Candidates Round 5: Nepomniachtchi takes the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/22/2020 – The 2020 Candidates Tournament has a sole leader for the first time, as Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Wang Hao with the white pieces in round five. The three other games finished drawn. Kirill Alekseenko and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave entered a sharp Najdorf which ended in a repetition, while Anish Giri could not make the most of the very promising position he got against Fabiano Caruana. Expert analysis by GM ELSHAN MORADIABADI and IM LAWRENCE TRENT. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

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A missed chance for Giri

The eight-player Candidates tournament is one of the most prestigious global chess events, held every two years. The event will determine who will challenge the defender Magnus Carlsen for the title of the World Chess Champion. This year’s event has a prize fund of 500,000 Euros, which is the highest ever in the history of the Candidates tournaments.


All the results from round five:

Name Result Name
Giri Anish ½ - ½ Caruana Fabiano
Grischuk Alexander ½ - ½ Ding Liren
Alekseenko Kirill ½ - ½ Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
Nepomniachtchi Ian 1 - 0 Wang Hao

Round six takes place on Monday, March 23 at 4:00 p.m. local time. Pairings:

Name Result Name
Grischuk Alexander   Caruana Fabiano
Alekseenko Kirill   Giri Anish
Nepomniachtchi Ian   Ding Liren
Wang Hao   Vachier-Lagrave Maxime

Three players were co-leading the tournament after four rounds, and two of them were paired up against each other on Sunday. Ian Nepomniachtchi outsmarted Wang Hao before the time control to become the first sole leader of the competition, leaving Maxime Vachier-Lagrave as the only player a half point back.

Wang again played the Petroff against 1.e4, to which Nepomniachtchi responded by both castling kingside and advancing his pawns on that side of the board. The Russian kept the initiative throughout and, when each side had a queen, a knight and six pawns, he took advantage of an inaccuracy by his opponent to get his second win in Yekaterinburg.

When the games were just starting to develop, most eyes were put on the sharp Sicilian Najdorf between Kirill Alekseenko and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — after the usual tactical fireworks, however, the game was the first one to end drawn by perpetual check. Meanwhile, Anish Giri seemed to be en route to defeat Caruana's new weapon — the Slav — but the Dutchman could not find the most precise continuation on move 33 and the point was eventually split. Alexander Grischuk got a very slight edge against Ding Liren, but that encounter never quite left the realms of equality.

FIDE Candidates Tournament 2020

The playing hall in Yekaterinburg | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Alekseenko ½:½ Vachier-Lagrave

The most famed Najdorf expert in the world did not shy away from using his beloved weapon against Alekseenko. Vachier-Lagrave deviated from a game he had played against Carlsen last year in London with a move that called for an ultra-sharp tactical battle:

 
Alekseenko vs. Vachier-Lagrave
Position after 16...g6

In the post-game interview, 'MVL' declared that his 16...g6 "is more or less a forced draw", later proving that he had prepared most of the critical lines deeply. Alekseenko spent twelve minutes on 17.xg6, but after his opponent almost blitzed out 17....xc3 he invested close to fifty minutes on 18.xe6, creating the kind of mayhem Najdorf players are so accustomed to:

 
Position after 18.Nxe6

The time spent by Alekseenko provoked Vachier-Lagrave to make a request to the organizers:

If my next opponent [again] thinks for like 50 minutes, I'm gonna have to ask the arbiters to bring some board games.

In the end, the game followed what the Frenchman had predicted in his preparation, as Alekseenko found a line that led to a perpetual check. The Russian felt this was his first game "without big mistakes".

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e6 7.Be3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.a3 B80: Sicilian Scheveningen: 6 g3 and 6 Be3, including English Attack. h5 10.0-0-0 was the old line (10.Be2). Bb7 11.Kb1 Be7 12.Rg1 Rc8 13.Be2 Nb6 14.Qe1 Nfd7 15.g4 hxg4 16.Rxg4
16...g6N Predecessor: 16...Bf8 17.Rg2 Ne5 18.f4 Nec4 19.Bc1 Qc7 20.Bxc4 Nxc4 21.Rd3 g6 0-1 (82) Carlsen,M (2872)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2780) London 2019 17.Rxg6 Rxc3! The position is equal. 18.Nxe6 Much worse is 18.bxc3 fxg6 19.Nxe6 Qc8 18...Qc8 19.Ng7+ Kf8 20.Rh6! Rxh6 21.Bxh6 Rxc2 22.Nf5+ Ke8 23.Nxe7 Kxe7 24.Qh4+! f6 25.Bf4
25...Rxb2+! 26.Kxb2 Na4+ 27.Kb1 Nc3+ Double Attack 28.Ka1 Nxd1 29.Qh7+ Kd8 30.Qg8+ Ke7 31.Qh7+ Kd8 32.Qg8+ Of course not 32.Bxd1 Qc3+ 33.Kb1 Qd3+ 34.Bc2 Qxa3 32...Ke7
( -> ...Qc3+) 33.Qh7+ Not much happened in this game. Accuracy: White = 100%, Black = 95%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Alekseenko,K2698Vachier Lagrave,M2767½–½2020FIDE Candidates 20205.3

Kirill Alekseenko, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Showcasing their theoretical knowledge — Kirill Alekseenko and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Nepomniachtchi 1:0 Wang Hao

As GM Elshan Moaradiabadi writes in his annotations (see more below), "Wang Hao, to some extent, owes his presence at the Candidates to the Petroff Defence". Like many other strong Chinese grandmasters, Wang has studied this setup deeply, except this time around he entered a line he is not very used to by playing 6...f5 instead of 6...♝d6. Nepomniachtchi later deviated from a game between Anand and Yu Yangyi with 13.h4, which prompted the Chinese to spend over eleven minutes on his response.

'Nepo' was in the driver's seat, and later stated he was happy for having shown some good preparation with the white pieces for the first time in the event. Nevertheless, Wang was keeping things under control, at least until move 32, when he committed a mistake:

 
Nepomniachtchi vs. Wang Hao
Position after 32.Qb8

Wang played 32...d7, missing the fact that White had a strong recourse after 33.h8 e6 34.f4 xd4 35.g8+ f7 36.c8+ d7 37.g8+ f7 (repeating, as the time control was approaching):

 
Position after 37...Qf7

The Chinese confessed he had simply missed 38.d8, when White can gain a piece by force after 38...d7 (Black's best alternative) 39.f5+ gxf5 40.gxf5+ xf5 41.d7+ xd7 42.xf5. The resulting ending is winning for White, although it was slightly unexpected to see Wang resigning the very next move, as other players might have given their opponent some more chances to falter during the technical phase.

