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
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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.

Vitiugov v. Niemann - Game 3
Position after 54...Kd6

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...

Niemann v. Vitiugov
Position after 44.Bxf5

...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

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 7 Nf6 14 2.c4 6 e6 8 3.Nc3 13 Bb4 12 4.e3 16 0-0 21 5.Bd3 17 d5 46 6.a3 48 Bxc3+ 46 7.bxc3 7 dxc4 42 8.Bxc4 7 c5 9 9.Nf3 35 Qc7 24 10.Be2 37 b6 1:15 11.Bb2 47 Bb7 1:46 12.0-0 1:58 Nc6 2:45 The position is equal. 13.dxc5 5:51 bxc5 2:13 14.c4 1:28 e5 49 15.Qc2 4:39 Rfe8 2:24 16.Rfd1 5:32 Na5 2:51 17.Nd2 1:17       Dodges Be4 Bc6 26 18.Bc3 3:06 Nb7 3:07 19.Nf1 1:25 Ne4 1:57 20.Be1 2:45 f5 2:22 21.f3 5:51 Ned6 8 22.Ng3 8:54 Qf7 2:59 23.f4 8:46 23.Bf2= 23...Qe6 13:09 24.Bd3 5:13 g6 18 25.Rab1 7:05 Re7 1:35 26.Bf2 35:40 Rae8 52 27.Qc3 0 Qf7 2:56 28.h3 0 h6 4:19 29.Rb2 0 g5 1:49 30.fxe5 0 Rxe5 6 31.Bb1 0 f4 1:08 32.Nf1 0 f3 6:14 32...Qxc4? 33.Ba2+- 33.Bg3 0 Ne4 1:40       Black has some pressure. 33...Qxc4? 34.Ba2+- 34.Bxe5 Qxc3 35.Bxc3 fxg2+- 34.Bxe5 Qxc3 35.Bxc3 fxg2+- 33...R5e6!? 34.Rf2 Nf5 34.Bxe4 0 Rxe4 7 35.Rf2 0 Rxc4 1:23 36.Qb2 0 g4 38 37.hxg4 1:49 Better is 37.Nd2= Ra4 38.e4 gxh3 39.Rxf3 37...Rxg4 44 38.gxf3 13 Rg6 1:53 38...Bxf3 39.Rd3 Ree4 40.Rb3 39.e4 1:05 Kh7 4 40.Qc3 1:23 Bb5 1:04 White must now prevent ...Bxf1. 41.Rg2 1:30 Reg8 30 42.f4 1:05 Bxf1 1:27 Much worse is 42...Qg7?! 43.Qxg7+ R8xg7 44.Kh2= 44.f5 Rg5= 43.Rxf1 14
43.Kxf1 c4 44.f5 43...Nd6! 4 Dancing on a razor blade. But not 43...Qg7?! 44.Qxg7+ R6xg7 45.Kh2= 44.Qf3 44 44.Qxc5? loses. Rxg3 45.Rff2 Nxe4-+ 44...Rg4 1:13 Strongly threatening ...Qb7. Black is more active. 45.Rff2? 47       This move loses the game for White. 45.Qd3 is tougher. 45...Qg7 1:04 ...Qd4! would now be deadly. 46.Kh2 34 Qg6 16 47.f5? 34
47.Re2-+ 47...Qh5+ 23 48.Kg1 2 Nxe4 4 Weighted Error Value: White=0.35/Black=0.14 (very precise) . Loses game: White=1 --- Mistake: White=4 --- Inaccurate: White=2 Black=6 OK: White=15 Black=13 Best: White=4 Black=4 Strong: --- Black=1 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H27110–12024E53Hans Niemann vs The World 21.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N2678½–½2024B48Hans Niemann vs The World 22.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024C67Hans Niemann vs The World 23.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N2678½–½2024C54Hans Niemann vs The World 24.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024D41Hans Niemann vs The World 25.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N2678½–½2024C90Hans Niemann vs The World 26.1
Vitiukov,N-Niemann,H27110–12024E17Hans Niemann vs The World 27.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiukov,N-1–02024E65Hans Niemann vs The World 28.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024D50Hans Niemann vs The World 29.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26780–12024C54Hans Niemann vs The World 210.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024A06Hans Niemann vs The World 211.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26781–02024C54Hans Niemann vs The World 212.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024A06Hans Niemann vs The World 213.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26781–02024E06Hans Niemann vs The World 214.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H27110–12024D00Hans Niemann vs The World 215.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26780–12024B28Hans Niemann vs The World 216.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H27110–12024A06Hans Niemann vs The World 217.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N2678½–½2024B40Hans Niemann vs The World 218.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024A06Hans Niemann vs The World 219.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26781–02024D00Hans Niemann vs The World 220.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H27110–12024A06Hans Niemann vs The World 221.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26781–02024B28Hans Niemann vs The World 222.1
Vitiugov,N2678Niemann,H2711½–½2024A45Hans Niemann vs The World 223.1
Niemann,H2711Vitiugov,N26781–02024D00Hans Niemann vs The World 224.1

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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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