Mind Games Day 2: Wang Yue, Gunina gold

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Links Official tournament site Men's Rapid games Women's Rapid games 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.