Wang Yue sweeps in Xinghua

by ChessBase
4/27/2013 – After a very close first half it seemed that the tournament would not see any player catapult himself away from the rest. But that is precisely what Wang Yue did, as he won the tournament with a round to go. In the women's section things went down to the wire as Ding Xiyin took first place after holding in a crazy Najdorf. Games, standings and many pictures here.
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Wang Yue took a commanding lead of the tournament with thee important consecutive wins in rounds seven, eight and nine against Hou Yifan, Li Shilong and Zhou Weiqi respectively. Going into the last round he had an impressive two-point lead over a big pack of players with 5.5, and a near 2800 performance. Despite his last round loss to Zhao Jun he still won the event with a point and a half lead. Fighting spirit was definitely one of the reasons Wang Yue was able to pull through at the end, as he ground down his opponents in very long endgames, including a 104-move marathon against Zhou Weiqi. Wang Yue admitted he was tired after playing so many long games. The following is an example of one of those games, as he beat Hou Yifan in a long endgame.

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Wang Yue shows Karpovian patience and technique as he plays one of his marathon games in this tournament, this time against the star of Chinese chess. 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Bb4 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 c5 8.Nge2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc6 10.0-0 Nxd4 11.exd4 White has a small but pleasant edge. His piece placement guarantees him-long term pressure despite the symmetrical structure. Black has the chance to exchange on c3 to change the pawn structure, but this gives White the pair of bishops. Bxc3 12.bxc3 Bg4 13.Qb3 Qd7 14.Rfe1 Rac8 15.Bb5 Qd8 16.Bf1 b6 17.f3 Be6 18.Ba6 Rc6 19.Bb5 Rc8 20.Qa3 Bd7 21.Bf1 a5 22.Rab1 White has succeeded in provoking a5, which is a long-term weakness. White's dark-squared bishop will be able to rain terror on thos queenside pawns... once all the other pieces disappear. Re8 23.Be5 Bf5 24.Rbc1 Nd7 25.Bf4 Rc6 26.Qb3 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 Nf8 28.Qa3 Re6 29.Rxe6 Bxe6 30.Qd6! The exchange of queens will leave Black passive and without counterplay, but she has no choice as the d6 queen is dominant. Hou Yifan avoids it for a few moves, but at the end Wang Yue forces the trade. Nd7 31.Bb5 h5 32.Bd2 Qc8 33.Kf2 Kh8 34.h4 Kg8 35.Bf4 Qd8 36.g3 Qc8 37.Qc7 Qxc7 38.Bxc7 f6 39.c4! A clever break. This gives White a passed pawn and a winning position. dxc4 40.d5 Bf5 40...Bxd5? 41.Bxd7+- 41.Bxc4 Kf7 42.Ke3 Ne5 43.Be2 Bb1 44.a3 Nd7 45.Kd4 Ke7 46.Bc4 Bf5 47.d6+ Ke8 48.f4 Bg4 49.Bd5 Kf8 50.Be4 Kf7 51.Bc2 Kf8 52.Bd3 Kf7 53.Bf1 Bf3 These bishop manoeuvres are reminiscent of Karpov, who always took his time even in completely winning positions. 54.Bc4+ Kf8 55.Bb5 Bg4 56.Bf1 Bf3 57.Bb5 Bg4 58.Bc6 Kf7 59.Be4 Ke8 60.Bg2 Kf7 61.Kd5 Bd1 62.Kc6 The king penetrates, and with decisive effect. Ba4+ 63.Kb7 Ke6 64.Bf3 g6 65.Bg2 Bc2 66.Bc6 Bf5 67.Kc8 Nc5 68.Kd8 Be4 69.Bxe4 Nxe4 Black has gotten rid of one bishop, but the other one has the b6 and a5 pawns under attack. Black also has to deal with the d-pawn. 70.d7 Nc5 71.Bxb6 Nxd7 72.Bxa5 Nc5 Unfortunately, knights are particularly useless at stopping rook pawns, so the game is over. 73.Bb4 Ne4 74.a4 Kd5 75.Be1 g5 76.a5 gxf4 77.gxf4 Nc5 78.Kc7 Ke4 79.Bf2 Na6+ 80.Kb7 Nb4 81.Bc5 Nd3 82.Bd6 An incredible show of patience and fighting will. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wang,Y2706Hou,Y26171–02013D31ch-CHN 20137.1

The race for second place was very close, as four players had 5.5/10. At one point it seemed that Hou Yifan would clinch clear second after obtaining a winning position against Zhou Weiqi. However a series of blunders quickly turned the game around and Yifan was relegated to a big tie for third place.

Ma Qun and Li Chao both drew their last round games to end with 6/11 and that was enough for a tie for second place – which Ma Qun got on better tiebreak.

Final Standings

The happy winners: Wang Yue and Ding Yixin are presented with their trophies

Not bad either: Guo Qi and Mao Qun clinched second by edging Shen Yang and Li Chao on tiebreaks, respectively

Bu Xiangzhi is not a big fan of Hou Yifan's first move

Hard at work: Wang Yue's hat trick catapulted him to first place, here he has a winning edge against Hou Yifan

Wei Yi had a good tournament but couldn't keep up with the winner

Women's Section

Ding Yixin chose an extremely sharp Najdorf variation against Wang Jue in the last round, when a draw was probably sufficient to win the tournament. Interestingly the game was drawn anyways, while Shen Yang – the only girl capable of catching Ding Yixin – drew her own game against Tan Zhongyi. Guo Qi beat Kuang Yinghui to leapfrog over Shen Yang on tiebreaks.

Shen Yang breaks 2400 again with this tournament

Ding Yixin's Najdorf was not the most solid choice, but it worked

Final Standings:

 

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