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Only one player previously, the five time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, had won Leon two years in a row. But today there is another, and he just turned sixteen years old! The Chinese Wei Yi overcame by the minimum margin the Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final of the 28th edition, and confirmed that he is a serious candidate for the World Championship in the future.
The start of round one - MVL's best chance!
"I saw that my position was lost in the first game, but I did not panic - I never lost control of my nerves. Perhaps that was the key of this triumph" explained the winner. And the loser was in agreement: "I had at least one winning position, and maybe even two or three, in that first game. One must highlight that Wei Yi defended with incredible tenacity and technique. But that sensation that I let go of a clear win may have influenced my performance in the next three", admitted Vachier-Lagrave.
The first bout was, indeed, shocking. With his favorite defense, the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense, the Frenchman allowed a Bayonet attack from the Chinese, but he stopped it and launched his own counterattack on the other flank with great success: even after exchanging queens to soften the pressure, Wei Yi's king suffered from heavy fire from all of Black's pieces. White's position was simply losing.
That being said, in quick games that does not have to be decisive. First of all because sometimes the coup de grace is very hard to find (32...Nb1!!), and also because again the young Chinese player exhibited sang froid and justified his new nickname of the Jiangsu Ice Floe. Indeed, Vachier-Lagrave found more opportunities later in the game, but Wei Yi rescued himself from the abyss.
MVL will pick himself up from this defeat and fly to
Norway to participate in the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour
The second game was a draw without much commotion, since the Frenchman obtained nothing from the opening. And in the third Vachier-Lagrave committed a mistake in his set-up, that he admitted later. "I decided not to repeat the Najdorf, and that was a mistake". His young opponent was implacable: his material advantage at first did not seem so important, but he soon made it decisive.
This victory forced Vachier-Lagrave to search a win desperately in the fourth round, that ended in an opposite colored bishop endgame. It was then that Wei Yi showed even more virtues: great calculation capacity and a very deep technical knowledge despite his extreme youth.
Wei Yi avoids giving concrete answers to any question related to his meteoric rise to the chess elite, despite joining some months ago the top-50 players in the World with only 15 years of age, and that he just won the Chinese chess Championship before his birthday. "For now, I only want to play better each time", he insists. He also would like to study a university career, which is very hard to match with elite chess competition. His undeniable happiness for the win is betrayed by his simple words. "How am I going to celebrate? With some Chinese food and sleeping".
The modest winner by 2.5-1.5: Wei Yi
Leontxo Garcia (left), MVL, Wei Yi and his translator
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Photos from the official website
LinksThe 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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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