Ding Liren and cold stand between Carlsen and Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019 victory!

by Sagar Shah
5/26/2019 – Yes, you read that right! The two crucial factors that will make Carlsen's task difficult of winning the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019 are Ding Liren, who has fared excellently against Carlsen in recent times and the other being cold. The tournament is being played in a distillery and Magnus is feeling quite cold in there. After three rounds Carlsen and Ding Liren are leading with 2.0/3, Karjakin is on 1½/3 while Vishy is on the last spot with ½/3. A detailed day one report by IM Sagar Shah from the venue.

A dynamic weapon against the QGD - 5.Bf4 A dynamic weapon against the QGD - 5.Bf4

This DVD concentrates on the increasingly popular 5.Bf4 variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined and gives White a dynamic and aggressive weapon against Black's set-up.

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Ding and Carlsen in the lead

When the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019 tournament was announced the first question on everyone's mind was — is this tournament going to be serious? The event was announced at a short notice, it was being organized inside a distillery, and there were only six rounds of rapid chess. But as I stood in the playing hall on day one and the proceedings began, I realized that when you get players like Carlsen, Anand, Ding Liren and Karjakin together, you cannot have light-hearted chess! 

The settings inside the distillery, where the players are just a meter away from the washbacks

First of all, all four of them prepare extremely hard in the first phase of the game. Hence, when they begin a duel, it is always a battle that spans across some previous game played, or some new ideas that are home-cooked.


When Powerplay chess and ChessBase India come together! IM Sagar Shah and Daniel King recap day one of the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019


Let's take for example the first round game between Sergey Karjakin and Vishy Anand. Vishy is a now a well-known expert of the Queen's Gambit Declined. He goes for classical lines and in those classical lines which have been played for hundreds of years, he has a modern wrinkle up his sleeve. You cannot just expect to go to the game with no novelty and surprise Anand. But Karjakin is your man for new opening ideas! When the duo sat opposite each other, they literally blitzed out their first 20 moves.

 
Karjakin vs Anand, Round 1
White to move

This was the same position that was reached in Mamedyarov - Anand at Wijk Aan Zee in 2018. The Azeri GM had moved his bishop back to h4. Sergey decided to test Anand's sacrifice. Instead of Bh4, he played the move Nxe4. Vishy thought for a while, most certainly trying to recollect his analysis, and played ...a6! After 0-0 xc4 d5 xd5 xd5 f8, Karjakin surprised Anand with ♗f6!

 
22.Bf6! by Karjakin put Vishy in a difficult situation

Anand now had a difficult choice to make. His e5 pawn is hanging. He could take on f6 and then after ♘xf6+ ♚g7 ♘xe8 ♜xe8 ♖xe5, play this position where White has a rook and two pawns for two minor pieces. Objectively Black should be able to hold this, but in a practical game, White's play is much easier. Vishy decided to avoid this variation and instead went for ♜ac8. Karjakin consolidated his position and was cruising towards victory. But just when it seemed all over, he made an error, which allowed Anand back into the game.