 
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A valuable win for 'Nepo'. In a game where both players showed deep understanding, Wang Hao blundered and Nepomniatchi didn't give him a second chance. 1.e4 0 e5 0 2.Nf3 0 Nf6 0 3.Nxe5 36 d6 5 4.Nf3 0 Nxe4 7 5.d4 4 d5 6 6.Bd3 11 Bf5!? 5 We know that Wang Hao owes his presence at the Candidates to the Petroff defense, to some extent. Hi win over Anand at the Chess.com Isle of Man Grand Swiss played a crucial role for him winning that event. However, the Chinese number two has never played this line before. He usually plays Bd6 at this point. 7.0-0 10 Be7 2 8.Re1 16 0-0 11 9.Nbd2 0 Nepo goes for a solid choice. 9.c4 Nc6 10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Rae8 14.Bf4 Bd6 15.c4 Qh5 has been successfully employed by Chinese top GMs like Wei Yi and Li Chao. 16.Bxd6 The bishop dropping back is what the engines cry for, and probably will resurface in top GM-level games very soon. cxd6 17.Qa3 Qa5! 18.Qxd6 Rxe1+ 19.Rxe1 Rd8 20.Re2 20.Re3 h6 21.Qf4 Qxa2 22.d5 Na5 23.Re7 23.Qc7 Qb1+ 24.Re1 Qb6 25.Re7 Qxc7 26.Rxc7 b5 27.cxb5 Rxd5 28.h3 Rxb5 29.Rxa7 Nc6 1/2-1/2 (29) Anand,V (2767)-Wei,Y (2743) Wijk aan Zee 2018 23...Rf8 24.Qc7 Qb1+ 25.Ne1 Qb4 26.Re4 Nb3 27.Qe7 Qxe7 28.Rxe7 Rc8 29.Rxb7 Na5 30.Rxa7 Nxc4 31.Ra1 Nb6 1/2-1/2 (31) Naiditsch,A (2695)-Li,C (2691) China 2019 20...Qa4 21.Qc7 Rf8 22.Rd2 Qxc4 23.h3 b5 24.d5 Nd4 25.d6 Qxc7 26.dxc7 Ne6 27.Nd4 Nxc7 28.Rc2 Nd5 29.Rc5 Nb4 30.a3 Nd3 31.Rxb5 g6 32.Ra5 Re8 33.f3 Re7 34.Nc6 Rc7 35.Nxa7 Rc1+ 36.Kh2 Rc2 37.Rg5 h6 38.Rg4 h5 39.Re4 f5 40.Re6 Nf4 41.Rb6 Rxg2+ 42.Kh1 Rg3 43.a4 Rxf3 44.Nb5 h4 45.a5 Rf1+ 46.Kh2 Rf2+ 47.Kh1 Rf1+ 48.Kh2 Rf2+ 49.Kg1 Nxh3+ 50.Kh1 g5 51.a6 g4 52.a7 Rf1+ 53.Kh2 Rf2+ 54.Kh1 Rf1+ 55.Kh2 Rf2+ 1/2-1/2 (55) Nakamura,H (2761)-Wei,Y (2736) Abidjan 2019 9...Nd6 0 10.Nf1 12 Bxd3 0 11.Qxd3 3 c6 6 12.Bf4 11 Na6 12 The players are following the game Anand-Yu Yangyi from 2019. 13.h4!?N 0 An interesting and sensible novelty. White gains some space on the kingside. 13.Ne3 This has been the main line and has been tried at the high level four times in the past year. Nc7 14.Re2 Ne6 15.Bxd6 Bxd6 16.g3 Qd7 17.Rae1 Rae8 18.b3 Nc7 19.c4 Bb4 20.Ra1 f6 21.a3 Be7 22.Rae1 Bd8 23.Kg2 Re6 24.cxd5 cxd5 25.Rc1 Rc6 26.Rec2 Rxc2 27.Qxc2 Re8 28.Qc5 a6 29.a4 Re6 30.Qb4 1/2-1/2 (31) Anand,V (2767)-Yu,Y (2738) Stavanger 2019 13...Nc7 0 Wag Hao might have been surprised, as he took over eleven minutes on this rather obvious move. 14.Ng5 28 Bxg5 0 A sensible, human way of equalizing. 14...g6! 