Kramnik Challenge: Liang and Abdusattorov top the standings

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/14/2021 – Awonder Liang and Nodirbek Abdusattorov leapfrogged Vincent Keymer on day 2 of the Kramnik Challenge to take the lead with seven rounds to go in the online tournament. Liang kicked off the day with three consecutive wins and temporarily grabbed the sole lead, but a loss against Polina Shuvalova in round 8 allowed Abdusattorov to catch up with him on a 6/8 score. | Photo: Eric Rosen / FIDE World Cup

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Rating favourites show their strength

Awonder Liang, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Vincent Keymer are slowly but surely becoming household names in the world of chess. The three junior players (under 20 years of age) are the top seeds in the third event of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour, and after 8 (out of 15) rounds, it is they who are atop the standings table.

Liang and Abdusattorov are currently sharing the lead on 6/8 points, while Keymer, who finished day 1 in the sole lead, stands a half point back, sharing third place with 14-year-old American IM Christopher Yoo.

Kramnik Chess Challenge 2021

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Keymer kicked off the day with a win, outplaying Marc Andria Maurizzi, who recently became the youngest ever French player to get the grandmaster title.

 
Keymer vs. Maurizzi - Round 5

White has a structural advantage, but Black still has some recourses to get counterplay. As endgame specialist Karsten Müller shows in his annotations, Black’s best defensive approach here was to play 40...Rf6 41.e4 Bf7 42.Ra3 Rd7, attacking the d-pawn. On the other hand, Maurizzi’s 40...Rb7, infiltrating along the b-file, turned out to be insufficient.

Keymer, who is known for having trained with Peter Leko — an excellent technician by all accounts — converted his advantage into a win.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.Be2 Nd7 10.0-0 Ba5 11.Nd2 Qxb3 12.Nxb3 Bb6 13.Rfc1 f6 14.h3 Rc8 15.Na4 Bc7 16.Bxc7 Rxc7 17.Nbc5 Nxc5 18.Nxc5 Nc8 19.g4 Bg6 20.b4 Nd6 21.Ne6 Re7 22.Nf4 Bf7 23.b5 Kd7 24.bxc6+ bxc6 25.Rab1 Rc8 26.Nd3 Bg6 27.Nc5+ Ke8 28.Rb3 f5 29.Ba6 Rd8 30.Nd3 fxg4 31.hxg4 Nc4 32.Nb4 Rd6 33.Rbc3 Bf7 34.Nd3 Re4 35.Nf4 g5 36.Bxc4 dxc4 37.f3 Re7 38.Nh3 h6 39.Nf2 Bd5 40.Kg2 "The right rook road". In the fight knight against bishop, with or without rooks, the knight often wants statical control, and the bishop dynamics and counterplay: Rb7? But this is not the right rook road. After 40...Rf6 41.e4 Bf7 42.Ra3 Rd7 Black's counterplay against d4 equalises. 41.Ne4 Re6 42.Nc5 Rb2+ 43.Kg3 Re7? Again not the right rook road. 43...Rf6 44.e4 Bg8 limits the damage, e.g. 45.Ra3 Rd6 46.Rd1 Rb5 47.e5 Rd8 48.Ne4 Rxe5 49.Rxa7 Re7 50.Ra6 Bd5 51.Nf6+ Kf7 52.Nxd5 cxd5 53.Rxh6 Rf8 with practical drawing chances. 44.e4 Bg8 45.R3c2! The active rook is forced to leave. Rb5 45...c3 is just met by 46.a3+- and 45...Rb4 can be answered by 46.Rh1 Rh7 47.f4 gxf4+ 48.Kxf4 Rf7+ 49.Ke3 Rf6 50.a3 Rb6 51.Rch2 Rg6 52.Kf4 c3 53.Rc2+- and one sample line after 45...Rxc2 runs 46.Rxc2 Kf8 47.Kf2 Kg7 48.Ke3 Bf7 49.a4 Re8 50.Rb2 Re7 51.a5 h5 52.gxh5 Bxh5 53.Rc2 Bf7 54.a6 Kg6 55.Rb2 Be8 56.Rb4 Bf7 57.Rb7+- 46.Kf2 Keymer's king comes to protect the weak d4 pawn. Rf7?! Black should also regroup the king, but it does not defend in the long run, e.g. 46...Kf8 47.Ke3 Kg7 48.Rh2 Kg6 49.Rch1 Rh7 50.f4 gxf4+ 51.Kxf4 Rb8 52.Rh5 Rd8 53.Ke3 Re8 54.Kd2 a5 55.Kc3 Rb8 56.Rf1 Rg7 57.e5+- 47.Ke3?! The computer line 47.Rxc4 h5 48.gxh5 g4 49.f4 Rxf4+ 50.Kg3 Rf3+ 51.Kxg4+- is even better. 47...Re7?! This loses a pawn directly, but Black is lost in any case due to his weaknesses, White's mighty knight and the coming activation of White's rooks. 48.Rh1 Rh7 49.Rch2 Ra5?! Not the right rook road as now it will be imprisoned completely. But Black is lost in any case. 50.a4! Full domination. c3 51.Rb1 Kf7 52.Rc2 h5 53.Rb7+ Kg6 54.Rxh7 Bxh7 55.gxh5+ Kxh5 56.Rxc3 g4 57.fxg4+ Kxg4 58.Rb3 Bg8 59.Rb7 Bc4 60.Rc7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Keymer,V2602Maurizzi,M24881–02021D31Kramnik Challenge 20215.3

The German youngster drew his next game, when he had the black pieces against Iranian star Sarasadat Khademalsharieh. Keymer could have won, though, as he played the wrong move in a critical point of a double-edged rook ending.

