Charity Cup: Niemann and Le share the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/20/2022 – The first four rounds of the Charity Cup left Le Quang Liem and Hans Niemann sharing the lead on 10/12 points (a win is worth 3 points, a draw is worth 1 point). Remarkably, the 18-year-old Niemann defeated Chinese star Ding Liren in the third round. After the loss, however, Ding bounced back brilliantly, getting the better of Magnus Carlsen to end the day on 9/12, a point behind the leaders. | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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Another slow start for Carlsen

Meltwater Champions Chess Tour 2022Known for his ability to come back from behind after slow starts, world champion Magnus Carlsen once again performed below his usual level at the outset of an online event. In the second tournament of this year’s Champions Chess Tour, the Norwegian finished day 1 in sixth place after collecting two wins, a draw and a loss in the first four rounds.

At the Airthings Masters, a month ago, Carlsen had obtained 4/12 points in his first four games before bouncing back with three consecutive wins. The world champion would eventually get second place in the preliminaries and would go on to win the event after beating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the finals.

In a field including players with ratings going from 2535 all the way to 2854, it was Hans Niemann and Le Quang Liem who emerged as co-leaders at the end of the day. Each of them grabbed three wins and a draw to reach the top of the standings table on 10/12 points. While Le, a former world blitz champion, only faced lower-rated opposition on Saturday, Niemann remarkably defeated Ding Liren in round 3.

Before losing to Niemann, Ding had scored back-to-back wins in his first two games. The defeat against the US grandmaster was surely unexpected for the experienced Chinese star, but that did not prevent him from beating Carlsen with the white pieces in the very next round. Ding is now in sole third place on 9/12.

Charity Chess Cup 2022

Castling to safety

Standing a point behind Ding are Jorden van Foreest and Vidit Gujrathi. Van Foreest kicked off the day with a tactical win over David Anton. Out of a Caro-Kann Defence, the Spaniard, playing black, failed to find the correct defensive idea in a sharp position.

 
Van Foreest vs. Anton

After 16.Qxe6, 16...0-0 was the way to keep the dynamic balance for Black. Anton did not find the good-looking defensive manoeuvre though, as his 16...fxg6 was responded by 17.0-0-0 — Van Foreest did go for an unlikely castling move when the position called for it.

After 17...Nc6 18.Rxd5 it is White who has the stronger attack.

 

18...Qb6 threatens the white king, but Van Foreest can recover material and keep everything under control by force: 19.Qxg6+ Kf8 20.Bxe7+ Kg8 (the knight is pinned) 21.Ba3

 

The bishop returns to defend the monarch just in time. White needed twelve more moves to convert his superior position into a win.

 
Van Foreest, Jorden27021–0Anton Guijarro, David2691
Charity Cup MCCT Prel 2022
Online15.03.2022[TA]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.g4 Be4 5.f3 Bg6 6.h4 h5! 7.Nh3 B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation. e6 8.Nf4 Ne7 9.Nc3
Black is slightly better. 9...a6N 9...hxg4 10.fxg4 Nd7 Predecessor: 9...hxg4 10.fxg4 Bh7 11.h5 c5 12.dxc5 Nec6 13.Nd3 Nd7 14.Bf4 Nxc5 15.Nxc5 Bxc5 ½-½ (41) Jimenez Munoz,N (1940)-Roca Planas,E (1881) Barcelona 2019 10.Nxg6= Nxg6 11.Bg5 Be7 And now ...hxg4 would win. 12.f4 hxg4 12...c5 with more complications. 13.gxh5 Bxg5 14.fxg5 Nf4 15.dxc5 Qc7 13.Qxg4 c5! 14.Bd3 aiming for Bxg6. cxd4 15.Bxg6 Hoping for Qxe6! dxc3 16.Qxe6! fxg6
Black is now going downhill. 16...0-0!= and Black has nothing to worry. 17.Qxe7 Qb6 17.0-0-0!+- 17.bxc3 Nc6 18.Rb1 18.Qxg6+ Kd7 18...Rb8 19.Qxg6+ Kd7 20.Qxg7 Qf8 21.Qxf8 Rhxf8 17.Qxg6+ Kd7 18.0-0-0 18.bxc3 Nc6 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.0-0-0 cxb2+ 20.Kxb2 Nc6-+ 18...Kc7= 17...Nc6 17...Qd7 18.Qxg6+ Kd8 18.Rxd5 Qb6 18...Qc8 19.Qxg6+ Kf8 19.Qxg6+ Kf8 20.Bxe7+ Kg8 21.Ba3 Black must now prevent Rd7. Qe3+ 22.Kb1 Rd7 would kill now. Rh6 23.Qg4 Threatens to win with Rd7. Kh8 24.Rd7 Rg8 25.Rg1 Rh7 26.bxc3 Na5 27.Bb4 Nc4 28.Rd4 Weaker is 28.Rxb7 a5 29.Qg3 axb4 30.Qxe3 30.Rxb4 Qc5 30.cxb4? Qd4-+ 30...Nxe3± 28...b5 29.Rd3 Qb6 29...Qf2 30.Qg3 Qxg3 31.Rdxg3 Re8 30.Bd6 White is clearly winning. Qf2 31.h5 Ne3
32.Rxe3! Qxe3 32...b4 33.Rf3 33.e6 Weighted Error Value: White=0.33/Black=0.54
1–0

