Taking on Leon in Playchess

by Frederic Friedel
1/10/2021 – He's a 14-year-old lad, mischievous and full of fun. For a full year now Leon and his father Lyndon, who hail from Goa, India, are stuck in Europe, due to severe Covid restrictions. But Leon, aged 14, used this exile wisely: to gain his grandmaster title. Today at 3:30 p.m. CET you can challenge him on Playchess. But do be gentle with him – he is rated just 2538! | Photo: Amruta Mokal
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.

Leon will be playing against Premium members of the ChessBase Account. The time control will be 3 min + 2 sec increment. The games will be commentated by IM Sagar Shah, who will be analyzing them with Leon after they are over! This is a perfect way to match your wits against a great chess talent, and at the same time learn from the commentary and post-game analysis.

If you do not have a ChessBase Account already you can get one here - Premium membership costs just €49.90 per year or €4.99 per month (Starter account 34.90/year). You can compare what each account has to offer here. You can watch the Blitz Challenge without an account.

The Blitz Challenge with Leon will take place on Sunday, January 10, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. European time (8 p.m. IST – check the time in your location here). You can challenge Leon or simply watch the games in:

The event is being staged by ChessBase India, which has 550,000 subscribers on YouTube, with 144.7 million views of individual videos last year (10.6 million hours of viewing).

GM Leon Mendonca

Leon Mendonca scored three GM-norms in a little over three months and crossed the 2500 rating barrier to become India's 67th GM. He managed to achieve this feat at the age of 14 years 9 months and 17 days.

Leon scored three GM-norms and crossed the 2500 barrier during the Covid-19 pandemic | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Sunway Chess Open

A typical tournament photo: guess who is the opponent everyone fears!

Leon's story of becoming a GM is an inspiring one. In March 2020 he and his father were stranded in Europe, when their flight back home was the first to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the nine months from after that Leon played in 16 tournaments, gained nearly 100 rating points and earned a full GM title.

The first norm came at the Rigo Chess GM Round Robin (16-24 Oct), the second at the 1st Saturday Budapest (07-17 Nov) and the final norm at the Vergani Cup Italy (26 -30 Dec). The picture is of Leon receiving his final GM norm at the Vergani Cup in Italy.

 

Playing in mask is never easy, but Leon has mastered the art over the last nine months!

From being on the edge financially, to fighting at European borders to enrol in tournaments, to missing his mother and sister back at home, Leon has seen it all in these last nine months. This experience has definitely made him into a stronger individual. There were many times when the 14-year-old felt homesick and missed his mother. However, the love for chess and his father's constant motivation proved enough to keep him going and achieve this milestone.

Speaking to ChessBase India, Leon said, "A lot of people have been responsible for me reaching here. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart: 1. The Almighty for his countless blessings! 2. My parents and sister. 3. Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Gelfand, Judit Polgar and Vishy Anand.

The happy family in pre-Covid times: Anita, Leon, Beverly and Lyndon | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Leon attended two training camps with ex-World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and ex-WCh Challenger Boris Gelfand, in Switzerland and in Chennai

When Leon was stranded in Budapest, Judit Polgar lifted the spirits of the youngster by meeting with him and showing him around the city! 

 

At her house in Budapest: Judit and Leon. Full report here and here. 

Leon is not just a great chess player, but also a wonderful musician!

The talented chess musician IM Leon Mendonca | Video: Sagar Shah

Sister Beverley, 17, is also musically talented: she plays the piano, writes songs and sings them herself. You will do well not to miss this! 

One of Leon's finest efforts: beating IM Viktor Gazik at the World Juniors 2019

Leon at 12, | Video: Sagar Shah

Finally two games Leon annotated for us:

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
It was the 4th round of the Spilimbergo Open and I was paired against the 2018 Italian Champion IM Lorenzo Lodici. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 I noticed in my preparation that Lorenzo likes to play sharp sidelines and apart from his main openings, I expected this line or Dutch [1...f5]. The funny thing is that in the end I forgot to prepare this line! 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2 4.f3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 e5 is another line 4...d5 5.Bg5 I had remembered that Mamedyarov played a game against Anton Guijarro and also I liked this idea of putting the rook on d1 5.cxd5 is the main move Nxd5 6.e4 6.Nf3 6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 e5 5...dxc4 Of course the critical move 5...e6 is not good. Botvinnik played a game: 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Be7 8.Bd3 h6 9.Bf4 0-0 10.Nge2 c5 11.a3 Nc6 12.h3 cxd4 13.exd4 Bd6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.0-0 Rac8 16.Bf5 Rce8 17.Rad1 Re7 18.Qd2 Na5 19.Ng3 Nc4 20.Qc1 Ne3 21.fxe3 Qxg3 22.Rf3 Qb8 23.Bb1 Ne4 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Rf5 Rd8 26.Qd2 Qc8 27.Qf2 Qc4 28.Qf4 Bc8 29.Re5 Rxe5 30.Qxe5 f5 31.Qe7 Rd7 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Rc1 Rd6 34.Na2 Bd7 35.Qf8 Qe6 36.Nc3 Be8 37.Ne2 Qd7 38.Kh2 Rf6 39.Qb4 Qd5 40.Qd2 Rc6 41.Nc3 Qb3 42.d5 Rg6 43.Qf2 Bd7 44.Rd1 Qc4 45.Qf4 Qc8 46.Rd4 b5 47.Rd2 a5 48.Ne2 Qc5 49.d6 b4 50.axb4 axb4 51.Kh1 Rf6 52.Kh2 Rg6 53.Kh1 Rf6 54.Kh2 g5 55.Qg3 Rf7 56.h4 Rg7 57.Nd4 gxh4 58.Qxh4 Qxd6+ 59.Kg1 Qg6 60.Qf2 Bc8 61.Ne2 Rd7 62.Nf4 Qf7 63.Qe1 Rc7 64.Nd5 Rc5 65.Nf4 Rc6 66.Qh4 Qa7 67.Kh2 Qf7 68.Rd4 b3 69.Qd8 Qf6 70.Qxf6 Rxf6 71.Rb4 Rc6 72.Rxb3 Ba6 73.Kg3 Rc2 74.Rb6 Bf1 75.Rb7+ Kg8 76.Kh4 Be2 77.Ne6 Rd2 78.b4 Rb2 79.Kg3 Ba6 80.Rb6 Bf1 81.Kf4 Bc4 82.Nd4 Rf2+ 83.Kg3 Rf1 84.Rc6 f4+ 85.exf4 Bd3 86.Rxh6 Rb1 87.Nf5 Rxb4 88.Ne3 1-0 (88) Botvinnik,M-Chekhover,V Leningrad 1934 6.Rd1 with Dubov inspiring us, 6.0-0-0 comes to mind! 6...a6 I was out of book and on my own now. This move is of course logical in order to protect the c4-pawn Mamedyarov's game went 6...h6 7.Bxf6 exf6 8.e4 b5 9.Nxb5 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 0-0 11.d5 f5 12.Bxc4 fxe4 13.a3 Bxc3+ 14.Qxc3 Nd7 15.Ne2 Nb6 16.0-0 Qd6 17.Rfe1 f5 18.Bb3 Bxd5 19.Nd4 Qf6 20.Bxd5+ Nxd5 21.Qc4 Qf7 22.Nxf5 Qxf5 23.Qxd5+ Qxd5 24.Rxd5 Rad8 25.Red1 Rb8 26.b4 Rb6 27.Rc1 Rf7 28.h3 Kh7 29.Ra5 a6 30.Re5 Rd6 31.Rxe4 Rd2 32.f3 Ra2 33.Rc3 Rd7 34.Rg4 Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Rd7 36.h4 Re7 37.Kh3 Rd7 38.h5 c6 39.Rgc4 Rd6 40.Rc5 Rd1 41.g3 Rd6 42.Ra5 Rd4 43.f4 Rd5 44.Rxd5 cxd5 45.Kg4 Re2 46.Rd3 a5 47.Rxd5 axb4 48.axb4 Rb2 49.Rb5 Rb3 50.Rb8 Rc3 51.b5 Rb3 52.b6 Rc3 53.Rd8 Rb3 54.Rd6 Rb5 55.Rc6 Kg8 56.Kf3 Rb4 57.Ke3 1-0 (57) Mamedyarov,S (2757)-Anton Guijarro,D (2607) Doha 2014 7.e4 b5 8.d5 preventing e6 during the game I thought if I play the natural move 8.Nf3 then black will devlop his pieces easily h6 9.Bh4 e6 9...g5!? 