 
Black to play

With seconds ticking down Vishy had to find the move ...♜e7. This would have pinned the knight and would have given Black excellent drawing chances. But when you are low on time, there could be nothing more natural than taking the pawn with ...♜xh3. Karjakin replied with 51.♘e5 and White was back again in the driver's seat.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 Vishy has shown a liking towards this classical variation in the recent past. 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Rd1 This is surely one of the most critical lines in the position. Qa5 10.a3 Re8 11.Nd2 e5 12.Bg5 Nd4 13.Qb1 Bf5 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ne4 16.Ndxe4 dxe4 17.Qd2 Ne6 This position was already reached between Mamedyarov and Anand at the Tata Steel Chess 2018. Vishy had managed to hold the game after Shakh played Bh4. Here Karjakin decides to test his opponent by accepting the pawn. 18.Nxe4 18.Bh4 Qa6 19.Qe2 Rac8 20.0-0 Bf8 21.Qg4 Qxc4 22.Nxe4 Kh8 23.h3 Nc5 24.Nxc5 Qxg4 25.hxg4 Rxc5 26.Rd7 Rb5 27.b4 f6 28.g5 fxg5 29.Bxg5 a5 30.Rfd1 Kg8 31.Bd8 axb4 32.a4 Rc5 33.Rxb7 Rc8 34.Ba5 Rc4 35.Rd5 b3 36.Rxb3 Rxa4 37.Bc3 e4 38.Rb7 Ra6 39.Rdd7 Rg6 40.g3 Rc8 41.Bd4 Re8 42.Kg2 Rc8 43.Kh3 Re8 44.Rf7 Rc8 45.Rf4 Re8 46.Bc3 Rge6 47.Rff7 Rg6 48.Rfc7 Rd8 49.Kg2 Re8 50.Kf1 Rd8 51.Ke2 Re8 52.Kd1 Rg5 53.Kc2 Rf5 54.Bxg7 Bd6 55.Rd7 Rxf2+ 56.Kb3 Bxg3 57.Bd4 Be5 58.Bxe5 Rxe5 59.Rg7+ Kf8 60.Rxh7 Kg8 61.Kc4 Rg2 62.Rhe7 Rxe7 63.Rxe7 Kf8 64.Rxe4 Rg5 65.Kd4 Kf7 66.Re5 Rg1 1/2-1/2 (66) Mamedyarov,S (2804)-Anand,V (2767) Wijk aan Zee 2018 18...Qa6!? 18...Qxd2+ 19.Rxd2 Rec8!? looks like a computer variation that might equalize for Black. 19.0-0 19.Bf6 Playing Bf6 without castling is possible, but it gives Black additional options after Qxc4 20.Qd5 Qa6! 21.Nxc5 Nxc5 22.Qxc5 Qxf6= 19...Qxc4 20.Qd5 Qxd5 21.Rxd5 Bf8 22.Bf6 Rac8?! 22...gxf6 23.Nxf6+ Kg7 24.Nxe8+ Rxe8 25.Rxe5 Optically for a human this looks like a bad position for Black. However, if you delve deeper, you will see that things are not so bad for the second player. Rd8 26.Rb5 b6∞ The best part for Black in this position is that his pieces are active and the chances of rooks getting exchanged are quite low. 23.Bxe5 Nc7 24.Bxc7 Rxc7 25.Nd2 Rc2 26.Rb1 White is momentarily passive but the extra pawn is quite solid. Re6 27.Kf1 Rb6 28.b4 a5 29.Nf3 axb4 30.axb4 Be7 30...Rxb4 31.Rxb4 Bxb4 32.Rd8+ Bf8 33.Ne5+- 31.b5 g6 32.g4 h6 33.Kg2 Bf6 34.Kg3 Re6 35.h3 What's surprising is that Sergey is not going for the natural h4-g5 plans. It seems like a strategy where he doesn't want to give Anand a clear idea of what he wants to do. Re7 36.Ne1 Ra2 37.Nd3 Kg7 38.Kf3 Bh4 39.Rb2 Ra1 40.Rc2 Rb1 41.Rc1 Rb3 42.Rc8 Re6 43.Ke2 Ra3 44.Nc5?! Ra2+ 45.Kd3 45.Rd2 Rxd2+ 46.Kxd2 Rb6 45...Re7 There is no good way to defend the f2 pawn. 46.Rd7 Rxd7+ 47.Nxd7 Bxf2 48.Rc7 Ra3+ 49.Kc4 Rxe3 50.Rxb7 Rxh3? 50...Re7! The rook pins the knight and it is not so easy to get out of the pin. 51.Kd5 f5 52.gxf5 gxf5 53.Kd6 Rf7= 51.Ne5! Kf6 52.Kd5 Kg5 53.Rxf7 Be3 54.Rg7 Kf4?! 54...Kh4 55.Rxg6 Rh1 gives Black much better chances to defend. 55.Rxg6 Kg3 56.b6 Rh1 57.b7 Rb1 58.Rg7 Bf4 59.Nc4 Rd1+ 60.Kc5 Rc1 61.Rf7 Rb1 62.Kc6 Bb8 63.Rf8 Rb4 64.Rxb8 Rxc4+ 65.Kb5 Rc1 66.Rg8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2752Anand,V27741–02019D37Lindores Abbey Stars1

The video of the complete game between Karjakin and Vishy Anand

 
Ding Liren vs Karjakin
White has just recaptured dxe5. Where would you move your knight?

Karjakin mixed up some ideas at this point. He remembered the line in the Catalan where black can go to g4 with his knight and sacrifice on f2. In fact this is precisely how Sergey had drawn his game against GM Vidit Gujrathi at Tata Steel Chess India in November 2018. But this was a different position and ...♞g4 was a mistake. Instead Karjakin had to go for the move ...♞h5. What he was afraid is that after ...♞h5 ♗e3 his knight would get trapped with g4. While this is a realistic threat and playing ...f5 is possible. Black has a much stronger move at his disposal.

 
...f6! a move that is easy to miss

The main point is that after g4 fxe5 gxh5 ♛xh5 Black is a piece down, but has good amount of pawns in return and also excellent coordination. After Sergey missed this, Ding didn't really give his opponent any chances. He found this nice idea of tucking his king back to c1.

