Qatar 2015 Rd4: Five stars and one dark horse
12/23/2015 – It is no surprise to see stars such as Magnus Carlsen, who won a brilliant game today, Anish Giri, Li Chao, Wesley So, and even Maxim Matlakov in the lead with 3.5/4, but in sixth place leading an all-star group with 3.0/4 is the complete unknown and untitled Xu Yinglun with a fantastic 2856 performance. That is what opens are all about. Illustrated report with commented games.
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Qatar Masters 2015
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While the sheer strength of the Qatar Open is staggering in many ways, it is the sheer diversity of players and player strength that has helped to make it such a fun event to follow. Naturally, the foremost example of this is the presence of Magnus Carlsen, the world no. 1, facing players he would normally only face in a simul or exhibition event at best. It also leads to dream-come-true opportunities for those fortunate enough to play opposite him.
The wet dream of each player is of course to read the next day “Magnus Carlsen loses in incredible upset!” The harsh reality is usually closer to what the talented 17-year-old Jan-Krzysztof Duda experienced, being on the receiving end of a master class in chess.
It is not often that one had the privilege of playing the World Champion face-to-face
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Magnus Carlsen (annotations by IM Sagar Shah)
Magnus Carlsen has been growing with each round, and today was his best game so far
One might wonder what a player such as Carlsen gets out of this, other than an undoubtedly hefty appearance fee, and this game may answer that question. How often does one see a player such as Magnus play the black side of a notoriously sharp opening such as the Najdorf? Here he may be forced into oddball openings by his opponents, such as Yuffa with 1.e4 c5 2.b3, but it also allows him leeway to experiment outside his comfort zone without needing to fear the uber-preparation (and expertise) of Top Ten specialists.
On board one were Anish Giri and Li Chao
The leaders entering the round were Anish Giri and Li Chao, and though anything could happen, the game never really got out of hand and a draw was the logical result. This also meant that several other players could now rejoin them at 3.5/4. The World Champion was one of course, but he was not the only one. Wesley So and Maxim Matlakov also added their hats to the circle, defeating Akopian and Kosteniuk respectively, to complete the group.
Vladimir Akopian found himself in a dead lost opposite colored bishop ending that Wesley So
made no mistakes in. With this, the young American is tied for he lead and also within five Elo
of his rival compatriots Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana.
Leading the group of 19 players on 3.0/4 is the complete unknown Chinese player Xu Yinglun, rated 2470 FIDE, but untitled. He made waves as one of the upsets in round one when he defeated Nikita Vitiugov (2724 FIDE), but never really left the sun as he drew Sjugirov and Vidit, both over 2640, and now in round four gunned down Indian GM Sethuraman, when the latter missed a tactic that he never recovered from.
After watching Wei Yi sacrifice a knight right in front of his king, Indian IM Vignish had to
have feared the worst, but his stars all lined up today, and he left the board the victor.
It hasn’t been all roses for the Chinese though, with Wei Yi suffering from rather extreme irregularity in his games. Today he lost to the young Indian IM Vignesh, but contrary to round one, the Chinese prodigy went from winning, to dead lost, to dead winning, to much better to dead lost as he blundered horribly on move 67. Just one of those days where one regrets ever having gotten out of bed.
In that mix of players at 3.0/4 is Vladimir Kramnik who played a fascinating game against
American GM Daniel Naroditsky, who fought very well, but in the end failed to keep pace.
Vladimir Kramink - Daniel Naroditsky
The ladies had reason to cheer as well, as 15-year-old WGM Zhansaya Abdumalik scored again in round four with an impressive win over German IM Rasmus Svane (2529 FIDE). It should be noted that even in round three, when she lost to Indian GM Ganguly, she had started with a spectacular and powerful bishop sac, but had failed to find the best continuation. All the same, her fearlessness, and instincts cannot be faulted.
For the youth, 12-year-old Iranian FM Alireza Firouzja (left) continues his superb run, drawing
comfortably against Indian GM Harika Dronavalli, as he stands at 2.0/4 against a 2569 average.
In th photo above, he is together with his 14-year-old compatriot FM Aryan Gholami.
His colleague in years, 11-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov fared less well, as he failed to find the best continuation in a difficult rook endgame against Bartel Mateusz, against whom he might have draw, but he did get some slight moral compensation as that night he got to play alongside Magnus Carlsen in football.
A late night game of football after the round is over?
You can count on Magnus! And not just him needless to say...
The World Champion was extremely sporting passing the ball regularly to the 11-year-old
Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who would always promptly send it right back. It was very cute.