15.Nh2 Qd7 16.h5 Bxg5 17.Bxg5 Rae8 18.Re5 f5! and because of the timely Nf7 and Ne6, Black is in time to equalize. 15.Bxg5 55 f6 21 16.Bf4 20 Qd7 10 17.Ng3 19 Rae8?! 9:37 This gives away the f5-square and some unnecessary activity to White. 17...g6! 18.h5 Kf7! and Black secures the f5-square, and soon neutralizes the e-file. Though, moves like Kf7 aren't easy to play under the tournament's circumstances. 18.Bxd6 27 Qxd6 8 19.Nf5 3 Qd7 6 20.Qh3 20 Kh8?! 6:05 20...Ne6 It is hard to commit to a move like this. Kh8 is the natural move, but it is a bit slow. 21.h5 g6 22.Nh4 gxh5 23.Re3 Qf7 24.Rae1 Ng7 is equal but doesn't come to mind easily. 21.h5 1:45 Rxe1+ 8:47 22.Rxe1 3:19 Re8 1:26 23.Rxe8+ 4:15 Nxe8 51 24.g4?! 15:05 24.a4 a5 25.Kf1 seems to exert more pressure on black. Somehow the h3-c8 diagonal x-ray works in White's favor. 24...a6 2:17 24...Kg8 25.g5 Qf7 would have equalized rather instantly. 26.Qe3 Qxh5 27.Qe6+ Kf8 28.Qe7+ Kg8 29.gxf6 Qg4+ 30.Kf1 Qd1+= 25.b3 13:41 This gives Black enough time to neutralize White's initiative. 25.Kf1 Qe6 26.Qh2 would have maintained some pressure. 25...Qe6 16:47 26.Ne3 28:06 Nd6 26:04 27.h6 11 g6 3 28.c4 0 dxc4 7:23 29.bxc4 0 Kg8 8 29...Nf7 would have made White's queen tied to h6, although Kg8 is not a bad move either. 30.Qh2 3:46 Kf7 11:47 31.c5 0 Nb5 1:08 32.Qb8 7 Qd7?? 3:27 Time pressure takes its toll. Nxd4 or Qe7 both would have easily held. 32...Qe7 33.Qh8 Ke6 34.Qg8+ 34.f4 Kd7! and the king is safe now. 35.Qg7 Ke8 36.Qg8+ Kd7 34...Qf7 35.Qb8 Qc7= 32...Nxd4 This one requires delicate calculation. 33.Qxb7+ Qe7 34.Qxa6 Qe4 35.Qb7+ Ke6 36.Qxh7 Ne2+ 36...Nf3+ This works, but it is harder. 37.Kf1 Nd4 38.Qg8+ Ke7 and White cannot improve. 39.Kg1 Nf3+ 40.Kh1 Nd4+ 41.Kh2 Nf3+ 42.Kg3 Ne5 43.Qg7+ Ke6 36...Qb1+ 37.Kh2 Ne2 38.Qg8+ Ke7 39.Qg7+ Ke6 and White needs to repeat due to the mating threats. 37.Kf1 Ng3+!= 38.fxg3 Qf3+ 39.Ke1 Qxe3+ 33.Qh8 6:05 Ke6 21
34.f4! 3:17 The 'resourceful' Nepo found the difference between Qe7 and Qd7. Now Black's king cannot find a shelter. Nxd4 5 34...Qxd4?? 35.Qe8# 34...Qe7 35.f5++- 34...Qf7 35.f5+ Ke7 36.Qc8+- 35.Qg8+ 0 Qf7 34 36.Qc8+ 5:31 Qd7 6 37.Qg8+ 1:45 Qf7 3 38.Qd8! 1:08 Qd7 is forced now, where Black loses a piece to a deflection tactic. Qd7 0 39.f5+ 12 gxf5 5 40.gxf5+ 3 Nxf5 6 41.Qxd7+ 52:20 Kxd7 50:03 42.Nxf5 9 Ke6 0 43.Ne3 47 43.Ne3 f5 44.Kf2 f4 45.Nc4 and Black is too slow in face of White's agile knight. A rather heartbreaking loss for Wang Hao, who had several chances to make a draw in this game.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nepomniachtchi,I2774Wang,H27621–02020C42FIDE Candidates 20205.4

Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wang Hao

Nepomniachtchi beat former co-leader Wang Hao | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Giri ½:½ Caruana

This was another instance of Giri getting a strong position out of the opening and not managing to take advantage of it over the board. Against Caruana's Slav Defence, the Dutch GM surprised his opponent by going for 10.c2, as "usually people play 10.♕b3" (Caruana). The American started improvising and later declared that he was "borderline lost" after 26...c5 27.c3.

 
Giri vs. Caruana
Position after 27.Bc3

In fact, it was Caruana's decision here that worsened his position greatly, as he went for 27...cxd4 instead of the more resilient 27...c4. Giri kept putting pressure, but could not find a specific path to victory and let his advantage slip away on move 33. He later explained:

It turned out to be not so easy over the board, because I couldn't quite calculate a winning line till the end, because there are all these resources for Black.

Referring to the worldwide crisis we are going through, Caruana expressed his doubts as to whether he will be able to return to the United States by the time the tournament is over, while Giri is putting all his hopes on the International Chess Federation:

I have faith in a private jet of FIDE, that will fly all players to their houses.

 
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1.d4 0 d5 0 2.c4 0 c6 0 It seems that the Slav is Caruana's main weapon against d4 in this edition of the Candidates. 3.Nf3 0 Nf6 0 4.e3 0 Bf5 0 5.Nc3 0 e6 4 6.Nh4 5 Be4 7 7.f3 7 Bg6 6 8.Bd2 23 Be7 37 9.Nxg6 55 hxg6 6 10.Qc2 8 Nbd7 10:03 11.0-0-0 1:05 Nb6N 7:33 Caruana's novelty. 11...Qc7 12.h4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 b5 14.Bd3 a6 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Rc8 17.Kb1 Nf6 18.Rc1 Nxe4 19.Qxe4 Qd7 20.Be1 f5 21.Qc2 c5 22.Bb4 c4 23.Bxe7 Qxe7 24.Qf2 Kf7 25.g4 b4 26.h5 gxh5 27.gxh5 c3 28.Qg3 Rh6 29.Qe5 Kg8 30.Rh2 Kh7 31.Rg2 Qc7 32.Qxc7 Rxc7 33.Rg5 g6 34.Rxg6 Rxg6 35.hxg6+ Kxg6 36.bxc3 bxc3 37.Kc2 f4 38.e4 Rc4 39.Rd1 Kf7 40.d5 Ra4 41.Kb3 c2 42.Rc1 Rd4 43.Kc3 Ra4 44.Kb3 Rd4 45.dxe6+ Kxe6 46.Kxc2 Rc4+ 47.Kb2 Rb4+ 48.Kc3 a5 49.Kd3 Ra4 50.Rc2 Ra3+ 51.Ke2 a4 52.Kf2 Rd3 53.Kg2 a3 54.Rc5 Re3 55.Rf5 Re2+ 56.Kh3 Rxa2 57.Kg4 Ra1 58.Kxf4 a2 59.Ra5 Kf7 60.Ra7+ Kf6 61.Ra6+ Kf7 62.e5 Ke7 63.Kf5 Rf1 64.Ra7+ Kf8 65.Rxa2 Rxf3+ 66.Ke6 Re3 67.Ra8+ 1/2-1/2 (67) Lupulescu,C (2643)-Bu,X (2721) Douglas 2019 11...dxc4 This is also plausibly a good move. 12.Bxc4 b5 13.Be2! 13.Bd3 a6 14.Ne4 Rc8 15.Kb1 0-0 16.h4 c5 and Black at least neutralizes White's play on the kingside if he is not already better. 17.Nxc5 Nxc5 18.dxc5 Rxc5 19.Qb3 Qc7 20.g4 a5 and Black looks better. 13...a6 14.Kb1 Rc8 14...c5!?N is also convincingly good. 15.Bc1 c5 16.d5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Rxd5 Qc7 19.h4 Rxh4 20.Rxh4 Bxh4 21.f4 Be7 22.Qd1 Nf6 23.Re5 Nd7 24.Rd5 Nf6 25.Re5 Nd7 26.Rd5 1/2-1/2 (26) Lupulescu,C (2525)-Miron,L (2432) Bucharest 2019 12.c5 6:15 Nbd7 22 13.Kb1 1:30 Qb8?! 9:58 seems like a waste of time to me. 13...b6!? 14.cxb6 axb6 followed by b5 seems very interesting, but White is in time to play. 15.a3!? 15.e4 b5 16.exd5 exd5 17.g4 Qb6 18.g5 Nh5 19.Bxb5 0-0 and Black definitely has good practical compensation. 15...b5 16.Na2 Qb6 17.Rc1 Rc8 18.Bb4 Bxb4 19.Nxb4 0-0 with an unclear position. 14.h4 8:37 g5? 19:13 This looks like a decisive mistake to me. 15.Be1? 1:20 This gives up most of White's advantage. 15.e4! Rxh4 16.Rxh4 gxh4 17.e5 Nh5 18.Qh7 Ng3 19.Bd3 and White's initiative is close to decisive. 15...g4 2:27 16.e4 0 gxf3 4:34 17.gxf3 5:18 b6 1:17 Now or never. 18.exd5 3:49 exd5 1:28 19.cxb6 0 axb6 25 20.Ne2 2:30 Qa7 4:25 21.b3 4:15 Nh5?! 1:22 I am not sure what does this move do, though it is hard to suggest a good move for Black. The position is open and his king is in the center. 21...g6 is a better waiting/preventive move. 22.Ng3 2:29 g6 5:48 23.Nxh5 4:04 Rxh5 32 24.f4?! 24 Principled but slow. 24.Bh3 Kf8 25.Bg4 Rh8 26.h5 Nf6 27.Bg3 Looks deadly decisive. 24...Kf8 0 25.Be2 4:30 Rh8 49 26.Bd3 5:26 c5 9:17 27.Bc3 5:25 27.Bd2 followed by f5 seems like game over. cxd4 28.f5 27...cxd4? 13:49 Now White is totally winning. 27...c4 28.bxc4 Nf6 was the only way to avoid White's bishops to activate. 28.Bxd4 40 Bf6 11 29.Bxf6 2:11 29.Bb5 Bxd4 30.Rxd4 Nf6 31.f5 This is the first easy win that Giri misses. 29...Nxf6 7 30.f5 13 gxf5 54 31.Bxf5 26 b5 49 32.Rh2 6:19 32.Qb2 Rh6 33.h5 Qa6 34.Qd2 and Black's king is exposed to several threats. 32...Rh5 1:12 33.Re2?? 7:11 Spoils most of White's advantage. 33.Rf2 Threatening Bg6, would have been decisive. Qb6 34.Rdf1+- 33...d4 3:40 34.Re5?! 6:08 and this lets go of the remaining advantage. 34.Be4 Re8 35.Bd3 would have maintained some of White's colossal initiative. 34...Ng4! 15 Now it is a forced draw. 35.Rc5 8 Ne3 1:28 36.Rc8+ 9 Rxc8 22 37.Qxc8+ 0 Ke7 13 38.Rc1 38 Nd5 5:54 39.Re1+ 3:04 Ne3 0 40.Rc1 1:39 Nd5 7 41.Re1+ 56:00 Ne3 50:31 42.Rc1 7:56 A sad missed opportunity for Giri, who lost a big chance to get back to the tournament. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2763Caruana,F2842½–½2020D12FIDE Candidates 20205.1

