Rapport roars in Hainan Danzhou

by Klaus Besenthal
7/8/2019 – Richard Rapport won the super grandmaster tournament in Danzhou (China) on Sunday after a draw against China's Wei Yi in the last round gave the Hungarian Grandmaster a final score of 4½/7, half a point ahead of Wei his countryman Yu Yangyi. Rapport gained 9 Elo points and entered the Top 20, surpassing Hikaru Nakamura on the live ratings. | Photos: Misty Pine / cca.imsa.cn

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Rapport undefeated with two wins

We last looked at Danzhou heading into the rest day. Richard Rapport had the momentum after beating Bassem Amin in the fourth round. From the looks of it, the "off" day was a fairly busy one as players were invited on a trip to the sights of Hainan Island.

Rapport and Wang

More chess, even on the 'rest day'

group photo

A travelling chess tournament

When the tournament in resumed with round five, Rapport followed up with a win over Ernesto Inarkiev.

Inarkiev had defended a bad position for a long time, when the duo reached the time control.

 
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43.Kd3 Qf3? 43...Re5 44.Rc3 Rd5+ Discovered Attack 45.Kc2 Qe4+ 46.Kc1 Rxd7 47.Rxd7 Kg8 48.Rxa7 Bf6 44.Rdc1? This was the last straw. Black transitioned into an endgame with queen against rook and bishop that was easily won with the help of his g- and h-pawns: 44.Kd2 The king can try to hide somewhere in the corner, although it looks like prolonged suffering. 44...Rd4+ 45.Qxd4 Bxd4 46.Kxd4 Rd8+ 47.Kc4 Rc8+ 48.Kd3 Rd8+ 49.Kc4 Rc8+ 50.Kd3! Rxc2 Black is clearly winning. 51.Rxc2 Endgame KQ-KRB g5 52.Kd2 h4 53.Rc7+ Kg6 54.Rc8 h3 55.Bd4
55...Qe4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Inarkiev,E2693Rapport,R27350–12019E1210th Hainan Danzhou GM 20195.3

Results of Round 5

 

All in all, there were more "controlled" draws in the sixth round. One exception was the duel between the Chinese Yu Yangyi and his Egyptian opponent Bassem Amin. The two grandmasters delivered an exciting exchange of blows. Amin had the better game, but its hard to judge whether he missed any clear winning chances:

 
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 0-0 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.0-0 e5 8.d5 Nd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.Ne2 Re8 11.f3 c5 12.Bg5 a6 13.Qd2 Qc7
This position has been reached on occasion, including 25 years ago in a game between the American grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Alex Yermolinsky. 14.b3 Seirawan played 14.Bxf6 at the time, but he was in a slightly worse position after that. 14...Nd7 15.f4 Nf6 Sometimes the moves of grandmasters are easy to understand: With 15.f4 White has furthered his attacking plans on the kingside, but at the same time he has taken away a defender of the e4-pawn and given up control of the g4 square. It's logical that Amin immediately returns his knight back to f6. 16.Bxf6 This too is logical: The black knight should not be allowed to jump to e4 or g4. Also possible was 16.Rae1 Nxe4 17.Ng3 f5 18.Nxe4 fxe4 19.Bxe4 16...Bxf6 17.Kh1 Clearing g1 for the knight which would be better placed on f3. 17.b4 was worth considering, but it would have entailed a different concept. The poisition is reminiscent of the Benoni (although there is usually not a black pawn on d4). White prefers to follow the plan of a kingside pawn storm, which is common in such positions. 17...b5 Black is now also active. An exciting position! 18.Ng1 bxc4 19.bxc4 Rb8 20.Rae1 Bh4 21.Re2 Bg4 22.Nf3 Bf6 Black doesn't allow White's e4-e5 push. 23.h3 Bxf3 24.Rxf3 Rb7 25.Qe1 Bg7 25...Reb8 26.e5 would not have been a welcome development for Black. 26.g4 Qb8 White cannot get in e5 and deal with Black's activity on the queenside at the same time, so he switches to 'Plan B', the push f4-f5. 27.g5 Rb2 28.Rff2 Rb4 29.h4 Qc8 Again, this is a simple move to understand: White has once again left a hole on g4 and the black queen threatens to invade there. 30.f5 Be5 Now e5 is accessible and the black bishop lodges itself on this magnificent square forever. It's easy to imagine that it could make a powerful team with a rook on b2 later in the endgame. 31.Rf3 Qb7 32.Kg2 Rb2 33.Rff2 Qb4 The queen exchange likely favours Black. White's attack on the black kind is diffused and Black controls the only open lines. 34.Qxb4 Rxb4
35.Kh3 Here probably 35.Rb2! was better. Reb8 36.Rxb4 Rxb4 Black will struggle to make further progress. 35...Reb8 Not Black really has total control. White can only wait. 36.Kg4 Ra4 36...a5 is the move of the computer at this point. Whether that would have been enough to win is unclear, but Black could have initially planted a rook on b2 and then brought his king into the action. 37.h5 Here White missed 37.Rb2! 37...Ra3 38.Rf3 Rc3 38...gxh5+ 39.Kxh5 f6 was probably best. The maneuver would have given Black a chance to get his rook to g8. 39.hxg6 hxg6 40.Ref2 Rc1 41.Rf1 Rxf1 42.Bxf1 Better was 42.Rxf1 Rb2 43.Rb1 42...Rb1 43.a3 Re1 44.fxg6 fxg6 45.Bd3
45...Kg7 This gives lets all Black's advantage slip away. 45...Rg1+! 46.Kh4 Kg7 would have retained the rook. 47.Rf1? Rg3 48.Rd1 Bf4 etc. The bishop-rook team would have scored a goal. 46.Rf1! After the rooks are exchanged, the position is drawn. Rxf1 47.Bxf1 Kf7 48.Kf3 Ke7 49.Bh3 Bh2 50.Bc8 a5 51.a4 Bg1 52.Bh3 Be3 53.Kg4 Bd2 54.Bf1 Be3 55.Bd3 Kf7 56.Bc2 Bg1 57.Bd3 Bh2 58.Bc2 Be5 59.Bd3 Kg7 60.Bc2 Kf7 61.Bd3 Kg7 62.Bc2 Kf7 63.Bd3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yu,Y2738Amin,B2707½–½2019E7010th Hainan Danzhou GM 20196.4

King's Indian: A modern approach

Bologan: "If you study this DVD carefully and solve the interactive exercises you will also enrich your chess vocabulary, your King's Indian vocabulary, build up confidence in the King's Indian and your chess and win more games."

Results of Round 6

 

With a half point lead, Rapport was in the driver's seat, but he had his work cut out for him defending in the Berlin against Wei Yi:

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Nd4 Bc5 11.Rd1 Re8 12.Qh5 C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence: 4 0-0 Nxe4 Qe7 12...Bxd4 13.Rxd4 d5 14.Bd2 Qd7 15.Rf4 Qe6 16.Re1 Qg6 17.Qxg6 1/2-1/2 (17) Naiditsch,A (2686)-Motylev,A (2704) Poikovsky 2010 13.Bf4 Bxd4 14.Rxd4 d5 15.Re1 Nc5 16.Bd2N Predecessor: 16.Bg5 Qe6 17.b4 Nd7 18.Bd2 Nb6 19.f4 Nc4 1-0 (60) Buczinski,H (2350)-Svacek,P (2420) ICCF corr 1995 16...Qe6 17.b4 17.Na4!? Ne4 18.c4= 17...Nd7! 18.b5 c5 19.Nxd5 But not 19.Rxd5? Nf6-+ 19...cxd4 20.Nxc7
Double Attack 20...Qe7! 21.e6! And now exf7+ would win. Nf6! Wrong is 21...g6? 22.exf7+ Qxf7 23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Qd5+ Qf7 25.Qxa8+- 22.exf7+ Qxf7 23.Qxf7+ Kxf7 24.Nxa8 Nd5! 25.Rxe8 Kxe8 Endgame KBN-KBN 26.Ba5 Kd7! Hoping for ...Bb7. 27.b6! Kc6 28.Nc7 Black must now prevent Nxd5. Much weaker is 28.bxa7 Bb7 28...Nxb6 29.Bxb6 axb6 KB-KN 29...Kxb6 30.Ne8 Kc5 30.Ne8= The position is equal. g5 31.Kf1 Bf5 32.Ng7 Bxc2 33.Ne6! Bd3+ 34.Ke1 h6 35.Kd2 Bb1 36.Nxd4+ Kc5! 37.Kc3 Bxa2 38.Nf5 h5 39.Ng3 Bd5 Threatening ...h4. 40.Nxh5 Bxg2 41.Nf6 Kd6 42.Nh7 g4 43.Nf6 Bf3 44.Kb4 Ke6 45.Nxg4 Bxg4
46.f3! Kf5 46...Bh5!? 47.Kb5 Bxf3= 46...Bxf3 47.Kb5 47.fxg4+ Kxg4 48.Kb5 Kh3 49.Kxb6 Kxh2 Accuracy: White = 71%, Black = 67%. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wei,Y2741Rapport,R2735½–½201910th Hainan Danzhou GM 20197.4

Wang Hao could have caught up with Rapport by defeating his Indian opponent Vidit, but in his zeal, he ultimately allowed Vidit to score his second win and end an otherwise disappointing tournament on a high note.

Pawn moves can open up holes in one's position, which the opponent can then occupy with his pieces, as Wang re-learned first hand.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 c6 12.a4 Nbd7 13.Nc3 Bg6 14.Nh4 Bh5 15.h3 Nd5 16.axb5 axb5 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Bf3 Bxf3 19.Nxf3 Qb6 20.Qc2 Rac8 21.Qd3 Ra8 22.Rxa8 Rxa8 23.Rc1 h6 24.Bf4
The game was almost balanced at this point. 24...g5 With a win, Wang Hao would have made it to shared first place in the tournament. To do so he would have to take risks, but ultimately he only ruined his own position. With a move like 24...Nf6 Black could have easily kept the balance. 25.Ne5 Nxe5 Solid was 25...Nf6 26.Bxe5 b4?
Black could achieve something on the queenside if not for the fatal weaknesses on the otherside of the board. To make matters worse, the white rook threatens to invate on c7. 27.Qf3! The absence of knights left a hole on h5 for the queen to penetrate. Qd8 28.Qh5 Bf8 29.Rc7 Qe8
Black is clearly on the back foot, but everything remains under control. 30.h4?! The correct plan for White looks to be a quick swing of the queen over to the queenside starting with 30.Kg2 f5 31.Qf3 30...f5 31.Qf3 g4? This plays right into White's hands. Black missed 31...gxh4! 32.gxh4 Qg6+= 32.Qe3 Rc8 33.Ra7 Qc6 34.Bf4! Covering c1, threatening h6 and freeing the e5 square for the queen all at once! Qb6 35.Qe5! Now threatening Qf6. h5 35...Qxa7 36.Qxe6+ Qf7 37.Qxc8 36.Qf6 Rc1+ 37.Bxc1 Qxa7 38.Qxe6+ Qf7 39.Qc8 Kh7 40.Bf4 Kg6 41.Be5 Be7 42.Qc6+ Kh7 43.e3 Bf8 44.Bd6 Bxd6 45.Qxd6 b3 46.Qb6 Faced with the loss of another pawn, Wang gave up. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vidit,S2707Wang,H27371–02019E0510th Hainan Danzhou GM 20197.3

Wang Hao (right) self-destructed in his loss to Vidit

Results of Round 7

 

Final standings

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Andre Schulz contributed reporting

Translation from German: Macauley Peterson

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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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