 
White made sure that his victory was secured with the idea Ke3-d2-c1

At this moment Genna Sosonko, one of the commentators, narrated an interesting story of how Steinitz in the year 1867 came to Dundee, quite near to where the tournament is being played in Lindores, and introduced the move ♔e1-e2 in the King's Gambit. Somehow Ding Liren's king manoeuvre was quite reminiscent of Steinitz's idea.

Ding Liren's defensive play was top-notch after Karjakin's incorrect sacrifice

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Qb3 Nb6 9.c5 Nc4 10.Qc2 b6 11.c6 Ding Liren has already played this in Ding Liren vs Zhou Jianchao. a5 12.Bf4 Ba6 13.Rd1 h6 14.Ne5 Qe8 15.a4 Nxe5 16.dxe5 The critical moment of the game. Ng4? 16...Nh5! 17.Be3 f6! This move doesn't look possible because g4 traps the knight. However, it is an extremely powerful positional sacrifice. 17...f5 This is what Ding Liren had considered. But this doesn't work because of 18.Nc3 The knight on h5 is stranded. 18.g4 18.f4!? g5!? 18...fxe5 19.fxe5 Rf5 is also interesting. 18...fxe5! 19.gxh5 Qxh5 Black is just crushing through. 17.h3 Nxf2 18.Kxf2 Bc5+ 19.Be3 Bxe3+ 20.Kxe3 The king doesn't look the safest on e3 and during the game it did seem like Karjakin has some compensation, but Ding Liren's plan is extremely strong and methodical and puts to rest the question of who is better in this position. f6 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.Bf3 Qe7 23.Kd2 Qd6 24.Kc1 Qxg3 25.Ra3 Raf8 26.Nc3 Kh8 27.Nb5 Bxb5 28.axb5 Qh4 29.Kb1 Rf4 30.Re3 R8f6 31.Bg4 Rc4 32.Qd3 Rb4 33.Bxe6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding Liren2805Karjakin,S27521–02019E00Lindores Abbey Stars3

Magnus Carlsen had a slow start to his campaign at the tournament. He drew his round one game against Ding Liren after getting a clear opening advantage. Against Karjakin, he was surely worse after the opening, but managed to hold on. One of the reasons why Carlsen was not able to give his best on the board was because of the temperature inside the playing hall. Being a distillery, the first thing that has to be ensured is that the air is flowing. This is a pre-requisite when it comes to a distillery. But when it comes to a chess tournament, this can make the players quite cold and uncomfortable. This is exactly what happened to Carlsen. At the press conference he was clearly dejected and said that he didn't enjoy the cold temperature inside the venue. 

A personal heater was arranged but Carlsen was not satisfied

In the third round Carlsen was up against Vishy Anand. Encounters between these two are always exciting. Although Magnus has had an upper hand against Vishy lately, you can never discount the Madras Tiger. After a loss in round one to Karjakin, he drew his game against Ding Liren and seemed to be in good frame of mind for his game against Magnus. After the opening Anand clearly had the upper hand.

 
Carlsen vs Anand, Round 3
Black to move

The way Anand had played the opening was quite exquisite. He had developed his bishop to b4, dropped it back to d6, then to f8 and had given it a nice spot with g6 and ♝g7. All of Carlsen's pieces are developed, but they lack space. The most precise way for Anand increase his advantage would have been to play his pawn to ...c4. Now the pawn on c5 is no longer weak. True, the d4 square is lost, but it is not the most relevant. The e3 pawn remains weak and also the b2 pawn would become a weakness in the future. Vishy instead played the move ...d4? Perhaps, he didn't expect Carlsen's reply.

 

After ♘a4, White is no longer worse. Vishy can still hold the balance with accurate play, but he was clearly affected by his error and lost the game quite quickly.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.Bd2 b6 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Rc1 c5 11.Nb5 Bf8 12.f3 Nc6 13.Kh1 Bb7 13...a6 14.Nbc3 c4 15.Bb1 b5 looked pretty strong and natural. But perhaps Vishy didn't like that White can play 16.e4!? dxe4 16...b4 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 17.fxe4 Nxd4 18.Bg5 with interesting compensation. Play could continue Ne6 19.Bxf6 Qxd1 20.Rcxd1 gxf6 White Black seems to be doing fine. 21.Nd5 Bg7 14.a3 g6 15.Bb1 Rc8 16.Ba2 a6 17.Nbc3 Bg7 18.dxc5 bxc5 19.Be1 Black has many ways to fight for an advantage here. The anti-intuitive ...c4 is strong. It does weaken the d4 square, but that is not the most important thing in the position. The c5 pawn will no longer be weak and e3 pawn is always in trouble. d4? A big oversight by Vishy who clearly missed Magnus' next move. 20.Na4! Now the c5 pawn is falling, Qb3 is coming up, All in all this looks bad for Black. But objectively the position is just equal. However, the tide has changed, and that's the reason why even though the position is equal, Magnus' body language changed and so did Vishy's. It felt from Anand's expressions that he had almost lost the game. Nd7?! 20...Qe7! 21.Nxc5 dxe3= 21.Bxf7+! Magnus is quick to spot such tactics. Kxf7 22.Qb3+ Kf8 23.Qxb7 Rxe3 23...dxe3± 24.Ng3 Nce5 25.Bd2 Rd3 26.Ne4 Rb8 27.Qd5 Rxd2 28.Nxd2 Nd3 29.Rc2 Qe7 30.Ne4 Nf4 31.Qc4 White is completely winning and Vishy had to resign. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2861Anand,V27741–02019E48Lindores Abbey Stars3

