Round 04
At the end of three rounds of play in the four-player Scheveningen match, China had made the Indian team struggle and had been leading 7.5-4.5. The story was no different in the fourth and the final round as well.
All thanks to Wei Yi's win with the black pieces against Abhijeet Gupta.
[Event "2nd CHN-IND Summit 2017"] [Site "Liaocheng"] [Date "2017.03.08"] [Round "4"] [White "Gupta, Abhijeet"] [Black "Wei, Yi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E46"] [WhiteElo "2627"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 Re8 6. a3 Bf8 7. Ng3 d5 8. Be2 {E46: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4 e3 0-0 5 Ne2 without early Bd3} b6 9. cxd5 ( 9. O-O Bb7 10. Qc2 c5 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Rd1 Nbd7 13. b3 Qc7 14. Bb2 a6 15. Rac1 Rad8 {0-1 (46) Aleksandrov,A (2574) -Wojtaszek,R (2749) Doha 2016}) 9... exd5 10. b4 Bb7 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Qb3 c6 {LiveBook: 3 Games} 13. Bf3 a6 14. Rd1 $146 (14. e4 dxe4 15. Ngxe4 Nd5 16. Nxd5 cxd5 {0-1 (43) Sarkar,J (2437)-Ortiz Suarez, I (2598) Cochabamba 2013}) 14... b5 15. e4 {Black should prevent e5.} Nb6 16. e5 Nfd7 17. Bg4 a5 {Hoping for ...axb4.} 18. Rb1 Nc4 19. Nce2 axb4 20. axb4 Bc8 21. h3 Ndb6 22. Qf3 f6 23. Bh5 g6 $1 24. exf6 Ra7 25. Bg5 Rf7 (25... gxh5 $17 26. Nxh5 Qd6) 26. Bxg6 $11 hxg6 27. Nf4 {[#]} (27. Qd3 $1 $15 Rxf6 28. Nf4) 27... Rxf6 (27... Bg7 $1 $17 28. Qd3 (28. fxg7 Qxg5) 28... Nd7) 28. Qd3 Qd6 {...Bf5 is the strong threat.} 29. Bxf6 Qxf6 30. Nxg6 Bd6 $1 $36 { Threatening ...Kf7. Black is pushing.} 31. Re1 Bd7 32. f4 ({White should try} 32. Nh4 $15) 32... Nb2 33. Rxe8+ Bxe8 34. Rxb2 Bxg6 35. f5 Bf7 {Black has compensation.} 36. Rb3 Qg5 (36... Nc4 $17) 37. Qf3 $15 Qc1+ 38. Nf1 Nc4 { aiming for ...Nd2.} 39. Qg4+ Kf8 40. Qh4 Ke8 41. Rf3 Nd2 42. Re3+ Ne4 {White must now prevent ...Qb2.} 43. Qh8+ $1 Kd7 44. Qh7 Ke8 {Threatens to win with .. .Qb2.} 45. f6 $2 (45. Qh8+ $1 $11 {and White has nothing to worry.} Ke7 46. Qh4+ Ke8 47. Qh8+) 45... Qb2 $19 {( -> ...Qf2+)} (45... Bxb4 $2 46. Rd3 $19) 46. Qf5 Kd8 47. Rd3 {[#]} Bg6 $1 48. Qf3 (48. Qxg6 Qf2+) 48... Ng5 49. Qe3 Bxd3 50. Qxg5 Qxd4+ 51. Kh1 Qf2 0-1
Bu Xiangzhi played a responsible hand throughout the match. He drew his fourth round game against Karthikeyan Murali.
