defender. Once that it is gone none can save the queenside pawns.} Kxe7 37.
Rc7+ {A small check but once more excellent technique. The king is driven back.
} Kf8 38. Rc5 $1 {Wins the "a" pawn.} Ke7 39. Rxd5 exd5 40. Bb6 Kd6 {A better
try was} (40... Ne6 41. Bxa5 Nxg5 42. Bxb4+ Kd7 43. a4 Nf3 44. h3 Ng1 {Diagram
[#] when Black regains the pawn. The bishop is still clearly superior to the
knight but thanks to the reduced number of pawns left on the board and the
light color of the a8 square Black has decent drawing chances.}) 41. Bxa5 Kc5
42. Bd8 Nf5 {It seems as this is a fortress but with subtle maneuvering Ding
breaks in.} 43. Kc2 Nd4+ 44. Kd3 Nf5 45. Bc7 Kc6 46. Bf4 Kc5 47. Be3+ Kb5 48.
Ke2 $1 {[%csl Yd5,Yg6,Yh7][%cal Ge2f3,Gf3f4,Gf4e5,Ge5f6,Ge5d5] Diagram [#]
Intending Ke2-f3-f4-e5.} Nh4 49. Bd2 Nf5 50. Kf3 Nd4+ 51. Kf4 Nc6 {The last
stand.} 52. Be3 Ka6 53. Bc5 Kb5 54. Bd6 Ka5 $2 {And it is over in just one
move.} ({After} 54... Kb6 55. Ke3 Kb7 56. f4 Kc8 {White still need to prove
his win, which I suspect he can do with either} 57. f5 ({Or} 57. a3 bxa3 58.
Bxa3) 57... gxf5) 55. Ke3 {Karjaking resigned due to} (55. Ke3 Kb5 56. f4 Ka6
57. f5 $1 {Diagram [#]}) 1-0



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