Pawn races

Our in-house endgame expert GM Karsten Müller looked at a couple of pawn races from Saturday’s action. In round 2, Le beat Praggnanandhaa after the latter failed to make the most of his connected passers on the kingside.

 
Le vs. Praggnanandhaa

Here Pragg would have won with the direct 53...f3+, since 54.Rxf3 fails to 54...Rc2+ 55.Kd3 Bxf3 56.Kxc2 g2 57.Rb1+ and the light-squared bishop is perfectly placed to skewer king and rook with 57...Be4+

 
Analysis diagram

In the first diagrammed position, Black’s overly careful 53...Ba8 gave up his advantage. Later on, the 16-year-old would falter again, and Le duly punished his mistake.

In the dynamic replayer below, find GM Müller’s full analysis of the game, and his annotations on another exciting pawn race seen in round 4’s encounter between Canadian streamer Eric Hansen and Czech star David Navara.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.e3 Nc6 6.a3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 a6 8.0-0 b5 9.Ba2 Bb7 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.Bd2 Rd8 12.Rac1 cxd4 13.exd4 Be7 14.h3 0-0 15.Rfd1 Qb8 16.Bg5 b4 17.Na4 h6 18.Bh4 Nd5 19.Bxd5 Rxd5 20.Nb6 Nxd4 21.Nxd4 Bxh4 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Nc6 Qb7 24.Nxb4 Bxg2 25.Qg4 Bh1 26.Nc6 Bxc6 27.Qxh4 Bd5 28.b4 Qb5 29.Kh2 Qe2 30.Rg1 Qb2 31.Qg3 g6 32.Rc3 a5 33.bxa5 Ra8 34.Rc7 Qd4 35.Qe3 Qxe3 36.fxe3 Rxa5 37.Rf1 e5 38.Ra1 Kg7 39.a4 Bb3 40.Ra3 Bd5 41.Kg3 g5 42.h4 Kg6 43.Rd7 f5 44.Rd6+ Kh5 45.hxg5 hxg5 46.Rb6 f4+ 47.Kf2 Rc5 48.exf4 exf4 49.Rb2 Kh4 Powerful passed pawns - they are mighty weapons in an endgame: 50.a5? Usually it is good to advance a passed pawn. But in this case Black comes first. The prophylactic 50.Rb4 draws, e.g. Rc2+ 51.Kg1 Bc4 and now even 52.Rxc4 Rxc4 53.a5 g4 54.a6= is playable. 50...g4 51.Rb4 51.Ra1 does not defend due to g3+ 52.Kg1 f3 53.a6 Kh3 54.a7 Rc8 55.Rd2 Bb7 56.Rb2 Ba6 57.Rg2 Re8-+ 51...g3+ 52.Ke2 Kg5 53.a6 Ba8? This retreat is too slow. The direct 53...f3+ wins, e.g. 54.Rxf3 Rc2+ 55.Kd3 Bxf3 56.Kxc2 g2 57.Rb1 Be4+ 58.Kd2 Bxb1 59.a7 Be4-+ 54.Rb8 Re5+ 55.Kd2 Bc6 56.a7 f3 57.Rg8+ 57.a8Q Bxa8 58.Rbxa8 f2 59.Rxg3+ Kf4 60.Rgg8 f1N+= 57...Kh4! The right direction is to the edge. 57...Kf4? is met by 58.Ra4+ Kf5 59.a8Q Rd5+ 60.Ke3 Re5+ 61.Kd4 Rd5+ 62.Kc4 Bxa8 63.Raxa8+- 58.Ra6 58.a8Q Bxa8 59.Raxa8 f2 60.Raf8 Kh3 61.Rf3 Kh2= 58...f2? Here the direct advance is wrong. 58...Rd5+ draws as White's king can not escape with 59.Kc3 Rc5+ 60.Kd4 Rd5+ 61.Kc4? due to f2-+ 59.Rxc6 f1Q 60.Rh6+ Of course not 60.a8Q?? Rd5+ 61.Kc3 Qd3+ 62.Kb2 Rb5+ 63.Ka2 Qb1+ 64.Ka3 Qa1# 60...Rh5 61.Rxh5+ Kxh5 62.a8Q White wins as his king will find shelter on the kingside sooner or later: Qf2+ 63.Kd3 Qf1+ 64.Ke4 Qc4+ 65.Kf3 Qd3+ 66.Kf4 Qd2+ 67.Kxg3 Qe1+ 68.Kh3 Qe6+ 69.Kh2 Qe5+ 70.Rg3 70.Rg3 Kh4 70...Qb2+ 71.Qg2+- 71.Qa4+ Kh5 72.Qg4+ Kh6 73.Qg6# 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Le,Q2709Praggnanandhaa R26121–02022D40Charity Cup MCCT Prel 20222.3
Hansen,E2606Navara,D27001–02022B52Charity Cup MCCT Prel 20224.7