One of the movie extras from Mad Max: Ruslan Ponomariov
Hou Yifan has played to her strength, and stands at 3.0/4 with a 2691 performance
ChessBase author Alejandro Ramirez alongside Hou Yifan
Interview with Hou Yifan by IM Sagar Shah
Indian GM Ganguly with Mahdi Abdul Rahman, the arbiter
Replay games of round four (with times per move)
Pairings/Results of Round 4 on 2015/12/23 at 15:00
Schedule for Playchess Commentary
| Day | Round | Time | English | German |
| Wed 23 December | Round 4 | 3 PM | Daniel King | Thomas Luther |
| Thu 24 December | Round 5 | 3 PM | Simon Williams | Thomas Luther |
| Fri 25 December | Rest day | |||
| Sat 26 December | Round 6 | 3 PM | Mihail Marin | Thomas Luther |
| Sun 27 December | Round 7 | 3 PM | Simon Williams | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| Mon 28 December | Round 8 | 3 PM | Daniel King | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| Tue 29 December | Round 9 | 12 PM | Yasser Seirawan | Sebastian Siebrecht |
LinksThe games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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Discussion and Feedback
Join the public discussion or submit your feedback to the editors
Duda is actually only 150 rating points under Carlsen...
@Pentium I think you are exaggerating. In my four reports on Qatar, Rd1 had him with Nino, who drew him, so that thumbnail was as much about her as it was him. Rd2 was Giri. Rd3 was Mamedyarov, and Rd4 (jointly with Sagar Shah) was him, since this was the game of the day in the opinion of the authors.
The let's look at the reports by Sagar Shah: Rd1 was 12-year-old Firouzja, Rd2 was him and some other guy playing football, though in the thumbnail I'll be darned if one can really make out the faces (IMO). Rd3 did indeed have him, but the real news was Xavi Hernandez, who certainly was not merely 'passing through'.
The let's look at the reports by Sagar Shah: Rd1 was 12-year-old Firouzja, Rd2 was him and some other guy playing football, though in the thumbnail I'll be darned if one can really make out the faces (IMO). Rd3 did indeed have him, but the real news was Xavi Hernandez, who certainly was not merely 'passing through'.
Xu and Vignesh both are on equal scores. The report says Xu gave a brilliant performance and For Vignesh his stars lined up?! Really?? Come one guys give the player his due credit.
Agreed. Yifan is the best ambassador and a much needed breath of fresh air. Well spoken, gracious, charming, enchanting and an entertaining player. Here's to her continued success.
Hou Yifan is the best ambassador this game has now.
Class act, going out of her way (like to Antarctica!) to promote the game.
Class act, going out of her way (like to Antarctica!) to promote the game.
I was not insinuating cheating. Obviously the Chinese GMs have less international experience due to location. The Far East, along with South America, are probably the two least favorable places to attain one's potential as chessplayer.
That said, they are still relative unknowns and someone such as Wei Yi will probably have more holes in his game at age 16 than someone such as Karjakin or MVL at a similar age.
And Li Chao may be 2750 player in open tournaments, but how to interpret that? - OOH, probably more difficult to achieve elite rating. OTOH, how does that translate to supertournament, where holes in one's game are exposed by thorough preparation? Ding Liren's KID is not battle-tested in that sense (of course, I'm thinking of Kasparov and Nakamura having given up the KID except as surprise weapon.)
That said, they are still relative unknowns and someone such as Wei Yi will probably have more holes in his game at age 16 than someone such as Karjakin or MVL at a similar age.
And Li Chao may be 2750 player in open tournaments, but how to interpret that? - OOH, probably more difficult to achieve elite rating. OTOH, how does that translate to supertournament, where holes in one's game are exposed by thorough preparation? Ding Liren's KID is not battle-tested in that sense (of course, I'm thinking of Kasparov and Nakamura having given up the KID except as surprise weapon.)
It is, clearly, time for those women in the 2015 European Women Chess Championship to break out their pens. Someone is having too good a tournament for their rating...it MUST be cheating.
(To be clear, if you have no detector, yes, that is all sarcasm).
(To be clear, if you have no detector, yes, that is all sarcasm).
As to relatively unknown Chinese GMs, Ding Liren is the most internationally inexperienced top 10 player I've ever seen. Am wondering how long his King's Indian hold up in supertournament.
Also, Wei Yi seems tactically gifted but raw in other aspects of his game (not unexpected for youth).
The Qatari tournament is definitely Corus-like for youthful talent and rising unknowns. And very surprising so many top GMs have shown up (I wonder what the appearance fees or conditions, because the prizes seem relatively modest.)
Also, Wei Yi seems tactically gifted but raw in other aspects of his game (not unexpected for youth).
The Qatari tournament is definitely Corus-like for youthful talent and rising unknowns. And very surprising so many top GMs have shown up (I wonder what the appearance fees or conditions, because the prizes seem relatively modest.)
*
go magnus*
+ :)
go magnus*
+ :)
Li Chao himself is another dark horse who somehow managed to sneak up to 2750 very quietly. While playing in open tournaments and none of the national teams or few national tournaments. And no supertournament. And at a relatively late age of 26.
IIRC, he was a "B+ or A- level prodigy" who was always playing in miscellaneous overseas tournaments since age 16, but did not reach 2700 and 2750 until recently. Curious as to his true baseline, and how he would hold up in a supertournament against superGMs.
IIRC, he was a "B+ or A- level prodigy" who was always playing in miscellaneous overseas tournaments since age 16, but did not reach 2700 and 2750 until recently. Curious as to his true baseline, and how he would hold up in a supertournament against superGMs.
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