A win and a draw
The second match of the "Hans Niemann against the world" series kicked off on Wednesday at the Gem Fitzrovia Hotel in London. Unlike the match against Anish Giri in Utrecht - which started with the blitz section - the match in England sees the 6 classical games taking place first, with 2 encounters scheduled daily until Friday.
In the series, classical games are played with a 90+30 time control (90 minutes for the game, with 30-second increments per move). This rather quick classical control prompted Nikita Vitiugov to struggle with time management during the first 2 encounters - especially in the inaugural game, in which Niemann made the most of a considerable advantage on the clock to score a win with the black pieces (analysed below).
In this Video-Course we deal with different dynamic decisions involving pawns. The aim of this Course is to arm club/tournament players with fresh ideas which they can use in their own practice.
Fatigue was not a damaging factor for Niemann, who beat Giri in a similar 5-day match just last week. The format of the matches - including 6 classical games, 6 rapid games and 12 blitz games - is quite exhausting. This aspect might end up being decisive, as Niemann, aged 21, is much younger than Vitiugov (37 y.o.) and his next opponent, Etienne Bacrot (41 y.o.).
Nonetheless, Vitiugov managed to escape with a draw from a considerably worse position in Wednesday's afternoon game.

The second game in progress | Photo: Frans Peeters
Vitiugov 0 - 1 Niemann
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Nf3 Qc7 10.Be2 b6 11.Bb2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nc6 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.c4 e5 15.Qc2 Rfe8 16.Rfd1 16...Na5 16...h6 17.Rab1 Re6 18.Nd2 17.Nd2 Bc6 18.Bc3 Nb7 19.Nf1 Ne4 20.Be1 f5 21.f3 Ned6 22.Ng3 22.a4 a5 23.Bf2 Re6 22...Qf7 23.f4 Qe6 24.Bd3 g6 25.Rab1 Re7 26.Bf2 Rae8 27.Qc3 Qf7 28.h3 h6 29.Rb2 g5 29...h5 30.Nf1 Qg7 31.Bh4 Rd7 30.fxe5 Rxe5 31.Bb1 31.Be2 f4 32.Bh5 Qxc4 33.Ne2 Qxc3 34.Nxc3 R8e7 31...f4 32.Nf1 f3 32...Ne4 33.Bxe4 Rxe4 34.Nd2 R4e6 33.Bg3 Ne4 34.Bxe4 Rxe4 35.Rf2 Rxc4 36.Qb2 g4 37.hxg4 37.Nd2 Ra4 38.e4 37...Rxg4 38.gxf3 Rg6 39.e4 Kh7 40.Qc3 Bb5 41.Rg2 Reg8 42.f4 Bxf1 43.Rxf1 43.Kxf1 43...Nd6 44.Qf3 Rg4 45.Rff2 45.Re1 Qh5 46.Re3 45...Qg7 46.Kh2 Qg6 47.f5 Qh5+ 48.Kg1 Nxe4 0–1
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