Rapport roars in Hainan Danzhou

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.

More chess, even on the 'rest day'

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.

Results of Round 5

	Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.		Pts.		Name	Rtg	Nt.
	Yu,Y	2738		2½	½-½	2		Artemiev,V	2761
	Inarkiev,E	2693		2	0-1	2½		Rapport,R	2735
	Vidit,S	2707		1½	½-½	2½		Wei,Y	2741
	Amin,B	2707		½	½-½	2½		Wang,H	2737

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:

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

	Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.		Pts.		Name	Rtg	Nt.
	Artemiev,V	2761		2½	½-½	3		Wei,Y	2741
	Rapport,R	2735		3½	½-½	2		Vidit,S	2707
	Wang,H	2737		3	½-½	2		Inarkiev,E	2693
	Yu,Y	2738		3	½-½	1		Amin,B	2707

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:

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.

The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White!

The Catalan is one of the most solid openings for White. It forms part of the large and strong fianchetto family in which White builds his strategy mainly around the bishop on g2. Grandmaster Victor Bologan covers all of Black’s replies to the Catalan, some of which can even transpose to other openings such as the Tarrasch System and the Queen’s Indian. Suffice it to say that the Catalan rules!

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

Results of Round 7

	Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.		Pts.		Name	Rtg	Nt.
	Wei,Y	2741		3½	½-½	4		Rapport,R	2735
	Inarkiev,E	2693		2½	½-½	3½		Yu,Y	2738
	Vidit,S	2707		2½	1-0	3½		Wang,H	2737
	Amin,B	2707		1½	½-½	3		Artemiev,V	2761

Final standings

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	TB	Perf.
1		Rapport,R	2735		4.5	7		½	½	½	½	½	1	1	14.25	2828
2		Yu,Y	2738		4.0	7	½		½	½	½	1	½	½	13.75	2776
3		Wei,Y	2741		4.0	7	½	½		½	½	½	½	1	13.00	2775
4		Artemiev,V	2761		3.5	7	½	½	½		0	1	½	½	12.25	2723
5		Wang,H	2737		3.5	7	½	½	½	1		0	½	½	12.25	2726
6		Vidit,S	2707		3.5	7	½	0	½	0	1		1	½	11.75	2730
7		Inarkiev,E	2693		3.0	7	0	½	½	½	½	0		1	9.50	2682
8		Amin,B	2707		2.0	7	0	½	0	½	½	½	0		7.25	2572
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games

Andre Schulz contributed reporting

Translation from German: Macauley Peterson

Links

• Rounds 1-4: Lively start in Hainan Danzhou
• Official site