Chessable Masters Finals: Ding wins first set

by Klaus Besenthal
5/26/2022 – The first set of the final match at the online Chessable Masters ended on Wednesday with a 2½-1½ victory by Ding Liren over Praggnanandhaa. It has been a busy few days for the 16-year-old Pragg: the Indian chess prodigy shuttles between tournament matches and school exams. A second match will be played on Thursday — a draw will then be enough for Ding to win the tournament.
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Ding takes the lead

Pragg was not as tired as some might have suspected, because after losing the first game of the match, he immediately levelled the score in the next encounter. In a complicated rook ending, however, there had initially been some fluctuations in positional evaluation. IM Zoran Petronijevic analysed the endgame:

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.c4 0 e5 0 2.Nc3 2 Nf6 2 3.Nf3 1 Nc6 1 4.g3 0 d5 1 5.cxd5 1 Nxd5 0 6.Bg2 0 Nb6 1 7.0-0 2 Be7 0 8.b3 0 0-0 6 9.Bb2 2 Bf5 3:23 10.d3 54 Qd7 54 11.Rc1 0 Rad8 1:17 12.a3 44 Rfe8 59 13.b4 16 Bf8 59 14.Re1 2:58 a5 0 15.bxa5 2:07 Nxa5 3 16.Nd2 2 h6 32 17.h4 2:12 Ra8 1:32 18.Rb1 3:12 Be6 2:50 19.Qc1 32 Nc6 0 20.Rd1 31 Ra5 1:38 21.Nc4 22 Nxc4 3 22.dxc4 0 Qc8 1 23.Nd5 1 Rc5 14 24.a4 2:01 Na5 0 25.Ba3 2 Rxc4 13 26.Qe3 41 Bxa3 1:27 27.Qxa3 0 Nc6 20 28.e3 43 e4 2 29.Bf1 43 Rc2 0 30.Nb4 59 Nxb4 6 31.Qxb4 0 Bg4 19 32.Rdc1 0 Rxc1 7 33.Rxc1 0 Bf3 2 34.a5 1 Rd8 0 35.Bg2 13 c6 14 36.Rb1 41 Rd5 12 37.Qxb7 16 Qxb7 1 38.Rxb7 0 Rxa5 1 Although Black is a pawn up, the position is even due to the activity of White's Rook. 39.Rc7 8 Rc5 22 40.g4 19 Rc4 18 41.g5 31 hxg5 5 42.hxg5 0 Rc5 0 In case of 42...Bxg2 43.Kxg2 Rc5 44.Kh3 Rxg5 45.Rxc6 the position is even. 43.Bxf3 7 Easier was 43.g6 fxg6 44.Bxf3 exf3 45.Kh2 Rg5 46.Rxc6= 43...exf3 1 44.Kh2 1 Rxg5 4
45.Rxc6? 0 This move loses. After 45.Rc8+ Kh7 46.Rxc6 the position is even: Rg2+ 47.Kh3 Rxf2 48.Rc7 Kg6 49.Kg4 Rf1 50.Rc6+ f6 51.Rc7= 45...Rg2+-+ 16 46.Kh3 1
46...Kh7? 0 46...Rxf2? also leads to an even play 47.Kg3 Rf1 48.e4= Very subtle 46...f6! was a winning move: 47.Rc7 g5! 48.Rc5 Kf7 49.Rf5 Rxf2 50.Kg4 Ke6 51.Ra5 Rf1 52.e4 f2 53.Ra6+ Ke5 54.Kf3 Re1-+ 47.Rc4 10 The position is even. Rxf2 8 48.Kg3 4 Rf1 1 49.Rh4+ 31 Kg8 0 50.Ra4 37 g6 9 50...f2 leads to a theoretical draw after 51.Kg2 Rc1 52.Kxf2= although Black has solid practical chances. 51.Ra7 6 Kg7 3 52.Kg4? 8
The mistake after which Black wins. Better was 52.Re7! keeping an equality. 52...Kf6!-+ 9 53.Ra5 0
53...Ke6? 6 Only winning move was 53...g5! The possible line is 54.e4 54.Ra3 Ke5-+ 54...Ke6 55.Rc5 f6 56.Kg3 f2 57.Kf3 Re1-+ 54.Kf4= 3 Kf6 31 55.Ra6+ 1 Kg7 1
56.Kg3? 20
A losing move. White has a lot of moves that lead to a draw. For instance 56.Ra5= 56...f5!-+ 22 57.Ra5 19 In case of 57.Kf4 Black has g5+! 58.Kg3 g4-+ 57...Kf6 4 58.Ra6+ 47 Ke5 10 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2806Praggnanandhaa,R26420–12022A29MCCT Chessable Masters-KO 20223.1

