Wei Yi repeats in Leon

by Leontxo García
6/15/2015 – It is a feat that had not been achieved in years, and the only other player to have done it was Viswanathan Anand. Wei Yi has become the repeat winner in the Leon Magistral rapids after defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals by the minimum margin. Through a combination of resourcefulness, tenacity, and striking in the one opportunity that he was given, Wei Yi wins again!

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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.

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qa5 MVL has used this version of the Accelerated Dragon a couple of times in the past - including a draw against Carlsen in last year's Sinquefield Cup (where he forgot his mover order!). Notice that in this specific Dragon there is no possibility to go into a Maroczy bind. 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nb3 Qc7 10.f4 d6 11.Be2 an old line of the Dragon, but perfectly playable for both sides. Bd7 12.Qe1 12.g4!? is an idea from the 70s that might still work nowadays. Wei Yi's approach is more positional. 12...a6 13.Rd1 13.Nd5!? this was a good time to play this move, as the knight has to retreat to a somewhat awkward square. Nxd5 13...Qd8 14.Bb6 Qc8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.c3 14.exd5 Nb8 15.Nd4 13...b5 14.Nd5 Nxd5 14...Qd8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.e5! leaves Black with real problems. If he takes on e5 the pin down the d-file is dangerous. dxe5 17.Nc5 Ra7 18.Bg4! with unsurmountable pressure. 15.exd5 Nd8 16.Nd4 e5! Breaking through while this move is still available. 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.d6! An important intermezzo. 18.Nb3 Nb7 allows the Black knight access to the very important d6 square. 18...Qc8 18...Qxd6 19.Nf5 Qc7 20.Nxg7 Kxg7 21.Qh4 is too much: the pressure on the darksquares will collapse Black's defense. It is already impossible to defend against Bh6+ 19.Nb3 Ne6?! 19...f5 was already necessary, avoiding the following continuation in the game. However here White is also a little better. 20.Nc5 Ne6 21.Nxd7 Qxd7 22.c4 20.Bf3 Rb8 21.Ba7 Rb7 22.Qf2! The patience demonstrated by Wei Yi to place such a move, specially in a rapid, is unbelievable. Most grandmasters would take the rook and think later - but defending the a7 bishop is more accurate. f5 23.Bd5! Kh8 24.Na5! And finally the rook is forced to take on a7, leaving White with the better bishop on the board. Rxa7 25.Qxa7 Qc5+ 26.Qxc5 Nxc5 27.b4 Na4 28.Bc6 Rf7 29.Bxd7 Rxd7 30.Nb3 Bf8 31.Nc5 Rxd6 32.Rxd6 Bxd6 33.Nxa4 bxa4 34.a3 Black doesn't have enough compensation for the exchange. He has a pawn, but White's passed c-pawn is powerful and the bishop cannot support the e-pawn well. e4 35.Rd1 Be5 36.c4 Kg7 37.b5 axb5 38.cxb5 Kf6 39.b6 Ke7 40.b7 this pawn will cost Black his bishop. Bc7 41.Rb1 41.Rb1 Bb8 42.Rc1 Kd7 43.Rc8 Ba7+ 44.Kf1 and queens next move. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wei,Y2721Vachier-Lagrave,M27231–02015B3528th Leon GM 20152.3

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

Replay Final Games

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qe2 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 b5 10.a3 Be7 11.g4 0-0 12.Bh4 Rb8 13.g5 Ne8 14.f5 Nc5 15.f6 Bd8 16.e5 b4 17.axb4 Rxb4 18.exd6 Qa5 19.Nc6 Qa1+ 20.Kd2 Qxb2 21.Nxb4 Qxb4 22.Qc4 Qxc4 23.Bxc4 Nxd6 24.Be2 Bb7 25.Rhf1 Nde4+ 26.Nxe4 Nxe4+ 27.Kc1 Nc3 28.Rd2 Bb6 29.Bf3 Be3 30.Bf2 Bxg5 31.Bxb7 Rb8 32.Bd4 Nb5 33.Rg1 Bxd2+ 34.Kxd2 g6 35.Be5 Rxb7 36.c4 Na7 37.Ra1 Kf8 38.Rxa6 Ke8 39.c5 Kd7 40.Rd6+ Kc8 41.Ra6 Kd7 42.Rd6+ Kc8 43.Ke3 h6 44.h4 Rb3+ 45.Ke2 Rb4 46.Ra6 Kb7 47.Ra3 Re4+ 48.Re3 Rxh4 49.Bg3 Rb4 50.Rd3 Rb2+ 51.Kf3 Kc8 52.Ra3 Nc6 53.Ra8+ Kd7 54.Rf8 e5 55.Rxf7+ Ke6 56.Rf8 Rc2 57.Bf2 Nd4+ 58.Bxd4 exd4 59.Rc8 Kxf6 60.Ke4 h5 61.Kxd4 h4 62.Kd3 Rc1 63.Kd2 Rc4 64.Kd3 Rc1 65.Kd2 Ra1 66.c6 Ra7 67.Ke3 Kg5 68.c7 Rb7 69.Ke2 h3 70.Rh8 Rxc7 71.Rxh3 Rf7 72.Rg3+ Kh5 73.Rg1 g5 74.Rh1+ Kg4 75.Rg1+ Kh5 76.Rh1+ Kg6 77.Rf1 Rxf1 78.Kxf1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wei,Y2721Vachier-Lagrave,M2723½–½2015B9628th Leon GM 20152.1
Vachier-Lagrave,M2723Wei,Y2721½–½2015A0528th Leon GM 20152.2
Wei,Y2721Vachier-Lagrave,M27231–02015B3528th Leon GM 20152.3
Vachier-Lagrave,M2723Wei,Y2721½–½2015C8328th Leon GM 20152.4

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Leontxo García is a renown Spanish sports and chess journalist.

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DBRussell DBRussell 6/17/2015 09:55
What a beast!

Wei Yi continues to inch closer to the very elite of chess.
At 16!!!
KrushonIrina KrushonIrina 6/15/2015 05:05
Wei Yi is the only person on the horizon to dethrone Carlsen.

But it is a long horizon.
The_Tenant The_Tenant 6/15/2015 03:58
Currently heralded as the chinese wonder boy, this guy Wei Yi definitely one to look out for. Can't wait to see him participate in more elite level tournaments.
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