Shenzhen Longgang Masters starts

by Albert Silver
3/25/2017 – In the South-Eastern area of China, next door to Hong Kong, the Longgang International chess tournament is being held in Longgang, a district of Shenzhen. With a generous purse of $90 thousand, six players are there to fight for the top prize of $20 thousand. Two of them are Chinese: Ding Liren and Yu Yangyi, and the four others are international guests: Anish Giri, Michael Adams, Pentala Harikrishna and Peter Svidler.
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The opening ceremony included special regional dances, Tai Chi demonstrations, and other cultural performances. Above is Tian Hongwei, the General Secretary of the Chinese Federation as well as vice presdient of the Asian Chess Federation.

This was followed by the traditional drawing of lots...

... and finally a few group photos before going to dinner.

The competition will run from March 23 to April 2, and it a double round robin, in which the players will all meet each other twice with alternating colors. Aside from the actual order of the opponents or colors, no player will be able to complain about having had more blacks than whites at the end.

Round one seemed quiet affair with three draws, but that would be a very superficial conclusion.

The two Chinese players truly went against all expectations, transforming an early drawish position into a protracted struggle in which Ding Liren gave up a piece in the endgame to try to generate play.

Yu Yangyi vs Ding Liren

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1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.g3 g6 4.Qa4 dxc4 A11: English Opening: 1...c6 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.d4 Be6 7.Qa4 Bd5N 7...Nf6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg2 Nd5 10.0-0 Nd7 11.Rd1 1-0 (33) Petrosian,A (2514)-Mainka,G (2340) Dortmund 1999 8.Nbd2 Nf6 9.Qc2 Qa5 10.Bg2 c5 11.0-0 cxd4 12.Qc8+ Qd8 13.Qxd8+ Kxd8 14.Nxd4 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 One would think that with equal material, queens off the board, and a symetrical pawn structure, and all after just 15 moves, that a fairly quick draw is in the air. However, it will become clear that this is not some attempt at a peaceful result between the two Chinese players, and neither is ready to throw in the towel just yet. Kd7! 16.N2f3 Rc8 17.Bf4 Ke8 18.Rac1 Nbd7 19.Nb5 Nd5 20.Rfd1 Nxf4+ 21.gxf4 Nc5 22.Nfd4 a6 23.Nc3 Rd8 24.Nf3! Rac8 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Nd1 Ne6 27.e3 Rd5 28.Kf1 Ra5 29.a3 Rc5 30.Rxc5 Nxc5= 15 moves later and we have a fairly uneventful KBN-KNN endgame. 31.Ke2 Kd7 32.Ng5 f6 33.Nf3 33.Nxh7 Ke6 34.b4 Na4 33...f5 34.b4 Ne4 35.Kd3 Bf6 36.a4 Kd6 37.Nd4 Bxd4 38.Kxd4
38...Nd2 It is a testament to their fighting spirit that we see Ding Liren come up with an ambitious plan to try and wrest the full point from Yu Yangyi. This Nd2 plans to sacrifice itself on h2, luring the king away while Black tries to make a steal on the queenside. 39.Kd3!= Nf3 40.Ke2! Nxh2 41.f3! Kd5 42.Nb2! The immediate 42.Kf2? would have lost on the spot after Kc4 42...b6 43.Kf2! a5 44.bxa5 bxa5 45.Kg2 Kc5 Black wants to play ...Kb4. 46.Nd3+ Kc4 47.Ne5+ Kb4 48.Kxh2 Kxa4 KN-KP 49.Nc6! Kb5 50.Nxe7 a4 51.Nd5 a3 52.Nc3+! Kc4 53.Na2 Kb3 54.e4! Kxa2 KP-KP 55.e5! Kb1 56.e6 a2 57.e7 a1Q ( -> ...Qa8) 58.e8Q
Finally, after 45 moves, both queens are resurrected. 58...Qd4 Threatening ...Qf2+. 59.Kg3 h5 60.Qe1+ Kc2 And now ... h4+! would win. 61.Qe2+ Qd2 62.Qc4+ Kd1 63.Qb3+ Ke1 White must now prevent ...Kf1. 64.Qb1+! Qd1 65.Qb6
65...h4+! 66.Kxh4 Threatens to win with Qg1+. Qxf3 67.Qg1+ Ke2 68.Kg5 Qh5+ 69.Kf6 Kf3 70.Qf1+ Kg3 71.Qc1 Qg4 72.Ke5 Qf3 But not 72...Qe2+ 73.Kf6 73.Qg1+ Qg2 74.Qe1+ Qf2 75.Qc1 Kg4 76.Qd1+ Kh3 77.Qh1+ Kg3 78.Qc1 Qb6 79.Qe1+ Kg2 aiming for ... Qc7+. 80.Qc1 Kh2 81.Qd2+ Kh3 82.Qc1 Qb5+ 83.Kf6 Kg4 84.Kxg6 Qb6+ 85.Kf7 Qd4 86.Ke6 Qxf4 87.Qg1+ Kh4 88.Qg6 A titanic struggle that ultimately came as a big surprise in view of the board situation after 15 moves ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yu,Y2750Ding,L2759½–½2017A11DT News Cup Shenzhen 20171

