Mind Games Day 2: Wang Yue, Gunina gold

by Alejandro Ramirez
12/13/2013 – A devastating loss in the last round cost Peter Leko the gold medal. He was leading by a full point but because of the tiebreak system (direct encounter) Wang Yue could overtake him with a victory against him, and that is precisely what happened. Gunina played solid, good chess and ended with a full point advantage in the end over Hou Yifan, who came in second. Rapid results, blitz tomorrow.

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SportAccord Mind Games will be held in Beijing, China between the 12th of December and 20th December 2012. The World Mind Games was held for the first time in 2008 and consisted of 5 disciplines: chess, bridge, draughts (checkers), go, and xiangqi (Chinese chess). SportAccord, the organizer of the Mind Games, is the umbrella organization for both Olympic and non-Olympic sports as well as for major organizers of conferences and sporting events.

Day 2: Rapid - Men

Things started off well for the leader after day one

Round 5

Bo. Name FED
Res.
Name FED
1 Wang Hao CHN
0 - 1
Leko Peter HUN
2 Grischuk Alexander RUS
1 - 0
Karjakin Sergey RUS
3 Wang Yue CHN
½​ - ½​
Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS
4 Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB
½​ - ½​
Kamsky Gata USA
5 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE
1-0
Aronian Levon ARM
6 Ivanchuk Vassily UKR
0 - 1
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA
7 Le Quang Liem VIE
0 - 1
Radjabov Teimour AZE
8 Giri Anish NED
0 - 1
Ponomariov Ruslan UKR

The day started great for the Hungarian player as he was able to beat Wang Hao with black. The Chinese was a little too eager to sacrifice material, eventually ending up down a rook but with strong compensation in the form of some pawns and an initiative. Leko brilliantly beat back the attack with some clever tactics, retained the extra material and won the game.

Grischuk positionally demolished Karjakin while Wang Yue drew Nepomniachthi in a quiet game where White held the advantage almost all throughout but a blunder on move 33 gave away half a point.

Round 6

Bo. Name FED
Res.
Name FED
1 Leko Peter HUN
½​ - ½​
Grischuk Alexander RUS
2 Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS
1 - 0
Kamsky Gata USA
3 Wang Yue CHN
1 - 0
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE
4 Karjakin Sergey RUS
½​ - ½​
Wang Hao CHN
5 Aronian Levon ARM
0 - 1
Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB
6 Radjabov Teimour AZE
1 - 0
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA
7 Ponomariov Ruslan UKR
½​ - ½​
Ivanchuk Vassily UKR
8 Le Quang Liem VIE
½​ - ½​
Giri Anish NED

He had it all under control against Leko, although at times it seemed like he was simply going to get mated

Grischuk used the Armenian variation of the French to neutralize Leko's 1.e4. It seemed that at some point the Hungarian had some real threats on the kingside, but Grischuk had it all under control and he was never in any real danger. The game finished in a pretty perpetual.Nepo on board two scored an important win against Kamsky in the White side of the Scotch while Mamedyarov's overeagerness to win pawns on the queenside left him vulnerable on the kingside and Wang Yue took full advantage of this to beat the reigning World Rapid Champion.

Round 7

Bo. Name FED Pts
Res.
Pts Name FED
1 Leko Peter HUN 5.0
0 - 1
4.0 Wang Yue CHN
2 Dominguez Perez Leinier CUB 3.5
1 - 0
4.0 Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS
3 Wang Hao CHN 3.5
½​ - ½​
4.0 Grischuk Alexander RUS
4 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 3.0
1 - 0
3.5 Karjakin Sergey RUS
5 Radjabov Teimour AZE 3.0
½​ - ½​
2.0 Aronian Levon ARM
6 Kamsky Gata USA 3.0
0 - 1
2.0 Ponomariov Ruslan UKR
7 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2.0
1 - 0
2.0 Le Quang Liem VIE
8 Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2.0
1 - 0
1.5 Giri Anish NED

In the last round anything was still possible, despite the fact that Leko was leading by a full point Wang Yue had the better tiebreaks in case of a win. This is precisely what happened as the Chinese player entered an endgame being very slightly better. He kept increasing this advantage until he won a pawn, but Leko still had plenty of defensive resources. He was unable, however, to keep his opponent's king from helping the passed c-pawn forward and this cost Leko the game and the title as Wang Yue overtook him on tiebreaks to claim gold.