 
Khademalsharieh vs. Keymer - Round 6

Going for the passive 50...Rc6 was not the most precise here. Instead, entering a pawn race with 50...Kb2 51.Rxg6 Kxb3 wins for Black, as GM Müller demonstrates in his analysis below. 

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Qe7 8.Bd3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 Qxe5 11.Rc1 d4 12.Ne2 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 dxe3 14.Qxe3 Qxe3 15.fxe3 Bg4 16.Nd4 c5 17.Nb5 0-0-0 18.Be2 Rhe8 19.Bxg4+ Nxg4 20.0-0 a6 21.Nc3 f6 22.e4 Rd4 23.h3 Ne5 24.Rce1 b6 25.Re2 Kb7 26.Nd5 Nd3 27.Rf3 Re6 28.Rg3 g6 29.Nc3 Kc6 30.Rf3 b5 31.cxb5+ axb5 32.Ree3 Ne5 33.Rf1 Nd7 34.Ref3 b4 35.Nd5 Rdxe4 36.Nxf6 Nxf6 37.Rxf6 Rxf6 38.Rxf6+ Kd5 39.Rf2 Re1+ 40.Kh2 Rc1 41.Rd2+ Ke4 42.Rd7 Rc2 43.Ra7 h5 44.h4 Kd3 45.Ra6 Kc3 46.Kh3 Kb2 47.Kg3 Kb1 48.Ra5 Rxa2 49.Rxc5 Rc2 50.Rg5 "Race of the passed pawns". Rook endings have a large drawish tendency, but races are different: Rc6? This passive retreat loses an all important tempo. 50...Kb2 wins due to 51.Rxg6 Kxb3 52.Rg5 Rc3+ 53.Kf4 Rc4+ 54.Kg3 54.Ke3 Rxh4-+ 54...Ka4 55.Rxh5 55.Rg8 b3-+ 55...b3 and Black's pawn is too quick and wins the race: 56.Re5 56.Rh8 b2 57.Rb8 Rb4-+ 56...b2 57.Re1 Rc1 58.Re8 b1Q 59.Ra8+ Kb5 60.Rb8+ Kc6 61.Rxb1 Rxb1 62.h5 Kd6 63.Kf4 Ke6 64.Kg5 Kf7-+ 51.Kf4 Kb2 52.Rg3 Rc5 53.Rxg6 Kxb3 54.g4! Now White is always just in time. Rc4+ 55.Kg3 Kc2 55...Rxg4+ 56.Rxg4 hxg4 57.h5= 56.gxh5 b3 57.Rb6 b2 58.h6 b1Q 59.Rxb1 Kxb1 60.h7 Rc8 61.Kg4 Kc2 61...Rh8 is met by 62.Kg5 Rxh7 63.h5 Kc2 64.Kg6= 62.Kg5 Kd3 63.Kg6 Ke4 64.Kg7 Rc7+ 65.Kg6 Rc8 66.Kg7 Rc7+ 67.Kg6 Rc8 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Khademalsharieh,S2494Keymer,V2602½–½2021D45Kramnik Challenge 20216.7

Meanwhile, Liang climbed up the standings by winning his first three games of the day. The 18-year-old prodigy was stopped by Polina Shuvalova in round 8, who came out on top from a sharp struggle.

 
Shuvalova vs. Liang - Round 8

Liang needed to be careful here and block the a-file with 37...Na2. His choice of 37...Qd3, on the other hand, allowed 38.Rf3 Qd2 39.Qa8, and Black is doomed. This was Shuvalova’s second consecutive win after starting the day with back-to-back losses against the Chinese duo of Zhu Jiner and Lei Tingjie.

 
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1.e4 0 c6 0 2.d4 6 d6 0 3.Nc3 4 Nf6 4 4.f4 17 g6 10 5.Nf3 4 Bg7 7 6.Bd3 0 0-0 2 7.0-0 6 b5 24 8.e5 8 Ne8 7 9.Be3 7 Na6 0 10.Qe2 48 Nb4 4 11.Be4 28 d5 2 12.Bd3 2 Nc7 16 13.h3 0 f6 21 14.Qd2 28 Nxd3 2 15.cxd3 1 Ne6 14 16.b4 34 a5 0 17.a3 4 Bd7 54 18.Ne2 13 Qc7 58 19.Kh1 1:34 Ra6 34 20.Rae1 1:59 axb4 10 21.axb4 0 Qa7 0 22.Nc1 18 Ra3 35 23.f5 1:08 gxf5 2 24.exf6 38 Rxf6 18 25.Ne5 13 Be8 2:11 26.Bf2 14 Bh6 0 27.Qe2 1:21 Bg5 1:12 28.Nf3 27 Bxc1 31 29.Rxc1 2 Nf4 1 30.Qd2 20 Nxd3 7 31.Bh4 3 Rg6 0 32.Rc2 15 Rb3 1:01 33.Rc3 6 Rxc3 21 34.Qxc3 0 Qa2 1 35.Ng5 13 Qc4 5 36.Qa1 5 Nxb4 0 37.Rxf5 5 Qd3 5 38.Rf3 7 Qd2 8 39.Qa8 2 Qc1+ 9 40.Kh2 2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Shuvalova,P2507Liang,A25871–02021Kramnik Challenge 20218.3

Standings after round 8

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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