[Event "2nd CHN-IND Summit 2017"] [Site "Liaocheng"] [Date "2017.03.08"] [Round "4"] [White "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Black "Bu, Xiangzhi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2578"] [BlackElo "2711"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. Nc3 Be7 8. d3 d6 9. a4 b4 10. Ne2 Na5 {C84: Closed Ruy Lopez: Unusual White 6th moves} (10... O-O 11. a5 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Ng3 Nf4 14. Re1 Nxg2 15. Kxg2 Nd4 16. Ne4 Nxb3 17. cxb3 f5 18. Ng3 {0-1 (27) Inarkiev,E (2709) -Bu,X (2705) Doha 2016}) 11. Ba2 O-O 12. Ng3 c5 13. Nf5 Bc8 {LiveBook: 6 Games} 14. N3h4 Ne8 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. Bd5 Qxh4 $146 ({Black should play} 16... Rb8 $11 17. Qh5 Nc7) (16... Rb8 17. Nf5 Bxf5 18. exf5 {1/2-1/2 (27) Michalek,M (2446)-Overton,D (2470) ICCF email 2009}) 17. Bxa8 $14 Nc7 18. Bd5 $1 Nxd5 19. exd5 Qd4 20. Qf3 Bb7 21. c3 ( {Better is} 21. c4 $16) 21... Qxd5 $11 (21... bxc3 $6 22. bxc3 Qxc3 23. Rb1 $16 ) 22. Qxd5 Bxd5 23. Be3 Nb3 24. Rad1 a5 25. f4 Bc6 (25... Rd8 $142) 26. fxe5 dxe5 27. d4 cxd4 28. cxd4 e4 $1 (28... Nxd4 $6 29. Bxd4 exd4 30. Rxd4 $16) 29. Rf4 {Black must now prevent d5.} Re8 (29... Bxa4 $6 30. Rxe4 Nc5 31. dxc5 $16) 30. Rdf1 Re7 31. d5 Bxd5 32. Rd1 Re5 33. Rf2 {[#] And now Bf4 would win.} Bc6 34. Rd8+ Re8 35. Rxe8+ Bxe8 $14 {Endgame KRB-KBN} 36. Rf4 Bc6 (36... Bxa4 $6 37. Rxe4 Kf8 38. Bf4 $16) 37. Bb6 {White has compensation.} f6 (37... Bxa4 $6 38. Rxe4 f6 39. Re7 $16) 38. Kf2 Kf7 (38... Bxa4 $6 39. Rxe4 Kf7 40. Rc4 $16) 39. Ke3 Ke6 40. g4 h6 41. h4 Kd6 (41... Bxa4 $6 42. Rxe4+ Kd6 43. g5 $16) 42. Rf5 Bd7 ({Of course not} 42... Bxa4 $6 43. Bxa5 (43. Kxe4 Bd7 44. Rf4 Kc6 $11) 43... Nxa5 44. Rxa5 $16) 43. Rf4 ({Much weaker is} 43. Bxa5 Bxf5 44. Bxb4+ Kd5 45. gxf5 Nd4 $15) 43... Bxa4 44. Rxe4 Bd7 45. Bd8 {Threatens to win with Be7+.} Be6 $1 46. Kf4 Kd7 47. Bb6 g5+ 48. Kg3 Bd5 49. Re3 a4 $1 50. Rxb3 Bxb3 $11 { KB-KB} 51. Bc5 a3 52. bxa3 {The position is equal.} bxa3 53. Bxa3 gxh4+ 54. Kxh4 Ke6 55. Bc1 f5 1/2-1/2
Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew...
...with Zhou Jiangchao.
The game between S.P. Sethuraman and Lu Shanglei also ended in a draw rather quickly.
Ganguly commented after the game that his goal before the tournament was to get 3 points, but in four games he could only make 1.5 points which is disappointing. As an experienced player, he has a very good understanding of the Chinese team and was deeply impressed by the Chinese players' never-say-die spirit.
Although both the countries fielded second-rate teams, this result leaves Indians with a lot of introspection to do.
India also sorely missed the services of Vidit Gujrathi who missed this match thanks to the failure to get the visa on time! The Chinese team won $10,800 for their win while Team India was awarded $7,200.
Check all the games and download them here.