Nepomniachtchi must have been in desbelief of Dominguez's skill in rapid chess as he played on in a completely lost position, down a piece, for many moves until the Cuban finally obtained victory. This paved the way for Grischuk to get the bronze medal as his tiebreaks were better than Dominguez's.

Rapid Results

The men rapid winners: Wang Yue, Leko, Grischuk

Rank Name Rtg Federation Pts
1 Wang Yue 2729 China 5.0
2 Leko Peter 2738 Hungary 5.0
3 Grischuk Alexander 2828 Russia 4.5
4 Dominguez Perez Leinier 2758 Cuba 4.5
5 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2795 Azerbaijan 4.0
6 Nepomniachtchi Ian 2799 Russia 4.0
7 Wang Hao 2690 China 4.0
8 Karjakin Sergey 2787 Russia 3.5
9 Radjabov Teimour 2749 Azerbaijan 3.5
10 Ponomariov Ruslan 2748 Ukraine 3.0
11 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2761 France 3.0
12 Kamsky Gata 2734 United States of America 3.0
13 Ivanchuk Vassily 2732 Ukraine 3.0
14 Aronian Levon 2797 Armenia 2.5
15 Le Quang Liem 2756 Vietnam 2.0
16 Giri Anish 2700 Netherlands 1.5

Note: Rapid ratings used

Men Games rounds five to seven

Day 2: Rapid - Women

Kateryna Lagno was always in the top board but narrowly missed the bronze

Round 5

Bo. Name FED
Res.
Name FED
1 Hou Yifan CHN
½​ - ½​
Gunina Valentina RUS
2 Lagno Kateryna UKR
1 - 0
Dzagnidze Nana GEO
3 Paehtz Elisabeth GER
0 - 1
Kosintseva Tatiana RUS
4 Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS
1 - 0
Sebag Marie FRA
5 Koneru Humpy IND
½​ - ½​
Cmilyte Viktorija LTU
6 Ushenina Anna UKR
0 - 1
Ju Wenjun CHN
7 Cramling Pia SWE
0 - 1
Stefanova Antoaneta BUL
8 Zhao Xue CHN
1 - 0
Muzychuk Anna SLO

Kosteniuk was one of the two ambassadors of chess to the general Mind Games activities

Hou Yifan was unable to create any real pressure on Gunina who solidly defended with a Caro-Kann defense. The game was eventually drawn without problems. Lagno played a nice, clean game against Dzagnidze to put pressure on the leaders while Kosintseva also gained ground after beating Paehtz.

Paehtz finished tied for fifth with Dzagnidze and was always near the top boards, if not on the top board itself

Round 6

Bo. Name FED
Res.
Name FED
1 Gunina Valentina RUS
½​ - ½​
Lagno Kateryna UKR
2 Kosintseva Tatiana RUS
0 - 1
Hou Yifan CHN
3 Dzagnidze Nana GEO
1 - 0
Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS
4 Ju Wenjun CHN
1 - 0
Koneru Humpy IND
5 Cmilyte Viktorija LTU
0 - 1​
Paehtz Elisabeth GER
6 Sebag Marie FRA
0 - 1
Stefanova Antoaneta BUL
7 Ushenina Anna UKR
1 - 0
Zhao Xue CHN
8 Muzychuk Anna SLO
½​ - ½​
Cramling Pia SWE

Lagno's pawn sacrifice in the opening put Gunina in a little bit of trouble, but she came back solidly and was able to take the game to an endgame in which she didn't have any real problems. On board two Hou Yifan annihilated Kosintseva in the black side of a Rauzer Sicilian. Dzagnidze and Ju Wenjun started looking at medal positions after they beat Kosteniuk and Koneru respectively.