Anish Giri

Struggling to find the win — Anish Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE

Grischuk ½:½ Ding Liren

This was certainly the least exciting game of the round. Grischuk did get a little pressure with White, but Ding played it safe once he realized he could get in trouble. After the game, the players were asked about their form. The Coronavirus crisis had a strong impact on Grischuk:

My form is terrible. I don't want to play at all with all this situation. I mean, when it was beginning I did not have a big opinion, but now for several days I have a very clear opinion: that the tournament should be stopped. I mean, the whole atmosphere is very hostile. 

Ding, on the other hand, is enjoying having made an adjustment to his living conditions in Yekaterinburg:

My form is much better comparing to the first two days. Since I moved to a new hotel, I got some fresh air and life became more beautiful. 

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Bb7! The main line 8...Bb7 scores better than 8...d6. 9.d3 d5 C88: Closed Ruy Lopez: Anti-Marshall Systems. 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.a4 f6 13.Ne4 Hoping for c4. Na5 14.Ba2 c5 15.Be3 Rfc8 16.axb5 axb5 17.Nxc5
Remove Defender, Decoy 17...Rxc5 18.b4! Double Attack Rcc8 19.bxa5 Kh8 Threatens to win with ...Nc3. 20.Bd2 Nb4 21.Bb3 Bd5 22.Bxd5 Qxd5
23.Rc1N Predecessor: 23.c4 bxc4 24.dxc4 Qxc4 25.Ra4 Rcb8 26.Qa1 Qd3 27.Rd1 Rd8 28.Rb1 Na6 29.Be3 1/2-1/2 (48) Boada Marti,M (2196)-Padilla Lopez,D (2155) ICCF email 2018 23...Nc6 24.c4 bxc4! 25.Rxc4 aiming for Qa4. Nxa5 25...Rcb8 seems wilder. 26.Qc2 Nb4 27.Bxb4 Bxb4 28.Rc1 Bxa5 29.d4 e4 26.Rxc8+ Rxc8 27.d4 Nc6 28.dxe5 Nxe5 29.Nxe5 fxe5 30.Qg4 Rd8 31.Be3 Bf6 32.Rc1 Qd7 33.Qh5 Qe8 34.Qf3 Rc8 35.Rd1 Rd8 36.Rc1 Rc8 37.Rb1 Rb8 38.Re1 Qg6 39.Ba7 Rc8 40.Qb7 Qc2 41.Be3 Black must now prevent Rc1! Qc6 42.Qb4 h5 43.Bc1 Qc2 44.Be3 Rd8 45.Qb1 Qxb1 The position is equal. 46.Rxb1= Endgame KRB-KRB Kh7 47.g4 hxg4 48.hxg4 Rd6 49.Kg2 Kg6 50.Kf3 Bg5 51.Ke4 Bxe3 52.fxe3 Re6 53.Rb7 53.Kd5!? Re7 54.Rh1= 53...Re8 54.Ra7 Accuracy: White = 92%, Black = 93%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Grischuk,A2777Ding,L2805½–½2020FIDE Candidates 20205.2

Ding Liren

Ding Liren is feeling better now after a forgettable start | Photo: Lennart Ootes / FIDE


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Standings after Round 5

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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