Ni Hua leads Hainan Danzhou with 5.0/6

by Liang Ziming
5/26/2013 – After six rounds, the Danzhou tournament held in China has seen GM Ni Hua take the lead with 5.0/6, followed by top-seed Ding Liren with 4.5/6. One of the surprises has been the comeback by Xiu Deshun who lost his first two games, and then won four straight. Though Wei Yi has had a rough start he is a veteran in top chess in China. IM Lou Yiping annotates in the illustrated report by Liang Ziming.

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This traditional round robin tournament, with a total prize fund of 300,000 yuan, gathered ten top Chinese GMs, without China’s no.1 GM Wang Hao and the former women world champion GM Hou Yifan, who are both preparing their mid-semester exams at the Beijing University. Hou Yifan will fly to Danzhou to attend the simul and a special challenge game on the rest day on Sunday.

After six rounds, GM Ni Hua is in the sole lead with 5.0/6, after four consecutive
wins in rounds one through four followed by two quick draws in round five and six.

IM Lou Yiping analyses the endgame in Ni Hua-Zhou Janchao:

[Event "4th Danzhou GM"] [Site "Danzhou,China"] [Date "2013.05.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Ni Hua"] [Black "Zhou Jianchao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2646"] [BlackElo "2607"] [Annotator "IM Lou Yiping"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [SourceDate "2013.05.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Qc2 Nf6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qb3 Nbd7 8. Nc3 h6 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. e3 Bd6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Bb7 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Qb6 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. Rfd1 c5 17. dxc5 Rxc5 18. Bxb7 Qxb7 19. a4 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Rb8 21. axb5 Qxb5 22. Rc8+ Rxc8 23. Qxb5 Rc1+ 24. Qf1 Rxf1+ 25. Kxf1 f5 26. Ke2 g5 27. h3 g4 28. hxg4 fxg4 29. Nd4 Kf7 30. Kd3 h5 31. g3 Kf6 32. Nc6 a6 33. Ke4 Bc7 34. Nb4 a5 35. Nd3 e5 $2 ({Instead} 35... Bd6 {would have held.} 36. Nf4 ( 36. b3 {changes little.} Kf7 37. Ne5+ Kf6) 36... e5 37. Nd3 (37. Nxh5+ {loses to} Kg6) 37... Ke6 38. b3 Bc7 39. Nb2 (39. Nc5+ Kd6 40. Nd3 {is equal.} (40. Na6 $2 {loses to} Bd8 $1 {and the precarious knight will cost White the game.} 41. Kd3 h4 42. gxh4 Bxh4 43. Ke2 e4 44. Kf1 Be7 $1 45. Kg2 Kc6 46. Kg3 Kb7 { and it is over.})) 39... Bd6 40. Nc4 Bc7 {draw}) 36. Nc5 Bd8 37. b3 Bc7 38. Kd5 Kf5 39. e4+ Kg6 40. Nd7 h4 41. gxh4 Kh5 42. Nxe5 Kxh4 43. Nd3 g3 44. fxg3+ Bxg3 45. e5 Kg5 46. Nb2 Be1 47. Nc4 Bb4 48. Ke6 Kf4 49. Kd7 1-0

The 30-year-old veteran Ni Hua has had a wonderful start by beating Xiu Deshun,
Lu Shanglei, Wei Yi and Zhou Jianchao. In the game with Wei Yi, Ni Hua easily got a
full point when the 13-year-old grandmaster astonishingly blundered a piece in the middle game.

IM Lou Yiping annotates Wei Yi-Ni Hua:

[Event "4th Danzhou GM"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.05.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Ni Hua"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C49"] [WhiteElo "2530"] [BlackElo "2646"] [Annotator "IM Lou Yiping"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [SourceDate "2013.05.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Ne7 8. Nh4 c6 9. Bc4 d5 10. Bb3 a5 11. a4 Bg4 12. f3 Be6 13. f4 exf4 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. exd5 cxd5 16. Ne2 Bd6 17. Nxf4 Bxf4 18. Rxf4 Ng6 19. Nxg6 hxg6 20. Qe1 Kg7 21. Qe3 f5 22. c3 Qf6 23. Re1 $4 (23. Rd4 {was needed.}) 23... d4 24. Rxd4 Bxb3 25. g4 Rfe8 26. g5 Qc6 0-1

Top-seed Ding Liren, facing Wen Yang, has been hot on Ni Hua's tail

A half point behind the leader is the top seed GM Ding Liren (2707 Elo), who scored three wins and three draws. After starting with two wins against Lu Shanglei and Wei Yi in the first two rounds, Ding’s next victory came in round four, where he easily refuted Wen Yang’s overly optimistic sacrifices on the kingside.

24-year-old GM Xiu Deshun, the newcomer of Danzhou Tournament who suffered
losses in the first two rounds, attracted the most attention by then winning four games
in a row, successively defeating Zhou Weiqi, Lu Shanglei, Wei Yi and Zhou Jianchao.

