The last round of Hainan saw some interesting chess. The key battles were certainly the games of Bu Xiangzhi and Ding Liren who were playing for the title, but a curious game happened between Naiditsch and Ma Qun:
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27.cxb5 c4+!? 28.Kxc4 Rac8 29.Qa4 29.Ra6 Nd4 29...Qb7! 30.Qa4 Nc5 31.Ra7 30.Qa4± 29...Nd4 29...Qb7!? 30.Nb6 Qf7+ 31.Kd3 Qf4 32.Nxc8? 32.Qa2+! Kh8 33.Nd5! 33.Nxc8 Qe3+ 33...Qf7 34.Nxd4 exd4 35.Qb2! 32...Rxc8 32...Qd2+! 33.Kc4 d5+! 34.exd5 Nxc6! 35.bxc6 Rf4+ 36.Kc5! Rxa4 37.Rxa4 Qc2+ 38.Kb5 Be3 39.Re4 Qe2+= 33.Qa2+ Kg7 34.Qf2 Nxb5 35.Rhc1 Qf7 35...d5! 36.exd5 e4+! 37.Ke2 Re8 36.Qb2 Bxc1?! 36...Qf4! 37.Qxb5 Bg5 38.Ra7 Rc7 39.Nxe5! Rc3+! 39...Qe7 40.Rxc7 40.Nc6! 40...Qxc7 41.Qd7+ Qxd7 42.Nxd7 40.Kxc3 Qxa7 41.Qd7+ Qxd7 42.Nxd7 Kf7 43.Kd3 Bd8 44.Nb8 Bb6 45.Nc6 Bg1 46.h3 g5 47.Nd4 Kf6 48.Ne2 Ba7 49.Nd4 Bb6 50.g3 d5! 51.f4? 51.exd5 Ke5 52.Ne2 Kxd5 53.f4! g4 53...gxf4 54.Nxf4+ Ke5 55.Nxh5+- 53...Bd8 54.fxg5 Bxg5 55.Nf4+ 54.hxg4 hxg4 55.Nc3+ Ke6 56.Nd1+- 51...dxe4+ 52.Kxe4 gxf4 53.gxf4 Ba5 54.Nf5 Bc3 55.Ne3 Bb2 56.Nd5+ Kg6 57.h4? Bg7 58.f5+ Kf7 59.Nf4 Bf6 60.Ng6 Ke8 61.Kd5 Kd7 62.Ne5+ Ke7 63.Nf3 Kd7 64.Ng5 Ke7 65.Nf3 Kd7 66.Ng5 Ke7 67.Ke4 Kd6 68.Kf4 Kd5 69.Nh7 Bxh4 70.f6 Ke6 71.Ng5+ Kxf6 72.Ne4+ Kg6 73.Ng3 Bf6 74.Nxh5 ½–½
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Ma Qun | 2609 | Naiditsch,A | 2705 | ½–½ | 2014 | B52 | 5th Hainan Danzhou GM | 9 |
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Naiditsch can consider himself lucky with a last round draw in a bizarre game
Back to the top boards Bu Xiangzhi drew Yu Yangyi. Yu Yangyi probably wanted to stop the bleeding after three consecutive defeats while Bu Xiangzhi was certainly happy with a last round draw with Black. A solid Petroff saw many simplifcations and an early draw.
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A solid draw suited both just fine
This gave Ding Liren the chance to catch up with Bu Xiangzhi, and he did not squander it:
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 a6 11.Ng5?! Qc7 11...Bxh2+ 12.Kxh2 Ng4+ 13.Kg1 Qxg5 14.f3 Ngf6 15.e4 12.h3 c5 13.Nge4 Be7 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.dxc5 Qxc5 16.e4 Rc8 17.a3 0-0 18.Qe2 Qe5 19.f4 Qb8 20.e5 Nd5 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Be3 g6 23.a4 Bc4 24.Rfc1 Bxd3 25.Qxd3 Rxc1+ 26.Rxc1 bxa4 27.Qxa6 Qb3! 27...Qxb2 28.Qxa4= 28.Qe2 Rb8 29.Rc2 h5 30.Bc1 Rd8 31.Kh2 31.Rc3! 31...Rd3 32.Rd2?! Rxd2 33.Qxd2 h4 33...Qc4! 34.Qd1 Bc5! 35.Bd2 35.g4 hxg4 36.hxg4 Kg7! 35...Qd4-+ 34.Qf2 Kf8 35.Be3 Ke8 36.Qd2 Bb4 37.Qd4 Be7 38.Bf2 Qc2 39.Be3 Qb3 40.Bf2 Qb4 41.Kg1 41.Qxb4 Bxb4 42.Be3 42.Bxh4 Bd2-+ 42...Kd7 41...Qxd4 42.Bxd4 Kd7 43.Kf2 Kc6 44.Ke3 44.Ke2 44...Bc5! 45.Kd3 Bxd4 46.Kxd4 Kb5 47.Kc3 Kc5 48.Kd3 Kb4 49.Kc2 Kc4 50.Kb1 50.Kd2 Kd4-+ 50...Kd3 51.Ka2 Ke3 52.Ka3 Kf2 53.Kxa4 Kxg2 54.b4 Kxh3 55.b5 Kg4 56.b6 h3 57.b7 h2 58.b8Q h1Q 59.Qf8 Qe4+ 0–1
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Xiu Deshun | 2550 | Ding Liren | 2714 | 0–1 | 2014 | D46 | 5th Hainan Danzhou GM | 9 |
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Ding Liren didn't let the Black pieces stop his attempts to win the tournament
The other boards saw mostly solid draws. Ponomariov probably missed a win against Zhao Jun, and almost landed in a lost position. His passed d-pawn gave him just enough counterplay to hold a draw.
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Ponomariov's 5.5/9 gives him a performance rating exactly equal to his actual rating
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Ding Liren started with the number one pairing seed and finished number one!
At the end of the day Ding Liren barely edged out Bu Xiangzhi in the tiebreak system. These two players were a full point ahead of the foreigners Naiditsch and Ponomariov who had decent tournaments.
Overall the Hainan Super-Tournament had some very unsual and fun games, the mix of players was well balanced. The tournament is also a good omen for China as they gain their fifth 2700 player with Bu Xiangzhi re-joining the ranks of the elite. China's Olympic team in Norway will be fierce; can they pull of a surprise win?
Final Standings
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Replay Last Round Games
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- Start an analysis engine:
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