Wei Yi vs Richard Rapport: The Armageddon Decides

by Marco Baldauf
12/24/2016 – Only ten rating points separate Richard Rapport (2717) and Wei Yi (2707), the world's two best juniors. And the match they played from 20th to 23rd December in Yancheng, China, was close. A 2-2 tie after four classical games required a blitz-tiebreak. After two blitz-games and another 1-1 tie, an Armageddon game decided the match in favor of Rapport.
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Wei Yi vs Richard Rapport, Games 3 and 4

In the first game of the match Wei Yi delighted his fans with a spectacular attack, in game two Richard Rapport countered with a convincing technical win.

In game three the young Hungarian again showed strong positional chess. With Black he tried the rarely played but interesting Tartakower Variation of the Caro-Kann and obtained a clear advantage in a queenless middlegame. But he missed a good chance and allowed Wei Yi to build a fortress in a minor piece ending which secured the draw.

Wei Yi has White in game three but fails to find a recipe against Rapport's opening.

 
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1.e41,165,57054%2421---
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 The Tartakower system is a rare guest on this level. But it is not bad and in the past was tried by very strong players such as Bronstein, Kortschnoi or Smyslov. In the last few years this line has been played more and more often - particularly in blitz. Black's game develops quite naturally. 6.c3 The main move: White defends d4 to put his bishop to d3 while the knight on g1 still has the option to go to e2. Bf5 6...Bd6 is the mainline. 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Ne2 Qc7 9.Qc2 h6! 9...g6 10.h4 1/2-1/2 (43) Suetin,A (2550)-Andersson,U (2535) Sochi 1973 10.c4 c5 11.dxc5 Qxc5 12.0-0 Nc6= 1/2-1/2 (51) Fier,A (2624)-Granda Zuniga, J (2667) Bilbao 2015 7.Bd3?! 7.Ne2 is more ambitious, e.g. Bd6 8.Ng3 Bg6 9.Bc4 0-0 10.0-0 and the black bishop on g6 is not ideally placed because it can always be ensnared with f4-f5. Nd7 10...Re8 11.f4 b5?! 12.Bb3 Be4? 12...f5 13.Bc2 13.Qh5 Qd7 14.Nxe4 Rxe4 15.Bc2 g6 16.Qh4 Re8 17.f5 Be7 18.Rf3 g5 19.Qh5 Bd8 20.Bxg5 1-0 (20) Nunn,J (2585)-Arkell,K (2400) London 1987 11.f4 Nb6 12.Bb3 f5 13.Qf3 Re8 14.Bd2 Bc7 and Black can hold. The bishop on g6 is probably not too happy about its fate but Black has the white squares under control. 15.Rae1 Rxe1 16.Rxe1 Nd5 17.Bc2 Qd7 18.h3 Nf6 19.Kh2 h5= 0-1 (44) Alsina Leal, D (2531)-Salgado Lopez,I (2615) Linares 2015 7...Bxd3 8.Qxd3 Bd6 9.Qe3+ White has a majority on the queenside and minor piece endings should in principle be good for him. However, Rapport will show that Black's control over the complex d5, c4, b5 stops White from creating a passed pawn. Qe7 10.Nf3 Nd7 11.Qxe7+ Kxe7 12.Be3?! 12.c4!? fights for the white squares and prevents Black's domination of the queenside that we see in the game. b5! is the thematical counter. 12...Rhe8 13.0-0 f5 14.Bd2 Kf8= However, in this scenario minor piece endings might become problematic for Black. 13.b3 13.c5 Bc7 14.0-0 Nf8 15.Bd2 Ne6 16.a4 Rhd8 13...bxc4 14.bxc4 c5 and White will have to live with his weakness on c4. 12...Nb6!
