Dortmund: Wang wins one

Bluebaum's dream takes a dive

After sharing the lead for rounds 3 and 4, Matthias Bluebaum was snapped back to reality by Wang Yue, who found an edge out of a Nimzo-Indian, Rubinstein variation, and never relinquished it.

Wang 1-0 Bluebaum

9.cxd5 was already a new move, although more than 700 people have analysed the position in the ChessBase Live Book (see "visits" — the far right column).

Bluebaum was hanging tough deep into the middlegame, despite the hanging pawns, but after Wang refused a move repetition and engineered a passed b-pawn, Bluebaum found himself under sustained pressure, as he watched his endgame prospects slowly deteriorate.

Eventually the theoretical power of the bishop in an ending with a pawns on both flanks was made manifest and Bluebaum's pawns began to drop.

Wang finally gets a win | Photo: Macauley Peterson

Wang doesn't currently regard himself as a professional player, focusing instead on his chess club in Chengdu, China, where he teaches and supervises the instruction of hundreds of children. He was accompanied by one of his older students, 18 year-old Bai Jinshi.

Hear Yue discuss his return to an elite field, and his work coaching kids:

Chess Endgames 8 - Practical Rook Endgames

Rook endings are amongst the most frequently encountered endgames there are, and so your training effort will be quickly repaid in the form of half and full points. Knowing even a few rules of thumb and key methods makes life a great deal easier and provides a guiding light even in complex positions. This DVD focuses on the important themes which are to be found in common rook endings.

Andreikin ½-½ Wojtaszek

Dmitry Andreikin made a foray into a rare line of the Trompowsky with 3.Nd2 against Radoslaw Wojtaszek, but after a few moves the position morphed into more of a QGD Slav. White managed to gain a passed a-pawn and proceeded to exchange pieces to give it some room to run, but the best he could muster was an extra pawn earned with an small tactic:

Andreikin grabbed the pawn 37.Rxe4 as Rxa5 could be met by 38.Rxg7!? Kxg7 39.Bxa5. The resulting ending, however, even with a pawn up, never strayed far from equality.

With Bluebaum's loss, Wojtaszek now sits in pole position, but Saturday's head-to-head will be crucial. Bluebaum has White. 

Wojtaszek is the only player with a positive score | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

Fedoseev ½-½ Nisipeanu

Fedoseev—Nisipeanu saw a Caro-Kann advanced variation, but the Russian's 6.a4, paired with keeping his light-squared bishop on f1 was a new approach. The German number one tried to free himself by sacrificing his c-pawn, but had little to show for it and soon let go his e-pawn, then his d-pawn. By move 30 he was all but buried under an avalanche of white pawns, when Fedoseev unexpectedly threw him a lifeline.

After this Nisipeanu was hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and Fedoseev again reached a winning position but failed to spot an important finesse on move 47:

Here White played 47.Re7 but this allowed Nisipeanu to run with 47...h5 and now if Fedoseev pushes b7, Black can halt the pawn dead in its tracks with Ba7!

Instead Fedoseev had to find the nuance 47.Rc7! with the immediate threat of b7 since Rc8 is available. Therefore Black would play Be5, but then after White's Re7 the b-pawn cannot be stopped. For instance: 48...h5 49.b7 h4 50.Rxe5! Kxe5 51.a6 and wins.

A very narrow escape indeed! | Photo: Frederic Friedel

Kramnik ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave

Kramnik eschewed a Gruenfeld in favor of an unorthodox d4 sideline, and he looked to be in a spot of trouble when his Bishop was rather suddenly trapped.

Not to be outdone, Maxim thought for 6 minutes on the bishop exchange but then promptly sacked his rook for a few pawns and attack.

It was then two pawns for an exchange, but Black could comfortably play for two results, which he did for 30 more moves before conceding a draw.

A better game than the looks of it 😱

— MVL (@Vachier_Lagrave) July 21, 2017

All games from Rounds 1 to 5

Standings after round 5

Rk.		Name		Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	TB	Perf.
1	GM	Wojtaszek,R		2736		3.0	5		½		½	1	½		½	7.25	2820
2	GM	Andreikin,D		2712		2.5	5	½		½		½	½		½	6.25	2723
2	GM	Bluebaum,M		2642		2.5	5		½		½	0	1	½		6.25	2722
2	GM	Vachier-Lagrave,M		2791		2.5	5	½		½		½		½	½	6.25	2714
2	GM	Wang,Y		2699		2.5	5	0	½	1	½			½		6.25	2713
6	GM	Fedoseev,V		2726		2.5	5	½	½	0				½	1	6.00	2717
6	GM	Nisipeanu,L		2683		2.5	5			½	½	½	½		½	6.00	2734
8	WCH	Kramnik,V		2812		2.0	5	½	½		½		0	½		5.25	2658
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger