Niemann goes into rapid section with a 3-point lead over Vitiugov

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/17/2024 – After 6 classical games, Hans Niemann has a 3-point lead over Nikita Vitiugov in their 5-day match taking place in London. Niemann won the first game and the remaining 5 encounters finished drawn - though there was no lack of fighting spirit. Saturday will see the protagonists playing 6 rapid games, while the event will end with 12 blitz games set to take place on Sunday. | Photo: Frans Peeters

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

A small edge in the endgame

Hans Niemann has a 3-point lead going into the final weekend of his match against Nikita Vitiugov taking place at the Gem Fitzrovia Hotel in London. Classical games with a 90+30 games were played from Wednesday to Friday (2 per day), with Niemann prevailing in the one encounter that ended decisively.

The classical games in this series grant 3 points for a win, while each rapid game grants 2 points and each blitz game grants a single point. The rapid section (6 games) will be played on Saturday, starting at 19.00 CEST, while the blitz segment (12 games) will take place on Sunday, starting at the same time.

After getting ahead on the scoreboard on Wednesday, Niemann went on to keep his lead by drawing the remaining 5 encounters. On two occasions, though, he was the one with an extra pawn in technical endgames. In game 3, he had a 3 v. 2 advantage in an endgame with knight and bishop against two bishops.

Niemann kept trying to provoke a mistake by his opponent, but Vitiugov did not falter, and the draw was signed on move 67.

Game 6 was much longer. The following position was reached by move 44...

...and the contenders only signed the draw after Niemann - who kept looking for chances to break through with his extra pawn - played his 107th move!

Nikita Vitiugov

Nikita Vitiugov | Photo: Frans Peeters

All games

Master Class Vol.17 - Boris Spassky

In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.

Links

<< Dortmund: Petrovskyi beats Yoo, takes the lead with two rounds to go
A clear case? >>
Topics: Hans Niemann, Hans Niemann against the World
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.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Niemann starts off with a win in match against Vitiugov

8/15/2024 – Hans Niemann got off to a good start in his London match against Nikita Vitiugov. The US grandmaster won the first game with black and drew the next one to get a 4½-1½ lead in the 5-day match - wins in the classical games are worth 3 points in the "Hans Niemann against the world" series. Niemann also got the upper hand in the second game, but failed to convert it into a win. | Photo: Frans Peeters
More...
 3

See also

Niemann convincingly beats Giri in Utrecht match

8/12/2024 – The 5-day match featuring Hans Niemann and Anish Giri came to an end on Sunday. The final day of action saw the players trading wins (3 per side) in the rapid section of the confrontation, which meant Niemann kept the 6-point lead he had obtained in the blitz and classical sections - Niemann won the match by a 24-18 score. The US grandmaster is set to face Nikita Vitiugov (in London) and Etienne Bacrot (in Paris) in similar matches later this month. | Photo: De Pion
More...
 11

Video

60m van Wely SicilianNajdorf

In 60 minutes you will get a crash course how to play such a complicated opening like the Sicilian Najdorf by the hands of GM van Wely who knows by experience how the dangers look like!The contents:Video 1, 2, 3: how to survive versus whites most aggressive approach: 6. Bc4, 6. Be3 and 6 Bg5. Video 4: how to deal with the latest fashion in the Najdorf 6. h3 and last but not leastVideo 5: how to play vs the more classical set ups 6. Be2 and 6. g3