Black begins his siege of the white squares. Rapport subsequently carries out a clear plan on both sides whereas Wei Yi has problems to find good squares for his pieces. 13.0-0-0 Kd7 14.Rhe1 Nd5 15.Kc2?! 15.c4 Nxe3 16.fxe3 f5= 15...b5! Rapport takes the white squares under control. Both of his minor pieces are optimally placed whereas Wei Yi first of all has to find a way to put his bishop to good use. In such structures the bishop has not much of a perspective and is White's problem child. It is interesting to compare this structure with the structures arising in the Spanish Exchange. Of course, here Black's f-pawns and not his c-pawns are doubled, but the crucial difference is that White exchanged the "bad" bishop early on in the Spanish Exchange. 16.Bc1 a5 17.g3 a4 18.a3?! A move you do not like to play but now Wei Yi at least no longer has to worry about Black's ...a3. But it is still an admission to have lost the fight for the queenside. 18.h3 a3!? is committal but a perennial topic in these positions: 19.b3 b4 20.c4 Nc3 18...h5 19.h4? This pawn will later become a weakness. Moreover, after f5-f4 by Black, White is now forced to take on f4. 19.Kd3 g5 19...Rhe8 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Re1 Rxe1 22.Nxe1 20.h3 19...Rhe8 20.Rxe8?! Rxe8 21.Re1
21...f5? 21...Rxe1 would have brought Rapport very close to a win. 22.Nxe1 Ke6 23.Kd3 Kf5 24.Ke2 Kg4 followed by ...g5, creating a dangerous passed pawn. 25.Nf3 f5 22.Rxe8 Kxe8 Black is still better but it is no longer clear how he should proceed. Nevertheless Black always threatens to shatter White's kingside with ...f4 whereas White has hardly any active play. 23.b3 Nb6?! 23...f4! 24.c4 24.gxf4 Nxf4 and White has a weakness on h4 that can be easily attacked. 25.Bxf4 Bxf4 24...axb3+ 25.Kxb3 bxc4+ 26.Kxc4 fxg3 27.fxg3 f6! 27...Bxg3 28.Kc5 28.a4 Bxg3 24.bxa4 Nxa4 25.Kd3 Nb6 26.Nd2 Hitherto the young Chinese has played rather weakly but now he wakes up and finds strong defensive moves. Bc7 Protecting the bishop from potential attacks by the knight d2 and threatens ... f4. 26...Kd7 27.f4 Ke6 28.c4= 26...f4? 27.Ne4 27.f4! Wei Yi prevents the black lever ...f4 and starts to build a fortress. 27.c4 f4! 27...Kd7 28.Nf1 28.c4? Nxc4 29.Nxc4 bxc4+ 30.Kxc4 Ba5-+ 28...Nc8 28...g6 29.Ne3 Bd8 30.Bd2 Be7 31.Bc1 c5 32.c4! cxd4 33.Kxd4 Nxc4 34.Nxc4 bxc4 35.Kxc4 Kc6 and White can hold on the kingside. 36.Kd3 Bc5 37.Be3 Bxa3 38.Bf2 Kd5 39.Be1 Bc5 40.Ke2 Ke4 41.Ba5 g5!? 42.hxg5 h4 43.gxh4 Kxf4 44.h5 Kxg5 45.Kf3 Kxh5 46.Bc3= 29.c4 Nd6 30.cxb5 cxb5 31.Bd2 Ne4 32.Be1 g6 33.Ne3 Bd6 34.Nc2
Wei Yi just manages to defend both weaknesses - the fortress is built and Rapport fails to crack it. 34...Ke6 35.Ke3 f6 36.Kd3 g5 37.hxg5 fxg5 38.fxg5 Nxg5 Black now threatens to win the pawn g3 with Ne4 but Wei Yi is up to speed and starts counterplay! 39.d5+! 39.Ke3 Kd5 40.Kd3 Ne4 41.Ne3+ Ke6 42.g4 hxg4 43.Nxg4 Bxa3 and White still has work to do. 39...Kxd5 40.Nd4 Bxa3 41.Nxf5 41.Nxb5= 41...Bb2 42.Ne3+ Kc6 43.Ke2 43.g4= 43...Bd4 44.g4 Bxe3 45.Kxe3 hxg4 46.Kf4 Nf3 47.Bb4 Ne5 48.Kxe5 g3 49.Be1! The king is no longer in the square of the g-pawn but now the bishop stops this pawn whereas White's king... b4 50.Kd4 takes care of the b-pawn. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R2717½–½2016B15Wei Yi - Rapport Match3

On a recent ChessBase DVD Nigel Davies tells you more about the attractions of this line.

