Sharjah GP Rd1: MVL, Adams, and Rapport draw first blood

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix I"] [Site "Sharjah"] [Date "2017.02.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E16"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2692"] [Annotator "Alex Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.02.17"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "UAE"] {One of the most intriguing match-ups of the opening round. Both players are young, ambitious, and in dire need of breaking out of their respective funks. While Ding largely stayed inactive lately - he only played in the Sinquefield Cup and Olympiad of the high profile tournaments in the second half of 2016 - Rapport seemed to travel almost non-stop, including his month and a half long stay in China, only to see his rating drop 60 points off his personal best.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ ({the classical approach is} 5... Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 {but there Richard had a couple of losses in the Tata Steel last month, against Wesley So (totally undeserved) and Levon Aronian (fully earned this time). I'm sure his Queen's Indian is going to be further tested in this event.}) 6. Bd2 a5 $5 {This should have hardly come as surprise, because Rapport played it before. This move came about in the 1970's, and we can count Larsen, Korchnoi and Karpov among its supporters. The point was, and still is, to spice up otherwise routine play in the well-known structure.} ({Of course, both} 6... Bxd2+ {played by Korchnoi, and later Andreikin}) ({and} 6... Be7 {(Ljubojevic and Polugaevsky) are more reliable.}) 7. O-O (7. a3 {is what Black is hoping to see. After} Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Na6 {he invites} 10. d5 Nc5 11. Nd4 {to freeze White's Q-side with} a4) ({ Naturally,} 7. Bxb4 $6 axb4 {deprives the white knight of his birthright square c3, and after} 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 c5 10. Re1 d6 11. e4 Nc6 {Black already stands well.} 12. d5 exd5 13. cxd5 (13. exd5 Ne7 {and there comes b6-b5!}) 13... Ne7 14. Nc4 Ng6 15. a4 bxa3 16. Rxa3 b5 {with lovely Benoni counterplay was seen in Socko-Hou Yifan, Baku Olympiad, 2016.}) 7... O-O 8. Bf4 ({Many games see} 8. Bg5 Be7 {and Black once again relies of exchanging pieces after} 9. Nc3 Ne4 {White wins his share of games, but not nearly enough to put this line out of business.}) 8... Be7 $1 {The bishop is no longer safe on b4.} ({Lose your focus,} 8... d5 $6 {and then you fall for a typical trick:} 9. c5 $1 a4 {What else?} 10. a3 Ba5 11. Qxa4 {and there goes your brave a-pawn for next to nothing.}) 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Qd3 {This isn't a novelty, just a very rare move.} Nxc3 11. bxc3 $5 {Voluntarily accepting a structural weakness in order to facilitate his play elsewhere on the board - a worthy concept from Ding Liren.} ({It was not too late for Ding to get back to quieter waters with} 11. Qxc3 d6 12. Qc2 {Black's best then is} f5 {setting up a Dutch pawn structure, which, quite fittingly, is exactly what Rapport did in Wijk aan Zee last month against Anish Giri. Playing the Dutch against a Dutchman in Holland may seem an outrageous idea, but in practice it worked out for a draw! The game went} 13. Rad1 ({Years ago I chose} 13. Ne1 {against the great Ratmir Kholmov,and also drifted to a draw after} Bxg2 14. Nxg2 Qd7 15. Rad1 Nc6 16. Be3 Rae8 17. Qa4 e5 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Qxd7 Nxd7) 13... Be4 14. Qc1 Qe8 15. Qe3 Bf6 16. c5 bxc5 17. dxc5 e5 18. Qb3+ Qf7 19. Bg5 Qxb3 20. axb3 h6 21. Bxf6 Rxf6 {etc.}) 11... Qc8 {A standard prophylactic move in many Queens Indian variations.} ({ On the other hand,} 11... d6 {allows another typical shot} 12. Ng5 $1 {White would love to to see his LSB unopposed, as the case here:} Bxg5 13. Bxb7 Ra7 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 15. Bg2 $14) 12. e4 d6 13. Rfe1 Nd7 ({Black's problem is that his own pawn takes away the a5-square from the knight.} 13... Nc6 $2 14. d5 Nb8 15. e5) 14. Rad1 a4 $5 {This is the essential Rapport chess. While Black is unable to play either c7-c5 or e6-e5, he nevertheless finds a way to play actively.} 15. h4 Ra5 {If nothing else, that rook stopped the white pawn from continuing to h5-h6.} 16. Bc1 $6 {I find this retreat somewhat dissatisfying.} ({I want White to play} 16. e5 {to set up Nf3-g5 with an attack.}) ({Perhaps the best was} 16. Bh3 $5 {with the idea of meeting} Qa8 {with} 17. Ng5 { White needs to provoke some weakening moves off Black's K-side pawn shield. Garry Kasparov was the master of that strategy.}) 16... Re8 17. Nh2 Qa8 18. Nf1 Nf6 19. d5 {I guess Ding didn't feel like playing a long maneuvering game that day.} Bf8 20. Ne3 a3 21. f4 Ra4 $5 {Rapport shows a lot of nerve in the face of White's offensive.} ({A lot of us old hands would feel obliged to slow White down with} 21... e5) 22. e5 Nd7 23. h5 Nc5 24. Qf1 h6 $1 25. Rd4 Qa5 26. Bd2 exd5 {Black is forced to take some action.} ({The wait and see policy of} 26... Qa8 {would be due to rude awakening after} 27. f5 $1 dxe5 28. Rg4) 27. Nxd5 ({Maybe the right move order was} 27. exd6 Bxd6 28. Nxd5 {to try to force Black to trade his defensive rook.}) 27... c6 28. Nb4 Qa8 (28... dxe5 29. fxe5 Ne6 30. Rg4) 29. exd6 Rd8 $1 30. f5 {Ding was still dreaming of the attack. He wanted to get his rook to g4.} Nd7 $5 (30... Rxd6 31. Rxd6 Bxd6 32. f6 { is a sharp fight, which Black's scattered pieces are ill prepared for.}) 31. Rd3 $2 {You miss a beat you lose the rhythm...} ({The only way to continue was to uphold the old revolutionary "We Chinese Never Go Back" spirit:} 31. Re7 $3 {anticipating} c5 32. Bxb7 Qxb7 33. Rg4 cxb4 34. Bxh6 {Should it have worked out we'd be talking a brilliant game from Ding Liren, and, in turn, the failure of Rapport's ultra-provocative strategy.}) 31... Nf6 32. Bf4 Ra5 { Lots of pawns are hanging, and the time must have been running out on Ding.} 33. Qf3 ({Better was} 33. Qf2 {seeking new targets.}) 33... Rxf5 34. Nxc6 $2 { This only helps the black bench players, Bb7 and Qa8, enter the arena.} ({ Instead,} 34. Re5 {most likely maintains the balance}) 34... Rxd6 $1 35. Rxd6 Bxd6 36. Ne7+ Bxe7 37. Qxb7 Bc5+ 38. Kf1 Qxb7 39. Bxb7 Nxh5 40. Re8+ Bf8 { Smoke has cleared, and facing a loss of his last K-side pawn Ding resigned. Well, this game certainly did not disappoint us spectators.} 0-1