A great show for the audience who tuned in to watch it.

In round two, Michael Adams was doing fine against Pentala Harikrishna, but somehow seemed to belabor under the impression he was better, and was swiftly punished for his intrepidity

Michael Adams vs Pentala Harikrishna

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1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qc2 Be4 12.Qc1 h6 13.Bxf6 E05: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3 Be7 Bxf6 14.Nbd2 14.Rd1!? creates asymmetry. Nc6 15.Nbd2 Bg6 16.Nc4 Be4 17.Qf4 14...Bxf3 15.Nxf3 The position is equal. a5 16.Qc3N 16.Rd1 c6 17.Qc4 Na6 18.Rac1 Nb4 19.h4 Rc8 20.e3 Qb6 1/2-1/2 (55) Kovalenko,I (2650)-Wojtaszek,R (2746) Poland 2015 16...Nc6 17.Rad1 Nb4 18.Ne5 c6 19.e4 Rc8 20.Ng4 c5 21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 22.e5 22.dxc5 Qxc3 23.bxc3 Na2 22...Qe7 23.d5 exd5 24.Bxd5 Rcd8 25.Bc4 Nc6 26.f4 Rxd1 27.Rxd1 Rd8 27...Nd4!? looks sharper. 28.Qxa5 Qd7 29.Rf1 Qc6 30.Bb5 Qd5 28.Rd5 Rxd5 29.Bxd5 Nb4 30.Bb3 Nc6 31.Kf2 Qd7 32.Qc4 Nd4 33.Ba2 b6 34.Ke3 g5 35.fxg5 hxg5 Threatens to win with ...Qf5. 36.Qf1?
White's last move seems a lapse in judgement. White had no edge to speak of, but nor was he worse. This move suggests he may be under the impression he is better here. 36.Qd5= and White has nothing to worry about. Qf5 37.Bc4 36...Nc6!-+ 36...Nc2+ 37.Ke2 37.Qd3? Suddenly in the space of two moves, White is dead lost. 37.Qc4 offered stiffer resistance. 37...Qxd3+ 37...Nxe5 38.Qxd7 Nxd7 39.Ke4 38.Kxd3 Endgame KB-KN Nb4+ 38...Nxe5+ 39.Ke4 Nc6 40.Kf5± 39.Kc4 Hoping for Bb1. Nxa2 KN-KP 40.Kb5 Nb4 41.Kxb6 Nd3 42.Kxa5 Strongly threatening Kb5. Nxb2 Stronger than 42...Nxe5 43.Kb5 Nd7 44.a5+- 43.h4? 43.Kb5-+ c4 44.Kb4 43...gxh4 44.gxh4 KN-K3P Kg7 45.h5 Kh6 Black mates. 46.Kb5
46...c4! 46...Kxh5 47.a5 c4 48.a6= 47.Kb4 c3! Worse is 47...Kxh5 48.a5 Kg5 49.Kc3+- 49.a6 c3 50.Kxc3 Na4+ 51.Kb4 Nb6± 48.Kxc3 Nxa4+ 49.Kd4 Kxh5 50.Kd5 Nb6+ 51.Kc6 Kg5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Adams,M2761Harikrishna Pentala27580–12017E05DT News Cup Shenzhen 20172

Thus the Indian player strikes first blood in the event, and takes the very early lead

Standings after two rounds

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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