Yifan's massacre of Kosintseva was very important for the final standings

Round 7

Bo. Name FED
Pts
Res.
Pts
Name FED
1 Dzagnidze Nana GEO
4.0
0 - 1
5.0
Gunina Valentina RUS
2 Lagno Kateryna UKR
4.0
½​ - ½​
4.5
Hou Yifan CHN
3 Kosintseva Tatiana RUS
3.5
0 - 1
3.5
Ju Wenjun CHN
4 Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS
3.0
0 - 1
3.0
Paehtz Elisabeth GER
5 Stefanova Antoaneta BUL
3.0
½​ - ½​
2.5
Cmilyte Viktorija LTU
6 Sebag Marie FRA
2.0
0 - 1
2.5
Ushenina Anna UKR
7 Koneru Humpy IND
2.5
1 - 0
1.5
Muzychuk Anna SLO
8 Zhao Xue CHN
2.0
0 - 1
1.5
Cramling Pia SWE

In an absolutely key game Dzagnidze obtained a slight advantagae against Gunina using a typical minority attack on the queenside in an Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined. Everything was going well for the Georgian player and she won a pawn in that side of the board, so Gunina swiftly tried to counterattack on the kingside. Dzagnidze did not respond in the best way and she let her opponent's initiative grow. Her final blunder was 42.Rg2?? after which Black's attack was unstoppable. With this win Gunina could no longer be caught in points.

Yifan found herself in an awkward position when Lagno blasted open the h-file against her in another Classical Sicilian, but somehow the Chinese traded off some pieces and the resulting endgame was just equal. With this draw Yifan god teh silver medal.

Jun Wenjun had a very good tournament and finished third

Here she is at Rado's flagship shop in Beijing where she was interviewed by Vogue magazine

In another important game for the standings Kosintseva strangely decided to castle queenside when a b-file was open and the fianchetto bishop from Black was uncontested in the long diagonal hitting b2. Black's initiative proved to be too powerful and the Chinese player clinched the bronze medal on tiebreaks, edging out Lagno.

Results Rapid

and the winners in the lady's section: Gunina, Hou Yifan and Ju Wenjun

Rank Name Rtg Federation Pts
1 Gunina Valentina 2543 Russia 6.0
2 Hou Yifan 2579 China 5.0
3 Ju Wenjun 2552 China 4.5
4 Lagno Kateryna 2566 Ukraine 4.5
5 Dzagnidze Nana 2575 Georgia 4.0
6 Paehtz Elisabeth 2513 Germany 4.0
7 Kosintseva Tatiana 2503 Russia 3.5
8 Ushenina Anna 2478 Ukraine 3.5
9 Koneru Humpy 2626 India 3.5
10 Stefanova Antoaneta 2582 Bulgaria 3.5
11 Kosteniuk Alexandra 2588 Russia 3.0
12 Cmilyte Viktorija 2450 Lithuania 3.0
13 Cramling Pia 2513 Sweden 2.5
14 Zhao Xue 2489 China 2.0
15 Sebag Marie 2502 France 2.0
16 Muzychuk Anna 2566 Slovenia 1.5

Note: Rapid ratings used

Muzychuk finished last and will certainly need to recover in the blitz and Basque events

Women Games rounds five to seven

Schedule

Thursday, December 12th 14:00-19:00    Rapid Event: 1-4 rounds (men), 1-4 rounds (women)
Friday, December 13th 14:00-19:00    Rapid Event: 5-7 rounds (men), 5-7 rounds (women)
Saturday, December 14th 14:00-19:00    Blitz Event: 1-10 rounds (men), 1-10 rounds (women)
Sunday, December 15th 14:00-19:00    Blitz Event: 11-20 rounds (men), 11-20 rounds (women)
Monday, December 16th 14:00-19:00    Blitz Event: 21-30 rounds (men), 21-30 rounds (women)
Tuesday, December 17th 14:00-19:00    Basque System: 1-3 rounds (men), 1-3 rounds (women)
Wednesday, December 18th 11:00-16:00    Basque System: 4-5 rounds (men), 4-5 rounds (women) &
Closing Ceremony

Photos by WGM Gu Xiaobing, taken from the official FIDE website

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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