Nigel Davies: The 4...Nf6 Caro-Kann

In game four Rapport repeated the Trompowsky from game two but this no longer caught Wei Yi by surprise. A spectacular opening led to an endgame with opposite-colored bishop in which Wei Yi had some pressure but not enough to overcome Rapport's defence.

 
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1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
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1.h444653%2374---
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.c3 Qb6 4...Nc6 was Wei Yi's in game two but after 5.Nd2 e5 6.dxe5 Nxe5 7.Ngf3 Nxf3+? 8.Nxf3 Be7 9.Bb5+! he already was in trouble: Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Qxd7 11.Ne5 Qf5 12.Qa4+ Kf8 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nf3± 1-0 (45) Rapport,R (2717)-Wei Yi (2707) Yancheng CHN 2016 [Marco Baldauf] 5.Qc2!? 5.Qb3 is much more often played. 5...Ne4 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.Nd2 Bf5 8.Bd3 cxd4 forces matters. 8...e6 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Bc4∞ 9.exd4 e5!? 10.Bxe4 dxe4 10...Bxe4 11.Nxe4 exf4 12.Nd2 is structurally bad for Black. 11.Nc4 Qa6 12.Nxe5 It seems as if White simply won a pawn and as if Black is forced to find some compensation and to put his faith in his pair of bishops and his slight lead in development. But Wei Yi prepared a strong counterblow: Nxd4! Exploiting the fact that the white knight stranded on e5 and after 13.cxd4 f6 has nowhere to go. 14.Ne2 fxe5 15.Bxe5 Bb4+ 16.Nc3 Rc8 17.Rc1 White is a pawn up but his king cannot castle and the white squares are weak. Black's natural move now would be to castle but as this is impossible because of the queen check on b3, Wei Yi decides to release the pressure and to regain his pawn. Qxa2 17...0-0? 18.Qb3+ 17...Rc6!? 18.a4! Rg6? 19.Qe2 Rxg2 20.Qxa6 bxa6 21.Kf1± 17...Bxc3+?! 18.bxc3 0-0 19.Qe2 18.0-0 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Qxc2 20.Rxc2 0-0 After a spectacular opening the dust has settled and an equal endgame appeared on the board. Due to opposite colored bishops this endgame has rather drawish tendencies and in the following neither Black nor White manage to get serious winning chances. 21.Ra1 21.c4 e3! 22.Rc3 b5 23.c5 exf2+ 24.Rxf2 a5∞ would have created more tension. 21...e3 22.Rcc1 exf2+ 23.Kxf2 a6 24.Ke3 Be6 25.Ra5 Rfd8 26.Kd2 Rc6 Wei Yi put his pieces on good squares and can now exert a little pressure. Rapport's bishop does not do much whereas Wei Yi's bishop finds a good square on c4. 27.Rf1 Bc4 28.Rf3 b6 29.Ra1 a5 30.h4 Ra8 31.h5 a4 32.Rg3 Ra7 33.Bb8 Rb7 34.Be5 b5 35.Kc2! Bd5 36.Kb2 b4 After this advance the draw is in sight. 37.Rxa4 bxc3+ 38.Kc1 Black's passed pawn is dangerous but Rapport has everything under control. h6 38...Rc8 39.Ra3 c2 40.Rgc3 Rxc3 41.Rxc3 Be4 42.Rc8+ Kf7 43.Rc7+ Rxc7 44.Bxc7= 39.Ra8+ Kh7 40.Rb8! Ra7 41.Ra8! This tactical ressource forces the draw. Rcc7 42.Rxa7 Rxa7 43.Rxc3 Bxg2 44.Kd2 Bd5 45.Ke3 Bf7 46.Rc7 Rxc7 47.Bxc7 Bxh5 48.Kf4 Kg6 49.d5 Be2 50.Be5 Bc4 51.d6 Be6 52.Kg3 Kh7 53.d7 Bxd7 54.Bd4 g5 55.Bf6 Kg6 56.Be7 h5 57.Bd8 h4+ 58.Kf2 Kh5 59.Be7 g4 60.Bd6 g3+ 61.Bxg3 hxg3+ 62.Kxg3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2717Wei,Y2707½–½2016D00Wei Yi - Rapport Match4

