Superbet: So beats Nepo, grabs the lead

by Klaus Besenthal
5/9/2022 – After the fourth round of the Superbet Chess Classic, Wesley So is leading the standings table with 3 points. With his win over Ian Nepomniachtchi, So single-handedly put a previously tied rival at a distance, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac, the third member of the pre-round leading trio, had to settle for a draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. There were also wins for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (over Fabiano Caruana) and Levon Aronian (over Leinier Dominguez). | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

MVL, So and Aronian score

A truism for chess players is that attacking is easier than defending. Instead of ‘easier’, one could also say ‘more energy-saving’. That was Ian Nepomniachtchi’s experience yesterday, after he entered a position which led to him needing to defend for a predictably long time. He was a pawn down against Wesley So, one of the strongest technical players in the circuit.

 
So, Wesley27661–0Nepomniachtchi, Ian2773
GCT Superbet Romania 2022
Bucharest08.05.2022[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 b5 8.a4
8...Bb7 8...b4 is usually played here. 9.axb5 a6 10.bxa6 Nxa6 11.Qxc4 Bd5 12.Qc3 c5 13.Be3 Ne4 14.Qe1 Nb4 15.Rxa8 Qxa8 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Nc2 18.Qd2 Nxe3 19.Qxe3 cxd4 20.cxd4 Rd8
Both players deliberately got involved in this position. 21.Qf4 h6 22.e3 Bd6 23.Qh4 Bb4 24.Qg4 Bxf3 25.Bxf3
Nepo probably assumed he could achieve a safe draw - not least thanks to the opposite-coloured bishops. 25...Qa5 26.Rb1 Bd6 27.h4 Rb8 28.Rxb8+ Bxb8 29.d5 Qa1+ 30.Kg2 Qe5 31.Qc4 Bd6 32.dxe6 Qxe6 33.Bd5 Qd7
But Wesley So has an extra pawn, and as long as the queens remain on the board he will naturally try to win the game. 34.h5 Qf5 35.Qc6 Bf8 36.Bf3 Qe6 37.Qa8 Qe5 38.Bg4 Qf6 39.Bd1 Qf5 40.Qb7 Qe5 41.Be2 Qf5 42.Bf3 Qe5 43.Bg4 Qg5 44.Qf3 The manoeuvring typical of such positions also serves to tire the defender. g6 He now (unnerved?) pushes a pawn, a move he certainly didn't need to make. 45.hxg6 Qxg6 46.Bf5 Qf6 47.Qd5 Qd6 48.Qc4 Qb4 49.Qe2 Qb7+ 50.Kh2 Bg7 51.Bd3 Qd5 52.Bc4 Qe4 53.Bb3 Qf5 54.e4 Qf6 55.Kg2 Qb6 56.Bd5
56...Bd4? And this is a mistake. With 56...Qg6 57.e5 Bf8 58.e6 fxe6 59.Bxe6+ Kh8 Black could have continued to defend himself. 57.e5 Now the black bishop is not only cut off from the king's defence, but also needs protection itself. Qg6? After this mistake the game ends abruptly. Better was 57...Kf8 but after 58.Qe4 Black can no longer keep things together. Everything is suddenly weakened! 58.Bxf7+ With Qg4+ or Qc4+ White will grab the bishop, and then can easily win the queen endgame with two extra pawns. 1–0

Superbet Chess Classic 2022

Excellent playing conditions in Bucharest | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Fabiano Caruana had a great position in his game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave — until he decided to make a piece sacrifice that looked promising but ultimately failed due to MVL's careful defence.

