Sports

Candidates Tournament

LET’S PLAY CHESS - Edgar De Castro - The Philippine Star

March 22, 2020 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), Wang Hao (China) and local bet Ian Nepomniachtchi shared the Candidates Tournament lead with 2.0 points, after third round play in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

They were followed by top-seeded American Fabiano Caruana and Russian Alexander Grischuk, at 1.5, and No. 2 seed Ding Liren (China), Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Russian wild card Kirik Alekseenko with 1.0.

MVL, a last-minute replacement for Radjabov, got more than he bargained for in his first competitive Candidates appearance, fending off No. 2 seed Ding Liren. Ding, who was quarantined for two weeks in Moscow prior to the tournament, lost his first two games, but bounced back by beating top favorite Caruana in round three.

This is about what you would not expect up to this point. The top two seeds, Caruana and Ding were in the middle and bottom in terms of total score, and lower seeds MVL, Nepomniachtchi and Wang up there.

The Candidates, which started as scheduled despite the danger of coronavirus, is a $550,000, double round robin event, the winner of which will challenge Magnus Carlsen in a 14-game world title match to be held in December in Dubai, UAE.

After the regular rest day, round four is underway as we go to press.

* * *

In the following game, Black loses a Pawn in the middle game, then pays the penalty in the ending.

Candidates Tournament 2020 round 02

W) M. Vachier-Lagrave (France)

B) D. Liren (China)

Ruy Lopez

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bb5 a6

4. Ba4 Nf6

5. O-O Be7

6. Re1 ....

After 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 0-0. the game is about even, Vachier-Lagrave-Liren, 2019 London Chess Classic, game one play-off.. An interesting line is 6. d4!? as seen in Vachier-Lagrave-Liren, 2019 London Chess Classic game eight.play-off.

6.... b5

7. Bb3 O-O

8. h3 ....

White’s last is a steady but modest line, which sails under the flag of Anti-Marshall Gambit.

8.... Bb7

9. d3 d6

9....Na5!? is an unexplored sideline, with varying possibilities for both sides, arising from 10. Nxe5 Nxb3 11. d5.

10. a3 Qd7

11. Nc3 Rfe8

12. Bd2!? ....

After 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Na7 14. d4 exd4 15. Qxd4 c5, the game is probably closed to equality, Nakamura-Liren, Sinquefield Cup 2019 The text move is MVL’s improvement on the above-mentioned game.

12.... Nd8

13. Nd5 Nxd5

If instead 13....Ne6, White obtains a slight edge after 14. Nxf6ch Bxf6 15. Nh2.

14. exd5 c5

14....c6 is an interesting alternative, suggested by the engine.

15. a4 f5?

A fatalistic reply which loses a Pawn by forced. Correct is 15....Rf8, e.g., 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Rxa8 18. c4 f6, and the game still hangs in the balance.

16. axb5 axb5

17. Rxa8 Bxa8

18. c4! ....

An astute move which will be difficult for Black to handle.

18.... Nf7

Seems best under the circumstances, as 18....bxc4 loses to 19. Ba4, while 18....Rf8 is no bargain either because of 19. cxb5 Qxb5 20. Nxe5! dxe5 21. d6ch. And finally, 18....Bf6 19. cxb5 Qf7 20. Bg5! Bxd5 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Nh4, White is winning.

19. cxb5 g5

Here Black desperately seeks counterplay. Obviously 19....Qxb5? is met by 20. Ba4.

20. Nh2 Kg7

21. Bc4 ....

White emerges a Pawn up plus a good position. Now MVL’s technique becomes manifest.

21.... Kg6

22. g4 Nh6

23. Qf3 Bd8

24. Qg2 f4

25. b4 Bb6

26. Qe4ch Kg7

27. bxc5 dxc5