Shenzhen Masters, Round 4: Bu, Yu and Erigaisi lead

Anish Giri celebrated a fine win over Vladislav Artemiev in the first round of the 5th Shenzhen Masters, but that was as good as it got for the Dutchman. He lost his next three rounds against Daniil Dubov, Arjun Erigaisi and Bu Xianghzi. In the live rating list, Giri has lost 13 points, which means he has dropped eight places in the tightly-packed field of top professionals. Giri, who was as high as fourth in the world rankings after his opening win, has dropped to 13th.

Bu,X2671

1–0

Giri,A2749

5th Shenzhen Longgang Masters 20242024

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.Nxb5 Nxe4 7.Qa4 Nc6 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bd7 10.Qxc4 Rb8 11.Be2 Bd6 12.0-0 Ne7 13.a4 Ng6 14.Be3 0-0 15.Ne5!? a5 Or 15...Nxe5 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Bxa7 Rb2 18.Bc5 with a slight plus for White. 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.Bf3 White can be happy about the result of the opening - the two bishops give him a slight pull. Rb6 18.g3 Rfb8 19.Be4 c6 20.Qd3 Kh8 21.Rab1 Rxb1 22.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 23.Qxb1 Qc7 24.Bd2 Ne7 25.c4 Qa7 26.Bc3 h6 27.Qb2 Kg8 28.Bd3 g6 29.Qd2 Black is in trouble. c5 30.d5 exd5 31.cxd5 Nxd5 32.Bb2 Qe7 33.Qxa5 Nb4 34.Qa8+ Qf8 35.Qf3 Nxd3 36.Qxd3 White no longer has the bishop's pair but he kept his advantage. Black's king is in danger on the long diagonal and White's a-pawn is more dangerous than Black's c-pawn. In the rest of the game Black finds no adequate defense and White wins slowly but surely. Qb8 37.Qc3 Kf8 38.a5 Qb4 39.Qh8+ Ke7 40.Qf6+ Kd7 41.Qxf7+ Be7 42.Qd5+ Bd6 43.Bg7 Qxa5 44.Qf7+ Be7 45.Qxg6 Qe1+ 46.Kg2 c4 47.Bxh6 Bc5 48.Qf7+ Kc6 49.Qxc4 Qxf2+ 50.Kh3 Qf5+ 51.Qg4 Qd5 52.Bf4 Kb7 53.Qe2 Qf5+ 54.Kg2 Kb6 55.h4 Qd5+ 56.Qf3 Qa2+ 57.Kh3 Qe6+ 58.g4 Qe1 59.Bg3 Qe6 60.h5 Be7 61.Bf4 Bc5 62.h6 Qf7 63.Qe4 Qb3+ 64.Bg3 Qc3 65.Qe6+ Kb5 66.h7 Bd4 67.Qe8+ Kb6 68.Qb8+ Ka6 69.Qa8+ Kb6 70.Qe4 Bh8 71.g5 Qc8+ 72.Kh4 Qd7 73.Qb4+ 1–0

After his win against Giri Bu shares first place.

Erigaisi won a wild game against Ma Qun.

Erigaisi Arjun2738

1–0

Ma, Qun2651

5th Shenzhen Longgang Masters 2024 Shengzhen04.03.2024[Johannes Fischer]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 a6 8.Nbd2 Ba7 9.a4 g5 10.Bg3 Qe7 11.0-0 Nd7 12.b4 Nf8 13.d4 h5 14.b5 Nd8

15.h4!? White is willing to sacrifice material to attack Black's king. g4 16.Nxe5! dxe5 17.Bxe5 Rg8 18.Bg3 White has two pawns for the piece, a powerful center and Black's king is stuck in the middle - more than enough compensation. Ng6 19.Bd3?! The position is incredibly complicated and difficult to play for both sides. The immediate 19.e5 might have been more precise, e.g. Nxh4 20.Ne4 Ng6 21.Qc1 Rh8 22.Nf6+ Kf8 23.Nd5 Qe6 24.f4 and White has a tremendous attack. 19...Nxh4 20.e5 Kf8 21.Ne4 Nf5 22.Nf6 Rh8 23.Qd2 Nxg3 24.fxg3 Qxe5 This opens lines that White can use to attack. However, it's difficult to find a good move for Black. E.g. 24...Be6 fails to 25.Kh2! c6 26.Bh7 with the crushing threat of 27.Qh6+. 25.Rae1 Bxd4+ 26.cxd4 Qxd4+ 27.Rf2 Ne6 28.Re4 Qd6 29.Qc3 Rh6 30.bxa6 bxa6 31.Bc4 Rb8 32.Re1 Rb4 33.Ne4 Qb6 34.a5

34...Rxc4 After 34...Qxa5 35.Bxe6 Bxe6 36.Nc5 Kg8 37.Rd1 c6 38.Nb7 White wins. 35.Qd2!? White attacks the rook on h6 while Black's queen is still threatened by the pawn on a5. White is winning. But the simpler 35.Qxc4 Qd4 36.Qc1 was also possible - White is an exchange up and should be winning. 35...Qxf2+! The most stubborn defense. After 35...Qd4 36.Qxh6+ Ke7 37.Qxh5 Black's position is hopeless. 36.Qxf2 Nd4 37.Ng5 Nf5 Black has rook, bishop and two pawns for the queen, but his queen is too exposed. 38.Ne4 Rhc6 39.Qb2 Rd4 40.Qb8 Rd8 41.Rf1 Re8 42.Qb4+ Re7 43.Nc3 Be6 44.Nd5 Bxd5 45.Rxf5 Rc4 46.Qa3 Be6 47.Rxh5 Ke8 48.Rh8+ Kd7 49.Qd3+ Kc6 50.Rh6 Rc1+ 51.Kh2 Rd7 52.Qxa6+ Kc5 53.Rh5+ Rd5 54.Rxd5+ Bxd5 55.Qd3 Rc4 56.Qd1 Bc6 57.a6 Ra4 58.a7 Ra6 59.Qb3 f5 60.Kg1 Bb5 61.Qe3+ Kd5 62.Kf2 c5 63.Qe7 Bc6 64.Ke3 Kc4 65.Qe6+ Kb5 66.Qb3+ Ka5 67.Qb8 Bxg2 68.Kd3 Rb6 69.Kc4 Rb4+ 70.Kxc5 1–0

The two other games of the round ended with a draw.

Round 4 - Results

Standings after round 4

Games

Links

• Tournament page
• Chess-Results