In the fifth round, Xiu Deshun as black seized the initiative and won a piece by capitalizing on a mistake by Wei Yi in the complicated middle game that arose from a popular variation of the Sicilian Najdorf. He went on to seal his win after successfully preventing White’s perpetual check attempts.

IM Lou Yiping annotates Wei Yi-Xu Deshun:

[Event "4th Danzhou GM"] [Site "Danzhou,China"] [Date "2013.05.24"] [Round "5"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Xiu Deshun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2530"] [BlackElo "2534"] [Annotator "IM Lou Yiping"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [SourceDate "2013.05.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 b4 13. Ne2 Ne8 14. f4 a5 15. f5 a4 16. Nbd4 exd4 17. Nxd4 b3 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Nxc2 Bb3 20. axb3 axb3 21. Na3 Ne5 22. h4 Ra4 23. Bd4 (23. Rh3 Qa8 24. Qd5 Rxa3 25. bxa3 Qxa3 26. Rd2 Nc7 27. Qb7 Qa5 28. Qb6 Qc3 29. Qd4 Qc6 30. f6 Rc8 31. fxe7 Nb5 32. e8=Q+ Qxe8 33. Bxb5 Qxb5 34. Rhh2 Nc4 35. Rd1 Na3+ 36. Kb2 Nc4+ 37. Kb1 Na3+ 38. Kb2 Nc4+ {1/2-1/2 Wei Yi (2501)-Cheparinov,I (2709)/Reykjavik ISL 2013}) 23... Qa8 24. Qe3 Nc7 25. f6 gxf6 $8 (25... Bd8 26. fxg7 Re8 27. Rg1 {would give White a good position.}) 26. gxf6 Bxf6 27. Rg1+ Kh8 28. Qh6 Qd8 29. Bc4 Ne6 $8 30. Bc3 Qe7 $8 31. Rxd6 Rg8 $8 32. Rdd1 Bg7 33. Bxe5 $2 {White trades his good bishop after a long-time thinking and gives Black the initiative.} ({Someone once played} 33. Rxg7 Nxg7 34. Bxb3 Rxe4 35. Nb5 {with an attack.}) 33... Bxe5 34. Rxg8+ Kxg8 35. Qe3 $2 (35. Rg1+ Kh8 36. Qc1) 35... Bxb2 $1 36. Bxe6 Rxa3 37. Rg1+ $2 (37. Bxb3 Be5 38. Rd5 Ra1+ 39. Kc2 Qxh4 40. Rd7 {White has counterplay. }) 37... Kh8 38. Bxb3 Ra1+ (38... Be5 39. Rc1 Ra8 40. Rc5 Qf6 {Black's attack is unstoppable.}) 39. Kc2 Qc7+ 40. Kxb2 Qe5+ 41. Kc2 Qh2+ 42. Kd3 (42. Qd2 Qc7+ 43. Qc3+ Qxc3+ 44. Kxc3 Rxg1 45. Bxf7 {This is a tablebase win for Black.} Kg7 46. Be8 Kf6 47. Kd4 Rh1 48. h5 Ke7 49. Bb5 Rxh5 $19) 42... Rxg1 43. Qd4+ Kg8 44. Bxf7+ (44. Qd8+ Kg7 45. Qd4+ f6 46. Qa7+ Kh6 47. Qe3+ Kg6 $1 48. h5+ Kg7 49. Qa7+ Kh6 50. Qe3+ Rg5 {and Black is winning.}) 44... Kxf7 45. Qd7+ Kg6 46. Qe6+ Kh5 47. Qf5+ Kh6 48. Qf8+ Rg7 49. Qd6+ Qxd6+ 0-1

The defending champion Bu Xiangzhi shares third place with Xiu Deshun with
4.0/6 after a quick draw with Ni Hua with his pet Petroff Defense.

GM Yu Yangyi, the winner in 2011, scored his second win over GM Wen Yang in
a complicated duel in the Ruy Lopez in round six.

Ni Hua, Wen Yang, Bu Xiangzhi and Zhou Weiqi chatting before the games

Zhou Weiqi and Zhou Jianchao, what are you talking about?

19-year old Lu Shanglei, who won the strong Grand Europe Open in 2012, is now
in last place, after losing four games.

Photos by Liang Ziming

Current standings after six rounds:

About the author

Liang Ziming has been a chess journalist for sina.com since 2003, and the spokesperson for the Chinese Chess League since 2011. In 2007, he translated Kasparov's book "How Life Imitates Chess" into Chinese together with the former Women World Champion Xie Jun.

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The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Liang Ziming has been a chess journalist since 2003 and the New Officer for the Chinese Chess Association since 2011. In 2007, he translated Kasparov's book "How Life Imitates Chess" into Chinese together with the former Women World Champion Xie Jun.

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