10.Bg3 e6∞ The position resembles that of the Moscow variation in the Semi-slav 8...e5!? Black wants to sacrifice a pawn to bring his pieces to active squares 8...Qd6 seems to be good for black 9.Nf3 Nbd7 9.dxe6 Qe7 10.Nf3! Practically the best try 10.exf7+ is maybe objectively the best but I thought black's play would be easy Qxf7 10...Qxe6 11.Nd4 Qb6 12.e5 Of course. I have to go all in Nfd7 12...Nd5 is just not right. 13.Be2 13.e6! fxe6 14.Be2! I was trying to weaken my opponent's king and at the same time develop my pieces. At such moments when I am not sure what my opponent would play, I just wait for him to play rather than calculate lines. e5?! This move somehow felt strange to me. The dubious mark is based on the computer's evaluation. I had no clue what it was during the game! 14...Ne5! is the best move according to the computer but I have to say this move did not cross my mind. The idea is to meet Bh5+ with g6 and to play Nbd7 14...Bc5? 15.Bh5+ Kf8 16.Nf3 15.0-0 I thought the knight cannot be taken because it would be mate, but actually it would just be better position for me 15.Qf5 is an accurate version of the game because it avoids Be7 after 15.0-0 15...Bc5? 15...exd4 16.Bh5+ g6 17.Qf5! to prevent the king from going to f7. I thought it should be mate here but the computer points out the cold-blooded 17.Rfe1+? Kf7 18.Qf5+ Kg7-+ 17...Be7! Here are some spectacular lines: 18.Rfe1 Kd8 18...Nc6 19.Bxg6+ 19.Nd5? 0-0-0! 20.Nxb6+ cxb6-+ 19...Kd8 19...hxg6? 20.Qxg6+ Kd8 21.Qg7 Re8 22.Nd5+- 20.Qf7! 20.Nd5?! hxg6 21.Qxg6 Bxg5 22.Qxg5+ Kc8 23.Nxb6+ cxb6 and the engine gives it's typical 0.00! 20...Kc8 21.Nd5 Qc5 22.Nxe7+ Nxe7 23.Bxe7 Qd5 24.Qxd5 Bxd5 25.Rxd4 hxg6 26.Rxd5 with a dangerous endgame for black! 19.Rxe7 19.Bxe7+?! Kc8 20.Qf7 gxh5 21.Qg7 Bf3‼ not the only move but still spectacular! 22.Qxh8+ Kb7 23.Qxh7 Bxd1 24.Nd5 Qc6 25.Nb4 Bc2‼ again! 26.Qxc2 d3 19...Kc8 20.Qf7 Bc6 21.Bg4 and somehow this is +/= ! 15...Be7 is probably the best move. Black should focus on eliminating white's attacking pieces 16.Nf3∞ 16.Qf5! Stopping 0-0 and also planning to infiltrate 16.Bh5+ g6 17.Qf5 is not possible because of Bxd4 18.Rxd4 Rf8-+ 16...g6?? My opponent looked as if everything was fine and he was not blundering anything but I guess he just did not see my next move coming... 16...Bxd4 17.Rxd4 g6 18.Qh3 exd4 19.Bxc4 Ne5 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Qc8+ Kf7 22.Bxd5+ Kg7 23.Bh6+ Kxh6 24.Qxh8 Nbd7 25.Qxa8± During the game I thought 16...Qg6 is the best move but after 17.Qxg6+ hxg6 18.Ne6 White keeps the upper hand because black is tied up 17.Ne6! I felt so good after playing this move! Honestly I saw this trick before playing 16.Qf5 but I did not believe it could happen! Be7 the point is of course 17...gxf5 18.Bh5# 17...Rg8 18.Qh3+- 18.Ng7+ Kd8 19.Qxe5 Bxg5 20.Ne6+! Ke7 21.Qg7+ Kxe6 22.Bg4# My opponent said after the game that I played very well and I deserved to checkmate him like this! 1–0
  • 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.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Leon,M2472Lodici,L24891–02020A5018th Spilimbergo Open, Italy4.5
Leon,M2470Ernst,S25401–02020A0729th Kavala Open, Greece7.1
Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

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.