With this win against Vishy, Magnus moved to 2.0/3 and in to the joint lead with Ding Liren

Standings after Round 3

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
TBPerf.
1
GM
GM
2805

1
GM
2869
½

2
GM
2733
½

3
GM
2752
1

Ø 2785
2/3
2805
2.0
3
2.75
2910
2
GM
GM
2869

1
GM
2805
½

2
GM
2752
½

3
GM
2733
1

Ø 2763
2/3
2869
2.0
3
2.25
2888
3
GM

1
GM
2733
1

2
GM
2869
½

3
GM
2805
0

Ø 2802
1.5/3
2752
1.5
3
1.50
2802
4
GM
GM
2733

1
GM
2752
0

2
GM
2805
½

3
GM
2869
0

Ø 2809
0.5/3
2733
0.5
3
1.00
2536
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

Click or tap any result to open the game in live.chessbase.com

The live commentary is being done by GM Daniel King and GM Genna Sosonko. King's liveliness and Sosonko story telling makes it an enjoyable pair!

There are so many TV screens across the venue. In the below video you can check out the environment of the entire venue!

IM Sagar Shah takes you on a short tour of the venue

So what if your son is a World Champion...

...or world no.3, you would still be quite tensed watching the games!

Carlsen or Ding Liren, who do you think will win the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019? Or do you think Karjakin or Anand can make a comeback today?

A small chat with the youngsters at the venue

All games Round 1-3

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Rd1 Qa5 10.a3 Re8 11.Nd2 e5 12.Bg5 Nd4 13.Qb1 Bf5 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ne4 16.Ndxe4 dxe4 17.Qd2 Ne6 18.Nxe4 Qa6 19.0-0 Qxc4 20.Qd5 Qxd5 21.Rxd5 Bf8 22.Bf6 Rac8 23.Bxe5 Nc7 24.Bxc7 Rxc7 25.Nd2 Rc2 26.Rb1 Re6 27.Kf1 Rb6 28.b4 a5 29.Nf3 axb4 30.axb4 Be7 31.b5 g6 32.g4 h6 33.Kg2 Bf6 34.Kg3 Re6 35.h3 Re7 36.Ne1 Ra2 37.Nd3 Kg7 38.Kf3 Bh4 39.Rb2 Ra1 40.Rc2 Rb1 41.Rc1 Rb3 42.Rc8 Re6 43.Ke2 Ra3 44.Nc5 Ra2+ 45.Kd3 Re7 46.Rd7 Rxd7+ 47.Nxd7 Bxf2 48.Rc7 Ra3+ 49.Kc4 Rxe3 50.Rxb7 Rxh3 51.Ne5 Kf6 52.Kd5 Kg5 53.Rxf7 Be3 54.Rg7 Kf4 55.Rxg6 Kg3 56.b6 Rh1 57.b7 Rb1 58.Rg7 Bf4 59.Nc4 Rd1+ 60.Kc5 Rc1 61.Rf7 Rb1 62.Kc6 Bb8 63.Rf8 Rb4 64.Rxb8 Rxc4+ 65.Kb5 Rc1 66.Rg8 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
Karjakin,S2781Anand,V27331–02019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars1
Carlsen,M2869Ding,L2760½–½2019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars1
Anand,V2733Ding,L2760½–½2019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars2
Karjakin,S2781Carlsen,M2869½–½2019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars2
Carlsen,M2869Anand,V27331–02019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars3
Ding,L2760Karjakin,S27811–02019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars3
Anand,V2733Carlsen,M28692019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars4
Karjakin,S2781Ding,L27602019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars4
Ding,L2760Anand,V27332019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars5
Carlsen,M2869Karjakin,S27812019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars5
Anand,V2733Karjakin,S27812019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars6
Ding,L2760Carlsen,M28692019Lindores Abbey Chess Stars6

Links


Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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