Ding’s king

In another instructive endgame, Ding got the better of the world champion by grabbing full control of the light squares. The Chinese activated his king along Black’s weakened colour complex to get a decisive attack.

 
Ding vs. Carlsen

Black is stuck. Ding patiently transferred his king to h6, as his rook both constricted the black monarch and kept an eye on the passer along the c-file.

GM Müller shows us where the world champion went wrong before this losing position appeared on the board.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 e6 4.e4 c5 5.d5 d6 6.Nc3 exd5 7.cxd5 Bg7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 a6 10.a4 0-0 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Bc4 Nbd7 13.Be2 Ne5 14.Bxh6 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Qh4+ 16.g3 Qxh6 17.Qxh6 Bxh6 18.Nf6+ Kf8 19.Nxe8 Kxe8 20.h4 Bd7 21.h5 g5 22.Nh3 g4 23.fxg4 Nxg4 24.Bxg4 Bxg4 25.Nf4 Kd7 26.Kf2 Bg7 27.Kg2 Bf5 28.Kf3 Bxb2 29.Rab1 Bxb1 30.Rxb1 Be5 31.Rxb7+ Ke8 32.g4 Rc8 33.g5 c4 34.g6 fxg6 35.hxg6 Kf8 36.Ne6+ Kg8 37.Ke2 c3 38.Kd1 Ding's king. In the endgame the king should usually be activated: a5? This is too early. Now White light square power play is too strong. Only after 38...c2+ 39.Kc1 can Black play a5 and it seems that White can not win, e.g. 40.Rb6 Kh8 41.Rc6 Rg8 42.Kxc2 Rxg6 43.Rc8+ Rg8 44.Rxg8+ Kxg8 45.Kd3 Kf7 46.Nd8+ Ke7 47.Nc6+ Kd7 48.Nxa5 Kc7 49.Nc4 Bg3= 39.Kc2 Ra8 39...Kh8 40.Rh7+ Kg8 41.Ra7+- 40.Rb5 Bf6 41.Rb6 Be5 42.Rb7 Bf6 43.Rc7 Be5 44.Kd3 Ding's king will join the mating attack with decisive effect. This is one major difference between endgame and middlegame attacks. Bf6 45.Ke4 Be5 46.Kf5 Rb8 47.Kg5 Ra8 48.Kh6 Re8 49.g7 49.g7 Bf6 50.Kg6 Be5 51.Rf7+- 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2799Carlsen,M28651–02022A65Charity Cup MCCT Prel 20224.8

Standings after round 4 (win = 3pts, draw = 1 pt)

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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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