An underdog? 1400-rated Chinese player Pang Bo scores 11 out of 11! - The Underdog

by Arne Kaehler
8/6/2024 – During the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships in Astana, a player from the all-Chinese team, Decade China, made headlines: Pang Bo! The 26-year-old dominated the amateur board, winning every single Rapid game and excelling in the Blitz section. His official FIDE rating is 1400, but he has yet to play an international tournament and is virtually unrated. However, he has successfully played strong tournaments and opponents in China and is much stronger than players with a real rating of 1400. No wonder, his pawn-pushing style gave his opponents in Astana a hard time. Robert Ris shows an interesting example of how Pang Bo tackles the London System!
Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

The Underdog!

with IM Robert Ris

We all love stories where a vastly underrated player surprises everyone by beating a much stronger player. Fortunately, we are all human.

But how do these things happen? What are the moves that lead to success? And what can we learn from these examples for the times when we face a stronger opponent?

Dutch IM Robert Ris presents us with real-life examples of such encounters from the past month. Together with his co-host Arne Kaehler, they look at the tactics and strategies that led to the upset victory.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,186,70654%2421---
1.d4960,56055%2434---
1.Nf3286,91356%2440---
1.c4185,11556%2442---
1.g319,90256%2427---
1.b314,60954%2428---
1.f45,95948%2376---
1.Nc33,91950%2383---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25254%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nc6 2...Nf6 2...c5 3.e3 f6 4.Nf3 g5 5.Bg3 h5 6.h3 6.h4 g4 7.Ng1 Nh6 7...e5 6...Bf5 6...Nh6 0-1 (26) Matinian,N (2470) -Morozevich, A (2659) Lichess.org INT 2021 7.c4 e6 8.Nc3 Bb4 8...Bd6 9.Rc1 9.cxd5 exd5 10.h4 g4 11.Nd2 9...Nge7 10.a3 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.b4 a6 13.Qb3 13.Nd2 13...Kf7 14.cxd5 exd5 15.e4? 15.h4 g4 16.Nd2 15...Qe6 15...Qf4! 16.Rd1 Bxe4 17.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 15...Bxe4? 16.Nxe4 Qe6 17.Bd3 dxe4 17...f5 18.Nfxg5+ 18.Bc4 16.Bd3 g4?! 16...Kg7! 17.0-0 dxe4 18.Qxe6 Bxe6 19.Bxe4 16...Bxe4? 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.Bc4+- 17.Kd2 17.hxg4? hxg4 17.0-0! gxf3 18.exd5 18.exf5 Qd7 18...Nxd5 18...Qd6 19.dxc6+ Be6 20.Bc4+- 19.Bxf5 Qxf5 20.Nxd5+- 17.Nd2 Nxd4 17.Nxd5 17...gxf3 18.exf5 18.exd5 Qd6! 18...Nxd5 19.Bxf5 Qxf5 20.Nxd5∞ 19.dxc6+ Be6 18...Qd6 19.g3 19.gxf3 Nxd4 20.Qb2 Qf4+-+ 19...Nxd4 20.Qa2 a5 21.Nb5 Nxb5 22.Bxb5 axb4 23.a4 Nxf5?! 23...c6 23...Qb6 24.Bd3 24.Qc2! 24.Rxc7+ Qxc7 25.Qxd5+ Kg6 24...Nd4 25.Rhe1 b3 26.Qb2 Rxa4 27.Bb1 h4 28.Re3 28.g4 Qf4+ 28...hxg3 29.Rce1 gxf2 30.Re7+ Qxe7 31.Rxe7+ Kxe7 32.Qc1 Rc4 33.Qf1 Rg8 34.Ke3 34.Qxf2 Rg2 34...Rg2 35.Bd3 Nc2+ 36.Kxf3 36.Bxc2 bxc2 36...Ne1+ 37.Ke2 b2 38.Bf5 38.Bxc4 b1Q 38...Re4+ 39.Bxe4 dxe4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ayapov,A2001Pang,B-0–12024D00FIDE World Rapid Team9.18

Robert Ris has authored plenty of FritzTrainers for ChessBase — these are his newest, and perfect for every "Underdog"

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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