Pragg was only able to enjoy the even score for a short time: Ding struck back in the third game, before securing victory in the match with a draw in the final fourth game. Pragg could console himself with the school exam: “It went well”, said the 16-year-old when asked about it. GM Karsten Müller shared his analysis of the third game:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Rc1 h6 10.Bh4 b6 11.Bd3 Ba6 12.0-0 0-0 13.e4 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Ba3 15.Rcd1 Rfe8 16.Rfe1 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Rac8 18.h3 b5 19.Re2 Qa4 20.Rde1 Bf8 21.g4 c5 22.d5 c4 23.Qd2 b4 24.dxe6 Rxe6 25.Nd4 Rb6 26.Qd1 Qxd1 27.Rxd1 bxc3 28.Rc2 Nc5 29.Rxc3 Nxe4 30.Re3 Nf6 31.Ne2 Bc5 32.Re5 Rb2 33.Nc3 Breaking Pragg's blockade A passed pawn should be blockaded. But in this case White can not hold the blockade: Bb4! 34.Rc1 Nd7 The invasion of the knight will decide. The more radical 34...g5 35.Bg3 Bxc3 36.Rxc3 Rd2-+ wins as well as the knight will enter via d5. 35.Re4 Nb6 36.a4 Rb3! This breaks White's blockade for good. 37.Na2 37.Re3 runs into Bxc3 38.Rexc3 Rxc3 39.Rxc3 Nd5 40.Rc1 c3 41.Bg3 Nb4 42.Bf4 Nd3-+ 37...Bd2 38.Rc2 c3 39.Rd4 Rb2 39...Rb2 40.Rdxd2 cxd2 41.Rxb2 d1Q+-+ 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Praggnanandhaa R2642Ding,L28060–12022D52MCCT Chessable Masters-KO 20223.1

First-set games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nge2 Re8 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.a4 Nh5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.a5 Nf8 14.Nc1 Nf6 15.Nb3 Rb8 16.Qc2 b6 17.axb6 axb6 18.Nd2 c5 19.Nf3 c4 20.Bf5 b5 21.Ne5 Bxf5 22.Qxf5 b4 23.Ne2 Ra8 24.Nf4 Ne6 25.Nh5 Ne4 26.Ng3 Nd6 27.Qf3 Qb7 28.Nf5 Ng5 29.Qf4 Nxf5 30.Qxf5 Ne4 31.h3 b3 32.Kh2 c3 33.bxc3 Rxa1 34.Rxa1 Nxc3 35.Ra3 Rf8 36.Nd3 b2 37.Nxb2 Qxb2 38.Ra6 Qb7 39.Ra1 Ne4 40.g3 g6 41.Qf4 Qb2 42.Rf1 Rc8 0–1
  • 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.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Praggnanandhaa,R2642Ding,L28060–12022D35Chessable Masters KO 20221
Ding,L2806Praggnanandhaa,R26420–12022A29Chessable Masters KO 20222
Praggnanandhaa,R2642Ding,L28060–12022D52Chessable Masters KO 20223
Ding,L2806Praggnanandhaa,R2642½–½2022E10Chessable Masters KO 20224

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Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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