 
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime27501–0Caruana, Fabiano2786
GCT Superbet Romania 2022
Bucharest08.05.2022[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 Nxf2 12.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 f6 14.Nf1 fxe5 15.Kg1 Qd7 16.Bg5 Rae8 17.Qd2 d4
MVL has let Caruana get a second extra pawn in order to consolidate after the capture on f2. But it's quite possible that the Frenchman will recover the pawn on e5. 18.Ng3?! But that perhaps makes things unnecessarily complicated. Straightforward was 18.Re1 and after Bxa2 19.b3 h6 20.Bh4 Qe6 Black could, however, make the game difficult for both sides. 18...h6 19.Bh4 dxc3 19...g5 20.Nxg5 hxg5 21.Qxg5+ Qg7 22.Qd2 Qg4 23.Qh6 The computers judge the position to be perfectly balanced, but Caruana certainly didn't want such a weakened king. 20.Qxc3
The opening phase did not go well for MVL - the black pieces are nicely coordinated. 20...Rxf3? Caruana thought he was strong enough for this sacrifice, but it is not correct. With 20...b4 21.Qc5 Nd4 Black would have kept the initiative in a safe way. Obviously bad now would be 22.Nxe5? Qd5-+ 21.gxf3 Nd4 21...g5? 22.Ne4 22.Bd1 Rf8 23.Ne4 Bc4 24.Kg2 Rf4 25.Be1 Qf5 26.Nd2 e4 27.Bg3 exf3+ 28.Kf2!
White has consolidated. Now he can win with his extra piece. 28.Nxf3?? Qh3+‼ 28.Bxf3?? Rxf3 29.Nxf3 Nxf3 30.Qxf3?? Bd5 28...Rg4 29.Nxc4 bxc4 30.Bxf3 Nxf3 31.Qxf3 Qc2+ 32.Qe2 Qf5+ 33.Kg1 h5 34.Rf1 Qg6 35.Kh1 h4 36.Bxc7 h3 37.Qf3 Qd3 38.Be5 Rg2 39.Bc3 1–0

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

MVL scored his first win on Sunday | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Leinier Dominguez had just successfully worked his way out of all difficulties in the game against Levon Aronian (bad position, time trouble) when he made a serious positional mistake. Aronian exchanged queens and was then completely in his element in the ensuing endgame. The man from Yerevan had an extra pawn.

 
Dominguez Perez, Leinier27530–1Aronian, Levon2765
GCT Superbet Romania 2022
Bucharest08.05.2022[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.h3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Ne4 Bb6 10.c3 f6 11.d4 exd4 12.Re1 Kh8 13.cxd4 Bf5 14.Ng3 Bg6 15.Nh4 Bf7 16.Ngf5 Re8 17.Rxe8+ Qxe8 18.Qg4 Qf8 19.Bd2 Rd8 20.Re1 Nde7 21.Bxf7 Qxf7 22.Bc3 Nxf5 23.Nxf5 g6 24.Nh6 Qf8 25.d5 Nb4 26.Qe6 Kg7 27.Bxb4 axb4 28.Ng4 Qf7 29.Qe4 Rxd5 30.Qf4 Bc5 31.Qh6+ Kh8 32.Qf4
Dominguez, who was struggling with severe time trouble in this game, was in a bad position at this point, if not in a losing position. 32...Rd8?! But with this defensive move Aronian gave up his advantage. By starting with 32...Bd4! he would have further strengthened his position. 33.b3?! 33.Qxf6+ Qxf6 34.Nxf6 Bd4 35.Re8+ Rxe8 36.Nxe8 Be5 37.g3 c6 38.b3 Kg8 39.f4 Kf7 40.fxe5 Kxe8 41.Kf2 Kf7 42.Ke3 c5!-+ would have certainly pleased Aronian. Best for White was 33.Nh6 Qg7 34.Qc4! Bxf2+ 35.Kf1! Qxh6 36.Qxc7= Extremely hard to find, and given the time trouble, probably all but impossible. 33...Bd4 34.Ne5 Qg7 35.Nf3 Bc5 36.g3 b6 37.Re6 Bd6 38.Qd4 Rf8 39.h4 h5 40.Kg2 Kh7
The time control was reached and Dominguez had happily overcome his problems. 41.Qd5 Qg8 42.Qe4 Qf7 43.Nd4 Bc5 44.f4? But this kind of pawn push can backfire, as was the case here. White had 44.Ne2 preparing Nf4, or simply to wait and see what Black does. 44...Rd8 45.Nf3 Kg7 46.f5 gxf5 47.Qxf5 Qg6 Forcing the exchange of queens. Now Aronian can shine with his great technique in the endgame. 48.Qxg6+ Kxg6 49.Re2 Rd3 50.Ne1 Rc3 51.Rc2 Rxc2+ 52.Nxc2 f5 53.Kf3 Kf6 54.Ne1 b5 55.Nd3 Bd6 56.Nc1 Ke5 57.Ne2 Kd5 58.Ke3 c5 59.Kf3 c4 60.Ke3 Bc5+ 61.Kf4 c3 62.Kxf5 Be3 63.a3 Bd2 64.axb4 c2 0–1

Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian

Leinier Dominguez resigns his game against Levon Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Round 4 results

 

Standings after round 4

Loading Table...

All games

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Links

Klaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.