After four games the score war 2-2 and a blitz-tiebreak with a time-limit of 5+3 had to be played. But after two games this tie-break ended with another 1-1 tie and an Armageddon game had to decide. Rapport won the Armageddon and the match.

All in all this win was deserved: in games two and three Rapport outplayed Wei Yi, and in the first game, which Wei Yi won, Rapport had a good position but tried too hard and lost. In game one Wei Yi showed his attacking skills but all in all the 17-year old Chinese seemed to be slightly worse.

The tie-break games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.Nb5 Na6 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Nge2 0-0 8.a3 Bd6 9.Ng3 Nc7 10.Bd3 Re8 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.f4 c5 13.0-0 c4 14.Be2 b5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Ncxe4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Qb6 18.c3 Bb7 19.Bf3 Rad8 20.Ng5 h6 21.Bxb7 hxg5 22.fxg5 Qxb7 23.Qh5 Nd5 24.Rf3 f5 25.g6 Nf6 26.Qh4 Qe4 27.Rf4 Qe2 28.Re1 Qh5 29.Qg3 Ne4 30.Qh4 Qxh4 31.Rxh4 Kf8 32.Rh7 Nf6 33.Rh3 Ke7 34.Re5 Rd5 35.Re1 Ne4 36.Rf3 Rh8 37.g4 Rh6 38.h4 Rxh4 39.Rf4 Rh6 40.Rexe4 fxe4 41.Rf7+ Kd6 42.Rxg7 Rg5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2717Wei,Y27070–12016A45Wei Yi - Rapport Match TB1
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R27170–12016B09Wei Yi - Rapport Match TB2
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R27170–12016B06Wei Yi - Rapport Match TB3

All games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.Nb5 Na6 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Nge2 0-0 8.a3 Bd6 9.Ng3 Nc7 10.Bd3 Re8 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.f4 c5 13.0-0 c4 14.Be2 b5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Ncxe4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Qb6 18.c3 Bb7 19.Bf3 Rad8 20.Ng5 h6 21.Bxb7 hxg5 22.fxg5 Qxb7 23.Qh5 Nd5 24.Rf3 f5 25.g6 Nf6 26.Qh4 Qe4 27.Rf4 Qe2 28.Re1 Qh5 29.Qg3 Ne4 30.Qh4 Qxh4 31.Rxh4 Kf8 32.Rh7 Nf6 33.Rh3 Ke7 34.Re5 Rd5 35.Re1 Ne4 36.Rf3 Rh8 37.g4 Rh6 38.h4 Rxh4 39.Rf4 Rh6 40.Rexe4 fxe4 41.Rf7+ Kd6 42.Rxg7 Rg5 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2717Wei,Y27070–12016A45Wei Yi - Rapport Match TB1
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R27170–12016B09Wei Yi - Rapport Match TB2
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R27170–12016B06Wei Yi - Rapport Match TB3
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R27171–02016C03Wei Yi - Rapport Match1
Rapport,R2717Wei,Y27071–02016A45Wei Yi - Rapport Match2
Wei,Y2707Rapport,R2717½–½2016B15Wei Yi - Rapport Match3
Rapport,R2717Wei,Y2707½–½2016A45Wei Yi - Rapport Match4

Source of the thumb picture: http://praguechess.cz/index.php?langue=en

Marco Baldauf, born 1990, has been playing since he was eight. In 2000 and 2002 he became German Junior Champion, in 2014 he became International Master. He plays for SF Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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